What Should The Bears Do With Jay Cutler?

The short answer: Truthfully? I have no idea.

And frankly neither do you, because I don't think there is a correct answer to this question. Many Bears fans would disagree, and after back up Josh McCown defeated the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Monday Night in early November, a good majority of Bears fans decided they'd prefer to let Jay Cutler walk and stick with McCown.

After the 2013 NFL season concluded, that suggestion, which seemed extremely short sighted in the middle of the season, isn't a half bad suggestion at the end of the season. McCown started 5 games for the Bears and played in another 3. In that span he completed 66.5% of his passes, and he threw 13 TDs versus only one interception. He actually ended with THE BEST QBR out of every quarterback (including Peyton Manning) in 2013 with an 85.1 (out of 100).

However, during that span, he faced some pretty horrific defenses which included the Washington Redskins, Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, and Minnesota Vikings. He struggled against better defenses such as the St. Louis Rams and Baltimore Ravens.

I think the bigger question isn't whether Josh McCown will replace Jay Cutler if the Bears refuse to go after Cutler / don't sign him, but which quarterback will. It's no guarantee that McCown will even resign with the Bears. Not only are there reports that McCown will retire, but he is also now a free agent. Last year McCown made $865,000. Chances are good that he'll be able to get a few more sheckles than that from any other team in the league. If the Bears choose to make McCown their starter, even for the short term, they will still have to pay him like a starter.

Let's say that the Bears think Cutler is worth less than what he's asking for and McCown doesn't end up playing for the Bears- something that could easily happen. Who would then play quarterback for the Bears?

The Best Television Episodes Of 2013

We now live in an age of television where it's more about seasons as a whole as opposed to individual episodes. That's why I had no trouble writing my top 10 list of the best television shows in 2013, but had a little bit more trouble with this list. That being said, there were some pretty great episodes in 2013- including 2 series finales to some of the all time great sitcoms. Here's my list:

My Personal Pro Bowl Selections

NFC

Quarterback

STARTER: Drew Brees (NO)
BACK UPS: Cam Newton (CAR), Nick Foles (PHI)
APOLOGIES TO: Aaron Rodgers (GB), Matthew Stafford (DET)

Running Back

STARTER: Adrian Peterson (MIN)
BACK UPS: Marshawn Lynch (SEA), LeSean McCoy (PHI)
APOLOGIES TO: Matt Forte (CHI), Reggie Bush (DET)

Wide Receiver

STARTERS: Calvin Johnson (DET), Alshon Jeffrey (CHI)
BACK UPS: DeSean Jackson (PHI), Brandon Marshall (CHI)
APOLOGIES TO: Dez Bryant (DAL), Anquan Boldin (SF), Jordy Nelson (GB)

Tight End

STARTER: Jimmy Graham (NO)
BACK UP: Vernon Davis (SF)
APOLOGIES TO: Greg Olson (CAR), Jason Witten (DAL)

The Best Singles of 2013

10) Childish Gambino "3005"

I don't know why Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover aka Troy from Community) has to produce some of the most boring music videos (see: this, Heartbeat) but nevertheless, his songs are incredible. Gambino has great flow, catchy hooks, and probably the best rhymes and lyrics out of anyone currently in the rap game (sans Kanye). "3005" is quintessential Childish Gambino, and I wish his songs got more radio airplay, because they're so good.

Why The Cincinnati Bengals Will Win The 2014 Superbowl

Here are the Superbowl winning quarterback's between 2004 and 2013 as well as their age:

2004: Tom Brady (26)

2005: Tom Brady (27)

2006: Ben Roethlisberger (23)

2007: Peyton Manning (30)

2008: Eli Manning (27)

2009: Ben Roethlisberger (26)

2010: Drew Brees (30)

2011: Aaron Rodgers (27)
2012: Eli Manning (31)
2013: Joe Flacco (28)

Notice a trend? My confirmation bias does. QBs that win the Superbowl tend to be within the age of 26-30. Ben Roethlisberger was the youngest QB ever to win a Superbowl at the age of 23. While of course it's certainly possible for younger QBs to win it all, that's the outlier and not the norm. Eli Manning was a month into 31st year alive when he won the Superbowl in 2012.

I think this mainly means that QB's who are older in age do NOT win Superbowls. That's not to say they can't, it's just to say that they don't, at least not in recent years.

The Best Television Shows of 2013

10) Boardwalk Empire (HBO)- Season 4
Created by: Terrence Winter

I'm a huge supporter of Boardwalk Empire, and was screaming until I was blue in the face about how excellent Season 3 of the show was. Since its inception, Boardwalk Empire has just gotten better and better. At least for the first 3 seasons. I thought Season 4 was a huge step back for the show. For starters, there was no big bad for the show's "lead" Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi). Sure, Dr. Valentin Narcisse (Jeffrey Wright) was a great big bad for the show in general, however he mainly was the villain for Chalky White (Michael Kenneth Williams). And as much as I love Chalky (aka Omar from The Wire), I realized this season that I really enjoy him as a supporting player to Nucky, and I'm not a huge fan of him as a co-lead.

Boardwalk Empire has always been a show that was carried not by its lead, but by its more entertaining co-stars. And there's nothing wrong with that. Scrubs and How I Met Your Mother made excellent careers out of that dynamic. But now that many of the sub-players are in different states with little to no connection to Nucky Thompson, this show felt like more of a jumbled mess than Game of Thrones. Nucky Thompson is a pretty boring character by himself (as Season 4 has really brought to our attention), but the plot still needs to run through him for the show to work. It's still really good, but it didn't live up to its full potential in 2013.

2013 Emmy Week: Best Television Show

DRAMA

ACTUAL NOMINEES:

- Breaking Bad (Season 5.1) (AMC)
- Downton Abbey (Season 3) (PBS)
- Game Of Thrones (Season 3) (HBO)
- Homeland (Season 2) (Showtime)
- House of Cards (Season 1) (Netflix)
- Mad Men (Season 6) (AMC)

SURPRISE IT'S NOT NOMINATED: Boardwalk Empire (Season 3) (HBO)

SHOULD BE NOMINATED: Justified (Season 4) (FX)

2013 Emmy Week: Best Actors

DRAMA

ACTUAL NOMINEES:

- Hugh Bonneville as Robert Crawley (Downton Abbey)
- Bryan Cranston as Walter White (Breaking Bad)
- Jeff Daniels as Will McAvoy (The Newsroom)
- Jon Hamm as Don Draper (Mad Men)
- Damian Lewis as Sgt. Nicholas Brody (Homeland)
- Kevin Spacey as Rep. Frank Underwood (House Of Cards)

SURPRISED HE'S NOT NOMINATED: Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson (Boardwalk Empire)

SHOULD BE NOMINATED: Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens (Justified)

2013 Emmy Week: Best Actresses

DRAMA

ACTUAL NOMINEES:

- Connie Britton as Rayna James (Nashville)
- Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison (Homeland)
- Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Crawley (Downton Abbey)
- Vera Farmiga as Norma Louise Bates (Bates Motel)
- Elizabeth Moss as Peggy Olson (Mad Men)
- Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope (Scandal)
- Robin Wright as Claire Underwood (House of Cards)

SURPRISED SHE'S NOT NOMINATED: Juliana Marguiles (The Good Wife)

SHOULD BE NOMINATED: Keri Russell (The Americans)

2013 Emmy Week: Best Supporting Actors

DRAMA

ACTUAL NOMINEES:

- Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantrout (Breaking Bad)

- Bobby Cannavale as Gyp Rosetti (Boardwalk Empire)

- Jim Carter as Charles Carson (Downton Abbey)

- Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister (Game of Thrones)

- Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman (Breaking Bad)

- Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson (Homeland)

SURPRISED HE'S NOT NOMINATED: Dan Stevens as Matthew Crawley (Downton Abbey)

SHOULD BE NOMINATED: Corey Stoll as Rep. Peter Russo (House of Cards)

2013 Emmy Week: Best Supporting Actresses

DRAMA

ACTUAL NOMINEES:

- Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart (The Good Wife)
- Morena Baccarin as Jessica Brody (Homeland)
- Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen (Game Of Thrones)
- Anna Gunn as Skylar White (Breaking Bad)
- Christina Hendricks as Joan Harris (Mad Men)
- Dame Maggie Smith as Violet Crawley (Downton Abbey)

SURPRISED SHE'S NOT NOMINATED: Archie Panjabi as Kalinda Sharma (The Good Wife)

SHOULD BE NOMINATED: Kate Mara as Zoe Barnes (House Of Cards)

Time Machine Movie Reviews

Time Machine Movie Reviews are going to be movies I review that have been out for a while. Movies that you can only watch through a steaming services or by renting a DVD or Blu-Ray. 

