Vic Sage

i had the misfortune of gambling on Perez for my fantasy teams the last 2 years, based on his "upside", and i got creamed for it. Paying attention to reports about him led me to read stories on a regular basis about his lost velocity after an arm injury. I can write off a guy with control problems who has lost his fastball... and i can do so quite easily. Yes, I'd prefer to have Nady this year over Milledge, but this is as good as Nady has ever been, and its only ok. If we wanted to move him in a 3-way that netted us a Linebrink-level setup guy, + Stairs-type LHed bat off the bench, then i wouldn't have been heartbroken to watch him go. But for Robo and Perez? Puhleez.

Nady was a serviceable RFer who'll likely be replaced in the lineup by Milledge (mostly). I don't see a big dropoff there, and there's a possiblity of much greater production from the 5-tool rookie. as for Hernandez and Perez... Aside from ongoing control problems, Perez lost 5 MPH off his fastball and has been suckola ever since. Hernandez is a barely-hanging-on 41-year old setup guy, brought in to replace D.Sanchez. But is he really that much better than either Bell, Maine, Owens or whomever the Mets have floating around right now? Better enough to give away a decent 27-yr old RF/1Bman with pop? I don't mind giving Nady's job to Milledge, but we could have filled the RHP hole from within and moved Nady for a decent prospect or 2, if we were so anxious to dump him, after dumping Cammy's salary to acquire hm in the first place. I don't like the trade... we didn't get comparable value. I'm not sanguine about Robo helping very much, given his secondary numbers, and Perez is not worth a damn thing. And we still need a better starter than trax as our #3, and a LHed bat off the bench.

shitfuck how is Henry Owens doing down on the farm?

Also this movie is probably hated by countless of cops and DAs across the countries through the years. Granted it turns out to be the correct decision (apparantly, but I'd love to see the DA's face in the courtroom "All that because a guy was upset over the death of his son?") but thanks to this kind of movie every hack juror is probably thinking "There has got to be one sliver of doubt here..." this is a moronic thing to say. The jury is the last failsafe in our judicial system to try and get justice in a system that favors the wealthy. The movie offers at least a possibility for weighing rationality, compassion and fairness over irrationality, hatred, bigotry and everything else human beings bring into a jury room with them. It says to people who may one day be on a jury that "you have a duty to rise above both YOUR pettiness and OUR inequities, to try and reach a just result". If that upsets DAs and cops, then they're in the wrong business. And conviction rates are extremely high, despite high-profile celebrity acquittals, so they usually get their man. The notion that there are juries running wild out there is just such complete utter nonsense.

Why am I thinking Jack Lemmon was in it as well? that was the TV remake about 10 years ago. Lemmon played the Fonda part, and it had Hume Cronyn as the old man, and George C. Scott in the Lee J. Cobb role. and the 2 "Tony"s... Danza and Soprano.

I LOVE this movie. This is what i recall: Martin Balsam - jury chairman John Fiedler - weasily little guy who kept changing his mind Lee J. Cobb - angry guy working out his grief over his dead son (businessman?) E.G. Marshall - intellectual guy with glasses (professional?) Jack Klugman - grew up in slums Jack Warden - obnoxious salesman; trying to get to a ballgame Henry Fonda - the conscience of the jury (architect?) Ed Begley - racist with a cold Robert Webber - dopey ad exec plus there was: - the old man (retired?) who supports Fonda - the immigrant watchmaker - the blue-collar guy who sticks up for the old man

The question really is whether the mets are good enough to win the world series WITH Zito. I think they would be. And i don't think they can do it without him, or someone comparable. So do you pass on a legit shot at a WS to gamble not only on Milledge's future, but the future of the team as a whole to get back to a post-season again in the forseeable future, even with Milledge? There are no guarantees that we'll get back to this position again next year, or the year after. But we're here NOW, so you take a shot, and grab for it with both hands, and don't let go. Then you spend all that NY money to keep Zito here. Its not like we wouldn't be the favorites to re-sign him, because we have the resources, a winning team, a favored pitching coach, and extra $$ media opportunities not available elsewhere. Yeah, go for it.

