As I mentioned yesterday, no other writer has influenced the way I watch the movies as much as Roger Ebert. When I write about film, or indeed about much of anything, I’m really channeling three distinct voices: Ebert, Pauline Kael, and David Thomson. Kael is the voice of enthusiasm, a reckless love of being alone in the dark; Thomson, of irony, perversity, and a sense of how strange the experience of moviegoing really is; but Ebert provides the indispensable foundation, a kind of practical common sense about how movies really work. Unlike Kael, who could afford to be selective, and Thomson, who is more of a curmudgeon than a regular critic, Ebert is a real journalist, perhaps the last of the greats. Aside from breaks for health reasons, he’s written about essentially every movie to come out in Chicago over the past five decades, and many others besides—and on deadline. It’s no surprise, then, that his body of work is both so rich and so gloriously makeshift, with an underlying pragmatism embodied in Ebert’s Law:

A movie is not about what it is about. It is about how it is about it.

In other words, no genre or subject can be dismissed out of hand. A film deserves to be judged according to its own intentions, which is why Major Payne and The Godfather Part II both get three stars, and why a critic who sees ten or more movies a week needs to keep an open mind. Yet too much objectivity is also a mistake. All decent criticism is written in the first person—it’s the closest most of us can get to honest autobiography—and at its best, Ebert’s body of work is like a lunchtime conversation with a man I’ve come to think of as a friend. Perhaps because of his television shows and public appearances, I feel that know Ebert in a way that I don’t know Kael or Thomson, much less Manohla Dargis. Ebert flourished at a time when a critic could still be a colossus, as well as a companion. (I still remember where I was when I learned that Gene Siskel had died.)

In the end, though, Ebert deserves to speak for himself. My own favorite Ebert review is probably that of the Adam Sandler remake of The Longest Yard, a nominally positive three-star review which, when combined with second thoughts and a trip to Cannes, resulted in an unusual amount of introspection. I also like the snapshot of his life that we get in his review of Steve Martin’s The Lonely Guy—and can there be any greater proof of how these reviews keep otherwise forgotten movies alive? A few more favorites, plucked essentially at random, include Infra-Man, The Life Aquatic, and, moving down the list, Big Foot and Basic Instinct 2. And there are thousands more, on movies good, bad, and consigned to oblivion. It’s as rich a body of work as any living writer can claim. And it changed my life.

For years, my disillusionment with the NBA’s legal scuffles, which were far more entertaining than any on-court product in the hunt for the heir apparent to Michael Jordan, was insurmountable. A new crop of young players like Chris Paul and Dwight Howard did eventually bring me back somewhat. But the drama of LeBron and the Heat Index and The Decision has sent me packing to my distance of indifference once again.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons

The Carmelo Anthony saga, the will-they-or-won’t-they drama that rivals that of a teen tragedy on the WB, has epitomized why the NBA, once again, just isn’t for me.

That’s because the Melo-drama’s stunning conclusion, a megadeal just before my newspaper’s deadline (as these things always seem to happen), has blatantly and resolutely declared the concept of team utterly antiquated and moot.

The best “team” in the NBA has become a complete misnomer. It’s no longer the strongest team from one to 12 that lifts the trophy at the end of the year. Concepts like balance and depth are now secondary quantities. All that matters anymore is how good are your superstars compared to my superstars.

That’s all Monday’s trade was. It was the Knicks trading away their foundation, the building blocks of a good team, maybe a championship team, for a second superstar and a bunch of aging spares with expiring contracts whose salary cap space will be converted into…you guessed it, another superstar in two years time when Deron Williams and/or Paul hit the free agent market. It was impatience in a developing, youthful core of players that had the chance to grow together and instead were split apart for a first-round exit for two years of first-round exits, and then what?

It’s all enough to make you feel like the Black players at the beginning of “The Longest Yard”. I can’t wait to play the role at the end of the first round and taunt those crashed out Knicks like Granville with chants of, “Hey Superstar”.

Everyone is pretty much unanimous when it comes to how great a deal this is for the Knicks. Superstars don’t grow on trees you know, and the Knicks now boast a starting lineup with two of the NBA All-Star game’s 10 starters.

But look at what they gave up. The Knicks surrendered Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, and Timofey Mozgov. Those four players this year were averaging 53.4 points per game. Gallinari (15.9) and Felton (17.1) are probably at their ceilings in terms of upside. But Chandler could be an emerging star, and Mozgov’s is 4.0 ppg average is hardly indicative of his value and potential. They also lose Anthony Randolph, who also has some potential, in the deal to Minnesota. And they shovel over at least one first- and one second-round pick. Perhaps most importantly, all five of the players the bid farewell to have an average age of around 23. Yeah, even Felton is only 26.

And what do they bring in? There’s Melo. Renaldo Balkman is a spare who lacks the potential of either Chandler or Randolph, but shares the distinction of having already been cast off by New York in a salary dump like those other two names. Ditto Shelden Williams. Anthony Carter is a 36-year-old expiring contract in size 10 shoes. Chauncey Billups at 34 is past his prime and may only be worth the $14.2 million team option next year to keep the position warm for Paul or Williams in 2012.

