NCAA Conference Tournament Primer

It’s March! With the big tournament right around the corner it’s time to start paying attention a little bit closer so you can fill out a bracket that will crush your competition.  With the conference tournaments starting today for the major conferences we thought we would take a look and tell you a little bit about the conference, who is most likely to win, as well as give you as a dark horse team to cut down the nets.  Since we like to imbibe in the occasional alcoholic beverage, we've also included a drink of choice for each conference tournament.

American Conference-

This conference has been a lot of fun to watch.  You got Cincinnati, Louisville, and Memphis running all over the court and turning the game into a track meet.  The top 5 teams in the conference have beat the hell out of each other, and I expect the Conference Tournament to be no different.

Team to beat: Even though this tournament is played in Memphis and Cincinnati is the #1 seed I think the team to beat is Louisville.  The Cardinals are coming in hot, having won 9 of their last 10, and they have the experience from winning the whole thing last year.  Look for the Cardinals to cut down the net. 

Dark Horse: I am looking at you Connecticut.  The Huskies are the fourth seed in this tournament, but they don’t have to play 5 games in 5 days like they did in winning the Big East tournament in 2010.  They only have to win 3.  They split their season series with #1 seed Cincinnati (who they would play in the Semifinals), and even though Louisville has given them fits this season I believe it would be a good game between the 2.  I think that Connecticut will beat Cincinnati and will face the Cardinals in the Championship game. 

Drink of choice:  With the frenetic pace that the top teams in this conference play with it gets your heart pumping.  Exactly like a Vodka Redbull would do for you.  Pound them down and try not to run around the building.

 

Atlantic Coast Conference –

Surprise Surprise.  The regular season champ isn’t Duke or North Carolina.  It isn’t newcomer Syracuse either.  In what quite possibly could be the most unheralded conference championship ever Virginia is the team that is the #1 seed going into Greensboro.  Didn’t see that one coming.  So are they the favorite to cut down the nets? Well, no.

Team to beat: Because of an unbalanced schedule Virginia only had to play Duke, North Carolina and Syracuse once.  Two of those games were at home.  The one that was on the road was the one they lost.  While Virginia is a very good team I don’t think they can beat the top competition consistently enough to get the job done.  That is why my favorite to win the ACC tournament is Duke.  This team is battle tested, having played 2 great games against Syracuse and going up and down with North Carolina as well.  Plus, since this tournament is in Greensboro Duke will probably get some 50-50 calls going their way (which never happens).  I think the Blue Devils win this tournament, beating North Carolina in the championship game.

Dark Horse: I wouldn’t call any of the top 4 seeds in this tournament a dark horse.  So I am going to the fifth seed.  Pittsburgh.  In their first year in the ACC the Panthers did well, finishing 11-7.  They went toe to toe with Syracuse twice and gave Virginia all they could handle.  With the up and down nature of North Carolina this year, Pittsburgh beating them wouldn’t be a shock.  After that they could match-up with both Virginia and Syracuse.  Those would be great games.

Drink of choice: A nice southern Bourbon is the drink of choice here.  Something that is smooth to sip but with a bite.  That is why we are going with Makers Mark here.  Pour yourself a glass straight or with a little bit of ice, kick up your feet and enjoy. 

 

Big 12-

This has been an interesting year from the Big 12.  You have the rise, fall, and then little rise again of Marcus Smart and Oklahoma State.  Texas has saved Rick Barnes job (I wonder how many times that sentence has been written the past few years), and Oklahoma and Iowa State have been huge successes thanks to their coaches.  Even Kansas has had some drama this year.  With the uber-talented Joel Embiid not playing in the Big 12 tournament they are vulnerable.  This is going to be a fascinating conference tournament where 7 teams have a legitimate shot to win. 

Team to beat: The more things change the more they stay the same.  Even with the injury to Embiid the Jayhawks are the favorites.  This is a well-coached athletic team that played one of the toughest schedules in the country and still won the conference for the 11^th straight year.  Even with 8 losses this team is in the running for a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and if they win it here in Kansas City don’t be surprised if they get it.

Dark Horse: This was the single toughest pick to make.  So many teams could win it.  I ended up going with Oklahoma State for the obvious reasons.  This is a top 10 team when they play well.  If they win their first round game against Texas Tech they play Kansas, a team they have already beaten once this year.  Yes they would have to win four games in four days but there is not a team in this tournament they can’t beat.  Watch out for the Cowboys in the next four days. 

