Do blog Terror do Nordeste

Patrus: Brasil deve alcançar meta do milênio de erradicar a fome até 2015

Ministro Patrus Ananias

O ministro do Desenvolvimento Social e Combate à Fome, Patrus Ananias, disse que está confiante que o país vai atingir, até 2015, a meta do milênio de erradicar a fome. Ele lembrou que 19 milhões de brasileiros já saíram da linha da pobreza extrema e que programas sociais como o Bolsa Família funcionam como referência internacional – sobretudo na América Latina.

“Os programas sociais estão efetivamente dando resultado, porque o governo optou por compatibilizar a estabilidade econômica com forte políticas de inclusão e justiça social”, disse ao participar do programa Bom Dia, Ministro.

O ministro do Desenvolvimento Agrário, Guilherme Cassel, que também participou da entrevista ressaltou que a preocupação do governo não deve ser somente a de quem recebe o benefício de forma indevida, mas quem ainda está fora do programa. “É razoável, em um programa deste tamanho, que uma ou outra pessoa receba indevidamente.”

Sobre as críticas de que o Bolsa Família – lançado pelo governo federal em caráter emergencial – permaneça em execução sete anos depois, Cassel lembrou que o direito à alimentação é uma questão moral. Para ele, o período de implementação do programa ainda é curto. “A gente não consegue compensar em cinco ou sete anos um processo de exclusão que durou 500 anos”, disse.

Patrus destacou também que denúncias sobre irregularidades no Bolsa Família podem ser feitas pro meio do telefone 0800 707 2003 ou por meio do site do ministério www.mds.gov.br. As pessoas podem procurar ainda secretarias de assistência social nas prefeituras.

ABr

Sándor Kónya fue un tenor húngaro que durante la década de los sesenta se convirtió en uno de los pilares del elenco del Metropolitan Opera, en el que actúo de 1961 a 1974. Nació en  Sarkad el 23 de septiembre de 1923 y murió el 20 de mayo de 2002 en su casa en Ibiza a los 78 años.

Kónya tenía una voz poderosa y dramática y se le ha considerado más bien como un tenor wagneriano. Sin embargo, su amplio repertorio incluía también varios de los principales papeles de Verdi y Puccini, así como el Edgardo de la Lucia di Lammermoor de Donizetti, o Turiddu en Cavalleria Rusticana de Mascagni

Aunque su Wagner fue criticado por algunos por ser demasiado apasionado, incluso verista, los admiradores de Kónya precisamente le aprecian por la tendencia hacia la fusión de las dos escuelas para las voces de este tipo, lírico spinto: del mismo modo que llevó el lirismo emocional de la ópera italiana a las papeles germánicos, cantó los roles del repertorio italiano con un sonido grande, más heroico.

Kónya inició sus estudios en la Academia Franz Liszt en Budapest. Durante la Segunda Guerra mundial cayó prisionero de los alemanes, y al finalizar el conflicto fue liberado, continuando sus estudios en Milán y en la Academia de Música de Detmold, en el noroeste de Alemania. En 1951 hizo su debut profesional como Turiddu en la Ópera de Bielefeld. Permaneció en el elenco de la compañía tres años, durante los cuales amplió su repertorio incluso cantando opereta y otros papeles más ligeros. A mediados de la década de 1950 actuó en Darmstadt, Stuttgart, Hamburgo y otras ciudades alemanas, y en 1955 se unió a la compañía de la Deutsche Oper de Berlín (entonces llamada la Städtische Oper). En Berlín, creó el papel de Leandro en el estreno de la ópera König Hirsch de Hans Werner Henze.

Kónya hizo su debut en Bayreuth en el papel protagonista de Lohengrin de Wagner en 1958. Sus actuaciones en Bayreuth se prolongaron durante trece años en siete temporadas cantando los papeles principales de Lohengrin (1958-59-60 y 67), Parsifal (1966 y 71), Walter von Stolzing (1964) y los secundarios del marinero (Tristan und Isolde) y Froh (Das Rheingold) en la temporada 1958.

Su éxito como Lohengrin lo lanzó internacionalmente, y le supuso hacer su debut, en el mismo papel, en París en 1959, el Metropolitan Opera en 1961 y Covent Garden en 1963. En 1960 hizo su debut en La Scala, como Parsifal, así como su debut en Estados Unidos con el Dick Johnson de La Fanciulla del West de Puccini en la Ópera de San Francisco. En sus últimos años, viajó a Europa, Japón y América del Sur y realizado varias grabaciones, entre ella el Lohengrin, dirigida por Leinsdorf y y Meistersinger con Kubelik.

Cuando Kónya hizo su debut en el Metropolitan, Harold C. Schönberg escribió en The New York Times que “es un tenor wagneriano de raza, y una valiosa aportación a la compañía… Su voz es de un Heldentenor, con proporciones heroicas”. Schoenberg describía así su canto “Puede emitir con un gran volumen sin forzar, tiene un agudo fácil y no parece que se canse. La voz es de muy buena calidad, colorido y sonido, aunque no lo suficiente en la actualidad como para acometer el Siegfried y Tristán”

Kónya se mantuvo en el Met hasta el final de 1974. Durante sus 14 temporadas en la casa dio 287 representaciones en 22 obras, incluyendo entre ellos Radamés, Riccardo en Un Ballo in maschera, Max en Der Freischütz, Eric de Der Fliegende Hollander, Walter de Los maestros cantores de Nuremberg, el papel protagonista en Parsifal, Alfredo en La Travista, Cavaradossi en Tosca, e incluso el Edgardo en la Lucia de Donizetti. Su últimas actuaciones en el Met  fue como Steva en Jenufa.

