2013 NFL season review and Super Bowl XLVIII preview

 

By: Peter Lewis

Primetime for the National Football League (NFL) may be from the start of the regular season all the way to the first week of February with the climatic end of the Super Bowl, but the NFL is a yearly business whether there’s a game or not.  

The “offseason”

At the end of the 2012 season, coaches Andy Reid, Lovie Smith, Ken Whisenhunt, Norv Turner, Pat Shurmur, Romeo Crennel, and Chan Gailey were fired by their teams on the annual “Black Monday,” the day after the final game of the regular season where underperforming coaches are fired.  A short time later, on February 3, 2013, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in the 47^th Super Bowl.  By then though, the offseason was in full swing and questions arose for the 2013 season.  

In the nation’s capital, the Redskins were put under the microscope as Robert Griffin III recovered from knee surgery for the second time in his young career, with everyone wondering if he would start week one and if he would be one hundred percent.  In New York City, Rex Ryan was seemingly given an ultimatum by the Jets: do well or get fired. With a major quarterback controversy on his hands, it looked like 2013 would be Rex’s swan song season in the Big Apple.  

In the AFC North, the aging Steelers and defending champion Ravens looked to be in trouble as they lost players and had issues replacing them.  It looked as though the Cincinnati Bengals could make a move in the division while the Browns remained in their usual “rebuilding” mode.  Other questions arose as well, such as how would the 49ers be after a Super Bowl loss, what was the fate of the NFC East, were the Broncos a legitimate contender after falling short in 2012, and the seemingly never ending issue for the modern day NFL of concussions.  

Yet, the overwhelming story of the offseason centered on the New England Patriots.  Not only was wide receiver Wes Welker lost and tight end Rob Grownkowski injured until most likely the halfway point of the season, but their other tight end, Aaron Hernandez, was arrested in late June after being accused of first degree murder of friend Odin Lloyd.  Without any targets, it looked like Tom Brady was in trouble when the season began.  After an eventful offseason and a draft that looked not to have produced anything in the eyes of many, the offseason ended and any speculation on who would do well (and who wouldn’t) ended as all 32 teams began to play.

 

THE AFC:

The first game of the season between the Ravens and Broncos saw Peyton Manning and the Broncos put on a show and put the NFL on notice that they were a major contender.  Also, in the AFC West, the Kansas City Chiefs went from worst in the league to one of the last teams undefeated with new head coach Andy Reid completely changing the culture of the team.  The Chargers didn’t look impressive until the very end when they went on an impressive winning streak to return to the playoffs.  The Raiders, however, were their usual futile selves.

 

In the AFC East, the Patriots started off the year looking to be in trouble, as expected, after a rough offseason, but in the end managed to run away with the division and have the second best record in the AFC at 12-4.  The Dolphins started off great, looking to improve even more after their 2012 campaign, but a Monday night loss to the Saints put them on a road where they struggled. Towards the end though, they began to pull through and looked as if they would be able to make the playoffs.  In the final game of the season, all they had to do was win, but they fell to the Jets, ending their season on a sour note like the year before.  Speaking of the Jets, the beginning of the season looked to be confirmation that Rex Ryan would be leaving, as Mark Sanchez went down and the back up quarterbacks failed to win.  In a shocking turn of events, the Jets rebounded, finishing 8-8, and the Jets re-signed Ryan to a multi-year contract.  The Bills continued to try and at least be a wild card contender, but failed and finished 6-10.

In the AFC North, many predictions came true.  The Steelers’ problem with age finally caught up to them and they started 0-5, but miraculously turned it around and nearly made the playoffs.  The Ravens were the polar opposite; they started off well enough and looked as if they would survive all the lost talent from 2012’s Super Bowl team, but they began to stumble and finished 8-8 like their arch rival Steelers.  The Bengals, as expected, took over the AFC North and went on to the playoffs.  The Browns, yet again, set another precedent for futility, finishing 4-12 and saw Coach Rob Chudziniski, the hand-picked and fifth coach in ten years, fired after one year.

In the AFC South, major surprises were everywhere.  After finally turning the team around in previous years, the Houston Texans took major steps back and finished a terrifying 2-14.  The Texans season started with two straight wins, but fell apart quickly.  Matt Schaub, Arian Foster, and Brian Cushing went down with injuries and left the team in disarray.  Coach Gary Kubiak, who had been with the team since 2006 and turned it around, was let go at the beginning of December.  The Titans, on the other hand, stayed in the wild card race and finished 7-9, showing signs of continuing improvement, but not enough to save Mike Munchak’s job as head coach.  The Jaguars, well, were not good.  The team started the season with eight consecutive losses and finished the season at 4-12; it proved to be a disastrous first year for new coach Gus Bradley. The team did improve from their 2-14 campaign in 2012, but like 2012, still had too many unresolved problems.  The only shining light in the AFC South was the Indianapolis Colts.  The Colts, after improving in 2012, showed they were in no way a one hit wonder.  The Colts finished 11-5 and saw head coach Chuck Pagano return after missing most of the 2012 season to fight off leukemia.  With Andrew Luck taking the helm at quarterback, the Colts status of a major player in the AFC was reintroduced and it looks, as in years past, they’ll have a major advantage in the division.

