Monthly Archives: October 2021

I See A Team Over There

NY Rangers

5-2-1

Last Monday the Rangers got trounced 5-1 by Calgary. It was the Washington game all over again. The Rangers were slow, not working as a team, turnovers all over the place, and bad special teams. The all-stars on the team didn’t do anything. Calgary is playing really well, currently one of the best in the league. You can’t be sloppy against teams like that.

Four days later the Rangers showed up at the Garden. Columbus isn’t a team to take lightly, their goalie is one of the best between the pipes right now. After a bumpy first 5 minutes, the Rangers took control and never let up.

4-0 Rangers. Igor Shesterkin’s third career shut out, first of this season. He’s been playing very well and the team in front of him finally put the pieces together to match his efforts. The difference in this 60 minutes? The Rangers played as a team.

Much better discipline with 3 penalties against. The Penalty Kill lines were perfect. The Power Play lines got 3 chances and scored twice. Huge improvement. Passes were way more careful and thoughtful so turnovers didn’t become an issue (something like 20 vs Calgary). They were fast and took all the smart chances to hit. Panarin- 3 assists, Fox- 2 assists, Kreider- 2 goals. Strome opened the night with a blistering goal with Nils Lundkvist getting his first NHL point. Panarin looks like he’s about to hit his stride, whether that’s a timing issue or he had more room to move because their offense was so much better is debatable. Mika didn’t get a point but he was a threat and contributed to the win in every period. He just needs to pop off too. Every goal was special (the pass Fox made to Laffy from behind the net was nuts). I think almost every stat was in the Rangers’ favor at the final horn.

The Rangers can be a scary team when they are firing on all cylinders. There’s more depth now which means scoring chances can come from every line. There are a lot of guys who can score that need to be covered, and teams are wary of that. It’s not just the first line that needs the best defense lines anymore. Lesser teams are going to get overwhelmed and the better teams have more to pay attention to. Last night the Rangers were the team we’ve been waiting for. Can they keep this focus and energy together? It looks like the new coaching system is starting to settle in. The real test is coming in the next month. If more elements coalesce in that time like they are expected to, by this time in November the Rangers could be a monstrous team on the ice. Those stats will likely be what we can expect through the rest of the season.

Next: First game ever against the Seattle Kraken.

A Bumpy Beginning

NY Rangers

1-1-1

Not the kind of start you want for a season. Soundly beaten by Washington, a dumb overtime loss to Dallas, and a closer than necessary win against Montreal.

It felt like there was a lot of wind in the Rangers sails coming into the season and getting a 5-1 drubbing by Washington stopped those good vibes. The first half was competitive, and then it all fell apart. The seasons long problem of too many penalties reared its head and you can’t do that against Washington. Georgiev getting worked like that isn’t going to help him get out of last season’s rut and made the whole team look bad.

The Dallas game was a better contest that slipped away, another old problem where the Rangers can’t close out a game. They did rally to push it to overtime so the effort was there at least. That game was more a letdown than a second crushing blow.

Montreal had a lot to prove last night, the first home game in more than a year and the added pressure of not going 0-3 to start the season. So they came out hot as anticipated and the Rangers handled it well. Penalty kill teams did their job at the start and then Montreal went nuts on the penalties, which the Rangers turned into a goal. Good for this to happen in favor of the Rangers instead of the other way around for once. Montreal did keep it close and this was largely a contest of goaltending. Plenty of robberies on both sides and Shesterkin was the one who managed to keep it on lockdown. Lafreniere got the bonus of his family being in the stands for his game-winning goal. Brilliant rush and pass from Mika made for a hell of a highlight-reel goal.

It feels like after this game the team is starting to gel better. Kreider has 3 goals in 3 games, which is incredible. Very few are as good at deflecting in goals as he is. If he can keep this up–and not disappear like he usually does for giant stretches of time–he’ll continue to be a huge PITA in front of the net and slap away any discussion that he got too generous of a contract extension.

Mika has been more noticeable than Panarin so far. Mika is an all-star and now he has an all-star contract. He’s making waves on assists, he almost had a breakaway goal with 2 guys chasing after him. He’s just goal-shy now, whiffing on an odd amount of one-timer shots. That’s weird to see. Last year he was doing that because it took him weeks to shake off the effects of covid. Now we’re just waiting on Panarin to hit his stride.

Of the new players on the team, I’m most impressed with Ryan Reaves. He’s incredibly fast for his size, he hits anything that moves, and he pounces on every opportunity to be a playmaker. Kakko and Lafreniere have been moved up on the lines and getting a lot more ice time. Kakko looks much stronger, he had a productive off-season. He got hurt last night with an upper body injury and he’ll be off the ice for a week. Hopefully no longer than that. We’ll see if Morgan Barron can get some traction in his absence.

A bumpy start for sure but nothing to panic over. Still a lot of promise.

Malignant

Movies

I was really worried about Malignant after the opening scene. It did not give me a good first impression. Bad acting, bizarre directing choices, and a soundtrack that doesn’t fit. This is a James Wan joint and he loves action and horror, so I settled in to see if he could turn this around. Aside from the soundtrack, the movie ended up winning me over.

