He's The Hero?!? Nic Cage

Last week we had our first post in the series "He's the Hero?!?" which was written by Duggs from the Anything But Credible Podcast. He covered Keanu Reeves and all his films where he has saved the world, check his article out right here. This week I will be covering a man who I have already written about, the one and only Nic Cage, and his movies where he has saved the world. Check back next time where Duggs covers another actor in our series.

Nic Cage started out on top of the world with movies like Con Air, Face/Off, Gone in 60 Seconds, and National Treasure but following a sharp decline he has done a lot of questionable roles. With these roles however he has given us some fantastic world saves which I am going to cover in depth right here. Covering these saves will prove why he is the actor we need in case of a world emergency.

He is credited with 91 acting roles (which is the same number as Keanu Reeves....weird) which start in 1981 and are still going strong with 8 movies coming out this year and next. That's gotta be good for at least a couple new world saves, right? Now going in depth on Cage's career was a real rabbit hole situation that made me almost want to watch some more of his movies. From my research, I found 6 films where our man saved the world, Season of the Witch, Next, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Windtalkers, and Ghost Rider 1 & 2. If you would be alive today because of Cage I classified it as a save. Let's go down the rabbit hole together.

World Save #1: 2002. Windtalkers

Unlike Keanu, Cage took over 20 years to get into the world saving business and this one could be a stretch but I am classifying it as a save. In this film Cage finds himself in World War II protecting a Navajo code talker on the battlefield. The Navajo code was based on 2 parts: the Navajo language and a specific code in the language which would confuse even native speakers. The code was practically unbreakable which was great but also only a few specific people knew it. When Cage learns of his assignment he is less then thrilled but over the movie they become closer over music and religion. These code talkers were extremely important in taking down some of the Japanese strong holds which were crucial in winning the war. You may say that we might have won the war without Cage and his code talker but I am going the opposite way, he prevented the Axis from winning the war and world domination. I will rate this save as a 4/10 and call it 'War Save'.

World Save #2: 2002. Ghost Rider

Is this one of the worst movies ever made? Absolutely. Does Johnny Blaze save the world? You bet your ass he does. In 1986, the Devil reaches out to our man Johnny Blaze with a deal: the Devil will cure his father's cancer in exchange for Blaze's soul. Of course he accepts this deal but his father is tragically killed in a motorcycle stunt that same day... tough luck man. 21 years later the Devil's son, Blackheart, and 3 fallen angels come to Earth looking for a list of a thousand corrupt souls to make Blackheart stronger. Blaze kills the fallen angels and then does battle with Blackheart, who he subdues using his "Penance Stare"(which is like his special move). The Devil comes back offering to take back the curse of the Ghost Rider but Blaze does not want to make another deal so he keeps the curse. It goes without saying that the Devil doesn't like this and wants his power back, but Blaze ain't scared. Cage killed the Devil's son, told the Devil he is keeping the Ghost Rider curse, and drives the Devil back to hell. That is pretty damn impressive right there and I am rating this one 7.5/10. Let's call it the 'Flaming Save'.

World Save #3: 2002. Next
In Next, our man plays a small time magician working in Vegas but he has a secret: he can see into the future, but only 2 minutes ahead (and some other confusing shit that you can read on your own time if you feel so inclined). I know you are dying to go see this after that opening sentence. Anyway he makes money as a magician but he really makes his money ripping off casinos in Vegas; that is until an FBI agent figures out his secret and wants to use his powers to stop a nuclear terrorist's bomb. He evades the agent by using his power and seeing where she is coming from. Sometime in all of this the terrorists decide they want to kill Cage and follow the FBI agent in hopes of finding him. The FBI captures him after he saves his girl crush (played by Jessica Biel, who must have been really desperate for work) but the terrorists end up capturing her. Cage ends up escaping the FBI (he is a magician after all) to go and save his girl but he is once again followed by a FBI agent who promises to help save Biel if Cage promises to stop the bomb. They arrive at the terrorist's stronghold and Cage walks right up to the terrorist leader by dodging the bullets because he can see where they are coming from. They kill the terrorists and save Biel, but the bomb has been moved and it explodes. Think that is the end? That would not classify as a world save so hold on tight, the movie reverts to a past scene. Cage's character is able to see every past event Biel is involved in, he uses this power to see where the bomb is and calls the FBI to prevent nuclear disaster. "Every time you look into the future, it changes." This movie sounds like it has the chance to be worse then Ghost Rider. Like why did the whole first part of the movie happen if he can just go back in time and avoid it? Okay so he saves the world and I will give that a 5/10, as far as the movie I am going 0/10 and calling it the 'Nuclear Save'.