 

The NFC:

As the confetti of Super Bowl XLVII fell on the Baltimore Ravens, the San Francisco 49ers walked out of the Superdome in New Orleans defeated, but with the talent to easily contend in 2013 and have a shot at returning for another chance to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.  However, their road in the NFC West would not be a walk in the park by any sense of the imagination.  The Seattle Seahawks looked to be a powerhouse team and were out to show the league they were indeed that. While the Rams and Cardinals both improved, finishing 7-9 and 10-6, neither was a contender in the division.  The Seahawks and 49ers remained in a close contest for division supremacy throughout the year, but the Seahawks pulled ahead of the 49ers with a 13-3 record to the 49ers’ 12-4 record.

The NFC North, the division that had been the face of the NFC for the past three seasons, fell apart.  The Green Bay Packers finished 8-7-1, the Chicago Bears 8-8, the Detroit Lions 7-9, and the Minnesota Vikings 5-10-1.  For the Packers, quarterback Aaron Rodgers going down and missing the majority of the season was their main problem.  The Bears losing quarterback Jay Cutler was like the Packers’ problem.  The Vikings could not back up running back Adrian Peterson on either side of the ball and struggled mightily.  The Lions, on the other hand, showed they had many players who could win the division, but coaching issues and attitude problems held them back from contention.  The Packers won the division, but the rest of the NFC knew full well they wouldn’t be a major contender. 

In the NFC South the Atlanta Falcons fell apart.  After becoming a major contender in years past and being many peoples’ Super Bowl pick out of the NFC, it was a complete shock to see them be so bad.  Quarterback Matt Ryan was very off and doubts about him being a major QB not only resurfaced, but were made much more prevalent.  After finishing 4-12, it will be a long offseason for the Falcons for sure.  Another team with a long off season coming up is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Another shock out of the division, the team looked to be an underdog and had the ability to surprise.  Yet, the season had a different outcome; the Bucs started the season like the Jaguars and ended up the same, 4-12.  The Bucs did away with both their coach and QB after that disastrous campaign.  The Saints, the exact opposite of the Falcons and Buccaneers, welcomed back coach Sean Peyton after his suspension in the 2012 season and all things were seemingly going as planned, as they finished with an 11-5 record.  The final team, the Carolina Panthers, started like the Buccaneers and it looked as if Cam Newton was a bust and Coach Ron Rivera would lose his job.  However, the team turned it around and commandingly took over the division and finished 12-4, while showing that the Panthers still had life in them and were ready to return to prominence. 

The final division, the NFC East, seems to be the most talked about every year and usually the most disliked. The major question in the division centered on the Washington Redskins.  While the team’s name caused controversy, the real problem for the team was quarterback Robert Griffin III and Coach Mike Shanahan.  After a promising 2012 season ended with questions and understandable worry about RGIII’s leg injury, it was unclear what the team would end up like. With RGIII unable to handle the pressure and Shanahan looking as if he’d checked out, the team fell to a 3-13 record and saw RGIII benched and Shanahan fired. The Giants looked to continue success from years past, including a Super Bowl victory just two years earlier, but they started off easily the worst of the winless teams at the start of the season with a 0-6 record.  Somehow though, the team managed to finish 7-9 and had a shot at the division, but the horrific start got the best of them.  By week six, all eyes were on the Dallas Cowboys.  It looked as if they would take the division, but the final games saw their downfall as quarterback Tony Romo went down and the worst luck possible came to them.  Another team snuck in to take the division, the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles, started off badly, just like the Redskins and Giants, to the point where the team was written off.  Yet, with the Cowboys faltering and the Eagles quietly improving, they swooped in to take the division with a 10-6 record over the Cowboys’ 8-8 record.

 

The Playoffs:

In the AFC, the Patriots, Bengals, Colts, Broncos, Chiefs, and Chargers were the final six.  In the NFC, the Eagles, Packers, Panthers, Seahawks, 49ers, and Saints were the sole survivors.  While the playoffs weren’t the most eventful, like years past, there were still good and memorable moments.  The Colts made an almost impossible comeback against the Chiefs in the first round, the Seahawks and 49ers put on a show in the NFC Championship, and Peyton Manning defeated Tom Brady convincingly in the AFC Championship.  With this, the Super Bowl was set.

