Hasta la vista, baby

Associated Press/Merrick Morton - It's The Last Stand for the men who laid the foundation for today's blockbusters.

I grew up on Arnold Schwarzenegger films. Predator is one my all time favorite science fiction films, Jingle All the way is my favorite holiday film, and True Lies was the first time I was exposed to (and fell in love with) the big budget action genre. Schwarzenegger's 80's and early 90's films are embedded in the foundation of my love for film.

But once you hit 1997 on his IMDb page, it's easy to have predicted that a film like The Last Stand would be a colossal flop.

The problem with actors like Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Bruce Willis (who also have films coming out in Q1 of 2013 that I would expect to be flops. You can see the trailers here and here.) is that these men have been marketed as one trick ponies for decades, much to the detriment of their careers post the Terminator, Rocky, and Die Hard franchises. It should be noted that Willis has had some great supporting roles in films like Sin City and Lucky Number Slevin, but at the end of the day those roles could have been filled by a handful of chiseled actors from the past.

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If 2012 blockbusters taught us anything (see The Hunger Games & The Dark Knight Rises), it's that moviegoers are looking to be challenged intellectually. We want substance and resonance in our films. The action movies that the old guard stars in are nothing but mindless entertainment and don't appeal to the people who pay to see films now. There's nothing to be gained by seeing The Expendables 2.

In a culture that is built upon debating and commenting on everything over social media, these films don't stand a chance of being successful ventures for studios.

That's not to say that these men should be shunned from the industry. They should be corralled and adapted to modern times. What the above mentioned actors are in need of is a young and or intelligent director to give them a supporting role in a film that has a strong plot, like Quentin Tarantino did for John Travolta in Pulp Fiction (the role of Vincent Vega revived Travolta's floundering career). These icons can no longer carry a film by themselves, but they can be a tremendous asset if they swallow their pride and let an intelligent director revive their careers.

After all, the last thing anyone wants to see is The Expendables 4, which would assuredly be a straight to DVD/Netflix release.

Championship Sunday

Thoughts on the NFC and AFC Championship Games.

49ers 28
Falcons 24
It was the same story that played out last week in Atlanta, only this time the Falcons ran into a coach that knew what he was doing.

Falcons - This loss falls squarely on the shoulders of Matt Ryan. In the 2nd half he threw an INT, fumbled a snap, and on 4th down with the game on the line he threw a pass that WR Roddy White had to turn to try and catch. It was a disaster for Ryan, one he will have a hard time living down.

49ers - Was head coach Jim Harbaugh really going to let the 49ers lose back to back NFC Championship games? No, he isn't Rex Ryan. After getting manhandled in the first half, Harbaugh rallied the defense and got them to pitch a shutout in the 2nd half.

This team is a win away from birthing a new dynasty.

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Ravens 28

Patriots 13

Before the start of the season Joe Flacco declared himself the best QB in the NFL, well he is a win away from being the best of the 2012-13 season.

Patriots - Yet another puzzling loss for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick post Spygate, Gisele, Bernard Pollard knee shot, 18-1. One of those was the death knell for this group. The Patriots are eerily similar to the New York Yankees post late 90's early 00's. The mystique and aura is gone. Nobody, especially the Baltimore Ravens, are afraid to play them in their building. Unless they dramatically overhaul the offense you can expect much of the same in the future.

The game was lost at the end of the half. The Patriots had a chance to go up 17-7 and set the fork on the table. Instead Brady, who is afraid to run with conviction slid cleats up and in the confusion cost the Patriots 10 seconds of time. They settled for a FG and a 13-7 lead. They wouldn't score again.

Ravens - It was only fitting that they got over the AFC Championship Game hump by beating the Patriots.

Benard Pollard won this game. He delivered a vicious hit on Patriots RB Stevan Ridley, causing him to fumble. This led to a Ravens TD that would put them up 28-13. Once again, he ruins a Patriots season. Pollard has taken out Brady, Welker, Rob Gronkowski, and now Ridley.

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Harbaugh Bowl - Two brothers coaching against each other in the Super Bowl. Ray Lewis' last game. Kaepernick and Flacco. This game has a ton of story-lines and will be great. If I had to pick, I'm going with the litte brother and the 49ers. He's on the verge of replacing Belichick as the best coach in the NFL.

I'd like to thank...

Thus far, Ben Affleck has swept Awards Season.

Awards Season is one of my favorite times of the year because it brings a competitive vibe to the entertainment industry. You pick a person or film in each category, rooting for and defending them as you would your favorite professional sports team.

