New Years Break

Tweet For those of you wondering when the hell we will write something again, check back after the new year as we at Millennium will take some time off. Get ready for NBA, NFL, and more entertainment once we return

The Millennium NBA preview

Tweet With the NBA serving up an incredible Christmas day slate doubling as the opening day we at Millennium could not be more excited. So without further ado here are some of our thoughts on the upcoming season. I will lead off.

Daki:

The thing I am most glad about is the fact that the NBA will keep the momentum from last year's wonderful season going. Last year was the first time in a long time that both the regular and post seasons truly mattered. We had a star breaking out in Derick Rose, we had a true villain (Lebron and the heat), and we had some major surprises (Pacers, Grizzlies). Best of all, we had a group of guys who all won the ring that had eluded them for their entire careers (Kidd, Peja, Marion, Dirk, Terry, Mark Cuban). This year the only thing we know for sure is that Miami and Lebron are still very much the villains but we have no idea what teams will surprise us, what teams will emerge as contenders, or which player will emerge as the next star. Finding out these unknowns is what excites me the most about this season, along with an exciting Kings roster that should be fun to watch its really all I could ask for. Luka and Igor will cover most of the major story lines so I will explain my picks for MVP, the champion and rookie of the year awards. ROY: Brandon Knight (just a hunch). MVP: Kobe Bryant (I will wait for you to stop laughing). Phil Jackson has said numerous times that Kobe knows how to achieve and embrace being the perfect team mate, but chooses not to due to the pursuit of selfish accolades such as scoring titles. I firmly believe that Kobe is aware of his declining abilities and as much as he wants to pass Kareem on the all-time scoring list, I think he cares about winning just a bit more. This season the Lakers are a really popular pick to be a disaster and the only thing that will prevent that is if Kobe finally chooses to play the right way (making team mates better, passing to open team mates for game winners, rebounding, taking smarter shots). If he does decide to play the right way, look for a slew of stories around February about how Kobe "finally gets it" as well as a few "Kobe may not be the best player anymore, but you can argue he has been the most valuable" (I fully expect someone like Skip Bayless to do this). If Kobe instead chooses to keep doing things the way he always has we can safely assume that he desires to pass Kareem (in points) rather than Jordan (in titles). As for my title pick, I am taking Chicago over Memphis in 6.

MVP: Kobe Bryant
ROY: Brandon Knight
Champion: Bulls (with Rose winning Finals MVP)

Igor:

It doesn’t seem real that the NBA season is actually going to start soon since I pretty much convinced myself that it wasn’t going to happen. There are a few key things that I’m really looking forward to watching this coming season.

In the East the biggest story will be whether the Heat can “redeem” themselves from losing in the finals after everyone (including themselves) considered them the champions before the season started. One year of chemistry building between the big 3 (or 2.5) is crucial and I doubt that they will start the season off 9-8 like last year. The only problem is that they haven’t really added many pieces other than Battier, but he does not fix their lack of a center and point guard. Regardless they are still the favourites to come out on top of the East. The Knicks will be very fun to watch this year and could give the Heat some problems during the season. The additions of Chandler and Davis (once he heals) are important for their improvement from last year. As a Bulls fan, I’m interested in seeing how much Hamilton will help the team out and if Boozer can put together a solid year. Rose should maintain his great performance from his MVP year and with offensive help from Boozer and Hamilton, the Bulls look like a team that will go deep in the playoffs. After giving the Bulls a run for their money in the first round last year, Indiana should be the dark horse of the East especially after the addition of West. As crap as I think the Raptors will be this year, I will be closely watching Casey’s coaching and hoping to see some improvement on defense (already seen some glimpses of it during pre-season). Also keep an eye out for my friend Jan Vesely on the Wizards. Playing with John Wall will only be beneficial to his career.

The West is loaded with great teams and it will get very competitive down the stretch of the season. Here are a few questions to think about this season. Is there a new best team in L.A.? Will Rubio live up to the hype? Can Portland put it together after losing Roy? Will Memphis come out as a top 3 team in the West? Can the Mavs maintain their championship form? Most teams are interesting in the West, but my two favourite teams are the Warriors and the Thunder. Despite the Warriors’ struggles in the past few years, they are my favourite team to watch in all of sports due to their unpredictability and high pace. They can beat the best teams and lose to the worst teams on any given night. This is the year that Mark Jackson steps into the head coaching position and shows the league how to play “hand down man down” defense. Jokes aside I think he will be great for Ellis and Curry (since he was a great point guard during his career) who are probably the most talented backcourt in the NBA. If you’re bored at 10:30 any night you can’t go wrong with watching a Warriors game. With the addition of Perkins, improvement of Ibaka and Harden, and Durant and Westbrook entering their primes, this is the year of the Thunder. They have it all from lockdown defense to great offense and will be at the top of the NBA. Watch for them to storm through the West and win it all.