Las función que hoy os presento gira entorno a dos estrellas en pleno esplendor: el propio Kónya y la soprano Regine Crespin.

Como ya he explicado el Lohengrin era uno de los papeles emblemáticos del húngaro y oyéndolo en estas funciones se entiende el por qué. La voz es grande y brillante, y su canto es fácil, sin esfuerzo. La línea de canto está llena de lirismo y la emisión es cálida. No aparecen en ningún momento signos de cansancio o de flaqueza, en ese sentido recuerda a la facilidad en el canto de Lauritz Melchior, y aunque no se prodiga en jugar con las dinámicas sí que posee un fraseo rico y variado. Toda una creación.

Aquí os dejo el “In fernem land” de esta misma función, brillante de voz y de canto apasionado.

No me ha entusiasmado la Elsa de Régine Crespin, encuentro la voz demasiado gruesa, un poco matronil, para un personaje que yo prefiero escuchar a voces más angelicales, como la Grümmer, la Janowitz o incluso la Studer. Mejora en las frases más dramáticas del duo con su ya esposo en el tercer acto, pero en general su canto se me hace pasado en sus intervenciones del primer actro y sobretodo en el gran concertante previo al final del segundo.

La Ortrud de Nell Rankin es demasiado exagerada, a veces parece una caricatura, se esfuerza demasiado en resaltar la maldad de esta mujer de instintos primitivos, cuando la verdadera maldad reside en lo sibilino – véase el dúo con Elsa, donde le envenena sutilmente para que desconfíe de su futuro esposo -, aunque también ha de ser salvaje en las imprecaciones a los dioses ancestrales germanos. Vocalmente tiene una voz no demasiado carismática y con un agudo bastante calante. El Telramund de Cassel es monolítico en lo vocal y en lo interpretativo, sin sobresaltos ni para bien ni para mal. El rey y su heraldo están bien defendidos.

La dirección de Joseph Rosenstock tiene la virtud de la pulcritud, pero la desgracia de la falta de ímpetu y cierta sensación de rutina, mientras que la orquesta y coro del Met suenan correctamente. La calidad de la grabación es bastante buena.

Richard Wagner – Lohengrin – (CD01a, CD01b, CD02a, CD02b, CD03)

Heinrich der Vogler – Ernst Wiemann

Lohengrin – Sándor Kónya

Elsa von Brabant – Régine Crespin

Friedrich von Telramund – Walter Cassel

Ortrud – Nell Rankin

Der Heerrufer des Königs – Calvin Marsh

Vier brabantische Edlen – William Stanz – Arnold Kirschberg – John Trehy – Vladimir Chistiakov

Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus- Joseph Rosenstock

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My Thoughts Enclosed…Rb

by Dylan Tucker

Ok, let’s start with the facts.

1.) The Chiefs loss to the Raiders on Sunday was inexcusable. They dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage, and I’m pretty sure JaMarcus Russel was Quarterbacking for the other team, which should be an automatic win. Oh, and a quick message for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers: This is what you can expect from Josh Freeman.

2.) Matt Cassel and Todd Haley had miserable days. Cassel threw more than a few terrible passes*, and Haley clearly had a tough time managing the game as a head coach and an offensive coordinator.

*Huff made some really good plays for the Raiders, but his second interception was what I refer to as a “Greg Wesley Pick”. It’s a classic. The “Greg Wesley Pick” occurs when the safety is well out of position but lucks his way to possession of the football either by way of tip or horrible overthrow. In this case, it was the latter.

3.) Bobby Wade was the Chiefs leading receiver on Sunday. This is a problem.

There are plenty of negatives to take away from that unruly debacle, but I think Kansas City fans and media are overreacting (shocking).

This is Todd Haley’s first rodeo as head coach, and the horses he has to work with are more like Shetland ponies. As I mentioned before, Haley certainly takes part of the blame for the loss, but he really doesn’t have too much to work with. At last count, here is what the Chiefs need. Actually, it would be a lot easier to say what they have. Positions of need will be represented by question marks.

Quarterback: Cassel, Croyle

Offensive Line: Albert, Waters, ?, ?, ?

Running Back: Johnson, Charles, ?

Wide Receiver: Bowe, ?, ?

Tight End: ?, ?

Defensive Line: Tyler, Jackson, Dorsey(?)

Linebacker: Hali, Johnson, Vrabel, ?, ?

Cornerback: Flowers, Carr, Leggett, ?

Safety: Page, ?

By my count, the Chiefs are at minimum 8-9 starters short of being a playoff team. In other words, mark your calenders for 2011 at the earliest.

These are dark times, but we need to realize that this organization needs 2 years to turn this thing around. We can’t jump down the throats of Todd Haley, Scott Pioli, and Matt Cassel. Yes, ultimately they will be held responsible, but two games is not enough to declare that Arrowhead should be turned into a parking lot. This thing is going to TAKE TIME. Haley and Pioli both acknowledged that before the season started, and we should trust them (for now). I’m still a believer in both of them, and feel that good things are in store for the Chiefies if we can have a little patience.

Couple of notes from the game:

Run defense: Just one year removed from being trampled for 300 yards by this same Raiders team, the Chiefs held the silverbacks to under seventy yards. We can’t ignore how impressive that was, especially after being burnt by the Ravens. Oakland ran wild over San Diego, and the Chiefs but together a solid defensive game plan.

