The Grandstander went 3-1 in his NFL Wildcard Playoff predictions last weekend, missing only the Packers win over the Giants. In truth, none of he games were all that great from a competitive point of view, although I loved the non-competitive nature of the Steelers thrashing of the Dolphins.
For this coming weekend, I give you this....Patriots over Texans (Joe Starkey suggested today that, somehow, the Pats managed to get another bye week in the Playoffs), Falcons over the Seahawks (the fact that Seattle let a lousy Lions team stay with them into the fourth quarter prevents me from picking them), Packers over the Cowboys (just gotta go with Aaron Rodgers over the rookie Dak Prescott), and Steelers over the Chiefs (not going to back down from my prediction of a Super Bowl win for the Steelers).
I also missed on the CFP game. Congrats to Deshaun Watson and all the Clemson players on their victory. To their sanctimonious coach, Dabo Swinney, well, all I can say is that he is one of the few guys I can think of that would make me want to root for Nick Saban.
Got a chance to watch this Ron Howard-directed documentary this week:
If you are a devoted follower and fan of the Beatles, I am not sure that you will learn anything new about the band from this, but it does give you a chance to see the group performing live in their touring years. As everyone knows, The Beatles stopped making live performances in 1966, so any chance one gets to see them perform like this is a bonus. There is also some color footage of the group performing at a concert in England in 1963 that is astonishingly good in terms of picture and sound quality, and that is something that I, at least, had never seen before. I rate this a solid three stars, and will say that any fan of The Beatles should add a copy of this movie to their Beatles Library.
Those same fans might also want to download or buy this CD which was recently remastered and reissued in conjunction with the Howard movie:
Last week's issue of Sports Illustrated featured a cover story about Ben Roethlisberger, whom that called the "NFL's most polarizing player". I wish someone at SI would explain what the point was in publishing that story. It broke absolutely no new ground.
That same issue featured and "SI True Crime" sort about former Cowboys running back Joseph Randle. "True Crime", apparently, is now going to be a monthly feature in SI.
With both stories, I felt like I was reading the National Enquirer, and not Sports Illustrated.
Sports Illustrated also announced that US Olympic gymnasts Simone Biles and Aly Raisman will be featured models in its upcoming swimsuit issue. Miss Biles and Miss Raisman have made this choice freely, and I presume that they are being paid handsomely for doing so, but I hope that I never hear them complain that they are not being "taken seriously" as competitive athletes, or that they are being "objectified", now that they have chosen to be a part of this issue of the magazine. I wonder what a true pioneer like Billie Jean King would have to say about this.
I guess that this is just what print publications have to do in an increasingly digital age.
Finally, I am enjoying this short series from Amazon that was written and directed by Woody Allen:
Allen also stars in the show that also includes the great Elaine May as his wife. I had seen that critics weren't too wild about this series, but I think it has its moments. I have not finished watching the entire series and will wait until I do to give my final judgment, but, so far, not bad.
This past Wednesday evening I visited the Cinemark North Hills to take in another Fathom Events presentation of an old movie on a big screen. This one was 1973's "American Graffiti". This was the second feature film directed by George Lucas, and it depicts a single night in the lives of a group of teenagers, the night before two of them were to leave their small California town and set off for college "back East". When this movie was released in 1973, it was viewed as a "nostalgia piece" which is odd when you consider that it takes place in 1962, a mere eleven years in the past. However, when you think about it, 1962 could have, indeed, been viewed with nostalgia in 1973...Jack Kennedy was still alive and in the White House, no one in America had ever heard of the Beatles, there was no drug culture to speak of, no hippies, and no mention was even made of a place called Viet Nam, although we are starkly made aware of it in the coda at the end of the movie, just before the credits roll. This movie is probably most remembered for two things. One, an absolutely terrific soundtrack featuring vintage pre-British Invasion American rock and roll. The music plays almost continuously throughout the movie, sometimes even drowning out some of the dialog, something that I did not remember from when I first saw this movie back in '73. The second notable thing about the movie is the cast which included, among others.... Ron Howard, just after "Andy Griffith", just before "Happy Days", and long before he went on to become one of America's best directors, and an Oscar winner. Richard Dreyfuss, before "Jaws", before an Oscar in "Good-Bye Girl", and many other great roles. Cindy Williams, before "Laverne and Shirley". Suzanne Somers, before "Three's Company" (she wasn't even billed in this one). MacKenzie Phillips, before whatever that sitcom was that she was in. And perhaps most famous of all, Harrison Ford, before "Star Wars" before "Indiana Jones" and on and on. That George Lucas sure had an eye for talent, didn't he? So, the question put to me was..."How good is this movie, really, forty-three years after it first came out?" My answer: It's a good movie, but I'm not sure that I'd call it a call it a classic. It does a great job in setting the mood of one particular point in time in our culture. It also captures the insecurities and the fears of kids on the cusp of adulthood. In those respects, "American Graffiti" nails it, especially when it gives you that "Whatever happened to..." bit at the end. There are some really good scenes, but I was struck by one comic scene of which I had no memory. Towards the end of the movie Laurie (Williams), after a fight with boyfriend Steve (Howard) allows herself to be picked up by Bob Falfa (Ford). She jumps into Ford's hot rod and icily says "Don't say anything and we'll get along just fine." Hotshot Falfa/Ford regards her sitting all the way across the front seat from him and begins to sing, in an affected deep voice, "Some Enchanted Evening". It was totally out of character for Falfa and out of context for the rest of the music in the movie, but it worked and was just a great scene by Ford and Williams.
As with all of these Fathom events movies, it played once on Sunday, and twice on Wednesday. I don't know how many people came on Sunday, but when I bought my ticket on Wednesday, the ticker seller told me I was the first person to buy a ticket for it that day. Three other people showed up after I did for the 7:00 show. That can't be good for business, but I hope that this was an aberration, and that these Fathom Events special screenings will continue.
