Vic Sage

Bane was played by Tom Hardy, an English actor, so he comes by the accent honestly. But I think his accent is no more nor less shocking than Liam Neeson's as Rhas Al Ghul. It's a classic Hollywood trope to have the most vicious villains speaking in a cultured, urbane, often [crossout:35zl8e63]English[/crossout:35zl8e63] European accent.

the medium is the message.

A MIGHTY BLOW BY ICHIRO!

[Manny Acosta flies into CitiField, landing on the dugout roof and sings] Bullpen trouble never hangs around When you hear this mighty sound. "Here I come to save the day" That means that Manny A is on his way. Yes sir, when there is an out to get Manny A will be that Met. At CitiField or on the road, He turns the situation into a hold!

and to be a Mets fan is all about forgiving and moving on. to be a yankee fan, on the other hand, is to be unforgiving and arrogant.

a room? really? i didn't even think you were still talking to me.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Kong76 wrote: You're funny, I'd ask about 6/11 but you are very hostile. What are you? Jason Bay's fuck buddy? I could tell you to go fuck yourself another 255 times and we still wouldn't be even. Saying "i told you so" is just rude. And saying it prematurely, with 2 months of the season to go, is just silly. And saying it to the guy who gives so much of his own time and resources to keep this place alive, along with up to 256 "go fuck yourself"s, is... well, lacking in perspective. Batmags, we agree on much, but not on this.

well, when you put nipples on the rubber bat suits, you know there are other issues being worked out.

of course we have pieces; mediocre pieces but pieces nonetheless. there are teams in a pennant race that would like to add a Byrdak, Rauch or Francisco to deepen their pens, or a Hairston, Torres or Cedeno, to give their lineup some depth. Your not gonna get much, but if you can get an A-ball semi-prospect, its worth moving vets over 30 on short-term deals. Collecting prospects is a numbers game. The more you accumulate, the more likely you'll develop a player of value. Of course, i'd like to move Bay and Santana too, to free up cash for next season, but that's highly unlikely.

i thought you were describing the Nolan films, too, and i am rejecting that characterization. If you weren't, then you weren't.

A beautiful, epic, melancholy movie. Overlong perhaps, but I didn't mind. While the story stands on its own, it is primarily derived and motivated by the 2 films that precede it, so a fuller understanding and appreciation of it requires viewing of the first 2. * The film rewrites Bane into an interesting character, which is a minor miracle in and of itself. * Hathaway totally nails catwoman's "whore with a heart of gold" cliched core and makes her endearing, smart, tough, and believably amoral. * Christian Bale is the total package as bruce wayne AND Batman -- driven, maybe just this side of nuts, but a man of principle ("fetishizing violence"? please.); he's a man who puts on a suit of armor, not a suit of armor with a man inside. * Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman give their usual stolid support. * It sets the scene for Robin really nicely, for any subsequent films -- a reboot could still start right there. * I didn't care for Marion Cotillard, or the plot twist she is asked to play; it felt forced and imposed on the narrative. But the big reveal did cause an audible gasp and sense of satisfaction in the story getting back to to its comic book roots, so i didn't really mind. Best of all, the central metaphor of the film, that the dark knight "rises", is a repeated motif depicted with poetic grace. *** SPOILERS *** Rising from his self-imposed retirement and disgrace, rising in the new "bat" copter, rising, after being battered and literally and metaphorically broken by Bane, from a literal hole in the Earth, inspiring the people of Gotham to rise and oppose Bane, rising in the "Bat" to fly the bomb out over the bay *** SPOILERS END *** its all done with a sad beauty that feels unexpected but inevitable, as only the best kind of storytelling can. i give it ****, putting it on par with the first 2, and making this trilogy the absolute definitive movie adaptation of this character, nobody else need apply.

the first trailer features Kevin Costner's voice over, as Jonathan Kent. the 2nd trailer features Russell Crowe's voice over, as Jor-El. the both gave me total chills. I'm gay for Zack Snyder.

http://deadspin.com/5928281/shaq-thompson-returns-to-football-after-the-worst-minor-league-career-imaginable back to football.

this reminds me... i've got to start the Broadway 2012-13 thread. thanks.

a little imagination, dudes... what about giving away a W.B. Mason Deathstar?

The Halls of the Very Good, but not quite so good as the Really Good. It lacks a certain something...

Parnell tried to blow it but failed. Yea.

i'd be all about moving Santana before the deadline if i thought that (1) they'd get back actual prospects or players, rather than just dump salary, and (2) reinvest any salary savings in quality FAs, but i think the Wilpons would take next to nothing just to dump his salary and then put the savings in their pocket. so no thanks.

i said most of this in the pre-season prediction threads, so obviously i concur when most of it has proved out so far. (i even made that Davis/LaRoche comparison i think). And i'm not sold on Tejada as a .320 hitter quite yet either, though he is a good defensive SS with a good approach at the plate.

Roughly anyone can do this though, you just swing earlier and earlier, until your swing coincides with the pitch crossing the plate. Then you do this a bazillion times until you've got the timing down. yeah, that's just not true. i remember in college, taking batting practice with a friend on the baseball team, just for laughs. But it wasn't funny. And i've tried hitting fastballs in batting cages, where it came in at 70mph. couldn't touch it. Knew where and when it was coming, put in alot of tokens, never even fouled it off. You may be a better player than i (i have no doubt of it), but i did grow up playing little league ball and played HS intramural softball, so i know which end of the bat to use. and i was completely overmatched. I could practice for the rest of my life and not hit a professional fastball. Maybe you could, but i doubt "roughly anyone" could. The hand/eye coordination and reflexes necessary are of a particularly high order, and the best hitters on the planet still fail the vast majority of the time. As far as i'm concerned, its the single hardest thing to do in sports.

i never watched the tv show, but my wife did. so she was willing to watch, and we let the kids watch, too, even knowing it was rated R and probably raunchy. There were some genuine laughs (my son especially liked the part where the bad guy gets his dick shot off), but it was pretty stupid and forgettable overall, with no real reason to recommend it.

stengel, weaver, larussa... all the best managers have always operated this way. i have absolutely no problem with a platoon system.

for a 1-joke movie, the joke is pretty funny. then it just gets weird/creepy. I liked it OK.

too lazy

you answered the question yourself. Whether Americans CAN read subtitles or not, there's no doubt that they WON'T, at least not in large enough numbers to justify making a film. So once Hollywood decided to remake it, the question wasn't "what should we add to justify it".... it's "how can we make this story of rape and murder in sweden cool enough to draw a mall audience in Pasadena?" David Fincher's dark and visually compelling style was well suited for the material, and Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig were excellent. It told its complex story comprehensibly with a framing story that allows for the sequels to follow. Product placement? i didn't notice, but i'll take your word for it. But how is that different than any other Hollywood movie? If you prefer the original films, i won't argue. They're excellent. But i only thought to seek them out after seeing this one. And preferring the others doesn't necessarily make this one ungood.