Thoughts on Basketball Movies, Hustle and Rise, and a Stats Widget Implementation Attempt

Also, I've seen two of the basketball movies lately, Adam Sandler and Juancho Hernangomez's Hustle, and Giannis' movie, Rise.  I like them both, though I'd say Hustle in my opinion is slightly better.

The basketball play is much more intense and action-packed for Hustle, and it is more built for people who are true basketball heads, because you get close to realistic depictions of the basketball world and life of scouts.  

For Rise, it is more centered around the emotional arc and backstory of Giannis and his family, and what they had to deal with as they grew up in Greece.  The basketball scenes didn't always feel as authentic, because they had actors in the basketball roles instead of basketball players, so there were very limited shots of Giannis dunking because if it's unclear if the actors had the physical ability of either doing it or coming close to resembling what had transpired in reality.  It was also seemed to be transpired for a mass audience through Disney Plus, so they simplified a lot of basketball stuff and the draft process, so that non-basketball people can follow along.  So there were some slight liberties taken, as where in real life, after Jonathan Givony's DraftExpress piece on his journey to discover Giannis, there would've little doubt about Giannis being drafted in the 2013 draft.

Hustle works, and Adam Sandler did a great job in his role.  I came in thinking it'd be a goofy film in the mold of Semi-Pro, but Hustle is actually a serious, hard-hitting basketball film.  It had some really good heartfelt moments, Juancho was incredibly believable as a hidden gem that becomes a top prospect, and Anthony Edwards did a great job as a super prospect/antagonist in this movie.  Edwards' performance was very good, and I'd be interested to see if they were to do a sequel and explore his character in greater detail as has been rumored in some sources.

It's a great mix of drama and humorous moments.  There were good performances all around, and they did a good job of inserting enough NBA people and players without it becoming overbearing or too obvious.  They fit them in seamlessly and integrated them into places and roles where they're supposed to be.  If you like basketball, both movies are worth checking out.

Rise is a very likable movie because it really shows the emotional journey that Giannis went through, but it at times seemed to oversimplify the basketball scenes, and they didn't feel quite as impactful.  They really didn't show Giannis dominating his peers enough or the vast potential he had in real life.  At times, it seemed as if Thanasis was a better player, but not what they were trying for, which was Thanasis started out better, but Giannis caught up to him and surpassed him.

An old game of Giannis from YouTube user, George P 08 that DraftExpress discovered back in the day.  At the 3:19 mark of this video, Giannis grabs a defensive rebound from near one end of the basket, and scores in basically eight seconds using tremendous speed, ball handling, and athleticism.

On the Wayback machine, DraftExpress rated Giannis as the 9th best player on their top 100 big board in late June, and hats off to them for helping to discover him and put him on the NBA draft radar in 2013.

Meanwhile, here was an old post of mine when I first saw him play, watching the above video back in 2013.

In all, I enjoyed watching both Hustle and Rise, and I highly recommend you guys to check both of them out.

A less important thing...I tried to install a stats widget page for the basketball website, but things clashed and didn't work out.

So, I tried to implement a stats widget for pages to test it out on the basketball website.  I went to the Sports-Reference to use this widget, and used Short Code to try to implement it.

It showed up in the preview, but not in the actual post.  

So now, I'll have to delete that part, since the widget isn't working.  My theory is that it conflicts with the don't paste and copy, content lock that is installed on the page, but that it conflicts with the widget, which likely prevents users from scrolling, but the widget we tried to install either would've had a scroll or a clunky layout.  My other theory is that the ads may have interfered with the widget, but we'll never know for sure.

In any case, I liked the idea for a Stats Widget feature, but it seems like it's not working out.

In any case, this is what that feature would have looked like, more or less:

Caleb Love's Stats Page: Oh well. Maybe someday it can be a feature on the basketball website. For now, I'd recommend users to Sports Reference or Basketball-Reference to get stats on college or NBA basketball players.

Thoughts on The Rise of Skywalker and Uncut Gems

So, I had planned to have written this up in late December after having been in St. Louis, but I didn't save the Uncut Gems part of writing this up, so I had to re-write that whole section from memory, so that one may not be as good as it would have been had I remembered to hit the save button.  Anyways, here is the lost write-up that would've taken place on December 27th, 2019.

by Alan Lu

.........................

This has been a really interesting week in watching movies at the theaters.  On Friday, I went to AMC to see Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker, and I also saw Uncut Gems on the night of Christmas.  Tonally, they seem to be two totally different movies.  The Rise of Skywalker is a fun, action-packed dramatic film that everyone can enjoy, and there were plenty of nostalgic moments, for better or worse.  Uncut Gems is more of a gritty, crime drama that details the exploits of a degenerate gambler in 2012 that attempts to settle his massive debts despite being in big trouble with the wrong people.  More specifically, Howard Ratner (played by Adam Sandler) is in trouble with his brother-in-law, who is also a loan shark, and Ratner at every turn drives right past the most convenient route to safety in order to go for the big score.  As where The Rise of Skywalker, the good guys win, and the bad guys lose, Uncut Gems is more of a character piece whose ending is jolting, if not unwholly surprising.

