Renaldo Balkman Choked his Teammate

Last night Renaldo Balkman choked away any chance he had at another shot in the NBA by going all Latrell Sprewell/Bobby Knight/Dr. J on his own teammate. After what the announcer describes as "pent up emotion the entire game" Balkman goes nuts including going after all three officials and a 2 second choking of his own teammate. Eventually, whom we assume is Balkman's friend comes down from the stands and works to calm down the heated player. Anyway enough reading already, watch the video.

Poster, Synopsis, and Trailer for Michael J. Epstein's TEN!

I've never heard of "Spektor Island" (it was apparently a very real place that sank in 1985 during a hurricane) which is probably why I've never heard of the "Spektor Island Massacre" before. In 1972, nine women and three men were found brutally murdered at the island's Babirusa Mansion. To this day, there is no explanation for the murders, and no suspect was ever caught. These events are what director Michael J. Epstein's first feature film, TEN, are based on.

Synopsis:
TEN is a collectivist, post-exploitation psychological thriller devised as a possible explanation for the events of the 1972 Spektor Island Massacre. On a cold December afternoon, ten women arrive at a mansion on Spektor Island, famed for years of reported hauntings and strange activities. Will they live through the night?

The all-female cast film is a response to exploitation, slasher, and thriller films, with particular focus on the kind of storytelling prominent in b-movies and genre films from the 1950s to the 1980s. It explores the meaning and fluidity of identity and takes a number of surprising turns, paying homage to filmmakers and producers such as Alfred Hitchcock, Roger Corman, John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Jim Wynorski, Jean Rollin, Lloyd Kaufman, and Andy Sidaris.

The film was conceived by Sarah Wait Zaranek, Michael J. Epstein, and Sophia Cacciola as a two-minute trailer for the 2012 Brattle Theatre (Cambridge, MA) Trailer Smackdown. After selection as a "curator's choice" at the Smackdown, a successful Kickstarter campaign with 258 backers raised a portion of the budget for the production. Principal shooting took place in December 2012 with expected festival release in 2013 and wider release in 2014.

This sounds like a pretty interesting flick; let's take a look at the new teaser trailer, shall we?


Well it looks ahm.... really weird. Haha. At first I was kind of confused by all the pig imagery, but I'm assuming that its a nod towards the film's possible villain: A ghostly butcher that was said to roam Spektor Island. Maybe the spirit of The Butcher possesses one or more of the visitors to the island's hotel and begins hacking himself up some "piggies?" Just a guess.

More teasers will pop up as the months tick by until the debut of the official trailer, so if you're intrigued by this production, make sure to swing on by this here blog again for further updates.

Want to know more about the movie? Then visit its official site at www.tenthemovie.com!

ELI ROTH NEWS: HEMLOCK GROVE COMING TO NETFLIX IN APRIL; AFTERSHOCK COMING TO THEATERS IN MAY!

Click for a closer look.

Love him or hate him, you gotta give Eli Roth some credit for creating some of the most brutal gross-out moments in modern film history. From the icky flesh-melting fun of CABIN FEVER, to the torture porn depravity of HOSTEL, to his awesome faux slasher trailer for THANKSGIVING featured in GRINDHOUSE, Eli has come a long way since his short onscreen cameos in Troma flicks.

With that said, Eli Roth's got a new original series prepped  called HEMLOCK GROVE and it premieres exclusively on NetFlix on April 19th. I heard about it a few months back, but it wasn't until recently that I started getting some info on it (like the really kick-ass poster for the show pictured on the left). From the post alone you can assume that werewolves are involved somehow... or at least man-eating dogs.

Synopsis: 
From executive producer Eli Roth and based on Brian McGreevy’s novel of the same name, Hemlock Grove is a riveting one-hour murder mystery that revolves around the residents of a former Pennsylvania steel town.

When 17-year-old Brooke Bluebell is brutally murdered, any of Hemlock’s peculiar inhabitants – or killer creatures – could be suspects. Through the investigation, the town’s seamier side is exposed, revealing nothing is what it seems. Beautiful, terrifying and graphic, Hemlock Grove is unlike anything else in its genre. The cast includes Famke Janssen, Dougray Scott, Bill Skarsgård, Landon Liboiron, Penelope Mitchell and Freya Tingley.

Hmm.... a murder mystery involving supernatural creatures? Count me in!  Check out the trailer for Season one below:


Eli's other new project (which he co-wrote, produced, and starred in) is a disaster movie/horror flick called AFTERSHOCK. Directed by Nicolás López, AFTERSHOCK follows a group of travelers who get trapped in an underground nightclub in Chile during a huge earthquake. But their struggle to escape their would-be tomb is only the beginning because the earthquake has wrecked the city, knocked out the power, and (from what I gathered from the trailer below) unleashed an army of violent criminals upon the panicking populace!


