Monday, January 4, 2016
The State of My Fandom Address - Patriots Edition
I became fan of the New England Patriots sometime in 1985. I don't know exactly when or how it happened. It just happened. It was te year we got cable TV and there was one hour of football a week on SKY. The Patriots were having a good year and must have been featred a couple of times in the Game of the Week. They snuck into the playoffs as the fifth seed. Back then there were only two wildcard teams per conference. They went on the road and in three successiv weeks upset te New York Jets, The Los Angeles Raiders and the Miami Dolphins to qualify for Super Bowl XX. I was hooked. And then the Super Bowl shufflin' Chicago Bears crushed them 46-10 in the biggest blow out of Super Bowl history. I was and still am hooked.
It hasn't always been easy to be a fan of the Patriots and I learned that immediately with that first disappointment. Even though the Patriots were still good occasionally after SBXX it wasn't until they had gone through the valley of the shadow of Marc Wilson, Tom Hodson, Hugh Millen, et. al. and Drew Bledose arrived that there was any hope they'd ever win the big one. And then you slowly had to realize that Bledsoe wasn't going to be the one either. They came close but never really close, even when they made it to the Super Bowl and lost to the Packers. Even in the golden era of Belichick and Brady there have been a fair share of disappointmets and challenges: 18-1, Spygate, Deflategate. However much there may have been to these "scandals" - and the quotation marks are there because we're talking about football, not bational security - they certainly weren't fun times for a fan.
But let's be honest here. The last 15 years have been an unparalleled run of success and no fan along for the ride has any right to complain for the rest of their life. The biggest upset in SB history against the Rams. Back-to-back in '03 and '04. The incredibly satisfying comeback capped by the victory-clinching Butler interception last year. Two more Super Bowls that came right down to the wire. Six Super Bowl and three more AFCCG appearances in 14 years. If Brady were to make it to a mind-blowing seventh Super Bowl this year, he would be 7 for 14 in seasons that he finishes healthy and as the starter. I will have more to say in what I think is the essence of the Patriot method, but that is for another day.
Given the turmoil of the off-season, the lack of noticeable free agent signings to offset the big-name losses, and the unholy shitstorm of injuries, finishing 12-4, winning the AFC East for a seventh consecutive year and getting a first round bye for a sixth consecutive year must be considered an unqualified success. The successes of the Brady-Belichick era have, however, set the bar almost impossibly high. Anything other than a SB win is if not a disappointment, then at least a wasted opportunity when clearly time is running out. Brady is 38. Belichick is 63. They can keep doing this for a couple more years. But the end of the era is coming, much like winter is coming to Westeros. And when you realize how near impossible their achievemnets so far have been, you want to get as much out of this partnership as possible. Because it is going away and it is never coming back. And never mind having no right to complain ever again. I'll stop coplaining when B&B are gone. Till then I'll be one greedy MFSOB.
This year's Patriots can win it all. Had they not lost Dion Lewis and Nate Solder early in the season I'd feel much better about their chances but they can win it all. All their remaining starters should be healthy enough to play in two weeks, but how healthy will they be? The key to their success to me will be the offensive line and injuries have little to do with it. Vollmer should be back in two weeks but the O-Line struggled before he missed this weeks loss against Miami. When the offense struggled early last year part of it was the inconsistent and rotating line play. When they settled on their eventual winning combination and stuck with it things turned around. Both injuries and inexperience have made that impossible this year. Early in the season the talent surrounding them covered up a lot of their problems. The injuries to almost all skill position players have revealed their weaknesses. Getting Vollmer and Edelman back will help but everyone will have to step up their play for the Patriots to reach a fifth consecutive AFCCG.