Together the incoming players average 50.9 ppg. But which ones are going to step up the production for the Knicks? Can anyone honestly see Amare Stoudemire’s point production going up from the 26.1 per it’s at now? How much more than 25.9 per game is Anthony going to average? Neither will put up over 30 a game, so long as the other one has to touch the ball each night as well.

So let’s review. That leaves the Knicks with a starting lineup for the rest of 2011 of Billups and Landry Fields in the backcourt, Anthony, Stoudemire, and Rony Turiaf upfront. The bench? You don’t want to know (though I do like the Corey Brewer pickup from Minnesota).

Yes, Anthony and Amare will all but guarantee you 50-70 points a night, every night. But last I checked, there aren’t too many games won at those scores, and the supporting cast is sparse to say the least. They’re already second in the league in scoring, which certainly won’t take a hit here, but are 29th in points allowed. The loss of Chandler, Felton and guys who are willing to do the dirty work will further hamper those efforts.

ESPN tonight had the utter temerity to ask one of its experts, either J.A. Adande or Chris Broussard, I can’t recall, if this move makes the Knicks one of the best teams in the NBA in two year’s time.

The question had me floored. The expert answered without missing a beat (more than I can say for a dry Jeff Van Gundy, who apparently the Bristol produces awoke from a deep, Eric Snow like-slumber for his two cents). But who asinine a question could there be. Two years from now? You make these big splashes and mortgage the future to win now not to win in said future!

Perhaps they should focus on the fact that it still makes them the fifth best team in the East. That’s right, if you disillusioned Knicks fans have continued reading this far, get even angrier. I’ll take the Celtics, Heat, Bulls (when healthy), and Magic ahead of the Knicks in my playoff pool, and I wouldn’t say that this new Knicks team is prohibitively better than either the Hawks or the Sixers over seven games.

But the most disheartening thing about the perception of this move is what it does to the concept of a team. It discards it in favor of glitz and star power.

Let’s be clear: This is not a championship team. No matter how many oozing soliloquies on how this is an all-time great move by ESPN New York’s Ian O’Connor or that New York is back in the eyes of the always level-headed Stephen A. Smith, the Knicks are only marginally better on the floor because of Anthony, only slightly better equipped for the playoffs this season, and only better in the box office and television ratings department. (I’ve never been more grateful to Mike Lupica than I am for this sensible critique of the deal before it was finalized.)

The paradigm that has been behind the last few teams to win the championship has been ignored by the James Dolan power trip in New York. The Spurs have always been built around three stars with an ample supporting cast around it that has carried its own weight at times. The Pistons leading triumvirate had plenty of aid in their drives to the Finals. And the Celtics are hardly one person; they now boast a balanced lineup that rotates in eight players without missing a beat. Even the Heat’s skeleton cast beyond the three amigos isn’t of championship caliber yet in my mind. Ask Lebron’s Cavaliers, because they sure as hell never found it.

The best justice I could see in this deal: a first-round exit by the top-heavy Knicks at the hands of the feisty, superstar-devoid, ultra-balanced Sixers. Perhaps that would be a first step in the reconciliation between the game and me.

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I’m still not watching the actual singing part of American Idol (actually, I did catch the non-couple duet and I caught that girl in the Technicolor Dreamcoat dress that Steven Tyler thinks is “the one” – but only from clips so that doesn’t count.) Other than that, I am waiting til they narrow it down because I can’t stand how shattered those people look when their dreams are stomped on in the eleven seconds before – oooops! We have to go to commercial! But, as I’ve said, I’m still intrigued with what may be pretty savvy judge casting. Seems like, given the amount of “disenchantment” they’ve stirred up among the newbies — so far so good. Here’s what I mean: first we hear that JLo is not happy – what with the amount of attention she isn’t getting. Then they tell us that she’s especially peeved because of the fact that a certain shaggy-haired other judge has stolen her spotlight.

Scripted? Planted?

I say, maybe.

For one thing, any time Jennifer Lopez isn’t happy, it’s kind of newsy. Largely because for everyone who doesn’t care for her, there are just as many on the other side who do. Thus, when she’s not psyched there are gloaters and there are defenders who take it upon themselves to carry her bedazzling burden. In this regard there’s no such thing as bad press for that one. Now here’s something they definitely scripted and planted, as evidenced by this delicious headline:

“IDOL APOLOGIZES FOR STEVEN TYLER’S OUTRAGEOUS BEHAVIOR”

And just in case they didn’t get enough mileage when this idea was floated out there in the press, Ryan Seacrest had to tease it for all of us on his radio show and for about twenty zillion other syndicated listeners who maybe hadn’t heard or seen the news yet.

An apology, huh? On an ominous Black Card. Hmm. So we all bit. We bought it. Which is exactly what Fox wants. And I think we have to give them credit because they’re at least trying to creatively fill the Pangaea-sized chasm left by the exit of one Simon Cowell. Because really, who are we kidding here? If Steven Tyler is making googly eyes at young singers, and he is fooling around with peoples’ names, this is simply what he’s being paid to do. Did the producers of American Idol hire Steven Tyler because they thought he would behave like Matt Lauer or Tom Brokaw? Really. Really? Of course they didn’t, and they wouldn’t be the top-notch television makers that they are if they weren’t damn-well going to squeeze every scintilla of buzz out of their new judges. Which includes, natch, the various attention-deflecting moments and the inappropriate things each of them has and says. So maybe I won’t watch the show itself, but that which I am seeing while not watching really isn’t half bad at all.

