A gothic church. A confessional. A priest sits back to the wall. A man kneels in prayer. A wall divides them.

Priest: What sins have you to confess, my son?

Man: I believed, father.

Priest: Believing is not a sin.

Man: It should be.

Priest: What did you believe?

Man: I believed 2024 would be different, father. I believed this year would look different than other years.

Priest: Did it not?

Man: It did not.

Priest: Do you regret your belief?

Man: How can I?

Priest: Then why do you confess it as sin?

Man: What else can I do? What is the purpose of this all if we don’t succumb to the belief that year ahead will be different, will be better, than the year just experienced?

Read More …

Takeaways from Thomas Brown’s fourth loss in as many games as Bears head coach:

1.) They’ve failed Caleb Williams in so many ways this season.

Ryan Poles doesn’t deserve to be the GM anymore. He needs to be fired.

— Matt Eurich (@MattEurich) December 27, 2024

Why Do I Like the Chicago Bears This Week?

I.

Always.

Like.

THE.

Chicago.

Bears.

Caleb.

The 2024 Chicago Bears no longer exist. They have ceased to be.

And as a result of this fact, I am not going to be spend much time writing about a midweek matchup at what I’m sure will be a Seahawk fan-laden Soldier Field.

There is only one reason to truly care about tonight’s game: Caleb’s stat line.

Through 16 games, Caleb is completing at 62.2%, 3,271 yards, 19 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, and a QB rating of 89.3. These are terrific numbers for a rookie QB, but they are extraordinary numbers when you consider the coaching and offensive line turmoil that has surrounded him this season.

It is no coincidence that agents around the sport are beginning to leak their clients’ interest in the Bears job. This is a coaching gig that comes with a productive, yet moldable, young quarterback.

Side note: Bill Simmons, on his podcast with Cousin Sal, referred to Caleb’s production as “garbage time.” There is NO garbage time for a rookie quarterback. Every snap matters. Caleb’s rookie season is one of the most underrated I can remember.

My Sight & Sound List

Every decade, Sight & Sound magazine polls filmmakers, critics, academics, etc. and compiles a list of the greatest films ever made. Some of those polled vote for their favorite movies. Some polled try to make political points with their list. Some, like my former professor Dan Streible, use their vote as opportunity to draw attention to noncanonical works. I’ve recently been doodling what my list would like – what are the ten films I consider the best ever made? Here’s what I settled on. Thoughts will follow the list.

All That Jazz (Bob Fosse, 1979)

The Breaking Point (Michael Curtiz, 1950)

Crimes and Misdemeanors (Woody Allen, 1989)

The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)

The Godfather: Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)

High and Low (Akira Kurosawa, 1963)

Jaws (Steven Spielberg, 1975)

Kansas Saloon Smashers (Edwin S. Porter, 1901) Kansas Saloon Smashers (1901) – Carrie Nation | Edwin S. Porter

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy, 1964)

Waiting for Guffman (Christopher Guest, 1996)

Why do I hate this list?

No Hitchcock. No Lumet. No Mel Brooks. No female filmmakers. I can make an argument for every film on this list. I can also make an argument for 100 other films, like Rear Window and 12 Angry Men and Young Frankenstein and Cleo from 5 to 7. For now, this list will have to do.

Next week, I’ll provide a list I call “Ten Films it Seems Only I Love.”

Read More …

Christmas Eve in Queens,

Santa’s sitting in traffic

on the B.Q.E.

Thank you.

First, I want to take a few sentences to thank all of those who supported DBB during our annual pledge drive last week. It was our most successful by a significant margin and I take that quite seriously.

It was my intention to take a step back from DBB, to focus my attention on coursework and allow Robert to take the site in a new direction. It didn’t work out. Overwhelmingly I was told the loyal readers of this site did not care for that new direction. When Robert told me he wanted to dial back some of his commitments to the site, I made it clear that that a part-time editor-in-chief was not something I was looking for and I re-took over the site day to day. To say my content has been inconsistent is an understatement. But I’m proud of the good stuff.

DBB will remain under my literary control for the whole of 2025. At the end of the year, I’ll evaluate how things went and debate (with myself, probably out loud in the shower) whether to seek out another editor-in-chief. But for the year to come, enjoy the haikus!

– Jeff

You ain’t lion.

• Caleb is good.
• The defense is not.
• Stop jumping offside when the offense is only trying to get you to jump offside.
• Rome Odunze doesn’t look like a star WR to me.
• Promoting Thomas Brown, as predicted, was very silly.

The holidays.

This week’s schedule at DBB will be tricky over this holiday week.

Tuesday and Wednesday: DBB will be off for the Christmas holiday.

Thursday AM: Bears v. Seahawks game preview will be live.

Thursday PM: Bears v. Seahawks game thread.

Friday: A new short play!

2024. What a year. 

DBB tried having someone else run the show. It didn’t take. So, while taking on the full course load of a PhD student, I’m proud that I was able to re-man the ship, add short plays to the structure, and deliver dozens of brilliant haikus.

Are the Bears good? They are not. But the work of DBB doesn’t stop! And we get a new coach…again!

I can only do what I’ve done here because of these pledge drives. I will NEVER put this content behind a paywall. I will never interrupt the content with annoying ads. Instead, I’m channeling the NPR model of soliciting support from our readers and followers for one week. This is that week. We ask for seven days and then we don’t ask again until next season.

So, give what you can. A dollar. A fiver. A hundo. Nothing. Your readership is the only support we’ve ever truly wanted. This drive simply ensures you’ll continue to have unique work to read.

ANYONE GIVING $25 OR MORE WILL BE ENTERED INTO RAFFLE TO WIN TWO (2) BEARS TICKETS FOR A 2025 GAME.

The link to support is right here!