World Save #4: Sorcerer's Apprentice. 2010
Nic plays a sorcerer named Balthazar in this absolute turd of a movie. Poor Jay Baruchel got roped into this one but has had a pretty good career regardless. Anyway Merlin has 3 apprentice's and Balthazar is one of those along with Veronica and Horvath. Horvath ends up betraying his comrades and joins forces with the evil Morgana. Morgana ends up mortally wounding Merlin before Veronica is able to absorb her soul into her own. Morgana tries to kill Veronica from within but Balthazar traps them in a Grimhold, which is a magic prison in the shape of a nesting doll. In the future, 10 year old Dave walks into Balthazar's antique shop and receives a dragon figure that identifies him as a descendent of Merlin, which makes him Balthazar's apprentice and the one who can defeat Morgana. Okay I am not going to drag this one out anymore then it needs to be so here is a short summary. Cage rides a steel gargoyle eagle from the Chrysler building, Morgana is freed from the Grimhold and tries to cast a spell that would enslave all of mankind, Balthazar is killed in the final battle but because of Balthazar's training, Dave kills Morgana and ends up reviving Balthazar. So Nic trained Dave and because of that training mankind is not enslaved which is a big plus for us. I will rate this as a solid 7/10 on the save and call it the 'Sorcerer's Save'.

World Save #5: Season of the Witch. 2011
The name of this movie alone should draw you in but I will go ahead and give you the run down on it as well. Cage plays a knight alongside another solid actor, Ron Perlman. They are traveling the country side when they discover the Roman Empire has been swept with the Black Plague. While traveling they are commanded by the Cardinal to escort a supposed witch, who caused the Plague, to a remote monastery where a group of elite monks reside. These elite monks can determine if the girl is indeed a witch and if she is they can cancel her powers and stop the Plague. Along their journey to the monastery, the supposed witch saves one in their group from falling off a bridge. After this, they enter a forest where one in the party thinks they should kill her and go home. The "witch" does not like that so she summons some monstrous wolves (seems pretty witchy to me) and they eventually arrive at the monastery. While there, they discover the monks have all been killed by the plague, so Cage and Perlman try to cure the girl themselves. They realize she is indeed not a witch but is actually possessed by a demon so they start performing an exorcism (I'm sure they're qualified). After an intense battle, Perlman is killed and Cage eventually dies, but not before exorcising the demon. Cage (and Perlman) becomes an exorcist and kills a demon. I consider that pretty impressive. I am scoring this one 6.5/10 and naming it the 'Witch (AKA Demon) Save'.

World Save #6: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. 2011
As if Ghost Rider wasn't bad enough, they decided to make a second one. I am not going to go into great detail on this one because it looks like the same movie. Cage saves the world from the Devil himself. I will give it a 3/10 from my research and name it 'Flame(less) Save'.

It is hard to believe that Cage has 91 acting credits (check out Netflix if you want to see any of his movies). It may be even harder to believe that he has saved the world 6 different times. He has saved us from the Devil (twice), a Demon, an evil Sorcerer, communism, and a nuclear terrorist attack. That is a pretty solid and a wide range of saves in my opinion. There is not much else that can be said about our main man, Nic Cage... all I can say is this: he may be the one we want when the world needs saving.