Why do these movie reviews? Well, that's simple. In this On Demand digital age we're living in, it's never been easier to catch up on old movies you missed the first time around. Between your television providers On Demand service, Netlfix, Hulu Plus, Amazon, and Crackle, you have an almost unlimited amount of movies at your fingertips. With all of these movies, how do you know which ones to watch? That's where Time Machine Movie Reviews come in.

I have the Netflix streaming service and very limited, so I've starred at that red screen more times than I care to admit. I have been able and lucky enough to see so many  more movies than I would have been able to with just places like Blockbuster around. 

I'd like to bring this wonderful benefit to you. So when you're flipping through different movies for the 80 billionth time, you can use these reviews as a guide to help you determine what to watch.

An Open Letter Response To Anna Gunn

On Friday August 23, 2013, Anna Gunn (the actress who plays Skylar White on AMC's Breaking Bad) wrote an op-ed piece in The New York Times about the fan hate and utter vitriol regarding the character of Skylar White entitled, "I Have A Character Issue" In the piece, Gunn talks about the fan's reaction to her character on various AMC and other message boards, describes her reaction to seeing death threats because the fan's dislike her character so much, and briefly describing the roles of women on television in recent years.

Proven Players Off Of A Bad Year: 2013 NFL Edition

While Matthew Berry helped popularize this concept last year during 2012's NFL pre-season, that is a concept that all experienced fantasy players are fully aware of. For the most part, players are who they are. Every once in a while, that player will have a bad or down year, but that shouldn't deter us from the large sample size they gave before us. Take Ryan Braun for example.

For the first year ever in fantasy baseball, I drafted Ryan Braun. This was a guy who has been a consistent superstar the past few years, so even if he didn't perform like the #1 player in fantasy, I knew he'd still be good. Suspension notwithstanding, he was terrible. Yet, I will still gladly draft Braun next year. Because no matter how much he hurt me this year, and no matter how poorly he performed in 2013, his career as a whole tells me that he'll not only rebound in 2014 and play like the stud that he is, but I can also get him for a discounted price.

That's how you win your draft, by finding value no matter at what spot you draft. Players like Stevan Ridley and Alfred Morris last year in fantasy football were amazing values that helped you win your fantasy league. However, based about what the Patriots and Redskins did in 2011, using multiple backs to frustrate you week to week, dropped each player's value significantly.

This Recency Effect is what creates the value. We too often put too much weight on what the player did the year before, as opposed to looking at their career as a whole. Therefore if a player comes off a bad year, that player automatically drops in ranking. But if you looked at said player's career as a whole, and not just what they did last year, then you can find great value to help you win fantasy leagues.

Here is my list of potential proven players coming off of a bad year (as well as players who's value are depressed based upon Recency Bias and not career numbers)

How Well Did I Do On My 2013 Emmy Predictions?

Last Thursday, the 2013 Primetime Emmy nominations were announced. Of course the Emmys got a bunch of things right, they also got a whole lot of things wrong. Just like me. Even though awards and stupid and meaningless, I love to argue about them until I'm blue in the face. Over the past month or so, I've been predicting who I think will get a nomination, as well as who I think deserved a nomination. This recap post is more about the former and less about the latter. Although it's still fun to complain about the latter.

2013 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Nominations Recap

The 2013 Emmy nominations get released tomorrow. Below are links to both who I think will get a actually get a nomination, and who deserves a nomination based upon the plethora of T.V. shows I've seen over the past 12 months for the 8 major categories. Enjoy!

2013 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Outstanding Drama Series

WHO I THINK WILL GET AN EMMY NOMINATION:

- Breaking Bad (AMC)

- Downton Abbey (PBS)

- Game of Thrones (HBO)

- Homeland (Showtime)

- House of Cards (Netflix)

- Mad Men (AMC)

2013 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Outstanding Comedy Series

WHO I THINK WILL GET AN EMMY NOMINATION:

- Arrested Development (Netflix)

- 30 Rock (NBC)

- The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

- Girls (HBO)

- Modern Family (ABC)

- Veep (HBO)

2013 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Best Actor (Drama)

WHO I THINK WILL GET AN EMMY NOMINATION:

- Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)

- Damian Lewis (Homeland)

- Jon Hamm (Mad Men)

- Jonathan Rhys (The Americans)

- Kevin Spacey (House of Cards)

- Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire)

2013 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Best Actor (Comedy)

WHO I THINK WILL GET AN EMMY NOMINATION:

- Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)

- Don Chedle (House of Lies)

- Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory)

- Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men)

- Louie C.K. (Louie)

- Matthew Perry (Go On)

2013 Emmy Predictions and Hopefuls: Best Actress (Drama)

WHO I THINK WILL GET AN EMMY NOMINATION:

- Claire Danes (Homeland)

- Connie Britton (Nashville)

- Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men)

- Keri Russell (The Americans)

- Julianna Marguiles (The Good Wife)

- Vera Farmiga (The Bates Motel)

2013 Emmy Nomination Predictions and Hopefuls: Best Actress (Comedy)

WHO I THINK WILL GET AN EMMY NOMINATION:

- Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation)

- Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie)

- Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep)

- Lena Dunham (Girls) 

- Tina Fey (30 Rock)

- Zooey Deschanel (New Girl)

Trailer Recap: The Wolf Of Wall Street

SONG CHOICE: Kanye West's "Black Skinhead"

Django Unchained had "The Payback" by James Brown. Six months later, Baz Luhrmann tops that by using Jay-Z's section of "No Church In The Wild". A few months later we get Yeezus' himself and his new song "Black Skinhead". Nothing like having Kanye West to hype up your trailer.

The song works perfectly. The tone sets the movie up for an over the top, slightly comically "Goodfellas". The choppiness of the songs works perfectly with the choppiness of the trailer. Plus, nothing like Matthew McConaughey and DiCaprio beating their chests to send the mood off right.

EXPLANATION OF THE PLOT: Horrible

I have absolutely no idea what this movie is about. But do I care? Absolutely not. I get that Leo loves to throw things, and that's pretty much it. I guess DiCaprio is Henry Hill and Jay Gatsby rolled into one. And that's fine by me.

EXCITEMENT LEVEL: Through the roof

DiCaprio + Scorsese + rap music = solid gold.

Even with Shutter Island and The Aviator fresh in my mind, I still wholeheartedly believe that Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio can do no wrong. I have no idea what The Wolf of Wall Street is actually about, but the Kanye song plus this title card:

And this title card:

Mean's I'm all in. 

Are you excited to see The Wolf Of Wall Street?

