Let’s Go Rangers!

NY Rangers

1-0-0

Buffalo is up first and that is going to be a statement game.

Me, last week

And I was right. With a 5-1 win, the New York Rangers showed up ready to play as a team. They must have worked tirelessly on every aspect of the game in the last week because they were nothing but impressive. All the way down the roster, everyone played well.

Alexis Lafreniere kicked off the scoring just 4 minutes into the game when Panarin got his own rebound and made a sweet pass to a wide-open Lafreniere. There’s been a lot of furrowed brows pointed at him for months now and there’s no better way to show off than to shut everyone down. He also had a phenomenal steal that let Panarin score his own beauty (last I saw Alexis did not get an assist credit for it).

The first period was complete domination by the Rangers. Kreider with his patented deflection for his first goal. In the third period, he got another one short-handed after a tremendous hustle from Zibanejad (3 assists for the night!). The second period was terrific until the end where Buffalo got some momentum with a goal at the end and then went on the power play.

The Rangers’ penalty kill did their job to get the team clean into the third period. It got really hairy when the Rangers got two more penalty kills quickly. It cut their own power play short by like 50 seconds. The second penalty came with 12 seconds left so that meant a no-let’s-avoid-this-please 5 on 3.

And what we got to see was nothing but heart and grit to snuff Buffalo’s power play. Buffalo gave it their all but the Rangers blocking shots stopped their best chances. I was having flashbacks to the John Tortorella era where he wanted everyone to be a human meat shield health be damned. It was wild and if this is the sign of things to come, Rangers Nation is here for it.

Will Cuylle had a hell of a game! He did his absolute best to make the team in training camp and he showed everyone tonight that it wasn’t a mistake or a fluke. He was flying on offense, and a PITA on defense. Really impressive. Our new D man Erik Gustafsson made his presence known too. I have a feeling I’ll be writing about him a lot too so I better memorize how to spell his last name. Shout out to Nick Bonino on his hard-nosed playing too. He made a big difference on face-offs and defense. Trouba crushed it too! Happy to see our Captain smiling out there. The only new guy I didn’t really notice was Blake Wheeler.

Speaking of face-offs, they said that was one area–along with special teams, which showed–coach Laviolette focused they worked on a lot. The wingers were told to push in to help when a face-off wasn’t won and it worked. Face off win percentage was up, which is rare. And when they didn’t win, the new system frequently worked so they weren’t skating around like chickens with their heads cut off for half the night. That added support meant Buffalo didn’t always control the puck for long when they did win it. One final checkmark for the night was Shesterkin winning his 100th NHL game.

Really promising stuff. If they can keep gelling as a team with the new play system and stay healthy, the Rangers are a huge threat to the entire league. This could be a wild season. The games versus the Devils, Islanders, and Penguins are going to be insane.

Knock at the Cabin

Movies

Can we talk about how good of an actor Dave Bautista is? For me, he’s the biggest highlight of Knock at the Cabin. The guy has tremendous range, he can do comedy and drama, and despite how recognizable he is (like how you could pick Dwayne Johnson out of a crowd) I forget his real name and personality and only see the character on screen.

This movie is an adaptation of the book The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay. It gives you a rather mind bending scenario to chew on and make a decision about: What would it take for you, with only a few hours., to believe that you could save mankind from impending doom?

A young girl named Wen is on vacation with her adopted dads, Eric and Andrew. The ride to the cabin was fun, and the cabin and surrounding environment are beautiful. Not long after they arrive, Wen is sitting outside in front of the cabin when a large man walks up to her and starts talking to her. She’s wary at first but the man is friendly and speaks kindly. He seems okay but then he starts talking about things–scary stuff about threats to the world that make her run inside to her parents. She immediately tells them about the big weird guy and before Eric and Andrew can process the torrent of information she yells out, there’s a knock at the cabin door. A man calmly introduces himself through the door, asking to be let in so they can talk. Taking a look through the window, the parents see 4 adults with very big, melee weapons.