MVP: Durant                  

ROY: Kemba Walker

Finals: Bulls vs. Thunder

Winner: Thunder in 6 (Durant finals MVP)

Luka:

The NBA will finally make its long-awaited return tomorrow with 5 great games. During the lockout I always thought that the season would be cancelled since both sides seemed like they did not care about losing a season. It made me think that I would not care as much about the upcoming season. And yet, when the season was announced I immediately forgot about the whole lockout, and even stranger was the fact that I did not care. All I wanted to do was watch. It felt as if David Stern and Billy Hunter did their best men in black impression on me and the rest of the NBA's fans. And now with the opening less then 24 hours away there are a countless number of things in my head that I cant wait to see how they will play out.

Here are some of my thoughts/questions/things to look forward to about the upcoming NBA season (some of these are jokes).

The Dallas Mavericks trying to win back-to-back titles without their 2nd and 6th best players from last years run. The Heat being the only great team with seemingly no other teams at their level at this point. Hating the Miami Heat again. Watching Lebron's headband increase in size as the season progresses. People realizing that Shane Battier is old. Vince Carter and Tracy Mcgrady trying to out-suck each other in Dallas and Atlanta respectively (my money is on T-mac because I think he died 2 years ago). The Raptors being absolutely awful. Relictantly watching every Raptors game in the hope that they are not absolutely awful. My grades dropping because each team plays 66 games in 120 days!!! Kobe buying Vanessa a 4-million dollar ring for each women he cheated on her with. Kobe going bankrupt in 3 days. Baron Davis' rejuvination in New York. Brian "the custodian" Cardinal. Wondering how Calderon is making 10 million dollars this year. The Durant/Westbrook relationship. The Phil Jackson to the Knicks rumours that wont stop. Dwight Howard trade talks. The battle for L.A. The Indiana Pacers being a sneaky-good basketball team. Whether or not Memphis will be able to surprise people again (I think yes). Will anyone watch a Bobcats game? (Only if MJ suits up). Shaq recording a "tell me how my ass tastes" remix with Vanessa Bryant, Karl Malone, and Ruben Patterson. The Celtics relying on Keyon Dooling. Gregg Popovich ruining fantasy leagues everywhere by resting Parker, Duncan, and Manu more then people think he will. Lastly, seeing if this season can top last season.

Champion: Heat over Mavs in 6 

MVP: Carmelo Anthony

ROY: Kemba Walker

Throwback Thursdays #6

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In the words of LL Cool J, don't call it a comeback. After a long break (mostly due to exams but also some laziness on our part) since our last throwback thursday post, Jovan and I decided to once more choose 3 songs from the past and write our feelings about them. If you want to read the old ones, they can be found here, here, here, here, and here. Finally the photo is of the cast of Student Bodies, a YTV show that was and still is very entertaining to watch. Full episodes can be found on Youtube (my personal favourite is when the guys get their car stranded on an abandoned "haunted" road). If you have no idea what I'm talking about then I feel bad for your childhood.

Luka:

Bad Meets Evil - Scary Movies

The first single from the Detroit duo that had a hit with this year's Bad Meets Evil: Hell the Sequel. This song has that classic 90's rap feel with both of the Detroit emcees delivering clever and memorable lines. Eminem is at his nasally-best here with lines like "I'm sicker than a Tupac dedication to Biggie". I enjoyed their album that came out this year but one can only wonder how both their careers would have changed if they had remained as a group back in the day.

Craig David - Seven Days

I really like this song for reasons that are unclear to me. It might be the video where Craig decides to retell his story about a girl to his friends at the most stereotypical African-American hangout, the barbershop. Only things missing was some fried chicken and some kool-aid. Regardless of that the video has a cool plot with Craig getting multiple chances to get with the girl he wants (think Groundhog day). Craig's hair in the video is strange to say the least. It's a mix between an afro and spiky hair but the spikes are flat (see I wasn't lying, very confusing). The song itself is easy-listening and catchy with lyrics about what he's going to do with the girl on each day of the week. One more thing, does anyone else think the girl who breaks her high heel in the video is better than the girl Craig wants?

Kobe Bryant ft. Tyra Banks - K.O.B.E.

No you didn't read that wrong. This is a rap song by Kobe Bryant featuring Tyra Banks. I'll let that sink in for a bit. Why did Kobe do this? I'm not sure but it was in the era where every NBA player just assumed he could rap (see Allen Iverson and Shaq). Sadly, Kobe can't rap. Although it's still fun to listen to because even after hearing this song countless times, I am still not sure whether or not it's a joke. I thought this song was suitable for this week because of Kobe's current off-court issues. I'm still waiting on Kobe's press conference where he admits to cheating on his wife with 100+ women but that all of the sex was consensual (too soon?)

