November 28, 2017: My Snow Monkeys are playoff-bound!

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Look who’s smiling now

I think we can all agree that, amidst all this talk about Hollywood and television production and the pitching of various projects, we often lose sight of what’s truly important: fantasy football.  Well, I’m pleased to report that following twelve hard-fought weeks in which I lost my #1 draft pick to season-ending injury, had to drop another four draft picks due to underperformance, picked up and dropped and instantly regretted when somebody else picked up Bills tight end Charles Clay, my Snow Monkeys secured their first playoff spot in ages.  With one more week to go in the regular season, we’re sitting in 5th place with a record of 7-5, the most points scored, and poised to really make a post-season splash.  I mean, look at this team –

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Gurley, Kamara, Hyde and Peterson in the backfield.  Brees leading the likes of Hopkins, Funchess, Adams, Davis, and Shepard.  Doyle and (the oft-injured) Reed at the TE position.  And a fearsome Panthers D feasting on opposing offenses.  We’re unstoppable!

With the exception of weeks 1, 5, 7, 8, and 10.

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Oh, in addition to managing my Snow Monkeys, I also caught two movies: Killing of a Sacred Deer and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.  The first boasts a terrific premise and is well-directed with some truly unnerving scenes, but is somewhat undone by a discordant score and awkward dialogue that, at first, lends to the film’s underlying uneasiness but, after all awhile, just gets annoying and borderline comical.  The movie ratchets up the suspense in increments, slowly but surely building towards a truly terrifying climax.  Still, to fully appreciate this one, you need to throw logic out the window.  It’s one of those movies that leaves you stunned – and then, upon further consideration, somewhat dubious.  A brilliant performance by Barry Keoghan.

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Speaking of brilliant performances, Three Billboards is full of them.  Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, and Sam Rockwell blow the doors off the Oscar bus. An incredibly compelling story with wonderful moments of humor – oh, and one unfortunate scene involving a coincidental overheard conversation.  Still, highly recommended.

For the rest of the week, it’s lunch, dinner, and in-between meetings.  Some sit-downs with a couple of authors.  The creative gear-up for next week’s writers’ room.  And a phoner with one of the Big Ten regarding a couple of proposed book-to-screen adaptations.  The plot thickens…