2012-2013 Eastern Conference Predictions

 2012-2013 Eastern Conference Predictions

 

 1. Miami Heat

The Heat won't challenge the record for regular season wins.  But they will have the longest regular season winning streak in the NBA.  Ray Allen will fit like a glove.  LeBron won't come close to averaging a triple double or breaking the regular season PER record, but he will continue to improve and refine his game in ways that may not be reflected in any stat, but will further solidify his position as the best in the game.  Wade will continue to get dinged up here and there, but it won't matter. Everyone will forget Rashard Lewis plays for the Heat until the playoffs, when he rides a shooting streak to a standout performance, or hits a dagger 3 in a decisive game.

 

2. Boston Celtics

The culture that KG, Doc, and Pierce have created in Boston has allowed them to win lots of regular season games with little depth.  This year, they are deep, which will allow them to win even more games while reducing the minutes of Pierce and KG significantly.  Rondo won't have nearly the dominant regular season many are expecting him to have.  Terry will prove a solid addition, and Jared Sullinger will be a pleasant surprise.  But despite being second in the Eastern Conference for wins, the Celtics will never present a legitimate threat to the Miami Heat.

3. Brooklyn Nets

Joe Johnson will be little more than a glorified role player, and come to be regarded as possibly the worst contract in the NBA.  Deron Williams will have trouble adjusting to having talented teammates at first, and his field goal percentage will continue to suffer.  But by the end of the season he will be back in the conversation with Chris Paul for best point guard in the league.  Nets fans will fall in love with Gerald Wallace.  Kris Humphries' numbers will fall off.  The Nets will thrive as the coolest team in New York.

4. Atlanta Hawks

Josh Smith will have a breakout year and be an All-Star.  Everyone will remember how good Al Horford is.  Lou Williams will lead the team in swag (yes, even over J-Smoove).  The Hawks won't be as good as some people seem to think they will be, but Danny Ferry has put them in a position to succeed in the future.

 5. Philadelphia 76ers

Evan Turner will have a breakout season.  When Andrew Bynum gets healthy (or healthy by his standards), he will dominate the Eastern Conference in the same way that Dwight Howard did for years.  Nick Young will shoot himself out of the rotation, and possibly out of the league.  Spencer Hawes will continue to have the worst hair in the league.

6. Indiana Pacers

After seeming poised for a breakout, the Pacers will regress.  The world will realize that Roy Hibbert has already hit his ceiling as an NBA player.  Paul George will be put up numbers, and the Pacers will be regarded as his team going into the offseason.  The Pacers will regret the George Hill contract.

 

7. New York Knicks

Just as in the past, this team will generate more headlines than they deserve.  Carmelo will challenge for the league lead in scoring.  Raymond Felton will put up numbers similar to those he put up in Charlotte.  The Knicks will be one team with Tyson Chandler, and an entirely different, much worse team without him.  Amar'e will continue his decline, and be little more than a role player before long.  The Knicks will resemble the 90s Knicks in one regard: they will win games ugly.

 8. Chicago Bulls

Derrick Rose will barely make a cameo this NBA season, but the Bulls will still somehow manage to squeeze into the playoffs because of how prepared Tom Thibodeau will have his team night in and night out.  Many Bulls fans will call for the team to tank, but the pride of the team and the coach will win out, and the Bulls, who struggle to score points all year, will be served up as sacrificial lamb in the first round of the playoffs.

Playoffs:

Heat vs. Bulls - Heat in 4

Celtics vs. Knicks - Celtics in 6

Nets vs. Pacers - Nets in 6

Hawks vs. 76ers - 76ers in 7

Heat vs. Nets - Heat in 4

Celtics vs. 76ers - Celtics in 7

Heat vs. Celtics - Heat in 6

NBA Finals

Heat vs. Lakers - Heat in 6

Movie Review - The Bourne Legacy

The Bourne Legacy (2012)

Director: Tony Gilroy

Starring: Jeremy Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton

Ugh.  Maybe if I wasn't a pretty serious fan of the Bourne series, this movie would have been acceptable.  Unfortunately for Bourne Legacy, I'm really into these movies and am rather upset to see the legacy (har har) of the original Bourne trilogy besmirched by this far inferior psuedo-sequel.  If The Bourne Legacy was a generic actioner with no connection to the original Matt Damon series, my criticisms would be far less harsh.  But as a sequel to those great movies, Legacy just seems wholly uneccesary.

