NBA Lockout Over: 10 THINGS TO DREAD ABOUT THE NBA

The NBA lockout is over and there will be a 2011-12 NBA season.   After 149 day lockout, the season will begin on Christmas day with a shortened 66 game regular season.  I’ll have to admit I wouldn’t have really missed the NBA if the season was cancelled.  That’s odd since I’ve been obsessed with basketball for about 25 years.  It’s a different game now than what it was even 10 years ago.  The game has become too much about greed, popularity, and sports “entertainment”.  Owners/players have become greedy.  The Superstars have too much power over the game.  Lastly, there’s too much unnecessary drama.  Let’s go over the negatives of the NBA having a season this year.

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‘In Case You Missed It’ Review: Friends With Benefits

Earlier this year, Ashton Kutcher and recent Oscar winner, Natalie Portman starred in a film about two friends who begin to have casual sex entitled No Strings Attached. The film itself received generally negative reviews despite its good cast and director (Ivan Reitman). Personally, I didn’t mind the film too much. It was a nice escape with some good jokes and likeable leads. Sure it was as cliché as it gets, but not every film can be The Deer Hunter, right?

Soon after I saw No Strings Attached, I heard of a film being released called Friends With Benefits. The premise was literally identical, and the female lead, Mila Kunis, co-starred with Natalie Portman earlier that year in Black Swan. I was, needless to say, quite skeptical. I didn’t let this get the best of me though, because the cast was equally as funny, if not more varied and interesting, than No Strings Attached.

Friends With Benefits follows two young professionals, Dylan (Justin Timberlake) and Jamie (Mila Kunis); one a successful internet blogger who is offered a job at GQ, the other is sent to recruit him. The two become very close friends over a short period of time. One day, Jamie claims, “I miss sex.” The rest is history. The two begin a strictly physical relationship with no emotions attached, which soon turn into something far different.


As much as I thought I wouldn’t like this movie, I’ll go ahead and admit that I really enjoyed it, a lot actually. With a more than 20% advantage on Rotten Tomatoes, Friends With Benefits actually deserves it. The two leads have way more chemistry than the stars of No Strings Attached. The story is very layered and involved, with just enough characterization to make you care, and possibly even cry. The supporting actors, which include Woody Harrelson, Bryan Greenberg, Patricia Clarkson, Jenna Elfman, Richard Jenkins, and even guest appearances by Emma Stone and Andy Samberg, all hold their own and give a lot of meaning to why Dylan and Jamie are why they are.

Dylan’s father, who’s known only as Mr. Harper (Richard Jenkins) has moderately severe Alzheimer’s that gets worse with age. He’s the type of character that we all know is going to say something insightful at the end of the movie that gives Dylan the courage to do what he has to do, blah, blah. Fact of the matter is, Richard Jenkins is funny as hell in everything he does, and he’s a fantastic actor. These are two things that are extremely useful in Hollywood, and he plays the role perfectly, as usual.

Directed and co-written by Will Gluck who you may recognize as the director of Easy A, has a good eye for scenery and makes sure to create an acceptable distinction between Los Angeles and New York, which may seem like an unnecessary detail, but honestly, you don’t know how many times I thought a movie takes place in the Upper East Side but it turns out I’m actually in downtown LA.

Friends With Benefits also has a knack for both employing cliché while simultaneously mocking it. While mocking cliché has now become a cliché, this Inception of clichés has led me to just give up and be entertained by the gimmick, which can be somewhat pervasive, but never tiring.

The film’s soundtrack is also something to note. It includes popular songs, but not the annoying ones that you hear on the radio every two seconds. They’re the popular songs that come on the radio once in a while and you’re actually happy to hear them. Example: “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie.

If anything, Friends With Benefits is a great romantic comedy and an acceptable vehicle for both Timberlake and Kunis, who both have extremely bright futures in Hollywood. Despite being in the business since children, I feel like their careers have really started reaching their full potential only recently (yes I know, Kunis was on That 70’s Show, that doesn’t count). Also, besides its great leads, Friends With Benefits offers us three of the best cameos of the year, but I can’t tell you what they are. Also, miraculously, Friends With Benefits has somehow made “Hey Soul Sister” by Train a bearable song to listen to during a credits sequence.

3.5/5 Bears
 

#22 – Countdown to Christmas: ELF

In 2003, a movie released called “Elf”. This movie told the story of a human boy whose mother gave him to an orphanage, and who’s father never knew he existed. He was just a baby when he crawled into Santa’s (Ed Asner) bag as he delivered toys to the orphanage. Who was this boy? His name was Buddy (Will Ferrell). After Santa got back to the North Pole that night, he noticed a baby crawl out of his bag. Santa and Papa Elf (Bob Newhart) decided to adopt the baby boy and he became an Elf.

Buddy actually went his entire life thinking he was an elf, despite his many difficulties. While other elves pushed out hundreds or thousands of toys a day in the production room, Buddy could only do dozens. He didn’t fit in the beds, showers, or desks, and he was much taller than all of the other elves. When Buddy finds out from Papa Elf who he really is, he goes to New York City to find his real father (James Caan).

When Buddy goes to see his dad, who works in the Empire State Building, he is thought to be a nut at first. His father’s security team kicks Buddy out several times. Once his father Walter Hobbs finally gets a DNA test and accepts that Buddy is his son, he takes the elf-man to stay with him and his wife Emily (Mary Steenburgen) and his son Michael (Daniel Tay). Buddy also gets a job at Gimbel’s because he was mistook for an employee. He manages to bring his coworker Jovie (Zooey Deschanel) lots of Christmas cheer. Throughout the movie, Jovie and Buddy fall in love.

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