Matt Cassel: Obviously, Cassel had a poor game, but he did show some flashes of play-making ability. He was often able to avoid taking a sack and made several impressive improvisational plays.

We need to remember that he was playing at about 75% and hadn’t seen any game action since the 3rd pre-season game.

Larry Johnson: Old Woman-Spitter ran harder than I’ve seen him run since the 2007 campaign. Broken tackles, juke moves, and effective stiff arms were present all day. His final line wasn’t impressive, but LJ fought for his team yesterday and looks like he can still be an above-average back.

Brandon Flowers: The guy is a difference maker, plain and simple. I’ve said it before, and I really do believe that Flowers’ Powers will take him to a Pro Bowl soon.

The Monday Morning Quarterback article is getting off to a late start today, but that’s probably a good thing as I got see how Mr. Favre did with his *cough *cough broken rib.  I think the man just want’s a little sympathy since the locker room is divided.  We learned that Adrian Peterson, AP to me, AD (All Day) to all Sooner Nation, is still amazing after opening up the game with a 75 yard run for a TD.  Brett should stick to the handoff, it looks like a successful play for the Vikes.  We also got to see the battle of New Jersey with the Jets and Giants, where David Carr looked great.  Maybe he should’ve done that in Houston and he wouldn’t be a backup.  Mark Sanchez looked good enough to be the Jets QB, and that’s not saying much.  The Browns still haven’t decided on a quarterback, but Braylon Edwards looks back to his 2007 form.  Who knows what that disgrace of a franchise is going to do.  Stevie Wonder is more likely to see a Super Bowl then they are.  They should bring back Charlie Frye, have him play horrible the first game, and then whatever QB comes in after and tears it up should get the nod for the rest of the season.  Cutler looked great, Denver looked bad.  I still can’t believe Denver fired Mike Shanahan, hired Josh McDaniels, let a franchise QB go for measly draft picks and a neckbeard, and they still can’t control Brandon Marshall so they suspend him, not for a real game, but for the rest of the season.  Hmmm that’s sure got to put him in his place.  That’s like getting Out Of School suspension or your parents telling you that you aren’t allowed to go to church.  Just because Mike Tomlin is a young coach to be successful doesn’t mean others will.  Also, when have any of Bellichek’s coaches panned out.  Romeo, Mangini, and Weis are all better suited to take over a Golden Corral then to take over a professional sports team.  The Steelers looked fantastic.  The Bills hurry-up offense better hurry up and find what’s wrong with it, after scoring zero points they aren’t looking too special.  The Pats better protect Tom a little better this year, as Albert Haynesworth almost already ended his season.  Cassel gets injured, but should be okay and Chan Gailey, the Chiefs OC gets fired.  The rest of the teams looked fine, but my last note is about the Philadelphia Eagles.  What a bunch of dirt bag fans.  I’m fine with Vick getting back into the league because he did his time, but to cheer for him like he is the greatest gift to the franchise is a little much.  I’m surprised the Eagles didn’t give free admission to fans who brought in a dead dog.  They’re a pathetic fan base.

When we left Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassel) at the end of L’instinct de Mort, he had worn out most of his criminal accomplices and was heading off on his own. At the start of L’ennemi Public n°1 he is – with typical swagger – updating a legal bureaucrat on his story, in preparation for an extended stretch in clink. This, hand-holding haters might grumble, would be to help get people quickly up to speed, but then the concept of being lead carefully back through a reprise of saucy Jacques’s greatest hits seems to be put to rest as we are thrown almost immediately back into the action.

After a couple of audacious bank heists he is back in court and playing the boisterous Braggadocio. In the middle of his boasting he takes the judge hostage, right under the noses of all his accusers, and flees. A mater of weeks later a further arrest sees him arrested again and sent to the infamous La Santé jail, where he writes his brash atrocity-filled autobiography, to the horror of his lawyer. Inevitably, another escape is instigated and he returns to criminal ways with the kidnapping of a millionaire (Henri Lelièvre, played with lugubrious brilliance by the venerable Georges Wilson).

Unsurprisingly, he is termed Public Enemy No.1, and unsurprisingly he adores the title, even if it must clearly accelerate us towards the ending we have all already seen during the opening titles of L’instinct de Mort.

L’ennemi Public n°1 suffers for a while in the attempt to get going. It seems unsure as to whether it should help the audience, or just get going, and consequently stutters, producing an uncertain lack of impetus. After a half hour or so it finds its feet, entirely thanks, as you might expect, from the power of Cassel’s performance. He has no problem picking up the strands of the story and manages also to add further layers to Mesrine’s wildly unwieldy character. He’s fiery, reckless, filled with bravura and self-belief, but what Cassel brings to the table is a deep confusion which Jacques is desperate to cover up by any means necessary including tying his colours to the masts of political causes of several different hues.

We also have moments where Mesrine seems genuinely touched by the presence of his grown daughter, and Cassel shows just what a terrific talent he is by softening his monstrous creation just enough to show that there’s a human behind the eyes.

Ennemi is a longer and more violent film than Instinct, and suffers to some degree because of this; tied in with that bumpy beginning, it is a less satisfactory partner, but when the bar was set so high to begin with that’s not too bad a comparison. Ultimately, these are two parts of a very impressive whole, and they should be seen as close to one another as possible. Mesrine, for those that worry about such things, does not come across as someone to be lauded, but Cassel deserves all the praise that might flow his way; he is simply wonderful.