There are proponents and detractors from viewers that saw both of these movies, Uncut Gems seems to be more of a critical darling, and The Rise of Skywalker seems to be liked much more so by fans.  If you’re a fan of Rian Johnson’s controversial Star Wars film, The Last Jedi, you will certainly have bones to pick in the latest installment.  Simultaneously, there are a lot of heart-warming moments that have brought joy to filmgoers, which is definitely a plus.  For Uncut Gems, the main character doesn’t win, and the filmmakers ensure that he doesn’t.  It’s more of a sordid tale of a man whose exploits to win big seem to go wrong at every turn, even when he seems to pull off a miraculous victory.

The theater going experience to watching The Rise of Skywalker was surprisingly fun,
but the plot points didn't seem to add up or make much sense.
(Photo: Disney/Lucasfilm.)

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Things That Worked Well:

Rey and Kylo Ren’s relationship worked well, as their connection and bond allowed the film to play to its strengths.  There was always some sort of tension between them, as they were either fighting with or alongside each other throughout these movies, and through after fighting with Rey (Daisy Ridley), after she told him that she would’ve gone with him if he had fought for the good guys gave Kylo Ren/Ben Solo the epiphany to ditch the First Order for good, and to help Rey.  Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) decided to become Ben Solo once again, and the actors’ strong performances was a testament to their ability to translate their acting, fighting ability, and chemistry to the big screen.

Nostalgia. It’s fun seeing old characters come back in this film, as Han Solo came back as a vision to Ben Solo, which provided a tear-jerking, father and son moment, and Lando Calrissian was solid as an old, renegade rebel that provided wisdom and assistance to the Resistance.  Seeing Luke Skywalker one last time was fun to watch, as he provided more wisdom to Rey to help guide her through her journey.  Plus, it was fun to watch Chewbacca and General Leia Organa be in one last Star Wars movie before their characters rode off into their respective sunsets.

It has a happy ending that can be enjoyed by all or most Star Wars fans.  The 9^th movie brought a conclusion to the epic battles between the Resistance and the First Order, and it’s a joyous moment to see the good guys win at the end of this trilogy.

This film really brings out the 12-year old in you that just wants a fun, action-packed, but heartwarming movie.  While there were plot points that seemed to be hard to fathom and illogical, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is a fun movie to watch when you turn off your thinking caps.

Things That Didn’t Work Well:

The plot didn’t always make sense.  They brought Palpatine back from the dead and they never truly seemed to explain how he survived the fall from Vader that happened in the 6^th movie, but he seemed to be inexplicably brought back somehow.  Maybe his Sith powers kept him alive, or maybe he grabbed ahold of something somewhere, but his return for the 9^th movie seemed to be all too convenient a way to transform Ben Solo/Kylo Ren into being a redeemable character.

Hux’s Spy Angle.  In The Force Awakens, General Hux gave a grandiose, fascist speech that was bone-chilling, as he helped carry out destructive orders that destroyed multiple planets.  Sure, he was Kylo Ren’s rival, as he and Kylo Ren were fighting to be the number two to Snoke in the 7^th movie, and he took a disliking to Kylo Ren claiming the throne in the eighth movie.  But Hux’s sudden transformation to help the rebels felt contrived and forced.  He had a tremendous thirst and lust for power in the seventh movie, yet his move to be a spy for the Rebels doesn’t seem to be a logical step for him.  He wanted to see Kylo Ren fail, but surely, he would’ve thought against being a spy, as that move ended up costing him his life.

The Chewbacca "death" fake out scene was pretty baffling.  In Rey's battle with Kylo Ren, they were dueling while using light sabers when suddenly lightning shoots out of Rey's hands which struck a ship that had apparently been carrying Chewbacca on it.  Realizing that Chewbacca was likely on that ship, she goes into hysterics and wails in despair.  Only that Chewbacca was not on that ship, but was on a different one!  Exactly how, we don't really know for sure, maybe he teleported magically, but the angle of faking Chewbacca's death was unnecessary at best, and puzzling at worst, but it did at least give me some relief that Chewbacca lived to fight another day.

The random appearance of Dominic Monaghan.  He’s been in popular TV shows and movies, such as Lost, but that he received an extended cameo role didn’t really seem to move the plot forward or make much sense, combined with the fact that Lupita Nyong’o and Rose Tico barely received lines in the ninth movie.

They didn’t really give Rose Tico or Maz Kanata anything to do in the Rise of Skywalker.  Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o) was teased as a major player in the Force Awakens, as she was Han Solo’s friend, was a beholder of Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, and gave pearls of wisdom in that movie.  There was mention that maybe she even might have been a force-sensitive lightsaber wielding type of hero, but we never really got to see that.  Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) had an important role in The Last Jedi, as she teamed up with Finn (John Boyega) to find a codebreaker, and they fought together in that movie.  But in the 9^th movie, Rose Tico barely had any lines, and she was sidelined for most of the film.