As you can guess, the drama starts from here. The strangers tell their story that the apocalypse is only moments away and Eric and Andrew are the only people who can stop it…with one of their lives. That conversation goes the way you’d likely react. These people are nuts, go away and leave us alone. The strangers break into the cabin to better sell their ideas. There are some negative reactions to that, as you can imagine.

I found Knock to be a compelling movie. This is an M. Night Shyamalan joint and he’s been putting out some good projects in recent years (I like Old, the movie he made just before this one) and this thankfully continues the trend. It’s a wild concept that lives or dies on the dialogue. Casting is integral too, which is why I brought up Dave Bautista at the top. If the actors can’t sell the premise, you’ll never buy into it. Bautista plays the leader, Leonard, and he is totally committed to this role. I came to believe that he completely believes everything he says. It’s crazy stuff to imagine happening to you. He’s asking you to either kill yourself or your spouse right now with outlandish claims. But he says the proof will start coming if they continue to wait. All four of them have come to this cabin through ordained faith and are ready to prove it. They aren’t important, the rest of humanity is.

When the “proof” starts appearing every bit of rightful skepticism comes out. It’s easy to dismiss. Eric and Andrew work every angle they can think of to keep Wen safe and get the hell out of there. And then the horror escalates and more “proof” is given. It starts to become compelling and makes you start thinking…what if…?

I’m leaving out a lot of stuff because I think it’s best for viewers to go in as blind as possible so the premises can pick you up the way it’s designed to. It may or may not, but that’s the challenge this movie sets out to do. It worked on me. I think this was a great ride that has some fantastic character work. It goes pretty deep on belief and the human condition. Fight or flight, rationalization, love, anger, purpose, sacrifice, the stages of grief. It’s a rather intense journey that I was happy to go on in the end.

The Black Phone

Movies

We all know and love Ethan Hawke from his decades in the biz but watch out for him in The Black Phone. He is straight-up scary. I can’t remember him playing the bad guy before (I need to brush up on his filmography) but man is he good at it.

Ethan Hawke plays “The Grabber” in this horror/thriller movie that takes place in the late ’70s. As the nickname suggests, he grabs his victims off the street of the otherwise quiet suburban neighborhood. The town is on edge and the police aren’t close to finding who is doing it let alone finding where the kids are being taken.

Finney and Gwen live with their dad and things at home aren’t…great. Finn and his sister have to protect each other inside and outside of the home. Finn feels the personal threat of The Grabber first when one of his friends, Robin, disappears. One afternoon, when Finn is walking alone, he’s approached by a man wearing a black hat and a theatrical-looking face mask. He says he’s a magician and he drives the big van because it has all of his performance stuff in there. It’s a good cover to get a child close…

Finn then wakes up in a bare basement that’s been made soundproof. Just one door, a broken black phone on the wall, and a dirty old mattress on the floor. Now Finn has to fight for his life. He gets help from the outside and the inside of the house. Gwen doesn’t leave things up to the police and does everything in her power to find her brother. She rules. Inside the house, Finn’s other lifeline comes when the broken phone rings. The Grabber’s previous victims talk to Finn through the phone.

The Black Phone is a really cool mix of a grounded police and survival thriller with supernatural elements. I was wary of the ghost idea coming into this, and I’m surprised a how well it works. The way it’s introduced and how each victim reaches out and expands the story comes across as believable and a great way to push character development and the plot along. The spirits that visit Finn are angry, so they aren’t really pleasant experiences for him or the audience. The suspense is great from the start with the setup that The Grabber is active, nearby, and very dangerous. Once Finn is captured, that suspense turns into tremendous tension.

Ethan Hawke has such a presence whenever he’s on screen. He has a weird, disturbing voice and has multiple masks that cover different parts of his face. It’s almost like he’s making a stage play out of his madness. I also liked that he doesn’t go over the top with The Grabber. He always feels like a real threat that could be preying on any town USA. The scenes with him and Finn (Mason Thames) are captivating. The threats and cat-and-mouse aspects create terrific action sequences.

