In describing his apathy for Francis Ford Copola's The Godfather, Peter Griffin in an episode of Family Guy say the film insists upon itself. This line perfectly describes my feeling towards the sequel of 2013's Man of Steel.
I saw Batman V Superman on Thursday night needless to say as many others, I was underwhelmed. The film begins with the killing of the Waynes which we saw 11 years ago in Batman Begins. This scene carried as much weight in the film as facts would in an argument with an imbecile. I bring this scene up because Christopher Nolan, producer of Batman V Superman, made that scene have impact in three films over 7 years whereas Zack Snyder couldn't make the same scene impact a film in almost 3 hours.
Much of the meat of the film seems long and drawn out. It spends too much time trying to make us care about a lot of things we don't care about such as; Lex Luthor's fascination over stopping Superman, Diana Prince showing up at random and ill-conceived moments, Lois Lane being a cartooned damsel, and the glutinous politics.
The crazy thing about this film is not the actors being bad in the roles, but the material they are given. Ben Affleck played a pretty good Batman, Jeremy Irons was quite underrated (and underused) as Alfred Pennyworth, Jesse Eisenberg was given Play-Doh in order to make Venus De Milo as far as his motivation as Lex Luthor. Kevin Costner was great in his small cameo and Diane Lane actually made you give a damn about the movie at certain points as Martha Kent.
This film suffers the fatality of doing too much that it doesn't build any connection with character and plot.
Lex Luthor was a poor excuse for the Joker instead of maniacal businessman or intelligent sociopath. Superman was an action figure yet again. In Man of Steel there was a final scene where Clark Kent was introduced to Lois Lane, I had thought this would introduce us to the man Kal-El pretends to be on a daily basis. The lovable bumbling geek that Christopher Reeve owned. Did he show up in this film? No. Because the film insists that it be about two superheroes having a disagreement.
Clark in this film is headstrong and has a grudge against a man in another city handling crime in ways that are different than his. This does a disservice to Henry Cavill because he never gets to actually act as the human disguise of the superhero thus driving home the theme of him clearly being an outsider.
Batman looks like he has been through a lot but how would the audience know? Throwaway lines about guys dressed like clowns? A Robin suit with a message spray painted on it? I guess so.
The set up for the Justice League lacked intrigue. They showed glimpses of Cyborg, Aquaman, and the Flash. They even showed one big glimpse of Wonder Woman because she seemed a little more of an extra than the female super-heroine.
I have tried hard to stay away from comparing this film to any of the Marvel films because I believe DC and Warner Bros should not copy Marvel's formula but conceive their own. Their Pepsi to Marvel's Coke. The DC model is rather shaping up right now to be store brand cola.
I have seen all but one Marvel film in the theater, that being Thor: Dark World. In my experience the theater was always packed and throughout the film the audience became invested. They cheered, applauded, and laughed. There was little to none of that in this film. It barely got you hooked in. At times it felt like when a friend is telling you a story and you are trying your damnedest to pay attention that by the time it gets to the payoff you can only give a morbid forced reaction.
I believe that the planning of this film was as contrived as it was for Green Latern and Superman Returns. Superman the Movie was Hollywood's first gamble with the superhero film and it paid off along with it's sequel but from then on Superman has not brought in the kind of money other titles in the genre has. DC and Warner have been trying to figure out why it is the character of which the term superhero was created has been outdrawn by other lesser known entities. The only character that has continually grossed for them has been the Dark Knight.
So simply, it must have been thought the only way to make Superman popular again was to place him alongside the much popular Batman. Which sounded nice at first, then you notice the Bat symbol looked quite different from those of the Dark Knight series. Leading to the news that a new Batman would be cast. The reasoning was that Superman could not exist in Nolan's universe.
But, wouldn't that have made for an interesting film? This Superman would literally and figuratively be an alien in the Dark Knight universe. The whole controversy of Man of Steel was that Superman like Batman does not kill. This point was evident in the Nolan films and would have benefitted the plot of this film rather than the whole "can we trust this alien to continue doing good" arc from the first film.
Another possibility in the case of creating a new Batman is to have delayed this film and make a solo Batman film to create familiarity for a team up film later on. Imagine how weak the Avengers would be if they had dug up Captain America out of ice midway through Iron Man 2.
This film was not Fantastic Four, in that it was bad enough to kill any future plans for a shared universe but it packed a very small punch thus creating little to no momentum for the future films in the DC Universe. With that being said they may make a great Wonder Woman film and restore or gain some enthusiasm for the Justice League film.
