Vic Sage

selected filmography: Bernie Schwartz made over 100 movies, so one must sort through the dross -- Flesh and Fury (1952) - an early leading role as a deaf boxer packs a surprising punch. Houdini (1953) - biopic with wife Janet Leigh worked magic on his career. The Black Shield of Falworth (1954) - he came from da castle of his fadda. Trapeze (1956) - supporting role with Burt Lancaster, Tony really swings. Sweet Smell of Success (1957) - Burt teamup again... NY when it sizzles, baby! His best performance ever. The Vikings (1958) - Tony vs Kirk Douglas; epically dumb but fun The Defiant Ones (1958) - chainganger on the run, cuffed to Sidney Poitier, Oscar nominated, overrated "social message" movie The Perfect Furlough (1958) - fun little Blake Edwards rom-com with Mrs. Curtis Some Like It Hot (1959) - Billy Wilder's classic Operation Petticoat (1959) another Edwards comedy, with Cary Grant (who Curtis had just spoofed affectionately in SOME LIKE IT HOT) Spartacus (1960) - master Kubrick, Kirk Douglas, Lord Olivier and ... Tony Curtis? Which of these is not like the other? ("Eat the snails, Tony, eat the snails!") The Great Impostor (1961) - Curtis shows his range in this true story... The Outsider (1961) - ...and in this one, too; a tragic tale of the native american who raised he flag on Iwo Jima Taras Bulba (1962) - with Yul Brynner in absurd epic actioner... etceterah, etceterah, etceterah 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962) - a cute remake of "little miss marker"; he was no trouble at all Captain Newman, M.D. (1963) - Tony offers strong medicine in support of Dr. Peck Goodbye Charlie (1964) - Tony says hello to Debbie Reynolds in this Minelli-directed sex farce Sex and the Single Girl (1964) - quintessential swingin 60s sex comedy, with Natalie Wood The Great Race (1965) - on the fast track again with Blake Edwards' epic slapstick "Flinstones" (1965) - as the voice of Stony Curtis The Boston Strangler (1968) - Tony gives Oscar-worthy performance in this true story; his last great role "The Persuaders!" (1971�1972) - decent TV series with Roger Moore Curtis made movies and tv shows for another 35 years or so, but nothing worth mentioning (except the extraordinarily terrible BAD NEWS BEAR sequel to the sequel).

Benjamin Grimm wrote: Not sure exactly why, but I have a special fondness for Shadow of a Doubt. maybe cuz its really good? It was Hitch's own fave of his films, apparently.

Lefty Specialist wrote: If I recall, one of the knocks on Thole in the minors was that he wasn't a particularly good defensive catcher (I'm assuming he was switched from some other position as many catchers are). Now, while he's no Gold Glover, he's more than held his own defensively (passed ball stats should have an asterisk because of Dickey). I think there's room to grow here. We'll always be a little spoiled by the memory of Piazza, but that's a once in a blue moon type of catcher. If Thole can hit well enough to hold down the #7 spot in the order, hit the occasional dinger and drive in his share of runs, throw out some runners and manage a pitching staff, he'll be acceptable. I like his attitude, and with a little more work I think he can be a good one. He'll never be Piazza, but he won't be Brian Schneider either. I see him as that 'complementary' player that you need on a real team. This. Although, if he doesn't develop power but continues to have a solid OB%/low K rate, I'd rather he hit 2nd than 7th.

Valadius wrote: Any catcher that bats .300 gets my vote of confidence. .300 BA is nice, but ... 1) he hasn't hit .300 over a full season yet, 2) not all .300 BAs are created equal, 3) if a C hits an empty .300 (low slg / low oba), he also needs a good glove/arm to be a valuable player, and 4) he still needs to be used appropriately in a lineup to maximize offensive value

it was like the 3rd bad news bears sequel... high suckage quotient

good choice.

