Vic Sage

they got Peter Parker completely wrong... but besides that, Mrs. Lincoln, i liked the play OK. Peter Parker isn't a brooding, alienated, disaffected teenager with cool skateboarding skills, looked on with longing by the beautiful brainy blonde Gwen Stacey. Peter Parker is a pathetic, uptight unathletic nerd who no cute girl would look at twice. That's why his transformation as Spider-Man is so intoxicating and liberating for him... and for the nerdy kids who've been reading his 4-color adventures for the last 50 years. That being said, Garfield and Stone are excellent. The Lizard isn't a very interesting villain, but the action is staged pretty well. The lack of JJJ creates a noticeable vacuum of humor and negative energy not adequately filled by Dennis Leary's CAPTAIN STACY. Martin Sheen and Sally Field aren't given much to do as Uncle Ben and Aunt May. And the inclusion of Parker's invention of the webshooters is offset by the desecration of Spidey lore inherent in inventing a backstory about his parents that screws with continuity. And rewriting the "with great power" speech (along with the details of Ben's death) is just so inexcusable. All in all, i felt there was a laudable focus on character over plot, but they got the main character wrong, so they lose the bonus points. Overall, i was entirely unaffected by the movie, and only moderately entertained. I would give it 2.5, but i only gave myself options of 2** or 3*** (stupid poll!), so i gave it 3.

A great KTE, with one reservation. You refer to Danny Espinosa as a "punch and judy" hitter, but he hit 20 HRs and 30 2Bs last season. And he averaged around that in the minors too. So that suggests alot more Punch and alot less Judy.

Surprised to see no poll up yet. thoughts?

Here's the concept art for Guardians of the Galaxy that Marvel released at Comic-Con: This artwork depicts Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot... but no WARLOCK? If there's no Warlock to fight Thanos, then there is absolutely no point to a GUARDIANS/THANOS movie. Boo! I say thee BOO!!

thanks! is that Mrs. Benson?

vs LHers: ss - Ruben Tejada (.901) 2b - Ronny Cedeno (.852) 3b - David Wright (1.017) Rf - Scott Hairston (.952) Lf - Jason Bay (.776) Cf - Andres Torres (.804) 1b - Daniel Murphy (.628) - he's better defensively at 1b than Turner, and equivalent offensively against LHers. C - Josh Thole (.601) - Nickeas is just too dreadful a hitter to play even in a platoon. Bench: Justin Turner (.606) Lucas Duda (.588) Mike Nickeas (.541) Ike Davis (.526) Kirk Nieuwenhuis (.492)

SteveJRogers wrote: Vic Sage wrote: It would also be a good place to reintroduce the Silver Surfer, who had much crossover with Thanos and Warlock. Isn't good old Norrin tied up over at FOX with the Fantastic Four characters though? i guess so.

Other than Adam Warlock, the marvel movies i'd most like to see include: - DEATHLOK, but then they made ROBOCOP (and made it pretty good), making a DEATHLOK movie superfluous; - i still hope for a LUKE CAGE / IRON FIST team-up movie. Now that those characters' younger selves are in the new spiderman cartoon, perhaps they'll be reconsidered; - i also want a BLACK WIDOW / DAREDEVIL XO movie, with someone other than Ben Affleck; - an epic KILLRAVEN, WARRIOR OF THE WORLDS -- why not spend a fortune on a relatively obscure backwater of the Marvel universe? - a more grownup adaptation of the FANTASTIC FOUR, this time vs THE INHUMANS in all their noble glory! - a MR. FIXIT- version of THE HULK, with him as the smaller, nastier, greyer Vegas tough guy; - DR. STRANGE vs NIGHTMARE... nuff said; and - the death of CAPTAIN MARVEL. sniff, sniff. tearjerker for the ladies.