For now we can only hope that the second film that showcases a superhero beef this year (with characters that actually have history on the screen) Captain America: Civil War justifies the excitement for it.
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Saturday, March 19, 2016
Top 5 Worst Trades Made By The New York Knickerbockers in the Last 15 Years
Just to be clear this list could have been longer but I decided on 5 because each of these trades were made by different GMs and team presidents so I don't want this to be a hate fest (I'm looking at you Isiah!).
Let's start with an honorable mention:
The Tyson Chandler Trade
Tyson Chandler was traded along with Raymond Felton to the Dallas Mavericks for Jose Calderon, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington, Samuel Dalembert, and two second rounders.
Tyson Chandler won Defensive Player of the Year after his first season with the Knicks. While here, he always seemed like he brought whatever it is that makes a team a title contender to the Knicks. The entire team was better defensively when he was on the floor. They won 54 games with him and their first playoff series in many years. But, let's be honest his thorough schooling in that second round Indiana series by Roy Hibbert (lol!) did him in as far as I'm concerned.
On the eve of his walk year the new Knicks president, Phil "11 rings" Jackson decided to begin his elaborate and exhausting rebuilding process by trading him. At the time Chandler was one of very few Knicks with any trade value. Surely there was a better trade to be made, such as one that was floated around that had Tyson going to the Thunder for a late first rounder or packaging him with Iman Shumpert for basically anyone or multiple first rounders.
The literal and figurative weight on the trade was Raymond Felton who was being run out of New York for basically being fat, slow, and no help. It also didn't help that he had a gun charge being brought against him.
Years later only Jose Calderon and one of those second rounders (Cleanthony Early) are on the Knicks roster.
The Jalen Rose Trade
Knicks acquire Jalen Rose and a 2006 first-rounder (Renaldo Balkman!) for Antonio Davis.
Well there's nothing too wrong with this trade except that it was Jalen Rose at the back end of his career with a lot of money owed for Antonio Davis, also at the back end of his career.
The problem I have is with the Puerto Rican Olympian, Renaldo Balkman. When you acquire a first rounder you want to get a guy that can at least develop into a solid regular in your rotation. Rajon Rondo was picked 21st and Kyle Lowry 24th. Balkman was picked 20th. The best thing that came out of Renaldo Balkman's career was Stephen A. Smith, straight frying him and Isiah right after the pick. This was back when Stephen A. Smith was entertaining and not pissing you off at 10am on your day off on First Take.
Now here's the five:
5. The Melo Trade
Knicks acquire Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Renaldo Balkman,Anthony Carter, Shelden Williams, and Corey Brewer in exchange for Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov, and the reason why the Knicks hardly have any draft picks from here to my unborn child's graduation.
Now let me start off by saying I'm not one of those people that rue the day this trade happened. I love Melo and I love Melo on the Knicks. I still have faith in a future with Melo and KP. But, should he decide to waive his no-trade clause for a trade that favors both him and the Knicks I would gladly root for his success elsewhere. It does take a lot to deal with B.S. of being a Knick.
What upsets me with this trade is the ripple effect. If Melo would've waited until the end of the lockout and signed as a free agent all of the assets used in this trade may have been used in a trade for Chris Paul (preferably), Dwight Howard (begrudgingly), or some other unhappy star.
Chauncey Billups was a breath of fresh air, although Felton was almost All Star good that season. Billups had a team option for the post lockout season. The smart thing would have been to not pick up Billups option and amnesty Amare Stoudemire freeing up more than $30 million in cap space. But instead they picked up Billups option and amnestied him a little while later to sign Tyson Chandler and we were stuck with Amare's ailing, uninsured knees.
The lack of draft picks suck as well. One of those picks will be discussed later in a another trade. But, not having a first round pick for most of the drafts in this decade doesn't help create any youth on your squad.
4.The T-Mac Trade
Knicks acquire Tracy McGrady and Sergio Rodriguez in exchange forJordan Hill, Jared Jeffries, and a heavily conditional pick that eventually became Royce White this year
Man, if we could've gotten Tracy McGrady back in say 2005 or 2006 boy I would've been so hyped. When the Knicks got Tracy McGrady in 2010 the reaction of Knicks fans was like as if we had gotten him in 2005. The Knicks stunk and we have stunk for many years. Being a Knick fan is like being a fan of any other also-ran team in the city. It's like when the Jets get an over the hill running back or the Mets get a past his prime slugger. We always see the name and not the actually person.
The area of this trade I want to pick apart is Jordan Hill. Hill was the 7th pick of the draft that year. He was the consolation prize for basketball god Stephen Curry not dropping one more spot and punishment for not picking Brandon Jennings.
