I saw a most enjoyable film today from Tom McCarthy, "Win Win". This is the third movie I've seen from McCarthy, who also directed "The Station Agent" and got an Oscar-nominated performance from Richard Jenkins (you know, the guy Adrien Brody Googled) in "The Visitor". This one, by far, had the most laughs in it.

"Win Win" stars Paul Giamatti, as ever, as a lawyer whose business may not be doing so well these days. He also coaches wrestling at the local high school. Through a series of circumstances, a kid who decides to leave his Mom and live with his Grandpa (Burt Young, one of Giamatti's clients), ends up living with Giamatti's family. Did I mention the kid also has fantastic wrestling ability? You know, he's from Ohio.

This movie hits a home run (pins everyone?), because it's casting is spot on. Amy Ryan is Giamatti's wife. Jeffrey Tambor shares a business office with Giamatti and is the assistant coach. Bobby Cannavale, much like in "The Station Agent", provides lots of laughs. Rose from "Two and a Half Men" plays the wrestler's drug-addicted Mom and the woman of the crime family on "Justified" makes a small appearance as a lawyer. The wrestler, Alex Shaffer, has this Zen-like attitude, but gets to run the gamut of emotions, as well.

No complaints here. I thought it was well worth the time.

Meal of Links

David Simon vs. Mitch Landrieu. And why those houses in the "Treme" ads came down.

Tax the rich? It's hard, because they have clout. We do not.

Poor Slider



Who killed cap and trade? That really did fizzle out quickly, didn't it?

ESPN and its endorsement problems. Reporters and anchors can't have them, but analysts can.

Guess the bad Nicolas Cage movie. "The title refers not only to car thefts but to your hearing." I actually forgot that I saw "Family Man" in a theater. Makes you wonder what else was playing. I think that may have been a free pass.

The story behind the cover of "Abbey Road". Sort of a "Under The Covers Behind The Music".

Exercise Yard

I stumbled upon "The Brady 6" today. This NFL Films production highlighted the career of Tom Brady against the careers of the six quarterbacks taken ahead of him in the 2000 NFL Draft.

If you recall, one of those QBs was the Browns Spergon Wynn. If ever there was a clip to expose the coaching and talent evaluation ability of one Chris Palmer, you have to see the conversation between Palmer and then-Ravens coach, Brian Billick. Remember Wynn didn't even throw for 50% in college.

I'm paraphrasing here.

Billick; "You know, the guy I'm interested in seeing is this kid Wynn."
Palmer: "Oh, he's good. You know him."
Billick: "From where?"
Palmer: "Minnesota."
Billick: "Minnesota?"
Palmer: "Yeah, you were there at the same time."
Billick: "At Minnesota?"
Palmer: "At the university."
Billick: "Oh, the university."
Palmer: "He was there at the university."
Billick: "As what?"

Me: "F-u-u-u-u-u-u-ck."

So, we have Palmer, who never visited Donovan McNabb, thought Akili Smith might be a keeper, a renowned fan of how many revolutions a football takes out of a QB's arm, trying to prove to Brian Billick that he can spot QB talent. Ugh! To think they drafted Wynn ahead of Brady is sickening. I understand, with Tim Couch still at the helm, they would have never drafted Brady, but to see Palmer on this show harkens back to how lost those early years were for the return of the Browns.

Visitor

43 Down: "Talking Straight" co-author (7 letters) Answer: Iacocca (The secret to today's puzzle? The clues and answers had nary an "e" in them)