The off-season is a great time to speculate and give predictions on which way NFL teams are heading. As we are on the cusp of the regular season, now is the time to evaluate General Managers and scouts to see what they’ve done to help (or hurt) their teams. The following is a list of the five worst decisions made by organizations going into the 2009 season.

5. Panthers Extend Jake Delhomme’s Contract: The Carolina Panthers extended Delhomme’s contract through 2014 for $42.5 million, including $20 million in guarantees. Is it me or did he, by himself, lose the Divisional Playoff game to the Arizona Cardinals? The man was responsible for six turnovers (five interceptions, one fumble) and you could see his confidence diminishing after every interception. They say that you are only as good as your last game; that one should have been his last in a Panthers uniform. To top it off he is 34 years old and the Panthers still do not have Julius Peppers locked up with a long-term deal. Why do you give a guy a new contract after he played the worst game of his career? I don’t care what his cap number was for 2009 or how much cap space the team was able to create; Delhomme didn’t deserve any new money.
4. New Orleans Saints Bring In Gregg Williams As Defensive Coordinator: It is believed that Gregg Williams and his defensive strategy are the missing link to turning the Saints into contenders. I totally disagree. Williams is a coach who doesn’t believe players win games. He thinks his system wins games. I don’t care what his final rankings for total defense have been in the past; he is a conservative coordinator whose defensive units rarely cause turnovers. Turnovers win and lose games and Williams defensive units have not ranked well in that category for the past seven years:
JAX 2008 17 take-aways team ranked 30th in NFL, WAS 2007 24 take-aways team ranked 25th in NFL, WAS 2006 12 take-aways team ranked 32nd in NFL, WAS 2005 22 take-aways team ranked 23rd in NFL, WAS 2004 26 take-aways team ranked 22nd in NFL, BUFF 2003 18 take-aways team ranked 32nd in NFL, BUFF 2002 19 take-aways team ranked 32nd in NFL
Besides the fact that his defensive units do not create turnovers, Williams is not good at taking orders from the boss. That is why he is not the Washington Redskins head coach and why Jack Del Rio got rid of him after one season with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Williams is going to want total control over the defense and if Sean Payton doesn’t give it to him there will be problems in New Orleans.
3. Minnesota Vikings Sign Sage Rosenfels: The Vikings signed QB Sage Rosenfels, 31, to a two-year, $9 million extension. They also had to give up a fourth-round draft choice to acquire him. Rosenfels is a solid back-up, but he has not done anything to show that he can be a starting QB. Backup QBs are not worth that kind of money. Rosenfels (career record 6-6) reports to camp and after a couple of days the Vikings realize he is not an upgrade to what they already have in Tavaris Jackson, 24, (career record 10-9). The Vikings then have to beg Brett Favre to come out of retirement and give him a 24-million dollar contract. The Vikings are now stuck with an aging, overpaid back-up QB. Do you think owners really like to hand out that kind of money? Those are the type of moves that get General Managers and Head Scouts fired.
2. Denver Broncos Release Jay Cutler: See – “Denver Bronco’s Great Blunder”

1. Kansas City Chiefs Sign Matt Cassel to a 63 million Dollar Contract: Matt Cassel did a nice job filling in for Tom Brady last year but is he worth that contract with 28 million of it guaranteed? He is a pure product of the Bill Belichick system. So unless Belichick was involved in a package (he wasn’t) the Chiefs made a move that will set them back for years. Last year was Cassel’s fourth year in the system, so it should be expected that he would have a clue on how to run the team. Belichick is a Hall of Fame coach, so I am sure he did work some with his back-up QB in those four years getting him prepared. The way he worked with Tom Brady when he backed up Drew Bledsoe. The biggest reason for Cassel’s success was the fact that he was throwing the ball to Randy Moss. The top two single season scoring teams in the history of the NFL are the 1998 Minnesota Vikings and the 2007 New England Patriots. The only common denominator between the two teams is Randy Moss. If Bill Belichick is doing the coaching and Randy Moss is catching the balls how can you not win games? When you decide to pay any player that much money it is best to know they are not a one hit wonder. Do the names Rob Johnson and Scott Mitchell sound familiar?

Dwayne "The Show" Bowe calling for some receiving help

Rejoice! Rejoice! The Chiefs just signed journeyman WR Ashley Lelie to help “bolster” the current receiving corps! Obviously, coach Haley and Scott Pioli don’t think too much of the pass catchers on this Chiefs squad, as Jeff Webb was cut to make room for Mr. Lelie. Ashley has been known as some kind of deep threat during his career, and he did have a very good year in 2004 for the donkeys when he caught 54 balls and 7 TDs while leading the league in yrds/catch (20.1), but come on… we’re just starting to look absolutely desperate at this point. And that brings me to the topic of today’s post… We’re going to have to cut Matt Cassel some big time slack this year.

As a few of us saw in pre-season game number one, the starting offense was extremely conservative, which is to be expected. We figured the line would struggle… it did. We figured LJ would look rusty… he did. And we figured that Terrence Copper, Devard Darling, and Rodney Wright would suck, and you know what? They did! Cassel threw a total of 5 passes to this gaggle of rejects and completed just 2 of them for pretty short yardage. But two of those passes hit the intended receiver in the numbers. The first was on third down to Saints cast away Terrence Copper, and the second was on a nice scramble-floater to TE Sean Ryan on the sidelines.

