Steven Spielberg’s next directing gig has been announced as Roald Dahl’s children’s novel, The BFG. This story about a “Big, Friendly Giant” was one of the few Roald Dahl stories that did not espouse immediate nightmares (the 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory remains the scariest movie I have ever seen). Steven Spielberg directing a beloved children’s novel? Yes, please.
Category Archives: Blog Posts
The Challenge Free Agents: Weekly Power Rankings – Week 2
Simply put (in a dramatic move away from normal verbosity), here are this week’s power rankings. For more analysis on last week’s episode, you can read here.
A couple of quick notes:
– Johnny Bananas moves up to no. 1 in the men rankings for the first time this season. All is right with the world again.
– I would have to investigate further, but I am not sure that Preston (no. 8) or Jasmine (no. 6) have ever ranked higher in my three season’s of doing power rankings.
– This week’s rankings are on a 1-12 scale, although I considered making the women on a 1-30 scale to create some separation between Laurel and the rest of the women (there should be a chasm).
– Camila and Nany both took a little dip because of their nighttime extra-curricular activity blowout fight. This was inevitable.
– I am struggling to figure out what to do with the men ranked 4-7. They are really strong and the exact order could really go in any direction. I tried to reward Cohutta and Leroy for their dominant performances in the challenge, but is hard to discount Frank’s elimination win and Zach’s already underrated interview performance in the first two episodes.
Week 2 Power Rankings
MEN
Eliminated – CHET (week 1), DUSTIN (week 2)
12) JOHNNY (last week: 12)
11) SWIFT (last week: 10)
10) BRANDON (last week: 13)
9) ISAAC (last week: 11)
8) PRESTON (last week: 9)
7) ZACH (last week: 6)
6) LEROY (last week: 8)
5) FRANK (last week: 3)
4) COHUTTA (last week: 5)
3) JORDAN (last week: 4)
2) CT (last week: 1)
1) JOHNNY BANANAS (last week: 2)
WOMEN
Eliminated – JEMMYE (week 1), EMILEE (week 2)
12) JONNA (last week: 12)
11) NIA (last week: 9)
10) DEVYN (last week: 11)
9) LaTOYA (last week: 10)
8) THERESA (last week: 7)
7) NANY (last week: 6)
6) JASMINE (last week: 8)
5) CAMILA (last week: 2)
4) JESSICA (last week: 5)
3) CARA MARIA (last week: 3)
2) ANEESA (last week: 4)
1) LAUREL (last week: 1)
5 Things You Need to Know: Noah
When I see a movie in theaters, I will write the five things you need to know about it.
5 Things You Need to Know About…
NOAH
1) I saw Noah almost two weeks ago and up until now, did not think it too important to get the message out.
2) Although an afternoon screening, I spent most of the first act fighting off sleep. Was I tired and fatigued? Probably, but the product on screen didn’t help.
3) The biblical story of Noah has a few key tenets: Noah built an ark, there was a flood that eradicated the earth’s human population (besides Noah’s family), Noah saved the animals (two by two!) by housing them on the ark during the flood, and there was a dove that brought evidence of land to mark the end of the global catastrophe. You would think that an aspiring cinematic epic such as this movie that Darren Aronofsky hoped to make would at least hit all of these key points effectively. Unfortunately, the director of point-of-viewed The Fountain and Black Swan manages to gloss over most of the ark construction (in deference for angsty Ham and Shem emotional baggage) and creates one dimensional CGI animals that seem to be more alien to Noah and his family than the Giant Rock Transformer Angels were to EVERY member of the viewing audience.
4) Maybe I should have already put up a SPOILER ALERT on this one because studio publicity wants to maintain the secret for as long as possible, but the chatter seems to already have pervaded the cultural gossiper. In case you are living under the rocks that may have inspired them, in Darren Aronofsky’s Noah there are Giant Rock Transformer Angels who build arks, destroy humans through CGI magic (and weirdly and uncomfortably compelling action sequences), and disappear into heavenly light. You can’t make this stuff up.
5) Noah is a movie by a filmmaker (the aforementioned Aronofsky) whose incredible creativity, ambition, and vision execute story in a most fantastical way. Unfortunately, his fantastical musings often hit the wrong notes in the wrong ways and Noah is flooded with these inaccessible decisions.