As luck would have it, I had recently re-watched all three Matt Damon Bourne movies prior to this one, which proved to be both good and bad.  On the one hand, I was able to fully comprehend the story and the chronology of this movie (and the timeline of these Bourne movies is now pretty screwy: the third movie takes place partially during the second, and this one takes places partially during the third one).  This movie does a pretty solid job of dropping in references to the overall Bourne mythology in order to make the story all seem connected.  That was much appreciated. 

But that brings me to the negative aspect of having recently watched the original trilogy: I really missed Matt Damon in this movie.  Watching this movie back-to-back with the Damon flicks really shines a light on how lacking Jeremy Renner is in the charisma department compared to Jason Bourne himself.  Every time a picture of Bourne popped up on screen, or his name was mentioned, I wanted Damon to just show up out of nowhere and kick this Bourne wannabe's ass.  Unfortunately, it never happened.  There is some obvious intention on the part of Hollywood to make Jeremy Renner a big action star, and after having seen three movies in which he plays a prominent role in the last half-year or so, I can confidently say I'm not buying.  I haven't seen Hurt Locker, and he could be very good in that, but for now Renner remains just another forgettable Hollywood leading man to me.

Sadly, Matt Damon not showing up to save the day was the least of the problems I had with Bourne Legacy.  Aaron Cross, in addition to being a painfully generic protagonist, lacks the cleverness of Jason Bourne that really made him so appealing.  Sure it was fun to watch Bourne kick ass, but I really enjoyed when he created some gadget on the fly, escaped danger by outsmarting his pursuers, or just did something really cool or inventive that you never saw coming.  There is precious little of that here, although Cross does have one good moment near the very beginning of the movie when he disposes of a tracking device in a clever way. 

In addition, Cross just don't kick ass as satisfyingly as Jason Bourne.  Given the generic nature of the characters and plot in this movie, the one way Bourne Legacy could have really redeemed itself is with some great action sequences.  But the movie fails to please on that front, as well.  Each Matt Damon Bourne movie had at least one signature fight or chase sequence that stuck with you long after seeing the movie.  Bourne Legacy has zero.  On top of that, the entire final fifteen to twenty minutes of the movie is a painful re-hash of the Morocco segment from Bourne Ultimatum.  The main character in an Asian setting, jumping from roof to roof while evading police and a rival assassin (the worst villain in Bourne history, by the way, hands down) while attempting to save his girlfriend?  And a motorcycle chase?  It all went beyond homage into blatant rip-off territory.

Bourne Legacy in general has a "been there, done that" vibe, except the first time around was much better.  The movie was directed by Tony Gilroy, who wrote the first three Bourne movies and was obviously very conscious of disturbing the main Bourne "canon", if you will.  For that reason, pretty much the entire movies takes place parallel to the events of Ultimatum, and the overall story is advanced very little, if it all.  We do however get introduced to more mysterious government programs (yay!).  With Treadstone, Blackbriar, Outcome, and now LARX, I've totally lost track of all these shadowy government programs, and I'm also beginning to wonder exactly how the bad guys continue to get funding for them. 

Edward Norton plays a villainous higher-up in one of these shadowy organizations who is apparently higher up the food chain than the government bad guys we were introduced to in the first three movies.  This is all beginning to resemble 24 (in a bad way), when every time we thought we knew who the bad guy was, another more higher-ranking bad guy would come out of the woodwork to threaten Jack Bauer.  On the plus side, at least Edward Norton isn't an old white guy. I was starting to have trouble telling all the old white guy villains in this series apart.  We also get a sub-plot involving super-soldiers, and "chems" some agents are taking that enhance strength and intelligence.  I'm not familiar with the original Ludlum novels, so this may be all coming from the book for all I know, but it all seems a little too comic book-y for my tastes.