After establishing that some kind of dangerous monster in a hospital is the big bad of the movie, we are introduced to Madison. She’s pregnant and her husband sucks. Some serious supernatural stuff happens to them in their home and we’re off to figure out what’s happening. Like many successful suspense/horror movies, Malignant hinges on deception and perspective to keep the audience on their toes. Madison keeps getting visions of people getting killed, with the monster soon directly contacting her. She doesn’t know what’s going on and her sanity is quickly questioned. But when it’s proven that her visions are actually happening in real life, she becomes a suspect. The unraveling of what’s happening–and whether you can trust Madison or not–is the best part of the movie and is done quite well. The last act of the movie is a lot of fun as all hell breaks loose.

Thankfully the bad acting goes away quickly. There’s nothing as ham-fisted and goofy in the actor’s line delivery after the opening scene. I like James Wan as a director. He’s not a fan of static camera placement and always looks for a way to move the camera around a scene in new and interesting ways. Usually, this works. In the opening quarter of the movie, there is a fantastic sequence of Madison running through her house in fear with the camera moving across the ceiling. It looks like you are looking down at a dollhouse with a live person inside of it, going from room to room and then up the stairs. As the walls fly by, sometimes those wipes are used for the camera to zoom closer or further away from her. It’s a really wild visual…I’m not too sure how it was accomplished.

Other times, the direction is heavy-handed, like in the first scene where the whole production looks like the movie was made in the early 2000s (what is with Madison and Sydney’s bangs? They must be terrible wigs. Drove me nuts). Really fast camera movement and editing that looks like it’s trying to be “Xtreme!” but looks more amateurish (a lot like how director Darren Lynn Bousman made his Saw movies look like a music video). One moment that sticks out to me is during the final action scene where someone fires a shotgun and it hits the desk instead of the target. A gigantic hole is made and the camera zooms in on it as the shot is fired. The sudden camera movement sticks out like a sore thumb because it’s distracting and not needed. You are behind the character with the gun, you see the muzzle flash, hear the loud boom, and see the gigantic hole in the desk. There’s no question of what’s happening in front of you, there’s no point in shoving it into the audience’s face. That action scene is fast and wild as it is, more is less in these situations.

The other negative is I never felt like the soundtrack ever fits the tone or theme of what I was watching. It’s a weird, lazy-sounding hybrid of metal and electronic music that more often felt like a distraction than an enhancement.

Back to the good stuff. The movie’s pacing is very good. The ratcheting of the stakes of what is happening and the peril that comes with it keeps the movie from getting stale. Every scene brings new information and the level of carnage is uncorked for the end. For an R rated horror movie, I thought they were pulling punches in the gore department at the start. I think they did so to get keep the mayhem for the last quarter of the movie.

The monster is also very inventive. It moves really weirdly and that’s always off-putting. That’s actually a curse and a blessing because at certain points the movement can make the monster look goofy. It’s so odd it can look funny and it makes you wonder why it’s moving the way it does. But the blessing side of that is you’re not too sure what you’re looking at or where it could have come from. That’s effective monster design and when you get the whole story, you get a great payoff. It’s a mean bugger too, so that’s always fun (the voice feels way too close to what the Scream franchise did though). The origin of the monster, how it comes out to hunt, and how it’s dealt with are all satisfying as well.

The special effects are really good as well. Very little comes off as cheap looking or too ‘off’, so it’s easy to suspend your disbelief and go with the flow. The melting and reforming room effect is a particular stand out.

For any seasoned horror fan, there’s nothing scary here. Scaredy cats will jump in fright a few times as there’s some spooky and grizzly stuff from start to finish. I like how the movie goes from suspense to ghost story, to body horror, and then action film pretty effortlessly. After the other horror movies James Wan has directed, I can see why this script caught his eye.

It’s about 105 minutes long, which is the perfect length for a Halloween treat.

Cruella

Movies

I didn’t find out about this movie until the trailer came out and had the same reaction as most people. Are they going to try and turn Cruella into a sympathetic character? The woman who is all about skinning dogs for a coat? Who asked for this?

Turns out, I did, and I just didn’t know it.

Cruella tells the story of how a young girl named Estella becomes one of Disney’s most iconic film villains, Cruella de Vile. The movie begins in 60s England with Estella around the age of twelve years old. She’s a rebellious and strong-willed kid. She pushes up against authority at school and does not hesitate to defend herself against anyone who crosses her. Catherine, her single mother, does everything she can to give Estella a proper upbringing. When Estella crosses a line at school and gets kicked out, their forced to move to London to go to another school and Catherine reaches out to The Baroness for help. She’s a superstar in the fashion world; Catherine used to work for her as a maid. Partly due to Estella sneaking around The Baroness’ posh party, all hell breaks loose and Catherine is killed in an accident involving the Baranoess’ dalmatians.