i guess this'll help Texas make a run at the weak AL West (they're .500 and only 2 games back of Oakland), but whats the point? Its not like they're good enough, even with Lee, to beat ChiSox, Tigers, BoSox or Yanks. And then Lee can walk away after the season, and Texas has given away 3 players for a shot at a Division title only. Unless they think this'll put them in a substantially better position to re-sign Lee... then, of course, its worth doing because Lee is more valuable than the package Texas gave up for him.

day 4, list #4: Conan the barbarian - Milius' Ahnold epic Seconds - fascinating "twilight zone" type frankenheimer movie Sleeper - Woody when he was funny Magnificent 7 - love it, love it, love it Matrix - i can watch it indefinitely Maltese Falcon - love that snappy dialogue Terminator - i can watch it even more than "Matrix" Young Frankenstein - Brooks #3 Kind Hearts & Coronets - Ealing comedies always work Jaws - heartpounding thriller

Yes, chuck, you're quite right. Actually, i shouldn't include any UK films based on BBC shows. They're produced for different reasons, under different circumstances, within a different system, and don't really deal with the "Hollywood genre" of which I'm speaking. But the Quatermass films are definitely worth seeing. The first two, THE CREEPING UNKNOWN (1955) and ENEMY FROM SPACE (1957), were produced by the legendary HAMMER FILMS UK company, with Brian Donlevy (of all people!), as the scientist-hero of these creepy, low-budget black & white SF/Horror films. Hammer made the 3rd one, 5 MILLION YEARS TO EARTH (1967), on a bigger budget, in color with good SFX, and Dr. Quatermass was played this time by the much more convincing English actor Andrew Keir. For my money, its the best of the bunch.

NY Mets (60-41), 1st place/NL East, vs. Atlanta Braves (48-52), 2nd place/NL East (11.5 games back) at Turner Field, Fri 7/28 - Sun 7/30 Fri, Jul 28 7:35 pm EDT - P. Mart�nez vs. H. Ram�rez Sat, Jul 29 1:20 pm EDT - O. Hern�ndez vs. T. Hudson Sun, Jul 30 1:05 pm EDT - T. Glavine vs. C. James Braves lineup: M.Giles, 2b Renteria, SS C.Jones, 3b A.Jones, CF McCann, C Francoeur, RF LaRoche, 1b Langerhans, LF Bench: Betemit Pratt * Orr Thorman Diaz Rotation: Tim Hudson Chuck James John Smoltz Jason Shiell Horacio Ram�rez Bullpen: Bob Wickman Macay McBride Chad Paronto Ken Ray Jorge Sosa Oscar Villarreal Tyler Yates * * = ex-Mets After a dismal June, the Atlanta Braves are in the middle of the National League wild-card race thanks to their potent offense. Atlanta finished June with the worst record in the majors, going 6-21, but has the second-best record in the NL in July, winning 14 of 20. The Braves lost eight of nine series from May 29-June 28, including seven straight, before their turnaround began. They have not won seven straight series since winning 10 in a row from April 15-May 18, 2003. They can win their 8th straight series today, by beating the Marlins this afternoon. The Braves have 49 homers in July, a franchise record for this month, and are six away from the major league mark for July set by the 1947 Giants and 2003 Red Sox. Fifty-five also is the team record for any month. Overall, Atlanta has 141 homers this season, one fewer than Cincinnati for the NL lead, and now trails the Reds by only 4 1/2 games in the wild-card race because of its recent power surge. Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, Brian McCann and LaRoche each have hit seven home runs this month. Andruw Jones was back in the lineup Wednesday after missing three games with a sore back, and hit a HR. LaRoche is batting .419 (18-for-43) with 16 RBIs and 13 runs in 11 games since the All-Star break. The Braves achilles heel this season has been their bullpen. That is, until last week, when they acquired closer Bob Wickman in a trade with Cleveland. He's had three straight scoreless appearances for the Braves and two saves, giving him a total of 17. Atlanta's bullpen had blown 20 of 40 save opportunities before Wickman arrived. That was after Chris Reitsma, out for the season following elbow surgery, converted starter Jorge Sosa and former minor league journeyman Kenny Ray all had a shot at the closer's role As for their starting rotation, Thomson, Hampton and Davies have been on the DL most of the season, and "ace" Tim Hudson has been awful. That being said, Horacio Ramirez has had 8 good starts out of 11, and rookie Chuck James is 4-1 in 5 starts. Smoltz is having another good year, but the Mets won't face him or the other rookie, Shiell, in this series. What about the Mets? Well, you should all know about them. [NOTE: much of this was lifted from article on Yahoo, by MATT BECKER, STATS Writer] [ON EDIT: The Braves lost to the Marlins today, 6-1.]