This year, the two films I was rooting for were eliminated during the playoffs. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, aka the people behind The Oscars, the most prestigious of all the awards shows, failed to nominate Argo director Ben Affleck and Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow. My initial reaction was one of anger and disappointment, but after digesting the news, I realized that life would go on. Argo won awards for Directing and Best Picture at both the Critics' Choice Awards and the Golden Globes. Jessica Chastain, who plays the lead character Maya in Zero Dark Thirty, won Best Actress at both (she has a great chance of winning The Oscar for Actress in a Leading Role, which would help to validate Zero Dark Thirty).

Though these awards essentially equate to regular season honors like offensive and defensive MVP, that doesn't mean that they're meaningless and should be forgotten.

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When The Academy expanded the Best Picture category from 5 films to a maximum of 10, I had the same reaction I did to the Affleck and Bigelow snubs. Since reviving this practice at the 82nd Oscars (it was suspended during the 16th), the winner for Directing has been the harbinger for the winner of Best Picture. Why bother with potentially 10 nominees when we know that only the 5 who are also up for directing have a real chance? The answer came to me a week after the nominees were announced.

Imagine the NFL without Wild Card teams? In recent years, the Packers, Steelers, and Giants have all won Super Bowls as Wild Card teams. This is a rather new phenomenon. Wild Card teams used to get demolished by the division winners. But now that the NFL has parity across the board (the reason it's the most popular sport in America), it isn't inconceivable for a Wild Card team to make a run in the playoffs.

2012 was a very strong year for films. Argo and Zero Dark Thirty entered Awards Season as teams who had bye weeks and were upset in the Championship Game by two Wild Card teams. Amour, an emotional foreign language film, and Beasts of the Southern Wild, a fantasy film with a performance for the ages by Quvenzhane Wallis, who at the time of filming was 6 years old, are tailor made for The Oscars. Winning an Oscar requires the team behind that film to think outside of the box. The Academy doesn't honor publicly lauded films, they honor the little guy, the film that stays true to the medium.

If the best and most flashiest team always won in sports, would we watch? The answer is no. The same goes for The Oscars. In a year when parity across all genres of film was paramount, the fact that two of the heavy favorites got knocked out by underdogs shouldn't upset or surprise anyone. Instead, it should be celebrated.

Divisional Weekend Day 2

Thoughts on the Sunday games.

Falcons 30

Seahawks 28
The Seahawks rallied from a 20-0 halftime deficit to take a 28-27 lead late in the 4th quarter, but in the end it wasn't enough as Matt Ryan drove the Falcons into field goal range, setting up Matt Bryant for the 49 yard game winner.

Seahawks - The Seahawks overcame a ton of bad coaching and adversity to take a 28-27 lead with 30 seconds to go in the game. Marshawn Lynch's fumble in the 1st quarter and Michael Robinson's stoning on 4th down resulted in touchdowns for the Falcons, who dominated the first half. It looked like this one would be a laugher, but Russell Wilson (who deserves the rookie of the year more than anyone) and the Seahawks offense clawed their way back into the game.

The bad coaching reared it's head twice in the fist half. The Seahawks should've kicked a FG instead of going for it on 4th and 1 with Robinson. You have to take the points, especially when you're on the road and playing with a rookie QB. Getting that goose egg off the board is the most important thing. The play to end the half was bizarre. Wilson was sacked and time expired. Had the Seahawks not used their final timeout to preserve the clock after an awful slant pass, they'd have been able to stop the clock and attempt a FG. Had they done all this, it would've been a 6-20 deficit and a 34-28 win.

Pete Carroll had an awful game, but in the end it doesn't take away from what was a great season for the Seahawks. The key for them going forward is getting a 1 or 2 seed so that they can play in front of their home crowd (which is the best in the NFL). They'll be around for a long time if Wilson matures the way we all expect him to.

Falcons - It was storybook to have Matt Ryan connect with Tony Gonzalez on a pass that would lead to Matt Bryant's 49 yard game winning FG. Gonzalez was 0 for his career in the playoffs, and Matt Ryan had more pressure on him than any QB entering the playoffs. The Falcons were lucky to win this game, but that's exactly what you need when the teams are so evenly matched.

The keys to victory were that they turned the Lynch fumble and the bad call on 4th and 1 into 14 points. That's what you would expect from a 1 seed. They also ran the ball extremely well. Michael Turner turned back the clock, carrying the ball 14 times for 92 yards. Jacquizz Rodgers pitched in with 10 carries for 64 yards as well. Being able to run the ball for positive gains on a consistent basis will be huge against the San Francisco 49ers.

They should be worried about how their defense played. The Seahawks moved the ball effortlessly in the 2nd half. If Colin Kaepernick plays the way he did against the Packers, the Falcons will not be in the game. They have to find a way to pressure the QB while not exposing huge running lanes.

