Oh Captain My Captain

by Steve Coulter

Passion. Pinstripes. Excellence.

It’s the motto of the most recognizable, most influential and most powerful franchise on the planet — the New York Yankees.

Despite insidious injuries plaguing the 2013 roster, the Bronx Bombers have stayed competitive enough to make a playoff push in the second half of the season. And now with the return of captain Derek Jeter, the team everybody loves to hate is going by a slightly different axiom.

Revival. Redemption. Glory.

The line should be littered with question marks — Will the Yanks be able to revive completely? Will they be able to redeem this injury-cursed season?  Will the team be able to capture its 28^th World Series championship and return to glory?

However, the period of uncertainty has come to an end with Jeter — the Great White Hope — back in the lineup.

Having the Captain back in Gotham eases the mind and makes the persistent doubts avoidable for the first times in months.

 

An infield single. A run. A RBI.

In yesterday’s 8-4 win over the Royals, Jeter provided a desperate fan base — yes, Yankees fans feel desperate, it’s been four years since a championship — with a signature comeback performance that baseball everywhere expected, yet were still in awe of.

This speaks volumes to Jeter’s career, legacy and imprint on the sports world as a whole, but most importantly it dictates to a down-and-out clubhouse and fan base that things are about to change.

Sulking about injuries is not the Yankee way and it must cease now.

With everything returning to status quo, Derek Jeter arrival in the Big Apple  seems to make perhaps the biggest splash of this entire baseball season.

If his presence can bring not only stability, but pride back to the Yankees, than excellence and glory are certainly attainable goals for this season.

For the time being, Yankee fans will have to settle for passion and pinstripes — revival and redemption. And I’m sure that’s more than alright with the Captain back in town.

FX Looks to Crossover With The Bridge

by Steve Coulter

Over the years, FX has been working slowly and methodically at closing the gap between itself and the other second-tier, non-HBO networks, most notably Showtime and AMC.

And with its latest series, The Bridge, FX may finally have a heavyweight contender to go toe-to-toe in the ring with their rival network’s critically acclaimed behemoths — AMC’s Mad Men and Breaking Bad and Showtime’s Homeland and Dexter.

The Other Ten Best Films of the Last Five Years

by Ryan Cazalet

Coulter released his list of the 10 best films of the past five years and it was impressive. Reflecting back on my list it appears Coulter has a more refined palate than I. He prefers the aged single barrel scotches while I go for more of the big batch tequila; intense dedication to the craft as opposed to a punch in the face.

My movie appreciation is very eclectic but I generally prefer movies with exceptional writing and incredible visuals. I have a general guidelines template that I'm working out and its tentatively called The Three S's; Sights, Sounds and Story. Is the movie visually captivating? Is the writing, music and sound (the all fall under Sounds) working together? And most importantly is the story driving the movie? If your film meets those three criteria chances are I enjoy it.

Ten Best Films of the Last Five Years (2008-2012)

Coulter kicks off our two part piece in which Double Down Trent picks the ten best films from the past five years. For those of you who struggle with math we're talking about 2008-2012. Tomorrow Cazalet will give you his list and you can determine whether or not we are morons or connoisseurs.

The 10 Best Films ATWBB 

by Steve Coulter

Five months into the 2013 film year and there hasn't been a single film that I've seen that I would rank in the top 25 movies I've seen over the last five years.

It's Not a Movie Its a Movement

Point Breaking Down The Fast and Furious Franchise

by Chris Sexton 

The last time I cameo-ed on DDT I was writing about one of my true loves, the New York Jets ; a franchise that I have an undying love and devotion towards but that franchise chooses to let me down every time. They are the worst. The IRS and terrorists are nicer to my psyche than the New York Jets.

Fast and Furious is the opposite.

Star Trek Into Darkness

Should you go see Star Trek Into Darkness? The staff of Double Down Trent says yes. Yes you should.

Cazalet's Review

Beam Me Up Abrams

When deciding which of the summer blockbusters we would see, my girlfriend and I came to a crossroads with Star Trek. She had no interest at all, I couldn't wait for it. She said "But I've never seen any of the movies or tv shows." I told her neither had I, I only saw J.J. Abrams reboot from 2009. So I made her watch that one and not surprisingly she was into it.

The Great Gatsby Reviews

We are a little behind on our review of Baz Luhrman's The Great Gatsby but nonetheless wanted to provide our review. Unlike other movie reviews we thought it would be interested for Steve and I to both write a review, independent of each others opinion, to an overall review. Two sets of eyes are always better than one.

Ryan Cazalet's Review: 

Borne Ceaselessly Into The Past

"So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past." The famous last words of F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece. It's a perfect metaphor for the current state of Hollywood in that we are seeing familiar characters and franchises returning to theaters. The past comes, once more, roaringly to life in the latest adaptation of The Great Gatsby, a film that left me feeling refreshed and greatly entertained.

How do you adapt a timeless piece of literature? Especially considering there have been 4 feature films already made (most notably 1974's Gatsby starring Robert Redford). The answer, according to Baz Luhrmann, was to add some flair to it. The director of Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge has a signature style of film-making that some people love and some people hate. I have to imagine this is the reason for the mixed reviews of 2013's The Great Gatsby.