In closing, Bourne Legacy may be worth watching for Bourne completists who want to frustrate themselves, but for all others I recommend staying away. The plot and the action are just too generic.  Bourne Legacy is akin to a Batman comic that takes place in Gotham City, but follows some no-name loser around, and you only occasionally see teasing flashes of the Batman himself.  Instead of making a Bourne movie without Bourne, the creators of Bourne Legacy would have been wise to branch out and explore a different, completely unrelated part of the Bourne universe.  They could have even cast a male lead who isn't a bland, brown-haired white guy for a change.  In any event, hopefully Matt Damon will be back for the next movie, and we can get a true Bourne sequel that actually advances the story (and hopefully grounds it a bit more after this super-pill craziness).  Until then, I hope Aaron Cross and his girlfriend find a home on that boat, and are never heard from in the Bourne series again.

Verdict: 6/10

 

2012-2013 Western Conference Predictions

 

 2012-2013 Western Conference Predictions

 

 1. San Antonio Spurs 

The Spurs know how to win in the regular season.  The rotation is deep, and will essentially be the same as last year.  Splitter and Leonard will be a year older, and much improved.  Boris Diaw and Stephen Jackson will have a full training camp under their respective belts.  Pop will continue to manage the minutes of his vets while Tony Parker has yet another outstanding individual season as leader of the team.  That will be enough to win the West.

 

 

 2. Oklahoma City Thunder

There is a lot to be said for chemistry in team sports.  Durant, Harden, and Westbrook grew up in this league together, and I think they expected to win a ring together in OKC.  The loss of Harden will negatively affect the psyche of the team.  Kevin Martin and Kevin Durant will not gel offensively.  Serge Ibaka will not develop into more than a great shot blocker on the defensive end.  Westbrook will continue to grow, and many more people will come to believe he is the best player on the Thunder.  The Harden trade was a positive move for the future of the team, but it hurt their chances to win this year.

 

 

3. Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers are by far the most talented team in the West.  But talent doesn't always win out.  With all the new personnel and a new offensive system, The  Lakers will use the regular season to experiment and figure each other out.  Steve Nash won't look exactly like the Steve Nash of old, and the Nash-Kobe Bryant alliance will be an uneasy one, especially at first.  We haven't heard the last of Dwight Howard and his back problems.  Ron Artest looks slimmer, but he will continue to struggle to contribute.  The Lakers will figure things out in time for the playoffs, but they will not dominate the West in the regular season.

4. Los Angeles Clippers

Chris Paul will be Chris Paul.  The chemistry of the team will be good, especially with Chauncey Billups back and active.  Eric Bledsoe will prove that he could start for half the teams in the league.  Blake Griffin will continue to expand his game, and the Griffin-Love debate will intensify.  Lamar Odom will wash out, but it won't matter.  Chris Paul knows the value of home court advantage, especially in this loaded West, and he won't take as many games off, which will lead to a major MVP push for him.

 5. Denver Nuggets

This team will be good, but not as good as many people think. Iggy will be exactly as good as he was in Philadelphia.  George Karl will have the team humming on offense.  There will be a lot of inconsistency in the front court, and Javale McGee will continue to be a project. Ty Lawson will have another outstanding season and his legacy will continue to grow, barring injury.

6. Memphis Grizzlies

When the most exciting news around your team is that Justin Timberlake is the new owner, you might be in trouble.  The championship window for the Grizzlies has slammed shut, if they ever had one.  As talented as he is, no team can win a championship with Rudy Gay as the best player.  The Grizzlies will miss OJ Mayo more than people realize.  Marc Gasol has challenged for the title of best Gasol brother in recent years, but Pau will reclaim that title with a vengeance this year. Zach Randolph will continue to put up empty numbers.