The film also has older filmmaking aesthetics that go beyond the decades-old setting. Just about everything looks aged and worn out. It doesn’t really have that super sharp digital image that most movies have today. I think a lot of it comes from how the scenes are lit. The special effects all look real too which is another bonus.

The movie nails the landing too so this is a complete experience from start to finish. This is one of the best films Blumhouse Pictures has produced.

Pre-Season Is Over

NY Rangers

Pre-season is supposed to build confidence in your team. The new guys start to fit in, training is in full swing, maybe some new coaching systems are being learned, and lines are figured out. In the Rangers case, almost all of the coaching staff is new along with head coach Peter Laviolette. So there is a brand new system to learn and become comfortable with for the entire team. That game plan is reportedly to be more aggressive.

Now going 1-5 in the pre-season is not a confidence builder to fans like myself. They beat the Islanders once and that’s it. Game 2 against the Devils was horribly embarrassing. They let 3 powerplay goals in. Special teams have been horrible. 1-20 on the powerplay if I remember tonight’s game against Boston correctly.

It’s hard not to be in a panic right now. The whole “pre-season doesn’t matter” saying is largely true as the games don’t count. But there was little to like in these 2 weeks of games. Yes, most of the line-ups were temporary with all of the rookies taking a spin, but at the end, you expect to and need to see some kind of progress and gelling as a team. Do you know who is doing that? The Devils. The Rangers aren’t. The Devils are in the same division and they are going to be better than last year. The time of the Devils being little more than a speed bump for the Rangers is over.

The last game wasn’t horrible against Boston but losing a 1 goal lead is bad. Letting in another powerplay goal is bad. Not scoring on the power play is bad. A bunch of posts were hit and the defense wasn’t embarrassing, as seen by the penalty kill shutting down Boston proper, twice. Panarin, Kreider, and Zibanejad need to show the hell up and do it quickly and consistently.

There were flashes of greatness, like from Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko. Blake Wheeler, Brennan Othmann (will he make opening night?), Nick Bonino, and Barclay Goodrow all come to mind in doing something notable. But Chytil is still hurt and we can throw Lafreniere onto the pile of “wtf is going on?”

The team should be better than last year. There’s a lot of talent that can play scary good. The new players should make a positive impact. The team has to be better because the competition has gotten better league-wide. If the Rangers don’t take the steps forward that they need to, they are going to get run over. Like, last to second to last in the division. That’s kiss the playoffs goodbye. Coach Laviolette and company have a lot to work on over the next week. Buffalo is up first and that is going to be a statement game.

Werewolves!

Movies

Let’s kick off the spooky season with a classic monster!

Werewolves Within is an adaptation of a multiplayer video game released a few years ago. In the game, all the players are sitting around a campfire and the goal is to figure out who the werewolf is. As the werewolf, you want to throw everyone’s suspicions onto anyone but you. The movie spins the gameplay into a more traditional whodunnit plot where a few residents in a small remote town get trapped together, and a monster starts picking them off one by one.

This was a lot of fun to watch with the slow build-up and ratcheting tension. Everything seems normal and then odd things start happening. Questions are asked, the first person is attacked and then the suspicions and paranoia move in full force. Everyone is a suspect and that makes the people just as dangerous as the werewolf. I liked the Jaws approach they took with the werewolf, keeping it basically hidden for the entire movie. Not very violent or gory, but the blood does flow a few times.

Simple premise, small environment, and smart production decisions make for an expensive-looking movie that actually had a very small budget. A lot of fun, and I highly recommend it.

Werewolf By Night is technically not a movie. It’s less than an hour long and is officially called by Marvel/Disney a TV Special. It doesn’t matter though because it’s totally rad and Marvel needs to make more adaptations like this.

I’ve never heard of this comic before, and I remember when this adaptation came out last year but I quickly forgot about it. I never hear anyone talking about it either which is a shame because it’s so much fun. Maybe now that it’s Halloween time this will get mentioned more.