Today’s featured poll:

With the Super Bowl upon us, which of these football movies is your favorite:

1)    Friday Night Lights

2)    Jerry Maguire

3)    The Longest Yard

4)   Rudy

I don’t know about you but no matter what your age some of your favorite movies might just come from the time when you were in High School or College. For me that was the 1970s and 1980s.

I have always been a fan of slapstick and silliness and in my book some of the most creative and even hysterical films ever made came out of that era.

Of course there are all of the Mel Brooks films which I have mentioned in previous articles.  I absolutely love Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs and History of the World Part I.

But I also love others such as Burt Reynolds films like the Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run films where Reynolds teamed up with people like Dom DeLouise, Sally Field and Jackie Gleason as well as The End, The Longest Yard and Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

There were others such as Foul Play with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn, Stripes, Caddie Shack and Meatballs with Bill Murray. Then there were was the Pink Panther series with Peter Sellers in the role of Inspector Clouseau, in a great series of comic misadventures.

Then there are the military dark comedies such as Kelly’s Heroes and the movie version of M*A*S*H, Private Benjamin and Catch 22.

I cannot ever forget the Zucker, Abrams, Zucker films, Airplane and Airplane II, the Naked Gun series with Leslie Nielsen and spoofs like Hot Shots and Hot Shots Part Deux. Then of course I cannot leave out films like the Blues Brothers, Ghostbusters, Animal House and English imports like Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Some of favorites include sports comedies such as Major League, Bull Durham, the Longest Yard and Slapshot, and cop comedies such as 48 Hours, and Beverley Hills Cop and then films like Trading Places.

I love these films because I get a laugh out of them and on days like today where I had to undergo more cognitive testing ordered by the Neurologist to see if the Mad Cow is getting me.

So anyway those are some of my favorites and if I took a boit more time I probably could add to these in a big way.

Peace

Padre Steve+

The B96 Jingle Bash presented by Sierra Mist Natural is officially SOLD OUT! The only way you can get tickets now is if you WIN them. All you have to do is guess who the Jingle Bash artist is in this “B96 Jingle Bash: Guess The Artist” post, and if you’re right, you’ll have a chance to win a pair of tickets to the concert on Saturday, December 11th at Allstate Arena.

Hints:

This artist or group has won Grammy Awards, was in the film The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler and Chris Rock, and is from Austin, Texas.

CLICK HERE to enter the contest now! You can only enter today’s contest until 12 Midnight!

You will be prompted to enter the artist or group’s name once you submit your entry.

There will be a different artist each weekday until Wednesday, December 8th.

            Also frequent were the debates over who was the greatest shortstop (Honus Wagner) or which outfielder had the best arm (Roberto Clemente) or which of the Pirates now 18 consecutive losing seasons sucked the most (about a ten way tie for first and an 8 way tie for second).

            Along the way some of the guys or sportscasters you listened to or sportswriters you followed would come up with the conventional thinking, the concensus of  a variety of all time great claims or the best this or that, claims that through repetition have been ingrained in the sports fan collective mind as unassailable, as gospel.

               I got news for ya, I am the assailinator on a special mission to disabuse you of these notions and debunk what I term sports myths. I will endeavor to be gentle with you as some of these myths have hardly been challenged previously. And, after I’m finished, you better come armed with relevant facts sufficient to justify your position if you want to tell me I’m wrong.

                MYTH NUMBER ONE

                      Baseball is no longer the national pastime.

                       For years now we have heard that the NFL has surpassed major league baseball in popularity, mainly citing revenues and TV ratings. Or NASCAR has taken over with 100,000 fans attending many races. Now I will grant some numbers for the NFL could support a claim of great popularity, possibly even greater than for baseball. But if there were no gambling on football, I guarantee TV ratings would plummet. As to NASCAR……Mom always told me if you can’t say something nice, say nothing at all.

                  But baseball, professional baseball, is enormously popular. Major league attendance averaged 73.5 million per year from 2000 through 2010. http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/2000-03attendance.htm Minor league attendance for 2010 was 41.4 million.http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4698:minor-league-baseball-draws-414-million-fans-for-2010&catid=19:latest-milb-news&Itemid=34 NFL attendance for 2009 was a record….but it was 17.282 million…less than one -quarter that of MLB and less than half of the minors.

             Okay, your argument is that baseball plays every day and football once a week. True.But  remember the mythical claim is that baseball is no longer the national pastime. The Merriam-Webster on line dictionary defines pastime as

             : something that amuses and serves to make time pass agreeably

              Now when was the last time you were amused at a football game? I’m not including the recent WVU game where a drunken shirtless fan joined the band on the field for the pre-game show, was ejected, and later that day was found walking naked on the Interstate.

                Baseball is a family affair. People pass the time at baseball games, kids play on in- park playgrounds and sometimes can run the bases after games. You’ve got sausage, pierogie and Presidential races between innings. You’ve got bobblehead giveaways. The only bobbleheads in football are the players concussed by a helmet to helmet hit.

