Capable Lightning Hope to Survive Early Tests

 

By Mark Pukalo

     It’s been a while since the Tampa Bay Lightning have faced this many challenges going into a new season.

      The last few campaigns, in particular, the Bolts cruised into the season with loads of talent just hoping six months would go by without any major injuries. It was just a matter of getting to the playoffs and finding the magic again.

      When they open against the New York Rangers on Tuesday night, Tampa Bay will encounter several more obstacles it must hurdle, and a much-improved division to battle for playoff position.

     *The Lightning will be without their best checking center and top penalty killer Anthony Cirelli until December as he recovers from injury.

     *They also had to let free agent left wing Ondrej Palat (New Jersey) go and trade dependable top-four defenseman Ryan McDonagh (Nashville) for salary cap reasons after the season.

     *They have to deal with the fatigue of three straight long postseasons.

     *Seven of nine games in October are on the road and November's schedule is no cakewalk either.

     *The bottom of the Atlantic Division - Detroit, Ottawa, Buffalo and Montreal - is much better. The Senators and Red Wings, in my opinion, could fight for a playoff spot in April. 

     *They must deal with the major distraction - at the very least - caused by the suspension of veteran third-pair defenseman Ian Cole on Sunday due to sexual abuse accusations.

      The goal for the Lightning will be to find a way to be in the top four mix in the Atlantic Division around Christmas and have the ability to move forward from there. Coach Jon Cooper and staff will be tested.

      It will not be easy. They will need their stars to carry them at times. Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy. No one has a better top five than that, but can they continue to get contributions from the supporting players to win consistently? We will see.

      Vladislav Namestnikov’s return as a free agent should help the top nine forwards after his strong preseason. Vladdy has always produced when playing with top players, but waned when running his own line. If he plays with Stamkos and/or Kucherov will he play the same as he does centering Cole Koepke and Ross Colton? The Bolts may need him to.

      One of the big keys to the first few months of the season is special teams. 

     The power play has to be productive. The Bolts need to be in the top five or six in the league with the talent they have with the extra man, but they tend to go through slumps. Overpassing is one of the things that causes that, but with Stamkos, Kucherov, Hedman, Point and either Alex Killorn or Corey Perry on the top unit they should punish teams. 

     Tampa Bay’s penalty killing must also deal with the absence of Cirelli, but Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Killorn, Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul are capable. Koepke and Namestnikov may also get some shifts on the kill. Of course, they have the best penalty killer in the league in Vasilevskiy as well.

     It appears Koepke has won the 12th forward spot while Gabriel Fortier is No. 13 for now. Getting Alex Barre-Boulet through waivers also buys them time to bring him up and down if they want a little more offense.

      As great as he is, I don’t expect another 100-point season from Stamkos, but the Lightning hope to get full and healthy campaigns from Kucherov and Point. Paul and Hagel can also contribute more while Colton showed in 2021-22 he can score 20-plus goals.

      The offense should be there.

      The defense has plenty of question marks. Hedman, Erik Cernak and Mikhail Sergachev give the Bolts a strong base and Cal Foote continues to improve. Veteran Zach Bogosian might be healthy in November, but the veteran is injury plagued.

     Phillipe Myers has looked very good in camp and the hope is that he can reach his potential and, along with Foote, make it difficult for Bogosian to be more than a No. 7 D man.

     But the situation with Cole on the left side of the third pair is to be determined. My prediction after sleeping on the issue is that he never plays a regular season game for the Bolts.

     An anonymous young woman posted on twitter Sunday about Cole’s actions when she was an underage high school girl several years ago, pressuring her into sexual relations among other horrid accusations. There have been other things that have come out about Cole recently, including an affair with an engaged woman in Carolina - apparently the team’s TV sideline reporter.

      I can’t imagine that the Lightning just looked past the dirt on Cole to sign him for one year and $3 million. It likely wasn’t there without an incredibly deep and thorough investigation that teams just don’t do to sign a veteran for one season. Teams would not go back and interview people at Notre Dame, all his teammates in St. Louis and Pittsburgh. It just doesn’t happen. He had been in the league for a dozen years.

     The Bolts released a statement late Sunday: “The Tampa Bay Lightning is aware of the allegations against player Ian Cole and are cooperating fully with the NHL on an investigation. Our organization takes these allegations very seriously. While we continue to gather more details, we have decided to suspend Ian Cole pending the results of an investigation. No members of the organization, including players, will comment further at this time.”

     That all being said, unless there are lots of reasons to seriously doubt a woman’s allegations like there were in spades with Tara Reade and President Biden, I tend to believe someone would not go to this length to lie about a hockey player. I’m betting there is some truth to the allegations. Let’s hope the NHL finds the players Cole allegedly bragged to about having sex with the underage woman and the other player she talked to. 

     Like many have said on twitter, I don’t really want this guy on my team now. But, to be honest, I continued rooting for the Buccaneers after they signed Antonio Brown. So let’s see what happens.

     The one thing I’m not worried about is losing Cole. Haydn Fleury can get the job done for now and Sean Day has also played well enough in Syracuse to get a look on the left side. The cap space I assume the Bolts would get back for terminating Cole’s contract would also give them the ability to shop. One question is, do Myers, Bogosian or Nick Perbix have the experience to play on the left side as right shots?

      The Lightning most certainly did the right thing by suspending Cole. They need to concentrate on the season at hand. But it’s a headache they did not anticipate with a very difficult early schedule and a huge challenge this fall.

      It sure is nice to have two Stanley Cups and three straight trips to the finals in the rearview mirror. That, along with five healthy superstars on the roster, should help Bolts fans ease into this season.

     The best thing about it all? We get to watch a lot of good hockey in the next six-plus months.

     Drop the puck!

    2022-2023 Picks

    EAST

    Atlantic - 1. Florida; 2. Tampa Bay; 3. Toronto; 4. Ottawa; 5. Boston; 6. Detroit; 7. Montreal; 8. Buffalo

    Central - 1. NY Rangers; 2. Carolina; 3. Pittsburgh; 4. Columbus; 5. Washington; 6. New Jersey; 7. Philadelphia; 8. NY Islanders

     WEST

     Midwest - 1. Colorado; 2. Nashville; 3. St. Louis; 4. Minnesota; 5. Dallas; 6. Winnipeg; 7. Chicago; 8. Arizona

     Pacific - 1. Calgary; 2. Edmonton; 3. Los Angeles; 4. Seattle; 5. Vancouver; 6. Vegas; 7. Anaheim; 8. San Jose

      So, Boston and Dallas out while Columbus and Seattle make it in

      Playoffs - Florida over Wash; TB over Toronto; NY Rangers over CLB; Pittsburgh over Carolina

                       Fla/TB and NYR-Pitt

                       Cal over Minn; Edm over LA; Colo over Sea; STL over Nash

                       Cal-Edm and Col-STL

    

A New Journey Begins for the Lightning

 

By Mark Pukalo

       How about three Cups in four years?

       That quest began Thursday as the Tampa Bay Lightning opened training camp with a few more questions to answer than the previous few seasons.

       The Bolts fell two wins short of a third straight Stanley Cup last summer as the Colorado Avalanche finally reached their potential and turned aside a game, but injury-depleted team. Some of those injuries will linger into the 2022-23 campaign and make the early season more difficult and important.

       Here are the things to look for during training camp before Tampa Bay meets the New York Rangers in the first game that counts on Oct. 11.

       Center Anthony Cirelli and defenseman Zach Bogosian will start the season on the injured list, creating a pair of holes to fill and Lightning stalwart left wing Ondrej Palat has moved on to the New Jersey Devils as a free agent. Ultra-dependable veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh was also traded to Nashville for salary cap reasons and serviceable rearguard - and often-Victor Hedman partner - Jan Rutta is now in Pittsburgh.

       If coach Jon Cooper keeps Corey Perry, Pierre-Eduard Bellemare and Pat Maroon together on the fourth line, that leaves eight proven forwards in the top nine. With no other signings aside from old friend Vladislav Namestnikov and no PTOs in camp, there will be a battle for the final one or likely two spots up front. 

       Skillful Alex Barre-Boulet should have the inside track, not only because he would have to get through waivers, but he won’t be given the position. Gabriel Fortier did not embarrass himself in his short stint in Tampa Bay last season and Cole Koepke is coming off a very good season on both sides of the ice in the minors. Veteran Gemel Smith is also still around and 25-year-old Swede Simon Ryfors started to come on at the end of last season. Free agent-signee Felix Robert may get a look, too.