Cassel didn’t do anything to “wow” anybody, but at the same time the coaches and his receivers didn’t really give him a chance to. Get used to it, people. Without Tony Gonzalez in there as the team security blanket, things are going to be ugly when that ball gets released from our new 60 million dollar man’s hands. Dwayne Bowe did have a solid outing and should quickly work his way back to the first team, as should the oft-injured Mark Bradley; However, those two are going to need to find a way to develop some consistency, or we’re going to be seeing a lot of third down passes bouncing off of shoulder pads and helmets.

-Dylan

It’s been thirty years but I can remember, just about I think, the news story; famous French gangster shot to death in busy Paris street. To invade the consciousness of a hormonally distracted 15-year-old English school kid, you had to be famous, right?

Well, that’s what Jacques Mesrine was. A fifteen year crime spree, resulting in him being very much Public Enemy No.1, Mesrine flew around the world, taunting the police with his many disguises and bizarrely extravagant criminal posturing.

Perfect fodder for the villain as lovable rogue thang, you may think, and so it proves with French director Jean-François Richet turning the audacious and violent adventures into something of a romp with L’instinct de mort (Mesrine: Killer Instinct), followed soon by L’ennemi public n°1 (Mesrine: Public Enemy No.1). The French, probably even more than the Americans, have a tendency to laude their desperadoes, imbuing them with a sense of rebellion and mystique, and Mesrine was at the very zenith of this process, even being considered – for hitting so many banks – as the Gallic Robin Hood, hitting big business for the sake of the little guy. Hmm. We may want to ignore his 40 or so murders possibly, before setting him on too high a pedestal, that and the fact that at one point in the telling of this tale he puts a gun in his wife’s mouth while being watched by his infant son.

Instinct starts with Mesrine’s bloody baptism in the army, killing tortured suspects in Algiers. On his return to France, he slips into criminal ways with old friends and is soon working within Paris’s neon nightmare underworld, for local kingpin, Guido (Gérard Depardieu), a corpulent and terrifying man who harbours undefined links to the rightwing OAS. Following a prison spell, Mesrine (a brilliant Vincent Cassel) decides to go straight. He has a wife and young child and a talent for architectural work, but the lure of the swift centime draws him back to his illegal ways and soon he is blagging his way around the casinos and bars, threatening all and sundry with his sawn-off, throwing francs around with nonchalance. After a near-fatal contretemps with one of Guido’s rivals, he is advised to take a hike to Canada (Montréal, of course), and it’s there that his reputation really begins to take off.

Kidnapping, capture, extradition, escapes and more heists up the ante quite considerably: it’s certainly a life lived on the edge, even if – the attempt to return to a high security prison he’s just escaped from and bust out the mates he left behind being a perfect example – it occasionally seems to have been thrown together with sheer optimism and not a great deal of planning. Choosing the wrong guy to kill, or allowing his captives to get away, doesn’t seem to have got in the way of Mesrine’s enthusiasm, and you can’t deny that the man (if that’s the way you roll) probably had a shit load of fun doing what he did.

By the end of Instinct, weary from the many deaths, gunshot wounds and heads being cracked, you may wonder what the human cost of all this is. Certainly, Mesrine is left alone to contemplate his fate, but essentially this is only half time. It’s the mid-70s, and the Public Enemy is about to head back home.

There are doubts then, to my mind, as to what L’instinct de mort is actually for. Is it a properly re-enacted biopic of a genuinely important figure, or a cinematic hagiography of a thug for some reason beloved by the media chatterers? I guess until the second part arrives we will have to suspend our opinions. But what we most definitely have here is a perfectly paced machine of a movie, with a brilliant tuned engine at its core. Cassel is utterly convincing in the central role and deserves all the ‘Formidable!’ plaudits you’ll see in the press. As in La Haine, he seems almost too good, beyond what might be expected of him, too subtle, too nuanced, too French. There is a quality of brash charm on display here that it wouldn’t be ridiculous to claim, no one else would be able to pull off. It’s a good job that he is in almost every scene, because he really is that wonderful to watch. Even with my cynical hat on, and not wanting to lionize a financially motivated killer (OK, OK), I have to confess he’s a complete joy to watch.

Bring on part 2…

REVISTAS
ELLE traz a top Bruna Tenório na edição de Agosto

DESTAQUES SORTIMENTOS.COM

Fantasy Football time is now here. I will be posting a different blog for each position. This blog will focus on Quarterbacks. This position is a glamour position, but since it is typically only one active player on your roster, it not quite as important as RB and WR. This year there are some interesting developments that will influence the decision when to draft your QB. I hope to give you some insight into that and also give you my opinion on some sleeper and high-risk players.

I believe there are only 7 franchise type quarterbacks that will be available on your draft day. Brees, Brady, Peyton Manning, Rivers, Rodgers, Warner, and McNabb. The reason I feel this way is because all 7 have already put up stud fantasy numbers in the recent past and all play for teams that showcase the passing game. All these quarterbacks barring injury, will post 4,000 plus yards and more than 25 TD’s. Having said that, there should not be any drafted in the first round. I would suspect you will have many who draft Brees and Brady in the second round, if it’s real late second all right. Third round should be where you will pick up one of the seven I mentioned. All is not lost if you miss out on the first seven, but it means that you will have to use two mid round picks perhaps back to back on quarterbacks. Good luck with your Draft. Now on to the rankings….