Drink of choice: The same thing wins every year.  The drink of choice is something that has won a major award.  That's right,  Papst Blue American Ribbon!! Enjoy

 

Big East-

Oh what might have been.  If Louisville, Connecticut, Syracuse, and Pittsburgh were still in the Big East this would be so much fun.  Alas, they are not and this conference loses so much of its shine.  It is still going to be a good tournament but if these 4 teams were still playing it would be one of the best ever. I hate realignment.

Team to beat: Do me a quick favor and go to the Bracketology page of ESPN.com and look and see who the fourth #1 seed is.  You got Arizona, Wichita St and Florida which are easy picks.  The fourth one is a crap shoot.  Right now it is the Villanova Wildcats.  Villanova is 28-3! When did that happen?  Villanova is a team that doesn’t beat themselves.  They have quality wins against Kansas and Iowa, as well as running through the conference.  They only lost 2 conference games, and both were against Creighton.  Even with saying that I think that Villanova is the team to beat and not Creighton.  Doug McDermott is a great scorer and the Blue Jays could win as well, but it is super hard to beat a team three times in one season and I think the Wildcats will beat them this time around.

Dark Horse: The dark horse here is Xavier.  They split with Creighton in the regular season and will get a rubber match if they beat Marquette.  Xavier is always a tough out in every tournament they are in and the Big East tourney is no different.  Also, since it is their first year in the Big East they want to make a splash and prove they belong with the big boys. 

Drink of Choice: They are playing at the famed Madison Square Garden.  College basketball at the garden is a beautiful thing to watch.  So sit down with a nice micro-brew of your choice and imagine all the games that have been played on that storied court.  Go ahead and reminisce.  We don’t mind waiting.

Big Ten-

The Big 10 hasn’t won a National Title since 2000, and yet every year people say they are the best conference in basketball.  Just goes to show you that being the best conference doesn’t mean you produce the best team.  This year is no different.  It is the deepest conference in basketball again and that is going to make for one hell of a conference tournament. 

Team to beat:  I believe that the team to beat has the best coach in the league and is finally getting healthy.  That would be the Michigan St Spartans.  I know that Michigan made the NCAA title game last year and is the #1 seed in the conference but I am still going with Sparty.  I know better than to bet against Izzo in any sort of tournament and I also know that this team was #1 in the country when healthy, which they are becoming again.  Maybe I have more faith in Michigan St than most people, but I believe they are going to win it. 

Dark Horse: Speaking of teams with lofty rankings the Ohio State Buckeyes were #3 in the country on January 7.  After losing a tough overtime game to Michigan St the wheels fell off a little bit and they finished only 10-8 in league.   They have beaten Wisconsin and gotten revenge against the Spartans.  Could Ohio St get hot and win 4 games in 4 days and cut down the nets in Indy.  Absolutely.  Don’t count out the fighting Thads just yet. 

Drink of choice: The drink has to be something that slows you down, just like the style most Big 10 teams play.  So because of that and St Patricks day we are going with a Guiness.  Enjoy.

Pac 12-

The quality of play the last few years from the Pac 12 has been awful.  In all honesty this year hasn’t been that much better but the play of one team has risen the conference up.  This year you had 2 teams on the top, 2 teams on the bottom, and 8 teams jumbled up in the middle fighting for mediocrity.  I guess that is an improvement. 

Team to beat: Arizona.  This team is head and shoulders above everyone.  It will be a shock to me if they don’t win it.  Arizona is deep, talented, and wants a #1 seed.  This is one of the best defensive teams in the country even without the injured Brandon Ashley.  They could win the whole thing, so winning an average Pac 12 shouldn’t be tough for them.

Dark Horse: Any teams 3-10?  I’m going to go with the #6 seed Stanford Cardinal.  If they get by their first round game against #11 Washington State they will play Arizona State and then presumably UCLA, 2 teams they have beaten.  This is a senior laden team and they need to make the tournament to save their coaches job, so I think that they will be playing with extra fire and passion.  Do I think they will win? No.  But they can.  And that is the beautiful thing about March.

Drink of choice: A drink that has the potential to be great but usually falls flat on its face.  That describes the Pac  12 this year and that also describes a Mojito.  So that is what we are going with.

 

Southeastern Conference-

This is where the best team in the country resides.  I have been on the Florida bandwagon since December (I can provide witnesses if I must) and the SEC has not shown me that anyone can compete with them.  The Florida Gators have made 3 straight Elite 8’s and just ran through the conference undefeated.  This team is scary good and can beat you in so many ways.  I just love the way they play. 