 

7. Dallas Mavericks

Dirk is enough.  The German will be as good as ever, and that will be enough for the Mavericks to squeeze into the playoffs, provided they don't resort to tanking.  There is a lot of charm to this hastily assembled roster, and Mavs fans will really latch on to them.  The Mavs will continue to be a solid and underrated defensive collective.  Mark Cuban will do or say something controversial.  I can't believe an NBA team will start Eddy Curry in 2012.

 8. Utah Jazz

The Jazz will be healthy all year, and that is enough to give them the edge over the young Timberwolves for the eighth and final playoff spot.  Mo Williams will take a lot of ill-advised shots, but he will make his fair share of them.  The Jazz frontcourt will continue to terrorize.  Paul Millsap will continue to be underrated.  Derrick Favors will continue to mature, and become inarguably their best player.

Playoffs:

Spurs vs. Jazz - Spurs in 5

Thunder vs. Mavericks - Thunder in 4

Lakers vs. Grizzles - Lakers in 6

Clippers vs. Nuggets - Clippers in 7

Spurs vs. Clippers - Spurs in 6 

Thunder vs. Lakers - Lakers in 7

Spurs vs. Lakers - Lakers in 6

Spurs Halloween Costume Power Rankings

 

In case you missed it, the above picture was tweeted out yesterday by Captain Jack himself, Spurs swingman Stephen Jackson.  It is a picture of several San Antonio Spurs players decked out in full Halloween garb, and it is awesome.  So awesome in fact that I probably spent as much time examining this picture as I did the blockbuster trade yesterday that sent James Harden to the Houston Rockets.  There are a number of factors that make this image so intriguing.  First is that these costumes are doing absolutely nothing to dispel my impression of the Spurs as slightly dorky.  They say that a team tends to take on the identity of it's best player, and that certainly seems to be the case with the Spurs and our Starcraft-loving team captain himself, Timmy D, a.k.a. 'Merlin'.  Of the nine individuals fully visibly in this picture, a whopping six of them are comic book characters, and a seventh is a video game character.  What other team in the NBA could have possibly boasted that kind of ratio of comic book-based costumes to non-comic book-based costumes for Halloween 2012?  I dare say none.  But just to be sure, we should get the advanced stats guys to create a metric for this ASAP (I'm talking to you, Hollinger).  

I spent quite some time asking myself if there was some kind of theme to this Spurs costume party, and I found myself coming up empty time and time again.  My first guess would have been comic book characters. But that doesn't explain what the hell Super Mario and the Zorros are doing there.  Then I thought maybe we were doing a "hero" theme.  Well, unless Tiago Splitter and Stephen Jackson are laying some pretty heavy social commentary on us about the nature of good and evil, and what it means to be a hero, I'm certain The Jokers do not qualify.  Then I thought maybe we were doing a "twins" thing.  There are, after all, two Zorros, two Jokers, and two Kick-Asses.  But then Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Cory Joseph had to go and screw that up with their solitary selves.  Oh well, I give up.  I guess there is no theme.  Of course, that does beg the question of why there are two Zorros, two Jokers, and two Kick-Asses.  Is it all coincidence?  Is there some kind of sly statement being made?  Are the Spurs' just really uncreative, as boring with their costume choices as many NBA fans would have us to believe they are on the court?  I suppose we'll never really know.  And I've wasted more than enough time thinking about it.  In any case, on to the power rankings!

Artistic rendering of Cory Joseph as Mario

5.  Cory Joseph (I think) as Super Mario

I do dig this costume.  Cory may have actually put the most effort into his Halloween outfit.  The hat, gloves, the overalls, there is a lot going on here.  But Joseph loses points for lack of creativity.  The Mario costume has been done, done, and done again.  Anybody wearing one at this point is just swagger jackin' Ron Jeremy, which is never a good thing.  And Cory, what is with the mean mug?  Why are you standing off all to the side?  If you're going to wear the outfit, at least get a little into character young fella'.

