Surprises at Year's End

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Week 17

We'll take a look back this week, at how far some teams have come (and how far some have fallen). And, since it's just about the New Year, we'll stick with those updated, modern logos from the alternative logo series of the past few weeks. (You can check out alternative logos for all 32 teams at each of the following links to past rankings: Modern, Star Wars, British, Food, Corporate, & Disney/Pixar.)

The rankings after Super Bowl 49 included 6 teams that remain in the Top 10 as we head closer to Super Bowl 50: the Patriots, Seahawks, Packers, Broncos, Steelers, and Panthers. The other 4? A now-hilarious combination of the Cowboys, Colts, Lions, and Ravens.

Here's the really embarrassing part: In the preseason, I predicted the Colts would defeat the Ravens for the AFC Championship, the Packers would beat the Eagles to become NFC Champs, and the Colts would win it all in Super Bowl 50. Yeah, nope, none of that is going to happen.

I will say, however, that it's been a blast to consider each team's season-history, how they played the previous Sunday, and how they might perform in future games to create each week's rankings. Thank y'all for taking the time to read them (literally hundreds of blog-views from these football posts). And yes, as I have since Week 1, I still think the Cardinals are better than the Panthers. Ok, here's Week 17 rankings!!!

On the bubble: 

16. Raiders, 15. Falcons, 14. Bills

13. Redskins, 12. Texans, 11. Vikings

The Top 10:

3, 2, 1: Happy New Logos

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Week 16

* Part of a month or two of alternative logo fun. This week is updated, modern logos for the upcoming New Year! Previous weeks have been Star Wars, British, Food,Corporate, and Disney/Pixar. Scroll past the Top 10 to see all 32 alternative logos.

On the bubble:

16. Giants, 15. Bills, 14. Eagles

13. Redskins, 12. Texans, 11. Vikings

The Top 10:

Rankings Awaken the Force

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Week 15

* Part of a month or two of alternative logo fun. This week, in honor of the new film The Force Awakens, is Star Wars logos!!! Previous weeks have been British, Food, Corporate, and Disney/Pixar. Scroll past the Top 10 to see all 32 alternative logos.

On the bubble:

16. Redskins, 15. Colts, 14. Texans

13. Bills, 12. Eagles, 11. Vikings

The Top 10:

Ye Olde Power Rankings

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
20154 Week 14

* Part of a month or two of alternative logo fun. This week is British logos (previous weeks have been Food, Corporate, and Disney/Pixar!). Scroll past the Top 10 to see all 32 alternative logos.

** Also, I missed posting the Week 13 rankings last week because I was drowning in PhD schoolwork, so first I'll list what the rankings would've been last week, followed by the Week 14 rankings.

Week 13

On the bubble:

16. Redskins, 15. Bills, 14. Falcons

13. Texans, 12. Jets, 11. Colts

The Top 10:

10. Chiefs

9. Steelers

8. Vikings

7. Packers

6. Seahawks

5. Broncos

4. Bengals

3. Panthers

2. Patriots

1. Cardinals

Week 14

On the bubble:

16. Falcons, 15. Buccaneers, 14. Texans

13. Colts, 12. Bills, 11. Jets

The Top 10:

Rankings Eat Thanksgiving Dinner

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Week 12

* Part of a month of alternative logo fun. This week is Food logos (previous weeks have been Corporate and Disney/Pixar!). Scroll past the Top 10 to see all 32 alternative logos.

** Also, I missed posting the Week 11 rankings last week because I was losing all sense of time and space in Las Vegas, so first I'll list what the rankings would've been last week, followed by the Week 12 rankings.

Week 11:

On the bubble:

16. Chiefs, 15. Raiders, 14. Bills,

13. Colts, 12. Jets, 11. Eagles

The Top 10:

10. Falcons

9. Vikings

8. Seahawks

7. Packers

6. Steelers

5. Broncos

4. Panthers

3. Bengals

2. Cardinals

1. Patriots

Week 12: 

On the bubble:

16. Buccaneers, 15. Bills, 14. Eagles

13. Jets, 12. Falcons, 11. Chiefs

The Top 10:

Power Rankings Get Incorporated

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Week 10

* Part of a month of alternative logo fun. This week is Corporate logos (last week was Disney/Pixar!). Scroll past the Top 10 to see all 32 alternative logos.

On the bubble:

16. Giants, 15. Bills, 14. Colts

13. Raiders, 12. Falcons, 11. Jets

The Top 10: 

Disney Does Power Rankings

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Week 9

* Part of a month of alternative logo fun. This week is Disney (& Pixar!) logos. Scroll past the Top 10 to see all 32 alternative logos.

On the bubble:

16. Rams, 15. Saints, 14. Bills

13. Jets, 12. Eagles, 11. Raiders

The Top 10:

The Core Continues

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Week 8

On the bubble:

16. Raiders, 15. Giants, 14. Bills

13. Colts, 12. Eagles, 11. Jets

The Top 10:

The Core Cracking?