      Cooper must decide what to do with the top three lines as well. Brayden Point will likely slide into one of the center spots, but Steven Stamkos, Nick Paul, Ross Colton and Namestnikov can also play in the pivot. Stamkos seemed to prosper when he was put back in the middle last season, so you wonder if he stays there to start. Perhaps we may look at Paul-Point-Nikita Kucherov, followed by Alex-Killorn-Stamkos-Namestnikov and Brandon Hagel-Colton-Barre-Boulet/Koepke. There are so many ways Cooper and his staff can go.

        We won’t get a true picture on Mikhail Sergachev moving up a spot with McDonagh gone on the left side of the defense until midway through the season, but the young Russian won’t be playing a much different role. He’s already used to playing a lot of minutes. The question is always with him, can he limit mistakes? Veteran Ian Cole was signed for a year to take the stay-at-home defense role on the left side and former first round pick Haydn Fleury will likely be the seventh defenseman, being able to play both sides. Fleury is intriguing and signed for two years at a very low rate.

       The right side presents the most question marks. Who plays with Hedman? The answer, probably, is everyone, but all of the three top candidates will probably get a look in preseason. Erik Cernak, McDonagh’s long-time partner, could be the boring choice. But Cernak seems like he would be a perfect compliment to Sergachev instead. Cal Foote, who has also played with Sergachev a lot, could get the first look with the big Swede. Foote was very good in the first 13 contests of the postseason, but once the Bolts fell behind 2-0 against the Rangers in the third round Cooper decided to shuffle things while turning to veterans Bogosian and Rutta. Both raised their level of play considerably as Tampa Bay won the next four games.

       Then there is probably the most interesting player to watch in preseason - righty defenseman Philippe Myers. The 6-foot-5, 195-pound, 25-year-old had a really good season with Philadelphia in 2019-20 (16 points, plus-17 in 50 regular-season games, three goals in 16 playoff tilts), but injuries and inconsistent performances since have slowed his progress. The Lightning believe his upside is so high they extended his contract through 2023-24 after he came over in the McDonagh deal. We will see.

       Righty Darren Raddysh and lefty Sean Day are also capable, but another thing to watch in preseason is how Nick Perbix and 20-year-old Jack Thompson perform on the right side. Lefty Declan Carlile might also earn a look on defense.

     It will be quite interesting how it all shakes out. With four of the first five games on the road, no Cirelli and Bogosian, and a Western trip also slated for October, the Bolts will have to be ready fast. But, they have Andrei Vasilevskiy in net. Does that not make you feel better?

Drop the puck!

       

Top Album Closers of All Time

 

Mark Pukalo

The latest project was a difficult one. So many worthy songs and not enough spots in the top 20.  Here's the best that I could do, taking into consideration both how good the song is and how it works as the final song on an album.

Top Album Closers of All Time

1. Jungleland - Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen: Easy choice here as Clarence Clemons' amazing saxophone solo highlights the brilliant piece of music.

2. Wake Up Time - Wildflowers - Tom Petty: Just watched the documentary on the "Wildflowers" album and this song just fits like a glove at the end of it.

3. Working Man - Rush - Rush: The Canadian trio's first album ends with this classic, which debuted on Cleveland radio in the states.

4. A Day in the Life - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Band - The Beatles: I had it at No. 21 in the Fab Four's best songs of all time, but it is the best as an album closer.

5. You Can't Always Get What You Want - Let it Bleed - The Rolling Stones: Works perfect at the beginning of "The Big Chill" and at the end of this album.

6. When the Levee Breaks - Led Zeppelin IV - Led Zeppelin: Not a huge Zep fan, but this song just takes you on a rock journey.

7. The Last Resort - Hotel California - The Eagles: Don Henley said, "The gist of the song was that when we find something good, we destroy it by our presence - by the very fact that man is the only animal on earth that is capable of destroying his environment."

8. Redemption Song - Uprising - Bob Marley: Bob wrote this masterpiece after he was diagnosed with cancer, which eventually took his life.

9. Child of Vision - Breakfast in America - Supertramp: The seven-plus minute song, with great instrumentation, ends the 1980 No. 1 album that spawned several hits beautifully.

10. Moving in Stereo/All Mixed Up - The Cars - The Cars: These two songs belonged together because one just organically leads into the other in the super group's debut album, although Phoebe Cates only moves in stereo.

11. Train in Vain - London Calling - The Clash

12. Goodnight California - Asking for Flowers - Kathleen Edwards

13. Stay - Running on Empty - Jackson Browne

14. You See Me Crying - Toys in the Attic - Aerosmith

15. Purple Rain - Purple Rain - Prince

16. Better Be Home Soon - Temple of Low Men - Crowded House

17. My City of Ruins - The Rising - Bruce Springsteen

18. Won't Get Fooled Again - Who's Next - The Who

19. All You Need is Love - Magical Mystery Tour - The Beatles

20. Watching the Detectives - My Aim is True - Elvis Costello

Others Considered

Champagne Supernova - (What's the Story) Morning Glory - Oasis

Gold Dust Woman - Rumours - Fleetwood Mac

I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will be Forever) - Talking Book - Stevie Wonder

(What's So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding - Armed Forces - Elvis Costello

American Girl - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman - Carole King - Tapestry

Miami 2017 - Turnstiles - Billy Joel

It's Not Safe - I'm With Stupid - Aimee Mann

Riders on the Storm - LA Woman - The Doors

I Am a River - Sonic Highways - Foo Fighters

Under Pressure - Hot Space - Queen with David Bowie

The Show Must Go On - Innuendo - Queen

Heartbeat City - Heartbeat City - The Cars

Caroline No - Pet Sounds - Beach Boys

All I Want is You - Rattle and Hum - U2

Fight the Power - Fear of the Black Planet - Public Enemy

All Apologies - In Utero - Nirvana

Easy - Juvenalia - Liz Phair

Eclipse - Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd

Find a River - Automatic for the People - REM

For Everyman - For Everyman - Jackson Browne

The Best of My Love - On the Border - The Eagles

Kyle from Connecticut - Way to Normal - Ben Folds

Forgive Me - On a Clear Night - Missy Higgins

Red Flag Diver - Charmer - Aimee Mann

Friends, Lovers and Nothing - Battle Studies - John Mayer

Lightning Come Up Two Wins Short of History

By Mark Pukalo

     

       You wanted it to last forever, but the Tampa Bay Lightning’s magical ride had to end at some point.

       The Bolts looked like they had faced the ultimate stop sign a few times in the first three rounds of the 2021-22 playoffs, but they blew right through them all. A rare third straight championship run seemed almost destined at times.

       Finally, Tampa Bay met a team that might have been a smidgen better, luckier, faster and seemingly much healthier in the Stanley Cup finals. It was the Colorado Avalanche’s time and they took advantage of the opportunity.

     If someone had told Lightning fans they would allow two goals in the first 60 minutes of three home games in the finals and battle the Avs to two one-goal games in Denver, there would be no hesitation. They’d take that. But the Bolts could not steal Game 1 and failed to manage three goals in Game 4 or 6 at Amalie Arena. That just wasn’t good enough.

      Oh, there were some bad calls and Brayden Point was not available while many other Tampa Bay players were banged up pretty bad. But no excuses. Colorado deserved most of its breaks. The Avs also won the special teams battle decisively, which was a major factor.

  

       That doesn’t take anything away from the efforts of the Lightning, from the owner, to the GM, the coaches, the trainers and the warriors in uniform. They were just a few plays from making history with a third straight Cup - a feat that has not been accomplished since the mid 1980s. They faced four teams that won at least 52 games in the regular season and beat three. They did not have home-ice advantage in any series. But they kept moving forward.

       It was often the Tampa Bay Find-A-Ways in the regular season as they battled through injuries and eager opponents to accumulate another 100-point campaign.

       Three times they followed a loss with a win to dispatch the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round after a brilliant effort defensively in Game 7. 

      Ross Colton drilled home a nifty pass from Nikita Kucherov in the final seconds to win Game 2 at Florida and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 49 shots to finish the sweep of the hated Panthers two contests later in the second round.