Team to beat: I guess I just wrote that didn’t I?  Florida is #1 for a reason.  They deserve it with the way they play and they will continue to play well.

Dark Horse: The Field.  Florida is such a prohibitive favorite in this one that anyone else would be a dark horse.  I am going to say Tennessee.  They have won four in a row going in and are in a similar situation to Stanford.  They have to play well if they want to save their coaches job.  I think they well.  I just don’t think they are beating Florida.

Drink of choice: Easiest pick.  Southern Comfort for Southern basketball.

There ya have it!  Now enjoy some college basketball and remember, for as much fun as you have this week, the real fun starts next week!

 

Worst Horror Movie Sequels

Studios love to make horror movies because their low budgets make them a low risk/high reward proposition. The successful ones inevitably spawn sequels. Unfortunately, many of these follow ups prove to be disappointing. The movies on this list go beyond that. They are staggering in their ineptitude and should be avoided at all costs. In some cases, they killed their franchises. Read on, if you dare, and enter the realm of the truly awful horror movie sequel.

“Friday the 13^th Part V: A New Beginning” and “Friday the 13^th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan”

These two installments of the long-running slasher series have long been considered the weakest, and it’s not hard to see why. Part V commits the cardinal sin of replacing hockey masked maniac Jason Voorhees with a copycat killer. Tommy Jarvis, the kid who “killed” Jason at the end of the prior installment, is now a mentally unstable teenager living in a halfway house filled with boring, disgusting, and annoying people. He is tortured by recurring visions of Jason.  Soon a mysterious man in a hockey mask begins killing everyone around him. Has Tommy snapped? Has Jason returned from the dead? Or is someone else behind the killings? The first four films in the series may not have had great acting or high production values, but they did feature a genuinely creepy atmosphere and contained loads of entertainment value. Part V is flat, dull, and boring. It has no redeeming value whatsoever. The “Friday the 13^th” franchise never pretended to be high art, but it didn’t have to sink this low.

“Jason Takes Manhattan” at least features the real Jason. After being shocked back to life by a malfunctioning underwater electric cord (yes, really), Jason Voorhees inexplicably decides to board a cruise ship that is taking Crystal Lake’s graduating high school seniors to New York City. After killing several people, Jason reaches NYC, but the movie’s low budget keeps him from doing much once he gets there. The film ends with Jason transforming into a child after being drenched in raw sewage.  That pretty much sums up this dreck.

“Halloween III: Season of the Witch”

 

After seemingly killing off superhuman serial killer Michael Myers at the end of the second film, the producers of the “Halloween” series decided to continue the franchise as an anthology. Each year, they would release a new film with a different plotline, all based on an aspect of the Halloween holiday season. This could have been interesting, but the idea that they came up with for “Season of the Witch” was putrid. Conal Cochran, an evil madman who heads an Irish mask making company, hatches a plot to murder millions of children on Halloween with killer Halloween masks. He then plans to replace the kids with androids. I know there was a lot of cocaine use in Hollywood in the ‘80s, but even that can’t explain how anyone could have thought that this storyline would work. “Halloween III” confused and disappointed fans of the first two films. Its critical and commercial failure led to the return of Michael Myers for “Halloween 4” and all subsequent installments of the series.  

“Poltergeist III”

“Carol Anne! Carol Anne! Carol Anne!” This blog often features movie drinking games, and “Poltergeist III” would be a perfect candidate. Just take a drink every time a character says “Carol Anne” and try to avoid passing out before the movie is over. Carol Anne is, of course, played by the late Heather O’ Rourke, who became an ‘80s pop culture icon after her starring role in the original “Poltergeist.” She gives a pretty good performance here, especially considering her young age, but most of the actors phone it in. In this installment, Carol Anne is living with her aunt in a Chicago high rise skyscraper. Of course, the evil spirits from the first two films return to torment her once again. What was creepy in the first “Poltergeist” and familiar in “Poltergeist II” becomes downright boring here. Other than a change in setting, it has nothing new to offer. Heather O’ Rourke died suddenly before the film was released, casting an additional shadow over it. If there’s one thing that can be said about the earlier films on this list, it’s that they didn’t kill their franchises. This one did. Twenty-five years later, there has been absolutely nothing “Poltergeist” related, unless you count the ‘90s television series “Poltergeist: The Legacy”, which had virtually nothing to do with the films. The series’ complete disappearance is mind boggling for a horror franchise that was once so popular in the ‘80s.