With the death of Ulysses Bloodstone, his wife Verussa calls in the top monster hunters of their secret group for his memorial. Their daughter, Elsa, is one of them and tensions are high between mother and daughter from decisions Elsa has made. The memorial quickly becomes a deadly competition for a powerful relic that is stuck on the creature known as…Ted.

One in the order is more than they seem, hiding a secret that is exposed with deadly results.

The show goes on the road real quick with this one! Everyone is gathered together within minutes of the start and after everyone is introduced and Verussa lays out the competition, it’s a mad dash to the thrilling end. Much like Werewolves Within, this takes place in closed quarters with characters running around from room to room between intense standoffs. Well-directed and great production design with the black and white presentation that highlights the deep contrasts between shadow and light. A cool take on horror that goes a little farther than what you typically see in the consequences of violence in Marvel shows. The fight and weapon choreography is well done too. A pleasant surprise that’s perfect for October viewing.

Reservation Dogs

TV

It feels like three seasons of Reservation Dogs came out all at once in the span of a week instead of three years. It’s been so consistently good and satisfying that each episode was a treat that I never wanted to end. The show is done which is disappointing, but its ending is as strong as its beginning.

We meet the ‘Rez Dogs’, 4 teenage friends, shortly after they lost their friend Daniel to suicide. This–now–clique of 4 is depressed and feeling lost. These kids are Native Americans, living on a depressing reservation in Oklahoma.

I love coming-of-age stories and I think Reservation Dogs is one of the best ever made. The lives of Bear (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), Elora (Devery Jacobs), Cheese (Lane Factor), and Willie Jack (Paulina Alexis) are from a culture that is basically ignored in media. Almost the entire cast and crew are Native American and they dig into growing through bad and good times from a different, beautiful angle. I rarely predicted where the show was going to go correctly, which I really love. This show fits in alongside Atlanta and Dave for me.

There is little to do and little opportunity on the reservation. One of the first things we see the Rez Dogs do is steal a delivery truck that delivers the snacks to the only bodega in town. Idle hands are the devil’s playthings and such. People who are born on the reservation rarely leave. Daniel’s biggest goal was to move to California, where he saw endless opportunities. His friends agreed with him and it became their goal too. With his death, the Rez Dogs feel like they have no goals in life and nothing to look forward to.

The idea of not knowing what you want to do in your and the fear of changing the life you know are major themes of the show. So is the power of a community. What I thought would be a show only about the 4 kids expands into something much more.

Most of the episodes are ensemble stories of the Rez Dogs but the series doesn’t shy away from giving individual characters their own focus, especially in the third season. Even the adult characters, who are often on the sidelines, get their fair share to reflect on their past. They have a lot of regrets and some of them, like the kids, need a light shined on their future.

The Rez Dogs eventually go to California to complete Daniel’s wish. It doesn’t go too well. When they make it back to OK, while disappointed they have learned about themselves and start to think more about the future (this segment reminded me of Mad Max Fury Road, one of my favorite movies).

None of the Rez Dogs have both of their parents. Where mother or father or both are missing, immediate and extended family stepped in to raise them. Friends of the family are called Aunt and Uncle. On the reservation, everyone is family. They may be ignored by the outside world, but they do have each other. That’s something the Rez Dogs come to understand and appreciate.

Take Willie Jack, my favorite character, for example. She is a wise ass and ready to go on anything, scam or otherwise, that will move her friends along together. She sees many of the adults as weird but comes to respect and understand them as she learns about their past. It helps her connect the dots in her own life, and how her experiences are shaping her outlook on her life and others. She opens up to learning and we get to see the spark of a future leader.

As events unfold, their childhood starts fading away and adulthood starts to be a real thing. They reflect on their lives of who has and hasn’t been with them. They come to appreciate their elders and look up to them more. You watch them grow as people and look forward to being adults.

These kinds of stories live or die on the cast, and every actor on Reservation Dogs is a knockout performer. Each kid is very different and they’re defined from the very beginning. It’s like the actors immediately knew who the person was on the page and didn’t have to figure anything out, they just became. And then they walked in these character’s shoes for 3 years.

