The Raven

You've just lost your br.com Music Critic Positon...

I am glad you feel entitled to give that position out.

Sorry, much of modern pop sounds a lot like rap, and therefore, I do not like it! Is that a hard concept to grasp or something?

Lol. You know the difference between rap and pop. C'mon.

If only those two were on the soundtrack it can't be so bad! I love that early American music.

iTunes, here I come.

I dunno. Some of today's pop music sounds just as bad as rap music.

I thought Jay-Z and Andre 3000 were the only rappers on the soundtrack?

Rap, hip hop, pop, I don't know the difference. 

I haven't seen it yet but many of my friends all said it had numerous inconsistencies with the book that kind of killed it. For instance in the movie Nick is essentially an alcoholic but in the book he has only been drunk twice in his life, doesn't make a lot of sense there. Also at the end it shows Nick writing the book supposedly and signing it as the author which doesn't make sense since it should say "By: F.Scott Fitzgerald". Yet another problem reported by my compadres was that the characters accents didn't really fit. Just a few problems they had with it.

I just saw it today, and I have a few gripes.

I have no problem with the way the story is told, though it could have been executed way better. That aspect felt very forced. It is obviously told from Nick's perspective, but I believe he is telling the story after the Wall Street Crash, many years after the story takes place. I am assuming that the script has him becoming an alcoholic after the significant event at the end that I can not spoil. The reason they had him sign it as Nick Carraway is because Nick the character is a writer. Also, some believe that Fitzgerald based Carraway on himself. 

One thing I have an issue with is the excess of CGI. The first half hour of the movie is CGI heavy, and it is not visually appealing. The first bit of the movie was also pretty incoherent. It just jumped around and did not quite follow the book. Once Gatsby comes into the picture though, it follows the book pretty well. Another problem I have is the fact that they changed several of Fitzgerald's essential quotes. As a huge Fitzgerald fan, I was pissed with the way they killed so many of his key lines.

Many of the complaints I see with the movie regard the rap music and the "excessive" partying. The rap music worked for me, but sometimes it was far too loud and it detracted from the movie. As for the complaints of the excessive partying, that's a load of crap. Those people who say that either didn't read the book or they are just looking for something to complain about.

I'm starting to think that most of these film critics haven't actually read Gatsby. Half the reviews say it follows the book religiously and the other half say it doesn't. I also think it's kind of ironic how some of the reviews say things like, "All Sparkle, No Soul" and that it "emphasizes visual splendor at the expense of its source material's vibrant heart." The "All Sparkle, No Soul" concept is a theme explored in the book. Daisy Buchanan is just that: All sparkle and no soul.

I'm anxious to hear the soundtrack. I am starting to warm up to the idea, and I actually respect their though process in making it. They wanted to draw a parallel between the 20s and today. Fast music, fast dancing, big parties, etc... Some people tell me it works, and some people tell me it ruined the movie.

Anyone here (that read the book) have thoughts on the movie?

At tips in plateau busting, I've been in a huge slump lately, losing weight, not getting increases on my lifts, losing patience been missing sessions in the last couple weeks, almost back to the weight I started at in July again. Been a horrible couple months lol

Have you tried taking a de-load week? Sometimes your body reaches a point where it will start doing that kind of stuff to tell you it needs rest.

If you have tried a de-load week, then I recommend you switch up your routine a bit to shock your muscles. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

No Great Gatsby!?!?!

Who is this Gatsby?

The movie won't do it justice.  I can already tell by the trailer that it's going to veer a lot from Fitzgerald's novel.

Could you explain your reasoning? Just curious.

Never saw it, looks good though. I'm talking about the kid movies where he uses a crap load of make up and changes his accent to something ridiculous.

What's eating Gilbert Grape, Donnie Brasco & Blow are my favorite movies of him.

Might I suggest The Rum Diary? I really liked that one.

Depp is my favorite actor, but I can't say I liked Dark Shadows. Very eh.

Watching the Sherlock series from ( profanity deleted) on netflix. Pretty great show!

I'm disappointed that BAL only got 1 pick for him. Newsome could've milked SF for a little more.

If he could have, he would have. You know how Ozzie works!

I am wondering: Did Flacco's salary put even a bigger squeeze on signing vets like Boldin?