I find these AFC playoffs harder to predict than usual. All home teams will have big question marks and it would not surprise me if one of the wildcard teams made it to the SB. The hottest team coming into the playoffs is actually Kansas City who almost won the division when Denver tried really hard to lose to a depleted Chargers team by turning the ball over five times and completely blowing a coverage late in the game. The Bengals are starting A.J McCarron. Who knows what to think of Pittsburgh who in December beat both Cincinatti and Denver in consecutive weeks only to then lose to Ryan Mallett and the Ravens. Both 1st round match-ups are rematches of regular season games but how much does a split of the Bengals-Steelers season series and a Week 1 win by the Chiefs before their 5-game losing streak really tell us? Can both road teams win? I'm not picking, all I'm saying is that the Patriots have the QB and HC with the best track-record in the playoffs and I wouldn't be surprised if they snuck into the big game another time. On the other hand, I saw Mark "Butt Fumble" Sanchez and the 11-5 Jets beat the 14-2 Patriots in the divisional round in 2010 after losing to them 45-3 a month earlier, so I guess everything is possible.
Whatever the outcome, the state of my Patriots fandom is strong.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Super Bowl Live Diary
The Patriots aren't here but I'm still watching. This marks the 27th consecutive year I'll have watched the big game live. The first one I saw in its entirety was was XX, when my even then beloved Patriots were slaughtered by the Bears and their 46-defense.
0:28 Ravens win the toss and choose to defer. Smart choice by the team I'll root against really hard. Let's hope Kap sticks it to them right away.
0:32 Davis beats Pats Nation Enemy #1 Bernard Pollard, but the play is nullified by a penalty. Hate that bastard, if you'll excuse my French.
0:35 3-and-out after two miscues by the Niners. Ay caramba!
0:40 Another Niners gift (offsides on 3rd down) and Ravens capitalize. I'm going to v omit. Well, the Niners have shown they can come back from a deficit. If they can't stop these mistakes, it won't be close.
0:47 Crabtree gets away from #52 (Lewis) and #31 (Pollard).
0:51 Pistol starting to work. Theisman says Ravens D will wear down. I tend to agree.
0:53 I spoke too soon. 49ers may not be able to pull this out if they have to settle for field goals inside the ten. And Davis looked hurt. They need him to attack Ravens weakness - LB coverage. D. Walker ain't gonna cut it.
0:59 That was almost Patriots like by the D - get good pressure and still allow the completion.
1:03 And again. How does that get completed?
1:04 Niners pass rush doesn't wrap up and finish. That needs to change.
1:05 Pass rush gets to Flacco and knocks Ravens out of field goal range. They need to keep bringing it.
1:10 Davis is back. 29 yards. And follows it up with another 11. He's going to eat them up if they don't adjust.
1:13 And another gift by the Niners. Can't keep piling up yards and not cash in.
1:15 This is how a superior team loses. Penalties, turnovers and FG's instead of TD's.
1:17 Seems like Ravens want to run it just to give their D a breather. First down here was key. Drive already a success.
1:18 Patrick Willis lowers the boom. I wish the Pats had someone that hits like that.
1:21 Ravens score on a play the Patriots ran all the time in their heyday. Niners have no more margin for error. I'm getting a beer.
1:28 This may be it if the 49ers give up another TD here.
1:34 If things were going the Niners' way, this Boldin drop ends up being intercepted.
1:35 Ravens go for knock out punch with fake FG and miss. Niners still have life. Barely. Need to score here, though. Ravens get ball to open 2nd half.
1:40 Well, that was futile. Moss was open for a second but Kap got the ball off too late, giving the DB time to recover. Unless Lee booms one here Ravens will get ball with good field position. Fake FG may only have delayed the inevitable. Worst case, Niners are down 28-3 by the time to they get the ball again.
1:48 That's the first half of that worst case scenario. Except now the 49ers will get the ball with about 1:50 left. Unless a different team comes out after half time, this game may be over. The Patriots blew a 21-3 lead in the 2006 AFC Championship Game. But then, the Colts had Peyton Manning and half the Patriots D was either injured or had the flu.
1:53 Kaepernik needs to run the ball. They won't win this game with him just throwing, this great completion to Walker notwithstanding.
1:58 Another FG. Keys to first half. Niners commit turnovers and costly penalties, do not capitalize on scoring chances. Ravens 6-8 on 3rd down, including TD passes to Boldin and Jones. Niners can allow one more TD max or they won't be able to catch up.
