Benjamin Grimm

I loved it! I was a big fan of the Apes movies when I was a kid, although when I rewatched all of them a few months ago a lot of it wasn't all that good. (Beneath and Battle were especially bad.) But Rise was a lot of fun. I really think the franchise is in good hands, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Paul DePodesta (in an e-mail to Andy Martino of the Daily News) wrote: �We had high expectations of Matt going into the season, but he exceeded those expectations. He was in his first full-season of pro ball, so we were hopeful that maybe at some point he'd be able to advance to AA just to get a taste of that level before heading into 2012. As you know the A to AA jump is known as the most the difficult, so getting a little bit of experience heading into the off-season can be valuable. Matt surprised us first by showing his readiness for AA just halfway through the season and then surprised us again that his production was basically the same at AA than at the Florida State League - he didn't miss a beat. The only thing that dropped off was his singles rate and he struck out a few more times, but he maintained his power (in fact, some doubles and triples in the Florida State League turned into homers in the Eastern League) and his walk rate. Matt has the chance to be a complete player. He already excels defensively in CF - that part of his game is Major League ready. Offensively, he has the chance to play with both power and speed. This year we'd just like to see him continue his path. He simply needs at-bats against higher level pitching, so that he can begin to make adjustments to how the better pitchers are going to pitch him.�

Bat will determine Flores' future position Prospect projects as an infielder, but not as answer at shortstop By Anthony DiComo / MLB.com | 01/16/12 10:00 AM EST NEW YORK -- Mets trainer Ray Ramirez flew down to Panama earlier this winter, with the sole intent of helping Ruben Tejada develop enough strength and endurance to survive the rigors of a 162-game schedule. The Mets are banking on Tejada at shortstop this season, in part because they believe in him, and in part because they have no other choice. Do not read those words too harshly -- it's not as if there is no reason for optimism regarding the left side of the infield. Twenty-two-year-old defensive whiz kids with .360 on-base percentages are few and far between. Though no one in the organization expects Tejada to match his predecessor, Jose Reyes, in terms of offensive production, the Mets are reasonably bullish that Tejada can at least hold his own as a Major League regular. Strength and experience, they believe, will only help. "I think we're incredibly fortunate to have Tejada," Mets vice president of scouting and player development Paul DePodesta said. "He's a very legitimate shortstop." Scouts have long insisted that Wilmer Flores possesses all the proper tools to become an offensive star. (Mark LoMoglio/MiLB) But what if Tejada's career stalls, as many do in the face of more regular playing time? What if Ramirez's trip was in vain? Two or three years ago, there was a notion around baseball that, perhaps, Wilmer Flores, a middle infielder by nature, would be ready to crack the big leagues by 2012. That hope dissolved when Flores, still just 20 years old, began developing slower than expected. Recently (and hardly unexpectedly), the concept that Flores might ever be the long-term solution at shortstop has disappeared, as well. Because of his frame and skill set, Flores never profiled as a classic middle infielder, even from his earliest days as a prospect. Most projections pegged him as a third baseman or corner outfielder, confident that he would develop a strong enough offensive profile to stick at those positions. "When you have a guy like that, you let him play short until he shows he can't play it anymore," MLB.com prospects reporter Jonathan Mayo said. "To many, that point has come already." To that end, the Mets allowed Flores to play almost exclusively at third base during Winter Ball in Venezuela, where he batted .301 with a .382 on-base percentage. It was the first tangible positive in some time for Flores, who posted on-base marks of .309 and .324 during extended runs at Class A St. Lucie in 2010 and 2011. Now, Flores finds himself at something of a career crossroads. Either the Mets send him back to St. Lucie, where he will no longer be notably young for the level, or they promote him to Double-A Binghamton on the basis of nothing more than projection. "In either case, everybody's going to be wanting to see how he does," Mayo said. "If he goes back to St. Lucie, he'd better come out like a house on fire and show that he's too good for the level, and then get a promotion. But if he goes up to Double-A, that's the leap that's hardest to make." For years now, scouts have insisted that Flores possesses all the proper tools to become an offensive star. The statistics, they have said, will come in time. Whether or not that actually happens remains to be seen. But Flores has already proven one thing: that shortstop is not likely his long-term position. Though DePodesta does expect Flores to end up somewhere in the infield, the farm boss hesitated when asked last month if shortstop seemed likely. "This may sound sort of backwards, but I think the bat's going to end up dictating it," DePodesta said. "Whatever happens to be available at the [big league level] when he's ready, that could be where he ends up playing." Still, DePodesta indicated that Flores will continue to receive more and more exposure at third base and other positions, thereby giving him less and less time at short. Though it is possible that Flores develops more athletically than most scouts anticipate -- Mayo pointed to Rays former No. 1 overall pick Tim Beckham, who has thus far defied expectations by remaining a shortstop -- he is far more likely to make his permanent home elsewhere. "That's not a bad thing, necessarily," Mayo said. "Does it mean he has slightly less value in the larger scheme of things because he's not an up-the-middle player? I guess, but I don't think it's that big of a deal." What it does mean, however, is that Flores is extremely unlikely to be the long-term answer at shortstop for the Mets, putting further pressure on Tejada to fill that void. Beyond those two, the organization's internal landscape thins considerably. The Mets have high hopes for Jordany Valdespin, a natural second baseman, and have given him significant reps at shortstop each of the past two seasons. (It is worth noting that, although Valdespin has received merely a fraction of the hype, he has posted better Minor League numbers than Flores over the past few seasons.) And the Mets have a reasonable shortstop prospect in recent 15th-round Draft pick Phillip Evans, but he is just 19 years old and has yet to play a single inning above short-season Class A ball. Fortunately for the Mets, time is their ally. This year belongs to Tejada. As long as the shortstop performs adequately in his starting debut, next year probably belongs to him, as well. The rest will sort itself out in time.