AFTERSHOCK is currently making its festival rounds but is slated for a May 10th theatrical release in the United States!

Candidates for Most Improved Player in the NBA

The often overlooked Most Improved Player (MIP) award is considered the least impressive of the major awards, but this award includes current players and present/past all stars including Kevin Love (2010-11), Zach Randolph (03-04), Tracy McGrady (2000-01), Jermaine O'Neal (01-02) and Kevin Johnson (88-89) just to name a handful. Since its creation at the end of the '85-'86 season the MIP has given credentials to the player who worked the hardest and materialized that work into improved play/numbers on the court.  Let's take a look at this years' candidates.



1. James Harden
Last year: 16.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists on 49% shooting in 31.4 minutes.
This year: 26.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists on 45% shooting in 38.4 minutes.

What Harden has done in helping to turnaround the Rockets franchise can not be overlooked.  Yes he was an exceptional player before this year, but he went from a star to a superstar and a Franchise Player. He is a very strong candidate for this award despite being good before this season. Also he had the best game of any player this season:

2. Omer Asik
Last Year: 3.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1 block on 50% shooting in 15 minutes.
This Year: 10.5 points, 11.7 rebounds, 1.1 block on 55% shooting in 30 minutes.

Harden's teammate has done an amazing job applying his abilities with no drop off in more minutes.  He is one of the NBA's top rebounders, can defend the interior of the paint, and just seems to be a classic blue collar, gritty big man. He thrives in the high octane blinding pace that the Rockets use.

3. Jrue Holiday
Last Year: 13.5 points, 4.5 assists, 3.3 rebounds on 43% shooting in 34 minutes.
This Year: 19 points, 8.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds on 45% shooting in 39 minutes.

Jrue has turned himself into an all-star and perhaps the perfect compliment to Andrew Bynum.  Only problem is Bynum hasn't held up his end of the problem.  If he continues to improve he will be considered among the elite PGs.  Gotta love what this kid can do.

4. Nikola Vucevic

Last Year: 5.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, .7 blocks on 45% shooting, 53% FT in 16 minutes.
This Year: 12.3 points, 11.4 rebounds, 1 block on 52% shooting, 68% FT in 32 minutes.

I think Orlando won last years Dwight Howard trade.  This kid is a keeper, with amazing rebounding skills as well as elite scoring from the big man position.  He will be a better version of Brook Lopez. He had 29 rebounds against the Heat earlier this year too, a staggering number.


5. Larry Sanders

Last Year: 3.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.5 blockson  46% shooting, 47% FT in 12 minutes.
This Year: 9 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.2 blocks on 52% shooting, 59% FT in 26 minutes.

He is the best interior defender in the NBA now, a much improved and still improving rebounder, and a solid finisher around the rim.  He is my choice for Defensive Player of the Year, and is right in the mix for MIP.


Other candidates include Greivis Vasquez, Kemba Walker, Chandler Parsons, and OJ Mayo. Of that group, Greivis has a realistic shot to win. As well as Eric Bledsoe and Robin Lopez have played I don't think they belong on the list.  Comment below, who's your choice?

Quantifying Rebounds: Players and Teams

There are so many statistics now used in the NBA, it can at times become overwhelming to quantify a player or a team. Some players play a lot of minutes while other are used sparingly.  Furthermore some teams play at a much higher pace then other teams, ultimately making their point per game (and generally all statistics) go up, but that does not necessarily make them a better offensive team, as a slower paced team may be far more efficient, but with less possessions a game so therefore they score less.  Growing up I was enamored by stats, and as a big man myself especially rebounds.  While rebounds per game is easy to look at, it doesn't always capture the correct picture of how good a player is at rebounding.  Rebounding Rate however does, as it looks at the likelihood a player will get any rebound during the course of a game (percentage of missed shots the player rebounds). Below are lists of Rebound Rate by team and of the top players in the league, enjoy!

Teams:

TEAM ORR DRR REBR
Indiana 30.1 74.4 52.7
Memphis 31.9 74.5  52.6
Denver 31.3 72.0 51.9
Brooklyn 30.1 73.9 51.7
OKC  26.7 73.1 51.5
Chicago 30.1 72.7 51.5
LAL 27.4 74.2    51.4
LAC        28.9 72.8 51.3
Utah        29.8 72.6    51.0
Minnesota 29.3 74.0 51.0
GS     25.7 74.6 50.9
Houston 26.1 75.1 50.9
NO    27.7 73.6 50.5
Detroit 28.7 72.6 50.4
Orlando   25.1 74.8 50.2
New York 26.0 75.5 49.8
Portland 26.5 73.3 49.6
Cleveland 29.0 71.8 49.3
Wash        24.3 74.6 49.3
Miami 22.5 73.5 49.2
SAS   20.2 74.5 49.1
Phoenix 26.5 72.4 48.9
Milwaukee 28.0 70.2 48.6
Atlanta 22.5 73.9 48.5
Phili   24.6 73.9 48.5
Toronto 25.7 72.7 48.4
Sac/Sea? 27.3 70.4 48.1
Dallas 22.0 73.5 48.0
Boston 20.6 73.3 47.7
Charlotte 25.9 70.0 47.3