4. Matt Bonner (?) and Gary Neal (?) as Kick-Ass

I tried to put some separation between these two guys somehow, but in the end I just couldn't.  Both Kick-Asses have their distinct advantages.  The guy at the bottom, who I think might be Gary Neal, has arguably the coolest action pose out of anybody.  And the gentleman at the top I am assuming to be Matt Bonner based on height.  And just the thought of Matt Bonner inside that suit is enough to bring a smile to my face and earn him the coveted no. four spot in the power rankings.

3. Punisher Timmy

The affinity Mr. Duncan has for The Punisher is well-documented.  So he gets bonus points for his special connection to the costume.  At first, I thought the outfit was a little lazy; just a Punisher t-shirt and a long coat.  But upon further inspection, the random straps down in the pant area, and the fake gun really push this one over the edge.  Plus, the man is Timmy D.  More than enough cred to ease into the three spot.

2. Stephen Jackson as The Joker

On first glance, Tiago Splitter and Stephen Jackson are wearing the same costume here.  And on second glance, too.  Because it is the same costume.  But there is one vital difference: Tiago Splitter is Tiago Splitter.  And Stephen Jackson is Stephen effin' Jackson. Just look at the crazed eyes of the Cap'n in this photograph.  Tiago Splitter looks like an overgrown ICP fan.  Jackson looks like he would have Batman running in the other direction if they met up in Gotham.  In addition, Jackson posted all these photos to Twitter in the first place, so I couldn't do these power rankings without him.  Just look at the way he makes love to the camera; the exact same way he makes love to pressure.

1. Tony Parker as Nick Fury

This is a great friggin' costume.  Now granted, upon first glimpsing Tony in all black brandishing a gun and wearing an eye patch, I thought he was simply going back to the same club from that fateful night in search of revenge against Drake and his entourage (this time with adequate eye protection!).  But when I recognized the joke, I laughed my ass off.  This costume is pretty unique while still being instantly recognizable, is convincing and yet still functions on a meta level that many people won't even appreciate.  And I always appreciate an athlete who can enjoy a joke at his own expense.  Bravo, Tony, bravo.  You've earned the number one spot.  Good luck finding an even dorkier costume to wear next year, you big French dork.

Movie Review - The Expendables 2

The Expendables 2 (2012)

Director: Simon West

Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li

The first Expendables movie wasn't very good.  And I say that as someone who had been really looking forward to it.  I'm an enormous fan of 80s action flicks, and mindless action in general.  Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis, I love all those guys.  And Jason Statham is a more recent favorite of mine as well.  So the staggering mediocrity of Expendables was heartbreaking for me.  The movie had so many huge personalities, and yet somehow managed to be so bland and forgettable.  The movie was so bad in fact that I prayed there wouldn't be a sequel.  Because when a movie I don't care about is bad, it doesn't bother me one bit.  But I couldn't stand the prospect of getting my hopes up for another Expendables movie, only to be disappointed again.  Unfortunately for me, Expendables 2 was announced before I even had time to recover from my shock at the failure of the first movie. 

Surprisingly though, Expendables 2 manages to accomplish the rare sequel feat of surpassing its predecessor in quality (something many of the action movies series' to which Expendables pays tribute certainly failed to do).  Sylvester Stallone wrote, directed, and starred in Expendables, and I fear he may taken on too much with the first movie.  So Stallone made perhaps the first vital step towards ensuring the quality of it's sequel when he stepped down as director.  Simon West takes over directing duties for this one, and proves more than competent in doing so.  Stallone does get writing credit for Expendables 2, but his writing partner has changed, and thus I assume that screenwriter Richard Wenk can be credited for the dramatic improvement of the writing between this movie and the first one.  I don't expect the dialogue in this sort of movie to be of Shakespearean quality, but I would like something a little better than the grade-school level lines spouted by the characters in the first Expendables.  By comparison, the characters in Expendables 2 sound like characters in a Tarantino flick.

