Month: March 2020

Bloodshot review at Mountain Xpress

/ Ian Casselberry / Leave a comment

[UPDATE: Bloodshot is getting an early digital video on-demand release next week since its theatrical run was cut short. You can see the movie at home beginning March 24 and then come back and read this review!]

As I was sitting in the theater before Bloodshot began (preceded by about 25 minutes of trailers, of course), I realized that this could be the last movie I’d see in public for a while. Even before chain and independent theaters implemented social distancing measures, then closed entirely, major releases had been pushed back for months (at least), so we wouldn’t have been getting new movies for a while.

So if Bloodshot was the last new movie I’d see in theaters until maybe — maybe — the summer, did Vin Diesel send us into self-imposed isolation on a high note? Well, sort of.

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WISE Sports Radio spot: March 12, 2020

/ Ian Casselberry / Leave a comment

We usually do an NFL segment Thursdays on WISE Sports Radio. So that was the plan early in the day, but could we talk about anything other than the coronavirus and the affect that it’s had on sports (and the world at-large) over the past 48 hours?

Virtually every college basketball conference had canceled its postseason tournament, the NHL had just suspended its season, and Major League Baseball announced a delayed start before Pat Ryan, guest co-host Demp Bradford, and I started our segment. Less than an hour later, the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Tournament was canceled.

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The Way Back review at Awful Announcing

/ Ian Casselberry / Leave a comment

Releasing a basketball movie in March, when so much real drama and joy is on TV with college hoops, seemed kind of risky. But The Way Back isn’t entirely a basketball movie, which may surprise some viewers.

Sports movies — portraying sports in pop culture and media — fit solidly into Awful Announcing’s beat. So I reviewed the movie for the site. Here’s an excerpt:

Some viewers might prefer a more predictable, more conventional sports movie with an uplifting message. But director Gavin O’Connor and Ben Affleck know life isn’t that simple and a tidy resolution doesn’t often make for a good story. What feels more gratifying is that viewers can determine how this story ends. Maybe it goes exactly as you would’ve predicted. But maybe not. Being trusted as an audience to deal with the many possibilities at hand makes it worth seeing. This isn’t the movie you think it is.

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WISE Sports Radio NFL spot: March 5, 2020

/ Ian Casselberry / Leave a comment

Tom Brady’s pending free agency has taken the sports world hostage, so that was our main topic on Thursday’s WISE Sports Radio NFL segment! Could Brady really leave the New England Patriots and sign with another team, such as the San Francisco 49ers? Should Bill Belichick be doing more to make his star quarterback feel wanted?

Pat Ryan and I also discussed the Carolina Panthers’ head-scratching trade, Dak Prescott’s contract situation with the Dallas Cowboys, and which prospects surprised and disappointed at the NFL Scouting Combine.

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