I gave it three and a half stars. A few notes on the cast: - Zuckerberg's girlfriend in the opening scenes was played by Rooney Mara, the granddaughter of both the Giants & Steeler owning clans - the part of the crew-rowing twins was played by one actor, Armand 'Armie' Hammer, great grandson of the industrialist Armand. And those of us with young kids probably also recognized Brenda Song, of Zach and Cody "fame" as one of the girlfriends.

Have we learned yet how his name is pronounced?

I gave it 3 stars. It was entertaining, and nicely done, but I felt like I've seen the same movie already several times.

metsmarathon wrote: if this were the "BML all-time met rankings", how would you run the list, praytell?

It's probably still a bit early to call this one, but my hunch is that Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief will qualify for this category.

Superman Returns

The Rocketeer was intended to be a franchise, but it didn't do well at the box office. And that's a shame; it was a nice little movie. I bought it on DVD a few years ago for my kids to watch and they both liked it a lot. As did I.

The Rocketeer Daredevil

I voted 6, liked it but didn't love it. (My ten-year-old daughter liked it a lot.) I did like the bladder meter and wish I had one.

I'm hoping we'll see him in Flushing by June 1, 2012.

I can see a guy like that fitting in to the Mets roster next year as a reserve infielder, especially if Murphy somehow becomes a starter. Satin could replace Willie Harris, I'd think. (Can he play outfield in a pinch, I wonder?)

I really enjoyed it. Got a special kick out of the quick glimpse of the Original Human Torch.

1. Captain America: First Avenger 2. X-Men: First Class 3. Thor: First Asgardian Have not yet seen any of the others. I'll wait for Green Lantern until it comes to cable. May end up doing the same for Cowboys and Aliens. I loved Cap, and really liked X-Men. Thor wasn't as good as I hoped it would be, but was better than I feared it would be.

Maybe he saw a hill or something equally un-Floridian and became disoriented.

Wally Backman wrote: "He's showed his teammates a lot more respect which...he's had a few issues with players in the past Yeah... I wonder what's up with that?

I thought the first Cars movie was cute, but not up to Pixar's standards. (At least it was better than Wall-E). Of all the movies to make a sequel to, I'm surprised that they chose Cars. (I'd prefer to see more of A Bug's Life or The Incredibles.) Cars 2 will be the first Pixar movie that I don't intend to see. It's easier for me to skip it because my kids are older and not asking to see it. My only regret is that in skipping Cars 2, I miss the Toy Story short that accompanies it. I'll have to make sure to track it down somewhere, eventually.

Well... I haven't seen his birth certificate, so I have to assume he was born in Kenya.

Opened this past Friday. I think I'm gonna wait until it's on cable; it doesn't look like it's worth the price of the movie tickets. I'm willing to overlook that for a Marvel movie, but not so much for a DC movie.

Ask him how he pronounces his name. I'm hoping it's "Leather Sick"

I also gave it 3.5. I liked it a lot, although your first Head-Scratcher occurred to me too, and was nagging at me throughout the entire movie. They should have come up with some explanation for that. I think it was the second-best of the X-Men movies. (I should point out that I didn't see Wolverine.) I liked First Class more than the first and third movies of the original trilogy. X-Men 2 remains my favorite X-Men movie.

Did AMC butcher it? They used to be the station that showed movies uncut and uninterrupted, but now they show them cut and interrupted.

Very cute trailer, but I wouldn't spend movie theater prices to see it. Maybe I'll watch it when it comes to cable... but probably not.