NFL 2014 Week 13 Pick 'Em

Not much to say about last week, so on with the picks.

Bears @ LIONS
Eagles @ COWBOYS
Seahawks @ 49ERS
Browns @ BILLS
Redskins @ COLTS
Raiders @ RAMS
Panthers @ VIKINGS
Saints @ STEELERS
BENGALS @ Buccaneers
GIANTS @ Jaguars
Chargers @ RAVENS
Titans @ TEXANS
CARDINALS @ Falcons
Patriots @ PACKERS
BRONCOS @ Chiefs
DOLPHINS @ Jets

LAST WEEK:  11-4, 73.33%
TOTAL:  107-68-1, 60.8%

NFL 2014 Week 12 Pick 'Em

Brady VS. Luck turned into The Jonas Grey Show, the Rams prove that they're a lot better than their record implies, Seahawks slip further and further away from playoff contention, the Bengals are back in 1st place in the AFC North, and the Saints and the Falcons are tied for 1st place in the NFC South each with a record of 4-6.  Yikes.


CHIEFS @ Raiders
BROWNS @ Falcons
Titans @ EAGLES
Lions @ PATRIOTS
PACKERS @ Vikings
Jaguars @ COLTS
Bengals @ TEXANS
Jets @ BILLS
Buccaneers @ BEARS
CARDINALS @ Seahawks
RAMS @ Chargers
Dolphins @ BRONCOS
Redskins @ 49ERS
COWBOYS @ Giants
RAVENS @ Saints

BYE WEEK:  Panthers, Steelers

LAST WEEK:  8-6, 57.14%
TOTAL:  96-64-1, 59.63%

REVIEWS - 'Big Hero 6' and 'Interstellar'

 'Big Hero 6' (PG) ***

Based on a Marvel comic book that I've never read nor even heard of until this was announced as the next Disney Animation film, 'Big Hero 6' follows a young prodigy named Hiro (voice of Ryan Potter) who forms a superhero team to fight off a masked villain who is responsible for the death of his brother.  This team consists of his inflatable medical care robot/best friend Baymax (voice of Scott Adsit) and several of his brothers friends, including Wasabi (voice of Damon Wayans Jr.), Fred (voice of T.J. Miller), GoGo (voice of Jamie Chung) and Honey Lemon (voice of Genesis Rodriquez).  Also in the voice cast are Maya Rudolph as Hiro's Aunt Cass, James Cromwell as a professor, and Alan Tudyk as a tech company owner.  Stay through the credits for a semi-surprising cameo appearance.

First things first:  This pales in comparison to Disney Animation's recent offerings ('Tangled', 'Wreck-It Ralph', 'Frozen').  But with that being said this was still a good movie.  The animation is great, with bright colors and a lot of detail.  Lots of exciting action, often very funny, and Baymax is arguably the most adorable Disney robot since WALL-E.  Felt a little rushed at times but also felt a little bit dragged out at times as well.




'Interstellar' (PG-13) ***1/2

Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is recruited by Professor Brand (Michael Caine) and NASA to lead a team of explorers (including Anne Hathaway, Wes Bentley, David Gyasi, and two robots voiced by Bill Irwin and Josh Stewart) who must travel through a wormhole to another galaxy in search of a new planet for mankind to live on.  Co-starring Mackenzie Foy, Jessica Chastain, Casey Affleck, Topher Grace, and Matt Damon.

This was one of my most anticipated movies for this year and it certainly did not disappoint, unlike several other movies on that particular list.  And honestly this is one of the better movies I've seen this year.  It's a three hour movie, but because I was so invested in the story and characters it certainly didn't feel like it.  Often quite tense with great special effects and anchored by two great performances in Matthew McConaughey's Cooper and Mackenzie Foy (from 'The Conjuring' and 'Breaking Dawn Parts 1 & 2') as Cooper's daughter Murph.  It gets a little bit confusing in the last twenty minutes of the movie but that's a minor complaint.  Just go see this movie.  Definitely one to think about after you've watched it.  A little hard to write about this movie while trying to stay away from certain spoiler-ish plot points,

REVIEW - 'Birdman'

'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' (R) **

Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton) is a washed-up actor who was once known for portraying the superhero Birdman in a trilogy of successful films.  Now he is attempting a career comeback by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway play all while dealing with his ego, his family, his co-stars, critics, and the media.  Co-starring Zach Galifianakis as Jake (Thomson's producer/attorney/best friend), Emma Stone as Thomson's daughter Sam (recently released from rehab and working as an assistant for the play), Edward Norton as notorious method actor Mike Shiner (who's cast in Thomson's play as a last minute replacement), Andrea Riseborough as Thomson's girlfriend Laura (who is co-starring in Thomson's play), Amy Ryan as Thomson's ex-wife Sylvia, and Naomi Watts as Lesley (a first time Broadway actress cast in Thomson's play).  The latest from Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, the director of '21 Grams', 'Babel', 'Biutiful', and 'Amores Perros'.

Well...let's just say I'm in the rather small minority of those who disliked 'Birdman'.  Is it a bad movie by any means?  Not necessarily.  There are aspects that I liked, but as a whole it just didn't work for me.