       The Lightning looked dead and beaten after two rough performances at Madison Square Garden, but roared back to win the next four over the upstart New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference finals.

        The Bolts just kept giving this season. Thrills after thrills. But they were not playing Dallas or Montreal in the finals this season. Their bag of tricks did not have enough left to stop Colorado’s stunning 16-4 postseason run this time.

       But, man, what a season of highs for Tampa Bay.

       **Captain Steven Stamkos put up a career-high 106 points.

       **Defenseman Victor Hedman reached 20 goals for the first time in his career and was top three in the Norris Trophy voting for the sixth straight season.

        **Kucherov had 69 points in 47 games.

        **Alex Killorn had a career-high 59 points, but ran out of gas in the playoffs going without a goal.

        **Ondrej Palat scored his most goals since 2013-14 in the regular season (18) and a team-high tying 11 more in the postseason, including seven in third periods and three gamewinners.

        **Ageless Corey Perry signed for $1 million and scored 19 goals (six more in the playoffs), tying his most since 2015-16.

        **Colton followed up his surprising rookie season with 22 goals in 2021-22.

        **Pat Maroon scored 11 goals - his most since logging 14 with Edmonton in 2017-18.

        **Jan Rutta was a career-best +25.

        **Nick Paul quickly became a fan favorite after being acquired from Ottawa for Mathieu Joseph, sealing that with two goals in Game 7 against Toronto.

        **Fourth-line center Pierre-Edouard Bellemare was a career-best +24 and tied his best with nine goals.

        **Vasilevskiy reached at least 30 wins for the fifth straight season (39) and had a .922 save percentage in the playoffs despite giving up seven in Game 2 of the finals.

        **Backup goalie Brian Elliott was 11-4-3 and had his best save percentage (.912) since 2015-16 with St. Louis.

        In some ways, it was a more remarkable season than the two Cup runs, and there’s no reason they are done creating great memories.

      

Julien Brisebois, up for GM of the year, has given the Lightning a chance to be a contender for years with smart moves. He has given up a lot of high picks in the draft to get that done, but Scouting Director Al Murray and his staff are so good at picking in the middle and late rounds some of the overpays are excusable. 

        We will see what happens this offseason.

       

The Bolts should probably let Rutta go, even though he played above expectations a lot, with a viable and cheaper top six option in Cal Foote ready to take his place. Foote made strides this season, but coach Jon Cooper went with the veterans midstream and Rutta, along with Zach Bogosian, raised their games in the Eastern finals.

        The rest of the defense may stay the same unless JB decides to see what some teams in the Western Conference may offer for Mikhail Sergachev. The young defenseman played much better later in the playoffs, but drives you crazy at times. You wonder at the end of his current contract after next season if he is worth a long-term deal at $6-7 million. He certainly has the ability. It shines through at times. But it’s not a crime to see what Los Angeles, Anaheim, Dallas and others in the West might offer - a first, a second and one or two prospects that are ready in a bigger deal? 

     

       It would be interesting what the brass thinks of Sergy’s play overall. The inconsistency has to worry them. But, then again, his ceiling is very very high as well.

       Nick Perbix, who began is pro career in Syracuse late last season, is a right-handed offensive defenseman who could help soon. That may factor in as well.

       Up front, everything will hinge on Palat. Someone will probably offer him approximately five years at about $6 million - perhaps even more. Not sure the Lightning can offer more than 4-4.5 for three years. Does he want the big money or Tampa?

       Paul helped in the process by signing for seven years at a reasonable $3.15 million cap hit Friday and it has been rumored that the Bolts have talked to veteran defenseman Ryan McDonagh about waiving his no trade clause to free up another $6,75 mil in cap space. That deal would make Sergachev a definite keeper as a second pair lefty d man. Perhaps someone would take Killorn for the final year of his deal to create even more room with Point's cap hit going up $2.75 mil. 

       JB said Tuesday he has already spoken to Palat and Rutta's agents. The quicker decisions can be made, the better.

      The draft is next week and the Bolts have a late first-round pick. Most likely, the best player available is gonna be the selection. But a lefty defenseman and a scoring winger seem to be needs going forward. Looking forward to seeing defenseman Jack Thompson and center Jack Finley at Syracuse next season.

       It’s only been a few days, but I already miss hockey. Three in a row did not work for the Bolts. But three of four would be pretty darn good, too.

       Never count them out. The Lightning are here to stay. As the captain said, “Who says we’re done?”

       No one.

Defense the Key to Unlocking a Three-Peat

 

By Mark Pukalo

The Tampa Bay Lightning have the formula. It's proven.

The question that they must answer in the next two weeks is if that magical recipe can work against another speedy, talented, prolific offensive team.

It took the Bolts a little time to slow down the second-highest scoring team in the league and the NHL's top power play during the first round - giving up one goal over nearly the final 100 minutes of the series to dispatch Toronto.

Tampa Bay then allowed three goals combined in a four-game sweep of the Florida Panthers, the Presidents' Trophy winners and the top scoring team during the regular season (4.11).

The Lightning lost the first two games of the Eastern Conference finals before limiting the New York Rangers to one even-strength goal in the final four to become the first team since the mid 1980s to reach three straight Stanley Cup finals.

Three very good offensive teams down. One to go. While winning the first title in the Bubble was very difficult and winning two in a row was a quite a feat, this road will be the most impressive if they can complete the journey.

The Colorado Avalanche had failed as the Western Conference favorite the previous two years, but they have finally reached the final and they are deeper and more experienced. 

Center Nathan MacKinnon is one of the league's best players and young Cale Makar is right on the heels of the Bolts' Victor Hedman among the NHL's best defensemen. Forwards Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog put up big numbers offensively every year and center Nazem Kadri is having a great season, but his status is up in the air due to an upper-body injury.

The Bolts must do the same thing they did once control of the last three series was seized. They limited the bad turnovers which fed the high-octane offenses, they kept the puck to the outside as much as possible and won board battles to make the opposing top players play defense.

Let the world's best goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy win you another championship without making 40 saves each contest. That's the ticket. The Avalanche are averaging 40.7 shots per game in the playoffs and a league-best 4.64 goals. Colorado's power play was seventh in the regular season at 24 percent. 

But the Lightning can score with them, especially because the advantage in goal is the biggest in the series. Darcy Kuemper is a solid netminder and Pavel Francouz did just fine when he was hurt against Edmonton in the Western final. They still can't rival the Big Cat.

The Avs challenge will be even tougher if Brayden Point can return from a lower-body injury, which kept him out of the last two series. Tampa Bay will score goals. But they must have the puck more, as they did against the Rangers once they took over. That will be the key. It can't be an up and down game with odd-man rushes.

Coach Jon Cooper was asked all year about the loss of the Bolts' pesky third line - Barclay Goodrow, Yanni Gourde and Blake Coleman. He may have found one in the last series as Anthony Cirelli, flanked by Brandon Hagel and Alex Killorn, were fantastic defensively. Honestly, their best defense was their forecheck. They kept the puck away from New York's best players. Can they do it again against MacKinnon?

Everyone has stepped up for the Lightning. Captain Steven Stamkos has nine goals, Nikita Kucherov leads the team in points, Ondrej Palat has done a little of everything, Nick Paul has had some monster shifts and others have done their thing up front. Victor Hedman did not play well against Florida, but was big in the other two series, Eric Cernak might have been the best defenseman in the first three rounds, Ryan McDonagh keeps doing Ryan McDonagh things and Mikhail Sergachev saved his best two contests for last two.

There's no reason it can't continue. It may just come down to whether this is Colorado's time. The top players may just cancel each other out. It might be decided by production from the supporting players. If Point is re-introduced to the lineup, you wonder whether he goes back with Kucherov and Palat or joins Paul and Colton while Corey Perry returns to the fourth unit.

Cooper has had the right answers for three seasons. Does he have a few more for Colorado?

My thought is this. If the Lightning can get one of the first two games in Denver, the Findaways will get it done somehow, some way. I don't think they can dig themselves out of a 2-0 hole again. But you can doubt this group of players at your peril. Whatever happens, they are a special group.

The first three rounds were nerve-wracking for me, even after winning two Cups. Did not want the run to end against any of those teams. I think I can sit and enjoy this series. Two fantastic teams, incredible skill and history on the line.

Enjoy, hockey world. This might be the most entertaining series in a long time.