Check back next week as we continue our series and Duggs writes his second hero piece! Keep checking out the ABC Pod as well with new episodes every Monday.

He's The Hero?!? Keanu Reeves

I am going to be trying something new with the next few posts from F.Y.E. I will be running a 5 part series where all the posts will be related. I also will have some help from a buddy of mine from the Anything But Credible Podcast, Nick Duggan. If you have not checked out this Podcast then you are wasting your time, usually every week is a new conspiracy theory with some hilarious news stories to round out the episodes. Like I said, check these guys out wherever you get your Podcasts from, you will not be disappointed. 

This 5 part series will ultimately culminate in answering the question "Who is the Best Worst Actor You Would Want to Save the World?" In other words, if the world is ending who do you want in charge of saving all of our asses? Now I know everyone is going to say "what about actors like Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis, Will Smith, Chuck Norris..." those guys are great, don't get me wrong, but they are too good for this list. We are looking for a specific set of guys to make our list. When this series is over you will have answers for who has saved the world the most times, what the world was saved from, and how the world was saved. Nick and I each took 2 actors and he started out with Keanu Reeves so strap in ladies and gentlemen; it's time to save the world.

What’s up guys, it’s Duggs here from the Anything But Credible Podcast (wow, a shameless plug in the first sentence?), and I’ve been going back and forth with Foshe over this topic so I decided to give it a try myself. So what are we doing here? When I say the words ‘save the world’ what do you think of? Keanu Reeves? If so, I think you might be my new best friend. Throughout the thousands of movies made, I can’t help but think which actors have saved us the most. Which ones have the quality world saves? Who has saved the world in the coolest way? It is sad to admit, but no one is asking me these questions, so here I am to take a little stroll down the IMDB page of one man who has saved us all more times than I bet you have thought of. The man, the myth, the legend....and possibly immortal ....Mr. Keanu Reeves.

Let’s face the facts, sometimes the world just needs to be saved. Sometimes we need movies to help document how the world was saved. When it comes to all of the movie stars who have saved the world Keanu Reeves has to at least be on the top 10 list, right? Top 5? Top 3? I mean, come on, the guy’s name is Keanu. Everybody likes Keanu. Not the strongest actor in front of the camera, but damn can he land a good punch and kick. He is a man of few words, but that doesn’t matter when he is always doing cool shit. Not to mention the dude has had near perfect head lettuce since day one. I have to admit I’m a bit of a biased fan, so if you are writing a list or ranking of people you want on your side to save the world and Keanu Reeves isn’t one of those people…we aren’t going to be friends. Off the top of your head I know you can think of at least a couple times Keanu has saved the world. Plus, even if he didn’t make your list, you know you still want to hang out with him off screen. He has to be a cool dude; I mean his name is Keanu.

Going off of his IMDB page I am seeing 91 acting credits, which I think is safe to say is good for at least a few world saves. I know what you are thinking. What documents as a legit world save? I’ll keep it simple, if you and everyone you know would be alive today in the movie world because of Keanu, that is a world save. We won’t get too specific into the rules. You be the judge if he saved the world or not.

World Save #1. 1984. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure

It doesn’t take long for Keanu to jump into the top tier of humanity. His IMDB page starts with this first credit being in 1984, and by 1989 he is already saving the world? Impressive. That’s right, I’m talking about Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Of course, an all-time classic, but most people just think of Keanu going back in time to help learn stuff for his exam. The future is what we are looking at here. Don’t forget about Rufus, a traveler from the future, who comes into the film to help Bill & Ted along their journey. Also, remember that Rufus is helping these dudes because Bill & Ted’s music is the foundation for a perfect society in the future. So yes, Keanu goes back in time to help pass his test in current time in order to save all of society in the future. A perfect society based around awesome music sounds like a cool future to me. As far as world saves go, I’d rate this a 6/10. World save #1. Let’s call this one the ‘Excellent Save’.