The Exorcist II: The Heretic

This one is just insulting. Its one claim to fame is that it’s the only “Exorcist” follow up to feature Regan McNeil, played by Linda Blair. Set several years after the events of the original film, Regan is now in her late teens and somehow has gained psychic abilities. The demon from the first film returns, of course, and attempts to torment her and the people around her.  The film features swarms of locusts, a pointless subplot involving demonic possession in Africa, and a completely suspense-less and bland conclusion. “The Exorcist II” was a colossal critical and commercial failure. It was eventually followed by “The Exorcist III”, starring the legendary George C Scott as a detective. Two prequels were later released as well, but “The Exorcist” never really took off as a franchise.

 

Sadly, this list only scratches the surface. A full list of all of the bad horror sequels out there would be difficult, but here are some that almost made this list.

Child’s Play 3

A Nightmare on Elm Street Parts 2: Freddy’s Revenge

Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers

Halloween: Resurrection

Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows

Paranormal Activity 4

Saw V

-Nick

The Sonics Situation

We try to keep our content pretty unbiased here and I've canned quite a few post ideas on the premise that they are too "Seattlecentric". However, this whole tug of war for the Kings, which has been buried on major news sites, isn't just a Seattle thing, or a Sacramento thing.  Its about a couple of different things, being a sports fan and the NBA in general. And we don't have a lot of sports stuff on here.

 For as long as I can remember, I've always been a Seattle SuperSonics fan.  I was there during the Kemp/Payton years, and I was there when those titanic teams fell apart due to mismanagement and egos. I was there Vladamir Stepania and Jerome James' breasts.  I've seen the highs and the lows.  When the Sonics were ripped out of Seattle with tepid resistance from the city and state government, I was furious.  I swore off the NBA forever(This of course didn't last), and I railed against the very system that created this situation.  Still, back in 2008, I wanted the Sonics back under two conditions, one, the new arena combined public and private financing and is a good investment for both sides, and two, it had to be either an expansion team, or from Memphis, a city who at the time I'm not sure realized they ever had a team.

Now, five years later, Seattle has its deal for a new arena.  Despite some attempted slander by the Seattle Times, it is widely considered the fairest deal possible. An ownership group has assembled that is hell bent on bringing a team back and has ridiculously deep pockets.  However, the NBA has made it clear that there are no plans to expand and further dilute the market and talent pool.  The NBA has finally reached a point where the talent level in the NBA is reminiscient to 20 years ago, before early entries muddled the pool, they don't want to give that up. Furthermore, its all about market share, the owners do not want to allow another set of hands in the pot.

The Sonics ownership group has set their sights on Sacramento, which has endured its own descent from the elite with poor ownership.  Chris Hansen and company made the Maloofs an offer, the Maloofs accepted, Sacramento is spurred into action, and today both parties presented their sides to the NBA Board of Governors.
Naturally, the city of Seattle is excited about the return of the Sonics.  But to me, at least, the entire scene rages with great hypocrisy. 
One thing that the citizens of the greater Seattle area is great at, is being angry.  The specter of the Sonics leaving suddenly made the Sonics very popular.  An award winning documentary was created exposing the whole twisted process that led to the Sonics departure.  Sonicsgate and their crew were the constant, driving activists that constantly rallied Sonics fans and ensured that what happened here would never be forgotten.  Suddenly, now that the Sonics were gone, it was very cool to be a Sonics fan.
Now that it is becoming increasingly probable that the Sonics will be returning. It, after all, makes very little financial sense, long term or short term, to veto the purchase agreement signed by the Maloofs and Hansen and crew. I've been disappointed by the reaction of Sonics fans.  Sure, there is the natural excitement of basketball coming back, I get that, and feel it, but at the same time, I'm left wondering, what the hell were we so mad about?

I was outraged by the NBA's economic model holding cities ransom to the point that I often wondered if I could support another NBA team whenever they came back.  Why support such a business that operates from Stern's bully pulpit? Now, at the eve of the Sonics returning, I find myself terribly conflicted, and I think I'm in the minority.  It seems like Sonics fans, including the Sonicsgate crew, who penned an insulting letter to Sacramento Kings fans on Grantland, weren't mad about the actual process, they were mad they lost their team.  The reaction to pissed off Kings fans is "Yeah, that sucks, we know how that goes, but this is real exciting!"