THE CHALLENGE: FREE AGENTS Season Predictions
I have always been better at reflection than at prediction, but this won’t stop me from throwing a spoonful of subjective sauce into The Challenge: Free Agents prognostication pot. As we are about to embark on tonight’s much anticipated season premiere (at the time of writing, this is just a few hours away) and journey to Uruguay for the silver anniversary season of the Fifth Major American Professional Sport, here are my season predictions:
Best Interview
Awarded to the woman and the man competitors on FREE AGENTS who consistently give the most comedic interviews. RIVALS 2 winner: Paula; BATTLE OF THE SEASONS winners: Devyn and Chet
DEVYN
CHET
The Breakout
Awarded to the woman and the man competitors on FREE AGENTS who erupt out of their past CHALLENGE and REAL WORLD performances and personas, exceed expectations, and prove themselves as essential participants in future seasons. RIVALS 2 winner: Jemmye; BATTLE OF THE SEASONS winner: Chet
JESSICA
PRESTON
The Leap
Awarded to the woman and the man on FREE AGENTS who make the leap this season to elite status, solidifying themselves as perennial contenders in all future seasons of THE CHALLENGE. RIVALS 2 winner: Frank; BATTLE OF THE SEASONS winner: Dustin
JEMMYE
JORDAN
Rookie of the Year
Awarded to the season’s best performance by a first time THE CHALLENGE participant. RIVALS 2 winner: Jordan; BATTLE OF THE SEASONS winners: Frank
NIA
Some Bold Predictions
• Isaac will be a worthy candidate for “The Break Out” and will surprise many people with his performance.
• Frank will not make his third straight trip to the finals and will be a surprising early elimination.
• Jasmine will be the last member of her Real World: Cancun contingent in the game (Emilee and Jonna will be eliminated first).
• Zach is going to have a most successful comeback season that will be unexpectedly cut short in an unusual manner.
• There will be several times this season when Sarah will be missed.
• Johnny Bananas and CT will find themselves working together more in Free Agents than in any other season prior.
• TJ Lavin the great will take competition hosting to an entirely new level of “killing it.”
• Camila will be involved in the biggest fight of the season, but it will mostly not be her fault.
• The Johnny bobble head will have more screen time than Swift.
The Final Four
My predictions for the final four women and the final four men on FREE AGENTS.
LAUREL 
CARA MARIA
JEMMYEJESSICA
CT
JOHNNY BANANAS
JORDANDUSTIN
Most Valuable Player
My predictions for the women and men who will win FREE AGENTS.
LAUREL
JORDAN
The Joshua Tree is back in the news!
I don’t even know what this really means, but it sounds incredible.
Could a 2014 album announcement be up next?
World: Meet Sam Smith
Saturday Night Live has been the platform for many a star creation. Belushi. Murray. Murphy. Myers. Farley. Ferrell. Fey. Fallon. Poehler. Meyers. Piscopo (Well, maybe not Joe Piscopo). The most successful guest hosts (Tom Hanks, Alec Baldwin) take advantage of the freedom of the sketch comedy show institution (and frequently the highest rated NBC show not associated with “Sunday” and “Football”) to showcase their comedic range and acting chops. SNL musical acts are always a little bit of a wild card. You have your legends coming on to promote their longevity and boost ratings (Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger), legends who provide the nation a way to grieve (Paul Simon’s incredible rendition of “The Boxer” on the first SNL show after 9/11), musical heavyweights promoting a record (U2, Coldplay, Kanye), musical acts who host (Justin Timberlake, Drake, Britney), artists on the verge of arriving (The Lumineers), and artists who provide incredible unintentional comedy opportunities (Just watch this The Crash Test Dummies – mind you, this was a hit). The final category of musical acts, the almost complete unknowns to most viewers coming into their potentially career altering SNL appearance, either make something special of it (YouTube created Karmin came out of relative obscurity to perform on a 2012 SNL show and subsequently made themselves into a viable commercial success) or fall to even greater obscurity (where did you go, Alabama Shakes?).
This past weekend, Louis C. K. hosted a show with a musical act from the latter category. When I first heard that “Sam Smith” would be appearing alongside my fellow Newton North Tiger alumnus, Louis C.K., the following questions came to mind:
1) Who is Sam Smith?
2) What other musical act cancelled in order for SNL producers to choose someone no one had heard of?
3) Is this the same Sam Smith as the long-time Chicago sports columnist?
4) If so, did Louis C.K. select him as some kind of off-beat extension of his standup act?
5) Will they actually have him perform twice?
6) What other things can I fit into my day now that my DVR re-watch will go that much faster after having skipped Sam Smith’s performances?
7) Again, who is Sam Smith?
Thankfully, I decided to give Sam Smith a shot and my future musical listening experiences will always be the better for it. This soulful, passionate, gorgeous vocalist is part Adele, part David Gray (in his majestic, ethereal tone), part dead ringer for early Culture Club Boy George, and all kinds of awesome. If you missed SNL this past weekend and were as in the dark as I was, let me introduce you to the light that is Sam Smith.
Watch to behold the majesty that is…
Jimmy Fallon and Billy Joel Doo-Wop
In the jungle of falsetto, the choice to sing in the key of D may have been slightly misguided (it is a tough place for male chest voice/head voice break), but this performance of “Lions Sleeps Tonight” was far from it. The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon – where doo-wop duets happen…
GOTHAM pictures make me happy
Whether official publicity shots or unofficial onset bootlegs, pictures leaking out from the new series Gotham just make me happy. Kevin Reilly and Fox Television for the win!
David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne
The Wayne Family
Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle
Donal Logue as Detective Harvey Bullock
Ben McKenzie as Detective Jim Gordon
Detectives Bullock and Gordon
Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth
Robin Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot
Culture Challenged 