from what i've read and heard, Marvel is not talking about the classic Gene Colan GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY from the 60s (with Charlie-27, Vance Astro, Yondu and Starhawk), but their reboot of a few years ago (which is really just a version of Warlock and the Infinity Watch) going up against Thanos, as set up in the AVENGERS movie. Warlock is one of my favorite characters, and to see him in action with Drax, Gamora and Quasar (and hopefully Pip the troll), fighting Thanos, would be cosmically awesome. Although Jim Starlin will surely feel cosmically screwed, as he sees all of his ideas up on the screen without a penny paid to him. It would also be a good place to reintroduce the Silver Surfer, who had much crossover with Thanos and Warlock. Also a Pym movie is necessary, if you're going to keep doing Avengers movies. Henry PYm and Janet Van DYne are integral to the history of the team, and his many permutations (ant-man, giant-man, goliath, yellow jacket) give you lots of story-telling options. Plus his personal story (the scientist disinterested in superheroing, the rocky romance with an upper crust socialite) has much conflict. Black Panther would be great, and can be a stand-alone story without much Avengers tie-in required (but able to include it if necessary).

he's gotten pounded for 5 runs in 3 of his last 4 games. Quick, we need Lunchbucket to belittle him and get Routinely Amazing back on track.

The legend of Gil Hodges is starting to take on Bill Brasky proportions. In fact, like Brasky, i heard that they used Gil's foreskin as a tarp at Ebbets Field rain outs.

Resent it? No, i appreciate it when i realize how bad it might have been.

finally caught up with it and it was worth it. especially beautiful was the moment near the very end where Damon, finally coming to terms with his wife's death and able to think and speak about her, brings his kids to the coffee shop where they met and literally conjures her up for his children. Rarely has the power of storytelling been so movingly depicted. If only there were more such moments of magical realism, or even just simple emotional transcendence, in the film, I'd have given it more than 3***, but alas the movie was mostly Disney sweet and Hollywood obvious, and i wanted to kill the son with a blunt instrument.

Edgy DC wrote: Norfolk/Tidewater/Virginia Beach = largest metropolitan area in the US without a big league sports franchise. how far is that from DC?

i would take 2 southeastern teams, so that divisional realignment would make geographical sense and be regionally balanced, as follows: AL East - NYY, BOS, TOR, BLT NL East - NYM, PHI, PIT, DC AL Central - ChW, CLE, DET, MNN NL Central - ChC, STL, MILW, CINN AL South - TB, KC, TX, [NASHVILLE] (or Charlotte, San Juan, Norfolk, etc) NL South - MIA, ATL, HOU, [sAN JUAN] (ditto) AL West - LAA, OAK, SEA, COL (move to AL) NL West - LA, SF, SD, AZ

go to college, Teddy, and git yourself an edjamacation.

Gee's done a very good job for a 5th guy, (4th, whatever you want) imo. 4.1 ERA is pretty good. A little context please... a 4.1 ERA isn't what it was in the steroid era. Currently, that's good for a 92 ERA+, which ain't that good. Now as a #5, its certainly adequate, but he's obviously replaceable if necessary.

as noted in the thread i posted

video on prometheus plotholes: http://nerdapproved.com/movies/all-the-plot-holes-and-stupid-moves-from-prometheus-at-once-video/

we discussed movie remakes of TV shows here: http://archives.cranepoolforum.net/4100/f11_t4147.shtml

Really, a 1-dimensional ballplayer whose rep was based entirely on a handful of post-season HRs is NOBODY to cast stones at other borderline HOFers.

one of the worst. movies. ever. made. period.

Frayed Knot wrote: Vic Sage wrote: i have a love/hate thing with Anderson's films. I loved RUSHMORE and LIFE AQUATIC, but hated TANNENBAUMS and DARJEELING. I didn't see MR. FOX or BOTTLE ROCKET. I suspect that yours is a minority viewpoint. Seems like the type of filmmaker that fans either love or hate, but rarely both. i don't know; i suspect that Anderson is such a unique artist that i don't think there is a "majority" viewpoint about his work. I think audience reaction varies widely from film to film, despite a consistency of tone in his work.

Let's see if Alex takes a swing at him But these days, Alex is unlikely to make solid contact.

i have a love/hate thing with Anderson's films. I loved RUSHMORE and LIFE AQUATIC, but hated TANNENBAUMS and DARJEELING. I didn't see MR. FOX or BOTTLE ROCKET. The trailer for this one makes it seem appealingly off-beat, which is what Anderson is at his best.