2:03 B. Pollard has two tackles in first half, no notable plays in pass defense, continuing his remarkable stretch of only being a factor in playoff games against the Patriots.
2:17 If the Ravens go on to win, these are your last 8 SB winners. The 10-6 Ravens (4th seed), the 9-7 Giants (4th seed), the 10-6 Packers (6th seed), the 13-3 (top seed), the 12-4 Steelers (2nd seed), the 10-6 Giants (5th seed), the 12-4 Colts (3rd seed), and the 11-5 Steelers (6th seed). The playoffs deliver great drama but also render much of the regular season meaningless. That's one thing I appreciate about European soccer leagues - you win the regular season, you're the champion.
2:31 And that's that TD. Niners basically have to score on every possession now, unless they completely shut down the Ravens offense from here on out. Somehow, I don't see that happening.
2: 35 I should just go to bed, but I've only ever not finished one SB and that was that miserable Colts win over the Grossman-led (if you could call that leading) Bears.
2:40 The lights go out. Is this a sign I should turn the lights off, too? What happens if they don't regain power? Will the game have to resume tomorrow? Is this NOLA's revenge against the NFL - You kill our team's season, we're killing your big game? I'm sure someone will find a way to blame Belichick for this.
2:57 If I want to function later today, I may HAVE to shut it down before the game ends.
3:05 We've got 3 & 13 coming up. Who benefits from this delay, if anyone? This is another half time, right after we've just had one. Does that mean we have a punt return TD by Jacoby Jones to look forward to?
3:13 Ravens not taking the foot off the pedal. Still throwing it.
3:15 49ers have 25 minutes to make up a 22 point deficit. Can be done, but can it be done with a QB starting his 11th game? Defense has to make multiple stops, too. The odds favor more turnovers forced by the Ravens D.
3:18 I would keep doing that if I were the Niners. Run Kap every opportunity he sees.
3:21 Crabtree has to make that catch on 2nd down. Niners just not making plays that are there to be made. At least, Kap and Moss bail him out on 3rd down. Niners must get a TD on this drive.
3:24 Davis beats Pollard. I take my small victories where I can get them.
3:25 Crabtree makes up for the drop. Pollard fails to wrap up. If that had been a Patriot receiver, he would fumbled, gotten a concussion, broken several bones and torn all ligaments in both knees. Have I mentioned that I hate Bernard Polard? The Patriots should just sign him and never activate him for gameday. Who knows, he probably would knock out half the defense with friendly fire-style hits. Niners, btw, should go for two but don't.
3:28 Meanwhile, the 49ers stop Jones before he reaches the 20. Signs of life?
3:30 Blitz comes home and Niners force second 3 and out in a row. Ted Ginn Jr. returns punt to Ravens' 20. Here we go.
3:32 Niners making it look easy. We have a ball game. Again, Niners should go for two. If you fail here, at least you have time to compensate. If you fail late, that may be it. Then again, there are 20 minutes left to play.
3:35 And Niners kick. Odds are there'll be a lot more scoring anyway. Niners need another stop. Can't let momentum get away from them.
3:40 Oh my. That's a fumble. What goes around comes around. Rice's 3rd lost fumble of playoffs. Belichick would personally nail him to the bench.
3:42 39 FG coming up. Akers has been shaky this year.
3:44 Wow, questionable penalty gives Akers a second chance and he makes it. All breaks suddenly going Niners way. Tale of two halves.
3:50 Niners can't wrap up in the backfield. As a Patriots fan, it's reassuring to see that our D is not the only one with that problem. Great drive for the Ravens so far. They need to come away with points here, TD puts them up by 12, esssentially two TD's.
3:55 Boldin pretends it's a run play that he's given up on and then breaks hard to the outside. Smart play.
3:57 Ravens settle for 20 yard FG. Must be considered victory for Niners. 12:54 left, down 8. Teams are statistically very even. Big difference is Ravens +1 in turnovers and special teams TD.