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Week 7

On the bubble:

16. Chargers, 15. Giants, 14. Vikings

13. Colts, 12. Bills, 11. Jets

The Top 10:

The Core Confirmed

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Week 6

On the bubble:

16. Vikings, 15. Giants, 14. Ravens

13. Colts, 12. Jets, 11. Eagles

The Top 10:

A Core of Contenders

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Week 5

On the bubble:

16. Rams, 15. Cowboys, 14. Jets

13. Ravens, 12. Colts, 11. Eagles

The Top 10:

Coming Into Focus

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Week 4

On the bubble:

16. Vikings, 15. Panthers, 14. Ravens

13. Falcons, 12. Chiefs, 11. Cowboys

The Top 10:

This Season Looks Different

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Week 3

On the bubble:

16. Panthers, 15. Chargers, 14. Jets

13. Bills, 12. Eagles, 11. Ravens

The Top 10:

Making Moves

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Week 2

On the bubble:

16. Dolphins, 15. Rams, 14. Bills,

13. Chargers, 12. Steelers, 11. Eagles

The Top 10:

The Wait is Over

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Week 1

On the bubble:

16. Saints,  15. Vikings,  14. Lions

13. Chiefs,  12. Chargers,  11. Dolphins

Guessing Game

Unscripted NFL Predictions 2015

Get your Asian Zing and Honey BBQ sauces ready Buffalo Wild Wings, because football's back and I'm hungry! While my traditional Sunday meal is a near certainty, how the NFL season will unfold is a lot more of a guessing game. But that's not going to stop me from pretending I know enough to predict the champs we'll see come winter and Superbowl 50.

Shake the Rust Off

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Preseason

Nipping at #10's heels:

16. Eagles, 15. Bengals, 14. Texans

13. Vikings, 12. Dolphins, 11. Cardinals

2015 Summer Movie Reviews - July

The following are reviews of the movies released in July 2015. Enjoy!
*Previews of these movies and all the ones I haven't had a chance to see yet can be found here.

July 1st

Terminator Genisys
Opening Weekend: $28.7 million
Rotten Tomatoes: 27%

Review: Perhaps it was because I watched The Terminator and Terminator 2 right before heading to the cinema, but I seem to have enjoyed Terminator Genisys (which, yes, is a terrible name) a lot more than other critics. Does Genisys manage to recreate the same sense of novelty as that first movie? Of course not. But it does take the story and mythology introduced in the 1984 film and reinterpret what some of those ideas might mean and move the franchise forward in new and interesting ways, essentially ignoring (though not necessarily disregarding) the events of Terminator 3 and Terminator Salvation.

2015 Summer Movie Previews - July

July 1st

Magic Mike XXL: Three years after Mike (Channing Tatum) bowed out of the stripper life at the top of his game, he and the remaining Kings of Tampa hit the road to Myrtle Beach to put on one last blow-out performance.
Trailer here.

Terminator Genisys: John Connor (Jason Clarke) sends Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back in time to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke), but when he arrives in 1984, Sarah already has a Terminator protector (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and nothing else is as expected.
Trailer here.

2015 Summer Movie Reviews - June

The following are reviews of the movies released in June 2015. Enjoy!
*Previews of these movies and all the ones I haven't had a chance to see yet can be found here.

June 5th

Love & Mercy

Opening Weekend: n/a; limited release

Rotten Tomatoes: 90%

Review: Watching Love & Mercy is a bit of an inexplicable experience; John Cusack (Say Anything) and Paul Dano (Ruby Sparks) are strong leads as Brian Wilson, the creative force behind the Beach Boys, but somehow the film is still somewhat of a drag. Between seeing almost nothing of actual Beach Boys performances and the constant uncertainty as to Wilson's actual mental state, I lost a significant amount of interest in this film from first-time director Bill Pohlad. The scenes in which Wilson is experimenting in novel music-making truly shine, and emotional scenes of Wilson's girlfriend (a heartwarming, strong Elizabeth Banks) discovering his abuse at the hands of his unethical psychiatrist (a perfectly smarmy Paul Giamatti) glimmer as well, but all are bright spots in a duller film that, despite seemingly having all the right pieces of a better movie, simply doesn't work as an engaging celebration of Wilson and his music.

The Final Word: 1/4 - Catch it on tv if you're bored.

2015 Summer Movie Previews - June

June 3rd

Entourage: Movie star Vincent Chase, together with his friends Eric, Turtle, and Johnny, are back in business with super agent-turned-studio head Ari Gold on a risky project that will serve as Vince's directorial debut.
Trailer here.

June 5th

Insidious: Chapter 3: A prequel that reveals how gifted psychic Elise Rainier reluctantly agrees to use her ability to contact the dead in order to help a teenage girl who has been targeted by a dangerous supernatural entity.
Trailer here.

Love & Mercy: In the 1960s, Beach Boys leader Brian Wilson (John Cusack, Paul Dano) struggles with emerging psychosis as he attempts to craft his avant-garde pop masterpiece. In the 1980s, he is a broken, confused man under the 24-hour watch of shady therapist Dr. Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti). *Limited release
Trailer here.

