Good Point - Charlotte Hornets: Where to go from here

http://thegoodpoint.com/charlotte-hornets-bobcats/

CinemaNerdz - Examining Iron Man 3 and its place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

http://cinemanerdz.com/examining-iron-man-3-and-its-place-in-the-marvel-cinematic-universe/

Good Point: The Russell Westbrook Injury in Context

http://thegoodpoint.com/2013/05/russell-westbrook-injury/

Good Point - How the 2004 Detroit Pistons live on today

http://thegoodpoint.com/2013/04/2004-detroit-pistons/

Movie Review - Terminator

  Terminator (1984)

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, Linda Hamilton

Over the years, a debate has raged within me about which is the superior film: Terminator or Terminator 2: Judgment Day.  That debate has a personal significance for me exceeding the one between Godfather and Godfather II.  My opinion on the matter has flip-flopped a number of times over the years, but for the most part Judgment Day has gotten the nod as my preferred film (by a hair).  That isn't a knock against the first Terminator by any means.  T2 is probably one of my five desert island movies.  Meaning if I had to live the rest of my life with only five movies to watch, Terminator 2 would more than likely be one of them. Obviously, I regard T2 pretty highly.  In spite of that, though, Terminator is right there with it in my mind.  In other words, this is a really good movie.

Terminator hits a lot of my sweet spots as a movie lover.  To begin with, I can’t get enough of sci-fi flicks that take place in a dystopian future.  The 80's was a golden era for such movies, and Terminator is right there in the bleak, futuristic science-fiction movie Hall of Fame (along with other greats like Blade Runner and Escape from New York).  I also love slasher films (again the 80's being a particular era of worship), and the T-800 is essentially Michael Myers with an assault rifle.  I've never heard anything specific about James Cameron drawing inspiration from slasher films when he made Terminator, but it’s hard to believe he didn't,  especially given the popularity of that genre during this era.  The pattern is just too familiar (unstoppable, inscrutable killer picks off sinners one by one before finally being overcome by the innocent, seemingly fragile heroine). 

Finally, I adore B-movies.  And Terminator is very much a B-movie.  It’s a creature feature with a robot assassin standing in for The Creature from the Black Lagoon.  Stop-motion animation, gruesome makeup effects, and a shoestring budget are all qualities Terminator shares with contemporary B-movie classics like The Thing.  Of course, in 2013, it is eminently weird to think about “King of the World” James Cameron directing a B-movie.  In fact, the IMDb trivia page for this movie says Cameron was essentially homeless when he made Terminator.  Certainly, the alleged $6 million budget of the movie was probably exceeded by catering costs on the set of Avatar. 

But, as we all know, movies are like sports: the hungriest (both literally and figuratively) competitors tend to be the best.  And there is simply a passion for film making on the part of the director that is readily apparent in Terminator.  And one wonders to what degree Cameron possesses that anymore.  Like other directors, the quality of Cameron’s movies has generally decreased as the budgets have grown (see Lucas, George).  Also like other directors, Cameron seems as entranced by new technologies and actual film making equipment as he is with the art of film making (see Jackson, Peter). 

But Terminator will forever remain evidence of just how good Cameron can be when he is on.  The movie is perfectly cast (I continue to believe to this day that Arnold Schwarzenegger was literally born to play this role).  The action scenes are straightforward, yet innovative.  Die Hard gets a lot of credit for ushering in the modern era of action films, but every North American action movie that features a gun-toting, one-man wrecking crew owes a debt of gratitude to Terminator (and First Blood).  The story is intriguing (and one of the best time travel related plotlines ever), while not being confusing.  And, largely due to the incredible music and special effects, Terminator is tense as hell from beginning to end.  Not to mention the fact that Schwarzenegger is absolutely terrifying (something you can appreciate even more after the intervening thirty years of wisecracking, wink-and-a-smile Arnold we've come to love since.)

More than likely, James Cameron will never make another film as good as Terminator (or Aliens, or even True Lies for that matter).  But maybe that’s OK.  Most directors are lucky to retire with just one true classic under their belt.  Cameron has at least two, and perhaps more depending on how you look at it.  And producing films as mind-bending as Terminator, ones that are simultaneously genre-defying and genre-defining, may be best left to younger, "hungrier" filmmakers.  Yes, maybe James Cameron will never make another Terminator.  But we can hope.

Verdict: 9/10

Movie Review - Lincoln

  Lincoln (2012)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn

The first thing that struck me about Lincoln is the impressive cast: Day-Lewis, Field, Jones, Spader, Gordon-Levitt. And the list goes on.  The movie is quite obviously Oscar bait:  a legendary director and a host of respected actors making a biopic usually screams Academy Award trophy (see Ray, Capote, Milk, etc.).  Unfortunately, Lincoln isn't as good as any of these movies.  Instead, it's a somewhat mediocre film made remarkable only by a handful of incredible performances

Foremost among those performances is obviously Best Actor Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln.  In modern-day Hollywood, a lot of actors are overrated.  And a lot of actors are underrated.  And then there is Daniel Day-Lewis.  An actor who has unofficially come to be considered our greatest living actor (with apologies to the twin towers of DeNiro and Pacino), and yet still manages to be evaluated appropriately.  Abraham Lincoln is a legendary historical figure, and yet there is a not insignificant chance that the man himself couldn't have lived up to the incredible portrayal of Day-Lewis in this film.  The Irish actor utterly loses himself in the role of Lincoln. And his passion, thoughtfulness, and intelligence are palpable in a performance that is just the right balance of forceful and restrained.  He is every bit as charismatic as the real-life Lincoln must have been.   

