Everybody’s Talkin’ 4 – 18 (Chatter from Other Bloggers)

If I seem distracted over the days and weeks to come, I do hope you’ll pardon me. As it happens, there is a documentary film festival to cover and a family wedding to help plan and attend. Those two things in their own right would be distraction enough.

But then there’s basketball…

I’m sure around these parts, I’m known as “The Baseball Guy”. It’s a label I’m sure I’ve earned with my love for caps, my travels to ballparks around North America, and my undying devotion to the pure romanticism of The Grand Old Game. However, I also have a deep love for the game of basketball. It was sparked in me as a child, when I watched Michael Jordan do incredible things at the height of his career. It was cemented when I became a teenager, and Toronto was given an NBA team of its own – the oft-suffering Toronto Raptors.

This year, I have been witness to something truly unexpected with my hometown squad. The team which almost all prognosis said would be terrible – so bad that they’d challenge for the number one overall draft pick – went on an amazing run. They made a trade in December that seemed designed to clear the decks, and from that moment on they became one of the toughest teams to play against in the entire league. They went on to win their division, and make the playoffs for the first time in six years.

So as if I don’t have enough to keep me occupied, between the wedding and the festival, I now have playoff basketball against The Brooklyn Nets to distract me and capture my imagination. This team has only made it to the quarter finals once in nineteen seasons. If they can do that again, I’ll call it a win. For now though, I’m looking forward to some of the best Raptors Ball I’ve been witness to in fifteen years…at least whatever ball I get to see in between weddings and film festivals.

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Before I get to the links, allow me to make another plea that you check out Lindsay’s Kickstarter campaign for her documentary, BRAINGASM, and consider donating to her project.

For your listening and reading fulfilment, I give you…

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There’s a new podcast afoot that Oscar watchers should immediately subscribe to. A local lad named Jamie Dew has launched The Dew Over – a series that gathers together a roundtable of guests every episode to look at various years in Oscar’s history, and examine whether or not they “got it right”. I’ll be turning up in a future episode, but for now whet your whistle with Episode One – 1973.

Hey everybody – Mamo is back!!!

In a weird case of fluke timing, a post of mine this past week echoed a post from another writer. Months ago, Rich Watson mused aloud about spoiler culture and what effect it really has on the films we watch. This week, he completed step on of his experiment by watched DRAFT DAY after reading the book it was based on. Do give his original post a read, and then see how it played into his opinion of the Kevin Costner film.

So I was looking forward to spending my day off today watching TRANSCENDENCE, but I think a wicked amount of negative feedback has scared me away from that idea. Andy Crump weighs in on the latest Johnny Depp joint over on Mezzanine. I meanwhile am left to ponder what matinee I’ll be catching instead.

Apropos considering that it’s Good Friday, Fisti has pulled the switch on his God is In The Movies blogathon. He’s scored contributions from a lot of enthusiastic and talented writers – and then there’s a contribution from me (hey-o!!).

Down in New York, Shala Thomas is soaking up The Tribecca Film Festival – a fest that seems to have found its footing after a somewhat audacious first few years. Follow what she’s up to over at Life Between Films as her festival adventures unfold through the next week.

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As for The Tweet of The Week, Adam Batty nails it:

 

There’s a thin line between enthusiasm and baseless hyperbole.

— Adam Batty (@adamhopelies) April 14, 2014

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Enjoy – and Let’s Go Raptors!