4:02 Moss between Pollard and Reed for 32 yards, followed by Gore for 21. Niners have been moving ball well most of the day.
4:04 Kaepernick too fast, it's almost unfair. Going for two here and fail. Bad play, bad execution. A lot of time left. This is when you want to be able to grind out first downs on the ground. Don't think Ravens will be able to do that. Flacco will have to make some throws.
4:10 First PD call of the night. No complaints, though.
4:16 At least, they didn't lose the time out. Now we'll see if it was worth it.
4:17 Boldin is a monster. No Patriots WR makes that play. I hate that we can only run the 'throw it at the defenders head and let the receiver adjust'-play with Gronk. We need a big and strong wideout.
4:20 Big third down coming up, Niners must hold Ravens to FG. And Pitta can't hold on. Tucker makes 38 yarder. 49ers have 4:19 to score a TD and take the lead for the first time. The trick is not only to score but also to use up most of that time. And to convert the 2-point conversion.
4:25 That ball was maybe 6 inches too far. Davis just couldn't hold on.
4:29 Niners let the clock run down to two minutes, facing 2nd and goal. They are almost certainly going to leave enough time on the clock for the Ravens to mount a final drive, if they score. The 2-point conversion will be critical.
4:32 3rd & 5 for the Niners. I think I would've run on 2nd. Hindsight.
4:34 What was that play? You throw it short of the end zone?
4:35 And then you throw a fade. Niners best offensive weapon this close is Gore and Kaepernick running. They used neither when it counted most. Granted, there was a lot of contact on Crabtree but the refs haven't been calling much and you certainly can't count on it.
4:41 Intentional safety. Need a Music City Miracle type play now. Did Harbaugh bring the Stanford marching band?
4:45 No, he didn't.
I'm going to say this: Sometimes teams say they didn't lose, they just ran out of time. I believe this is true today. add another quarter and I think the Niners win. They just couldn't overcome all their early mistakes.
0:28 Ravens win the toss and choose to defer. Smart choice by the team I'll root against really hard. Let's hope Kap sticks it to them right away.
0:32 Davis beats Pats Nation Enemy #1 Bernard Pollard, but the play is nullified by a penalty. Hate that bastard, if you'll excuse my French.
0:35 3-and-out after two miscues by the Niners. Ay caramba!
0:40 Another Niners gift (offsides on 3rd down) and Ravens capitalize. I'm going to v omit. Well, the Niners have shown they can come back from a deficit. If they can't stop these mistakes, it won't be close.
0:47 Crabtree gets away from #52 (Lewis) and #31 (Pollard).
0:51 Pistol starting to work. Theisman says Ravens D will wear down. I tend to agree.
0:53 I spoke too soon. 49ers may not be able to pull this out if they have to settle for field goals inside the ten. And Davis looked hurt. They need him to attack Ravens weakness - LB coverage. D. Walker ain't gonna cut it.
0:59 That was almost Patriots like by the D - get good pressure and still allow the completion.
1:03 And again. How does that get completed?
1:04 Niners pass rush doesn't wrap up and finish. That needs to change.
1:05 Pass rush gets to Flacco and knocks Ravens out of field goal range. They need to keep bringing it.
1:10 Davis is back. 29 yards. And follows it up with another 11. He's going to eat them up if they don't adjust.
1:13 And another gift by the Niners. Can't keep piling up yards and not cash in.
1:15 This is how a superior team loses. Penalties, turnovers and FG's instead of TD's.
1:17 Seems like Ravens want to run it just to give their D a breather. First down here was key. Drive already a success.
1:18 Patrick Willis lowers the boom. I wish the Pats had someone that hits like that.
1:21 Ravens score on a play the Patriots ran all the time in their heyday. Niners have no more margin for error. I'm getting a beer.
1:28 This may be it if the 49ers give up another TD here.
1:34 If things were going the Niners' way, this Boldin drop ends up being intercepted.
1:35 Ravens go for knock out punch with fake FG and miss. Niners still have life. Barely. Need to score here, though. Ravens get ball to open 2nd half.
