College Football/The Dark Knight/Warren Theaters

Imagine that, probably the busiest time of my life and I'm sitting in my living room blogging! Not bad as I wait for my laundry to be finished in the washer to put in the dry and as I jam out to some old-schoolin' Bon Jovi. I wanted to touch on a few things before my life pretty much changes forever (although I think it's more of a ceremonial change than anything, my life has already changed forever). As I look back on my past bachelorship I find that a few things change, and some things will never change. My status will never again (hopefully) be single, I will wear a badass wedding ring, and I will come home to a wife and child everyday...those are the changes. The things that will never change...well that is my passionate hobby of following sports and pop culture (pop culture being movies, television and music more than following up with tabloid stars). So Saturday will honor a great change in my life, this blog entry will honor the great non-change! Here is my college football preview, official movie review for The Dark Knight, and first impressions of the lastest theater to be built in the OKC Metro - Warren Theaters in Moore.

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College Football Preview

With the season kicking off this week I'd like to put up a few of my predictions, five of them actually. And I shall have a shnazzy name for it:

The Meatrodomus Five Fortune-Telling Truths of the 2008 Season

Will Sammy and Co. run the table?

1. OU will win its third Big 12 Championship in a row. Unprecedented in the conference, but I just don't see anyone taking down Oklahoma enough to derail them from getting the conference. I believe that the Red River Rivalry will again decide who goes out of the South Division, and I don't think Texas's defense has matured enough to stop the potent OU offense. There is a lot of hype around up-and-coming programs like Missouri or even Texas Tech, but it is a different story for Tech who has not beaten OU in Norman since 1996. Missouri does have a chance to remain undefeated leading up to the Big 12 Championship, but I don't believe their defense will be enough to stop arguable the most balanced offense in college football. I think Nebraska will make a run at the North title this year as bold as a prediction that may seem, but will not be able to overcome Missouri. Kansas will slide a little this year although still making the Kansas-Mizzou game something special again like last year.

2. The Heisman Trophy will not go to a sophomore again this year. Sorry folks, unless Sam Bradford or DeMarco Murray break a number of OU or NCAA records this year, I don't see either one of them getting the Heisman. Now, that's not saying either one won't get invited. I do think that Bradford has the greater chance of getting the nod to go to NYC, but I don't see him winning it this year. The sophomore with the best chance to win the Heisman would have to be Knowshon Moreno of Georgia, but even then he would have to have a killer year. My frontrunner is Chris "Beanie" Wells of the Ohio State Buckeyes.

3. The BCS National Championship Game will be Ohio State vs. Oklahoma. That's right, it'll be storybook. The two teams seeking BCS redemption with their recent disappointments will face off in the championship game. Now, it is a tall order and I do believe both of these teams will not be undefeated going into the game. The Buckeyes will have to defeat an always solid USC team (which I think this will not be the team they will lose to) and Oklahoma is part of the Big 12 South so it goes without saying that there will be a test. My top 5 teams going into the season right now in no particular order is Georgia, Oklahoma, Ohio State, USC, and Florida. Those teams would have the best chance to make it but I think it'll be Bucks and Sooners in the finale in a close one. The Meat Life Prediction: Oklahoma 27-20. It'll be redemption time for the Sooners and Stoops will finally get his second national title as a head coach.

4. Conference Winners:

Big East: South Florida. Pieces are in place and West Virginia will fall just short.

Big Ten: Ohio State. Goes without saying, although I do think they will lose to Wisconsin on the road.

Big 12: Oklahoma. See #1

Atlantic Coast Conference: Clemson. Personnel looks solid although look for Wake Forest to make a run again.

Southeastern Conference: Georgia. They will probably be a 2-loss champ like LSU last season.

Pacific 10: USC. As much as I hate them...Oregon would have made a run if QB Nate Costa didn't get injured.

Mountain West: BYU. BCS Buster? Has the offense for it.

Western Athletic Conference: Fresno State. Other potential BCS Buster.

Sun Belt: Florida Atlantic. Go FAU! Beat those Longhorns! HAHAH

Conference USA: Tulsa. New era without QB Paul Smith, but still loaded.

Mid-America Conference: Central Michigan. QB Dan Lefevour the real deal.

5. No team will go undefeated this season. Now, this prediction may be less plausible. And being an Oklahoma fan, I think out of my top 5 OU has the best chance to go undefeated. But in the aftermath of last season it is hard to believe that the rollercoaster ride college football was would change. Then again, we could go in with 3 or 4 teams undefeated and everyone in the press calling for a playoff. Who knows. I just don't think anyone will come out unblemished.

That's my season preview. Enjoy football this year!

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The Dark Knight

It has been over the month and everyone has ridden through all the hype and through all the talk of possible greatness. I will have to say that first of all, The Dark Knight is NOT a movie for everyone. Not everyone will like the plot twists and the overall somber and (for lack of a better word) dark mood. And although this movie is not for everyone, I would recommend anyone interested in a fairly intelligent crime drama to give this a look.

Notice that I called it a crime drama. This is really just a crime drama disguised as a comic book movie. Director and co-writer Christopher Nolan went with a more realistic feel with his series as evident with the first installment Batman Begins. The story picks up about 6 months to a year after that story as Batman with the help of Lt Gordon are close to ridding Gotham of organized crime until the Joker takes over and runs all over causing chaos. With a new hope for Gotham in DA Harvey Dent, Bruce Wayne contemplates giving up being Batman to be with longtime flame Rachel Dawes.