This trade was a salary dump in the futile labor of getting Lebron James and another big free agent in 2010. My biggest fear is the "what if" as in what if Steph would've gotten to his rightful place in the Garden would Jim Dolan (stupid on all things basketball) overrule Donnie Walsh (smart on all things basketball) and included Stephen Curry in this trade or the Melo trade for that matter.
3. The Marbury Trade
Knicks acquire Stephon Marbury, Penny Hardaway, and Cezary Trybanski in exchange for Antonio McDyess, Howard Eisley, Maciej Lampe, Charlie Ward, the rights to Milos Vujanic, a 2004 first-rounder (Kirk Snyder) and a heavily protected first-rounder that eventually became Gordon Hayward in 2010, and $3 million.
This was like the Melo trade except a very poor man's Melo trade. We all as Knicks fans were very optimistic about the team when Isiah took over. He couldn't be any worse than Scott Layden right? Right?
Well they were about even, only difference was Thomas was given a longer leash. So, let's go back shall we to the time of Zeke optimism.
Marbury had just come off a great playoff series against the eventual champion Spurs. His career seemed like it was on the path to him becoming a solid lead guard for any team. Any team in China I suppose. He was a star in high school in the city and was basically traded for the real 2001-2002 MVP Jason Kidd straight up so it seem like things were looking up for the Knicks.
You had an hometown kid as the first building block in a rebuild, this was the first move to be followed by a bunch of other solid moves. Wrong, this was the first bad move to be followed by a ton of other bad moves. This trade also includes a draft pick that only came into fruition 6 years later. How does one make a move that impacts you 6 years later? Does anyone actually know where they're going to be in 6 years? I guess Isiah thought he wasn't going to be with the Knicks. Well he was kind of right.
1B. The Bargnani trade
Thank goodness Kristaps Porzingis was in the 2015 draft and not the 2016 draft. Well I guess you'd have to thank the Stepian Rule which bars you from trading first round picks in consecutive years. That's crazy because prior to this trade the Knicks would've had picks in consecutive years albeit with the condition that if Denver fell lower in the draft than the Knicks, they would get to swap picks.
If this trade wouldn't have happened things would be pretty alright for the Knicks because they're pretty bad but Denver is worst at the moment so we would've ended up with at least lottery pick.
Jim Dolan fired Glen Grunwald in 2013 after a delightful 54 win season and division title to match. We were all puzzled as to why. I now realize that this is that "Why?". We had heard for a while that the biggest waste of a first overall pick since Kwame Brown, Andrea Bargagni was being offered in trades as part of a salary dump by the original Knicks asset burglar Masai Ujiri.
When you have a former number one pick that hasn't even sniffed an all star game nor portrayed himself as serviceable NBA player on the trading block, you have to make that trade. Apparently Grunwald thought so. There it was, this is the big piece we acquired to get to the next level. It was someone virtually nobody wanted. We traded our first rounder for him. When the trade was made I could swear it was the Knicks that acquired Toronto's first rounder, but I was wrong. I think we actually gave up a second round pick as well.
Bargnani was actually waived and is now available for the league minimum. Shame on you Glen.
1A The Eddy Curry trade
Knicks acquire Eddy Curry, Antonio Davis, and the right to swap 2007 first-rounders with the Bulls (ended up being Wilson Chandler) in exchange for Tim Thomas, Mike Sweetney, Jermaine Jackson, pick swaps in 2006 and 2007 that ended up being LaMarcus Aldridge and Joakim Noah, a 2007 second-rounder (Kyrylo Fesenko), and a 2009 second-rounder (Jon Brockman).
I always said that should Isiah Thomas ever return to the Knicks in any capacity that he be required to give the MSG Network an hour long interview explaining each of his terrible trades with Al Trautwig as the host as well as Wally Sczerbiak and Alan Hahn analyzing each response.
This trade should be discussed for at least 20 minutes of that interview.
Well let's break down the silver linings of the trade; you got rid of the gelatinous Mike Sweetney, got Antonio Davis who seems like a nice guy and was probably a good veteran for the locker room, and later acquired Wilson Chandler who was super talented and well liked during his time with the Knicks.
The bad of this trade far outweighs the good of it. You got rid of the gelatinous Mike Sweetney but you gained the far more gelatinous Eddy Curry and his heart defect. You lose out on not only 2nd overall pick LaMarcus Aldridge but future Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah. Noah would've been an All Star a billion times over if he'd gotten to us. It would've been Linsanity but an actual Linsanity that was deserved. I will hate this trade until the Knicks actually win a championship and probably still find a reason to bitch and moan about it.