Same Gameplan for Bolts in Sunshine State Showdown

 

By Mark Pukalo

Different team, same major key to victory.

Listen, it might seem simple to say "limit the turnovers" and you have a chance to move into the Eastern Conference finals, but it really is that easy to analyze for the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

The Florida Panthers are a lot like the Toronto Maple Leafs, with a lethal offense that is unrelenting and speedy on the counter. The Cats will create plenty of chances, but if you feed them more with sloppy play in the neutral zone and over commit in the offensive end, you will go hungry on the way to the golf course.

When you are playing Columbus, the New York Islanders and last year's version of Montreal, turnovers are not quite as deadly. Toronto, Florida and perhaps Colorado along with the others in the West, are different animals. 

The Lightning can get at the Florida defense when the second-round series begins Tuesday night. They just have to be patient and avoid the East-West play that creeps into their game at times. Goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy cannot save them all the time. But if you give him a chance to win the series like the Bolts did in Game 6 and 7 against Toronto, he will.

My key players in the series? Mikhail Sergachev (yes, again) and Anthony Cirelli. 

Special teams will be important, Clean exits from the zone are essential and the Lightning need Brayden Point (lower body) to heal fast. I would start the series with seven defensemen in Game 1. Riley Nash adds nothing. If the Syracuse Crunch loses Tuesday, they can have Alex Barre-Boulet, Gemel Smith, Remi Elie or others to plug in for Point.

Tampa Bay has two games in Sunrise to try and get the home ice advantage on its side. Let's hope they have recovered from a long, tough series. I'm not sure I have, yet. But, I have the Bolts in 6 and a date with New York Rangers in the conference finals. Colorado and Edmonton are my picks in the West.

Enjoy. Would not be surprised if we get three or four more seven-game series.

Recap of first round keys

1. Give up the same amount or fewer quality chances as the Leafs surrender. If you do that, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy will outplay Jack Campbell and win the series. If the Bolts get sloppy in their own end and give up too many prime chances, the Leafs will make them pay-  no matter who is in net.

PARTIAL PASS - It was close enough in Game 7, although they gave up too many quality chances overall.

2. Win the special teams battle. Both squads have tremendous talent on the power play. The Bolts need to be able to kill off the key chances and capitalize when they get opportunities - especially early and late in the game.

PASS. Lightning were 7 for 33 with the extra man despite that nightmare in Game 1, and the Leafs were just 4 for 28. The penalty killing was great. I guess they did not need Mathieu Joseph afterall.

3. Mikhail Sergachev must be at his best in this series. The talented Russian can be a major factor at both ends of the ice, but he has to make smart plays in all three zones. 

FAIL. Sergachev was just -2 in the series, but he was a turnover machine. Give Sergy credit, though. Game 7 was by far his best effort.

4. Know where Matthews is at all times. Make Mitch Marner and Michael Bunting beat you if they can.

PASS IN WINS. Matthews had nine points and 29 shots. But, #34 had 15 shots in the three Leaf wins and 14 in the four Lightning victories. Sometimes math tells a story.

5. It would be great if Brayden Point becomes a thorn in Toronto's side, especially if Steven Stamkos remains between Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov. The Bolts can't just depend on Stammer, Kooch and Victor Hedman, Everyone must contribute and a pesky, healthy Pointer can get things done with anyone/

PASS. Point was one of the Bolts' best forwards in the series before his injury, despite a -6 rating. He had two goals, including the Game 6 OT winner, and two assists.

6. Start games fast. 

MOSTLY PASS. Except for Game 1, they did pretty good with this. They did not sustain most games, though. They need a nice clean, solid start in games versus the Panthers.

It's Simple for the Bolts: Let Vasilevskiy Win you the Series

 

By Mark Pukalo

Did not have time to put together a long blog on the start of another playoff run for the Tampa Bay Lightning, but decided to throw a few thoughts out there that won't fit in one tweet.

The first series against the Toronto Maple Leafs could go many ways. 

*The Lightning may revert to playoff form of the past two seasons while frustrating and shutting down the dangerous Leaves' offense. 

*It also may be Toronto's time to scare away all the ghosts of the past with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly showing their best side. 

*The Bolts could fall victim to the weight and mental fatigue of a lot of hockey over the past 2 1/2 years. They will need to match the hunger of their opponent.

*Toronto could wilt under the pressure of their fan base if they lose the first and/or second game of the series.

The keys to a move to the second round?

**Give up the same amount or fewer quality chances as the Leafs surrender. If you do that, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy will outplay Jack Campbell and win the series. If the Bolts get sloppy in their own end and give up too many prime chances, the Leafs will make them pay no matter who is in net.

**Win the special teams battle. Both squads have tremendous talent on the power play. The Bolts need to be able to kill off the key chances and capitalize when they get opportunities - especially early and late in the game.

**Mikhail Sergachev must be at his best in this series. The talented Russian can be a major factor at both ends of the ice, but he has to make smart plays in all three zones. 

**Know where Matthews is at all times. Make Marner and Bunting beat you if they can.

**It would be great if Brayden Point becomes a thorn in Toronto's side, especially if Steven Stamkos remains between Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov. The Bolts can't just depend on Stammer, Kooch and Victor Hedman, Everyone must contribute and a pesky, healthy Pointer can get things done with anyone/

**Start games fast. While Toronto is not a shut down team with a lead, you really don't want to be chasing them because the tendency is to open up too much. They will love that. Sure, the Lightning can score with them, but chances back and forth is not a good recipe for success.

Simple, maybe. But I expect the Lightning to get the job done as long as they limit the bad turnovers.

East

Bruins over Canes

Rangers over Pens

Bolts over Leaves

Caps over Panthers

I will take a Rangers-Lightning conference final. But anything can happen

West

Avs over Preds

Wild over Blues

Flames over Stars

Oilers over Kings

I will take the Avs over the Oilers in the conference final. I dunno, one of these years Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are going to take Edmonton somewhere. Why not in 2022?

Enjoy playoff hockey!!

Best of 2021 Is A Sign of the Times

 

By Mark Pukalo

So, what was the best movie of 2021?

It honestly depends on what day it is, what your mood is and what you are open to seeing. There was a little bit of everything in the surprisingly-good 10-month Oscar year, with about a dozen really great films and more than 60 I can recommend fully out of 262 viewed so far.

Five films stuck out to me as worthy of the top spot on my list. I saw only two of them in the theater, while four were No. 1 at different times during the year on my rough draft list. 

"Shiva Baby" was the first I saw and it made me laugh, think and cringe a little for poor Danielle. I walked out of the theater after seeing "Belfast" and thought I had watched a near masterpiece in an efficient hour and a half. I had high expectations for "Licorice Pizza" and it lived up to them (especially on second viewing). I have watched the cheeky "Don't Look Up" probably 20 times on netflix and I'll do it many more. "CODA" is a wonderful movie that made me cry happy tears at it's tremendous conclusion.

What to do? Five-way tie? Nah. I eliminated Licorice Pizza and Shiva Baby from the equation first. Had to narrow it down. I hoped Belfast would win the Oscar ahead of the over-rated "The Power of the Dog" or "West Side Story," but it had to settle for No. 3 on this razor-thin close list. So, that leaves two.

I thought I was going to go with "Don't Look Up," to spite many of the critics who did not love it. It's not funny? It's smart and hilarious at times! I mean, Meryl Streep, Leonardo, JenLaw, Jonah Hill, Tim Chalamet , Tyler Perry, Cate Blanchett, Mark Rylance and others?

But, in the end, I had to go with CODA. For the first time since 2015 (Spotlight), the Academy surprised me and agreed. It is such a beautiful, heartfelt film with wonderful performances, set in the fishing town of Gloucester, Mass. CODA stands for Child of Deaf Adults. Ruby (Emilia Jones) is a high school senior who loves to sing, but her parents (Marlee Matlin and Oscar-winner Troy Kotsur), along with her brother (Daniel Durant), are deaf. Ruby has a key role in the family fishing business, but her choir teacher Mr. V - or Berrrrrrnardo - (Eugenio Derbez) wants her to reach for the stars with her vocal talent. It all concludes with the absolute best scene of the year at Berklee College of Music. I tear up just thinking about it.