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2013 Emmy Nomination Predictions and Hopefuls: Best Supporting Actress (Comedy)

WHO I THINK WILL GET A NOMINATION:

- Jessica Walter (Arrested Development)
- Julie Bowen (Modern Family)
- Merritt Weaver (Nurse Jackie)
- Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory)
- Sarah Hyland (Modern Family)
- Sophia Vergara (Modern Family)

2013 Emmy Nomination Predictions and Hopefuls: Best Supporting Actress (Drama)

WHO I THINK WILL GET A NOMINATION:

- Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad)
- Archie Panjabi (The Good Wife)
- Christina Hendricks (Mad Men)
- Christine Baranski (The Good Wife)
- Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire)
- Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey)

2013 Emmy Nomination Predictions and Hopefuls: Best Supporting Actor (Comedy)

WHO I THINK WILL GET A NOMINATION:

- Ed O'Neill (Modern Family)
- Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family)
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family)
- Max Greenfield (New Girl)
- Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
- Will Arnett (Arrested Development)

2013 Emmy Nomination Predictions and Hopefuls: Best Supporting Actor (Drama)

WHO I THINK WILL GET A NOMINATION:

- Aaron Paul (Breaking bad)

- Corey Stoll (House of Cards)

- Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey)

- Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad)

- Mandy Patinkin (Homeland)

- Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones)

My Choices For Best Supporting Actor At The 2013 Emmys

The Best Supporting Actor category is always incredibly deep. The amount of great television shows seem to keep on growing and growing, and that doesn't include the amount of great acting on bad shows. Every year this seems to be a hard category to even predict, nevertheless declare who you want to win. And this year it's no different. Last year included a duo from Breaking Bad, a popper and a peasant from Downton Abbey, a whore-loving, drunk midget, and a dead Brit. Let's see who I think deserves to get a nomination this year? While new shows like The Americans and House of Cards earn spots on my list? Do I think another Lannister deserves the spot? You'll have to read to find out!

Putting The Odds On Outstanding Drama Series Nominations For The 2013 Emmys

Before you know it, the 2013 Primetime Emmy nominations will be released, and then we will be in full television swing. I decided to get the party started with my predictions for nominations. While there have always been great and amazing shows in recent years, it seems that now more than ever, the quantity of those great shows are increasing. That is why I decided to do my odds columns of who I think will and should earn a nomination for Outstanding Drama Series at the 2013 Emmys.

My Ten Least Anticipated Summer Movies

There are obvious films coming out in the summer of 2013 that I'm not excited about. For example, the One Direction concert movie, Smurfs 2, and Grown Ups 2. Obviously, nobody above the age of 11 wants to see the first two, and only Rob Schnieder is excited about Grown Ups 2- and the ability to still get a paycheck. Scratch that, he's not even in the sequel. So nobody is excited about Grown Ups 2. These are ten films that I'm sure many of you are looking forward to; however, I am not.

My Ten Most Anticipated Summer Movies

It's summer movie preview time! Between May 1st and Labor Day, the movie studios release their blockbuster movies. It's a time for superheroes, explosions, action, adventure, and big Hollywood epics. I love summer movie season, and here are the ten movies I'm most excited for.

A Jets Fan's Take On The Darrelle Revis Trade And Its Offseason

This post was written by suffering Jets fan Bryan Hernandez

Long story short? I'm OK with it.

Long story long? Well, here we go:

Let's start by facing some harsh realities about my beloved Green & White. The Jets aren't a team of loveable losers. They are one of the insanely huge New York market's red-headed step children (along with the Mets and Islanders) that only actual New Yorkers seem to support. They have been a mediocre team for most of their existence, and their traditions have been built on one lucky "guarantee" that happened 44 years ago. While Broadway Joe's Superbowl III win is one of the best stories in NFL history, the problem lies in the fact that the Jets seemed to have adopted Namath's swagger as part of their team identity and persona without having the talent to back it up. 

Who Is Hollywood's Best Young Actor Right Now?

Who is the hottest young actor currently working in Hollywood right now? I don't mean in terms of looks, I mean in terms of power and prestige. Who can get the roles and the movies THEY want to have made? Who is the actor the studios want to hire in their big budget films? Which actor will America see the movie that their in solely because said actor is in that movie? I set out to find that answer.

I choose eight of the biggest and most talented young actors currently acting and making big movies right now: Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Fassbender, Ryan Gosling, Justin Timberlake, Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper, and Chris Hemsworth. These are who I believe are the who's who of young actors right now. The real life Vinnie Chase from Entourage. These eight names were chosen solely by me and based on my own judgment. Of course I could have expanded this list further, but these eight names feels about right. The other actors I was thinking about were Chris Pine (Star Trek), Sam Worthington (Avatar), and Henry Cavill (Man Of Steel), but they just don't feel like they belong with the others. I feel these eight are the cream of the crop.

2013 MLB Preview: NL Central

INTRODUCTION

I'm going to keep this post short and sweet. Hopefully.


PROJECTED DIVISION STANDINGS

2013's Mega MLB Prediction Post

DIVISION STANDINGS

AL EAST

1) Toronto Blue Jays

2) New York Yankees *

3) Tampa Bay Rays**

4) Boston Red Sox

5) Baltimore Orioles

AL WEST

2013 MLB Preview: NL West

INTRODUCTION

The West isn't as terrible as we once thought. OK, the San Diego Padres are pretty bad, but the reigning World Series Champion San Francisco Giants reside out in the West (their second championship in three years). The Giants now have legitimate competition for the division as the Los Angeles Dodgers are spending money like they just won the lottery and the Arizona Diamondbacks are collecting pieces to help them compete as well. The race for the West should be pretty compelling this year.

PROJECTED DIVISION STANDINGS

2013 MLB Preview: NL East

INTRODUCTION

The NL East is extremely bi-polar this year. The Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves will both compete as the best team in all of baseball. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, you have the Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins, and New York Mets. The recently firesaled Marlins can probably make the strongest case as the worst team in baseball. They most certainly have the biggest piece of shit owner. Then you have the Mets and Phillies who are just straight up bad.

PROJECTED DIVISION STANDINGS

Why Kick Ass 2 Can Tell Us All We Need To Know About Superhero Movies

Recently, Universal Studios released a full length Red Band trailer for the film Kick Ass 2 (release date August 16, 2013). Earlier this year, I had the film ranked as my 6th most anticipated film of 2013 without knowing anything about it. After seeing an official trailer now, I might have to move the film higher on my list. You can watch the trailer here:

Predictions For The 2013 NCAA March Madness Tournament

This post was written by guest writer Daniel Bennett

This is Dan's breakdown of each of the four regions. He will break down the teams of note, the teams to watch out for, what upsets will happen, and who he thinks will make it to the Final Four.

Pointers To Help You Fill Out Your NCAA March Madness Bracket

This post was written by guest writer Daniel Bennett

Now that the green haze of St. Patrick’s Day has ended, the time of year where work productivity ceases and is replaced by bracket filling has begun. Mr. Kaplan has so graciously asked me to give some of my insights into this year’s March Madness bracket. This part will be general overview of the field of 68 with some pointers on filling out your bracket and will be followed by a second part looking at each region a little more closely.

GENERAL OVERVIEW

2013 MLB Preview: AL Central

INTRODUCTION

The AL Central might be the worst division in baseball but it's still my division. My team is the Chicago White Sox and for better or worse, this is the division that I follow the most and that I care most about.

PROJECTED DIVISION STANDINGS

2013 MLB Preview: AL West

INTRODUCTION

The Houston Astros now move over to the AL West which now means that every team in baseball now has five teams in it. The AL West sent two teams to the playoffs last year: the division winners and then two time reigning pennant winner Texas Rangers and the lonely Moneyball Oakland Athletics. The Angels also gave everyone a run for their money winning 89 games and barely missing the playoffs. The Angels also grabbed another Texas Ranger in the offseason, outfielder Josh Hamilton, making their line up that much closer to murderer's row. The Angels sent 1B/DH Kendrys Morales to the Seattle Mariners, a team who also picked up OF Jason Bay in the offseason in attempt to improve their atrocious line up. They also moved in the fences to help with that as well. This should be another exciting and tight year in the AL West- at least at the top of the division.

MY PROJECTED DIVISION STANDINGS

2013 MLB Preview: AL East

INTRODUCTION

We are living in a weird age for the AL East. Last year the Boston Red Sox finished last in the division while the Baltimore Orioles finished second and made it to the playoffs. The offseason was even stranger. The Toronto Blue Jays spent money and acquired players like they were the New York Yankees while they Yankkes themselves spent like they were the Oakland A's- with their biggest pick being a seemingly washed up Kevin Youkilis.

DIVISION STANDINGS

4 Feel Good Sports Movies That Actually Have Terrible Endings

WARNING: This post contains spoilers to the following movies. Although considering the title of this post, I would hope you would understand that.