Edgy DC wrote: If they don't, they're going to go out and spend at least that much on somebody like him, right? The Mets took on a LOOGY who could make a slider dance And Pedro has made them happy that they took the chance He may not be a closer, and has never won a ring but he pitches daily, with his lefty wing And they're gonna have to pay somebody, yes indeed They're gonna have to pay somebody, They may give the bucks to Pedro or to someone half as good But they're gonna have to pay somebody. They might get a pitcher who is new to the stage They might find a fellow who has issues with his rage They might sign a cheater, getting roids through UPS or even from his doctor, it's anybody's guess... But they're gonna have to pay somebody, yes indeed They're gonna have to pay somebody, They may give the bucks to Pedro or to someone half as good But they're gonna have to pay somebody. He may be a trooper, he might be a jerk, He may be a headcase with a very ugly quirk, He may be old and tired, he might be young and lame He may be in another country, playing under another name. But they're gonna have to pay somebody, yes indeed They're gonna have to pay somebody, They may give the bucks to Pedro or to someone half as good But they're gonna have to pay somebody. When the Mets were under construction, working on their home, They thought about a sliding turf, they thought about a dome, But they didn't have the money, and they didn't ask the bank So now that Pedro's up for arb, there should be $ome in the tank. Cuz they're gonna have to pay somebody, yes indeed They're gonna have to pay somebody, They may give the bucks to Pedro or to someone half as good But they're gonna have to pay somebody. He may be a pitcher with some spiritual pride He may be a blacksock who took some bribes on the side He may need to work with the pitching coach, to find a second pitch No matter how good he is, the fans will always bitch, So the Mets are gonna have to pay somebody, yes indeed They're gonna have to pay somebody, They may give the bucks to Pedro or to someone half as good But they're gonna have to pay somebody. Might like to sign an All-Star, or someone of that ilk a face upon a wheaties box, sucking down some milk But he might like to go to bars, drink some fine champagne and end up on a city street, sleeping off the pain. But they're gonna have to pay somebody, yes indeed They're gonna have to pay somebody, They may give the bucks to Pedro or to someone half as good But they're gonna have to pay somebody They may call him Marmol, they may call him Billy He may be a Padre, He may be a Philly They once called him Heath Bell, called him Darren O'Day But no matter what they call him now, no matter what they say... They're gonna have to pay somebody, yes indeed They're gonna have to pay somebody, They may give the bucks to Pedro or to someone half as good But they're gonna have to pay somebody

The Young, The Innocent, & the Citifield Shuffle... 1 step forward, 2 steps back.

I don't get Chuck's pointless backhand at SABRmetrics. If anything, a sabrmetric analysis, which favors OB% as the KEY number in a player's production, probably OVERvalues Thole, as opposed to the standard kind of subjective "skills" analysis more commonly associated with the numerically challenged old guard scouting types who look at JT and say: "no speed, no power, no cannon. forget him."

the top one... its falling apart, but i still play it with my son once in a while.

15-week Hitch double feature series i should have scheduled when i ran my college film series: 1) serial killers: * The Lodger (1927) * Frenzy (1972) 2) The wrong men: * The 39 Steps (1935) * The Wrong Man (1956) 3) Train movies: * The Lady Vanishes (1938) * Strangers on a Train (1951) 4) compare & contrast: * The Man Who Knew too much (1934) * The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) 5) WWII * Foreign Correspondent (1940) * Saboteur (1942) 6) One set wonders: * Lifeboat (1944) * Rope (1948) 7) Light romance: * Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) * To Catch a Thief (1955) 8) Bluebeards: * Suspicion (1941) * Shadow of a Doubt (1943) 9) Freudian nightmares: * Spellbound (1945) * Marnie (1964) 10) Cary Grant: * Notorious (1946) * North by Northwest (1959) 11) Grace Kelley: * Rear Window (1954) * Dial M for Murder (1954) 12) black comedies: * The Trouble with Harry (1955) * Family Plot (1976) 13) Hitch and the "method": * I Confess (1953) * Torn Curtain (1964) 14) horror films: * Psycho (1960) * The Birds (1963) 15) the wrong one won the Oscar: * Rebecca (1940) * Vertigo (1958)

he designed that silhouette of himself that appeared at the beginning of each episode. Between that, the "funeral march of a marionette" music, his deadpan, blackly funny delivery, and the macabre stories, i was totally hooked on that show. I later read his short story anthologies and magazine (he wasn't involved in these publishing efforts; he just licensed them his name, for marketing purposes), and i still have a boardgame from that time called "Alfred Hitchcock's `WHY' game". I didn't actually like his movies til i was much older