               Minor league games are replete with almost daily promotions enjoyable for the family. Fully paid funerals have been awarded, alligators wrestled or redundacy night was held. There if you were identical twins, were born in a double digit year or had the same name you were admitted free. All batters were announced twice and so on. Now that’s a pastime!!!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/429691-the-top-25-minor-league-promotions-for-2010

                Baseball games move at their own pace and provide time for casual conversation. It’s a great way to “pass the time” Ask the bleacher bums in Wrigley Field. In fact ask George Carlin. Here’s his famous routine comparing football and baseball. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om_yq4L3M_I

              Look at the pop culture treatment of the two sports. Football has ” The Longest Yard” with Burt Reynolds as a dissolute former quarterback in prison having to deal with a sadistic warden. Baseball has Bull Durham with Kevin Costner as a minor league catcher in North Carolina having to deal with Annie Savoy.

                Football has “The Junction Boys” about a college team in preason practice having to deal with their sadistic coach Bear Bryant. Baseball has “Field of Dreams” about an Iowa farmer having to deal with the voice of God.

                You may look at both activities as sports, but only baseball meets the pastime standard.

              MYTH NUMBER TWO

                That anyone was ever a better running back in the NFL than Jim Brown.

                  In recent years a slew of running backs have surpassed Brown’s total career yards rushing. Emmitt Smith is the all time leader now, and Barry Sanders and Walter Payton, the next two on the list, are often mentioned as the best of all. Hogwash I say.

                     Ok, Brown is now ninth on the career rushing list but is the only back in history with more than three years in the league who rushed for more than 100 yards a game on the average.http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/rush_yds_per_g_career.htm

                  Brown played only nine years and had two seasons of less than 1000 yards, 942 and 996. When Franco Harris was approaching Brown’s career mark, Brown threatened to come out of retirement and retake the record. He was in his 40′s and had been retired about 17 years, but there were many who thought he would be capable of doing so.

                   Another notable aspect of Brown’s per game mark is that of any back whose career overlapped his, Jim Taylor, a Hall of Famer, is the closest, 40 yards behind.

                 Brown is 74 now and if you asked him if he could still play, I would wager that he would reply positively. If you told him he was wrong he might hit you, especially if you’re a woman.

                     MYTH NUMBER THREE

                       Bill Russell is the greatest pro basketball player ever because of the number of championships his teams won or at least better than Wilt Chamberlain for that reason.

                     Bill Russell was a hell of a player. He led his college team, The University of SanFrancisco, to two NCAA titles before he came to the NBA. With the Celtics he was a member of 11 NBA champions. His contemporary, Wilt Chamberlain, however, although setting one scoring record after another and matching up against Russell at center in many epic battles, has taken a back seat to Russell in the pundits’ minds since Wilt was only on two champions, no matter his personal stats.

           Well, there may be a reason for that which takes some of the luster off the Russell reputation. To put it simply, Russell was on better teams because he was on better teams.

            During his time on the Celtics, Bill had eleven, that’s 11, basketball Hall of Fame teammates on the floor with him. They were Bob Cousy, John Havlicek, Bill Sharman, Arnie Risen, Clyde Lovelette, K.C. and Sam Jones (not K.C. and the Sunshine Band), Tom Heinson, Wayne Embry, and Bailey Howell. And for the main part of that time he had a Hall of Fame coach, Red Auerbach.

                 Contrast that with Wilt the Stilt who had a less stellar cast to join him on a title quest. In his early years with the Warriors Hall of Famers Paul Arizin, Tom Gola and Nate Thurmond, the latter for only 1 1/2 seasons, played alongside him. With the 76′ers he had two HOF teammates in Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham. And finally with the Lakers Jerry West, Elgin Bylor and Gail Goodrich fit that description.

                         Only two of those teams won titles, but look how they did it. The ’67 76′ers set a record for regular season games won 68. The ’72 Lakers topped that mark with 69 wins including a pro sports record 33 game winning streak.

                           The conclusion is that Russell simply had more great players around him more consistently so naturally, in  the eight team league at the time, his teams won more titles. But give Chamberlain a better supporting cast and his teams not only won but set records doing so.

                   Let’s look at individual stats. Chamberlain and Russell, in that order are 1-2 in career rebounds and rebounds per game, the difference slight. Chamberlain outscored Russell by over 17,000 points in his career,over twice as many as his rival. And Wilt could dish it, too, having over 600 more assists than Russell.

                  Bill Russell was a great player and a great teammate on great teams and a vital cog in the Boston Celtic championship machine. Wilt Chamberlain was an even greater individual player who, when playing with great talent around him, helped produce not mere championships but historically superior teams.

* All NBA stats here:http://www.basketball-reference.com/

                    MYTH NUMBER FOUR

                   Nolan Ryan was one of the best pitchers ever as evidenced by his seven no-hitters and legendary strikeout totals.

                    Well just a minute there, rosin bag breath, let’s take a closer look.

                    I do acknowledge Ryan’s strikeouts and number of  no-hitters are unparalleled and unlikely to be matched. I do acknowledge Ryan won over three hundred games, one of the benchmarks for greatness.

                    Here are the stats for two pitchers as a 162 game average for their careers.