Angels In The Outfield (1994)

THE PLOT:  A young orphaned Joseph Gordon-Levitt has nothing going right for him. He has no parents, no one wants to adopt him, and worst of all, his mighty California Angels baseball team is terrible. Young Jo-Go wants nothing more than his favorite team to win the pennant so he wishes it so. To make up for the fact that he doesn't have a family, God sends down actual angels to make the California Angels play like champs.

THE ENDING: Being in the spirit of Disney, the Angels do end up winning the pennant over the hated and rival Chicago White Sox (and Donald Glover decided that he is not too old for this shit and adopts Gordon-Levitt and his buddy)

WHY THIS ENDING DOESN'T MAKE SENSE: Really, the entire plot of the movie is stupid and the reason for it is because the writers of this movie don't understand baseball. Either that or Jo-Go's character has a low bar for his Fighting Halos. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does not wish for his baseball team to win the World Series, he only wants his team to win the pennant- which are two separate things.

All the pennant means is that you won your league and you now are in the World Series game. However, just because you won your league's pennant and play in the World Series does not mean that you won it all. Ask the Detroit Tigers.

The movie ends up with the Angels winning the pennant and the entire city rejoices. But the team is not done playing. They still have one more series left to play.

I understand that winning the pennant was a much bigger deal back in 1994 and was a much bigger deal for essentially the entire history of baseball before the addition of the Wild Card game back in the mid-90's, but if you are going to make a wish that seems unlikely to happen, why not wish for your team to win it all as opposed to selling yourself short?

How Did My Academy Award Predictions Turn Out?

Overall: 17 / 24 (71%)

You can see all of my predictions for the 85th Academy Awards here

BEST CALL: Predicting Ang Lee (Life of Pi) would win Best Director

WORST CALL: Choosing Tommy Lee Jones over Christoph Waltz for Best Supporting Actor
(Also, I should have chosen "Curfew" over "Buzkashi Boys" for Best Live Action Short. If you read as much Oscar blogs and articles as I have it was obvious)

BIG SIX CATEGORIES: 5/6
(Best Film, Best Director, the 4 acting categories)

Ten Quick Reactions to the 85th Academy Awards Ceremony

1) I thought Seth MacFarlane did an excellent job. I know most of the internet hates him but I thought he was great. He was exactly what you would expect out of Seth MacFarlane: he was crude, he was charming, he sang and danced, and most importantly- he was funny. I adored his opening monologue. I love the jokes at the beginning that were supposed to fail and I couldn't stop laughing at everything involving Capt Kirk. That personified what Seth MacFarlane is: he is both a frat boy and a classy guy. That what you should expect out of MacFarlane. If people didn't like Seth MacFarlane then I don't know what people are expecting out of Oscar hosts.

My favorite MacFarlane joke of the night. After Daniel Day-Lewis won (more below), MacFarlane comes on screen and says, "In order to prepare for this incredible role Daniel Day-Lewis really got inside the 16th President's head. No one has gotten that far inside Lincoln's head since John Wilkes Booth." I laughed hysterically but the crowd did not. MacFarlane's comeback was great as well. "Too soon? Is 150 years not enough time to let that joke fly?" Loved Sethy M and I'll defend his greatness against everyone on the internet.

Apparently hosting the Academy Awards is like being the head coach of the Oakland Raiders: no matter you do you're going to be terrible, you get one year max (two if you're lucky), and everybody remembers and pines for the good old days.

Predicting the Winners of the 85th Academy Awards

BEST PICTURE: Argo

BEST DIRECTOR: Ang Lee (Life of Pi)

BEST ACTOR: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

BEST ACTRESS: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURED FILM: Wreck-It Ralph

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: Searching For Sugarman

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Michael Haneke (Amour)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Argo (Chris Terrio)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Life of Pi (Claudio Miranda)

BEST FILM EDITING: Argo (William Goldberg)

BEST HAIR AND MAKE UP: Les Miserables

BEST COSTUME DESIGN: Anna Karenina (Jacqueline Durran)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Amour

BEST ORIGINAL SONG: Adele and Paul Epworth "Skyfall" (Skyfall)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Life of Pi

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

BEST ANIMATED SHORT: The Paperman

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT: Buzkashi Boys

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Mondays at Racine

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS: Life of Pi

BEST SOUND EDITING: Argo

BEST SOUND MIXING: Les Miserables


Stone Cold Locks

- Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis
- Best Supporting Actor: Tommy Lee Jones
- Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway
- Best Animated Film: Wreck-It Ralph
- Best Documentary Feature: Searching For Sugarman
- Best Foreign Language Film: Amour

Almost A Sure Thing

- Best Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio (Argo)
- Best Original Song: "Skyfall" (Skyfall)
- Best Cinematography: Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi)
- Best Editing: William Golberg (Argo)

Between Two Candidates

- Best Picture: Argo
- Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
- Best Director: Ang Lee (Life of Pi)

Strong Educated Guesses

- Best Orginal Screenplay: Michael Haneke (Amour)
- Best Costume Design: Anna Karenina
- Best Animated Short: The Paperman
- Best Make Up and Hairstyling: Les Miserables
- Best Production Design: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Best Visual Effects: Life of Pi
- Best Sound Mixing: Les Miserables

Straight Up Guesses / I Stole What Other People Predicted

- Best Original Score: Life of Pi
- Best Documentary Short: Mondays at Racine
- Best Live Action Short: Buzkashi Boys
- Best Sound Editing: Argo

What are your predictions for the 85th Academy Awards?

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2013 Oscar Preview: The Random Categories

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BEST ANIMATED FILM

- In a year where all five nominations came from Hollywood and came to a theater near me, I only managed to see two of them: Brave and Wreck-It Ralph

- Wreck-It Ralph is incredible and it upsets me that it's not getting the buzz that previous Best Motion Picture Nominees Toy Story 3 and Up got. Not only was it (in my narrow mind) easily the best animated picture of 2012, but it was one of the best films of 2012 (#2 on my personal list) and one of the best animated films in the past 15 years.
- Brave was visually stunning and the animation- in regards to the setting and such- were stupidly good. However, the story was thin and dull and if Cars 2 didn't exist, Brave would compete for the worst film Pixar has ever produced. That's not saying it's inherently bad, but that is a result of the high bar Pixar set for itself. Either way, I don't think Brave deserves to win or will win.

BEST DOCUMENTARY

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Picture

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NOMINEES

• Amour
• Argo
• Beasts of the Southern Wild
• Django Unchained
• Les Miserables
• Lincoln
• Life of Pi
• Silver Linings Playbook
• Zero Dark Thirty

MY THOUGHTS

5 Controversial Best Picture Winners That Actually Deserved To Win

Now is the perfect time of year for people to produce articles about the biggest Best Picture Academy Award snubs of all time. Hell, we here at The Cover 3 did it. Time Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Entertainment Weekly all recently released their issue of the biggest Best Picture follies of all time. Grantland just had a March Madness style bracket of the worst Academy Award blunders of the past 25 years. The Oscars get things wrong all the time and we love to argue those missteps. However, I think we have gone too far the other way. I think we love to argue about how the Academy went wrong so often that we end up making points we shouldn't be making. I am here to rectify that. This is my list of the 5 Controversial Best Picture Winners That Actually Deserved To Win.

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Director

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NOMINEES

• Michael Haneke (Amour)
• Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
• David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
• Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
• Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

MY THOUGHTS

Oscar Robbery: 5 Directors Who Should Have Gotten An Academy Award Nomination

It is no secret that the Academy Award nominations for the 2013 Best Director nominees are atrocious. Every year there are snubs, but this year for Best Director it is out of control. The biggest and most obvious snub is Ben Affleck for Argo, but Katheryn Bigelow not getting a nomination for Zero Dark Thirty is just as ridiculous. You could also make the very strong case that Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained should have been there as well. If the Academy Awards nominations were Affleck, Bigelow, Tarantino along with Ang Lee (Life of Pi) and Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), there would be very little outrage. You would hear a few pretentious rumblings about Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild) and Michael Haneke (Amour) not getting a nomination- they did get nominations- but overall the outrage would be minimal. Also, no one would be complaining that David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) did not get a Best Director nod.