1:40 Well, that was futile. Moss was open for a second but Kap got the ball off too late, giving the DB time to recover. Unless Lee booms one here Ravens will get ball with good field position. Fake FG may only have delayed the inevitable. Worst case, Niners are down 28-3 by the time to they get the ball again.
1:48 That's the first half of that worst case scenario. Except now the 49ers will get the ball with about 1:50 left. Unless a different team comes out after half time, this game may be over. The Patriots blew a 21-3 lead in the 2006 AFC Championship Game. But then, the Colts had Peyton Manning and half the Patriots D was either injured or had the flu.
1:53 Kaepernik needs to run the ball. They won't win this game with him just throwing, this great completion to Walker notwithstanding.
1:58 Another FG. Keys to first half. Niners commit turnovers and costly penalties, do not capitalize on scoring chances. Ravens 6-8 on 3rd down, including TD passes to Boldin and Jones. Niners can allow one more TD max or they won't be able to catch up.
2:03 B. Pollard has two tackles in first half, no notable plays in pass defense, continuing his remarkable stretch of only being a factor in playoff games against the Patriots.
2:17 If the Ravens go on to win, these are your last 8 SB winners. The 10-6 Ravens (4th seed), the 9-7 Giants (4th seed), the 10-6 Packers (6th seed), the 13-3 (top seed), the 12-4 Steelers (2nd seed), the 10-6 Giants (5th seed), the 12-4 Colts (3rd seed), and the 11-5 Steelers (6th seed). The playoffs deliver great drama but also render much of the regular season meaningless. That's one thing I appreciate about European soccer leagues - you win the regular season, you're the champion.
2:31 And that's that TD. Niners basically have to score on every possession now, unless they completely shut down the Ravens offense from here on out. Somehow, I don't see that happening.
2: 35 I should just go to bed, but I've only ever not finished one SB and that was that miserable Colts win over the Grossman-led (if you could call that leading) Bears.
2:40 The lights go out. Is this a sign I should turn the lights off, too? What happens if they don't regain power? Will the game have to resume tomorrow? Is this NOLA's revenge against the NFL - You kill our team's season, we're killing your big game? I'm sure someone will find a way to blame Belichick for this.
2:57 If I want to function later today, I may HAVE to shut it down before the game ends.
3:05 We've got 3 & 13 coming up. Who benefits from this delay, if anyone? This is another half time, right after we've just had one. Does that mean we have a punt return TD by Jacoby Jones to look forward to?
3:13 Ravens not taking the foot off the pedal. Still throwing it.
3:15 49ers have 25 minutes to make up a 22 point deficit. Can be done, but can it be done with a QB starting his 11th game? Defense has to make multiple stops, too. The odds favor more turnovers forced by the Ravens D.
3:18 I would keep doing that if I were the Niners. Run Kap every opportunity he sees.
3:21 Crabtree has to make that catch on 2nd down. Niners just not making plays that are there to be made. At least, Kap and Moss bail him out on 3rd down. Niners must get a TD on this drive.
3:24 Davis beats Pollard. I take my small victories where I can get them.
3:25 Crabtree makes up for the drop. Pollard fails to wrap up. If that had been a Patriot receiver, he would fumbled, gotten a concussion, broken several bones and torn all ligaments in both knees. Have I mentioned that I hate Bernard Polard? The Patriots should just sign him and never activate him for gameday. Who knows, he probably would knock out half the defense with friendly fire-style hits. Niners, btw, should go for two but don't.
3:28 Meanwhile, the 49ers stop Jones before he reaches the 20. Signs of life?
3:30 Blitz comes home and Niners force second 3 and out in a row. Ted Ginn Jr. returns punt to Ravens' 20. Here we go.
3:32 Niners making it look easy. We have a ball game. Again, Niners should go for two. If you fail here, at least you have time to compensate. If you fail late, that may be it. Then again, there are 20 minutes left to play.
3:35 And Niners kick. Odds are there'll be a lot more scoring anyway. Niners need another stop. Can't let momentum get away from them.