Keri Russell didn’t have enough to do in this film.  Her character, Zorii Bliss was an old friend of Poe, and she mainly seemed to be in the movie to hang out and fight alongside Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), as well as to tell viewers that Poe and Zorii used to be in a relationship together.   Knowing full well that Keri Russell can act and fight as seen in the critically acclaimed TV show, The Americans, it’s a shame that she didn’t get more to do in The Rise of Skywalker.

The LGBT moment was quite forgettable, to the point where it sort of seemed like a throwaway scene.  Shippers of Finn and Poe were probably disappointed that they didn’t romantically end up together, and the LGBT moment was very brief, as there was a brief lesbian kiss between two side characters shortly before the cutaway.    But that moment was so brief, that Disney didn’t have to cut out much of their content in order to show their movie in Singapore.

Overall:

I’ll admit, I thought I would have written a lot on what works well, and in considerable detail, considering that I actually enjoyed this film when I saw this film last Friday.  The good parts of this film are that it’s fun, and it brings the kid out in you, as it is a fun, entertaining popcorn movie.  However, the plot didn’t always make sense, and more specifically, they made no attempt to explain how they brought Palpatine back from the dead.  Still, Star Wars IX: The Rise of Skywalker is a fairly enjoyable film, despite some questionable plot points.

Score: 3/5

Grade: C+/Above Average

Uncut Gems was a riveting tale of a degenerate gambler who tries to resolve
his gambling debts once for all, but keeps pushing his limits in a bid to go for the big score.
(Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems (A24), photo courtesy of National Review.)

 Uncut Gems

Things That Work Well:

There were very good performances all-around, more specifically from Julia Fox and Kevin Garnett.  Kevin Garnett is very believable in playing a superstitious, celebrity superstar basketball player that gets drawn in by the lure of the opal, to the point where he gets hypnotized into believing that it helps him play better in the playoffs.  Each scene between him and Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) keeps you on your toes, and while you’re never really sure why he’s in Ratner’s store, you’re rooting for KG to play well in the playoffs.  Julia Fox really gives a layered look into her character, Julia.  Though she doesn’t have a traditional relationship with Howard, she really humanizes her character by giving some depth, and through her ups and downs, she truly cared for him by sticking with him and following his crazy scheme all the way to the end.  LaKeith Stanfield and Mike Francesa were solid as well, Francesa was very convincing as a bookie that he makes you forget that he’s a famous sports radio talk show host in real life, and Stanfield’s Demany showed the intricacies of his dealings with his chaotic boss all the while trying to get famous people into their store.

Adam Sandler was fairly solid in this movie as Howard Ratner.  You’re not sure if you’re supposed to root for Howard Ratner, and he does some pretty despicable things in this film, but he has this charm that makes you root for him in the final act, if only to have him settle his debt with his loan shark, brother-in-law, Arno, so that he doesn’t meet a grisly end.

This movie worked well thematically.  The Safdie brothers didn’t seem interested in giving Howard Ratner a happy ending, and it works here, as it’s a movie about a compulsive, degenerate gambler that’s always looking for a big score.  Yet he seems to avoid the ramp to safety at every turn, and his tremendously risky set of plays ended up costing him at the end, even when he appeared to have pulled off a miraculous victory.  The end of Howard Ratner’s journey was truly a gut punch, though when you think about it, it may have been a fairly likely end for him, as he ended up in massive debts with the wrong people, and he kept putting things off to try to make a bigger splash with his bets.

Things That Didn’t Work Well:

The introduction was ambitious, if anything, as we see Ethopians hard at work trying to extract the jewel in a mine cave that leads to a huge fight amongst them and outsiders, and it seems evident that the opal Howard Ratner will receive may be the equivalent to a blood diamond.  But there was a dizzying light show stemming from a look at the gem, followed by a look into Howard Ratner’s colon, and the dizzying set of lights and the strange decision to directly show the inside of Ratner’s colon can be off-putting enough to offset the intriguing introduction of the mine caves in Ethopia.

Should Howard Ratner have gotten a happy ending?  We know his character is a compulsive, degenerate gambler, but the movie seems to show that he actually seems to be kind of good at betting, at least in the scenes that he is in.  On the other hand, his seeming lack of morals and ethics, combined with doubling and tripling down on his bets rather than choosing to settle them probably have put him in a huge hole that he could never really get out of in the end.

Overall:

Uncut Gems is a compelling film that details the exploits of a gambler who runs a jewelry store, and his attempts to settle his debts with his loan shark, brother-in-law, all while running into some good luck by meeting Kevin Garnett at his shop.  This movie does not have a happy ending for Howard, but it seems to provide one for some of the other characters.  Overall, it’s a film that builds layers upon interesting characters.

Score: 3.5/5

Grade: B/Good