1. Drew Brees – No brainer pick. He has been the most consistent producer among the QB’s and last year became only the second quarterback to ever top 5,000 in a season.
2. Tom Brady – Might be ranked one if not for coming off an injury. Has a dangerous receiving corps with Moss, Welker, and new addition of Galloway
3. Peyton Manning – Didn’t he have a bad year last year? Yeah if you call 4,000 yds and 27 TD’s a bad year. He’ll be a stud again this year. Wayne, Gonzales, and Clark make nice targets.
4. Phillip Rivers – Led the league in TD throws last year with 34. Most signal callers would like to be throwing to Gates, Tomlinson, Jackson and Chambers.
5. Aaron Rodgers – Favre who? Over 4,000 yds and 28 TD’s and the guy is going to get better and better.
6. Kurt Warner – Durability is the only question for the 38-year-old superstar. Boldin and Fitzgerald deadly duo.
7. Donovan McNabb – McNabb has a new toy in Macklin. Add him to Jackson and Westbrook and it should be a fun year in Philly.
8. Ben Roethlisberger – Holmes, Ward, and TE Miller are a good group, but Big Ben needs to stay off his back. Sacked 46 times last year, second most in NFL. Look for Tomlin to fix that.
9. Matt Ryan – Last year’s rookie will be even better and what a gift to get HOF TE Gonzalez to throw to along with Roddy White.
10. Tony Romo – Could be a lot higher on this list if we all knew whether Roy Williams could be a true #1 WR. Witten and Barber help keep Romo in the top 10. Definite sleeper pick.
11. Matt Schaub – If Schaub can play a full season his numbers would be elite. In 10 full games last year he threw for 3,000 yds. Johnson, Walter and Slaton are nice targets.
12. Matt Hasselbeck – Welcome a healthy Hasselbeck and TJ Houshmanzadeh to hook up with. Nice receivers and a pass friendly offense.
13. Matt Cassel – He doesn’t have the weapons that he had in New England, but Dwayne Bowe is a good start.
14. Jay Cutler – I believe in Cutler’s ability, not in Hester’s. Unless of course he’s returning a kick. Forte and Olsen will get the most looks.
15. Eli Manning – Durable and consistent. No big playmaker to replace Burress hurts Eli’s fantasy value
16. Chad Pennington – All Pennington did last year was throw for over 3,600 yds, 19 TD’s, only 7 Int’s and complete over 67% of his passes. Where’s the love? Young receiving crew of Ginn, Camarillo, Bess and Fasano will only get better.
17. Carson Palmer – Palmer has a lot to prove to Fantasy owners before they will risk a high draft pick. If he’s healthy and can build a bond with new receiver Coles, who is replacing Houshmanzadeh, Palmer could be a big sleeper pick.
18. Kyle Orton – Orton is starting off with some nice weapons, such as Marshall and Royal, but he is learning a new system and does not have the same ability as Cutler. Expect a drop-off.
19. Jake Delhomme – Could be reaching the end of his career at 34. Steve Smith will be the only reason Delhomme may put up decent stats.
20. Trent Edwards – Nice bookend receivers with T.O. and Evans, but home game weather in Buffalo will knock down stats. Oh Yeah, and it is Trent Edwards we are talking about.
21. David Garrard – Holt is a nice addition. Can anyone name a second receiver, anyone? Jax will be the MJD show, book it.
22. Marc Bulger – Their top receiver, Avery, had 674 yds and 3 TD’s. No receivers, suspect offensive line and injury prone QB. Bad, Bad formula.. Jackson’s catches out of the backfield will help stats.
23. Jason Campbell – Inconsistent. May not keep the job far into the season.Keep an eye on this one in exhibition season.
24. JaMarcus Russell – Still needs more help in the form of receivers and more on field experience to reach a new level.

If you haven’t drafted your QB and a backup from the above group, then you’ll have to go bottom fishing among the left overs that include:

Mark Sanchez, Matthew Stafford, Brady Quinn, Joe Flacco, Kerry Collins, Shaun Hill, Byron Leftwhich, Tarvaris Jackson, Matt Leinart, Josh McCown, Jeff Garcia, Chris Simms, sage Rosenfels, Derek Anderson, Brian Griese, Tyler Thigpen, Daunte Culpepper, Jon Kitna, Dan Orlovsky, Alex Smith, Kyle Boller, Kellen Clemens, Seneca Wallace, Todd Collins, Josh Freeman, and Vince Young.

Just close your eyes and pick. These are all about the same.

Sleepers: Schaub, Hasselbeck, Palmer, Orton, Cutler

High Risk: Edwards, Bulger, Delhomme

Good Luck on your draft and on finding the right quarterback for your team.

The last three blogs about the three worse teams in the NFL have all started negatively so I thought I’d make this one positive.

 So here we go, Kansas did the right thing on Tuesday signing starting QB Matt Cassel to a 6 year contract worth about $63 million, yes it is alot of money but have you seen the starting QB’s in Kansas since Trent Green left?  Plus why would you waste a 2nd round pick to let the guy leave in free agency the next year.  Then you have to add in the fact that not only did they get a good QB for a 2nd round pick they also got a veteran leader in linebacker Mike Vrabel.  Having someone like that around your team can only be a good thing.  The last positive thing i can think of for the Chiefs is the hiring of Scott Pioli as GM, this is a guy who knows how to build a winning franchise and this can only be good for Kansas City.

 Now here comes the easy part, the negative things about Kansas City.