As good as Day-Lewis is though, the cast of veteran actors around him are not overshadowed.  Tommy Lee Jones is solid (although perhaps not quite as amazing as advertised), Sally Field is a revelation, and lots of others (David Strathairn, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, and Jackie Earle Haley among them) impress as well in the brief screen time that they have.  Unfortunately, one of the few not so strong performances is turned in by youngster Joseph Gordon-Levitt.  In his defense, the role of Robert Todd Lincoln is far from a meaty one.  The entire story line involving Lincoln's oldest son seems a little tacked-on, and JGL's appearances could all be described as alternately "angsty" or "whiny".  But Gordon-Levitt, for his part, doesn't do much to rise above the material.  

And the material in Lincoln is intrinsically flawed.  One trait that most Oscar-baiting films share is a sense for the dramatic.  They are emotionally overwrought, designed to pull on the heartstrings.  Lincoln has a little of that.  It is genuinely moving in parts.  But, by and large, it is emotionally vacant.  I respect Spielberg for not going the cheesy, tearjerker route.  But there is a balance to be found between cheese and genuine emotion.  And without the emotional heart of other Spielberg historical epics like Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List, Lincoln just falls a little flat.  

Ultimately, the movie is sufficient, but a little boring.  Spielberg (and the cast, including Day-Lewis), obviously respect Lincoln and his legacy greatly, and they have succeed in creating what appears to be a highly accurate depiction of this period of Lincoln's life.  But I often felt as if I was watching a documentary.  That in itself not a terrible thing, but I think that movies should aspire to something more (particularly where a legend like Spielberg is concerned).  Overall, Lincoln is worth watching for the powerful performance of Day-Lewis alone.  And from a technical standpoint, the entire film is a triumph.  Just don't expect that sort of unforgettable emotional response that only the great films can truly deliver.

Verdict: 6/10

Walking Dead - Season 3, Episode 12 - Clear

The Walking Dead is a show that gets a lot of criticism for what it doesn't do well.  Unfortunately, being popular makes it an easy target.  The fact that seemingly everyone is watching this show and talking about it, coupled with with the fact it isn't the most highbrow entertainment out there (especially when compared to AMC counterpart Mad Men), means that detractors are especially eager to jump on the show when it's "bad".  If only those same individuals were as willing to give the show a little credit when it's good.

"Clear" is a very good episode of Walking Dead.  It succeeds on many different levels, and does a pretty good job of playing to the strengths of the show that many would deny even exist.  On first glance, the concept for this episode doesn't seem like a home run.  Most of the action this season has centered around Woodbury and the prison, and neither are present here.  Many characters that have been central to the action of this season (The Governor, Andrea, Merle, etc.) are nowhere to be found.  In fact, the only series regulars that appear at all are Rick, Carl, and Michonne.  Not the most likely of combinations, and not one that would seemed destined to produce much dramatic fireworks.  

But the producers took a risk centering "Clear" around these three characters, and it works splendidly.  One of the more underrated aspects of the show over the years has been the relationship between Rick and his son.  Granted, the Grimes family as a whole has been a little hit and miss.  Lorie was annoying from the start. Rick has often ventured into that territory himself.  And Carl may have been the worst of all until season three.  But the relationship between Rick and Carl has always rung true, and there is an understated, yet effective, chemistry between Andrew Lincoln and Chandler Riggs.  That chemistry is one reason this episode works.  

I mentioned earlier that Carl ceased to be annoying in season three.  Indeed, I would actually go so far as to say that his improvement as a character has been the one of the highlights of this season thus far.  There aren't a lot of great child actors, and I don't think Chandler Riggs is one of them, but he has grown as an actor, and his portrayal of Carl has been solid.  He is quite good in "Clear", too.  Given the established chemistry of Lincoln and Riggs, throwing Michonne into the mix is an interesting decision, but I like it.  

For a show with a fairly large ensemble cast, Walking Dead has a tendency to get stuck in a rut in terms of what characters are interacting with each other.  Lost would often have those random episodes where two characters who don't normally run in the same circles would be thrown into a mission together.  "Clear" reminds me of the Walking Dead equivalent of that.  The result is that a character like Michonne has a chance to shine in this very focused episode.  The introduction of the Michonne character was one of the most highly anticipated events of season three, and it's safe to say her character been somewhat of a flop overall.  But she is humanized a bit in this episode, and it isn't a coincidence that she becomes much more interesting as a result. 

So "Clear" works because of the compelling relationship between Rick and Carl, and because Michonne is the most intriguing that she has been in some time.  But it also works because of the way it incorporates the lore of the show.  The Walking Dead isn't the most dense show out there; it's no Game of Thrones in that regard.  But we are three seasons deep now, and it was fun to revisit some of the character(s) and locales from previous episodes.  It gave some insight into how far we've come (and how much Rick and Carl have changed, for better or worse).  One area that Walking Dead has always excelled has been it's relative lack of dead ends from a story line perspective.  Certainly, that is one by-product of not being a very dense show, but it is impressive nonetheless.

Merle, Sophia, now Morgan, all these characters seemed like they were gone for good at some point, only to wander back into the action and receive a proper send-off.  Other, superior shows like The Wire and The Sopranos struggled with unresolved story lines (Lost goes without mentioning).  The Walking Dead should receive credit for excelling in that area.  Unfortunately, not every episode can be like "Clear" or the main story would never progress, but the show could learn something going forward from the hyper-focused approach of this episode.  We can also only hope that Michonne will continue to become more interesting and live up to her promise as a character following this breakout episode.  Either way, after a relatively quiet entry like "Clear", and with only a few episodes remaining in season three, things should pick up considerably in the next episode.  It should be exciting.