3:40 Oh my. That's a fumble. What goes around comes around. Rice's 3rd lost fumble of playoffs. Belichick would personally nail him to the bench.
3:42 39 FG coming up. Akers has been shaky this year.
3:44 Wow, questionable penalty gives Akers a second chance and he makes it. All breaks suddenly going Niners way. Tale of two halves.
3:50 Niners can't wrap up in the backfield. As a Patriots fan, it's reassuring to see that our D is not the only one with that problem. Great drive for the Ravens so far. They need to come away with points here, TD puts them up by 12, esssentially two TD's.
3:55 Boldin pretends it's a run play that he's given up on and then breaks hard to the outside. Smart play.
3:57 Ravens settle for 20 yard FG. Must be considered victory for Niners. 12:54 left, down 8. Teams are statistically very even. Big difference is Ravens +1 in turnovers and special teams TD.
4:02 Moss between Pollard and Reed for 32 yards, followed by Gore for 21. Niners have been moving ball well most of the day.
4:04 Kaepernick too fast, it's almost unfair. Going for two here and fail. Bad play, bad execution. A lot of time left. This is when you want to be able to grind out first downs on the ground. Don't think Ravens will be able to do that. Flacco will have to make some throws.
4:10 First PD call of the night. No complaints, though.
4:16 At least, they didn't lose the time out. Now we'll see if it was worth it.
4:17 Boldin is a monster. No Patriots WR makes that play. I hate that we can only run the 'throw it at the defenders head and let the receiver adjust'-play with Gronk. We need a big and strong wideout.
4:20 Big third down coming up, Niners must hold Ravens to FG. And Pitta can't hold on. Tucker makes 38 yarder. 49ers have 4:19 to score a TD and take the lead for the first time. The trick is not only to score but also to use up most of that time. And to convert the 2-point conversion.
4:25 That ball was maybe 6 inches too far. Davis just couldn't hold on.
4:29 Niners let the clock run down to two minutes, facing 2nd and goal. They are almost certainly going to leave enough time on the clock for the Ravens to mount a final drive, if they score. The 2-point conversion will be critical.
4:32 3rd & 5 for the Niners. I think I would've run on 2nd. Hindsight.
4:34 What was that play? You throw it short of the end zone?
4:35 And then you throw a fade. Niners best offensive weapon this close is Gore and Kaepernick running. They used neither when it counted most. Granted, there was a lot of contact on Crabtree but the refs haven't been calling much and you certainly can't count on it.
4:41 Intentional safety. Need a Music City Miracle type play now. Did Harbaugh bring the Stanford marching band?
4:45 No, he didn't.
I'm going to say this: Sometimes teams say they didn't lose, they just ran out of time. I believe this is true today. add another quarter and I think the Niners win. They just couldn't overcome all their early mistakes.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
It Bears Repeating
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
- T.S. Eliot, The Rock, 1934.
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
- T.S. Eliot, The Rock, 1934.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Django Unchained
If Quentin Tarantino decides to make nothing but crazy revenge fantasies with Christoph Waltz in them, I will go and see every single one.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
#2
Podcast
Pop Culture Happy Hour (Linda Holmes, Stephen Thompson, Trey Graham, Glen Weldon)
PCHH is NPR's roundtable on all things pop culture. It sounds like a mostly good-natured conversation between friends with the occasional snark thrown in. I listen to quite a few podcasts of this sort but this one is by far my favorite. It combines a pleasant atmosphere with good humor, interesting and well-informed opinions on a wide variety of topics, trivia games, good production values and a general level of professionalism despite the obvious intimate friendships of the hosts. The recommendations at the end of the show are called 'What's making me happy this week.' They are exactly what the name implies and therefore are not always recommendations at all. It just adds to the overall sense of familiarity of the show. The whole thing usually comes in at a manageable length of around 40 minutes, long enough to be substantial, short enough not to drag.