Michael Mann - a selected filmography Micahael Mann is one of the true auteur filmmakers still making movies in Hollywood. His films are stylish, action-oriented tales of violent but sympathetic anti-heroes (whether cops, soldiers or criminals). He has total control over his work, as a writer-director-producer and sometimes even cameraman. And he is one of the few such auteurs with success both in film and TV. 1970s He began as a TV writer (and later a director, and then creator) of 70s cop shows. He broke through with JERICHO MILE, a TV movie about a convict who becomes a distance runner. It featured the existential anti-hero protagonist who would become a staple of his work. "Police Story" (1973) (TV Series) - writer "Starsky and Hutch" (1975-77)(TV series) - writer "Police Woman" (1977) (TV Series) - director "Vega$" (1978) (TV Series) - creator / writer / director "The Jericho Mile" (1979) (TV movie) - writer / director 1980s In the 80s, in the wake of his successful TV work, he launched his feature film career with THIEF, which may still be his best film to date. The use of saturated color and a Tangerine Dream score gave the story of a principled jewel thief out for one last score (with a doomed dream of settling down to a normal life afterwards) a unique visual and viceral impact. Jimmy Caan's performance (like many performances in Mann's films) is one of the best of his career. Unfortunately, the film was only a success de estime, and so he then took a directing job for the money, THE KEEP, a failed horror/war movie. He returned to TV and created MIAMI VICE, which once again used music and color in conjunction with fast-paced action and violent protagonists to great effect. MIAMI VICE impacted the culture of the time, giving him the clout to go back to features. MANHUNTER, his adaptation of "Red Dragon", was not the success of Demme's SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, but is an excellent thriller nonetheless. Back to TV, he created the terrific "Crime Story" series, but it bombed quickly. After some other inconsequential work in TV, he returned to features with a bang. Thief (1981) - writer /exec.producer / director The Keep (1983) - director "Miami Vice" (1985)(TV series) - writer / exec.producer Manhunter (1986) - writer / director (+ camera) "Crime Story" (1987)(TV series) - writer / producer / director 1990s-present The 1990s launched Mann's most prolonged (albeit not very prolific) period of success as a feature filmmaker with total control over his work, beginning with MOHICANS, a romantic/ epic/ period adventure that met with great success. The Last of the Mohicans (1992) - writer / producer / director Heat (1995) - writer / producer / director The Insider (1999) - writer / producer / director (camera) Ali (2001) - writer / producer / director (camera) Collateral (2004) - producer / director Miami Vice (2006) - writer / producer / director Now in his 60s, the diminutive mid-western auteur has come full circle, adapting MIAMI VICE, his greatest TV success, as a big-budget Hollywood feature, with a host of projects currently in development. He's not had a prolific film career, but what he's done has been of a pretty high calibre.

indeed i did. thanks. oh, and upcoming remakes currently scheduled include I DREAM OF JEANNIE, CHiPS, DALLAS, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL and JETSONS. upcoming spinoffs: 24, SIMPSONS, AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE, DIRTY SANCHEZ, EVANGELION

i just got back from lunch at Tonic, the Met Lounge, and i saw no hits or runs scored. Freakin' Prior. He waited till i dropped him off one of my fantasy teams to actually throw a solid game.