Frightened and traumatized from seeing her mother killed, Estella runs away. She stows away in the back of a truck and on her first morning alone, she finds Jasper and Horace stealing for their own survival. She tags along with them, becoming a potent thieving crew. They come up with inventive ways to rip people off and with the sowing skills she first picked up from her mother, Estella creates all of their costumes for disguise.

The bulk of the movie moves ten years ahead where Estella yearns to do more with her life. Her and the boys basically scrape by with each successful theft they pull off and she is clearly very talented in fashion. Her friends end up getting her a proper job that could get her foot in the door to becoming a fashion designer where Estella ends up working under The Baroness.

The movie blasts off from there, with Estella working her ass off for The Baroness who turns out to also be a thief. None of her designs are her own, she just takes from the dozen or so designers who work under her. Never one for authority, Estella rages against the machine, creating Cruella as an alter ego to dethrone The Baroness.

I can’t believe how good this movie is. It’s just mad. The production is off the charts good. The casting is great, the soundtrack is awesome, the direction is incredibly active and creative. It’s punk, goth, and glam mashed together in surprising ways. The action pieces (pretty much all chase scenes) are awesome and the way Cruella keeps upstaging The Baroness is nothing short of brilliant. You will not believe what is possible with a garbage truck until you see this movie. It’s part of one of the best montages ever made.

This movie basically presents Cruella as an anti-hero. It skirts a lot of extremes in what I think are smart ways. This is a pretty family-friendly movie, but it gets pretty dark and intense. The Cruella personality doesn’t suddenly appear. That part of Estella is shown under the surface from the very start. She is a product of her environment. Her dislike of dalmatians makes sense from her trauma and there’s a twist to that part of the story that changes her perspective (and the audience) further. You never see her hurt a dog, she makes a joke about it that foreshadows 101 Dalmatians. The major arc of the movie is watching Estella steadily being worn away. Jasper and Horace see it happening. They don’t like it and they tell her that and try and get her to pull back from the edge that she keeps running up to with The Baroness. She gets more extreme as she’s driven by the overpowering emotions of abandonment, vengeance, and justice. Ultimately, her goal is to get what she’s fairly earned instead of someone ripping it away from her.

This movie is so fresh and unique that I have to remind myself that it’s from Disney. The script is brilliant, I commend the writers for it. The twists are great, the metamorphosis of Estella is satisfying and surprisingly well told. It’s directed by Craig Gillespie, whose last movie was the great I, Tonya. The man knows his craft. Come to think of it, this movie has a lot of parallels with I, Tonya.

Highly recommended.

Animal Kingdom- Season 5

TV

Airs on TNT

I was turned on to Animal Kingdom a year or so ago by a friend. It was a little bit before season 4 aired and I liked the show so much I ran through the first three episodes fast enough to catch season 4 as it aired.

In short, Animal Kingdom is about the Cody crime family that lives in Oceanside, California. Janine “Smurf” Cody runs the enterprise with ruthless efficiency. She’s a career criminal, starting in the late 70s, raising her two kids while running from the law as she does multiple heists with her crew.

Starting with season 4, the show gives a glimpse of those early days with flashbacks that weave in and out of the present day story with her adult children and teenage grandson.

This show hooked me because it’s about a messed up crime family pulling heists. I’m a sucker for a well-told story in this genre and the show consistently delivers. Smurf steers this family around, her three kids, one adopted son, and her orphaned grandson toeing the line. Of course, questions are asked, deals go bad, the cops (and the feds) come sniffing around, threatening the Cody family’s way of life.

Season 5 is different because the order of the family changes. With Smurf no longer calling the shots, the boys are forced to communicate more and work together differently. A lot of family secrets are floating around and without the threat of the almighty Smurf around, competition and allies look at the Cody’s differently.

This was probably the worst season as the pacing feels slower. More time is given over to late 70s-early 80s Smurf to show how she started her criminal empire…and did no favors to her son and daughter. The present day story focuses more on the internal strife of the boys than ever. Pope has to go find himself so his journey leaves his family behind for about a quarter of the season. There’s a challenge of changing leadership and a ton of resentment of how Smurf seemed to favor J, her grandson, over any of her kids that have been her tools their entire lives. Plus, she screwed them all on the way out so the pressure for them to keep their heads above water never lets up. That leads to a lot of risk taking (a hallmark of the show) with interesting heists and two rouge cops strutting around.

While I say it’s the worst season, it’s still a great show and there are plenty of great moments in this season. It took a long time for the boys to come together, but that isn’t surprising. If they only spent 2-3 episodes on such heavy material, it would’ve felt rushed and unsatisfying. Each man is coming from a different angle and they all have their own problems to deal with (which come back to the family). I was expecting a messier season finale, but the set ups for the final season are massive. There are a ton of plot lines in the air and the challenge will be to address them all. Thirteen episodes do give a lot of room and I’m wondering how much more flashbacks we’re in store for. I’m looking forward to watching next year. The identity of the show and characters are well established, it’s just a question of who is going to survive and what condition they will be in at the end. Can any of the Codys be happy?