Anyways, in honor of Ben Affleck and his fellow directorial brethren this year, here is the list of the biggest directing snubs within the past 25 years.

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Actor

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NOMINEES:

• Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
• Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
• Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
• Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
• Denzel Washington (Flight)

MY THOUGHTS

The Best Films Of 2012 (REDUX)

25)  Bernie
Directed By: Richard Linklater
Starring: Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, & Matthew McConaughey
STARS: 3 our of 4

24) The Avengers
Directed By: Joss Wheedon
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, & Samuel L. Jackson
STARS: 3 out of 4

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Actress

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NOMINEES

• Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
• Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
• Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
• Qu'venzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
• Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

MY THOUGHTS

Three Biggest Best Picture Oscar Upsets In The Past 25 Years

This post was written by guest contributor Gerald Connor

With the Oscars approaching, we are just waiting for ‘Argo’ to get upset for Best Picture. Ben Affleck, once a Hollywood punch-line, has made an incredible comeback with his directorial skills (The Town, Gone Baby Gone) but has already been snubbed from a Best Director nomination by the Academy. Is Argo pretentious enough to win Best Picture?  Here is a look at three of the worst Best Picture decisions made by the Academy.

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Supporting Actor

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NOMINEES

• Alan Arkin (Argo)
• Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
• Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
• Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
• Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)

MY THOUGHTS

For the first time ever, we have an acting category full of past winners. Who will win their second (or third) Oscar?

Series Review of Netflix's House Of Cards and The Start of The New Era Of Television

The Golden Age of Television is dead. Shows like The Sopranos and Oz and Deadwood and The Wire are long over. The two shows at the tail end of the Revolution- Mad Men and Breaking Bad- are on its last legs. Breaking Bad will finish its last season in a few months from now and Mad Men is sure to follow soon. For me, once Breaking Bad ends, the Golden Age of Television is over.

We are now in a new age of television. Previously, we had internet message boards and TV box sets to help with our television watching. Now we have blogs, On Demand, and Netflix. If we hear a show is great we can power through an entire season with the click of a finger and catch up instantly. I saw every single episode of Breaking Bad in 2012 thanks to Netflix and the internet (and AMC for airing an original season). Netflix is fully aware of how people watch television nowadays and decided to release every single episode of House Of Cards all at once. Instead of waiting for a new episode every week, viewers can watch new episodes like how they watched old ones- at their own leisure.

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Supporting Actress

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NOMINEES

• Amy Adams (The Master)
• Sally Field (Lincoln)
• Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
• Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)
• Helen Hunt (The Sessions)

MY THOUGHTS

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Make Up and Hairstyling

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NOMINEES

• Hitchcock
• Les Miserables
• The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

MY THOUGHTS

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Original Screenplay

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NOMINEES

• Amour (Michael Haneke)
• Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino)
• Flight (Michael Gatins)
• Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola)
• Zero Dark Thirty (Mark Boal)

MY THOUGHTS

Live Blogging The 2013 Grammy Awards with Special Guest Bryan Hernandez

Of of my good friends- Bryan Hernandez- and I watched the 2013 Grammy's last night. While we did not watch them together, we did text, Facebook, and Tweet each other throughout the entire night. Here is a recap of hilarious and awesome conversations through various forms of social media throughout the night. BTW, apologies for any grammatical or punctuation issues. We were texting and such after all.

This would have funnier if we were actual live blogging all of this but alas you get it 24 hours later. This will be funnier if you saw all the entire Grammy show and all of the performances. Although truthfully, this is not funny at all. This is all stream of conscience and just our thoughts about what we were watching it in real time.

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Adapted Screenplay

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NOMINEES

• Argo (Chris Terrio)
• Beasts of the Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin & Lucy Alibar)
• Life of Pi (David Magee)
• Lincoln (Tony Kushner)
• Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell)

MY THOUGHTS

2013 Oscar Preview: Best Cinematography

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WHAT IS CINEMATOGRAPHY?

Before I begin this post, it is probably best to explain to you what “cinematography” actually is because I’m sure most of you reading this post have no idea. Cinematography is the look of the film. The director is the one in charge and ultimately everyone answers to the director, but the one actually behind the camera is the Director of Photography- or the cinematographer. Everything about how a particular scene LOOKS is due to the Director of Photography (DP). How the light affects the scene, the framing of the scene, and how the scene looks is (mostly) because of the DP. 

For example, about a year ago, shots of the filming of the climax scene between Bane and Batman from The Dark Knight Rises were released. The movie was shot in the middle of summer in Pittsburgh but the scene itself takes place during the cold of winter with snowflakes falling from the sky. When you see the final product, it absolutely looks like Bane and Batman are fighting in the middle of winter and there is no evidence the scene was shot in the wrong season. The way Wally Pfister (Nolan’s Oscar-winning DP) shot the scene and tinted the light and such makes you believe you are watching a gloomy, dark, and cold fight. The reason it looks that way is about of the DP and that’s (generally) what a DP does.

NOMINEES

• Anna Karenina (Seamus McGarvey)
• Django Unchained (Robert Richardson)
• Life of Pi (Claudio Miranda)
• Lincoln (Janusz Kaminiski)
• Skyfall (Roger Deakins)

MY THOUGHTS

2013 Oscar Preview: Introduction

In 2012, I saw 121 films, 40 of which came out in 2012. As of the writing of this post I have seen 45 46 47 films that were released in 2012. I absolutely do not consider myself a movie buff (which helps explains why so my times people have come up to me and asked, “Have you seen Film X?” and are flabbergasted when I haven’t seen it). However, what I am is a lover of film. I love to see films, I love to talk about them, and I have seen a shit ton of films in my life. My goal is to see the very best films and one day I hope I will be able to get to a point where I have seen every single Film X. But for right now, all I have are my experiences, my knowledge, and my opinions. I also love debating the Oscars. Even though they let me down every single year, I still do enjoy talking about them nonetheless.

Predicting the Best Picture Race: Argo vs. Lincoln

It seems that the two legitimate contenders to win Best Picture at the 85th Oscars are Lincoln and Argo. Of course anything can happen but the common perception is that these two are the two to beat.

The Best Films Of 2012

20) The Hunger Games
STARS: 3 out of 4
Written and Directed By: Gary Ross
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, & Woody Harrelson

Brief Description: Anything that stars my girl Jennifer Lawrence is bound to be good and even though the violence is toned down for teenie-boppers, The Hunger Games was still a very enjoyable flick.

19) Bernie
STARS: 3 out of 4
Written and Directed By: Richard Linklater
Starring: Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, & Matthew McConaughey

Brief Description: Jack Black gives the best performance of his career as the titular character who is accused of murdering his friend/the town bitch played by MacLaine. It makes for a great rental (currently streaming on Netflix).

18) The Amazing Spider-Man
STARS: 3 out of 4
Directed By: Marc Webb
Starring: James Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, & Dennis Leary

Brief Description: Despite the fact that Raimi's Spider-Man came out only a decade ago and despite the fact that Andrew Garfield is too good looking and charming to play a convincing Peter Parker, I thoroughly enjoyed this re-boot. Plus, anything with Emma Stone in it is worth watching!

17) This Is 40
STARS: 3 out of 4
Written and Directed By: Judd Apatow
Starring: Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, & Albert Brooks

Brief Description: This Is 40 Minutes Way Too Long was still an enjoyable film despite the obvious edits Apatow could have made. Despite Mann's and Rudd's characters not being relatable to me, the characters felt honest and true which I loved and respected. Plus, I was laughing throughout the entire thing which is always a good thing for a comedy.

16) Zero Dark Thirty
STARS: 3 out of 4
Directed By: Katheryn Bigelow
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, & Kyle Chandler

Brief Description: Maybe it was because I came into the film with too high expectations but I wasn't THAT overly impressed with ZDT. This was a thriller that didn't thrill and a character piece about a woman who I knew nothing about besides her obsession with catching Bin Laden. From an emotional standpoint, I wasn't really thrilled nor entertained and most of the time I wished I was watching Homeland or Argo instead. However, the entire ending sequence was spectacular and saved the film for me.