The final straw that made me make this film No. 1? I watched it three times without subtitles for the sign language before recently seeing it with them and liking it even more. Ferdia Walsh-Peelo also shows up as Ruby's love interest. How about Ferdia's luck? In the first three feature films of his career, the young man has worked beside Lucy Boynton in the wonderful "Sing Street," Anya Taylor-Joy in "Here Are the Young Men," and the stunning Emilia Jones in "CODA."

It was a really good year in film with some amazing moments that rival the climactic scene in CODA, such as the "last supper"and JenLaw being taken "off the grid" in Don't Look Up, Alana Haim driving a truck backward down the hill in Licorice Pizza, the sand worms in Dune, Tobey and Andrew joining Tom in Spiderman: No Way Home, The Fifth Dimension's performance in Summer of Soul, Bill and Dan's appearance in Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Greville Wynne getting arrested at the airport in The Courier, Mahershala Ali seeing his family for the last time in Swan Song, Rose Reid fiddling in Finding You, Sandra Bullock hugging her long-lost sister in Unforgivable, any time Lilou Siauvaud was on the screen in Stillwater, when they turn onto Adamo Drive in Tampa in Zola, Suzanna Son selling donuts in Red Rocket, Lady Gaga delivering a line in House of Gucci "Father, Son and House of Gucci," when Richard Williams tells Serena she is going to be the best there ever was in King Richard after Venus paves the way for her, Bob Odenkirk beating up everyone on the bus in Nobody and many others.

My hopes for the Oscars were? Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick ... Boom!) for Best Actor, Kristen Stewart (Spencer) for Best Actress, Troy Kotsur for Best Actor in a supporting role (bingo!), Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard) for Best Actress in a supporting role, Flee for Best Animated feature, Summer of Soul for Best Documentary (bingo!), Drive My Car for Best Foreign film (bingo!), The Worst Person in the World for Best original screen play and CODA for Best adapted screen play (bingo!)..

There are also several hard to find movies I still want to see like  "Test Pattern," "Psycho Goreman," "Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry," "Happily,""Parallel Mothers," "Jockey"and Memoria." 

Perhaps there will be some revisions down the line. But here goes with my top 25 ... and the rest.

In the words Director Kenneth Branagh brought to the screen at the end of Belfast - which could be used in many ways these days - "For the ones that stayed. For the ones who left. And for all the ones who were lost."

TOP 25

25. Black Widow - Marvel produces another thrilling story of Natasha (Scarlett Johansson, Black Widow) as she saves the world along with her sort of step sister Yelena (Florence Pugh) 

24. Here Today - Touching story about a comedy writer (Billy Crystal), who is struggling with a form of Dementia and finds a random friendship with Emma (Tiffany Haddish)

23. The Last Duel - A 14th century story about an accusation of rape with solid performances led by Jodie Comer and including Matt Damon, Adam Driver and Ben Affleck

22. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings - New Marvel franchise had a lot of heart and some personality with the entertaining Awkwafina as the hero's sidekick. 

21. The Many Saints of Newark - The Sopranos' prequel is powerful and extremely well acted, led by Alessandro Nivola (Dickie Moltisanti). There has got to be one more to show how Tony takes over the business, doesn't there?

20. No Time to Die - Daniel Craig's final Bond movie is action packed and different with an ending that may have to be explained some day when there is another 007 film

19. Finding You - Enjoyed this film much more on second viewing for some reason. A very likable, heartfelt story about a young woman (Rose Reid) who takes a semester abroad in beautiful Ireland where her dead brother once visited, and reluctantly falls for a movie star

18. Moxie - While it is a bit awkward near the end, I liked this high school drama that examines race and gender politics. Amy Poehler plays the mom of likable and suddenly rebellious Vivian (Hadley Richardson)

17. Summer of Soul - Tremendous documentary from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which was the same year as Woodstock. Stevie Wonder, the Fifth Dimension and Sly and the Family Stone highlight the amazing few days of shows

16. Profile - A film that is both horrifying and fascinating about a British journalist who connects with an ISIS recruiter. Valene Kane is outstanding as the young woman putting herself in danger and the story is almost all told by tapping on a computer

15. Cruella - Emma Stone is fantastic as the avenging angel and it was entertaining from start to finish, enhanced by a great soundtrack

14. The Tender Bar - A coming-of-age story for a young boy, who must move into his grandfather's house with his mother after the famous father abandoned them. Ben Affleck is great as the young boy's wise uncle and Tye Sheridan plays the older "JR."

13. The Worst Person in the World - Thought-provoking, and well-written Norwegian film that centers around gorgeous young Julie (Renate Reinsve), who tries to find herself while navigating two relationships

12. Dune - Remake of the futuristic story done on a very grand scale with tremendous performances from Timothee Chalamet and Oscar Isaac among others, which will lead to a follow up film

11. Swan Song - A beautiful futuristic story about a dying man having to make the decision whether his clone should take his place for his family. Mahershala Ali deserved a nomination for this amazing performance.

10. C'mon, C'mon - A radio journalist (Joaquin Phoenix) reconnects after a year of estrangement from his sister (Gaby Hoffman) to take care of his nephew, while she tries to save her marriage. The pair forge a relationship that takes them on a journey of self reflection

9. Drive My Car - A slow-moving, but very compelling Japanese film about dealing with grief, guilt and sorrow after the death of a loved one through the eyes of an actor/director and his driver, who form a special bond. 

8. King Richard - The story of the Williams' sisters - Venus and Serena - through the eyes of their enigmatic father Richard, played expertly by Will Smith (my second choice for Best Actor)

7. The Card Counter - A soldier (Oscar Isaac) from Abu Ghraib learns to card count in military prison and sets out for some type of redemption, eventually trying to help a young man (Tye Sheridan) dealing with his father's death

6. Tick, Tick ... Boom!! - Andrew Garfield should win Best Actor for his work in this musical based on the life of Jonathan Larson. The songs are catchy and not annoying, and the story is fun and light

5. Licorice Pizza - Director Paul Thomas Anderson gives us a slice of life in 1970s Hotel California, centering around the relationship of a mature 15-year-old child actor (Cooper Hoffman) and a smart but underachieving 25-year-old girl (Alana Haim). Haim steals the movie with an amazing debut acting performance

4. Shiva Baby - Smart, cringy comedy about a recent college graduate Danielle (Rachel Sennot), who must endure several embarrassing issues at a reception following a Jewish funeral, including her sugar daddy showing up with a beautiful wife and baby

3. Belfast - Very compelling film about a family living in the middle of the religious war in Northern Ireland, deciding what to do with their future. The story is told through the eyes of likable young Buddy (Jude Hill)

2. Don't Look Up - It pains me that Bernie Bro leader David Sirota co-wrote this with Adam McKay, but I fully enjoyed the political and cultural satire. The scary thing is that this could happen if we have to endure another four years with Trump or someone like him (DeSantis) in the White House.

1. CODA - Ruby (Emilia Jones) is an under-appreciated high school girl in a blue collar town with a wonderful singing voice who must find a balance between her burgeoning talent and a big role in the family fishing business that includes two deaf parents and a deaf brother. It is a special movie that more people should be able to see - not just Apple TV subscribers. I understand their rights, but let's hope you can buy it on video down the line.  

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PREVIOUS PICKS FOR BEST OF THE YEAR

2020: Promising Young Woman

2019: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, JoJo Rabbit (tie)

2018:  The Hate U Give

2017 - The Big Sick

2016 - Lion

2015 - Spotlight

2014 - Birdman

2013 - Nebraska

2012  - Silver Linings Playbook

2011  - The Descendants

2010 - The Social Network

2009 - Inglourious Basterds

2008 - Frost/Nixon-The Wrestler (tie)

2007 - Once

Best of All Time - Almost Famous

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Most over-rated of 2021 - The Power of the Dog, Passing, The Green Knight and West Side Story

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Joe Lunardi's first six out

The Courier - Benedict Cumberbatch plays Greville Wynne, a British businessman who helped deliver messages from a Russian secret agent during the turbulent 1960s in this compelling drama.

Oxygen - Melanie Laurent is brilliant in this virtual one-woman show as she tries to figure out what is going on while waking up trapped in a cryogenic pod

Red Rocket - Simon Rex is a former porn star and con man down on his luck, who goes to his home town where no one wants to see him again. Gorgeous Suzanna Son stars as his inspiration and next target

Spiderman: No Way Home - The movie got better when the former Spidermen (Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire) showed up and I liked the way it all ended.