 

Super Bowl XLVIII:

On Sunday, February 2, 2014, the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks will play the AFC Champion Denver Broncos at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.  While this will easily be the coldest Super Bowl in recent memory, it will showcase the league’s best defense (Seahawks) against the league’s best offense (Broncos).  With the usual showing of million dollar commercials, hours of pregame coverage, and the halftime show featuring Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Super Bowl XLVIII looks to be one of the most memorable games in recent memory.    

The 2014 Golden Globes

 



By: Autumn Hill

       The 2014 Golden Globes had lots in store this year, from the romantic stars or the dramatic stars. Hosts Amy Poehler and Tina Fey kept the audience interested and entertained. American Hustle and 12 Years a Slave were the most nominated and American Hustle ended up winning the most with three Golden Globe awards.

The Best Musical or Comedy winner was American Hustle; the nominees were Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska and The Wolf of Wall Street. The Best Drama winner was 12 Years a Slave and the nominees were Captain Phillips, Gravity, Philomena and Rush. Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy winner was Amy Adams from American Hustle and the nominees for that category were Julie Delpy from Before Midnight, Greta Gerwig from Frances Ha, Julia Louis-Dreyfus from Enough Said and Meryl Streep from August:Osage County. The Best Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical winner was Leonardo Dicaprio from The Wolf of Wall Street and the nominees were Christian Bale from American Hustle, Bruce Dern from Nebraska, Oscar Isaac from Inside Llewyn Davis, and Joequin Phoenix from Her. The winner of Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture Film was Jennifer Lawrence from American Hustle and the nominees were Sally Hawkins from Blue Jasmine and Lupita Nyong’o from 12 Years a Slave. The winner of the Best Original Song was Ordinary Love by U2. The winner of the Best TV Series, Drama was Breaking Bad and the winner of the Best TV Series, Musical, or Comedy was Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

As for the attire for the event, Jennifer Lawrence wore a Dior Duvet dress. Lawrence is known for wearing almost all of Dior’s dresses. Reese Witherspoon wore a custom-designed, silk crepe, emerald dress with a T-back from the Calvin Klein Collection. Witherspoon paired her gown with a blunt bob haircut and sparkling Harry Winston jewels. Amy Adams wore a fire engine-red, silk chiffon gown, with a ruby bodice by Valentino Couture. She paired her gown, which included a deep plunging neckline, with Lorraine Schwartz jewels. Margot Robbie wore a custom-designed, cream silk crepe Gucci gown, embroidered by crystal and emerald appliqués, complete with a high slit and plunging neckline. Olivia Wilde, though now pregnant, was able to work it in a gorgeous, emerald green, long-sleeve gown by Gucci Premiere, embroidered with metallic crystals. Wilde paired her dress with Forevermark diamonds and a metallic Emm Kuo clutch. She left her brunette amber locks down in loose waves and went with a bold smoky eye on the red carpet. Naomi Watts was named the Best Dressed at the Golden Globes. She looked like a goddess in an embroidered, white gold halter dress with chain detail by Tom Ford.

The Golden Globes nominees really wowed everyone this year, from performances to dresses.

What weather will this winter bring?

 

 

By: Peter Lewis

 

 

 

Mid October this year saw unusually cold weather and some dreary days of rain. With Daylight Saving Time pushing the clocks back an hour, we were not just reminded of the approaching holidays, but that winter was close at hand.  Most people wonder what each winter will bring; in this case, snow, and how much will fall. The past three years were very different than what  typically occurs. The 2010-2011 school year had a massive fourteen snow days throughout a winter that became an unbelievable nuisance.  The 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years, however, saw a reasonable amount of less than five snow days in each year. The question now becomes, what does the 2013-2014 winter hold for the Fox C-6 District? 

Many sources have been studying the weather patterns and have made their predictions for what is in store from now until the end of winter.  The most notable of these, The Farmer’s Almanac, which is usually a very reliable source, predicts the Midwest will have colder temperatures than usual, with the coldest periods from late December to late January.  While the Almanac was very accurate in predicting rain and cold to start out November, its prediction of flurries fell flat in our area, but was very accurate up north in Iowa.  Its next predicted time frame for snow is late December, mid- January, and throughout February; as for how much snow could fall, the Almanac suggests Jefferson County will receive above normal snowfall in this time period.  Throughout the United States’ history, the Almanac has been very reliable and surprisingly accurate at times; from this we can say five snow days may be a lock at this point.  However, the Almanac isn’t the only source making predictions. There are others that offer even bigger predictions for the fast approaching winter. 