15) 21 Jump Street
STARS: 3 out of 4
Directed By: Phil Lord & Chris Miller
Starring: Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Dave Franco, Brie Larson, Ice Cube, & Rob Riggle

Brief Description: Easily the best Channing Tatum film of the year (I mean, he WAS more charismatic and funnier than Jonah Hill) as this film found a way to be good and entertaining by not taking itself too seriously. Also, I like how Hill lost 60 pounds before this role and still ended up being the fat guy (Although, he WAS standing next to Tatum the entire time)

14) Celeste and Jesse Forever
STARS: 3.5 out of 4
Directed By: Lee Toland Krieger
Starring: Rashida Jones, Andy Samberg, Elijah Wood, & Ari Graynor

Brief Description: Celeste (played by Jones who also co-wrote the film) struggles to deal with the fact that her longtime childhood friend and ex-boyfriend Jesse (Samberg) is having a baby with another woman. Another great hidden gem of 2012 and just a great character piece and performance by Jones.

13) The Cabin In The Woods
STARS: 3.5 out of 4
Co-Written and Directed By: Drew Goddard
Starring: Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, Richard Jenkins, & Bradley Whitford

Brief Description: A fun, campy, and extremely meta movie about all horror films. The less you know going into it the better.

12) Skyfall
STARS: 3.5 out of 4
Directed By: Sam Mendez

Starring: Daniel Craig, Judy Dench, Javier Bardem, & Ralph Fiennes

Brief Description: Die hard Bond fans need to relax about this film and actually judge it on its own merits as a stand alone film- which is that it is very good but not even close to the extreme love it's getting by the internet. Casino Royale is still the best Craig Bond film, but Mendes' great vision to this franchise along with another incredible performance by Javier Bardem makes Skyfall a superb movie.

11) Chronicle
STARS: 3.5 out of 4
Directed By: Josh Trank
Starring: Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, & Michael B. Jordan

Brief Description: A superhero film but done using the found footage style. A great slow build to what crates a (super) villain and what a hero must do to stop him. You can't help but feel for the main character (played by DeHaan) despite the awful things he ends up doing.

10) Premium Rush
STARS: 3.5 out of 4
Co-Written and Directed By: David Koepp
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Shannon, & Dania Ramirez

Brief Description: Joseph Gordon-Levitt can do no wrong and this action packed thrill ride is no exception. Most really good action films hinges upon the villain and you can find no better actor to play a villain than the great Michael Shannon who delivers another outstanding performance.

9) The Master
STARS: 3.5 out of 4
Written and Directed By: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, & Amy Adams

Brief Description: The fact that no one can explain what this film is really about or what P.T. Anderson is trying to say is disturbing (which also makes Sight and Sound pretentious as hell) but The Master features some of the best acting of the year and some scenes that will stick with you and that I will never forget.

8) The Dark Knight Rises
STARS: 3.5 out of 4
Co-Written and Directed By: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, & Anne Hathaway

Brief Description: It is a great ending to Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy as a whole but it doesn't hold up as a stand alone film due to the glaring and unforgivable plot holes. Don't believe me? Read this amazing Cracked article which I promise will change your mind.

7) Django Unchained
STARS: 3.5 out of 4
Written and Directed By: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, & Kerry Washington

Brief Description: I put this as Tarantino's 4th best film behind Basterds, Pulp Fiction, and Reservoir Dogs because I didn't feel the same emotional connection to Django as I did to those other three. However, this fairly straight forward story (especially for Tarantino's standards) is still fun and violent as only Tarantino can do.

6) Seven Psychopaths
STARS: 3.5 out of 4
Written and Directed By: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, & Woody Harrelson

Brief Description: A meta film about action movies and the genre in general, McDonagh again utilizes Colin Farrell perfectly to make for an enjoyable and fun movie. Sam Rockwell is great and a delight in this movie like he is in all of his films.

5) Life Of Pi
STARS: 3.5 out of 4
Directed By: Ang Lee
Starring: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, & a CGI Tiger

Brief Description: The cinematography is gorgeous (easily the best of the year) and Ang Lee does an amazing job making the story of an Indian boy named Pi who is alone on a raft entertaining, wonderful, and thought-provoking.

4) Silver Linings Playbook
STARS: 3.5 out of 4
Written and Directed By: David O. Russell
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, & Robert De Niro

Brief Description: Bradley Cooper gives the best performance of his career (and one of the best of the year) as he plays a bi-polar man prone to violent outbursts who is struggling to keep his disease under control. Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro are also amazing in this film as they help him cope with his illness.

3) Argo
STARS: 3.5 out of 4
Directed By: Ben Affleck
Starring: Ben Affleck, John Goodman, Alan Arkin, & Bryan Cranston

Brief Description: The second half of Argo alone is some of the best film making you will see in 2012 and Ben Affleck directs the hell out of this film. His Oscar snub for Best Director is a downright atrocity. Affleck plays a CIA operative who has to get American hostages out of Iran and it is gripping from start to finish with absolutely no fat or fillers along the way.

2) Wreck-It Ralph
STARS: 4 out of 4
Directed By: Rich Moore
Voices Of: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, & Jane Lynch

Brief Description: Surprisingly, Sarah Silverman brings this amazing film into the elite stratosphere. Wreck-It Ralph (Reilly) is an arcade bad guy who copes with being the "bad guy" all the time so he goes off into different video games to become the hero he desperately wants to be. Move over Pixar, there's a new Sheriff in town.

1) Looper
STARS: 4 out of 4
Written and Directed By: Rian Johnson
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, & Jeff Daniels

Brief Description: An inventive and original film and really the only film of the year that made me want to scream "fuck yes, this is the best film of the 2012." (For comparison, two films made me do that in 2010- Inception and The Social Network- and only Drive made me do that in 2011.) Rian Johnson easily overcomes any hurdles that come with time travel films and creates a film that is both a science fiction and a western and overall just amazing. Of course there is great acting by everyone you would expect (including Joseph Gordon-Levitt) but there is the cutest little boy in Looper played by Pierce Gagnon who also gives an amazing performance. Everything about this film is incredible: from the script, to Johnson's visual style, to even the subtle yet great make up Gordon-Levitt wears to make him look like Bruce Willis, Looper is hands down my top pick for the best film of 2012.

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Looking Back On My Predictions For The 2013 Oscar Nominations

BEST PICTURE

How Did I Do?: 8/9

BEST CALL: Beasts of the Southern Wild

WORST CALL: Not selecting Amour

NOTES: A pretty good list from me if I do say so myself and I'm also going to pay myself on the back for saying 9 films would get selected. If I had to extend my list to 10 I would have selected Amour as the 10th but I am shocked The Master didn't get a nomination and a foreign language film did.
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What I Got Right: Argo, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life Of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty

What I Should Have Done: Selected Amour instead of The Master

BEST DIRECTOR

How Did I Do?: 2/5

BEST CALL: Ang Lee (Life Of Pi)

WORST CALL: Every one of my other selections

NOTES: What a complete at utter joke these five nominees are. Ben Affleck (Argo) and Katheryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) absolutely needed to be there. I'm actually fine with no Tarantino and I really enjoyed Silver Linings Playbook so I'm not super upset to see David O. Russell there but still, he probably shouldn't be nominated considering how super deep 2012 is.