At $6.8 million cap hit? Nope!

so if he comes back from africa and god decides he should retire. and the draft is over with do we send the 6th round player to the 49ers. how would that work out?

We keep the 6th round pick. Simple as that.

This is why I hate player's agents.. Boldin says he had NO CLUE he was going to be traded. He said he was shocked to find out. Something tells me his agent played dirty with us and forced us to trade Boldin. If Boldin really had no clue and this was all his agent, then I feel really bad for him. His agent should have been in contact with him about the entire situation, and should have told him everything that was happening. I'm positive Boldin would have accepted the 2M pay cut with no issue but his agent was the one who made a big deal out of it.

http://profootballta...t-was-shocking/

My gut feeling says that Boldin is not that naive. If we heard rumblings of him being cut or traded, I feel like he would know too.

Why is everyone so surprised? I thought everyone realized Boldin might be gone this off-season? At least we got something for him. Yeah, sure, only a 6th round pick. That's what 31 year old and declining receivers are worth. I wish he could have stayed, but he wasn't worth the cap hit. We'll get by.

Trading Boldin? Better than cutting him, I must say.

There's no way in h3ll that Smith and Pitta are more important in the offense than Q!! If that was the case,

why does Joe go to Boldin almost every time when they need a clutch play. Rewind to the Chargers game when it

was 4th and 29 who sprung the final block to allow Rice to get the 1st down, it was Q! Heck, Smith said himself during that play he was standing there watching.

Smith is basically a down field threat. Q, can and has done both this season.

Why you would even think Pitta was more important than Q is beyond words.

Sorry, but we'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

Pitta and Torrey are more important than Q to the offense going forward.

People acting like out team is doomed if we let Boldin go is hilarious. I love him as a player and he is a great teammate and leader, but it's not the end of the world folks.

Honestly, the team will be in a better position to win in the long-term if they let him go because it allows us to sign other players that are not at the end of their careers. We have made the playoffs 5 straight years and there has been a lot of turnover. It's not like Boldin has been the driving force behind the team's success.

I get the sentimental attachment and the recency effect. We also saw Boldin ball out during the playoffs, but the fact is he makes way more than his value, and it's not like the Ravens are asking him to play for nothing. A 2M dollar paycut is exactly what Boldin should be making.

Quoted for truth

There are people behind them but they aren't as good. I want to give Streeter a shot, Thompson too, but there are no vet receivers on this team to guide them. Also we can always give them a shot but what if they don't work out? You'd be begging for Boldin back.

They'll never be as good as Boldin if they don't get a chance.

Ozzie and Harbs are the biggest advocates in the league of the "next man up" philosophy. We'll need to see Doss, Jones, and lil Q to step up. I'm going to try and have faith in Ozzie, but I'm skeptical of that group.

But you guys know as well as I do, every time Ozzie scares the crap out of us like this, he almost always makes up for it. We'll see how it goes, but for now I'll abide by our favorite mantra: In Ozzie We Trust.

Explain to me how its "fair" that Boldin should take a pay cut.

Enlighten me as well

It's not exactly fair, but it is a business.

Seriously, I like Boldin too, but you guys have gotta realize it's a business. Boldin is declining, and not worth a 7.5 million cap hit. Ellerbe, however, is young and improving. Simply put, Ellerbe is a better investment at this point, and Boldin is not. I don't see why that's such a hard concept to grasp.

If we keep Boldin, we lose young players. Simple as that. Do we lose future players for a guy who will be retired soon? Nope! Ozzie is always looking to the future and the fact is Q won't be around in three years, whether he's cut now or later. Ellerbe, Pitta, Dickson, and others could be here in three years. Boldin won't.

Ogletree/Minter/Te'o are all BETTER linebackers than Ellerbe.

Did you just say that three backers who have yet to play a down in the NFL are better than Ellerbe?

That is so precious.

Gonna be honest. Hate the thought of our WR corp not having Q!

Yeah, as much as I think Q will be cut, I really don't want him to. I have little faith in the guys behind him.

Do you know the reason we are having to release players at this point?

Please tell us all why, and i wont respond. I'll let everyone else do it.

AT THIS POINT, we are releasing players to make room for Ellerbe, Reed, and MAYBE McKinnie. Wow!!! I actually had to explain that to you? Funny!