Not to say that everything is smooth sailing.  Some of the conversation certainly seems forced, and the one-lingers are frequently cringe-worthy (in a bad way).  The frequently shoe-horned in inside jokes and references to other movies are also a little overdone (although I must admit, this movie made me laugh at a Chuck Norris joke...in 2012).  The entire sequence in the plane with Liam Hemsworth  (am I the only who struggles keeping up with which Hemsworth is which?) was also laughable for all the wrong reasons.  It was designed to develop Hemsworth's character and provide some exposition, but it was all far too obvious and cheesy, even for this movie.  When he reached the end of his war-time sob story and randomly threw in the fact that, to top it all off, his adopted dog had been killed too, I nearly laughed out loud at the transparent attempt of this movie to drum up sympathy for a character who would obviously be killed or taken hostage at some point later.

For the most part though, Expendables 2 flows nicely.  The action sequences, as you would expect, are good, although a little same-feeling.  Statham once again stands out as one of the few cast members young and talented enough to do something other than fire a gun while yelling intensely. And while these movies are typically short on character development (by design), there is some, particularly for the characters portrayed by Dolph Lundgren and Terry Crews.  One problem with the first movie was that there was just so much going on, and too many characters, which is one reason I don't blame director Stallone for faltering.  An unfortunate side effect of that was that many characters felt short-changed or under-utilized, but there is less of that here.  Pretty much everyone gets some chance to shine, except again for poor Jet Li, but that is forgivable given that he parachutes out of a plane about fifteen minutes into the movie and is never seen again. 

As promised, there is a lot more Bruce Willis and a lot more Schwarzenegger in this one, and I have to admit it was really fun to see all those guys on the screen at once gunning down bad guys.  Chuck Norris is also OK for what little screen time he has, and Jean-Claude Van Damme is, surprisingly, a very solid, if not generic, villain.  I couldn't help but marvel, and at times be distracted by, how good most of these guys look, considering nearly all of them are well over sixty years old.  Score another one for Hollywood movie magic.

So in the end, perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay Expendables 2 is that I am actually looking forward to the sequel this time.  I'm also looking forward to discovering what random seemingly over the hill action stars will be added to the mix this time.  I just hope for our sakes that Stallone stays out of the directing chair for part three, and also that none of the principal actors break a hip before filming can start.  Good luck, Sly.

Verdict: 7/10

 

The Walking Dead - Season 3, Episode 1 "Seed"

In watching "Seed", I couldn't help but be struck by far how television has come in the last decade or so.  These days, production values in The Walking Dead far exceed a lot of theatrical movies.  The makeup artists of this show continue to find a way to top themselves.  You would think after three seasons I would be accustomed to the high quality of the zombie effects in Walking Dead, but I continue to be newly blown away every episode.  I'm also consistently amazed by the level of violence and gore that this show is able to get away with.  I'm mostly unfazed by that sort of thing in television and movies, but the final scene with Hershel in this episode was truly cringe-worthy (in a good way).

Yes, say what you will about the sometime shaky plot or characterization of The Walking Dead, but the accomplishments of this show from a technical standpoint are undeniable.  The music, sound effects, makeup and prosthetic work are truly mind-blowing.  Additionally, while the show has struggled to maintain a consistent or intriguing storyline at times, the action scenes have always been impressive.  "Seed" was an encouraging start to the season, primarily because it gave us plenty of what fans were yearning for doing all those "stuck on the farm" episodes of season two: action.  Rick and the gang spend the majority of this episode on the move and being proactive, with lots of zombie slaying and a minimum of excessive jabbering or proselytizing. 