I think Affleck needs to be there because Argo was incredible (and because Affleck did the best directing out of everyone in 2012) and based on what I've heard about Zero Dark Thirty so does Bigelow. Despite my opinion on Lincoln of course Spielberg was going to get nominated and Life Of Pi was too brilliant to leave Ang Lee off of the list. That's four (Affleck, Bigelow, Lee, Spielberg) selections right there with maybe Michael Haneke (Amour), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts), or Tarantino fighting for the fifth. That would have been both fair and just. (Although personally having Beasts get no nominations is probably fair and just. Have you seen it? It's boring as all hell).
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What I Got Right: Ang Lee (Life Of Pi), Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)

What I Should Have Done: Selected Michael Haneke (Amour), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts Of The Southern Wild), and David O. Russell over Ben Affleck (Argo), Katheryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty), and Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)

BEST ACTOR

How Did I Do?: 4/5

BEST CALL: Saying BOTH Bradley Cooper (SLP) and Joaquin Phoenix (The Master) would get nominated since it seemed like these two were fighting against each other for the "fifth spot"

WORST CALL: Saying Denzel Washington (Flight) would not get a nomination

NOTES: There were six obvious contenders for only five slots. Daniel Day-Lewis was a mortal lock and I just knew that both Bradley Cooper and Joaquin Phoenix would get a nomination because they were both incredible. That left Hugh Jackman (Les Mis), John Hawkes (The Sessions), and Washington fighting for two spots. It turns out that Hawkes was the odd man out and not Washington. In my defense though, I DID SAY that I was guaranteed to be wrong about Denzel missing out.
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What I Got Right: Bradley Cooper (SLP), Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Hugh Jackman (Les Mis), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

What I Should Have Done: Selected Denzel Washington (Flight) over John Hawkes (The Sessions)

BEST ACTRESS

How Did I Do?: 4/5

BEST CALL: Qu'venzhane Wallis (Beasts Of The Southern Wild)

WORST CALL: Not going through one of my last second edit of deleting Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone) and adding Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)

NOTES: I am so proud of myself for this one. The only locks were Jennifer Lawrence (SLP) and Jessica Chastain (ZDT) so the fact that I got four out of five correct in what I said was the category I felt the weakest about feels pretty good to me.
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What I Got Right: Jessica Chastain (ZDT), Jennifer Lawrence (SLP), Qu'venzhane Wallis (Beasts), Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

What I Should Have Done: Selected Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) over Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

How Did I Do?: 4/5

BEST CALL: The four that I predicted would get a nomination and did get a nomination took no big leaps of faith on my part so no real "best call" here

WORST CALL: Claiming that all five of my selections would be 100% correct and "stone cold locks"

NOTES: God does the Academy hate Leo. I know he has three nominations and two are for Best Lead Actor but listen to the list of films Leonardo DiCaprio has been in in which he DID NOT receive a nomination: Django Unchained, Inception, The Departed, Titanic, Catch Me If You Can, and Gangs of New York. I bet DiCaprio wished The Great Gatsby was a 2012 film not, huh? Although with the Academy's hatred of him, it might not matter and he'll probably get snubbed again at next year's Oscars.
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What I Got Right: Alan Arkin (Argo), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), Robert De Niro (SLP), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

What I Should Have Done: Selected Christoph Waltz (Django) over Leonardo DiCaprio (Django)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

How Did I Do?: 4/5

BEST CALL: Amy Adams (The Master). She was no lock to getting a nomination considering her SAG snub, but I also really didn't go out on this one either.

WORST CALL: Thinking Jacki Weaver only had a 10% chance of getting nominated.

NOTES: Even though Weaver neither received a SAG nomination nor a Golden Globe nomination and even though Nicole Kidman received both, Weaver earned the "last spot" over Kidman.
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What I Got Right: Adam Adams (The Master), Sally Field (Lincoln), Anne Hathaway (Les Mis), Helen Hunt (The Sessions)

What I Should Have Done: Selected Jacki Weaver (SLP) over Nicole Kidman (The Paperboy)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

How Did I Do?: 4/5

BEST CALL: Michael Haneke (Amour)

WORST CALL: Thinking the Academy actually liked, or at least respected, The Master

NOTES: Out of the four selections I got correct, only two (Moonrise Kingdom and Zero Dark Thirty) earned WGA nominations. However, Quentin Tarantino (Django) is not in the WGA so of course he was not going to receive a nomination (although weirdly that hasn't stopped the WGA from nominating him in the past) and Haneke wasn't eligible because the "A" in "WGA" stands for "America" and Haneke is not from America. Even though John Gatnis did earn a WGA nominations, I really did not think that it would translate over into an Oscar nod. However, it did. It's a shame the same didn't hold true for Rian Johnson (Looper).
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What I Got Right: Amour (Michael Haneke), Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino), Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola), Zero Dark Thirty (Mark Boal)

What I Should Have Done: Selected Flight (John Gatnis) over The Master (P.T. Anderson)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

How Did I Do?: 5/5

BEST CALL: Picking all five nominations perfectly

WORST CALL: NONE MOTHA FUCKAS!

NOTES: The only other contender for this category was Stephen Chbosky for The Perks Of Being A Wallflower because it earned a WGA nomination. However, because Benh Zeitlin is not in the WGA (in fact, no one associated with Beasts Of The Southern Wild is in ANY guild) he wasn't going to be nominated for a WGA. However, I knew Zeitlin would earn Chbosky's place come Oscar time.
_____

What I Got Right: Argo (Chris Terrio), Beasts Of The Southern Wild (Benh Zeitlin), Life Of Pi (David Magee), Lincoln (Tony Kushner), Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell

What I Should Have Done: N/A

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Final 2013 Oscar Nomination Predictions

BEST PICTURE

- Argo
- Beasts Of The Southern Wild
- Django Unchained
- Les Miserables
- Life Of Pi
- Lincoln
- The Master
- Silver Linings Playbook
- Zero Dark Thirty

WHAT I'M PROBABLY WRONG ABOUT: Beasts Of The Southern Wild getting a nomination

BEST DIRECTOR

- Ben Affleck (Argo)
- Katheryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty)
- Ang Lee (Life Of Pi)
- Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
- Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)

WHAT I'M PROBABLY WRONG ABOUT: Tom Hooper (Les Miserables) not getting nominated. Probably over Ang Lee

BEST ACTOR

- Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
- John Hawkes (The Sessions)
- Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
- Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
- Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

WHAT I'M DEFINITELY WRONG ABOUT: Denzel Washington (Flight) not getting a nomination. He'll probably get it over Phoenix.

BEST ACTRESS

- Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
- Marion Cotilliard (Rust and Bone)
- Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
- Qu'venzhane Wallis (Beasts Of The Southern Wild)
- Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

WHAT I'M PROBABLY WRONG ABOUT: In a weak year (in an always weak category) this is the category I'm the most unsure about. I could see Helen Mirren (Hitchcock), Emmanuelle Riva (Amour), and Rachel Weisz (Deep Blue Sea) each getting nominated. Only Chastain and Lawrence are locks.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

- Alan Arkin (Argo)
- Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained)
- Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
- Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
- Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

WHAT I'M PROBABLY WRONG ABOUT: Nothing. All five of these are stone cold locks.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

- Amy Adams (The Master)
- Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
- Helent Hunt (The Sessions)
- Nicole Kidman (The Paperboy)
- Sally Field (Lincoln)

WHAT I'M PROBABLY WRONG ABOUT: Maggie Smith not getting a nomination. Probably for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Also, for some reason Amy Adams' nomination is in jeopardy.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

- Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master)
- Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom)
- Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty)
- Michael Haneke (Amour)
- Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)

WHAT I'M MAYBE WRONG ABOUT: Possibly John Gatins for Flight but overall I think this is a good list

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

- Tony Kushner (Lincoln)
- David Magee (Life Of Pi)
- David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
- Chris Terrio (Argo)
- Benh Zeitlin (Beasts Of The Southern Wild)

WHAT I'M MAYBE WRONG ABOUT: It's hard to get a gauge on Beasts Of The Southern Wild considering it wasn't eligible for any of the guilds (WGA, SAG, DGA, and PGA) so it hasn't gotten nominated for anything beforehand. It's possible Stephen Chbosky (The Perks Of Being A Wallflower) gets nominated considering it has some Oscar buzz and it did get a WGA nod, but I'm still putting blind faith in Beasts (whether or not I think it deserves to be there is another story)
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NOTE: This is a list of who I think WILL get a nomination and not about who I think DESERVES to get a nomination. That post will come later.
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2012 Bad Quarterback League: Final Update