Stillwater - Based on the Amanda Knox story and moved from Italy to France with Matt Damon playing a widowed and damaged Oklahoma man who tries to free his daughter from jail. Youngster Lilou Siauvaud is a standout in her first film, which gets slightly confusing in the final half hour

The Unforgivable - Sandra Bullock plays a woman released from prison after 20 years who goes in search of the little sister she left behind. Thought it was way better than snobby critics thought. The ending is very emotional

High Honorable Mention (Recommended for one way or another):

American Underdog - Did not expect to like the Kurt Warner story, but Zachary Levi and Anna Paquin made it work on and off the football field while the religion did not get too heavy

Being the Riccardos - Director Aaron Sorkin's semi-biography of Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnez has plenty of good moments, but does not soar as much as expected. Nicole Kidman does shine bright as Lucy, though

Blue Bayou - A sad immigration story about an adopted Korean who must fight to stay in the country with his new family. Gorgeous Alicia Vikander is outstanding as the man's wife

Citizen Ashe - Strong documentary on the life of the great Arthur Ashe. I learned a lot from the thorough, linear story

Cyrano - Peter Dinklage plays Cyrano de Bergerac, who brings two good young actors - Haley Bennett and Kevin Harris Jr. - together in this new adaption of the classic. Bennett's Roxanne might have the prettiest face on screen in 2021

Death to 2021 - Cheeky satirical review of the year that just passed. The mother-insurrectionist might be the most humorous person in a film this year

Dream Horse - Based on a true story about Dream Alliance, a horse bred by a woman with no previous experience that went on to win some big races for a large syndicate of folks in a small Irish town

Eternals - New Marvel unveils a sort of master race of super heroes who must come together to save the planet, but endure conflicts among them. Entertaining, but at times leaves you wanting more

Flee - The true story of an Afghanistan refugee's journey told through a cartoon documentary. It is sad, powerful and fascinating.

Free Guy - Likable fantasy story with Ryan Reynolds as an AI who comes to life in a video game. It's not a rip-roaring comedy, but it is fun

The French Dispatch - Director Wes Anderson's love letter to journalism with an all-star cast was disappointing in some ways because my expectations were too high, but still entertaining enough and smartly done

Ghostbusters: Afterlife - It was kind of a mess overall, but the film had enough fun moments and interesting characters to make it entertaining even before Bill and Dan showed up. Way better than critics say

The Hand of God - An Italian coming of age story with humor, some sadness and many different angles - including a sidebar of Diego Maradona's time in Napoli and his infamous World Cup goal

The Harder they Fall - Well-acted Western with an All-Star cast that includes Regina King, Idris Elba, Delroy Lindo and Jonathan Majors

House of Gucci - Lady Gaga shines as Patrizia Reggiani, who marries into the famous fashion family and starts the domino effect that leads to murder

Inside: Bo Burnham - Some smart and melodic humor from a one-man show by the comedian, cooped up during the pandemic

The Last Blockbuster - Fun documentary about the last Blockbuster store in Bend, Oregon, and how the once great company dissolved

Mass - Parents of a mass murdering teenager and the parents of one of his victims meet in a church basement to talk through their issues. It is powerful and extremely well acted

Mixtape - Loved this imperfect but very cute little movie about a young girl trying to find out more about her mother, who died when she was 2, through a mixtape she found. 

MobyDoc - Strong, and sometimes weird, documentary about the techno musician who lived on my floor at UConn for at least a semester. He did not mention me

Nine Days - A supernatural story that centers around Will (Winston Duke), who is tasked with picking the one soul to save among a group. Zazie Beetz steals the movie as one of his candidates

Pig - A truffle hunter (Nicolas Cage) and former chef living alone in the woods returns to his roots in Portland, Oregon in search of his stolen pig and the perfectly made meal. Finally, Cage performs in a good movie

Plan B - Two teenagers go in search of the Plan B pill in the Dakotas and endure a strange, sometimes humorous night

Pleasure - Teenage girl from Sweden (Sofia Kappel) travels to California to be a porn star and experiences some of the worst of the industry

Respect - Jennifer Hudson shines as the Queen of Soul in this 2 hour, 25-minute biopic that shows her bumpy journey to stardom

Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for it: Strong, detailed, interesting documentary about a pioneer for Latina women in the movie industry. Morgan Freeman with Rita in the Electric Company? Who knew?

Skater Girl - A sweet coming-of-age story about a visitor from London who helps inspire children in a small India village with the help of a skate park

The Sparks Brothers - Cool documentary about a novelty/new wave band that burst on the scene in the 70s. Never heard of them. How did I miss them?

Together, Together - A unique rom-com about a older single man (Ed Helms) who wants to have a baby through a 26-year-old surrogate (Patti Harrison). It's likable, but I was unsatisfied by the ending

Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free - Documentary about the brilliant artist putting together his solo album "Wildflowers," which is a terrific piece of work.

The Tragedy of MacBeth - Stylish new version of the Shakespeare classic with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand killing it as usual

Val - Interesting self-documentary of actor Val Kilmer, who is now battling throat cancer

West Side Story - The Spielberg remake had its moments and beautiful Rachel Zegler is terrific, but thought it was a bit over-rated. Grand enough to recommend a watch, though, which is why it lands here

Worth - Michael Keaton plays Kenneth Feinberg, who was hired by the Bush Administration to compensate the families of victims after September 11. Terrific performances bring a dry subject to life

Zola - A Twitter thread turns into a movie script while Taylour Paige and Riley Keough provide great performances as strippers in a messy, but entertaining, movie based in Tampa

Honorable Mention (Worth a watch for big movie fans, but not fully recommended):

Afterlife of the Party - A beautiful young woman (Victoria Justice) finds her best self, with the help of her best friend, after dying a tragic death. A tearjerker

Antlers - A well-done horror movie based in small town Oregon with Keri Russell in the lead role

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn - A teacher and her husband make a sex tape and it gets out on the internet by accident, causing a hearing with the school that ends the film. Might move up a spot if I ever get to see it with subtitles

Beckett - John David Washington gets thrown into a political and mafia war after crashing his car with Alicia Vikander in Greece. Not great, but better than most critics think

Bergman Island - A film-making couple vacation at an island where Ingmar Bergman lived to create new works when reality and fiction collide. I kind of liked the lost-love fiction story within, especially the effort of pretty Australian actress Mia Wasikkowska

Bull - Former hit man wants revenge against his old crew and father in law to get his son back

A Castle for Christmas - Brooke Shields in a Hallmark-type story that is predictable, but likable enough.

Chaos Walking - Entertaining sci-fi drama that has some interesting concepts, despite being a bit disjointed in the middle. Tom Holland and Daisy Ridley star

City of Lies - A detective (Johnny Depp) and a journalist (Forest Whitaker) try to solve the murder of Notorious Big

Crazy About You - A smitten man checks himself into a mental institution to find the girl he had a one-night stand with in this Spanish film. It's a unique and entertaining love story

Crisis - Gary Oldman plays a professor whose study undercovers an issue with a drug that is supposed to replace Oxy, but is still addictive. The drama around that is a bit confusing, but it is compelling enough.

Cry Macho - The first 60-75 minutes did not measure up, but the rest of the story works as Clint Eastwood tracks down the son of a friend in Mexico

Dancing Queens - Molly Nutley is adorable as a young Swedish woman who fakes her way into a drag queen show with her dancing ability and personality

Encanto - Musical fantasy cartoon about a magical family was well done, but did not really thrill me overall

The Eyes of Tammy Faye - Jessica Chastain is brilliant as the former PTL Club star, alongside her husband Jim Bakker, in a somewhat enlightening film

Fear Street Part One 1994: A small town murder curse continues and compelling high school kids try to stay alive

Fear Street Part Two 1978: A summer camp is haunted by a witch, who turns a boy into a killer. Cute redhead Sadie Sink has some potential

Fear Street Part Three 1666: The saga goes back to the origin, revealing the secrets of the past and the present before a happy ending

Finch - Tom Hanks, dying in the post-apocalyptic world, travels across the country with a robot he just built and his dog.  