- "Film your murders like love scenes, and film your love scenes like murders", Alfred Hitchcock. Sir Alfred Hitchcock, the proverbial master of suspense, is generally considered the greatest British director of all time. Hitch was a small, lonely, fat lad ("I was an uncommonly unattractive young man."), with an absent father and controlling mother, raised in strict catholic home. There is a story that, as a child, he was sent to the local constabulary, with a letter from his father. The policeman read the letter and immediately locked the boy up for ten minutes. After that, the sergeant let young Alfred go, explaining, "This is what happens to people who do bad things." He had a morbid fear of police from that day on. Obviously, such an upbringing would likely precipitate his later preoccupations, and so his neurotic obsessions with guilt, wrongful accusation, lost identity, voyeurism, and the linkage of sex and death formed the themes of his most iconic work. He started out as an engineering draftsman and designer, which is evident in the visual storytelling techniques he developed ("If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on.") He then got work in the fledgling silent film industry in the UK, with some stops and starts. His first hit was the silent thriller THE LODGER, loosely based on Jack the ripper. His subsequent successes (MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH, 39 STEPS and LADY VANISHES) would catch the attention of Hollywood, and the siren's song would soon call him across the pond. selection of UK films: * The Lodger (1927) - silent * Blackmail (1929) - silent & then released as UK's 1st talkie * The Man Who Knew too much (1934) - his 1st international hit (better than the subsequent remake) * 39 Steps (1935) - his first great film * The Lady Vanishes (1938) - another great early film, got the attention of hollywood * Jamaica Inn (1939) - a flop, but didn't deter Selznick Selznick years: Noted producer David O. Selznick brought Hitch to Hollywood to direct the gothic melodrama REBECCA, to much acclaim and success, but not without tension between the two titanic control freaks. Hitch went on to make a number of successful films during his "selznick years", though some were for other studios to whom Selznick had loaned (i.e., sold) him out. SUSPICION, NOTORIOUS and SHADOW OF A DOUBT are the best thrillers of the period. FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, SABOTEUR and LIFEBOAT are all solid WWII-themed works, but MR & MRS SMITH is a forgettable romantic comedy, SPELLBOUND is overwrought psychobabble and PARADINE CASE an overlong courtroom drama. Gregory Peck was not one of Hitch's better leading men, as his particular brand of square-jawed heroism lacked the moral ambiguity and sly humor of his more successful colaborations with Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart. * Rebecca (1940) - Academy Award (Best Picture) for Selznick, not Hitch. ultimately, more a selznick movie than a Hitchcock movie (one of the few Hitch was not involved with the script's development). It has not dated well. * Foreign Correspondent (1940) (AA nom/picture) - solid WWII anti-nazi agitprop * Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) - minor screwball comedy with Carole Lombarde * Suspicion (1941) - 1st work as a producer (AA nom/picture), and his first work with Cary Grant; solid, but a sellout ending * Saboteur (1942) - solid WWII era "wrong man" thriller, ending atop Statue of Liberty (action scenes on iconic monuments a continuing motif) * Shadow of a Doubt (1943) - Joseph Cotton great as psycho Uncle Charlie... Terrific; hitch's personal fave. * Lifeboat (1944) (AA nom/director) - solid WWII drama; more theatrical than cinematic (the "single set" limitation is one he'd go back to) * Spellbound (1945) (AA nom/director, picture) - Gregory Peck, with 1st of hitch's great "cool blondes", Ingrid Bergman, and a Dali dream sequence. Doesn't hold up at all. Freudian subtext becomes text. silly, talky. * Notorious (1946) - Grant and Bergman are a much better pairing, Rains makes a great Cuckolded villain * The Paradine Case (1947) - overlong courtroom flop, with Bergman & Peck 1950s-60s Warners: After his contract with Selznick expired, Hitchcock produced his next 2, both flops. He expiremented with extended cuts and technicolor in ROPE, loosely based on the Leopold & Loeb thrill killer case, with a miscast Jimmy Stewart as an academic. UNDER CAPRICORN was likely undone not only by its mediocrity but the worldwide scandal that Ingrid Bergman was in the middle of (as she was having an affair, and later a child, with director Roberto Rosellini). The films were released by Warner Bros, and they then produced many of his subsequent films of the period (most of which were not particularly successful). DIAL M was Hitch's first big widescreen effort, in which he used some 3D