                   W-L        ERA            WHIP (walks/hits per inning)

                  14-13      3.19             1.247

                   12-10      3.66             1.301

Same stats for post season play in same order

                      2-2         3.07            0.903

                       5-1          1.98             0.936

               Looking at those figures is there one pitcher that appears to be significantly superior to the other? Tough, eh? Well, I’ll end the suspense and tell you the second set of numbers in each case belong to that stalwart former Pirates plunked-batter ace, Bruce Kison. Of course the other set represents the pride of Alvin, Texas  Nolan Ryan.

                  There’s a chance if you are no more than a very casual baseball fan that Kison’s name is unfamiliar, while Ryan’s probably jumps out at you. Now in an over all sense I will not insult you with assertions that Kison is even close to Ryan. The former totalled 115 big league wins, the esteemed Ryan, 324. Yet in 15 seasons Bruce’s win total exceeds his losses by 27, while Nolan’s 292 losses are just 32 fewer than his wins in a 27 year career.

                   The pitcher who you undoubtedly would consider the more masterful averaged 2 wins and 3 losses more than a middle of the road, capable starting pitcher.

                     Of course as the roles of relief pitchers have evolved, most starters in these times are rarely counted on to pitch more than 6, maybe seven, innings in a game. That fact alone diminishes the opportunity to be awarded a win by the official scorer regardless of the game’s outcome. But it also lessens the chance for a chargeable loss.

                     Now remember, ryan averaged only one more victory than loss per season for his career. He never had more than a plus 6 W-L record. Given he was not always with championship teams, but he was on few terrible ones either. In contrast, Steve Carlton had 27 of the Phillies 59 wins in 1972. ( An accomplishment that still amazes me)

                   Of course the title to this piece should not be taken literally.  Considering the way my Buccos have foundered for 18 years and the performance of this season’s staff,  I’d be tempted to have Ryan start the home opener next spring.But I look at Ryan as essentially a .500 pitcher. His career W-L percentage is .526, the lowest of any 300 game winner. That he struck out so many batters and had the 7 no-nos is to his credit. But if strikeouts indicate superiority then why did he lose so many games….292?  Ryan’s player page:http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ryanno01.shtml

               For my money if I had an important game, the 7th game of the World Series, my starting pitcher would be Gibson, Koufax, Clemens, Johnson, Marichal, or one of several others. And after observing Kison’s performances in the late and post seasons for the Pirates he might suffice if my other choices aren’t available. But Nolan Ryan? No, thank you. I want the best chance to win.

T-Rack

   – Ant P

Brandon Garza

Brandon Garza

Och om vi tittar på vad han gjort mellan dessa filmer så kommer det faktiskt upp några riktigt roliga filmer också: Anger Management, The Longest Yard, I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry och You Don’t Mess With The Zohan. Filmer som bjuder på en massa gapskratt (för mig) och det är en hel del av dem alltså. Så att säga att Sandler inte längre gör roliga filmer (som många säger) är helt fel tycker jag. Visst, jag förstår om många tröttnat på humorn, och tycker att den är för dum, men jag är inte en sådan person. Jag tyckte till exempel att Zohan var en av hans absolut bästa filmer.

Men Zohan fick vi hela två år sedan. Sedan dess har han gjort Funny People, Bedtime Stories och nu i år kommer även Grown Ups. Jag har bara sett Bedtime Stories av dessa och den var helt OK, inget mer. Funny People har jag bara hört dåligt om och trailern var helt förfärligt dålig så jag vet ej om jag vågar att se den. Grown Ups verkar dock vara intressant och jag kommer att ge den en chans. Sedan i framtiden har Sandler även en lovande film med Jennifer Aniston och Nicole Kidman kommandes, två av mina favoritdamer så det blir spännande att se vad dessa har kokat ihop. Så jag hoppas att vi snart får se en ny rulle med Sandler som håller samma världsklass som Zohan. Credz till Sandler för att ha underhållit mig i så många år.

Komedikungen Adam Sandler.

Today at our Sunday’s commentary, we look at some of biggest names in the wresting biz today who had crossed their performance from the ring to the silver screen.

Well, first up, we have our Smackdown world heavyweight champion who had his first film role as Jacob Goodnight in the horror film, See No Evil. The film released in 2006, was the best performing film in foreign box office ever produced by WWE Studio.

Second in the line is Big Daddy Cool, Kevin Nash who had starred in films since the early 90s. His most recent notable appearance was in Marvel’s movie, The Punisher. The film was shot in 2003 and released in 2004. Nash played a minor villain role called The Russian.

TNA heavyweight champion, RVD kicked his way into the silver screen. Early this year, Rob Van Damm took on the lead role as Bobby Kalinowski in Wrong Side Of The Town. The action film was written and directed by David DeFalco.

Since Bill Goldberg made a name for himself in the wrestling biz, he has long turned his eyes to Hollywood. Having starred in films such as Universal Soldier: The Return (1999), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), and Half Past Dead 2 (2007), Goldberg’s most recognizable effort was in 2005, where he starred alongside with Adam Sandler in The Longest Yard.

Many have said that Stone Cold simply just can’t act. He was a notable wrestler, a good entertainer, but the latter simply can’t translate his magic into his film. I hate to agree with the critics but well, I do. The Condemned produced by WWE studio in 2007 was by far the worst performing movie With tag line like this – “10 people will fight, 9 people will die, you get to watch”, can you expect anything other than rolling your eyes out?