Spy: A desk-bound CIA analyst (Melissa McCarthy) volunteers to go undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer (Rose Byrne), and prevent diabolical global disaster.
Trailer here.

2015 Summer Movie Reviews - May

The following are reviews of the movies released in May 2015. Enjoy!
*Previews of these movies and all the ones I haven't had a chance to see yet can be found here.

May 1st

Avengers: Age of Ultron
Opening Weekend: $191.3 million

Rotten Tomatoes: 74%

Review: The first Avengers film was an epochal moment in cinematic history, assembling characters from independent films together in a way never done before and setting incredible box office records. It was also a ton of fun, but the well-known tendency for sequels to fall far below expectations set by their predecessors seemed inevitable for a second Avengers, even if both were directed by genre-master Joss Whedon (Firefly). Some critics and fanboys alike have proclaimed this to have come true yet again; I disagree. While not more entertaining than the first movie, Avengers: AoU is not also not less so, providing audiences with more visually-fantastic superhero brawls, an interesting villain, and engaging character development that pushes the Marvel franchise forward. Yes, that push is a not always graceful inclusion and can feel more like a forced shove than a natural propulsion, but the construction of an inter-connected universe is what I find most fun about Marvel productions; if you're less interested in that, I can understand greater a greater frustration with the ever-growing cast of characters (though I would never understand if anyone didn't like the new character, Scarlet Witch, played by Elizabeth Olsen). Ultimately, Avengers AoU may be a bit overstuffed, but I'm not one to complain too much about an abundance of satisfying comic-book riches and I'm more excited than ever to see this franchise  continue to evolve.

The Final Word: 3.5/4 - Go buy a ticket.

2015 Summer Movie Previews - May

May 1st

Avengers: Age of Ultron: When the Avengers (so, so, so many actors) try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program called Ultron, things go horribly wrong and it's up to Earth's Mightiest Heroes to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plans.
Trailer here.

Far From the Madding Crowd: In Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), a prosperous and mature bachelor. *Limited release.
Trailer here.

Reload

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Post-Draft

Nipping at #10's heels:

Eagles (#16), Texans (#15), Panthers (#14)

Bengals (#13), Cardinals (#12), Dolphins (#11)

A Fresh Start

Unscripted NFL Power Rankings
2015 Free-Agency

Nipping at #10's heels:

Eagles (#16), Dolphins (#15), Texans (#14)

Cardinals (#13), Chargers (#12), Bengals (#11)

2015 Academy Award Picks

So here's how this works: I'll give you a list of the nominees for each of the major categories, then I'll name who I think is the favorite to win, who I would give the award to, and finally if I thought anyone was left out. Short and sweet.

And while you're at it, check out My Top 10 Movies of 2014!!!

Now onto the business at hand...

Top 10 Movies of 2014

2014 was a surprisingly good year at the movie theater, with a number of delightful films at the end of the year filling up the Top 10. In fact, I saw about 90 movies released in 2014. There were a lot of really fun movies, but I have to say, similar to last year, the Top 3 movies on this list are truly head and shoulders above the rest. So let's get to it, with some quick housecleaning to do...

A Blast from the Past: Check out the following links for my Top 10 Movies of previous years: 2009 - 2010 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013

A Look to the Future: Check out the link for my Most Anticipated Movies of 2015.

Context: For transparency, here's what I watched and what I missed in 2014.

Potential Listbusters: (some films I didn't see, but heard were good): Blue Ruin, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Love is Strange, Tracks, Under the Skin

15 Honorable Mentions: The Babadook, Big Hero 6, Chef, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Edge of Tomorrow, Hector & the Search for Happiness, The Imitation Game, Joe, Locke, Selma, Starred Up, Still Alice, The Theory of Everything, Wild, What We Do in the Shadows.

And now onto the main attraction...

Most Anticipated Movies of 2015

I have to start off by saying that "Most Anticipated Movies" lists can often be useless endeavors. Most movies that are going to come out in 2015 haven't even finished being made yet. Some sound interesting, but will end up being terrible. Some sound terrible, but will end up being amazing.

But. So many of ya'll have asked me what the big movies are 2015 are going to be, I've gone ahead and put together a quick list of movies that should have a big draw. So, with the disclaimer that there will be many, many, many good movies to come out that I haven't listed and that some of these might turn out to be flops, here are some movies I'm looking forward to in 2014.

What I Watched - 2014 Movies

As of this writing - January 16th, 2015 - I have seen exactly 85 movies which were released in 2014. Crazy, I know, but it makes me really excited to put together my Top 10 Movies of 2014 post, coming soon!!! Here's what I watched in 2014...

Kyle's Top Movies of 2014

Guest Reviewer: Kyle Kuzemchak

I am not sure if anyone will look into these, but I love making the lists. This year’s post will be slightly different from last year’s, because frankly, this year of film has been much better than last year. This list is not made to start arguments about where a movie has been placed or why a movie is not on the list. Rather it is made so you can see my own opinion of this year in movies, start some discussions, and hopefully convince you to go watch a few! Here are my top films (along with their trailers) of 2014.