There’s an amazing amount of love and respect woven into the fabric of Reservation Dogs. It’s funny, heartbreaking, touching, really funny, dark, and spiritual. It’s one of those rare pieces of media that you need to watch to understand. I hope this launches a lot of careers forward in the years to come.

The Ice Is Back On

NY Rangers

The wait for the 2023-2024 NHL season is almost over! Preseason has started and the oh-so-important opening night lines are being drawn up and tested.

The New York Rangers played their first game against the Boston Bruins 3-0. The Rangers lineup was almost entirely the younger players (like Jones and Cuylle) and those who were just drafted or are on the minor league teams. So it was a big tryout game as players go out to prove they’ve got what it takes for the regular season. A few guys were cut before and after the game.

While the score isn’t what you want to see, the effort was there and the Bruins new goalie was on fire. Robbed many great shots and 3 or so pipes were hit. Still, none of them went in and Jonathan Quick didn’t have a great game (he played half the game). He bungled one shot which he should have stopped the other one was more or less out of control.

Nothing that alarming to see and there are 5 more games until Oct. 12 when the regular season starts against Buffalo. Tuesday is next against the Islanders and many of the big guns will be playing along with more lineup changes. It’s time to keep a close eye on Lafreniere, Chytil, and Kakko as it’s expected to see them take more prominent roles and increased ice time under new coach Peter Laviolette.

The Hives- The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons

Music

The worst part about The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons is that it took 11 years to come out. Most bands aren’t together for that long and a gap in a discography that big makes you wonder if the band has called it quits but they didn’t tell anybody. Thankfully The Hives are forever and the wait was well worth it.

Swedish Punk is what The Hives are and what they deliver. Half an hour of power albums. Two to three-minute-long tracks stuffed with some of the catchiest riffs, often non-sensical lyrics, bombastic drum and bass, and loud and proud chanting and sing-along choruses.

Breaking out in the US in the early 2000s, The Hives had a few hit songs but never truly went mainstream here. They’ve developed a solid foundation of fans here but are much more popular in Europe. In the last decade, they’ve toured a lot–opening for large acts like Pink and Maroon 5 for stadium tours-but headline clubs and theaters. They consistently deliver high-energy and fun live shows for the entire career. I doubt you’d find anyone who wasn’t impressed by their live act even if they don’t like this genre of music. They also put out a few singles and played a few of the songs on this album live over the years. It just took whatever reason for them to finally go to the studio and record.

But enough with the past. There’s a certain comfort and joy that comes with a Hives album and Fitzsimmons is arguably one of their best. I loved their last LP, Lex Hives, and thought it’d be tough to beat. You’d never guess the gap in time was this long by listening to Fitzsimmons. Their highest energy and creativity can be found here, they haven’t lost a single step. I listen to this album from start to finish, which is pretty rare for me. In fact, this album contains two of my all-time favorite songs from any band: Smoke & Mirrors and Crash Into The Weekend. It is impossible to stay still when these vibrations come out of the speakers. These tracks are sandwiched between two other bangers, Stick Up and Two Kinds of Trouble (and The Way The Story Goes and The Bomb) which makes for a hell of a stretch of jumping and high kicks around your house, car, and possibly place of employment. All of the songs they released as singles are great and that’s only the public bite of what’s on offer. I urge everyone to give this a full spin. Even the song I like the least, What Did I Ever Do To You?, has its merits that won me over (mainly the final quarter that sports a bombastic horn section).

The best part of this album is that it is a The Hives album. They simply deliver to their fans what they want. That’s a bad thing if you don’t like The Hives because none of these 12 tracks will change your mind about them. But that makes you weird and you can go kick rocks. The rest of us will be smiling and sweating all over each other.

That’s Some Gap

Life

I haven’t posted since the hockey season ended…even further than that as I stopped at the start of the third round. Completely missed talking about the finals so, congrats to the Vegas Golden Knights!

