Sunday, September 26, 2021

Aging Like Wine

 














New York Times – "‘I Was Always Going to Be the Guy Who Figured It Out’"

"Allen, 25, loves nerding out on his mechanics, or, really, anything that he thinks can accelerate his development. Of all the traits that enticed the Bills to trade up to draft him out of the University of Wyoming in 2018, beyond physical gifts and a capacity for distilling reams of information into essential shards, paramount was how Allen married a desire to improve with an aptitude for doing so.

He spent his childhood on a ranch in California’s flat and fertile Central Valley, and as with the crops his family raises, he didn’t need to see immediate returns. If he worked hard, and with purpose, he knew the results would come.

“Some guys have those incredible years, and then that’s who they are,” one such guy, the Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner — who won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award in his first season as a starter — said in a telephone interview. Now an analyst for NFL Network, Warner added: “And other guys just do it that once, and they never quite capture it again. I hope this is who Josh is the rest of his career, but I did not see this coming. I did not know he was capable of it.”"

Proud Dad

Bleacher Report – "Cross Patton, Son of Big Boi from Outkast, Commits to Oregon Football"

Dinosaur Cowboys

 














Bloomberg – "Dinosaur Cowboys Are Hunting for the Next $32 Million T. Rex"

The Tragedy of Macbeth


Directed by Joel Coen 
Starring Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand

The LA Clippers's Intuit Dome

 




























Sunday, September 19, 2021

Sports Fandom is Modern Religion

 













The Atlantic – "How Netflix Made Americans Care About the Most European of Sports"

"Before i became suddenly consumed by Formula 1, I knew only one way to become a sports fan, and that was to be born into it. That’s how I came to college football, and specifically to the University of Georgia Bulldogs. My dad went to UGA; I was still in the womb when I attended my first game at Sanford Stadium. College football is part of the Deep South’s culture and factors into millions of southerners’ familial relationships—the only time I’ve ever heard my dad swear at another family member was when my Uncle Joey suggested one Thanksgiving that he might bring me a University of Tennessee shirt at New Year’s. My understanding of myself as a Georgia fan is approximately as integral to my identity as my understanding of myself as an American.

This is not as extreme as it might sound: Sports fandom is one of the primary organizing principles of American social life. Daniel Wann, a psychologist who studies the topic at Murray State University, in Kentucky, once administered a survey asking students to make a list of important things about themselves. Several University of Kentucky basketball fans mentioned their team allegiance before their Christian faith. But that’s not so surprising when you consider that the two things were likely passed down to them around the same time, by the same people. I know plenty of young parents who, somewhat jokingly but also very seriously, began encouraging their babies to say “Go Dawgs” as soon as they began talking."

Revisionist History

West Side Story


Adapted by Tony Kushner
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Starring Rachel Zegler, Ansel Elgort

Saturday, September 18, 2021

The Eyes of Tammy Faye


Directed by Michael Showalter 
Starring Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield

The Card Counter


Written & Directed by Paul Schrader (Writer of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull) 
Starring Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, Willem Dafoe

The Matrix Resurrections


Directed by Lana Wachowski 
Starring Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Christina Ricci, Jada Pinkett Smith

Don't Look Up


Written & Directed by Adam McKay
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep

The Last Duel

 

Written by Nicole Holofcener, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon
Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Ben Affleck

Nightmare Alley


Directed by Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim)
Starring Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, David Strathairn