 Firstly why do you let the best TE to play the game go for only a second round pick.  Yes I know he didn’t want to be there but i doubt he wanted to be there for a while now.  Never stopped Tony putting in the effort or putting up the numbers.  I bet you Matt Ryan is over the moon at getting Tony on his team.  Secondly have you seen their schedule over the first 7 weeks?  The only game you can see them winning is the Oakland Raiders at home and yes that is only the second game in but the rest are a mess.  The entire NFC East, the Ravens and the Chargers!  That is a tough schedule no matter who you are.  Strangely if they actually beat one of the NFC East teams they may decide who makes the playoffs from that division.  I do actually think by their bye week which is week 8 that the Chiefs will have gotten two wins under their belts but that is going to be about it for the season.

 The things Kansas need to happen for a decent season are Matt Cassel to manage the game well, this isn’t New England where you get the ball back fairly quickly.  They also need to get a running game going to help Cassel but I’m not sure that Larry Johnson is the man to do it but I hope differently.  The defense needs to produce turnovers at fairly regular rate.

 Though in saying all that I still thing the Kansas City Chiefs will have another poor season and will finish 4 – 12 getting them the number 4 draft pick in 2010.

Mesrine (Part 1: Death Instinct, Part 2: Public Enemy #1)
by Wade Major on boxoffice.com
posted April 29, 2009 9:44 AM

The French Gangster as Rebel, Crook, Celebrity, Icon, Artist

A double-barreled, hard-boiled homage to the proud legacy of both French and American gangster films, director Jean-Francois Richet’s feverishly-paced two-part biopic Mesrine is, like its subject, just a tad too obsessed with its own importance to ever really achieve lasting greatness. It is, however, exceptionally good on its own terms, a fascinating—if somewhat jarringly constructed—commentary on the amorality of ambition and the thin line separating celebrity from infamy. Crossover appeal among Francophiles and artfilm devotees on the one hand and crime film aficionados on the other could translate into considerable Autumnal coin, depending, of course, on how much marketing muscle can be mustered by the former ThinkFilm crew currently running sales giant Senator’s upstart distribution arm.

A classic case of truth trumping fiction, the story of Jacques Mesrine (pronounced “May-reen”) unspools a bit like Barry Lyndon as re-imagined by Brian De Palma, a restless character study in which an otherwise unremarkable individual, tossed by the tides of fate, emerges unexpectedly as remarkable, but in all the wrong ways. Flashing back (as such films often do), from the moment of his demise to a more linear telling of the major beats of his life, the picture follows Mesrine (Vincent Cassel) from the dog days of military service in war-torn Algeria of the late ’50s back to France where he channels his penchant for brutality into service for a local crime boss (Gérard Depardieu). Soon thereafter he brings home a Spanish wife (Elena Anaya) and begins a family, only to see his illusion of domesticity shattered when a crucial misstep lands him in prison.

Struggling and failing to go straight after his release, Mesrine tumbles back into his old ways, but with a newfound recklessness that verges on the self-destructive. Abandoned by his wife, he takes up with a new lady luck—the nihilistic Jeanne Schneider (Cécile de France) —who is only too eager to play Bonnie to his Clyde. The French media eat it up, as does a public increasingly fascinated by the duo’s shameless bravado. Escaping capture in France, the fugitives eventually take refuge in Quebec where a partnership with militant separatist Jean-Paul Mercier (Roy Dupuis) precipitates a new North American crime spree.

By the time authorities finally catch up with them, Mesrine is in chrysalis. The common thug prison once nearly tamed is no more, displaced by a nascent egomaniac for whom the quest for fame and celebrity have become all-encompassing. A sentence in Canada’s highest security prison is a gift, an opportunity for even greater glory on the way to enduring infamy. What most impresses about Mesrine’s eventual breakout, in fact, is not the meticulousness of the planning or even the fact that it succeeds, but the showmanship with which he and his co-conspirators execute it. From here on out, everything in Mesrine’s life is theatre.

For Richet and co-screenwriter Abdel Raouf Dafri, this is the key transitional moment of the narrative—the very instant when Mesrine, for better or worse, found himself and discovered a sense of purpose. As the second film begins, the ellipsis is jarring—Mesrine is, inexplicably, back in France and again in the headlines, more brazen than ever. Taunting authorities and flaunting his spoils, he behaves as if he were untouchable—and increasingly, the press and the public begin to believe so, too.

Ironically, as Mesrine’s egomania swells, his ability to engage accomplices wanes. The more his antics verge on the absurd and irrational, the less those closest to him—his new lover Sylvia (Ludivine Sagnier) and partner Francois Besse (Mathieu Amalric)—seem to have the stomach for it. The end is nearing, and it will not transpire gracefully.

This isn’t the first time the movies have attempted to tackle the story of Mesrine—but unlike previous documentaries and a rather sloppy 1984 film starring Nicolas Silberg, it is the first one that genuinely captures the essence of the man and the societal schizophrenia that fostered his myth. It’s also a gargantuan leap forward for director Richet, whose most noteworthy previous accomplishment was the mediocre 2005 remake of John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13. But like so many of his countrymen past and present, Richet has translated middling Hollywood success into a triumphant homeland return. Dividing the story into two parts is a particularly savvy move, for it enables Richet and Dafri to underline the Faustian impulse at the heart of Mesrine’s tragic trajectory. Unlike Soderbergh’s misbegotten Ché, which seemed to only belabor the point of the first film in the second, Mesrine demands to be seen in two parts precisely because Mesrine’s life transpired in two parts.