Former 13 times heavyweight champion was handpicked in 2004 to star in the film, Blade Trinity, as vampire enforcer, Jarko Grimwood. Triple H was recently linked to Marvel’s Thor. Casting director is said to had madly pursued Triple H as the lead role in Thor but the latter rejected it due to his commitment in his family business, wrestling. I got a hunch Vince was the one who gave the red light. No news, just my gut feeling.

John Cena is the up and coming corporate baby of WWE. The Marine released in 2006 was WWE Studio overall best performing film to date. The 9 time heavyweight champion went on to star in 12 Rounds (2009) and Legendary (2010). This guy has some strong resume for Hollywood should he decided to throw the towel someday.

Dwayne Johnson is perhaps the biggest and most notable name thus far to have crossed over from the brutal, sex and violent filled industry to the glamorous and star-studded Hollywood. His long list of achievements include Brenden Fraser’s The Mummy Returns. His very own spin off, The Scorpion King. In 2005, Disney’s box office success, The Game Plan. Agent 23 in Steve Carrell’s Get Smart. Recently, he is set to appear in The Other Guys (opening this friday) and was cast as Detective Johnson, in Fast & Furious 5. The film is set to open sometimes next year.

Grown Ups is another Adam Sandler typical comedy, he’s here with his pals, directed by the guy who has directed him three times in the last four years, and as an Adam Sandler comedy this one’s, I guess, okay, I mean sure, the direction is completely monotone and the humor isn’t all that great, but you have Adam Sandler and four of his long-time friends and partners in crime, and audiences love his brand of humor, this one has already crossed the $150 million mark and it’s still running, add that to Little Nicky, Mr. Deeds, Anger Management, 50 First Dates, The Longest Yard, Click, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan and Bedtime Stories and this is Mr. Sandler’s tenth film to cross the $100 million mark in just as many years, so yes, this guy is a huge box office draw, no matter how great his films ultimately are.

But if we are here to judge just that, how great the films are, and I guess we are, this one isn’t that great, this one just feels lazy, as though Sandler just decided to team up with his pals and get them all good paychecks to have fun and lost interest in everything else, the jokes aren’t great, they were probably much funner if you were there in the moment and with your friends like these actors were, and the camera angles are pretty shitty, too, which only adds to the notion that these guys just got together and made a $70 million home video and then released it to grosses of $150 million, but the fact that how much these guys like one another translates so well in this film does salvage it from serious crappiness, so at least there’s that.

I do like that Adam Sandler can still play the guy that can’t grow up at 43 years-old, it may be true that the two Sandler performances I find extraordinary came in Punch-Drunk Love and Reign Over Me, his two most dramatic roles, but each of those films made less than $25 million at the box office even if they were critically acclaimed, his other great role came in last year’s Funny People, which was another commercial disappointment, so what I’m trying to say is that this guy is loved when he’s like this, when he’s in his mindless-fun mode and he acts childish, and as that this one does succeed, I guess.

It’s about five guys who as kids were in the same basketball team, and then the coach of that team dies and the guys are now, as the title says, grown-ups, and these grown-ups return to the cabin where they celebrated their biggest victory years ago, and then you know how it will all go, it will be a string of not-classy-at-all physical comedy, sometimes at the expense of Maria Bello’s character who’s still nursing the son she has with Kevin James’ character, there’s also water park stuff and, of course, a basketball game with old rivals who want revenge, and Steve Buscemi obviously makes an appearance.

This is a film that means well, that has is obligatory emotional scenes when the characters make confessions about their lives to each other and remember their past together, most of the times when they do this it all sounds too forced, the good-heartedness of it all lost in a PG-13 comedy that has too many obscene and unsophisticated jokes and gags,and what’s really bad about it all is that these jokes really aren’t funny at all, and the reason why I think they weren’t funny was because the guys didn’t have time to shine, I mean, Mr. Sandler and Mr. James are two funny guys who could have done some great stuff had they been given the time, the girls who play the wives, too, you have former SNL MVP Maya Rudolph who does pretty much nothing and Maria Bello who is reduced to the aforementioned breastfeeding gags, but the fact is that this cast has five full-time members and another five that have considerable screen-time, and there’s just not enough time for them to shine individually, and unfortunately for us they don’t really get it done as a cast, blame that on whatever you want, the direction could be a good target, but the fact is that this wasn’t great, and another fact is that audiences don’t really care about this one being great, they just like to see these five guys being childish again, and they’ll pay good money for that.

Grade: C

Imprisoned for a weapons charge, arrogant NBA star J’rome’athan Dooley (Bow Wow) finds out quickly that life in the Big House is nothing like the mansion he’s used to. And facing a three-year sentence, he’s not sure how he’s going to survive the harassment of the guards and the other inmates.

Until Warden Brooks, an avid basketball fan, decides to hold a game between the Prison Guard All-Stars and a collection of inmates, led by Dooley. And when Warden Brooks sweetens the deal by promising that he’ll let Dooley go free if the team he assembles wins, J’rome’athan takes to the yard to earn the respect of the prison’s most skilled ball players (who happen to also be some of its most dangerous).