I don't know if Walking Dead can keep up this pace for the duration of season 3.  I know that, similar to Game of Thrones, budget concerns have prevented there from being more episodes like this in the past (although with the ratings this show has, I think the creators should have a blank check at this point).  But I hope that we can have more tense, action-driven episodes like this one.  And in between all that theoretical action, some character development.  Unfortunately, we are three seasons into this show, and the majority of the characters are, to me at least, still some unfortunate combination of undefined or unlikeable.  The formula should be to establish the characters not through the talky, preachy scenes that we saw too much of in season two, but via there actions and behavior, with the occasional timely bit of exposition via dialogue thrown in for good measure.  If Walking Dead can follow that formula, the show will start to get attention from me for more than all the impressive zombie-killing action it has perfected.

Movie Review - 21 Jump Street

  21 Jump Street (2012)

Director: Phil Lord, Chris Miller

Starring: Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Brie Larson

21 Jump Street is a movie I had been looking forward since it came out in theaters.  It's a remake/sequel/reboot of a largely forgotten 80s television series, and it stars Channing Tatum.  Given those details, I wasn't expecting much in the way of quality when I first heard about it.  But surprisingly, the movie got very solid reviews upon release (currently holding a very impressive 85% fresh rating over at Rotten Tomatoes), and became another hit for "C-Tates" in what was kind of a breakout year for him.  Whenever a movie seemingly defies expectations like that, I'm interested to see it.  I love it when a movie comes out of nowhere and becomes a hit, or at least a critical success.  So I was very curious to see 21 Jump Street.  And I wasn't disappointed at all.  The humor can be a bit sophomoric at times to be certain, but I can enjoy a little gross-out humor as much as the next guy. And aside from that, 21 Jump Street, while not a revelation in anyway, is a very solid and entertaining comedy that does exactly what it wants to do, and well.

 

As essentially a buddy cop movie, the success of 21 Jump Street was always going to rely somewhat on the two stars, Tatum and Jonah Hill.  The formula isn't new: 48 Hrs, Rush Hour, Lethal Weapon, they've all done it before.  And the main reason those movies succeeded where other buddy cops failed was because of the chemistry and performance of the main characters.  Luckily, Tatum and Hill have that chemistry.  I don't think that Tatum is a great comedic actor (at least not based on what I saw in this movie), but he is likeable, charismatic, and lucky enough to be playing a role in this movie that (I'm guessing) isn't too far from his actual persona.  Hill I've enjoyed before in Superbad as the loveable doofus, and he brings the same energy to 21 Jump Street.  The two play off each other very well and I would actually be interested in a sequel to this movie, to see how they develop the two characters and their relationship (development that likely wouldn't happen, but I can wish).

 

21 Jump Street hit a home run in casting not only the main characters, but the supporting cast as well.  There was really no one who stood out to me as being particular bad or unfunny in this movie. I was pleasantly surprised to see familiar faces like Nick Offerman, Ellie Kemper, and Chris Parnell pop in roles of various significance, and they were all very funny with the material they were given.  Kemper in particular was hilarious as a somewhat bipolar teacher who is sexually infatuated with Channing Tatum's character.  I have a feeling many people might not appreciate Ice Cube in this movie, but I actually thought he was very funny (the first time I have ever thought that I think, for the record).  His police chief was sort of a winking nod to the types of stereotypical characters that often show up in these movies, and I thought it worked.  That kind of meta humor is very prominent in 21 Jump Street, and one of the things I enjoyed the most about it.  If you're going to make a movie like this in 2012, you shouldn't take yourself very seriously, and 21 Jump Street greatly succeeds in that respect.  If you're looking for a light comedy that is entertaining without being insulting to your intelligence, and may actually surprise you with how smart it is at times, then I would highly recommend 21 Jump Street.