This calculates both Week 16 and Week 17

1) Cahal


Total Points: 1,529
Points This Week: 197

New York Jets: 26,47
Tennessee: 27,22
Chicago: 27, 2
Philadelphia: 4, 42


2) Adam

Total Points: 1,379
Points This Week: 160

Miami: 14, 30
St. Louis: 16, 5
Kansas City: 51, 50
Minnesota: 11, -17


3) Bryan

Total Points: 1,062
Points This Week: 93

Arizona: 87, 5
Seattle: 1, -10
Dallas: -22, 27
San Francisco: 5, 0


4) Colleen

Total Points: 1,059
Points This Week: 118

Cleveland: 16, 15
Oakland: 31, 11
Buffalo: 10, 5
Baltimore: -11, 41


5) Ben

Total Points: 1,016
Points This Week: 205

Jacksonville: 21, 67
Pittsburgh: 32, 17
San Diego: 6, 6
Carolina: 21, 35

Ten "Quick" Reactions To Lovie Smith's Firing

As a die hard Chicago Bears fan, I was happy to see Lovie Smith go. I think everyone in Chicago was. Don't get me wrong, I harbor no ill will towards Lovie and I am grateful for his tenure here, but his time as the Bears head coach had passed. While many people across the country view Smith's firing as an outrage and felt he deserved to stay even longer, these people are not Chicago Bears fans and do not know the intricacies of Smith's coaching style. They do not know Lovie's strengths and weaknesses across his nine year run to truly know if he was a good coach or not. I will try to take an unbiased look at Lovie Smith and will try to react to this firing without acting like a typical, stupid, and rash Bears fan.

THE PROS OF LOVIE SMITH

1) Lovie Smith always had the respect of his players. I think the number one thing a coach needs to be successful is to have the respect of the locker room so he can implement his scheme and plan. Great football minds have been terrible head coaches (Wade Phillips and Rex Ryan first come to mind) because they didn't have the player's respect. Everyone loves Lovie.

2) The Bears defense has always been elite or really good under Smith. Say what you will about his teams as a whole but offenses were always afraid of Lovie's D's.

3) If you are a good coach you should be able to build up your team within three years. Lovie was able to do that. Lovie was hired in 2004 and took over an average club at best. Within three years he made the Bears one of the best defenses of all time and they forced their way into the Superbowl. The Bears have, for the most part, been a legitimate playoff contender ever since then and they went to the NFC Championship game in 2010.

4) While Lovie Smith is generally known for a being a conservative guy on offense, he takes chances and has balls when it comes to 4th and short situations near the goal line / red zone. Especially in the past few years when he has non-Matt Forte backs like Marion Barber and Michael Bush who generally convert in those situations. Many coaches will take the guaranteed 3 points but many times Lovie doesn't. He risks trying to get the 7 and even when he fails to do convert (like in the Seahawks game where those three points probably would have won the Bears the game), it's still the correct decision to go for it.

THE CONS OF LOVIE SMITH

5) Despite always seemingly being a playoff contender, Lovie Smith has only taken the Bears to the playoffs once since 2006. That's only one time in six years. Most coaches don't even get six years and they most certainly don't get six years with only one playoff appearance. In the past two seasons, the Bears were an almost guaranteed lock to make the playoffs and both times they suffered an epic collapse to allow another NFC North team to take their place

6) As GM Phil Emery said during his press conference:

Lovie Smith is a good defensive coach who was never able to develop a consistent offense in his nine seasons as head coach of the Bears, and that's what cost him his job.

Truer words have never been spoken. No one within the Bears organization knew ANYTHING about running an offense. The only person that had a proven track record of knowing what an offense looks like was former offensive coordinator Mike Martz and he was too stubborn to be good. Lovie Smith did not show any semblance of knowledge that he knew what it took to run a successful offense. Here's a list of the points per game the Bears scored during Lovie's tenure (and BTW, these stats are flawed because many of Lovie's teams scored a bunch of defensive and special teams touchdowns):

2004: 14.4 PPG (32)
2005: 16.3 PPG (26)
2006: 26.7 PPG (2)
2007: 20.9 PPG (18)
2008: 23.4 PPG (14)
2009: 20.4 PPG (19)
2010: 20.9 PPG (21)
2011: 22.1 PPG (17)
2012: 23.4 PPG (16)

And by the way, when you take out an NFL record nine touchdowns (and extra points) scored by the defense in 2012, that means the Bears would have only scored 19.5 Points Per Game which would have been good enough for 24th in the league- just behind the Tennessee Titans and above the Cleveland Browns.

Excluding 2004 and 2005 seasons which were (justifiably) rebuilding years for Lovie, the Bears were only in the top half of points per game scored only twice and one of those times the Bears were only the 14th best team- which is barely above average. Also, the other time the Bears were in the top half of PPG scored was in 2006- the Superbowl team led by Rex Grossman. I don't think anyone would claim that a Rex Grossman led offense is a good offense and I have to believe those PPG totals were skewed both by the special teams/defensive touchdowns that were scored plus the first five or six games of the season were the Bears were undefeated and no one knew just yet how bad Grossman really was. Plus, according to Football Outsiders, the Bears had the 20th best offense in the league in 2006.

The point is, Lovie Smith does not know how to run an offense and he had the pieces and weapons to run a good offense- especially once Jay Cutler arrived. This fact alone is enough to easily justify firing Lovie Smith.

7) Lovie Smith is atrocious at challenging plays. Unfortunately, coaching challenging percentage data is not widely available, but I was able to find this statistic from a 2010 Chicago Sun-Times article. Between 2004 and 2010, the Chicago Bears were 19-61 (31%) in terms of challenge percentage which was 5th worst among all NFL teams. It seems to me that Lovie has gotten better at when to throw the challenge flag and when not to in the past few seasons, but any Bears fan can tell you Lovie is bad at knowing when to throw that little red flag.

8) Lovie Smith is really bad at making in game adjustments and while I have no stats to back me up (I don't even really know what statistic(s) I should even be looking for), the eye test shows that Lovie is really bad at making the little adjustments within a game and within a season to have prolonged success. Lovie is also terrible at making adjustments from season to season as it appears that he will always stubbornly use his scheme to a fault. It is common knowledge that Lovie Smith runs a Tampa-2 / Cover-2 defensive scheme; however, this scheme is only effective if you have a successful pass rush. During most of Lovie's nine year tenure he has had a really good pass rush and a really good defensive line, but in the years when there is obviously no pass rush, Smith's defenses are maddeningly frustrating. When you see coaches out there like Bill Belicheck who is constantly tweaking his scheme week to week and quarter to quarter, Smith's stubbornness can not be tolerated.

9) I keep hearing (mainly from ESPN) all about the 2012 season and the fact that the Chicago Bears just won ten games. That is irrelevant. Lovie Smith got fired based upon his nine full seasons where he was proven to not be a good head coach time and time again. It was not just the 2012 season but a cumulative effort since 2006.

Plus, even if you want to talk about his 2012 season, he still missed the playoffs and his team did not control its own destiny. Games versus Houston, versus Seattle, versus Green Bay, and at Minnesota were all winnable for Lovie's team and if the Bears were a legit powerhouse like we all thought they were after 8 weeks, then they should have won at least ONE of those games. Lovie and the Bears benefited from an extremely easy schedule which had them playing the Jaguars, the Titans, the Colts (in Andrew Luck's first game), the Cowboys, the Cardinals, the Panthers, the Rams, and the Lions twice. That's a cake schedule. They lost to the Texans, the 49ers, the Vikings, the Seahawks, and the Packers (twice). All those teams are in the playoffs and they couldn't get one measly win in that bunch.

FINAL THOUGHTS

10) I personally don't mind Lovie Smith as a head coach as much as other Chicago Bears fans do. I think the fact that he had the respect of the locker room is good enough minimum requirements to be a head coach. However, I also think he needs a great offensive and defensive coordinator (mainly offensive) in place to actually make specific calls. Lovie at least has the appearance of being inept during the game (for the most part and only for the little stuff. I think the big stuff like what to do on 4th downs and such is pretty good) and so he needs a great play caller on his sidelines. The problems is is that you shouldn't have to say that about a head coach. In order to truly be allowed to keep your job after a decade you need to prove you can run an ENTIRE team, and not just parts of it. I thank Lovie Smith for his time in Chicago and I hope he finds success and whatever team he coaches next, but his firing from the Chicago Bears was long overdue.

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