Bow Wow stars in this comedy about redemption, respect and rebounds, alongside Michael Clarke Duncan, Dennis Rodman, The Ying Yang Twins, Aldis Hodge, and Clancy Brown as Warden Brooks.

MTV Films presents…

The Lastest Shot

Bill, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to hang with me on my blog and answer a few questions, the first of which I have to attribute to my ten-year-old son:  

[JET]  My son wants to know why you loved being a linebacker so much and was that your original choice in position or did you just fall into it naturally?  

[Bill]  That position chose me.  From the time I was ten years old playing linebacker came easy to me.  The one thing I liked about it is you have a chance to be in on every play.  Linebackers get to fly around and be in on a lot of plays and to me that was a lot of fun. 

[JET]  What are your best memories of high school?  

[Bill] Playing football for the love of the game with my buddies.  There’s a certain camaraderie that comes with it, it’s a special thing, a bond – kind of a blood, sweat and tears thing going through what we used to call hell week together.

Growing up as a little kid I used to watch my brothers play football in high school and I always dreamed of playing.  Being a Rockville Ram was special to me. Like I said, just playing for the love of the game and being out there with my buddies and the laughs, the wins, the losses, everything that goes with it. 

You know, a lot of people think that football builds character, but I think more than anything it reveals character. 

You see how tough someone is out on a football field.  You see how hard someone is willing to work, how dedicated they are.  How passionate they are and those traits get revealed on the field.

You may not be the biggest, the strongest, the fastest, but guess what?   If you work hard and are out there flying around that’s seen, that’s revealed.      

[JET] Since this is coming out around the time of graduation, do you have any advice for today’s high school graduates?

[Bill] Yeah, absolutely. 

Follow your dreams.

Find something you’re passionate about.

Don’t let money be that thing you’re chasing after.  

Make sure you choose something you love to do, something that you would do for free.  When you go to college, pick a subject you absolutely love, that you love to do and the money will come.  

[JET] As one of the lucky ones who got to live their dream, can you tell us what your favorite football moment was – pro or otherwise?  

 [Bill] Wow.  I had so many. 

Probably the moment that stands out the most for me is beating the Greenbay Packers in the Super Bowl when I was a Denver Bronco.   

I came into the league and won two Super Bowls back to back and I was kind of spoiled – [laughs] – not kind of – very spoiled. 

Then from there, we lost three NFC Championship games, got traded to Philadelphia, then landed in Denver and I realized how hard it is to make it to the Super Bowl.  How special it is to win a Super Bowl. 

To go in and be underdogs and to win . . . 

 I remember on the very last play I was blitzing Bret Favre and he threw the ball pretty quick because he knew the blitz was coming. This was on fourth down with very little time on the clock and John Mobley – one of my teammates – knocked down the pass and the game was over and we won.

That moment – knowing how special it really was – was the highest high I ever felt in the game of football.

[JET] Beyond Football, you’ve also taken a stab at both writing and acting.  What was your favorite movie that you appeared in?  Why?

[Bill] The Longest Yard with Adam Sandler. 

I’ve had fun with all the movies I’ve done, but The Longest Yard – it was the greatest group of guys from Chris Rock, Adam, Burt Reynolds, Stone Cole, Steve Austin, Michael Irving, it was just an unbelievable group of guys that came together and we worked our butts off every day but it was almost like being in the locker room.   It was so much fun every day and we had some great laughs.

To me that was the most fun and it had a lot to do with Adam Sandler and the way he handles the movie set and the people he has on staff.  That one was really special.  

[JET] As far as the writing front is concerned, as an author, I’m always intrigued at how others approach writing.  What was your experience like? 

[Bill]  That was one of the toughest things, one of the toughest projects, putting my emotions, my feelings on paper, writing the stories, deciding what goes in and what comes out. 

You know, I told the story from where I was emotionally at that point and the growth that came with the experiences I had – good and bad –  and what I learned from it in the very end. 

Just the process of going through that was very . . . healing.  It was spiritual.

It was one of the toughest, most demanding things I’ve ever done, but one of the most rewarding. 

[JET] Did you have any Aha moments? 

[Bill] Oh, I had a lot of them and they kept coming to me.  It’s like ahhh, man . . .

Looking back on it now, there’s things I would have done differently.   I’ve grown and continue to grow as I go along and there are things I feel differently about.  And things that have come out since then that I’d love to get into and maybe that’s where the second book comes in. 

[JET] Have you started a second book?

[Bill]   I haven’t . . . I’ve started it in my head.

[JET] As a writer, I’m very familiar with that concept. 

Your autobiography hit the New York Times Best Seller List – how’d that feel?

[Bill] You know what, with all the goals I achieve, I think I celebrated for like five minutes, but then it’s time for the next goal.

I’m just a driven guy that as soon as I attain a goal – it’s ok – I’m ready for the next one. 

[JET] I particularly liked the conversational tone of the book – just like this conversation.  Your autobiography garnered reviews ranging the spectrum from outright praise to searing criticisms.  For something so close to home, how did you deal with the harsher criticisms? 

[Bill] The New York Media?  How’d I deal with them?  They were just pussy cats. [laughs]  Holy Moley. 

No, really. 

How’d I deal with them?

It was like – tell me something I don’t know and it’s what I said in the book and if you don’t like the truth, I’m sorry. 