So there you have it a full recipe for a team barren of draft picks, playoff appearances, and hope.
Let's start with an honorable mention:
The Tyson Chandler Trade
Tyson Chandler was traded along with Raymond Felton to the Dallas Mavericks for Jose Calderon, Shane Larkin, Wayne Ellington, Samuel Dalembert, and two second rounders.
Tyson Chandler won Defensive Player of the Year after his first season with the Knicks. While here, he always seemed like he brought whatever it is that makes a team a title contender to the Knicks. The entire team was better defensively when he was on the floor. They won 54 games with him and their first playoff series in many years. But, let's be honest his thorough schooling in that second round Indiana series by Roy Hibbert (lol!) did him in as far as I'm concerned.
On the eve of his walk year the new Knicks president, Phil "11 rings" Jackson decided to begin his elaborate and exhausting rebuilding process by trading him. At the time Chandler was one of very few Knicks with any trade value. Surely there was a better trade to be made, such as one that was floated around that had Tyson going to the Thunder for a late first rounder or packaging him with Iman Shumpert for basically anyone or multiple first rounders.
The literal and figurative weight on the trade was Raymond Felton who was being run out of New York for basically being fat, slow, and no help. It also didn't help that he had a gun charge being brought against him.
Years later only Jose Calderon and one of those second rounders (Cleanthony Early) are on the Knicks roster.
The Jalen Rose Trade
Knicks acquire Jalen Rose and a 2006 first-rounder (Renaldo Balkman!) for Antonio Davis.
Well there's nothing too wrong with this trade except that it was Jalen Rose at the back end of his career with a lot of money owed for Antonio Davis, also at the back end of his career.
The problem I have is with the Puerto Rican Olympian, Renaldo Balkman. When you acquire a first rounder you want to get a guy that can at least develop into a solid regular in your rotation. Rajon Rondo was picked 21st and Kyle Lowry 24th. Balkman was picked 20th. The best thing that came out of Renaldo Balkman's career was Stephen A. Smith, straight frying him and Isiah right after the pick. This was back when Stephen A. Smith was entertaining and not pissing you off at 10am on your day off on First Take.
Now here's the five:
5. The Melo Trade
Knicks acquire Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, Renaldo Balkman,Anthony Carter, Shelden Williams, and Corey Brewer in exchange for Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Timofey Mozgov, and the reason why the Knicks hardly have any draft picks from here to my unborn child's graduation.
Now let me start off by saying I'm not one of those people that rue the day this trade happened. I love Melo and I love Melo on the Knicks. I still have faith in a future with Melo and KP. But, should he decide to waive his no-trade clause for a trade that favors both him and the Knicks I would gladly root for his success elsewhere. It does take a lot to deal with B.S. of being a Knick.
What upsets me with this trade is the ripple effect. If Melo would've waited until the end of the lockout and signed as a free agent all of the assets used in this trade may have been used in a trade for Chris Paul (preferably), Dwight Howard (begrudgingly), or some other unhappy star.
Chauncey Billups was a breath of fresh air, although Felton was almost All Star good that season. Billups had a team option for the post lockout season. The smart thing would have been to not pick up Billups option and amnesty Amare Stoudemire freeing up more than $30 million in cap space. But instead they picked up Billups option and amnestied him a little while later to sign Tyson Chandler and we were stuck with Amare's ailing, uninsured knees.
The lack of draft picks suck as well. One of those picks will be discussed later in a another trade. But, not having a first round pick for most of the drafts in this decade doesn't help create any youth on your squad.
4.The T-Mac Trade
Knicks acquire Tracy McGrady and Sergio Rodriguez in exchange forJordan Hill, Jared Jeffries, and a heavily conditional pick that eventually became Royce White this year
Man, if we could've gotten Tracy McGrady back in say 2005 or 2006 boy I would've been so hyped. When the Knicks got Tracy McGrady in 2010 the reaction of Knicks fans was like as if we had gotten him in 2005. The Knicks stunk and we have stunk for many years. Being a Knick fan is like being a fan of any other also-ran team in the city. It's like when the Jets get an over the hill running back or the Mets get a past his prime slugger. We always see the name and not the actually person.
The area of this trade I want to pick apart is Jordan Hill. Hill was the 7th pick of the draft that year. He was the consolation prize for basketball god Stephen Curry not dropping one more spot and punishment for not picking Brandon Jennings.
This trade was a salary dump in the futile labor of getting Lebron James and another big free agent in 2010. My biggest fear is the "what if" as in what if Steph would've gotten to his rightful place in the Garden would Jim Dolan (stupid on all things basketball) overrule Donnie Walsh (smart on all things basketball) and included Stephen Curry in this trade or the Melo trade for that matter.