remakes are not the same as spinoffs. AOL list has mixed the 2. my top 10 spinoffs: South park Serenity Star Trek II:Khan Wayne's World Blues Brothers ST VIII: First Contact Naked Gun ST IV:Voyage Home Dr. Who & Daleks The Coneheads and the worst spinoffs: TWIN PEAKS JACKASS MUNSTER GO HOME GONG SHOW MOVIE HEAD NUDE BOMB DARK SHADOWS NIGHT AT ROXBURY ITS PAT my top 10 remakes: Untouchables The Fugitive Addams Family Mission: Impossible Twilight Zone Maverick Charlie's Angels George of the Jungle Sgt. Bilko Scooby Doo I had to scrape the barrel to come up with 10 remakes that didn't COMPLETELY suck. Only the 1st 3 are *** or better. Now here's a "baker's dozen" of worst TV remakes: AVENGERS McHALE'S NAVY BEVERLY HILLBILLIES LITTLE RASCALS LEAVE IT TO BEAVER LOST IN SPACE DUKES OF HAZZARD MOD SQUAD HONEYMOONERS CAR 54 FAT ALBERT ADVENTURES OF ROCKY & BULLWINKLE BORIS & NATASHA for a discussion of remakes and spinoffs, see the other thread: http://cybermessageboard.ehost.com/getalife/viewtopic.php?t=4147

This is a "spinoff" from the "11 worst movies" thread. Movie remakes of TV shows: what a disastrous idea! by Vic Sage There are different types of feature film adaptations of TV shows, and in order to compare or rank them qualitatively, one needs to define terms with more specificity. First of all, some movies serve as an EXTENSION of a TV series, sometimes to cash in on a hit show, or sometimes to revive a show, or to finish off a series, or provide a coda for it, or to expand a skit or cartoon into a full story. They generally include original cast members and are usually made and released in the same era as the TV show. These are sequels and spinoffs, not remakes, and include such movies as: - Spinoffs (SERENITY ***, NAKED GUN 1-3 (** ½), X-FILES **½ , DR. WHO & DALEKS **½, LIZZIE MAGUIRE **, BATMAN (66) **, McHALE'S NAVY (65) *, TWIN PEAKS *,MUNSTER GO HOME *, HEAD*, GONG SHOW MOVIE 0*, NUDE BOMB 0*, JACKASS 0*, DARK SHADOWS 0*) - Sketch movies (WAYNES WORLD 1, 2 *** / **, BLUES BROTHERS 1,2 *** / *, CONEHEADS ** ½ , STRANGE BREW ** ½ , KIDS IN THE HALL: BRAIN CANDY ** ½ , STRANGERS WITH CANDY ** ½ , BEAN **, MST3K **, NIGHT AT ROXBURY 0*, ITS PAT 0*) - Anime and/or Animation features (SOUTH PARK *** ½ , A MAN CALLED FLINSTONE **, BEAVIS & BUTTHEAD**, COWBOY BEBOP *, THE JETSONS*,POKEMON*, TRANSFORMERS (86)*) and the Nickelodeon feature cartoons (SPONGEBOB, POWERPUFF GIRLS, RUGRATS, HEY ARNOLD, DOUG, WILD THORNBERRIES)(all are around ** ½) The nature, purpose and form of spinoffs and sequels are different than that of TV show remakes. Spinoffs do no generally re-invent or re-imagine the shows, they merely extend the shows into a new market. They are not specifically trying to appeal to new audiences, or to appeal to nostalgia of older fans, but merely exploiting the existing property in another medium for current fans. Focusing on remakes narrows the discussion to a more consistent and manageable group of movies… contemporary feature films that try to adapt older TV shows as live-action movies, with no temporal or personal connection to the original. These try to re-invent and re-imagine the ideas, characters, themes, plot elements and spirit of the original, both for a new audience and for an older, nostalgic one. The one exception I make is for the 10 STAR TREK movies. Although they do use the TV casts (with ST 1 constituting a spinoff, with 9 sequels thereafter), the feature series did not begin until over 10 years after the show had been cancelled and was intended to reinvent characters (to some degree) and to have nostalgic appeal. The movies are a hyrid of spinoff, sequel AND remake. So I’ve ranked them separately, as follows: II: WRATH OF KHAN *** VIII: FIRST CONTACT *** IV: VOYAGE HOME *** VI: UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY **½ VII: GENERATIONS **½, III: SEARCH FOR SPOCK **½, IX: INSURRECTION ** X: NEMESIS ** (thus destroying the "even number = good ST movie" theory) ST: THE MOTION PICTURE *½ V: FINAL FRONTIER *½ Remakes based on a live-action series: MIAMI VICE - ?? UNTOUCHABLES – great movie **** THE FUGITIVE – great movie **** ADDAMS FAMILY 1,2 – 1st one quite good, 2nd one not *** ½ / ** MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 1,2,3 – successful but increasingly mediocre *** / ** ½ / ** TWILIGHT ZONE – episodic by nature, some episodes better than others ** ½ MAVERICK – fair to middling ** ½ SGT. BILKO – only fair, but funny ** ½ CHARLIE'S ANGELS 1,2 – 1st one is good-bad fun; 2nd one not ** ½ / ** BRADY BUNCH 1,2 – bad, but fun; 2nd one just bad ** ½ / * DRAGNET – not good ** THE SAINT – not good ** STARSKY & HUTCH – not good ** BEWITCHED – not good ** SWAT – bad * LASSIE – bad * I, SPY – bad * FLIPPER- bad * WILD WILD WEST – bad * MY FAVORITE MARTIAN - bad* [on edit: thanks Yancy] AVENGERS – disaster 0* McHALE'S NAVY – disaster 0* BEVERLY HILLBILLIES – disaster 0* LITTLE RASCALS – disaster 0* LEAVE IT TO BEAVER – disaster 0* LOST IN SPACE – total disaster 0* DUKES OF HAZZARD – disaster 0* MOD SQUAD – disaster 0* HONEYMOONERS – disaster 0* CAR 54 – disaster 0* Based on animated series: GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE ** ½ SCOOBY DOO 1,2 - ** ½ / ** FLINTSTONES 1,2 ** / * AEON FLUX - ** DUDLEY DO RIGHT - ** HE-MAN, MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE - * JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS - * THUNDERBIRDS - * INSPECTOR GADGET - * MR. MAGOO - * UNDERCOVER BROTHER - * FAT ALBERT - 0* ROCKY & BULLWINKLE – 0* BORIS & NATASHA – 0* [Note: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES 1-3 are based on comic book, not the subsequent cartoon, but I’d rate them as ** ½ / ** / ** ½] Other people’s ratings would surely vary to some degree (you might have more respect for MAVERICK or less for GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE, for example), but I think, taken as a whole, my ratings reflect a general consensus and indicate that the sub-genre of TV show remakes has been fairly disastrous, as a Hollywood concept.. Even spinoffs are rarely good, with a few notable exceptions (ie, some of the STAR TREK movies, SERENITY, SOUTH PARK, as well as the 1st NAKED GUN, WAYNE’S WORLD and BLUES BROS. Movies). Is this general awfulness a result of something inherent in the underlying source material? Is there something about TV shows that render them unlikely to translate to the big screen, as either remakes or spinoffs? Or is there something about Hollywood’s decision-making process to greenlight such projects that renders them unlikely to succeed? It’s a subject worth discussing, I think. Theories, anyone?