 World Save #2. 1991. Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.

A whole lot goes into this quality save, so I’m going to let my dude Todd Baldridge explain the plot. Here is a link to his plot summary on IMDB, so don’t sue me Todd. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101452/plotsummary

"For many years now, at Bill and Ted University of the future, the people of the world have been excellent to each other. But fed-up with Bill and Ted's peaceful world and even more fed up with heavy metal, Chuck De Nomolos decides to do something about it. De Nomolos creates cyborg versions of Bill and Ted, who travel back to 1990 with orders to kill the human versions of Bill and Ted, win the Battle of the Bands, and pave the way for De Nomolos to take over the future. In 1990, Bill and Ted are sent to hell by the cyborgs. Cyborg Bill and cyborg Ted make time with the real Bill and Ted's girlfriends Joanna and Elizabeth and prepare to take the human Bill and Ted's place in the Battle of the Bands. With the help of their friend Rufus, the human Bill and Ted are forced to find a way out of hell, deal with the Grim Reaper, and talk to God himself, in their mission to get to the Battle of the Bands and stop the two cyborgs." Again, with a little help from Rufus, Keanu helps save human society one more time. This one takes some serious effort. He had to go to hell, beat a cyborg clone of himself, get his girl back, and then convince God to help him out. I’m rating this one a 7.5/10. Excellently impressive. Let’s call this one the ‘More Excellent Save’

World Save #3. 1992. Dracula.

Another classic, especially for the vampire lovers out there. If you’re not a fan of this one I kind of feel you, but we have to respect the saving that is going on here. I’ll keep the plot summary on this one short. It is a super close play on the classic Dracula story you all have heard, except my man Drac (yeah I shortened his name) pulls some savagery in this one and tries to steal Keanu’s girl. Does that happen in the original Dracula story? I really don’t know, but if so that is hilarious. Anyway, that adds to the awesomeness of saving the world by defeating not only the top dog of the vampire world, but also the dude that tried to end his love life. Don’t test Keanu like that. Now, this is a group effort, so it might fall down to the bottom of Keanu’s list of personal quality saves, but as the quality of an overall world save it has to be towards the top, right? I mean, the dude just helped kill Dracula. If he doesn’t kill Dracula are we all vampires right now? Are we even born? Vampires can’t have babies, right? Then again, if we are vampires, we wouldn’t technically be 100% dead. It doesn’t matter because Keanu and his squad ended Drac…and basically all vampires as we know it in this movie world, but I don’t know if I’d rank this as a full save. I give it a 4/10 on the save-o-meter. Pretty Impressive. Let’s call this the ‘Deadly Save’. 

I know what you’re thinking. Are we going to skip past 1994 and one of the all-timers, Speed? Yes. Look, as much as we all love this movie we have to be honest here. Keanu saved a bunch of people, possibly even the entire city of LA, but that is not world saving material. Even though it's heroic, this will not make the world list. Still impressive though.

World Save #4. 1995. Johnny Mnemonic.

I’ll be honest I’ve never seen this one. Never even heard of it, but after reading up on it and watching some YouTube videos it seems like a cool old school check out. Long story short our man Keanu has a crazy brain chip implanted with the cure of the extremely wide spread disease NAS (Nerve Attenuation Syndrome), a.k.a. the black shakes, which is being caused by an overexposure to electromagnetic radiation in the distant future of 2021. Rough. Anyway, Keanu is a badass so while fighting the Yakuza he figures out how to break the code on his brain chip and downloads the cure so it can then be transmitted worldwide. Can you imagine everybody walking around with extreme radiation exposure? It wouldn’t be pretty. Don’t think this save is that legit? Imagine all of the dogs you know dying slowly due to their cells basically burning and deforming. Exactly. Safe to say saving the world from radiation by hacking into your own brain is pretty dope. I’m impressed. 8/10. Let’s call this the ‘Hacker Save’.

