My list of 2021 movies that I want to see is almost as long as the list of movies I have seen, but at some point you just need to say, “Here is what I’ve seen and loved.” And there was a lot to love about movies in 2021.
So, as we’re now starting to experience a proper winter, here are 10 films (no ranking) that you should seek out and find. Let’s get to it.
Continue reading “10 Great (But Maybe Not The Best Films ) Of 2021”
In an NBA season in which DeMar DeRozan has already had an insane amount of highlights, the Bulls star had himself a pretty impressive 24-hour stint.
Chicago fans cheered with glee as DeRozan, who was establishing himself as an impressive NBA star, joined the Bulls alongside Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. When the Bulls also grabbed Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso, there was something the United Center hadn’t felt in a great number of years: hope.
And DeRozan has lived up to the hype. He should absolutely be an all-star this year and needs to be in MVP consideration. He is someone who is producing for the Bulls, especially late in games. No player this year has scored more points in the fourth quarter than DeMar DeRozan. When it counts, he wants the ball. And he can almost always deliver.
Ok, let’s get into last week…
Continue reading “DeMar DeRozan had himself a pretty good 24 hours last week…”
Let’s just call this what it is, a dedication to suck. 2021 felt like a slow morphine drip of mediocrity, or better, 2021 was a terrible sitcom. And by that I mean, nothing really changed. The episode ended and everything just reverted back to what it was before the episode started. Nothing got better. Joe Biden is just folksy Donald Trump. Social media continues to melt brains. Social change continues to feel like it’s going in the wrong direction.
Continue reading “Brandon’s Best (and worst) of 2021”BOOM! With crazy-ass Al Davis, getting a great coach and keeping them is pure luck. He rolled 7’s to get John Madden. Madden was first hired as the Raiders Linebacker Coach then two years later moved up to the head coaching position to become – at the time – the youngest head coach ever at 32. He lasted 9 seasons with Al Davis, and took the Raiders to a Super Bowl, winning Super Bowl XI against the hapless Vikings 32-14 (yes the Vikings are hapless. They are the Bills of the NFC: 4 trips and 0 trophies).
Continue reading “The Great Gridiron in the Sky is Gifted a Legend”
There were just so many factors this past year that made it impossible to absorb as much media as I usually do. When you have a baby and a demanding job and the world is burning because of a fucking pandemic, it’s a little hard to get to the movie theater my usual 35-50 times a year. This isn’t to say that I don’t have a favorite movie (The Green Knight) or a favorite television episode (the 8th episode of the third season of Succession) or a favorite album (Tyler The Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost), but because I don’t feel like I’ve experienced enough pop culture, it’s hard to me to hold something up and say, “This is the best the year has to offer.”
Except when it comes to the best song of the year.
Continue reading “Standing Out By Fitting In: Why Olivia Rodrigo Made 2021’s Song Of The Year”
As the House committee on the events of domestic terrorism on January 6th of this year keep rolling on, we have rarely found ourselves surprised by any of the news or developments. Sure, the committee suggested that Steve Bannon, Roger Stone and Mark Meadows be indicted, but I’ve been suggesting that for those idiots for over a decade now. Can you indict someone for being a turd? No? Well, you should be able to.
However, real news happened yesterday when Congresswoman Liz Cheney revealed some of the texts sent to Meadows (then Chief Of Staff) on the day that democracy almost died. People were obviously calling for President Trump to do something; that’s not surprising. What is surprising is who was reaching out to Meadows: Fox News personalities Laura Ingraham, Brian Kilmeade and Sean Hannity. Oh, and also Donald Trump Jr., who shares such a similar name with the former president that one would almost be able to conclude that they are related.
The news shocked people and was one of the major stories this week. So, it came as no surprise that the media is covering this story 100% wrong.
Stupid, stupid media.
Continue reading “The REAL January 6th Story The Liberal Media Doesn’t Want You To Know About”Nostalgia has always been a mechanism by which people selectively remember history. Nostalgia is a form of currency. Nostalgia is the only reason Dane Cook ever existed. Remember Dane Cook? Remembering Dane Cook is a form of nostalgia.
No other holiday traffics in nostalgia quite like Christmas. And no Christmas nostalgia is complete without being forced to watch “A Christmas Story” every year.
Continue reading “It’s Time To Admit that “A Christmas Story” Is Trash”Generally during this time of year Major League Baseball fans such as I mull over their favorite team’s impending moves for the upcoming season. We’ll sit around the metaphorical stove and keep ourselves warm with loads of firewood, black coffee and baseball chatter. But right now, it’s quiet… too quiet.
Continue reading “The Hot Stove League is Cold”
On 30, Adele’s first album in six years, she grapples with the fallout from her divorce, both in herself and through the lens of her son. There is an art to bring pragmatically selfish. Trying to stay together for the child or separating, the inevitability of trauma forces those involved to consider their own needs as well. The nuance of mental health for all parties involved creates a void that is only filled by the realization that the best thing to do is often the worst thing to do. The album is a loose concept based on the reconciliation and justification of her big decision, and it’s one that hits close to home for a generation speeding headlong into middle age, trying desperately to not make the mistakes of our parents.
Continue reading “Still A Child: the Lost and Lonely Youth of Adele”
Of all the current filmmakers working today, I’m not sure that there is one with a more distinct style than Wes Anderson. Here’s what I mean by that: if there was some unearthed Anderson film the world had not seen, and you showed a scene of it, most people would be able to tell you who the director was. There’s something in the look, the dialogue, the score, the editing, and how it all blends together for a beautiful pastiche. I have often said that every frame of his 2012 masterpiece Moonrise Kingdom is so gorgeous that they could all go in an art museum. His failures (The Darjeeling Limited) are, at worst, “ambitious missteps” and his successes (The Royal Tannenbaums, Rushmore, The Grand Budapest Hotel and so on and so on and so on) are some of the best films of their years.
That is not to say that Anderson is not without his critics: people who think he is too cutesy or twee or quirky, sometimes at the sake of substance. I’m not dismissing all of those critics out of hand (though they all are wrong… and stupid… and probably ugly), but for those who do not like what Anderson has given, allow me to offer some advice about his latest film, The French Dispatch:
This film is not for you.
Continue reading “Fancy Boys Go To The Movies: The French Dispatch”
Fancy Boys Club 