Come opening night next fall, Key Arena will be packed to the gills, I, and thousands others will be there. Chances are David Stern will have swaggered into the arena as well to deliver a smug coronation. And chances are the 17,000 fans in attendance will boo the living hell out of him, venting five years of anger. Stern will look up, smile and soak it all in. He has everything he wants, a new arena and a billionaire ownership group.  Nothing has changed, we didn't prove anything to the NBA, they operate as they always have, we're the suckers. The NBA played hardball with us and we caved. We didn't really want the NBA to stop holding cities hostage, or to change their flawed economic system. We didn't want to fall on our swords to send a message, or, even with the wheels of business rolling the Sonics back to Seattle, we didn't want to take a stand. We turned around and did the exact same thing to Sacramento without hardly a speck of genuine remorse. In the end, we're all suckers to the great business that is professional sports. We root for clothing and the idea of what it represents.  In the end, all we wanted was basketball, and sometimes it just feels wrong.

Moving Drinking Game Post 8: Liar Liar

Here at Table 71 we love a good flick. We also love a good cocktail. However what we enjoy even more is mixing those two together. As always we have chosen 7 events that show up periodically throughout the movie. When these events take place, you take a "drink". We have also chosen 3 events that show up only once in the movie. These are the "shot" events. It is very important that you don't miss the shot events. The only other rule we have at Table 71 for our Movie Drinking Games is have fun. You are enjoying a good movie with good people (or alone if that is the way you swing.. we don't judge)



Take a drink everytime Jim Carrey lies
Take a drink everytime Jim Carrey insults someone
Take a drink everytime The Claw is seen or mentioned
Take a drink for every objection in court.
Take a drink for every instance of physical comedy
Take a drink everytime Jim Carrey offends a women.
Take a drink everytime Jim Carrey accidentally tells the truth.


Take a shot for the Boardroom Roast
Take a shot for the pen being Blue
Take a shot for prenuptial agreements


If you have a movie that you would like us to turn into a drinking game please leave in the comments below. Now go enjoy your night at the movies!

The March Madness Drinking Game

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that we've created a drinking game for March Madness. In fact, I would be disappointed if it wasn't expected of us.  We are deviating a little from the standard format due to the flexibility that March Madness allows.  Of course, we have our standard seven drinks and three shots. 

 We've also created a drink that we feel fits the overall vibe/feel or each team or school in the tournament.  So, without further adieu, here is the Table 71 Drinking Game for the 2013 NCAA Tournament.

Take a shot for a missed free throw with under ten seconds left.
Take a shot for a buzzer beater
Take a shot for every upset by a 12 seed or higher

Take a drink for every "Live Look In"
Take a drink the entire time there is a video review
Take a drink every time Seth Davis is wrong.
Take a drink for every time they show the players on the bench going crazy
Take a drink every time a players family is shown in the stands
Take a drink every time an announcer mispronounces Gonzaga.
Take a drink every time Clark Kellogg says "Dairy Queen"

Here are the drinks for each school:

Lousville: Vodka Redbull
Syracuse: Screwdiver
Notre Dame: The Irish Carbomb
Colorado State: Coors Light
Marquette: Milwaukee's Best
Duke: Mikes Hard Lemonade
UNC: Pornstar
San Diego State: Margherita
Michigan State: Dry Martini
Wisconsin: Miller Genuine Draft
Pittsburgh: Yuengling
VCU: 151
Arizona; Yaggerbomb
Cal: PBR
UCLA: Peach Bellini
Kansas State: Manhatten
Miami: Hurricane
UNLV: Pink Panty Dropper
New Mexico: Corona
Belmont: Jack and Coke
Pacific: Mai Tai
St. Mary's: Fosters
Indiana: Crown Royal
Ole Miss: Southern Comfort
Michigan: Mimosa
Missouri: Gin & Tonic
St. Louis: Budweiser
James Madison: Hennessy
North Carolina A&T: Adios Motherfucker
Valpo: Bloody Mary
Gonzaga: Washington Apple
Albany: White Russian
Southern: Cognac
Harvard: Cabernet Sauvignon
Florida: Sex On The Beach
Georgetown: The Four Horsemen
Illinois: Champagne
Oregon: Red Stripe
Ohio State: Red Death
Colorado: Coors
Florida Gulf Coast: Pensacola Bushwacker
Iona: Guinness
New Mexico St: Tequila Sunset
South Dakota State: Harvey Wallbanger
Creighton: Tom Collins
Iowa State: Starburst Shooter
Memphis: Whiskey Sour
Bucknell: Rob Roy
Davidson: Fireball
Montana: Black Butte Porter
North Carolina State: Jello Shot
Temple: Old Fashioned
 Butler; Top Hat
Northwestern State: Bourbon Fizz
Western Kentucky: Jim Beam, Up.
Oklahoma State: Keystone Ice
Cincinnati:Mickey's
Wichita State: Vodka out of a water bottle.
Oklahoma: Red Beer
Minnesota: Mudslide
Akron: Hot Totty
Villanova: Kamikaze
Kansas: Jameson