Okay, let's get the good things out of the way before I go on lengthy diatribes about what I didn't really like.  Overall I do think this a rather original movie.  Comeback stories and behind the scenes stories have been done to death, but never before has it been done quite like this.  Every now and then the movie is funny, with the main highlight being Keaton getting locked out of the back of the theater during a preview performance and having to walk all the way around the theater to get into it through the front and dealing with a crowded Times Square.  Throughout the movie the Birdman character is often heard (and seen twice) berating Michael Keaton and saying how far his star has fallen since he turned down 'Birdman 4' and how the play isn't going to be a success.  Those I thought were very well done.  It also contains some rather harsh indictments of critics (from Keaton) and blockbusters (from Birdman) which contained some nuggets of truth to them, with the nuggets of truth also present in a rant to Michael Keaton about one's relevancy in the world from Emma Stone.  Those I thought were also really good.  And sometimes the camerawork does look really good, but I'll get more into that later.

Now what didn't I like about this critical darling?  Well certain elements to the movie were rather distracting and kept me from consistently being fully invested in the movie.

1. The obvious parallels to real life.  Michael Keaton was once famous for portraying Batman, turned down the third 'Batman' movie, and while he's not washed up he certainly hasn't had the same level of success since then.  Edward Norton is a method actor who is notorious for being difficult to work with, locking directors out of editing rooms and doing uncredited rewrites on scripts to various movies he's worked on, including the 'Hulk' reboot.  Now each have their moments (Keaton confronting a critic in a bar and when Norton and Keaton are fighting each other), but for the most part I wasn't seeing characters, I was just seeing the actors themselves.  The rest of the cast is fine, but no one really stood out in my opinion.  Usually movies that have real life parallels to their actors doesn't bother me, but this is a rare case where it did.  
2. Roughly 98% of the movie is edited to look like it was shot in one take.  Some have called this impressive.  Once again, I'm in the minority on this one.  The one-shot gimmick got old rather quickly as time passed in the movie.  And with the one-shot gimmick, I'm being distracted from the story by thinking to myself okay, maybe there was a cut here or perhaps this was a cut.  Also a sense of knowing the passage of time also goes away, but that's a bit of a minor complaint.  While the movie does look good and does feature some incredible shots, but the one-shot gimmick kept me from praising it.
3. The score is a rousing drum heavy jazz based score which sounds great on it's own, but it became a nuisance in some scenes and attracted a lot of attention to itself.

On top of that there's also a bit of a confusing subplot involving Michael Keaton and how he may or may not have actual superpowers but I'll get into that in another post since this subplot is a bit spoiler-heavy.  Also had a fellow moviegoer who apparently didn't see me sitting in the row where I was, but once again I'll get into that in another post.

'Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)' isn't without its moments of humor and truth, but overall it's a rather distracting movie that kept me from getting fully invested in it.  This is getting a lot of awards buzz, and sadly when awards season comes around instead of thinking how good this movie is I'm going to keep thinking how on Earth is this getting the acclaim that it's getting.  The same things I thought last year with 'American Hustle' and 'Dallas Buyers Club'.  Ugh.


TRAILERS

• 'Mr. Turner' - a biopic on the life of British painter J.M.W. Turner (Timothy Spall).  Winner of a few awards at Cannes including Best Actor.  On a technical level it looks beautifully shot.  But the movie itself looks fairly stuffy and dry.  And looking up that it has a 149 minute running time...it could be a rather long sit.  Unless it's awards season momentum somehow carries it towards a Best Picture nomination then I'm gonna pass.
• 'Foxcatcher' - I've seen this trailer before but it's the first time seeing it in a theater.  I've talked about it in my 'Awards Season Preview' post, but the movie actually does look really good.
• 'Wild' - another one that I've seen the trailer before but not in a theater.  And once again, another movie that I talked about in my 'Awards Season Preview' post.  You lost me at 'From the director of "Dallas Buyers Club"'.  Only a Best Picture nomination would make me see this.
• 'The Homesman' - Tommy Lee Jones directs and stars in this western that sees Hilary Swank recruiting him to help transport three women to their homes.  It didn't look bad and usually I like westerns.  

NFL 2014 Week 11 Pick 'Em

Bieber visits the Steelers.  The Steelers, who completely dominated the past few weeks, lost to the lowly Jets.  Coincidence?  I think not!   Yep...that's all I got for comments this week.


BILLS @ Dolphins
Texans @ BROWNS
FALCONS @ Panthers
VIKINGS @ Bears
BENGALS @ Saints
Buccaneers @ REDSKINS
BRONCOS @ Rams
49ERS @ Giants
Seahawks @ CHIEFS
Raiders @ CHARGERS
Lions @ CARDINALS
Eagles @ PACKERS
Patriots @ COLTS
STEELERS @ Titans

BYE WEEK:  Cowboys, Jaguars, Jets, Ravens

LAST WEEK:  9-4, 69.23%
TOTAL:  88-58-1, 59.86%

Sequels I'd Like To See Happen

Hollywood sure loves doing sequels, regardless of whether the rest of the world wants them or not.  Last week 'Toy Story 4' was announced for a 2017 release and this week sees the release of 'Dumb and Dumber To'.  The rest of the year will see 'Hunger Games 3', 'Horrible Bosses 2', 'Hobbit 3' and 'Night at the Museum 3' being released, and 2015 will feature an onslaught of sequels.