World Save #5. 1999. The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions

Finally, it's time for the first film that popped in your head after reading the first few sentences of this piece. I am grouping all three movies of the series together, but if you are adding up world saves these could technically count as 3. Can we all agree that I don’t need to provide a plot summary for this one? If you don’t know what happens in the Matrix I honestly think you should go to jail for a couple of days. This is probably Keanu’s most impressive save. Definitely the coolest. Not only becoming the savior for the human rebellion, but also saving the human race from the machines in a computer simulated world that he originally thought was the real world. Amazing. Wait, was the world before he took the pill real world or was the real world after the pill? Never mind. This is a save on a mass scale, and something we might need to take notes from moving into our own real future. This is an easy rating: 10/10 for one of the best movies ever made and a great save. I’ll call this ‘The One Impressive Save’ (see what I did there?) The real question is do you believe ‘The Chosen One’ is actually Neo or Agent Smith? That is a different article for a different day.

 

World Save #6. 2005. Constantine.

I am not a religious person. I do not do religious things, but I dug this movie all the way until the end. In this one, Keanu is a dude with weird powers. He can see angels and demons, which helps him just a tiny bit when it comes to sacrificing himself for Lucifer. Before that, he slits the wrist of Mammon (Lucifer’s son) who is trying to come over to our world to start jacking souls. I wouldn’t necessarily say this is a cool save, but it is a quality one for sure if you believe in the idea of a soul. If you do, the last thing you want to do is give it up to a dick like Lucifer. Thanks to Keanu, everyone still has their soul to ruin later in life and the world continues on not in hell. Still impressing me Keanu. Let’s call this one the ‘Holy Save’. Soul believer – 10/10. Non-Soul believer – 6.5/10.

World Save #7. 2008. The Day the Earth Stood Still.

First of all, this is a remake of the super classic 1951 film. Secondly, Keanu is an alien. Don’t get it twisted though, this is still a major world save. This remake is a classic script for Keanu because he can’t have more than 200 words in this one. At first he thinks of the human race as I do most of the time: crazy. Then throughout the movie he realizes that humans are kind of cool and decides to sacrifice himself once again by disintegrating this giant alien sphere that has come over the skies of planet Earth. Are you seeing a reoccurring theme here with Keanu sacrificing himself? I told you this dude was cool. This has got to be the lamest save of Keanu’s amazing career. He kind of just walks into this thing and uses his crazy alien abilities to make the bad things just go away. Nothing spectacular, just like the entire film, unless you are a Jennifer Connelly fan. Nonetheless, you have to appreciate alien Keanu giving up not only his beliefs, but also his beautiful human form (Keanu Reeves). I’m calling this the ‘Alien Save’. 1/10 on the save-o-meter just because I hated this movie. Harsh, I know.

Keanu has had some different roles throughout the years, especially different kinds of quiet ass kickers! (bad joke). One thing you have to say is throughout all of the roles he has saved a shit ton of people. You can’t deny that. You also can’t deny that saving the entire world in any single situation is on another level of saving. Seven times. Seven times my man Keanu has saved us all. Is that a lot compared to other brave actors out there? I couldn’t tell ya. It’s a lot compared to me. He saved us once as an alien. Once as a half-breed angel-demon-ghost thing. Twice as a high school stoner dude. Possibly three times, depending on how you’re counting, as the hailed savior in an ‘alternative universe’. Once again as a technologically savvy badass, and don’t forget about as an old school demon murderer. Every time as a boss ass dude. Seriously impressed, Keanu. If you have made it this far, first of all thank you for spending way too much time reading this. Secondly, this probably doesn’t mean much to you now, but don’t judge me for my terrible grammar. I know I use a million commas, I’m an idiot who is much better at talking than writing. Keep checking out F.Y.E. and in between stories hop over to wherever you get your podcasts and check out Anything But Credible.