The National Weather Service and NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,  have agreed with the Almanac, saying we should expect below or normal temperatures and possible above normal precipitation.  Live Weather’s Meteorologist, Rob Guarino, says computer models predict El Nino, a reoccurring weather event, will come to the St. Louis area and that has the possibility of causing temperatures being slightly below normal, more rain than snow most times, but an increased chance of winter storms.  February has a chance to have a storm dump eight inches of snow and this winter could produce more ice than normal.  Like the Almanac, Live Weather agrees that February will be the snowiest month this year.  The Weather Centre has predicted this winter will put the St. Louis area on the border of above normal and high threat of a blizzard forming, as well as frigid temperature predictions, above normal precipitation, and snowy weather likely to occur. This is based on multiple studies, past history, and the current weather occurrences going on now and from the past few months. 

From what others in the field are saying, this coming winter looks promising if you like snow days.  However, always be aware that snow days are no longer built in to the Fox C-6 schedule, so it’s alright to hope for some, but not too much, if you want to get out of school before June.



Is St. Louis really a dangerous city?

 

 

By: Peter Lewis

 

 

 

Since 2000, the city of St. Louis has gotten progressively “worse” from a crime standpoint and has developed easily one of the worst reputations in the country.  The city reached a low point last year when Forbes rated it as the second most violent city in America, behind Detroit and ahead of Oakland.  However, some lists differ; US News rated St. Louis number one, neighborhoodscout.com rated St. Louis number eight, and buisnessinsider.com rated the city at number seven.  Obviously, from these rankings St. Louis is still among the top in the country, but many other lists differ significantly. Some rate St. Louis in the top five, where others go as low as the twenties, which begs the question, “How bad is St. Louis?”  

Well, isn’t as easy as you would guess.  Many lists (that decide how “bad” a city is) have very different criteria, which can cause confusion as to where exactly St. Louis ranks.  Some lists only go by violent crimes and some combine both violent crime and property crime.  Also, another problem is the area looked at in particular.  When many hear of St. Louis, they most likely think about the metro area, but not the surrounding areas, like St. Louis County.  Yet, many lists include not only the metro area of a city, but its surrounding areas as well.  East St. Louis, which is on the Illinois side of the river and has a large percent of the crime that the city of St. Louis has been known to have, is ranked with St. Louis on some lists, which adds to the amount of crime reported.  While it may seem like the city is violent, there are a lot of misconceptions.

For starters, the city of St. Louis is a county all to itself, with St. Louis County surrounding it.  The St. Louis City itself is pretty typical when it comes to crime; it does have its rough areas, but, for the most part, is one of the better metro areas in the United States.  While crime may be present in the neighborhoods, the downtown area, with Busch Stadium, The Arch Grounds, and Keener Plaza are relatively safe.  Of all US metro areas, St. Louis would be ranked between the safest and the middle.  As nation.time.com reported, in 2012, St. Louis City crime fell 12.4% in all overall crime, with murder and theft decreasing in the city itself.  Compared to other metropolitan areas in America, St. Louis City did very well in 2012, as other cities saw increases in crime.  St. Louis County has seen decreases since its peak in 2006 as well, showing the region is improving for the better.

Don’t get me wrong, St. Louis has problems, but they’re not as bad as its reputation may suggest. Many organizations and people have come out even to dismiss these lists, such as The American Society of Criminology statement in 2011, which said, “Such rankings are invalid, damaging and irresponsible. City crime rankings make no one safer, but they can harm the cities they tarnish and divert attention from the individual and community characteristics that elevate crime in all cities.” Co-editor of CQ Press, Scott Morgan, in 2006 dismissed not only his publication’s list, but other lists on crime evaluation saying, “I am stunned if there is a criminologist out there who would support this.” 

As CQ Press reported, the city of St. Louis has the nineteenth most populated metro area in the US, but the city on its own would have the ninety-first ranking, far from even being considered a bad city.  Even with that the city’s reputation is better than expected.  The lists that say a city is dangerous or not have a glaring problem: the lists put violent and property crime together, so a city with high property crime but low violent crime can still be high on the list, as in the case of St. Louis City.  Now, don’t get me wrong, crime is crime, but the stigma that these rankings would classify a city as a place where your personal safety and life could be on the line is completely unreasonable. 

Most people reading this have been to St. Louis City numerous times, even at night. Have you ever felt like your life was at risk? A Gallup poll reported that 74% of St. Louisans felt safe while walking the street at night, making St. Louis the fourteenth city on the list out of the fifty most populous cities in the country.  Making a better case for St. Louis, it seems some lists create boundaries to even things out.  For example, Chicago’s area is clearly defined and is much worse than St. Louis could ever be, but St. Louis County is added to St. Louis City to make the creators of the lists lives easier so they don’t have to do much work. From all this, it’s easy to see St. Louis City has problems like any other city in the world. However, it’s far from being a city where your life is on the line constantly.