So with all these sequels being announced and released, I thought it would be fun to write up a dream list of sequels that I'd like to actually see get made.  All of these have had some chatter about them of actually getting made, but nothing so far has been concrete for any of them so I doubt these will get made.  But hey, a man can dream right?

• 'Austin Powers 4'
  Yeah baby, yeah!  Hard to believe that it's been twelve years since the International Man of Mystery was last seen on the big screen in 2002's 'Austin Powers In Goldmember'.  Since then Mike Myers has been in three more 'Shrek' movies, the godawful 'Love Guru', and had a cameo in 'Inglourious Basterds' so maybe doing a fourth 'Austin Powers' is just what he needs career wise.  The possibilities are endless.  There are plenty of Bond movies that 'Austin Powers' hasn't spoofed yet, including any of Daniel Craig's gritty Bond movies.  Heck, this could even tap into the 'Bourne' movies and maybe even include a slight dig at franchises with long-delayed sequels.  So much potential.  Rumors have floated around that the fourth might focus on Dr. Evil, but those are just that:  rumors.  Having loved the 'Austin Powers' trilogy and also loving the Bond franchise, I would love to see another 'Austin Powers' head to the big screen.

• 'Anchorman 3'
  Okay, truth be told do we really need another 'Anchorman' movie?  Probably not.  But having thought that both of the 'Anchorman' movies were hilarious, I'd love to see the characters again and laugh throughout the whole movie.
  
• 'Indiana Jones 5'
  Since Harrison Ford is reprising Han Solo in the 'Star Wars' sequel trilogy, why not have him back cracking the whip and wearing the fedora again as Indiana Jones?  Give the character more of a proper send-off than 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'...and to be honest I thought that movie was all right but I can understand the hatred that the fan base has toward it.
  
• 'Wreck-It Ralph 2'
  I loved the original 'Wreck-It Ralph' and I think the possibilities would be endless with the video game arcade universe that it set up for itself.  There's a myriad of other video game characters that could be used as characters for this.  Some rumors have popped up that Mario and even TRON might be used in a sequel.  That would be awesome.
  
  
  
  Are there any sequels that you'd like to see get made?

NFL 2014 Week 10 Pick 'Em

Well my streak of staying well above .500 for picks had to come to an end at some point.  Oh well.  Steelers suddenly are looking good after a lethargic start, Colts bounced back from the loss to the Steelers, and the debate over Manning Vs. Brady keeps going.


Browns @ BENGALS
CHIEFS @ Bills
Titans @ RAVENS
COWBOYS @ Jaguars
DOLPHINS @ Lions
49ers @ SAINTS
STEELERS @ Jets
FALCONS @ Buccaneers
BRONCOS @ Raiders
Rams @ CARDINALS
Giants @ SEAHAWKS
Bears @ PACKERS
Panthers @ EAGLES

BYE WEEK:  Chargers, Colts, Patriots, Redskins, Texans, Vikings

LAST WEEK:  7-6, 53.85%
TOTAL:  79-54-1, 58.96%

REVIEWS - 'Fury' and 'Locke'

After weeks of updates, random thoughts, nitpicks, and lists, it's time to get back to current-ish movie reviews.




'Fury' (R) ***1/2

As the Allies make their final push in World War II, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and his crew (including Jon Bernthal, Shia LaBeouf, and Michael Pena) on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Out-numbered, out-gunned, and with a rookie soldier (Logan Lerman) thrust into their platoon, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.  From David Ayer, the director of 'End of Watch', 'Sabotage', 'Harsh Times' and 'Street Kings'.

This definitely is one of the better movies I've seen this year.  It's also very intense and probably by far the most violent movie I've seen this year and the bleakest movie I've seen in awhile.  War is hell, and this movie NEVER shies away from that for it's entire 2 hour, 14 minute running time.  It also boasts a great score, excellent cinematography, and strong performances from the main cast, with Lerman and Pitt being the two standouts in my opinion.  It's a rough sit at times with it's intensity, but it's well worth it.      






'Locke' (R) **

Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy) receives a phone call on his drive home from work, which sets in motion a series of subsequent phone calls that will change his life.  Apart from seeing him get off work and some exterior shots of a highway, the entire movie takes place within Ivan's car as he talks to various people on the phone.  That's the entire movie in a nutshell...

I rented this from Redbox after reading many good things about the movie.  Great cinematography aside, this was a bit tedious to sit through with a flat, almost monotonous performance by Tom Hardy.  Also hurts that half of the conversations, despite having a great impact on his work and his family, aren't even all that interesting to listen to.  Sure sometimes on longer road trips when I'm driving by myself I tend to talk  to myself, but that doesn't mean an 85 minute movie about it would be very exciting.