I have seen the wrong half of two Giants games. The first half of the Giants/Eagles game (second edition) wasn't always pretty, but it ended on a decent 17 all note. And, thereafter, they fell apart. This time, after the Jets (unfavored) finished off the Dolphins with much time to spare (40-13), the Giants struggled vs. the Bears. Even after I left to see Enchanted, they went down 16-7. The late comeback needs to be caught on NFL Network replay. [Games aren't listed yet on my on t.v. directory, but this should be one of them]*
Meanwhile, I'm no fan of the loser Ravens. They beat the Giants in the Super Bowl, helped by a questionable call (yeah, they beat them good, but the call was a turning point). They also -- in a game I actually travelled to see -- beat the Jets to help clinch their losing season. The Jets that year (under that old QB, Vinny T. ... wonder what happened to him) did self-destruct in various ways, but the Ravens helped. And, they are known to have an attitude problem, partially from their defense minded nature that at times looks like bullying.
But, I don't like NE more -- I'm tired of them; once, I actually rooted for them vs. St. Louis, but the bloom is gone. It's time for them to lose a damn game. The Ravens, the second team in the row favored to lose by about 20, did the Eagles one better -- they were actually AHEAD late. 24-20. Now, the Pats had time outs, and getting the ball back would not necessarily end the game. But, it would have been close. Especially, after a second chance by penalty still made it fourth and medium in the red zone. Holding! First and goal! TD! Desperation toss stops at the 2.** The [expletive deleted] win again.
Way to choke! Now, it's up to Pittsburgh. [The last game is vs. the Giants, who hopefully will not be playing for anything much. They have a credible shot, but I rather not put my trust in them. I know them a bit too well.] The odds makers should learn -- at least until the Jets and Miami play them -- and NE will want to finally not have to bite their nails on the sideline late. If they actually do that any more, especially after the last two games. OTOH, the Steelers actually offensively (their defense, I don't know, but these two games should give them ideas) have a shot. But, they too have been known to choke ... admittedly, against bad teams. Grrr.
Anyway, Enchanted, which I talked about here before watching, is a charming movie. I especially liked the music numbers -- both the animated one and the two life action versions. The story of a fairy tale princess coming to NYC has a great lead in Amy Adams, a playful tone that pretty much holds up to the end (the serious moments mostly work too) and the criticism here about the bit of consumerism is well answered by the comments at the end of that article. See also my comments in the previous link; as to three year old brides, another comment rightly pointed out the example of first communion veils.
The movie does have a few lulls and Patrick Dempsey (playing his serious minded lawyer type a bit too well -- he is simply dull) and Susan Sarandon (evil stepmother; the inconvenient "other woman" has a happy ending here, but the evil stepmother is treated rather blandly by the numbers) do not (or are not given much to) do much with their roles. One review notes the first thirty minutes (much spent in the animated world) is where much of the energy lies -- since the second music number comes after that, I think this isn't quite right on that point alone. Anyway, overall it's a charming movie, and a nice respite from some more serious fare.
Some might get a bit disgusted (as the song itself said) "vermin" helping Giselle to clean the apartment, but hey, there were only some roaches here. Cf. Joe's Apartment. (The movie!)
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* The way to win in the NFC is to play decently and have shades of superior effort even in a ten minute burst -- helps to have a good defense as well, which the Giants do have. Heck, even the Green Bay back-up had a credible shot until late in the 4th Quarter. Thus, either the Cardinals (is this the game we show up or the game we don't?) or Vikings (it's Thanksgiving, let's suddenly go on a run!) will probably get the last Wild Card spot.
** It is almost silly to say much about a :45 drive, pushed back by unsportmanlike penalty calls by the aggravated Ravens defense, but it might have been better to somehow make the desperation toss before the time out. It is true that they sometimes are intercepted -- end of game -- but if not, they do sometimes get you close enough to the goal line to hope.