Fantasy Football Q&A

This week on F.Y.E. we are trying out a new format and are once again joined by The Kansas King James Schneider to answer a few questions on fantasy football. This will be the first time we have this kind of question and answer set up so let us know what you think.

James and I are in 2 fairly competitive fantasy football leagues and have been playing together for quite a few years. We both love fantasy and one of us is usually on top of our leagues when the season ends, what I am saying here is our answers are extremely valuable and we are giving them to you free of charge. Both of our leagues are drafting the weekend before the season begins so we may have an update on this post after we draft but enjoy the questions and let us know if you agree, disagree, or if there are other questions you want answers to.

1. Who are you top 3 players at each position?
Kyle:
Top 3 QBs: Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, and Cam Newton
Most people have Brady in the top 3 and I think he will be really good but I do not think he will be top 3. I also think Matt Ryan slips a little bit this year and Cam gets back to doing Cam things. I believe adding McCaffrey is huge for him and the offense as a whole takes a step forward.

Top 3 RBs: David Johnson, Le'Veon Bell (if he shows up), and LeSean McCoy
I know, I know this is not breaking news to most of you but I think these 3 guys are head and shoulders above the rest as long as Bell shows up and McCoy plays a full season. I am not big on Devonta Freeman, Melvin Gordon, or Jordan Howard. No in depth analysis on these 3 but I think they are due for a regression from last year. To me the Falcons as a whole take a step back and Howard plays for the Bears who are a complete dumpster fire.

Top 3 WRs: Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, Jordy Nelson
Brown and Jones are ridiculous and barring injuries or the world turning upside they should easily lead the league in fantasy points. Nelson is a guy who is a little farther down on some people's draft board but I think he will have a huge year. The Packers have a lot of WR options but Nelson is clearly the top dog and he has Rodgers throwing it to him.

Top 3 TEs: Rob Gronkowski, Travis Kelce, Greg Olsen
We all know Gronk will probably not play a full season but when he plays he will put up monster fantasy points. I did not rank Jordan Reed in my top 3 because he is another injury prone guy so I slid Olsen in. Like I said before I think the Panthers are going to take a big step forward and Olsen will be a big factor in their success.

James:
Top 3 QBs:
Aaron Rodgers – In the immortal words of Stephen A. Smith, “He is a baaaaaaaad Maaaaaan"
Drew Brees – Another year older and they lost Brandin Cooks, but this offense was built for fantasy and Brees just scores man.
Jameis Winston – This is my dark horse pick. He has a big wideout in Mike Evans and speed down the field in DeSean Jackson and they drafted OJ Howard. I really think Winston is going to perform well for fantasy owners this year.

Top 3 RBs:
David Johnson
Le’veon Bell
Devonte Freeman – This would have been Elliot but his suspension hurts his value

 Top 3 WRs:
Antonio Brown -Until Roethlisberger retires I don’t see this changing.
Mike Evans- As stated earlier, Jameis is going to be good and Evans is already great.
Julio Jones – The man is an animal.

Top 3 TEs:
Travis Kelce – As previously stated, I am a Chiefs fan, but Kelce is consistent and almost always available. He plays with a QB that loves his tight ends and is the main cog in the offense.
Rob Gronkowski – When on the field, he is the most dominant force in the game. No one affects preparation for the Patriots more than knowing if he is healthy. That being said, the man misses 6-8 games a year.
Greg Olsen – He did solid last year and that was with a struggling Cam and a bad offensive line. Bounce back year for Olson and company.

2. Who are some of the top rookies you are targeting?
James: I feel like this class has had a little more hype in recent memory. That could also be because I am a Chiefs fan and we drafted a QB in the first round for the first time since Todd Blackledge. In no particular order:
Leonard Fournette – He is brought in to be the lead back and Jacksonville has shown some improvements on the front line. Mix in the fact that Blake Bortles currently has the accuracy of toddler learning what throwing is, Fournette will see a heavy workload.
Joe Mixon – Mixon has the potential to blow up the Bengals offense. He was regarded as the best overall back in the class but off the field issues dropped him. I am excited to see what he brings to the table.
Corey Davis – He had a hamstring injury in camp but could be the outside threat Mariota needs to open the field. The Titans have a good running game and teams will have to stack the box to stop it. I like Davis.