This isn’t to suggest that Richet’s direction is flawless—far from it. Through much of the film he is clearly at pains to wrap his arms around the totality of Mesrine’s enormously eventful life, trying desperately to squeeze as much as possible into a film that simply cannot accommodate it. Several sequences in particular are so haphazardly assembled, so lacking in any sense of pacing, thematic cohesion or editorial elegance that they almost bring the film to a grinding halt. But Richet has always been better at minutiae, and it is the minutiae in Mesrine that engenders its very best moments. The staging and execution of his most notorious crimes, his legendary escapes and, in particular, the final hours of his life—the magnificent moment that bookends the movie—are pure cinema.

In a very general sense, it seems clear that Richet means to tip his hat to the likes of Scorsese and Coppola as much as to that revered pater familias of French cinematic gangsterism, Jean-Pierre Melville. But there are other influences here, too— Rififi, Get Carter and even Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America—that suggest a love affair not just with the crime film genre but with the theatricality of crime itself, the very moral ambivalence that lies at the heart of the genre’s dramatic power—and which Mesrine so brilliantly exploited.

All of this would be for naught, of course, if not for Vincent Cassel’s absolutely staggering lead performance, easily the best of his career and quite possibly the best male performance of 2009. Perhaps because Mesrine saw himself as heir to a proud lineage of historic outlaws, Cassel’s performance likewise borrows liberally from such famous screen outlaws as Clyde Barrow, Tony Montana and Jesse James. But the single most crucial touchstone for both Mesrine and Cassel is the 19th Century French rogue whose life Mesrine’s most closely resembled, legendary ne’er-do-well Pierre-François Lacenaire, most famously popularized in such films as Les Enfants du Paradis and the 1990 Daniel Auteuil starrer Lacenaire as well as Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, which he reportedly inspired. Like his equally notorious forbear, Mesrine saw himself as a kind of artist, an orchestrator of chaos, a master of mayhem. Both were uncommon criminals with more aspiration to glory than gain, deluded by misbegotten grandeur, undone by arrogance. Though the film gives more than cursory attention to the lawman who would eventually bring him down—the unmistakably goateed Commissaire Broussard (Oliver Gourmet)—it is only in Mesrine’s mind that their rivalry rises to comic book proportions, the penultimate conceit of a man unable to comprehend that attaining the highest rung has brought him to the end of his rope.

All other technical contributions are beyond reproach—Robert Ganz’ sizzling, energetic photography, Virginie Montel’s costuming and Emile Ghigo’s superior production design all seamlessly orchestrated to create a flawless sense of time and place as the picture bullies its way through two of the most eventful, tumultuous decades in French history.

If Richet’s magnificently flawed opus gains any traction with American audiences—few of whom have likely ever heard of Mesrine—it will be thanks to the sheer energy he pours into the effort. Though far from perfect, its intermittent flirtation with perfection is a joy to behold, a testimony to the kind of risk-taking that has long separated the best European films from Hollywood’s stock and trade. That alone should make Mesrine a must-see.

by Wade Major on boxoffice.com

James De Monaco, nous arrive cet été avec une nouvelle vision de the Big Apple …

Préparez la Grenadine ! 

La bande annonce

Synopsis :

Sully, vidangeur de fosses septiques et futur père, est prêt à tout pour assurer l’avenir de son fils. Jasper, modeste épicier, a une qualité primordiale aux yeux de la mafia pour qui il travaille contraint et forcé : il est sourd-muet. Parmie Tarzo, chef de la mafia locale, se verrait bien éliminer la concurrence. 

Tous trois vivent à Staten Island, sous l’ombre écrasante de Manhattan. Leurs chemins vont se croiser, a priori pour le pire…

Allociné

More positive today that Larry Johnson will remain a Chief for 2009. ESPN reports that LJ will be in the Chiefs voluntary mini-camp Friday-Sunday. Johnson had earlier asked to be traded.

Who knows, maybe the counseling has helped. Maybe he wants to prove he’s worth the coin the Chiefs are supposed to pay him. Or maybe he just wants to make sure that he can still afford the thousand dollar bottles of champagne at the club. In any case, the Chiefs could use a cooperative, healthy, and productive LJ in ‘09. If he runs angry, Cassel will have more time to hit Bowe, Gonzo, and whoever else the Chiefs throw out there.

I haven’t posted on here for nearly a month. I apologize I have been quite busy as of late…. As of today Jay Cutler is officially a Chicago Bear. The whirlwind in Denver is officially over. For the longest time it seems (roughly a month) Cutler has demonstrated a hatred towards his former organization. Why you might ask? Well because Denver’s new coach and former New England Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels weren’t exactly seeing eye to eye right out of the gate. Plus when Cutler heard he could/would have been traded for Matt Cassel (whom went to the Chiefs via trade) he was a little angry to say the least.

The dynamics between the Denver Broncos/Chicago Bears trade is this:

Jay Cutler- is halfway through the six-year, $48 million contract he signed as the 11th overall pick out of Vanderbilt in the 2006 draft. He’s 17-20 as Broncos starter and as of right now no contract has been negotiated between the Bears and Cutler. and Bears had to give up 2 1st round picks with a 3rd round and 5th round also in the mix.

FOR

Kyle Orton-Bears starter from Purdue and a questionable pick up for the Broncos and Bears get a 5th round pick

The big question remains how is will Cutler make an immediate impact with the Bears? He does not have the receiving core he did in Denver that is certain.

-Biz