World Series bound

 

 

 

By: Peter Lewis

 

 

 

The 2012 Cardinals season ended after failing to capitalize on a three to one lead in the 2012 NLCS against the eventual World Series champions San Francisco Giants.  In those last three games the Cardinals were shockingly outscored twenty to one and finished the year on a very sour note by failing to continue their success from the 2011 World Series season.   With this, the off-season began and Pitcher Kyle Loshe left the team as did Lance Berkman, Skip Schumacher, and hitting coach and Cardinal legend, Mark McGwire.  Other than the signing of Ty Wigginton, the Cardinals were very quiet during the off-season, which both shocked and worried many.  Above all though, there were many unanswered questions, such as: would the young pitching be able to handle the pros, who would be starting, could Adam Wainwright get back to his former glory after his Tommy John surgery, and who would step up and lead the team to the playoffs?  To make matters more troubling, on February 22, Chris Carpenter was lost for the season with numbness in his right shoulder, arm, and neck; just days before the season started, on March 22, both Rafael Frucal and Jason Motte were lost for the season.  With the season approaching, some doubt started to creep in, although, with good players returning, there was faith to be had.   

The first month of the regular season ended with a reasonable record of 15-11; though the bullpen struggled, the Cards looked to be in fair shape.  However, May showed that the Cardinals were still a top tier National League team, as they finished with a 35-18 record.  The bats and rotation improved, but the bullpen still had issues closing out games.  At the All-Star Break, the Cardinals posted a record of 57-36 and looked to be a solid team.  However, their division rivals, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds, would provide the biggest obstacle for the remainder of the season.

The remainder of July and into September showed the NL Central become a race between the Pirates and Cardinals, with the Reds close behind, but never quite able to catch either team.  In this time frame the Cardinals and Pirates faced each other fourteen times; it didn’t start out well though.  A five game series with the Pirates in Pittsburgh to close out July saw the Cards lose the series four games to one, but they made up for it by finishing six games to three and secure the NL Central Pennant and tied for the best record in MLB, 97-56, with the Boston Red Sox.

The first obstacle on the road to the World Series was, unsurprisingly, the Pittsburgh Pirates, who made their first playoff in twenty-one years.  Game one saw a Cardinal blowout win of nine to one, where game two was a complete reversal, as the Pirates blew out the Cardinals seven to one.  The Pirates then took game three, but above all odds, the Cardinals won games four and five and advanced to the NLCS.

In the NLCS, the Cardinals faced the resurgent Dodgers, who had made a complete turn around after the All-Star Break.  Game one and two went to the Cardinals, who looked to have all the momentum in the NLCS.  Though the Dodgers awakened and went on to take games three and five.  However, it was too little too late, as game six went to the Cardinals and their ticket to their nineteenth World Series was earned.  A rematch of the 2004 Series against the Boston Red Sox is scheduled to begin Wednesday, October 23, 2013.

What we learned from this year is that the Cardinals roster looks to be capable of winning for the next couple of years.  The starting rotation is at its best as is the batting, but the bullpen still has some work needed to insure wins in the future.  Adam Wainwright is back to top form, Matt Carpenter is the obvious lead off choice, and the young talent will indeed take the team places.  Although a short stop is needed and some players’ futures are questionable, the team showed this season that it is a top contender in MLB.





The government shutdown

By: Brad Tripp

            So, how about that government shutdown? The world panics. What will we do? Does this mean there is no authority? What will happen to everyone’s money? Have we been saving all this time for nothing? These are all questions you may be worried about. Here is how the government shutdown will impact some major areas of American lives:

 

Money

            The government shutdown does not affect your income unless you are on welfare. According to the Arizona Capital Times, the state of Arizona is not allowing welfare after the shutdown. Although they are not currently allowing welfare, when the crisis is all said and done, Arizona will reimburse money to all those on welfare. All other states seem to be paying welfare though. Additionally, according to abc.com, it may be a great time to buy stocks.

Tours and monuments:

            As you know by now, all the monuments and national parks are closed. Why is this? The monuments and parks are closed due to lack of funding towards maintenance and security of those areas.  However, things such as state parks and fairs will continue to be open due to their funding coming from state taxes, not our national taxes. 

 

Law Enforcement:

You may think that since there is no government, there are no police.  This isn’t the case at all.  This is because law enforcement is state tax funded, plus they use funds from tickets and fines, along with towing auctions and police related events.

 

The main question you’re probably asking is if and when this will ever end. There is a glimmer of hope. According to csmonitor.com, there will be a decision made on a small increase in the debt limit so that the government can re-open and end the shutdown. The government shutdown, in a nutshell, touches everyone, but most of us won’t be majorly impacted.