3. The Marbury Trade
Knicks acquire Stephon Marbury, Penny Hardaway, and Cezary Trybanski in exchange for Antonio McDyess, Howard Eisley, Maciej Lampe, Charlie Ward, the rights to Milos Vujanic, a 2004 first-rounder (Kirk Snyder) and a heavily protected first-rounder that eventually became Gordon Hayward in 2010, and $3 million.
This was like the Melo trade except a very poor man's Melo trade. We all as Knicks fans were very optimistic about the team when Isiah took over. He couldn't be any worse than Scott Layden right? Right?
Well they were about even, only difference was Thomas was given a longer leash. So, let's go back shall we to the time of Zeke optimism.
Marbury had just come off a great playoff series against the eventual champion Spurs. His career seemed like it was on the path to him becoming a solid lead guard for any team. Any team in China I suppose. He was a star in high school in the city and was basically traded for the real 2001-2002 MVP Jason Kidd straight up so it seem like things were looking up for the Knicks.
You had an hometown kid as the first building block in a rebuild, this was the first move to be followed by a bunch of other solid moves. Wrong, this was the first bad move to be followed by a ton of other bad moves. This trade also includes a draft pick that only came into fruition 6 years later. How does one make a move that impacts you 6 years later? Does anyone actually know where they're going to be in 6 years? I guess Isiah thought he wasn't going to be with the Knicks. Well he was kind of right.
1B. The Bargnani trade
Bargnani trade- Steve Novak,
Marcus Camby, a 2016 first round pick for Andrea Bargnani
Thank goodness Kristaps Porzingis was in the 2015 draft and not the 2016 draft. Well I guess you'd have to thank the Stepian Rule which bars you from trading first round picks in consecutive years. That's crazy because prior to this trade the Knicks would've had picks in consecutive years albeit with the condition that if Denver fell lower in the draft than the Knicks, they would get to swap picks.
If this trade wouldn't have happened things would be pretty alright for the Knicks because they're pretty bad but Denver is worst at the moment so we would've ended up with at least lottery pick.
Jim Dolan fired Glen Grunwald in 2013 after a delightful 54 win season and division title to match. We were all puzzled as to why. I now realize that this is that "Why?". We had heard for a while that the biggest waste of a first overall pick since Kwame Brown, Andrea Bargagni was being offered in trades as part of a salary dump by the original Knicks asset burglar Masai Ujiri.
When you have a former number one pick that hasn't even sniffed an all star game nor portrayed himself as serviceable NBA player on the trading block, you have to make that trade. Apparently Grunwald thought so. There it was, this is the big piece we acquired to get to the next level. It was someone virtually nobody wanted. We traded our first rounder for him. When the trade was made I could swear it was the Knicks that acquired Toronto's first rounder, but I was wrong. I think we actually gave up a second round pick as well.
Bargnani was actually waived and is now available for the league minimum. Shame on you Glen.
1A The Eddy Curry trade
Knicks acquire Eddy Curry, Antonio Davis, and the right to swap 2007 first-rounders with the Bulls (ended up being Wilson Chandler) in exchange for Tim Thomas, Mike Sweetney, Jermaine Jackson, pick swaps in 2006 and 2007 that ended up being LaMarcus Aldridge and Joakim Noah, a 2007 second-rounder (Kyrylo Fesenko), and a 2009 second-rounder (Jon Brockman).
I always said that should Isiah Thomas ever return to the Knicks in any capacity that he be required to give the MSG Network an hour long interview explaining each of his terrible trades with Al Trautwig as the host as well as Wally Sczerbiak and Alan Hahn analyzing each response.
This trade should be discussed for at least 20 minutes of that interview.
Well let's break down the silver linings of the trade; you got rid of the gelatinous Mike Sweetney, got Antonio Davis who seems like a nice guy and was probably a good veteran for the locker room, and later acquired Wilson Chandler who was super talented and well liked during his time with the Knicks.
The bad of this trade far outweighs the good of it. You got rid of the gelatinous Mike Sweetney but you gained the far more gelatinous Eddy Curry and his heart defect. You lose out on not only 2nd overall pick LaMarcus Aldridge but future Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah. Noah would've been an All Star a billion times over if he'd gotten to us. It would've been Linsanity but an actual Linsanity that was deserved. I will hate this trade until the Knicks actually win a championship and probably still find a reason to bitch and moan about it.
So there you have it a full recipe for a team barren of draft picks, playoff appearances, and hope.
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