effects, though the film was not actually released in 3D version until the 1980s. It also featured the 1st work with his new "cool blonde", Grace Kelly. * Rope (1948) - interesting filmic experiment, but dramatically flawed * Under Capricorn (1949) - dull flop * Stage Fright (1950) - Dietrich, minor work * Strangers on a Train (1951) - the best of this WB period * I Confess (1953) - Monty Clift as priest; nothing special. Hitch was not a fan of "method actors". * Dial M for Murder (1954) -first widescreen film (3d in 1980s) and 1st with Grace Kelly; holds up pretty well. * The Wrong Man (1956) - true story, with Henry Fonda. Its documentary feel undermines dramatic impact. Paramount: - "Blondes make the best victims. They're like virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints." Hitch did 5 films with Paramount, which were all given a theatrical re-release back in the 1980s, before being redistributed to the newly burgeoning home video market. 2 of these were two of his very best films, REAR WINDOW and VERTIGO, both with Jimmy Stewart at his most sexually disturbing and obsessed, verging on sado-masochistic. * Rear Window (1954) (AA nom/director) - Stewart & Kelly; darkly funny, disturbing rumination on voyeurism * To Catch a Thief (1955) - Kelly and Grant in light romantic thriller; urbane sophisticated entertainment. Kelly went on to become Princess Grace after the film. * The Trouble with Harry (1955) - black comedy about a dead body, with a cute young shirley maclaine; silly, pointless. * The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) - Doris Day sings "Que Sera, Sera" -- a ridiculous remake. * Vertigo (1958) - my favorite cool blonde, Kim Novak, totally fetishized by Stewart (and Hitch). One of the greatest films ever made. * North by Northwest (1959) - Grant and E.M.Saint, "wrong man", black comedy, freudian sexual hysteria, thrilling climax on national monument, the crop duster... its Hitch at his absolute best. * Psycho (1960) (AA nom/director) - Hitch crossed the line from suspense to pure horror, reinventing the genre and making a fortune for his efforts... he waived his salary to take 60% of net profits when he produced it as an indie (nobody wanted to touch the project), but eventually distributed by Paramount. Universal: As host of his longrunning tv anthology series,"Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1955-65), Hitch became an international celebrity bigger than any of his movies ("I was very pleased that television was now showing murder stories, because it's bringing murder back into its rightful setting - in the home"). During the late 50s, his artistic accomplishments as a flimmaker were finally being recognized in Europe by Truffaut and other french journalists-turned-filmmakers, and he became the darling of the new auteur theorists. But Hitch's health started to deteriorate in the 1960s, and his films for Universal in the mid 60s-70s mark his slow fade. * The Birds (1963) - Tippi Hedren was his next and last "cool blonde"; still memorable depiction of an avian uprising mysteriously connected to sexual desire. Arguably his last great film. * Marnie (1964) - Hedren with Sean Connery in a psycho-sexual thriller that harkened back to SPELLBOUND in its freudian obsessions; unsuccessful but some critical views put it in the pantheon of Hitch's best work. I disagree. * Torn Curtain (1964) - an unsuccessful cold war thriller, this time with Julie Andrews (who was foisted upon him) and Paul Newman, who, as another "method actor", was a problem for Hitch. ("When an actor comes to me and wants to discuss his character, I say, "It's in the script"/ If he says, "But what's my motivation?", I say, "Your salary".) * Topaz (1969) - another cold war thriller, this one had no stars and flopped * Frenzy (1972) - hitch went back to the UK, and became more explicit in his depiction of sex and death; some said it was a return to form, others bemoaned its excesses. But he always pushed the boundaries. * Family Plot (1976) - this goofy black comedy was Hitch's final film and an inauspicious final note. Never having won an Oscar as a director, Hitch was finally given a lifetime award in 1967 (his speech: "thank you.") In 1979, he was knighted (When asked by a member of the press why, at his advanced age, it took so long for the British government to grant him the title of Knight, he said: "I think it's just a matter of carelessness.") He died shortly thereafter. but his work lives on, not only in film archives, but in the careers of many filmmakers who came after him and were so influenced by his remarkable output. A baker's dozen to see: The Man Who Knew too much (1934) 39 Steps (1935) The Lady Vanishes (1938) Rebecca (1940) Shadow of a Doubt(1943) Notorious (1946) Strangers on a Train (1951) Dial M for Murder (1954) Rear Window (1954) Vertigo (1958) North by Northwest (1959) Psycho (1960) The Birds (1963)