Movie Drinking Games: Post 7. Scream

Here at Table 71 we love a good flick.  We also love a good cocktail.  However what we enjoy even more is mixing those two together. As always we have chosen 7 events that show up periodically throughout the movie.  When these events take place you take a "drink".  We have also chosen 3 events that show up only once in the movie.  These are the "shot" events.  It is very important that you don't miss the shot events.  The only other rule we have at Table 71 for our Movie Drinking Games is have fun.  You are enjoying a good movie with good people (or alone if that is the way you swing.. we don't judge)

Without any further ado here are the official drinking game rules for Scream.


Drink when someone dies
Drink when there is prank phone call
Drink when a scary movie is referenced
Drink whenever someone implies Sydney's moms a slut
Drink whenever Dewey does something stupid
Drink whenever you see the mask
Drink for the wrongfully accused
Take a shot when someone runs in slow motion
Take a shot when "Everyone is a suspect"
Take a shot for garage door malfunctions


If you have a movie that you would like us to turn into a drinking game please leave in the comments below.  Now go enjoy your night at the movies!

Movie Review: Margin Call

"So you think we might have put a few people out of business today. That its all for naught. You've been doing that everyday for almost forty years Sam. And if this is all for naught then so is everything out there. Its just money; its made up. Pieces of paper with pictures on it so we don't have to kill each other just to get something to eat. It's not wrong. And it's certainly no different today than its ever been. 1637, 1797, 1819, 37, 57, 84, 1901, 07, 29, 1937, 1974, 1987-Jesus, didn't that fuck up me up good-92, 97, 2000 and whatever we want to call this. It's all just the same thing over and over; we can't help ourselves. And you and I can't control it, or stop it, or even slow it. Or even ever-so-slightly alter it. We just react. And we make a lot money if we get it right. And we get left by the side of the side of the road if we get it wrong. And there have always been and there always will be the same percentage of winners and losers. Happy foxes and sad sacks. Fat cats and starving dogs in this world. Yeah, there may be more of us today than there's ever been. But the percentages-they stay exactly the same."


I'm not sure how I felt/feel after watching Margin Call.  Was I outraged by the avarice of Wall Street? No. I'd read The Big Short before watching this movie, and thats where the curtain was pulled away and I was infuriated by the stupidity of Wall Street.  

Margin Call, in a way, disappointed me.  I wanted it to dig deeper than it did.  The characters spoke in vague generalizations, issues were hinted at, but not spoken about.  I felt like the director dumbed the movie down for the audience.  Sure, I didn't expect this movie to go into extreme depth about subprime mortgage loans and credit default swaps, but I expected quite a bit more depth than was given.  I honestly do not know how a viewer, with no previous knowledge, could really actually understand what the hell was going on in this movie.  Aside from three, brilliant soliloquies, the dialog was relatively wooden.

However, the acting and entire cast was first rate.  Jeremy Irons was a perfect decision for the CEO.  He excels at playing distinguished but smarmy characters.  His best scene involves a speech delivered while he is eating.  While he talks you can hear him chewing and the clinking of his silverware as he explains in a cavalier way how this is just the way things go.  It's a great speech and ironic how he talks about how small of parts they play in the giant machine when you consider the great lengths he went to throughout the movie to secure his company's financial security.

The best character in the movie is played by Paul Bettany, who I have never not liked in a role.  He has been around long enough to see it all, but not long enough to be unaffected by it.  He's powerful, a millionaire, loves the life his job affords him, and accepts it without apologizing.  He is the bridge in the movie between the two young, naive analysts and the higher executives. He delivers the merciless truth to the wide eyed kids and knows exactly what to say and who to say it to.

This is far from a perfect movie, but its a movie worth watching.  It's interesting that its point seems to be that the financial system is meaningless, that its just numbers on a screen, and that many people give up lives where they actually build something tangible in order to chase money.  But, as the characters say on more than one occasion, they don't really have a choice.