Monthly Archives: June 2016

NBA Finals: The Dubs without Day Day

Yesterday the NBA announced that it had upgraded Draymond Green’s non-foul against Draymond Green to a Flagrant 1. That led to a hilarious day on Twitter with people talking about “hurt feelings” and “taking the high road” culminating it what may have been the most hilarious tweet of the day from NBA First Lady, Ayesha Curry:

“High Road. invisible bridge used to step over said person when open floor is available left to right.”

My only comment is that the high road is usually taken without declaration. I’m pretty sure that by letting people know that you’re traversing said road, you immediately get booted off by high road patrol and land on either the mid-level or low road… Continue reading →

NBA Finals: Closeout Time

Game 4 went about as expected. The score belies how close the game was. However, that’s the thing with the Warriors – you can’t let them stay close. They either get blown out or they win. If you thought their 38.6 clutch rating in the regular season was insane, try wrapping your head around a 49.3 rating in the playoffs (For those who don’t know, a 49.3 rating means that the Warriors would outscore a team by 49.3 points if they played at that level for 100 possessions, the average amount of possessions in an NBA game). They just don’t lose close games. The Cavs did not play a particularly terrible game, in fact, during the quarter where the flow shifted, they held the Dubs to 36% shooting (giving up 6 threes to the Splash Bros will do that to you…). But to beat the Warriors, you have to play great for 48 minutes. And sometimes, even that’s not enough. Now the Cavs face a closeout game in Oakland – where the Warriors have lost only once during the playoffs and three times during the entire season to this point. What do they need to clean up to get a win? Continue reading →

QUICK TAKE: The Wailing

Title: The Wailing | Rated: Not Rated | Runtime: 156 min | Theaters limited (expanding)

If you want to explore world cinema, I cannot recommend South Korean films enough. Being Korean myself, I admit my bias, but there’s no denying that this nation’s film industry has progressed in leaps and bounds since the turn of the century. Auteurs like Bong Joon-ho, Kim Jee-woon, and Park Chan-wook have gifted cinephiles with pictures that are as exquisite as they are twisted, and as moving as they are weird. Filmmaker Na Hong-jin, who made a big splash eight years ago with his thrilling tale The Chaser, now joins their ranks. His 2010 follow-up, The Yellow Sea, is decent if not emotionally distant and forgettable, though it does offer glimpses of his storytelling sensibilities and vision. However, it’s his latest feature, The Wailing, that firmly cements Na among the great modern Korean auteurs; he’s at the top of his game here, mastering tone to craft an engrossing story, and he comes close to making his best film to date.

Continue reading →

NBA Finals: Thoughts after Game 3

That’s just nuts right there… he dunked that.

The Cavs turned in a dominant performance and throttled the Warriors to the tune of a 30-point victory in Cleveland last night. As good as the Warriors have been, it’s incredible to think that the Warriors are 2-6 in game 3s during the Kerr era. They lost Game 3s to the: Grizzlies, Rockets, Cavs (twice), Blazers, and the Thunder. They have now lost five straight game 3s. This is all to say that as a Warriors fan I am not too concerned. The problems in last night’s game are easily fixed by stronger rotations (Kerr… DEATH LINEUP) and even more so, better effort and execution. Much will be talked about the scoring efforts of the Cavs but the more interesting adjustments happened on the defensive side of the ball. Here are some quick thoughts on how the Cavs put the hurt on the Warriors: Continue reading →

10 Things I Like and Dislike – TMNT: Out of the Shadows

I went into this movie with tempered expectations. The trailers looked good. It looked like they were going to fix the mistakes of the first movie (incoherent story, terrible dialogue, an attempt to be too serious) and make something worthy of the cartoons I loved when I was growing up. After watching the movie, my wife and I looked at each other and in very shocked tones said, “I really liked it.” There were two reasons we were shocked. The first, we were expecting the movie to be garbage. The second, this was not a great movie, but it we loved it anyway. Continue reading →

NBA Finals: Thoughts going into Game 2

One game is in the books and the Warriors have taken what feels like more than a 1-0 series lead on the Cavs. Despite holding the Splash Brothers to a combined 20 points for the game, the Cavs let the Warriors bench score 45 points and the Dubs pulled away from the Cavs to win by 15. After watching the game, I think the Cavs are still in it but there are some significant concerns based off their performance and Coach Lue’s, “I like how we played them” demeanor after the game: Continue reading →

10 Things I Like and Dislike

In the midst of my NBA Playoff obsession, I took an evening to watch X-Men: Apocalypse. With the knowledge that MBP’s local film buff and cinema-snob-extraordinaire has posted his own in-depth review of the film, I just wanted to put out a quick take on the most recent foray into the X-Men universe. Continue reading →

NBA Finals: Preview and Predictions

We’re finally here. The NBA Finals. Two number one seeds. The NBA got its wish – a rematch of the 2015 Finals. LeBron and his fully healthy Cavs against the 73-9 juggernaut, the Warriors. If the Cavs win, they ruin the Warriors bid for the greatest team of all time while also making the argument that, if healthy, they would have won last year. If the Warriors win, they can quiet all the naysayers who doubted their 2015 run as a product of fortunate health circumstances, not their play. Let’s jump in and see how both teams made it this far. Continue reading →

REVIEW: X-Men: Apocalypse

Title: X-Men: Apocalypse | Rated: PG-13 | Runtime: 144 min | Theaters nationwide

It’s not as embarrassing as Warner Bros.’ management of the DCEU (DC Extended Universe) thus far, but Fox’s handling of the X-Men franchise can generally be described as wasteful. With the exception of X2 and First Class, I’ve generally found the X-Men movies drab, forgettable, and emotionally distant, which says a lot considering that they constitute what will essentially be three trilogies and then some by the time 2017 (when the Wolverine sequel arrives) rolls around. That trend continues with X-Men: Apocalypse, a bloated and hollow film which takes several steps back for each step forward that it takes, making it easily one of the worst entries in the franchise.