If you’re going to tear me up about something, just read the book first before you trash it.  That’s the biggest issue I had with people that wanted to put it down – to put me down – before they even read the book.  There were certain guys that came out and said a lot of things but I figured they didn’t know me and they have no idea what I went through.   I remember I would say they’re the guys that believe everything they read in the news papers. 

[JET]  Now onto a more serious subject. . .  

With so many football stars throwing their hat in the arena – is Dancing with the Stars in your future?   :-)  

[Bill] You know what – I would love to go on there.  I heard someone talking about the fact that having athletes and folks like that Pussy Cat Dolls on the show is a little unfair, saying this is what they do every day but really – that’s a little different from doing the tango. 

I’ve always been intrigued with it and I like to dance.  I think it would be a really big challenge to see if I could translate my athletic skills onto a dance floor.

There’s a part of me that says ok – I’d just apply my same work ethic to what I do each and every day whether it be football, nutrition, the book, movies, and apply it there.  I’d make a run at it if Dancing With the Stars asked.

[JET] I usually ask a quick ten questions of my blog interviewees – random information, a little geeky – but it’s still fun, so here we go – my quick ten:

[JET] Paper or plastic?

[Bill] Paper

[JET] Miami Vice or Starsky & Hutch?

[Bill] Starsky & Hutch

[JET] Ginger or Maryann?

[Bill] Maryann

[JET] Beach or mountains?

[Bill] Beach

[JET] Country or Rock-n-Roll?

[Bill] Rock & Roll

[JET] Steak or Tofu?  

[Bill] Steak

 [JET] Joe Frazier or Muhammad Ali?

[Bill] Muhammad Ali

 [JET] Vampires or werewolves?

[Bill] Werewolves

 [JET] Zombies or demons?

[Bill] Demons

[JET] Horror or Comedy?

[Bill] Comedy

[JET]  Thanks for indulging me.  Before we wrap up – can you tell us what you’re doing these days? 

[Bill] What I’m doing today is nutrition.  Nutrition had a big impact in my football career and I learned how powerful nutrition is at a pretty early age after reading the book Ultimate Sports Nutrition.  Whatever issue you have, a good supplement program can help. 

For me being in the NFL I made a living with my body and I wanted to be the best there was in the game and I wanted my body to be the best and the only way I was going to do that was by taking care of it.  And I was obsessed about it, but it worked. 

I learned an awful lot in that process and when I got out of the game, I’ve had issues with multiple concussions when I was playing and went around to several different doctors and they all told me the same thing:  There’s nothing that you can do . . . time is your friend . . . we don’t know if you’ll end up like Mohammad Ali.  

So I took matters into my own hands, hired my own scientists, nutritionists and doctors and came up with a formula for me and for my brain to turn it back on after all the concussions.  I had a lot of success with it and said you know what?  I think I’m going to start a nutrition company and this is going to be one of the ways I give back.

I took what I learned from all these great minds in nutrition and formed a company around it to help people with issues they have.   Our first product was a brain focused mental performance product, the next product was a natural sleep aid. Then it took two or three years but we’ve come out with a really good weight loss shake called Lean One and now we also have a multivitamin.

So basically right now my focus is nutrition and living a healthy life style. 

I want to change the world through functional nutrition.      

[JET]  Thank you very much for joining me today.

[Bill]  Thanks for having me!

A brief bio:  

Meet 4-Time NFL™ Super Bowl Champion & CEO Bill Romanowski

As a NFL football player with a 16-year career that included an almost unthinkable 243 consecutive games highlighted by five Super Bowls, Bill Romanowski showed the kind of awe-inspiring skill and accomplishment that earned him a place in the national spotlight. So, too, did a passion for the game so intense it earned him an enduring reputation for badass ferocity.

To those who truly knew him, the fierce scowl and bold headlines were the caricature of a man on a personal quest to find the ultimate tools for enhancing his performance. Despite his individual achievements, Bill always regarded his greatest feat as helping his teammates. He dedicated himself to giving them the tools to become better athletes, from the best nutritional supplements and access to top massage therapists, acupuncturists, and chiropractors to teaching rookies about mental toughness and more.

At the end of his pro career, Bill’s quest took an urgent new turn: the incessant punishments of the playing field had robbed him of his ability to achieve mental clarity and focus along with his quality of life being in serious jeopardy. Putting his years of knowledge to new use, Bill sought out the best doctors and nutritionists to arrive at a formulation that would restore his mental function.

Today, Bill has broadened his quest to share the benefits of new knowledge, healthy living and superior nutrition to help people live optimal lives. As CEO of Nutrition53, a company that incorporates his career playing number into its name, Bill has built a new team of top doctors, researchers and nutritionists – to create the highest quality functional nutrition formulas available today. From staying lean to sleeping well and thinking clearly, under Bill’s guidance, Nutrition53 is providing people with real tools and answers to help them achieve their goals – and “live like they mean it”.
 

To find out more about Nutrition53, please visit their website at http://www.nutrition53.com. 

For a more in depth look at Bill and his football career, check out his autobiography, ROMO – My Life on the Edge: Living Dreams and Slaying Dragons.  Honest and eye opening, I highly suggest this for anyone with sports as the epicenter of their life! 

You can purchase it here on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0060758635#noop

Ciao!

JET

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