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Patriots 41

Texans 28
After scoring 10 straight points to end the first half, the Texans succumbed to Matt Schaub's inability to throw the deep ball and lost 41-28.

Texans - The Texans are fooling themselves thinking that Schaub is a franchise QB. He was unable to complete a pass over 30 yards and the Patriots feasted on this. He lacks the swagger you want from a franchise QB, and his boneheaded interception to Rob Ninkovich that led to a Patriots touchdown was the death knell.

The Texans have to take a long hard look at Schaub. If they want to be taken seriously they'll think about drafting a QB to put some pressure on him ala the 49ers.

Patriots - It was exactly what we expected to see from the Patriots. Once they grabbed the lead they never gave it back. The news coming out of the game will undoubtedly be about Rob Gronkowski re-breaking his forearm, but the Patriots shouldn't be concerned about this.

Aaron Hernandez is the more valuable of the two. His ability to line up all over the field and use finess to beat defenders is more valuable than Gronk's raw power.

This game featured the emergence of Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen. If these two young runners can contribute, the Patriots will have no problem making up for Gronk's absence.

The Patriots and Ravens always play down to the wire, and there's no reason to expect that this will not be the same.

Divisional Weekend Day 1

Joe Flacco has delivered for the Ravens this post-season.

Ravens 38

Broncos 35

This game had everything. Trindon Holliday returning a punt (90 yards) and a kickoff (104 yards) for touchdowns, some of the worst officiating in playoff history (Bill Vinovich and his crew gave the replacement referees a run for their money), and a 47 yard double overtime game winning field goal by rookie kicker Justin Tucker.

Broncos - I can't help but think of Alex Rodriguez when I watch Peyton Manning. They each broke through and won that elusive championship, but every other post-season has been filled with disappointment. When we look back on their careers, I think we'll remember them more for the what ifs than the incredible statistics.

Manning deserves the blame for this loss. His across the body throw at the end of the first overtime resulted in an interception that decided the game. This was the type of play you expect to see from a rookie (or his brother), not from a QB whom people say is the best in NFL history.

John Fox, the Broncos head coach, will shoulder some of the blame as well. His decision to kneel down and go to overtime with 32 seconds on the clock and 2 timeouts will be scrutinized forever if the Broncos and Manning don't get to a Super Bowl.

That being said, when you have an immortal QB (or any QB for that matter), you don't expect him to turn the ball over 3 times in a home playoff game. Take away the special teams touchdowns from Holliday and you get a Ravens route.

Ravens - This was Joe Flacco's "Give me a contract extension" game. His stat line read 18/34, 331 yards, 3 TD's, and 0 turnovers. To put up those kinds of numbers on the road against a team that was favored by 10 points is remarkable. Every time the Ravens needed a big throw Flacco delivered. This is the type of game that if you win a Super Bowl you point to as the springboard.

Everyone felt that a Patriots versus Broncos AFC Championship Game was preordained. The Ravens went out and threw a wrench into that. Many analysts are already calling for Ravens versus Patriots and predicting an easy Patriots win.

If the Ravens are ever going to get to a Super Bowl with this group, it would only be right that they had to go through New England to get there.

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49ers 45

Packers 31

KAE-PER-NICK! KAE-PER-NICK! KAE-PER-NICK!

Packers - 

Aaron Rodgers can only do so much. He has no margin for error, playing with one of the most overrated defenses in the league and a well below average offensive line. The fact that he was sacked 51 times during the regular season and managed to lead the league in passer rating is mind boggling.

Everyone on the defense (with the exception of Clay Matthews) should be expendable. When is the last time BJ Raji made a big play? Or Charles Woodson? The Packers need to let the holdovers from the Super Bowl go and retool for another run.

It bears repeating; Sentimentality is the difference between good teams and great teams. The good teams are sentimental to players whose play has diminished (Raji, Woodson) but were responsible for the team winning in the past, while the great teams (Patriots) have no sentiment and will release or trade a player when he isn't contributing.

49ers - 

The move that head coach John Harbaugh made to go from Alex Smith to Colin Kaepernick was made specifically for the playoffs. Kaepernick adds a dynamic to the 49ers that Smith never could. His ability to throw the deep ball while having the speed of a thoroughbred racehorse makes him a rare talent. To piggyback off of what FOX Sports columnist Jason Whitlock said, he's better than Michael Vick ever was. He's Steve Young with more physical talent.

The 49ers defense was exposed in their win against the Patriots. Teams like the Seahawks and Packers have had no problem moving the ball on them. That means that the NFC Championship will be won or lost by Kaepernick.

Regardless of what happens next week, the move to Kaepernick has payed off. He has given the 49ers hope for an even brighter future, one filled with consistent playoff appearances and a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl.