January 11, 2013 11:40 am
Note: This piece refers to the playoff draft on the last HMGL podcast. If you didn’t listen to it, check it out here.
Wild Card Weekend Standings:
(+1 point for advancing to the divisional round)
Justin (3) — DEN +1, GB +1, BAL+1, IND 0
Possible this week: 4 points (DEN/BAL, GB)
Worst-case: 2 points (DEN/BAL) win, GB loses
Matt (3) — NE +1, ATL+1, Hou+1, Cincy 0
Possible this week: 4 points (NE/HOU, ATL)
Worst-case: 2 points (NE/HOU) win, ATL loses
Neal (2) — SF +1, SEA +1, WAS 0, MIN 0
Possible this week: 4 points (SF, SEA both win)
Worst-case: 0 points (SF, SEA both lose)
January 3, 2013 11:27 am
By Matt Ford
Better to be lucky than good.
Or, more like it, better dangerous than solid.
So who is the most dangerous team entering the 2012 NFL Playoffs?
Category One: The Psy “Gangnam Style” Award for “Congrats for Making It To The Big Time! But Now That You’re Here, You’re Going Away Quickly.”
Category Two: The Kwame Brown Award for “Just Look At Them! They Have To Be Better Than They’re Playing”
Category Three: The Looking At The Google Analytics Of HireMeGrantland.com Award for “Why Is No One Impressed By Us?”
Category Four: The Mumford and Sons Award for “Everyone Thinks We’re Underrated, But We’re Actually Overrated”
Category Five: The 2007 LeBron James Award for “We’re playing … him? Uh Oh.”
December 17, 2012 12:56 pm
Without further ado: Matt and Justin’s discussion of the NFL playoff picture leading into the end of the regular season, with special guest Neal Suidan.
All you have to do is click here and click “Listen” or “Download” once you get to our hosting site.
Our first post is about the NFC Playoff picture leading into last week’s games. Listen to how wrong we were about San Francisco after last night’s result, Neal’s analysis of his hometown Bears (and Bulls), Matt’s pipe-dream of a Redskins playoff run and more.
Our next pod is about the AFC, but includes a bonus round of which coaches should get fired (and Matt’s prediction of Chip Kelly to Carolina that he has been patting himself on the back for ever since), and Neal trying to Beautiful Mind his way through the muddy AFC North playoff picture. Justin’s breakdown of the Raiders, fortunately for you all, was omitted due to “microphone problems.”
Shortly, these episodes will be available on the iTunes store (Apple has to screen them first before they unleash our idiocy on the unwashed masses).
December 15, 2012 5:42 pm
(Nothing like a winless week to really make you want to show your face on camera.)
December 7, 2012 4:13 pm
Justin Elliott’s Week 14 picks… on our NEW YouTube channel!!!
December 3, 2012 9:52 am
By Matt Ford
Watching RGIII as a rookie is like the first time you heard OK Computer, or saw Louis CK’s standup a few years ago, or watched Barack Obama in the 2004 Democratic Convention. “Holy shit!” you think. “Do people know about this yet?”
You form a special kind of relationship with an entertainer, athlete or politician after an experience like that — you realize: “Hey, this guy could be the real deal, and I think I just saw history.” Often, I find I become invested in people like that, rooting for history just to say in a few years, “I was there…”
RGIII to the rescue. He is, by many accounts, the most exciting player in the league. He draws friendly fans to FedEx Field. His value to a shrinking fan base is unspeakable. It’s hard to root against him, even if your team is playing against him.
Robert Griffin III has revitalized one of the most valuable franchises in the world. The value of hope is what Griffin brings to the table, in addition to all those other tangible assets.
November 30, 2012 3:01 pm
By Justin Elliott
Overall Record: 32-26-2
As you can see, until Week 12 it has basically been feast or famine with at least four wins or losses for eight straight weeks.
If I could only channel those good weeks I would have a chance at winning this thing. But the odds of that have to be like one in a million…
If my odds are good enough for Lloyd Christmas, they’re good enough for me. So onward with my Week 13 picks.
November 29, 2012 11:15 am
By Matt Ford
There are a ton of exciting movies out right now — some are better than others. (Sounds like a premise for future power rankings!!!!!!)
For help planning out your winter movie budget, here is a primer to two epics. First, Spielberg’s Lincoln, then Hollywood’s adaptation of Life of Pi.
I don’t have to tell you — everyone is saying it — they might as well just announce the Best Actor award at the Oscars already. Daniel Day-Lewis does a freaky good Lincoln, adding so much tenderness, thoughtfulness and dimension to one of the most complex American presidents.
Avatar set the standard for 3D CGI-heavy filmmaking, yes. Life of Pi matches or exceeds Avatar. Consider the challenge for the director, Ang Lee: well more than 50 percent of the film revolves around interplay between a teenager… and a tiger… alone… in the Pacific Ocean.
November 12, 2012 3:39 pm
By Matt Ford
It’s an exciting time to be a moviegoer.
Here’s why: movies like Skyfall are rebooting the action genre, which of course includes the James Bond series. Bond movies will no longer be formulaic flicks with pithy pick-up lines, vapid women and happy endings; the new Bond is flawed, injured, cynical, self-loathing, and even — occasionally — out-matched.
Bond is one thing, but it will not be contending for Oscars next March. (Although co-star Javier Bardem might.) The movie it topped at the box office this weekend — Ben Affleck’s Argo — most certainly will.
It’s hard to explain what’s so great about Argo until you see it. In brief, Argo is brilliantly paced — the plot covers a lot of ground quickly — well-acted, unpredictable, occasionally hilarious, and confidently understated. After the movie was over, I quickly hoisted it into the “Best Movies I’ve Ever Watched” category. I know — bold.
So, on one hand, we have an action movie trying to be more complex; on the other, a spy movie trying to keep it simple.
Does it work for both films?