TV Show
Homeland (Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon)
Homeland is the story of Sgt. Nicholas Brody, returned home after 8 eight years of being held POW by al-Quaeda and Carrie Mathison, the CIA analyst that believes that once missed something that could've prevented 9/11 and believes there's something wrong with him. The first season was a breakout success and almost universally critically acclaimed, eventually sweeping the big Emmy categories with Damien Lewis and Claire Danestaking Outstanding Leads in a Drama Series and the show itself unseating perpetual winner Mad Men, ending its four-year run as Outstanding Drama Series. Having set the bar incredibly high, the show ran into quite some criticism in its second season. The plot supposedly was full of holes. The show was moving at an incredible pace, which made such charges not unlikely. But it also kept it from dragging along and becoming boring. Add that to the excellent performances of two of my long-time favourite actors in Lewis and Danes, and I did not let Homeland episodes accumulate, which is an easy and reliable indicator of how much I enjoy a show.
Book
The Sorrows of an American (Siri Hustvedt)
Siri Hustvedt's fourth novel is the story of a Norwegian American family, with first-person narrator Erik Davidsen, a middle-aged psychiatrist living and working in New York, at the center of the narrative (no d'uh - he's a first-person narrator). The two primary plot strands revolve around Erik's Jamaican-born downstairs neighbor, her son and her stalker-photographer-boyfriend, and a family secret buried deep in the past. The novel is one of the few cases of 'serious literature' on my 2012 reading list. Serious literature sometimes is work to read, consequently isn't much fun or entertaining to read and leaves you thinking 'Hmm, what was that?' Not that there is anything inherently wrong with that, the subsequent research and analysis can be very gratifying. The Sorrows of an American is not that. It is a pleasure to read, you feel with the characters and you put it down with a warm, fuzzy feeling of satisfaction. I was initially surprised I had it as high on this list as it is, but looking back on it it is well deserving of both this spot and a reader's time.
Movie
Looper (Rian Johnson)
Looper is a science fiction time travel story that pits Bruce Willis' Joe against his younger self played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Joe is a Looper that kills and disposes of people sent into the past by organized crime. Eventually, his older self appears on a mission to kill the master criminal he holds responsible for the death of the love of his life. If this doesn't say 'Terminator for our generation' I don't know what will.
I had been waiting for this film for quite a while as I had heard Johnson talk about it on the Slashfilmcast and it did not disappoint. Rian Johnson has produced a film that looks much better than its $ 30 mio budget would lead you to suspect and I felt he handled the inevitable time travel paradoxa well enough so they don't interfere with the story. And while it is an entry in the well-defined time travel genre, Looper is also that rare beast - a successful, non-sequel, non-adaptation, original property, the only one in my Top 5. While that alone should earn it a spot high up on my list, the film deserves it on its own terms and can bear comparison with any other film I saw in 2012.
I had been waiting for this film for quite a while as I had heard Johnson talk about it on the Slashfilmcast and it did not disappoint. Rian Johnson has produced a film that looks much better than its $ 30 mio budget would lead you to suspect and I felt he handled the inevitable time travel paradoxa well enough so they don't interfere with the story. And while it is an entry in the well-defined time travel genre, Looper is also that rare beast - a successful, non-sequel, non-adaptation, original property, the only one in my Top 5. While that alone should earn it a spot high up on my list, the film deserves it on its own terms and can bear comparison with any other film I saw in 2012.
Your Sister's Sister
Takes a very basic initial situation, puts three characters together in a house by a lake, complicates the situation and tells a satisfying story.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
#3
Podcast
Hang up and Listen (Josh Levin, Mike Pesca, Stefan Fatsis)
TV Show
The Newsroom (Aaron Sorkin)
Book
When you are engulfed in Flames (David Sedaris)
Movie
The Hunger Games (Gary Ross)
Hang up and Listen (Josh Levin, Mike Pesca, Stefan Fatsis)
Slate's sports podcast is the highbrow version of all the ESPN podcasts that where you hear either the most obvious or the most outrageous commentary and analysis imaginable. It sounds like it should be on NPR, which is no surprise, given that two of the three panelists also work for NPR. If you want discussions of what happened on fields the week before, this is generally not for you. HuaL usually talks about bigger issues rather than individual games or events and does so intelligently. There's also a weekly trivia question that is usually so convoluted that no one should be able to figure out the answer without extended research. To put it bluntly, HuaL is Nerds talking about Jocks, but not dismissively, more like they are something worthy of scientific inquiry.