Rush to see this movie

 

By: Peter Lewis

 

Films about racing or cars usually don’t do as well as the studio may have hoped.  The majority tend to drift into the genre’s clichés of primarily focusing on the action and how shiny the filmmakers make the cars in the hopes that it will amaze the audience.  While the visuals may do just that, these films suffer from lack of character development, story, or lackluster to clichéd dialogue that make the film be viewed negatively or be forgettable.  With the odds completely against these types of films, it was surprising to see Peter Morgan, writer of award winning films such as Frost/Nixon, The Last King of Scotland, and The Other Boleyn Girl, would even take on a film like this.  However, even with the odds seemingly stacked against Morgan, he has done what looked to be the impossible and easily made the best drama (against a racing background) of all time.  

            Rush is set in what is commonly referred to as “Formula 1’s Golden Age” (in the 1970s) and focuses on the organization’s most famous and polarizing figures at the time: James Hunt, played by Chris Hemsworth and Niki Lauda, played by Daniel Bruhl.  During this time period both Hunt and Lauda emerged as the best in F1 and started one of racing’s most memorable rivalries.  What made it even better was how both men were completely different from one another.  Hunt was a playboy and brash person who worked his way from the lower ranks all the way to the highest point, but Lauda was a no nonsense hardworker and calculating genius behind the wheel that bought his way into the series.  Both drivers’ paths collide in 1970, in Formula 3, the minor league to Formula 1. Unsurprisingly, when they first come in contact with each other the relationship doesn’t get off to a great start.  From that point on each driver’s career takes a drastically different turn.  Lauda’s skill and potential is seen by Ferrari, at the time and today one of the best teams in Formula 1, and he is signed on to drive with them for the 1975 season.  Hunt and his team from F3 manage to get to F1, but face the season without a sponsor.  The 1975 season concludes with Lauda winning the championship and Hunt’s team going under.  However, Hunt’s skill and desire to defeat Lauda impresses McLaren Racing, who sign him on.  The film then gets to the infamous 1976 F1 season and racing’s most famous story begins to unfold.  For those who know the story, the film does a fantastic job at staying true to the history of these events and doesn’t follow the Hollywood route of changing things simply because they feel like they have to for interest; the filmmakers knew the original story on its own was great and kept it as is.  For those who don’t know the story, the film keeps everything grounded and easy to keep up with even though it goes through the season fast, but keeps the primary events that shaped the season with good amounts of time and allows things to develop.

            Just as it seemed Ron Howard’s career had started coming to an end, he looked inside of himself and put everything he did right in the past into the film and allowed it to be a successful as it was.  Peter Morgan’s writing captured the personalities of Hunt and Lauda very well and the dialogue of the film is very impressive.  Howard’s direction allowed the rest of the cast to do very good jobs with their roles, but, above all, Hemsworth and Bruhl are spectacular as Hunt and Lauda and their performances will defiantly not go unnoticed.

            Fall is the time of year where Oscar hopeful films are released in hope becoming worthy of nomination, Rush proves that it has plenty of worthy parts that will and should be nominated.  Howard’s direction is easily at the same level from a drama standpoint as it was in Apollo 13 and Frost/Nixon and the action during the race makes the film action packed when it wasn’t even the focus. Peter Morgan has been nominated for best screenplay before and it’s very safe to say it’ll happen once more.  As for Hemsworth and Bruhl’s portrayals, either one or both have a good shot at having the honor of being nominated.  Hemsworth for pulling off a brash playboy very well and making the struggles Hunt went through come to life and Bruhl successfully pulling off a character that wouldn’t normally be liked, but in the end turns out to be the best of the two and the one most audiences would appreciate is job well done every time.  As a whole the film will easily be up there as well.

            Rush is easily one of the best films of 2013 so far and a highly memorable and one of the best racing/sports movies ever filmed.  Niki Lauda himself in an interview with Hollywoodvshistory.com stated, “When I saw it the first time I was impressed. There were no Hollywood changes or things changed a little bit Hollywood-like. It is very accurate. And this really surprised me very positively."  For these reasons, Rush is a must see; it has the quality of an award winner, but feels like a film anyone can get behind and enjoy.



Summer 2013 comic book blockbusters

By: Peter Lewis

Every summer, Hollywood releases an endless stream of films every week to meet the demand of entertainment during that season.  Since Star Wars premiered in May 1977, and broke box office records worldwide, a new tradition was born in the form of blockbusters.  Blockbusters usually consist of action, Sci-Fi, and visual effects to entertain the masses.  While these films are almost guaranteed not to win any major awards, such as an Oscar or Golden Globe, they embrace a classic film element of escapism: encasing mostly unreal situations, but making them entertaining and allowing audiences to put their sense of disbelief away for a few hours.  It’s true Hollywood has run out of original ideas, but nevertheless, each year manages to put out films that are memorable and will leave an impact in some way on the viewer and industry moving forward.  Blockbusters and the summer movie season continue to do this for both critics and audiences.  Though 2013 may have not been the most impressive year (as compared to 2011 and 2012) and had many flops, such as Lone Ranger, it still posted record profits yet again.  However, only a few will be the most memorable for a particular year and 2013 was no exception releasing very well done and entertaining films. 

            The genre that has now become a staple of the summer movie season have become the adaptation of comic books onto the silver screen.  Since Superman in 1978, Hollywood became very interested in this new genre and began work on bringing fan favorites storylines and characters to theaters worldwide.  While it started out well, it had very rough periods and after Batman and Robin in 1997, many thought that was the end of superheroes on the bigscreen.  In 2000, X-Men brought new life into the genre and set a new structure that all adaptations have followed since for the most part.  Since 2000, The Dark Knight Trilogy and The Avengers and the films that built up to it have become extremely successful and the most praised by critics and audiences.  This shows that the comic book film has become the modern equivalent tales to Greek and Roman stories about the Gladiators and Spartans.  Unlike any other film genre released in the summer, a movie based on a superhero will easily be much more remembered, praised or hated, and cause the most debate on the internet.  In the summer of 2013, three comic book adaptations were released to the world.  Iron Man 3, the sequel to Iron Man 2, as well as 2012’s The Avengers; Man of Steel, the newest reboot of the world’s first superhero and Warner Brothers hope for a DC cinematic universe; and The Wolverine, the sequel to 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  This article will review all three as well as attempt to declare a winner.

 First, Iron Man 3.  Taking place after the events of 2012’s Avengers, Robert Downey Jr. returns to the main role as Tony Stark/Iron Man, who is in a mental struggle after the events of The Avengers.  Compared to other Marvel imprints, Iron Man 3, for the most part, takes a more dark and serious tone, but still keeps the humor that has made the franchise so successful.  The story is well structured and the problems that made Iron Man 2 hit or miss were fixed and gave the film a tone like that of 2008’s Iron Man.  Downey still shows he is the clear perfect choice to portray Iron Man and does a great job balancing what he usually does and the new struggles he has to portray.  The rest of the cast does a good job as well, but can’t compete with Jr. in anyway.  The finals positives of the film go to both writing and direction.  The writing again does the Marvel humor very well, but this time around gives much more memorable lines and dialogue, same with the direction; Shane Black took control of the direction and was a surprise in how well he let the film flow and have great summer blockbuster action.

            Now what was the problem, you might ask?  After all the praise above, it sounds like this film was at the level of the first Iron Man.  For the most part, it could have been, if not for the film’s second act. While act one sets up the story very well and act three is an epic end to a good movie, the film’s second act makes some choice that audiences loved or hated. Let me just get it out of the way and say I hated it a lot.   Without spoiling the film, if you were expecting Ben Kingsley to do great things as the Mandarin based on the advertisement and trailers, you’ll most likely be disappointed.  Again, the third act saves the film, but the second act is bound to leave a bad taste in your mouth in some fashion.  In the end though, Iron Man 3 is a success by many standards and if this is the end of the Iron Man film series, it’s a great finish for all that were involved.

            Second, Man of Steel.  While Iron Man 3 out grossed Man of Steel in a big way, $1.2 billion compared to almost $650 million, Man of Steel easily was the most hyped and anticipated film of summer 2013.  For good reason, as well, like: this film is the foundation for a DC cinematic universe and the starting point for a Justice League film/franchise, Chris Nolan just coming off his very successful and praised Dark Knight Trilogy was producing, Zac Snyder,  who had done a good job at previous DC imprints was directing, and to many it looked to be a huge step forward from 2006’s Superman Returns and that the man of steel had new life on the big screen.  At the same time, this film divided both critics and audiences for the entire month of June and was extremely debated by all who saw it.  For me it was good.

 What Man of Steel did right was it took a better look at the Superman character than previous films had done.  There’s more focus on the destruction of his home world, his parents’ decision to send him to Earth, his struggle to adapt to the planet, as well as discover his origins; the film plays these out very well and is highly memorable and extremely interesting.  The film’s story keeps you in the present, but uses a lot of flashbacks to help develop the Superman character.  The flashback sequences are very great and so much better than having a twenty minute part of Superman growing up, as well as giving great moments that are well crafted into the film with great style.  This time, Superman is played by British actor Henry Cavill, who both looks the part and is great as the man of steel for so many reasons; it’s way too early to say if he’ll be better than Christopher Reeves, but he is off to a great start for portraying one of comic’s, as well as cinema’s, most famous characters.  The remaining cast does a good job, but is very underdeveloped, which is one of the film’s problems for the most part.  Amy Adams takes the role of Lois Lane and does a good job and with a much more humane portrayal of the character than previous imprints, but there isn’t too much there to set her apart and she seems to get the lost in the film. It seems that the filmmakers thought that audiences had knowledge of the main characters in the Superman world and didn’t put much effort into setting them apart for the film.  Another slight problem was the film’s dialogue.  It’s not bad, but surprisingly below average for what you’d expect from David Goyer, who just came off working with Nolan on The Dark Knight Trilogy.  Direction wise, Snyder does a pretty fair job, if not very good; some decisions are questionable, like the lack of character development, as well as too much CGI in the opening, but he seems to have some grasp moving forward.  For the most part Man of Steel was everything expected and very well done and probably one of the better comic book adaptations ever made. 

