Wizards at 2-0 and Jarhead

That's more like it! The Wizards beat the Knicks 86-75 at Madison Square Garden tonight. Now the Knicks, like the Toronto Raptors, aren't really supposed to do much this season, but I will happily take the win mainly because the Wizards had a terrible tendency of losing at the Garden. In fact last season, the Wizards ended their regular season with a loss in New York versus a Knicks team that had been assured of watching the playoffs from home a long time before that game. Plus, the whole world apparently wanted to see Larry Brown's debut at the Garden, so this meant a lot. (And yes there is a certain amount of sarcasm and smugness in that last sentence.)

I particularly liked the fact that the Wizarads got out to big lead (19 pts), gave up the lead (Knicks went up 1), but came back to win by 11. The Wizards of the past few years used to go up on teams early, only to lose it in the second half. So coming back from a bad third quarter to win, on the road (in New York), in a tough situation (Brown's home debut) definitely impresses me.

Alas, I didn't watch the game because I was watching Jarhead tonight.

My quick thoughts: First, it reminded me of Full Metal Jacket, especially the boot camp/drill instructor scenes. It is a pretty good movie, certainly better than the other two Persian Gulf War movies I spoke of earlier (Three Kings and Courage Under Fire), but I'll hold off on calling it great since I feel compelled to compare it to another Sam Mendes movie, American Beauty.

I think the acting is what his holding me back. Jamie Foxx did a better job than I expected as he didn't do a Denzel Washington impersonation for the entire movie. I've liked Jake Gyllenhaal ever since I saw him in The Good Girl, but I think he could have done better. For most of the movie his character was missing depth, there was just a monotony which I don't believe was intentional. Peter Sarsgaard did a good job. In fact Sarsgaard could very easily get on my "best young American actors" list, but he seems to have been typecast, at least in the roles I have seen him in. I get the feeling he is very much in real life like he is in his movie roles. Maybe he needs a starring role in a big movie, or a Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men role. (And, yes, I am probably in the minority in thinking Tom Cruise is, or at least was once, a good actor.)