PLAYER                    GP MPG ORR DRR REBR
Reggie Evans, BKN 59 22.7 14.6 34.2 24.3
A. Varejao, CLE 25 36.0 17.1 30.4 23.4
Kevin Love, MIN 18 34.3 11.4 35.6 23.2
Omer Asik, HOU 61 30.1 12.9 31.1 22.1
A. Drummond, DET 50 19.7 16.2 26.8 21.5
J.J. Hickson, POR 58 29.4 13.7 27.7 20.6
Jordan Hill, LAL 29 15.8 20.4 19.8 20.1
Nikola Vucevic, ORL61 32.3 12 27.6 19.9
Z. Randolph, MEM 55 35.3 13.9 25.6 19.6
Tyson Chandler, NY 57 33.4 14.9 24.7 19.6
K. Humphries, BKN 52 18.4 12.4 26 19.1
Dwight Howard, LAL 55 35 10.9 26.9 19.1
Tim Duncan, SA 51 29.5 7.3 29.3 19.0
Emeka Okafor, WSH 58 26.1 10.8 27.3 19.0
S. Dalembert, MIL 36 16.6 13.9 23.9 18.8
Larry Sanders, MIL 52 26.4 12 25.5 18.6
Kenneth Faried, DEN62 29 13.3 23.6 18.5
M. Speights, CLE 57 16.7 13.3 23.7 18.3
D. Cousins, SAC 57 31.3 11.4 25.8 18.3
John Henson, MIL 45 12.2 13.2 22.4 17.7


(apologies for the formatting, trying to fix that currently)

New DVDs & Blu-rays for 03/05/2013!

Hey gang! You may find yourself with a few extra bucks this week and if that's the case, there are a few things of interest that came out on Blu-ray yesterday. The big news is that the NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST. Blu-ray collection is no longer a Best Buy exclusive, and is thankfully not overpriced. Also Warner Bros. just released WESTWORLD onto Blu-ray (only $13.99 at Amazon!) which will go great with the FUTUREWORLD Blu that is coming from Shout! Factory later this month. Along with a handful of higher profile Hollywood releases.... that's pretty much all that's worth noting. The rest of the "new" stuff consists of direct-to-DVD dreck and re-releases of stuff you probably already own. Here's the lowdown:




NEW TO DVD & BLU-RAY
The Marine 3: Homefront
Muy Thai Warrior
Red Dawn
Ultramarines: Warhammer
Wreck-It Ralph


NEW TO BLU-RAY
A Nightmare on Elm St. Collection
Westworld


NEW TO DVD
The Bay
Bhoot Returns
Bruce Lee in 3D
Eaters
Elfie Hopkins: Cannibal Hunter
House Hunting
Table No. 21
Zombie Wars: Falls the Shadow


DVD DOUBLE FEATURES
Nazis at the Center of the Earth / Abe Lincoln vs. Zombies
Super 8 / Eagle Eye
War of the Worlds / Minority Report


MULTI-FILM COLLECTIONS ON DVD
5 Movie Sci-Fi Disasters
Contains: ?

6-Movie Disaster Collection
Contains: Scorcher, Miami Magma, Death Flight, Firestorm, Epicenter, and Countdown Armageddon.

8-Movie Action Pack 4
Contains: ?

8-Movie Action Pack 5
Contains: ?

Adventure Collection [Featuring CHUCK NORRIS!]
Contains: Forest Warrior, The Polar Bear King, Legend of the Cougar Canyon Grizzly, and The Treasure.

Death Comes in 3's
Contains: Demonic Toys, Demonic Toys 2, Dollman vs. Demonic Toys, Gingerdead Man, Gingerdead Man 2: The Passion of the Crust, Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver, Killjoy, Killjoy 2, and Killjoy 3.

Rage of Honor / American Ninja / Revenge of the Ninja (Triple Feature)

Three Man Weave Podcast

Last night brought the three of us together for another rousing edition of the three man weave podcast. 

We discussed Knicks/Heat, the Pacers ceiling, the effect Tony Parker's injury will have on the West, and the Lakers getting back to .500.

Also, another rousing edition of Champs and Chumps and Instant Argument. Make sure to check it out!

Three Man Weave Podcast