Jovan:

Good Charlotte - The Anthem

If you’ve seen American Pie 2, you know this song. The music in the American Pie franchise is amazing and I’m always relating songs from certain bands to those movies. The Anthem is one of few Good Charlotte songs that I actually like (another good song is Last Night, which is played in the trailer for American Reunion) and it always reminds me of American Pie. It’s a good feeling – a nostalgic feeling – and I look forward to hearing some more great songs on the American Reunion soundtrack.

Desire - Under Your Spell

Under Your Spell is a terrific song from the 80s that demonstrates the quality and great style of music in that decade. It’s one of three fantastic songs that are heard in the soundtrack for Drive (the others two are A Real Hero by College, featuring Electric Youth and Nightcall by Kavinsky). There aren’t any current songs that can match the style of this song, and it’s expected as music continues to evolve. But I can tell you that there also aren’t many songs that come even close to having the charm and appeal of the three songs from Drive. I’m glad Nicolas Winding Refn made Drive.I’m glad that I was exposed to such amazing music.

Eminem - Kill You

Even though this song is completely different from the above two I have mentioned, it is one of Eminem’s best songs released during the prime of his rap career. The lyrics are very vulgar (Eminem’s 2001 concert in Toronto was almost cancelled because of this song) and I wouldn’t blame any girl for not liking this Eminem song, but lyrically, it stands as one of his best. The first verse is spectacular and flows very well, with much emotion being shown from Eminem (he yells in his current songs more often than before,but listen to Kill You and tell me he’s not yelling – Dre hasn’t been mixing Eminem’s recent songs which may be a reason as to why he’s seems to be yelling more). Marshall Mathers LP is Eminem’s best album (and it was robbed at the Grammy’s), and Kill You is definitely worth checking out if you have the album on hand.

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Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Review

Tweet The first Mission: Impossible was an excellent film. It had good action, a well put together cast and was an entertaining flick. I haven’t seen the second Mission: Impossible in a long time, but I do remember it not being able to match up to its predecessor. Thankfully, the third installment revived the franchise, with a great performance from Philip Seymour Hoffman as the film’s villain, and great action throughout. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol builds on the action of the third film, has a stronger plot and adds Jeremy Renner to the cast. In the end, it comes out as the best Mission: Impossible film to date.

Tom Cruise returns as the film’s protagonist, but the movie is not as centered on his role and character as the past Mission: Impossible films have been. Ghost Protocol is about the Impossible Missions Force (IMF) team and with the addition of Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton and a greater role from Simon Pegg, the team performs admirably both in their individual roles and together, demonstrating great chemistry, especially between Cruise and Renner. Renner has typically played a bad-ass in all of his flims, making his shift to the action genre fairly simple. His performances in The Hurt Locker and The Town were both fantastic and were rewarded with Oscar nominations, and his impact is felt no less in Ghost Protocol than it was in either of those films. As he continues to develop and evolve as an actor, I am hoping Renner will continue getting deserving roles and offering his fans terrific performances. He will no doubt be able to successfully adapt to the Bourne franchise in next year’s The Bourne Legacy.

Tom Cruise is back to his usual self in this installment of the Mission: Impossible franchise, as the action star we all know him to be. His performance is entertaining and Ethan Hunt is his most beloved character (although I really enjoyed him as Roy Miller in Knight and Day, in which he delivered a comedic action-packed performance – he’s the guy). Cruise and Renner have great chemistry and are a joy to watch together on the big screen. As for the other two IMF team members, Paula Patton plays her role very well as an ass-kicking agent and Simon Pegg is excellent as the film’s comic relief. Unlike the jokes in Transformers, the ones in Ghost Protocol don’t go too far and are well balanced.

Brad Bird has done a spectacular job with the film. His only other three directed films are all animated (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille), and he makes the switch to live action commendably with Ghost Protocol. The action sequences are filmed perfectly (by the way, Tom Cruise performed the stunt sequence outside the Burj Khalifa himself) and I hope he stays on as the next film’s director.

Ghost Protocol is also scored very well, and the music is fantastic. From Dean Martin to Michael Giacchino’s orchestrated pieces (Giacchino has been pretty spectacular in recent years), the music and sound in the film adds depth and allows for a greater experience and enjoyment of the film.

You know what you’re going to get when you go watch a Mission: Impossible film. Some scenes are difficult to believe (in the first film, Ethan Hunt gets chased by a helicopter in a tunnel while outside on a moving train), but you shouldn’t be expecting 100% realism with these films. Go and enjoy the ride. It’s an exciting and thrilling film, with excellent action scenes that will leave you on the edge of your seat. I look forward to a continuation in the franchise, with more unbelievably ridiculous stunt sequences from Tom Cruise. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is one of the best films of the year (and it is the best action film of the year), and I urge you to go see it. It’s also a bonus if you’ve been able to catch it in IMAX and witness the opening scene from The Dark Knight Rises.

Score: 8.5/10