As far as the actors go, most of the carryover characters return with their original actors: Christian Bale as Wayne/Batman, Gary Oldman as Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox; with Maggie Gyllenhaal picking up for Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. New characters/actors introduced to Nolan's series include Aaron Eckhart as Dent, Eric Roberts as mob boss Sal Maroni, Nestor Carbonell as Mayor Anthony Garcia, Anthony Michael Hall as reporter Mike Engel, Chin Han as Hong Kong crime boss Lau, and of course the character and actor most talked about in this film, the late Heath Ledger as the Joker.

The action in the film is nearly non-stop, for the plot is driven by said action. The reason for all the action? The Joker. In a desperate move by the crime bosses, they hire Joker to combat and take down the Batman, all the while the Joker pushes Gordon/Dent/Batman and the entire city of Gotham to the moral limits. The Dark Knight is a picture of a world not too different from a world we live in and the story of forces pulling it both ways, to the depths of evil and terror, or to the light of hope and a better life.

It goes without saying that Ledger's performance of the Joker is magnificiently eerie and twisted. I was in the camp that was kind of shocked when they first picked him to play Joker but now I am fully converted. Excellent choice and I have a hard time envisioning anyone else to play the character, although I cannot picture a third installment without the Joker. That's how good the performance was, and that's how all the action and storyline is driven, through the Joker. At first viewing, it seems this is more of a Joker movie than a Batman movie. But I can definitely say that even though Joker steals the show, this is a Batman centered movie, playing off what had been built from Begins to really get you to relate to the Wayne character. Although this film can very well stand on its own, it is so much better standing if viewed in succession from the Begins film.

Definitely can't wait to get this on DVD or if I have it by then BluRay. This film sets itself apart from the comic book genre (although in recent years has seen some great movies come from it). With all the hype, I will say this...this film is probably the best I've seen this decade. 9.5/10

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Warren Theaters

The lounge bar at Warren

To close my longest entry ever, Warren Theaters. With a bar and lounge outside their balcony seating for the main feature, Warren has definitely come out as the best movie experience in the OKC Metro. Their main screen is smaller than the Cine Capri of Harkin Theaters, but the overall a better presentation. We saw The Dark Knight at Warren and it was definitely worth the hefty $12 matinee balcony ticket price ($18 for evening showings). With a crazy loud sound system and servers at a push of a button, this is definitely the premier movie experience. Not to mention heated seats. Moderately priced food and adult beverages. Thumbs up!

BCS Playoffs: What Would Have Happened Part II

So Kevin and I played out the mock playoff bracket we established. Here is what it looked like:


Click on pic to see matchups and results.

We based the seating on the final BCS Rankings before the 2007-2008 bowl season and put in the top 16 teams, with the #1 seats having to be BCS Conference champs with of course the higher ranked conference champ being seated higher. We had the first round played with the higher ranked team being the home team and then picked the biggest New Years Day/BCS Bowls to play out the elite eight, final four, and national championship: Gator, Cotton, Fiesta, Sugar, Orange, and Rose with the Sugar Bowl venue doubling as the national championship matchup.

Oddly enough, Ohio State became our eventual national champion.

Notable matchups:

Opening round -
Virginia Tech vs. Boston College. If this were to have happened it would have been the third time they would have played, and this would have occurred just a couple weeks after their meeting in the ACC Championship game. Our result BC winning in O/T 34-27.

Georgia vs. Florida. Another conference matchup and this would have been interesting especially after their last meeting when the Bulldogs all rushed to celebrate in the endzone on their first touchdown. A late comeback spoiled another Bulldog victory as Florida squeaks by 42-38.

Second round -
LSU vs. USC in the Gator Bowl. This potential matchup is reason enough to have a playoff! LSU started off quick but USC mounted a killer second half scoring the majority of its points in the third as USC dominated LSU winning 42-23.

OU vs. Florida in the Cotton Bowl. In what could have been a great battle of offenses turned into an old-fashioned beatdown. OU had a quick start scoring most of their points in the first half until Florida turned on the jets and turned 4 second half Sooner turnovers into a 55-19 victory.

Final four -
Ohio State vs. Missouri in the Rose Bowl. Strange that Missouri advanced farther than OU, but that's unrelated. Mizzou proved no match for Ohio State as the Buckeyes outscore the Tigers 48-29 in what was a back and forth game until the Buckeyes took over in the fourth.

USC vs. Florida in the Orange Bowl. I'm telling you, these matchups just beg for a playoff! This game was surprisingly a defensive slugfest until late in the fourth. Florida owned a 7-3 lead for most of the game until USC scored touchdowns on back-to-back possessions and sealed it off with a safety to end the game 19-7.

...which leads us to the championship...
Ohio State vs. USC. And I know what you might think, Ohio State? But yes the Buckeyes made it through and in a shootout out-shot the Trojans 41-31, with their defense coming through and holding strong as the Trojans charged in two late drives.

Now some critics will argue that a playoff will make bowl games insignificant and make the regular season less significant. I say that most bowl are kind of insignificant anyway unless you are going to the school who is in that bowl. That and I'm willing to sacrifice a less significant regular season if we get matchups like that in a playoff. But I can't imagine a regular season having less significance, I mean a lot of teams have non-conference games against cupcakes schools like Louisiana-Lafeyette so how can that get more insignificant?

Playoffs! It won't happen in major college football anytime soon, but it's nice to imagine.