Kyle: The obvious guys are Leonard Fournette and Christian McCaffrey who are in good spots and either could win the rookie of the year which means big fantasy points. A few "off the radar" guys I think will have good years are Dalvin Cook, Joe Mixon, Corey Davis, and Zay Jones. Cook's success all comes down to the Vikings offensive line which was really bad last year, Mixon could be splitting carries in Cincy, and Davis is in Tennessee who all of a sudden have 3 or 4 really solid options. Jones is a solid prospect for Buffalo especially with Sammy Watkins gone and Jordan Matthews banged up so I think he could have a really solid year.

3. If you end up with the #1 pick of the draft who are you selecting?
Kyle: There are a number of guys you can justify for the first pick, Le'Veon Bell, Julio Jones, Antonio Brown, and David Johnson. I value RBs as the highest position in fantasy so for me I am taking Johnson, he is a workhorse with no one challenging for his carries and is a solid option out of the backfield for his QB. I like Bell a lot to but once again it depends when he shows up.

James: If I have the number one pick I take David Johnson. He literally does everything and it does not matter who is behind center. He runs, catches and scores touchdowns. He is also healthy almost all the time.

4. What are some of the best Team Names you have seen so far?
James: Pour One Out For Mahommies. Done and Done

Kyle: The best team names for me are the ones that incorporate a player on your roster or a favorite player into the name. Some of the best I have seen so far are, Dakstreet Boys, I Got A Thielen, Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood, Wentz Upon A Time, and Dalvin and The Chipmunks.

5. You have to take one of these 3 guys: Adrian Peterson, Eddie Lacy, or Marshawn Lynch, who is it?
Kyle: To start all 3 guys will have solid fantasy seasons in my opinion, but out of the 3 I am taking Lacy. This is probably the most unpopular choice but Peterson will have Mark Ingram along with him and Lynch has not played in a year. The Raiders are also a big time passing team and the last time we saw Lynch he averaged less then 4 yards a carry and 60 yards a game. I think Lacy is a talented guy and he has a lot to prove. It looks like he has kept his weight under control and we saw what he did in Green Bay in 2013 and 2014. All 3 guys are on good teams with big chances to have good years but Lacy will come out of the pack as the best fantasy option.

James: This is really just about Peterson and Lynch. Until Lacy proves that he can stay healthy and keep weight off, I don’t really rely on him for anything. I think the popular pick is Lynch because Oakland is supposed to be really good again. I am going with Peterson though. He will split carries with Ingram and he will get the majority of goal line touches. From a fantasy perspective, I think you can get him late and on the cheap and get solid production.

 

"Hollywood's" Alternate Universe

A little different topic today but nonetheless a very serious topic that has been my favorite one to write about so far. Let's all enjoy this together shall we?

A few nights ago I was watching Interstellar with my wife (who is also the editor in chief for this blog) and I came to a very serious, and interesting, conclusion. My conclusion was this: in an alternate universe could Matthew McConaughey and Nicolas Cage have switched roles? In other words, is Nic Cage a star with multiple movie offers while McConaughey is doing every movie that comes his way? Ever since watching Interstellar I have been thinking about this question in way more depth then I would have ever hoped... but it is a question we must answer. One main point I will state right now is that because of Nic's financial trouble I am pretty positive he has to take any script that comes across his desk to repay his debts. You can find a comprehensive list of the ridiculous things he has bought right here. Before we get to far into this post I will disclose that I am not a huge fan of Cage or McConaughey but this topic was too important not to write about. I believe their roles could have easily been reversed and below you will find a timeline of both of their careers, in depth questions on both actors, and where I believe it all went wrong for Cage.