My Hitchcock filmography viewtopic.php?f=11&t=14819&p=373100#p373100

time for a Hitchcock filmography...

Broadway house seats are not complimentary; they're simply the best seats in the house, reserved by contract to artists and orgs involved in the production, and cost what they cost.

psychobabble (that, later, almost ruined the end of PSYCHO) is the guilty party here, and the ridiculous Dali dream doesn't save it. Hitch was always alot more interesting when his neuroses were upfront but less self-conscious, like NORTH BY NORTHWEST, VERTIGO and REAR WINDOW.

i LOVE these guys. I laughed out loud throughout. And its funny cuz its true.

Speaking of the AL CY race, Seattle's Felix Hernandez saw his record drop to 12-12 despite throwing an 8-inning 2-hitter which dropped his ERA to a league-low 2.31 and upped his IP and K to league-highs of 241 & 227 And yet there will be those who will make the argument that 'he doesn't win' or that his main competition (Sabathia & Price) could have their ERAs that low too except that they choose not to because they're 'pitching to the score' the one i've been hearing most lately is that, pitching for a bad team that's been out it since May, Felix hasn't had to throw any "pressure games", unlike CC. As if standing on a major league mound isn't always "pressure". Or as if a major league pitcher, knowing his team isn't going to score and so needs to throw a shutout everytime out, isn't under "pressure". Or as if a pitcher in front of the best offense in baseball isn't going to throw a little more free and easy. It just boggles the mind the excuses and rationales people will cling to in order to justify their preconceived notions and antiquated analyses. cuz, ya see, some guys are "winners" and, therefore, the W-L record is not an empty stat indicative of many things beyond a pitcher's control... it's a stat indicating moral superiority.

Kong76 wrote: I could never Afford a pool To fry dogs in If it wasn't for this great man ... now that is some funny shit right there.

oh, man, i just got a stiffie.

...and Smggy is lapping the field. premature congrats. That leaves GYC and me fighting it out for 2nd place, with NYmr and Beltran's Hammy close behind. In retrospect, the season was probably decided in the 6th round of the draft, when i picked Cantu and Smggy took Carlos Gonzalez 6 picks later. Ah, well. Considering i had to auto-pick the last third of the draft and then deal with numerous injuries to expected contributors (as we all did, i'm sure) [Vic to F-Rod: Drop Dead!], and even though i made some inexplicable moves (why on earth did i waive Buster Posey, after waiting all season for him to show up?), i can't complain about my season.

or better yet, let Thole hit against a crappy LHP. He needs some ABs against LHers if he's going to be our everyday catcher next year. And while yer at it, Jerry, lets get Turner up at 2b.

i'm not feeling any love for Tejada. Has he done anything in the majors to indicate that the .696 OPS he put up in the minors over the course of 1500 or so minor league ABs at 4 different levels was an anomoly? Sure, he might hit a punchless .270 while striking out a bunch, and he might steal 20 bases, but that's his upside and he's nowhere near that yet. And sure, he's only 21, so if he actually produces a significant minor league season, we can talk. But the notion that he's our leading candidate for 2b is sad to me. Even as a SS, his production would be mediocre at best, and that's only if he reaches his potential. i guess i'm missing something. Turner is 25 and has hit .300 with some xbh pop and a few SBs at every level, accumulating a career .815 OPS over 1900 minor league ABs. He's got nothing left to prove. In fact, his numbers are comparable, and a bit better, than "slugger" daniel murphy. except Turner is clearly able to play the middle infield. Did he run over somebody's dog, or something?

I guess I'm still wondering how Castillo got buried beneath two guys, maybe more. cuz burying him beneath 2 tons of concrete would seem excessive, no matter how well deserved.