Well, it was in contention for that title until the second act of the film began at least.  The second act of Man of Steel is where so much criticism came from and what the viewer’s opinion on the film hinged on.  What’s wrong with the second act?  Well pure action overload for over an hour.  Yes, summer blockbusters are acceptable time for action, but action without a lead in or point is just a waist of CGI and work.  Man of Steel is no exception; once the main conflict begins, the film takes a total 180 and goes from the equivalent of Batman Begins in a sense to Michael Bay’s fantasy on steroids.  Now, during this controversial hour, some of the destruction does have a purpose and it does allow Superman to save the planet in a huge way, and a very well executed way.  The other two moments of total destruction have no real lead in (as stated before) and are hard to get behind or really be emotionally invested in.  Initially, I though this was all Snyder’s decision and he deserved the criticism for this; however, after thinking this, couldn’t have been him.  Sure, his trademark style was shown during this, but Snyder isn’t exactly a guy that will use Michael Bay’s style of explosions at every corner.  In a way, this could have been Warner Brothers, Man of Steel was still in production during the Avengers instant success and it’s not hard to believe that they went to the Man of Steel crew and told them to do what The Avengers did only much, much bigger.  I’ll stop there since I have no proof of this, although for a film that would decide an entire franchise’s future and make the studio billions upon billions of dollars, it’s a very reasonable hypothesis. 

 Even with this in mind, Man of Steel is a well done film.  I can’t spoil anything, but I will say there are great scenes and memorable moments, as well as things to completely set this version of Superman apart from previous versions in a very good way.  Though the film doesn’t have much humor or a heroic Superman it’s an exciting new start to the character and a bright future ahead if Warner Brothers allows Snyder and crew to do their own thing.  Simply put, Man of Steel may have gotten off to a very rocky start, but the future for the series and DC looks to have a good chance of success.

Finally, The Wolverine.  Allow me just to say it now, I don’t like the X-Men movies.  Not hate or dislike, but I just don’t think they’re as great as they’re made to be.  The worst of them all is 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.  If you haven’t seen it, consider yourself lucky.  Now many were surprised to learn last year that film would be getting a sequel and from there until Wolverine’s release in July many went into this with no expectations.  However, the biggest surprise out of all of this was how good Wolverine was, not just good, easily the best X-Men film released.

What makes Wolverine so good is that it takes risks no other comic book film would ever dare try and it goes away from the franchise’s typical formula and tries something new. It was a huge risk for the filmmakers, but ended up being very successful.  The main reason for the film’s success was the fact it was more story and character driven than having generic blockbuster action just to meet the unofficial requirement.  Also, it plays with a storyline never really done in full in a comic book film, taking the hero’s powers away leaving him vulnerable to the world he once was above.  This decision isn’t executed to the fullest, but plays out very well and the films best asset.  The story has a huge focus put on it, works out very well, gives new detail to the Wolverine character and showcases a very interesting journey.  Hugh Jackman returns to his role as Wolverine yet again gives it his all and does very well, but isn’t the best actor in the film.  Wolverines best acting came from actresses Tao Okamoto and Rila Fukushima.  The story has a huge focus on both and each of them give fantastic performances.  The real strange part of the film though is that Wolverine himself isn’t a huge part of the story; while he plays a major role for sure, the story mostly focused on the characters portrayed by Okamoto and Fukushima.  This isn’t a major complaint by any means, but noticeable for a film that invokes the name of a character and doesn’t put a hundred percent focus on him.  The only real problem of the film is its unimpressive main villain, confusion in what side a character or group is on at times, and a well-executed and unexpected twist that isn’t as impressive as it could have been.

However, The Wolverine manages to be a huge surprise, well structured, and focused, making it easily the best film based on the X-Men franchise and one of the better comic book films to be released.  With a post credit scene showing what’s next, it looks to be that X-Men has great potential ahead.

So, out of Iron Man 3, Man of Steel, and Wolverine, which is the best?  The answer is plain and simple: The Wolverine comes out on top.  Though it wasn’t as much of a blockbuster as the other two, have as much hype, or gross the most, from a standpoint of a film and doing the most interesting thing with the source material, Wolverine edges out Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel.  At the end though, for the second consecutive year, Hollywood did all major comic book films right.  Problems still exist, of course, but not as bad as it was in the early 2000s, by any means.  This shows that the system may have finally grasped how to make this popular genre be able to work and will continue.  At the end of the day, Wolverine takes the top spot for 2013’s summer season.