Verdict: 7/10

 

Movie Review - Halloween

   Halloween (1978)

Director: John Carpenter

Starring: Donald Pleasance, Jamie Lee Curtis, PJ Soles

Halloween is a movie that I can't help but love.  To begin with, I'm a horror movie nut.  70s horror movies in particular are my bag.  Movies like this one, The Shining, and Alien are like sacred artifacts to me.  Furthermore, I love me some John Carpenter.  And not just because of his Kentucky ties.  How can you argue with the man responsible for The Thing, Escape from New York, and They Live, just to name a few?  The failed Rob Zombie remake of a few years ago only deepened my appreciation for this classic.  And I'm no Rob Zombie hater.  I actually liked House of 1000 Corpses, and Devil's Rejects.  But his attempt to remake this movie was a disgrace.

To be sure, there is a lot of baggage associated with Halloween that sometimes prevents it from getting the appreciation it deserves.  The original Nightmare on Elm Street, a film heavily influenced by this one, is in a similar position.  Both movies and their main characters have become ensconced in the pop culture consciousness the way few other films ever have.  The point is that, since being released in 1978, Halloween has been the source of countless sequels, remakes, parodies, and satires.  And unfortunately, most of them have been garbage.  Because of that, it can sometimes be easy to forget just how great this first Halloween movie is. 

I know I've seen this movie, or parts of it, probably 50 or more times. It has been a staple through the year on basic cable networks like the SyFy, Spike TV, AMC, and the like.  Because of that, I, like many people, have grown to take it for granted in a way.  That's why I cherished the opportunity recently, with October 31st nearing, to put the movie into my Blu-Ray player, turn off the lights, and simply enjoy it from beginning to end.  I was a little worried it may not have aged well.  Of course, I should have known better.  Great movies are timeless.  And Halloween is a great friggin' movie.

So what does this movie have going for it?  The answer is a lot.  As I mentioned, it is expertly directed by the legendary John Carpenter.  It has arguably the greatest horror movie soundtrack ever (that theme song never gets old, or less chilling, no matter how many times I hear it).  It has the greatest opening credits sequence of any horror movie ever.  And it has the greatest horror movie heroine ever (with the possible exception of Ellen Ripley), the incredible Jamie Lee Curtis in her first major movie role ever.

All that is before I mention the simple, effective story, the latent symbolism and social commentary that marked all movies of this era, and the sheer terrifying evil-ness of The Shape himself, Michael Myers.  This movie is so influential that horror flicks are still taking their cues from it over 30 years later.  High school kids being promiscuous, getting stoned, and being served up on a platter to a knife-wielding psychopath is hardly ground-breaking materials these days, but you have to remember that this is one of the first, if not the first, case of a movie being made like this ever.

And, with no computers and a shoestring budget (apparently they spent $300,000 making this movie, and I found myself wondering where it all went), this movie does it better than practically any modern horror movie.  Carpenter is a master of pacing and atmosphere, and he uses both expertly throughout Halloween.  Watching the movie in 2012, I was literally shocked by how little actually happens.  Michael Myers doesn't get down to killing until the 1/4 or so, and even then, the body count is a scant 5 or 6 slain teenagers.  Watching this movie on basic cable, I always assumed there was a ton of blood and gore I was missing out on, but that wasn't really the case at all. 

Instead, Carpenter uses darkness, lighting, and creative camera angles to make sure that what we don't see we imagine to be all the more terrifying than what we actually do.  And every time Myers pops into frame, off to the side or on the background, and that familiar theme music kicks in, it builds suspense in a way that is far more terrifying than any actual death could have.  Between those moments and Dr. Loomis' consistent monologues about the evil nature of his patient, it is the terror of anticipation, of what we know is about to happen, that proves most affecting to any audience watching Halloween.  And when Laure Strode finally meets up with her fate in Michael Myers at the end of the film, it makes that entire relatively short sequence all the more horrifying.

Like many independent films of the 1970s and 1980s, Halloween is a living testament to the trans formative power of less is more.  And it should serve as an inspiration to all aspiring filmmakers out there as well; you don't need much more than time, a good idea, and a little creativity to make a truly classic movie.

Verdict: 8/10

 

Lakers-Clippers article for The Good Point

 

Here it is: http://thegoodpoint.com/2012/10/lakers-clippers-rivalry/