TV Show
The Newsroom (Aaron Sorkin)
Here is where my Top 5 seriously deviates from what you will probably find in TV critics' Best of 2012 lists. Where Mad Men and Breaking Bad are critical darlings, The Newsroom' first season quickly turned into a critical punching bag. Yet here it is, square in the middle of my Top 5, and somehow I feel the urge to justify myself, which is plainly silly, because it is my Top 5 and practically no one is reading and even if someone is they don't care and even if they do so what?
And yet.
The show is basically the same as every Aaron Sorkin show except The West Wing, i.e. it's about the making of a TV show, in this case a cable news hour. Every episode deals with a real world event and how this fictional show dealt with its coverage. And here we encounter the first complaints. Hindsight is 20/20 and of course these guys'n'gals know better than the actual news coverage of the day. Speaking of the gals, they're all stupid or hysterical or silly or etc pp. And then we've got protagonist Will McAvoy, who we're all supposed to believe is a saint and that rarest of beasts, a card-carrying Republican that publically stands up to the bullshit of his party's fringe and speaks truth to power to boot.
I can see all these flaws. The thing is, they don't bother me all that much. The things Sorkin does well, he does really well. I, like pretty much everyone, love to listen to his characters talk. Even though he comes across as a pompous ass, I happen to agree with most of his politics and so it doesn't annoy me too much when his characters get up on a soapbox and preach. At least his shows do not consciously try to pander to the lowest common denominator. I usually also enjoy his workplace romances, even when all the characters involved act like morons. What can I say, I have yet to encounter a Sorkin show I didn't enjoy and, yes, that includes Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
And yet.
The show is basically the same as every Aaron Sorkin show except The West Wing, i.e. it's about the making of a TV show, in this case a cable news hour. Every episode deals with a real world event and how this fictional show dealt with its coverage. And here we encounter the first complaints. Hindsight is 20/20 and of course these guys'n'gals know better than the actual news coverage of the day. Speaking of the gals, they're all stupid or hysterical or silly or etc pp. And then we've got protagonist Will McAvoy, who we're all supposed to believe is a saint and that rarest of beasts, a card-carrying Republican that publically stands up to the bullshit of his party's fringe and speaks truth to power to boot.
I can see all these flaws. The thing is, they don't bother me all that much. The things Sorkin does well, he does really well. I, like pretty much everyone, love to listen to his characters talk. Even though he comes across as a pompous ass, I happen to agree with most of his politics and so it doesn't annoy me too much when his characters get up on a soapbox and preach. At least his shows do not consciously try to pander to the lowest common denominator. I usually also enjoy his workplace romances, even when all the characters involved act like morons. What can I say, I have yet to encounter a Sorkin show I didn't enjoy and, yes, that includes Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.
Book
When you are engulfed in Flames (David Sedaris)
When you are engulfed in flames is a collection of essays by American humorist David Sedaris. They deal with various different situations from Sedaris' life. I read it in the bathroom. It made me laugh.
Movie
The Hunger Games (Gary Ross)
The movie is higher on this list than the book was on its. This is not unusual for me. I liked the film version of Fight Club better than the book, same with Wonder Boys, and I liked both those books just fine. Before I give you the primary reason why this film is my #3,let me say this. This film could have been a disaster and it wasn't. It could have screwed up the world, it could have screwed up the games, it could have screwed up the characters and it did none of these.
The reason, however, why I like this film so much is very simple: Jennifer Lawrence is fantastic. She is the only actor/actress that is on my Top 5 list twice.She hadn't made much of an impression on me in X-Men : First Class but her role in Winter's Bone - where she plays a character not dissimilar to Katniss - prepared me for what she could do and she carries this movie. There really isn't mch more to say. I like the premise of the story and its execution on-screen, but it is her performance that puts it over the top for me.
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