I’ve pushed my blog outside of my attention for too long and I plan on writing some updates on various things starting this week. I need to get back onto the writing horse.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 3

NY Rangers

We have an interesting lineup for the final four this year. Vegas and Florida have never won the cup (this is Vegas’ 6th season) and Dallas and Carolina haven’t taken the championship in quite some time.

With how everyone has been playing, I think the favorites for the final are Vegas and Florida. I have no idea how Florida and Carolina are going to match up. I think they play similar styles and it each game should be very close. I’d be surprised to see any blow outs and I think it’ll go 6 games.

Dallas is going to have their work cut out for them. Seattle pushed them to 7 games and Dallas did win pretty handily…it looked like Seatle ran out of gas. Vegas has been humming along, their power play is looking dangerous. I do think this will be a close series as well. I’ve seen more of Vegas play than Dallas, so I’m more in the dark on this series. The East starts tonight and the West starts tomorrow.

A Professional Snooching The Pooch

NY Rangers

My prediction for the Rangers’ first round would be a win in 6 or 7 games. I thought no matter who won, it’d be close. What happened was the JV team showed up and handed the Devils their first pass to the second round in 12 years.

It started out well!

Two 5-1 wins on New Jersey home ice made it look like the Rangers would move on in 5 games. Then the Devils made some appropriate changes and won the next three games in a row.

2-1, 3-1, 4-0. That first one was close, it felt like either team could win like whoever made a mistake first would lose. The Rangers let that get away from them. The next two games were just a slide into the dumpster. The Rangers couldn’t get any sustained offensive pressure and the rookie goalie came across like he’d one the Vesna trophy multiple times.

Game 6, the Rangers rallied back 5-2. After falling over themselves it was back to a legit Rangers hockey game. Then another total collapse to lose Game 7 and the series 4-0.

So the post season matched the regular season. Inconsistent. Moments of brilliance pulled back into incompetence. There was an alarming amount of time when the team played disjointed. A lack of a clear plan and communication on ice. Terrible passing–turnovers got out of control and the Devils pounced on it.

Too many of the team’s all-stars didn’t show up to play hockey. Artemi Panarin is the worst offender. He had 2 assists in the first game and that’s it. He was more of a liability than anything with how much he was getting stuffed on offense and a parking cone on defense. One of the highest paid players in the NHL can’t do that. Scoring 90 points helps get your team into the playoffs. You also need to play to keep your team in the playoffs.

The better team of 7 games won, that’s the short end of it. There are a ton of things to complain about (stubbornness of only using the first power play unit, underutilizing the “kids”, not disciplining the veterans when they play like a baboon, and holy animal what happened to forechecking) but it’s all hot air now. Changes have to be made for next season as this is not a championship team.

A new coach? Maybe. There are a lot of factors to this question but knee-jerk reactions will just cause more chaos. Kane and Tarasenko did well, just not the high bar everyone was expecting. Kane was the most disappointing in the playoffs. New players? Probably but with what money and who do you let go? You need to know a replaced position will be demonstrably better. This solution could also be more drastic line changes with a little personnel change. The younger players need to continue to do strength, conditioning, and skate training through the off season. Everyone has to be better next season.

It’s been a terrible feeling of such a brutal loss with such a good roster. Tampa, Colorado, and Boston all lost too (Boston being the biggest disaster, so thanks for taking some of the shame spotlight best team in the history of the NHL!) so the Stanley Cup is completely up for grabs. Every series has been wild and so far the second-round matchups continue that trend. I’d like to see Seatle win for the Cinderella story and Toronto for the redemption arc. Edmonton winning would be good just for a Canadian team to finally get the Cup up north.

The Devils got smacked down 5-1 by Carolina in the first game…we’ll see if they can turn it around again. I’m thinking they won’t.

We Have Reached The Playoffs

NY Rangers

The fate of the known universe begins tonight! The 82 game marathon is complete. The 16 team, 2 month gauntlet erupts tonight. This is the most stacked bracket in years and while there are favorites to win, anything can happen. The playoffs are a different animal from the regular season. Endurance and focus are the ultimate tests. The Rangers and Devils contest starts tomorrow. For now, a hype video!