52nd Edition - 11/17/06

• NCAA Football: Game O' The Year

No. I am not talking about Northwestern vs. Illinois. Nor am I speaking of Iowa vs. Minnesota (even though the winner gets a pig).

#1 THE Ohio State University vs #2 Michigan Wolverines

As an Iowa Hawkeye alum, I think I am supposed to have hatred for both these teams, probably one more than the other ... But on Saturday afternoon at 2:30, I really won't care. All I hope is that the score is close. Hype has a way of making these "once in a lifetime" games a disappointment. If the score can be within eight points, I will be in college football heaven.

Speaking of heaven, ESPN has decided the game is "Judgement Day." It would be SO awesome if the loser got banished to hell. That would probably make the kids play harder.

* Also - USC starts a streak of playing Cal, Notre Dame and then UCLA. If they win out, expect to see them play the winner of the Big Ten in the BCS Championship game.

* Iowa is currently bowl eligible. Montana was the division II team, not Northern Illinois. But I guess we can count that as a win every so often. So here's a sarcastic yippee! to the Iowa Hawkeyes for making it to a bowl game (can you tell I have gotten used to them finishing in the top 10?).

• NFL

Game of the Week is the Chargers vs. the Broncos, Sunday night. I know this because NBC has told me about the "flex" schedule and all of its glory. "Flex" stands for "Flexible," which is WAY to big of a word for the TV world. The idea is that NBC makes sure there is a good game on Sunday night. Thank you NBC, especially for dumbing it down.

NFL Real Talk with Jason Whitlock

• The Picks: As always, look for billy z and mike d's picks in the comments

so far this season:
j NCAA: 19-9-1
billy z NCAA: 19-8-2
j NFL: 12-17-3
mike d NFL: 13-17-2

j NCAA:
Illinois -2.5 over Northwestern -- I like Juice.
Iowa +2.5 over Minnesota -- The word is fight, Fight, FIGHT for Iowa!
Ohio State -7 over Michigan -- I believe Ohio State is going to win. Seven is a lot of points, and it makes me want to take Michigan, but Michigan's offense can disappear at times, Ohio State's can't.

j NFL: On the road again ...
Colts -1 over Cowboys
Steelers -3 over Browns
Bears -7 over Jets

• Stuff

Quick Film Reviews

Fast Food Nation
Richard Linklater has taken the non-fiction bestseller and make it into a drama about all angles of the fast food corporation. Unfortunately, none of the punches he takes hits hard enough. The cast is impressive as always with a Linklater film (Ethan Hawke, Avril Lavigne, Bruce Willis, Wilmer Valderrama, Greg Kinnear, Luis Guzman, Patricia Arquette, Kris Kristofferson). Willis' cameo is probably the most fun, but the movie is a bit slow and the impact scene is supposed to be the kill floor at the end, though interesting, I didn't feel like I was learning anything new. All that being said -- Linklater was fantastic to sit down and talk to -- click here to read the interview.
Grade: C+

Happy Feet
It's creepy. This animated flick is about an Emperor Penguin who dances instead of sings. It felt like I was watching "Moulin Rouge" and "March of the Penguins," good in theory, not in practice. But more importantly it answers questions such as --
Q: What if Elvis and Marilyn Monroe had a child?
A: It would sound a lot like Frodo Baggins.

Q: Will it offend anyone that Robin Williams overdoes impressions of a black voice and an Argentinian voice?
A: Probably not, somehow everyone will think that's great.

Q: Why would humans want to save penguins?
A: Because they are cute and dance when we want them to.

The film is fluff through the first 2/3. Then Mumble (Elijah Wood) leaves his parents Memphis (Hugh Jackman) and Norma Jean (Nicole Kidman) to discover why their food is disappearing. Will kids find the zoo creepy? Will anyone understand the timeline doesn't make sense in this film? I have no idea. It's best not to think about.
Grade: C-

Casino Royale
Plot: Bond is back. “Casino Royale” is based on the original novel by Ian Fleming and is considered a prequel to all the other adventures. This time Daniel Craig (“Road to Perdition,” “Layer Cake”) is Bond, James Bond. On his first “007” mission Bond must stop Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen) from winning a high-stakes poker game.
Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), a Treasury official, is assigned to assist him. There is plenty of time for chases, romance, martinis and torture since the film is two hours and 24 minutes long.

Bottom Line: Since this is Bond’s first mission, he’s rough around the edges and Craig’s Bond has a bigger ego than all that have come before him. This remains the highlight of the film. Unfortunately, the rest doesn’t keep up with Craig and we are left with similar problems the recent Bond films have had. There is not a great bad guy, just guys who report to other guys. I thought I was getting the story of how James Bond got his start, but that really only takes five minutes, and then we are off to the races with over-the-top action sequences, which are easy on the eyes.
The film comes to a stretching halt when Bond … “bonds” with Vesper … It takes so long you’ll think you are watching “James Bond: The Love Story.”
Two more things, the film does a terrible job assuming the audience doesn’t know how to play Texas Hold’em, and the ending is simply a “to be continued …” to the next installment.
I know, I sound like I am ranting, but I had high hopes that this would be the beginning of something brilliant. After all, in the cinematic world, “B” stands for Bond. Unfortunately, I have to add a minus to it.
Grade: B-