Wild card round

Some quick thoughts on the NFL playoffs:

Didn't get a chance to post before watching the outcomes of today's games, but my initial feelings were that both road teams were getting too much credit in their respective games. Both Washington and Jacksonville have been getting a lot of praise for their recent play. I thought Jacksonville was somewhat deserving of being labeled a solid team, but thought that winning in Pittsburgh was going to be a pretty tough task and I expected the game to be close. I was skeptical of Washington's playoff chances given that they were working with a backup QB on the road, but I really had no idea what to expect from their matchup with Seattle.

Watching the games today, I took away a few things:

-Neither Washington nor Seattle deserved to advance deep into the playoffs. Both are decent teams, but both seem flawed. Seattle looks very good on defense, but too inconsistent (not to mention one-dimensional) on offense.

-It's possible Jacksonville could be the third best team in the AFC. They're a tough team, don't have any significant weaknesses, and seem to be playing pretty well. But there's little chance they could beat the Colts or Patriots on the road with that pass rush. Though it got the job done against Roethlisberger (and a decimated O-line), I feel confident in saying that it won't be enough to slow down either Brady or Manning. Oh, and that Jaguars offense wasn't impressive tonight.

-Some backup safety for the Steelers (Carter?) played a terrible game, according to my Steelers fan buddy whose house I watched the game at. One line summed up his frustration--on the pivotal play of the game, my exasperated host screamed at the TV, "Dammit, why do you play safety if you don't know how to tackle?!?" I have to admit, it was a really good question.

As for tomorrow's games:

-Everyone loves how the Giants played the Pats last week. But other than that game, the Giants haven't looked particularly sharp. Now they're on the road, have 3 injured starters, and face a defense that will get more pressure than the Pats did...I don't think the Giants are going to look that great.

-But I can't say that it won't be enough to overcome a thoroughly mediocre Tampa team either. One thing I do expect is a low scoring game.

-If the Chargers lose, it will only vindicate everyone's opinion that Norv Turner is a terrible coach. However, it's hard to see Tennessee scoring more than 10 points on offense, so I'll go out on a limb and say the Chargers win handily.

-In my dream scenario, the Chargers advance and somehow pull out a lucky victory in Indy, thus eliminating the team with the best chance of unseating New England. The Pats handle the Jags in the divisonal round, beat the Chargers in the AFC Championship game, and advance to the Super Bowl, where they beat the tar out of whatever the NFC has to offer.

-In the worst-case scenario, the Pats lose to the Colts in the AFC championship game, thus allowing Indy to claim the Lombardi trophy for the second year in a row. Oh, how painful it would be to let it happen two years in a row...I can't even bear to think about it.

Though I've thought a lot about these playoff games, I can't say I've been excited to watch any of them. I don't know if I'm getting bored of the NFL, or if I just have no respect for any of the teams who aren't the Patriots or Colts.

Movies and TV

Recently, I've been watching more television series than I have movies. I think part of this is due to the higher quality of television series (especially on cable) as well as my preference for well-developed characters over well-developed plot.

That being said, I did manage to take in a few movies during the holidays. I'll briefly sum them up here:

-Charlie Wilson's War. Pretty decent movie. Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts are their usual charming selves. Once I found out that the screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin, a lot of things started to make a lot of sense. Like the snappy, witty dialogue. And the hard-to-follow political conversations (a la West Wing). And the overly preachy, holier-than-thou tone to the movie. Back to the good stuff: Phillip Seymour Hoffman was really good in his supporting role.

-Juno. Didn't know what to expect here, but I left the theater thinking it was pretty good. Lots of funny moments, but ultimately the story isn't as important as the main character is. Juno is a funny character, and your two hours is pretty much spent exploring her personality and emotions.

-Superbad. Saw it on DVD. By myself. Funny, but not as funny as it would have been in a crowded theater with other rowdy folks.

-3:10 to Yuma. Man, for some reason, I really like Westerns. Especially the more modern ones like Unforgiven and Open Range. This one is really cool, though the ending was a little odd. The main reason to watch this is because Russell Crowe and Christian Bale are really really good in it.

-Inside Man. An excellent setup but the final third is horribly unsatisfying. I don't recommend it.

Up next on my list of movies to watch is No Country for Old Men. I've heard so many good things, but I'm not a big fan of the Coen brothers. And my understanding is that the ending is one of those "love it or hate it" type things.

As far as television series go, I've already handed out praise to both "Rome" and "Lost" in previous posts. But there were a few other things I saw recently that are worth mentioning.

-Battlestar Galactica: This show is really well-conceived. I watched season 1 back in the summertime, and now I'm a few episodes into season 2. While I grew up on the geekiness and utopianism of Star Trek:TNG, this is a nice change of pace: less techno-babble, more drama, and less neatly-wrapped solutions to moral dilemmas.

-Chuck: OK, not a GREAT show, but it's definitely fun if you like geeky humor, silly spy plots, and comic book references. Which I do.

-Dexter: Just started watching this last week. It's creepy, and the main character is really fascinating. I'll have a more well-formed opinion on this later, but right now I'm really liking it.

-Pushing Daisies: I've only seen a few episodes of this show (the Wacky Chinawife digs it), and I'm not sure if I'm really into it. But it deserves some credit for being delightfully weird with a touch of morose humor.

-Meerkat Manor: Only seen 3 episodes of this Animal Planet hit, but the behavior of these animals is pretty fascinating. I like that it's somewhat educational too.

My viewing habits are really random these days, and I should really pare it down a bit. Fortunately, the Writer's Guild strike will probably do that for me.