Four Good Days - Mila Kunis is a recovering heroin addict making one last try at rehabilitation, moving in with mother Glenn Close

F9 - Some ridiculous, impossible stunts in the action film, but the story works and the characters are mostly likable

The Green Knight - While Dev Patel provides a wonderful performance, the scenery is nice and the women are all hot, the medieval tale is way too vague to follow and enjoy for me

The Guilty - Jake Gyllenhaal plays a troubled 911 operator as he tries to save a woman from what appears to be an abduction

The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard - Imperfect but enjoyable action/drama/comedy with Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Morgan Freeman and a very humorous Ryan Reynolds

The Humans - A family meets for Thanksgiving dinner and pours out all their issues in a small, old apartment. It has some humor, but it is not as compelling as some critics thought.

In the Heights - Well reviewed musical from Lin-Manuel Miranda, but just didn't move to a higher level over a long 142 minutes for me

Jagged - Strong documentary about the album that surprisingly sold the second most copies in the 1990s - Alanis Morissette's legendary "Jagged Little Pill"

Jungle Cruise - Disney adventure had its moments when Emily Blunt and the Rock were chatting, but the messy action took it down a notch

Last Night in Soho - The story is somewhat sketchy, but Thomasin McKenzie is tremendous in this horror/drama set in London. One scene reminded me of the worst film of all time "Mother," though

The Lost Daughter - Olivia Colman is solid as usual as a troubled older mother on vacation interacting with younger people, but the story was not compelling enough to me

Luca - Cute cartoon about young sea monsters who can become human boys when venturing above the surface

The Mitchells vs. The Machines - Cute cartoon about a family coming together in the modern world, but not as special as the critics think in my opinion

National Champions - Two athletes, one of them the Heisman Trophy winner, decide to boycott the national title game to protest college players getting screwed over by the NCAA. J.K. Simmons shows up as the Trophy winner's coach

Nightmare Alley - Bradley Cooper, Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett lead an all-star cast for director Guillermo del Toro's new old-style thriller, but the story is not as good as the acting and shooting in my opinion

Nobody - Entertaining enough, but Bob Odenkirk's former hitman lead character and his family needed more depth. The bad guys weren't at all convincing, either. Could have been better

Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union: Solid documentary about the journey our 44th President took to be elected

Old Henry - A reasonably good Western centering around a father and son, with the surprising big reveal coming near the end

Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admission Scandal - Interesting documentary and re-enactment of the disgusting scandal. Amazing to see former Yale women's soccer coach Rudy Meredith involved

Petite Maman - Sweet French film about a young girl bonding with her mother through supernatural means after her grandmother's death. Hope to see it with subtitles at some point, but I got the gist of it without

The Power of the Dog - The Western is shot beautifully and acted very well, but I did not find anything interesting about the story unlike most critics

The Protege - Maggie Q can do little wrong in my opinion, so she carries this shoot'em up drama well with the help of Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson

Queeepins - Kristen Bell stars in a mildly funny comedy about her new business - coupon fraud

A Quiet Place: Part II - More impressed in the movie making than enthralled with the science fiction/horror film. No doubt there will be a Part III after seeing the ending, too

Raya and the Last Dragon - Beautiful Disney cartoon with very vivid imagery and likable characters

Red Notice - Caper movie with Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds and the Rock has its moments, but is not overly compelling

The Right One - Unique love story between a confused writer and a young man with PTSD

Security - Dramatic Italian thriller set in a resort town where romantic and family relationships intertwine after an assault incident

Sing 2 - Cute cartoon musical with some great songs, but nothing special in my opinion

Spencer - I liked Kristen Stewart's performance more than the film, but it had some good scenes and the ending leaves you with a better feeling

Spirit Untamed - Perhaps more could have been done with a great cast, but I thought it was a cute cartoon about a special horse

The Suicide Squad - Some humor, some action and a passable storyline with cool characters, but not exactly Guardians of the Galaxy. Margot Robbie kills it as Harley Quinn, though

Tina  - Powerful documentary on the great Tina Turner with some fantastic concert footage. Could have added a bit more to the story

Voyagers - Interesting storyline and some good moments in the Sci-Fi thriller, but I felt like it was a missed opportunity in the long run. Johnny's daughter Lily-Rose Depp stars, and shows potential

The Voyeurs - Amazon original isn't particularly well written but has some intrigue as a couple gets too involved in the lives of neighbors they can see through their apartment window. Sydney Sweeney stars and looks good. Really good.

Wrath of Man - It was a bit confusing at times, but ultimately a passable shoot 'em up drama with Jason Statham

Low Honorable Mention (Some good elements, but many weaknesses): 

Aftermath - Suspenseful drama about a bad marriage and a creepy house where a brutal murder happened

A Glitch in the Matrix - A weird, complicated documentary that poses the odd question - are we all just living in a simulation?

A Hero - Iranian film about family and grudges is a bit confusing and hard to follow despite good reviews

A Journal for Jordan - Mediocre story about a soldier's family dealing with his death through a journal. 

The Alpinist - The story of famous rock climber Marc-Andre Leclerc, who died in an avalanche. These guys are crazy, but interesting

Army of Thieves - The prequel to "Army of the Dead" has more heart and humor than the original by far

A Week Away- A tolerable high school musical at a religious camp 

Baggio: The Divine Ponytail - It's a poorly-made movie about a tremendous soccer player and a great human being. The last scene is a good one, though

Black Island - Interesting German thriller about a mysterious teacher coming back to haunt her old town 

Boogie: Good story about a young Asian basketball star, but the script and dialogue left something to be desired

Bruised - Halle Berry plays a ultimate fighter coming out of retirement with a lot of problems

Candyman - Fourth in the series of supernatural slasher movies has a few interesting moments, but isn't quite compelling enough for me.

Cinderella - Expected to hate it. It was not good, but there were enough likable parts to get a new musical version of the old story out of the passable classification

The Colony - Apocalyptic story about a mission returning to a long near-uninhabitable Earth where an astronaut must decide between two warring groups of survivors

Coming 2 America - Just enough humor with Eddie Murphy to get a passing grade, but not a great sequel

Copshop - Low rent mob crime drama played out in a police station, which gets a little bit better when a psycho contract killer shows up 

Count Me In - Documentary on great rock drummers is fine and all, but how in the freaking Hell do you not include Neil Peart? 

The Disciple - A young man begins to question his long-time, total devotion to becoming an Indian classical music vocalist

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain - Benedict Cumberbatch and Claire Foy are excellent, but it is mostly boring

Encounter - Riz Ahmed stars as a father dealing with PTSD, who kidnaps his kids in an effort to save them from an inhuman force

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions - A group of former winners are fooled into another deadly competition. Moves too fast, but I like Taylor Russell (Zoey) a lot

The Forever Purge - Another chapter in the series of a believable future for the United States after an evil person like Trump becomes President. They are all overly violent, but at least mildly compelling

Four Hours at the Capitol - Documentary about the 1/6 Insurrection that has some decent moments, but gets too caught up giving the wrong side a normal voice

The Gateway - A fired social worker (Frank Grillo) deals with his own demons while looking after his former clients including Dahlia (Olivia Munn), whose husband has returned from prison

Georgetown - A fast-talking con man (Christoph Waltz) marries a rich old women (Vanessa Redgrave) and is the main suspect in her murder.. It's based on a true story

Godzilla vs. Kong - The monsters and some of the characters are cool, but the script is not particularly interesting

Good on Paper - Iliza Schlesinger is very likable and humorous, but the storyline of the rom-com is very ordinary

Gunda - A day in the life of a pig, her piglets, a one-legged chicken and a pair of cows, shot beautifully in Europe

Gunpowder Milkshake - Beautiful Karen Gillan is a contract killer who saves a young girl, but it gets her in trouble with The Firm

How it Ends - Amazon Prime original sees two girls making the rounds on the last day before a meteor hits the Earth. Zoe Lister-Jones and cute Cailee Spaeny make it mildly fun at times, but not enough

I Am All Girls - Mystery/thriller based on a true story about sex trafficking in Apartheid South Africa

The Ice Road - Liam Neeson tries to save the day again in this action drama set in snowy Manitoba after a mine collapses

I'm Your Man - German film centers around a troubled woman testing out a life-like robot man companion

JJ+E - Your basic rich girl and bad boy fall for each other. Elsa Ohrn, a young Swede, has a real presence and makes the story kinda work

Kate - Another female contract killer movie with powerhouse Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the lead role as she tries to save a young Asian girl after her handler (Woody Harrelson) betrays her

The Killing of Two Lovers - The portrait of small-town marriage which has many problems, despite love still being there

Kissing Booth 3 - Yeah, we probably did not need three of these, but Joey King is sweet as usual. The Noah character is a jerk. Dump him Elle!