1. Is McConaughey a great actor or does he just get the right roles?
A: Interstellar was a great movie and I loved everything about it except 1 thing: Matthew McConaughey was in it. Watching him in this movie was extremely painful for me for many reasons. While trying not to get too into it, I will name a few: his facial expressions, the way he delivered his lines, and the sound of his voice made it rough to watch parts of this movie. I think Christopher Nolan could have picked almost any other actor and this movie would have been a hit, that's how good it was. The Lincoln car commercials he is in are absolutely awful and you can watch this compilation to see for yourself. I honestly believe the only great role I have seen McConaughey portray was in Dallas Buyers Club, but he has gotten some huge movies because of his name.

2. When did the downfall of Nic Cage start?
A: He wasn't always the butt of bad acting jokes with movies like Con Air, Face/Off ("one of the greatest action films of our time"--my wife states), Gone in 60 Seconds, National Treasure, and Lord of War which were all solid movies. Looking at the timeline the downfall started in 2007... and it was swift. After 2007 it seems that he started doing every movie that he was offered. In '07 he did a movie titled "Next" and the description from IMDB reads "A Las Vegas magician who can see into the future is pursued by FBI agents seeking to use his abilities to prevent a nuclear terrorist attack." Now don't forget this movie is starring my main man, Nic Cage, and believe it or not, it gets worse from here. In 2007 he did 4 movies, and don't you try to come back and say "good for him, he released four movies in one year." because the average rating for these movies is a 5.9 out of 10 on IMDB. In 2008 he did Bangkok Dangerous (which was another disaster) and in 2010 he did The Sorcerer's Apprentice and please do not get me started on this turd. From 2010 till now it has only gotten worse, the movies themselves are awful and most of the time they don't even have an interesting name, which is weird for Nic Cage. Here are the titles of some of those weird movies: Season of the Witch, Drive Angry, Trespass, Joe, Rage, Left Behind, Pay the Ghost, and finally... Inconceivable (which is a great way to describe how I feel about him still getting movie offers). Left Behind (mentioned above) is described as "A small group of survivors are left behind after millions of people suddenly vanish and the world is plunged into chaos and destruction". Sound good? If that does not drive you away then maybe the fact that it got a 3.1 rating on IMDB will.

3. And will his downfall ever end? Also will McConaughy ever go through a downfall?
A: Looking at his IMDB page it does not look like we will see Nic Cage in another meaningful movie for quite some time. The titles of his next movies are as follows: Red Squad, Looking Glass, #211, Mom and Dad, and Mandy. My 2 favorites out of this group are definitely Mom and Dad and Mandy. Here is the description of Mom and Dad, "A teenage girl and her little brother must survive a wild 24 hours during which a mass hysteria of unknown origins causes parents to turn violently on their own kids". Mandy is described as "Mandy is set in the primal wilderness of 1983 where Red Miller, a broken and haunted man hunts an unhinged religious sect who slaughtered the love of his life". Now I was not alive in 1983 but I am not sure I would describe it as a "primal wilderness."
I have yet to see The Dark Tower which stars Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughy. However while doing research I looked up reviews for the film which are no good but they are especially tough on McConaughy. Most reviews say Elba is one of the major strong points of the film but McConaughy plays an "incredibly boring wizard." Could this be his Sorcerer's Apprentice and begin his downward spiral? Stay tuned folks this could get really interesting really quick.

I honestly believe if you watch a McConaughy movie and picture Nic Cage in his role, you would not be able to tell the difference. Unless he made the ridiculous face you see here. McConaughy has had the pleasure to work with some of the best directors, writers, and movies of this time period and more power to him for being able to take advantage of that. I just don't believe McConaughy is as great as everyone says he is. Let's not forget about Nic Cage and how in an alternate universe he is a star and Matthew McConaughy is taking every role that comes across his desk.