The Last Letter from Your Lover - Shailene Woodley and Felicity Jones in a love story, interrupted by a car accident

Love Hard - Poorly-written Christmas movie, but the catfish story has some decent moments and Nina Dobrev is very likable

Mary J. Blige's My Life - Decent documentary on the very popular and talented rap/soul icon

The Matrix: Resurrections - The fourth in the series takes way too long to find out what is going on, but has some decent sci-fi action

Monster - Kelvin Harrison Jr., a good young actor, tries to save this common story about a wrongly-charged black youth

Mortal Kombat - Movie based on the popular action-filled video game had a few unique moments, but hardly held my attention

My Name is Pauli Murray - Documentary on the lawyer and women's rights advocate who helped shape RBG

Naked Singularity - A down on his luck, tired public defender (John Boyega) tries to help a former client (Olivia Cooke) and keep millions-worth of drugs from a cartel

No Sudden Move - Old-style crime drama with a great cast, but it is not as compelling as it wants to be

Old - A secluded beach brings all kinds of real and imagined horror for vacationers in this M. Night Shyamalan thriller

The Paper Tigers - Three washed-up kung-fu prodigies attempt to avenge their masters' death

Passing - Somewhat interesting film about two black women with light skin - one passing as white and the other proud of her blackness. Just not as good as critics think

Procession - Documentary that follows six victims of abuse by Catholic priests. It is sad, but very gripping

Quo Vadis, Aida - Story about the Srebrenica Massacre in Bosnia through the eyes of  school teacher, who translates for the UN

Reminiscence - Hugh Jackman in a futuristic science fiction thriller about a memory machine that solves a mystery. Somewhat confusing and over the top

Resort to Love - Harmless, yet quite predictable, love story with the beautiful Christina Milian and Jay Pharoah

Ron's Gone Wrong - Technology, culture and friendship issues collide in this semi-cute cartoon

Saint Maud - Very dark horror film about a nurse who falls apart after a patient of hers dies

She Ball - Imperfect drama with race, basketball, politics and inter-racial relationships all intertwined within

Sisters with Transisters - Documentary about women who were electronic experts in the music industry

Snake Eyes: GI Joe Origins - Some interesting fight scenes and Henry Golding is solid as usual, but the story is never quite compelling enough to dive in fully

Space Jam: A New Legacy - It's kind of a mess and the acting is dreadful (looking at you LeBron), but there's enough action and fun to get it in this category at least

Spiral: Saw: Chris Rock's inclusion saves the otherwise tiresome slasher movie

The Starling - A couple (Melissa McCarthy and Chris O'Dowd) deals with the death of their baby, but the story is quite thin

Stowaway - Three scientist/astronauts heading to Mars find out they have a surprise guest, which causes problems. It's sort of boring, even with the adorable Anna Kendrick on board

The Swarm - A woman decides to raise locusts for a business in rural France after her husband dies. What could go wrong?

Sweet Girl - Revenge story with Jason Momoa and the incredibly appealing Isabela Merced. Plot goes slightly off the rails

This Little Love of Mine - Predictable love story, but there's enough harmless fun in it to give it a watch if you are bored

Those Who Wish Me Dead - A decent story with firefighter Angelina Jolie saving a young boy, but the script was very thin in my opinion

Thunder Force - Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer are mildly funny in a super hero spoof. Very mildly

Till Death - Megan Fox is outstanding as a woman terrorized by her estranged, vengeful husband

Tom & Jerry: The half cartoon was fun enough and Chloe Grace Moretz is cute as usual, but it was nothing special

The Tomorrow War - A sci-fi thriller with Chris Pratt that does not break a lot of new ground with time travel, but has enough decent scenes to get it into this category

Vacation Friends - Wild and imperfect comedy with John Cena and Lil Rel Howery

Venom: Let there be Carnage - It has its moments of fun, but the carnage is not particularly entertaining overall

The Water Man - A young boy goes in search of a healing mythical figure in the woods to try and help his terminal mother

Werewolves Within - Comedy/horror film set in a small town where the people turn on each other after a gruesome murder shows signs of a local werewolf. AT&T hottie Milana Vayntrub stars with Sam Richardson

Without Remorse - Michael B. Jordan stars in the film based on a Tom Clancy novel. It's filled with action, but the story is not top notch

The Woman in the Window - A mystery that just doesn't hit the mark despite the usual great performance from Amy Adams as a troubled woman

Yes Day - Jennifer Garner and the very appealing Jenna Ortega star in this milk-toast family comedy 

Zach Snyder's Justice League - There's some good stuff, but did the super hero film really need to be four hours long?

Zone 414 - Jane (Matilda Lutz) is probably the second hottest non-human woman in a film after Ava (Alicia Vikander) in Ex Machina, but the story is average

7 Prisoners - A young man has to find a different route in his life when he is tricked into slavery in Sao Paolo, Brazil

12 Mighty Orphans - A nice story about a group of kids pulling themselves up from nothing, but it isn't quite compelling or unique enough

13 Minutes - A tornado hits a heartland town and four families try to survive while their other issues swirl around

Passable (A very few good moments or not bad enough to be on worst 15 list):

American Night, Army of the Dead (zombies, and more zombies), Awake (science fiction thriller does not cut it), Bad Trip (A very few laughs keeps it out of the worst category), Blood Red Sky (Interesting concept, awful, long delivery), Blue Miracle, The Boss Baby: Family Business, Concrete Cowboy, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Every Breath You Take (confusing drama), Fatherhood, Fever Dream, Flag Day (should have been better), Flashback, The Guide to the Perfect Family, Halloween Kills,  Held (stupid horror film), Home Team (Sean Payton story is embarrassingly bad), The House Next Door 2: Meet the Blacks 2 (a few laughs), Ida Red, Intrusion (Freda Pinto is cute, but the thriller is not good), How to Become a Superhero, Hypnotic, In The Earth, Joe Bell (good sentiment, poor movie), The King's Man, Lamb, Lansky, The Last Mercenary, Meander, The Misfits (Pierce Brosnan tries with a bad script), Misha and the Wolves, One Shot, Oslo, Out of Death, Prime Time, SAS: The Rise of the Black Swan, Single All the Way (cliched holiday film), Small Engine Repair (bad movie but Ciara Bravo is a star), The Survivalist, Things Heard & Seen (confusing horror film that does not really cut it, but Amanda Seyfried tries), Titane (weirdorama), Vivo (cartoon), Warning

Do not recommend: Prisoners of Ghostland, The God Committee, American Traitor , The Seventh Day, Deadly Illusions, After We Fell, Separation, Annette, The Father Who Moves Mountains, Night of Sicario, Trigger Point, Cosmic Sin, Malignant, Dear Evan Hansen, False Positive

Independent and Hard to Find Films I'd still like to view: Lapsis, 17 Blocks, Wojnarowicz, Night of the Kings, Acasa My Home, Come True, The Amusement Park, Rider of Justice, State Funeral, Identifying Features, About Endlessness, Atlantis, Rose Plays Julie, Hope, This is not a Burial, it's a Resurrection, Rocks, Violet, Blast Beat, Wild Indian, Rare Beasts, The Framing of Britney Spears, At the Ready, The Souvenir Part II

Did not care to see: The Addams Family 2, Becoming Cousteau, Black Sai, Bloodthirsty, Boogeywoman, Castle Falls, Clifford The Big Red Dog, Death Rider in the House of Vampires, Demon Slayer The Movie: Mugen Train, Don't Breathe 2, Dutch, Every Last One of Them, Ferry, For the Love of Money, The Girl Who Believed in Miracles, The Girl Who Got Away, God's Not Dead: We the People, Habit, Heart of Champions, Jakob's Wife, Julia, Lady of the Manor, Locked In, Long Weekend, Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea, Midnight Switchgrass, A Mouthful of Air, The Night House, Paagal, Paw Patrol: The Movie, The Power, The Rescue, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, The Resort, Show Me the Father, The Spore, SR Kalyana Mandapam, Survive the Game, Take Back, True to the Game 3, The Unholy, United States of Insanity, Vanquish, Walking with Herb, Witch Hunt, Wolf