[u:2cme3bkh]Day 3, 3rd top 10 list (again, in no particular order):[/u:2cme3bkh] BREAKFAST CLUB - Hughes' brand of teen angst in its purest form, undiluted by plot or even much humor. Reminiscent of DUCK SOUP, in that way. THIS IS SPINAL TAP - the Ur-text for the mockumentary form. CLOCKWORK ORANGE - ultra violence and Ludwig Van, my droogies. STARDUST MEMORIES - Woody's quirky, personal 8 1/2. WILLY WONKA - Wilder + songs + oompa loompas = many viewings. MONTY PYTHON & THE HOLY GRAIL - how could i have forgotten this one? THE TWELVE CHAIRS - my second favorite Brooks film. "Oh God, you're so strict!" ROBOCOP - violent and funny... my favorite combination. LOCAL HERO - gentle, whimsical and sad fairy tale, of a sort, with great score. THE NATURAL - 3rd favorite baseball movie. Betrays the book, but stands on its own.

2 words that send chills down my spine (and not in a good way)... "Michael Bay".... Wolfie, with your affection for headbanging music, i can definitely see why you'd like Bay's obnoxiously loud, fast, mind-numbing macho movies. While the "Transformers" were an 80s phenomenon (after my time), i'd still be interested if it were being directed by almost anybody else.

LOCAL HERO is a great movie. Great Mark Knopler soundtrack, too.

i didn't see if you mentioned this already, but Jason Tyner is playing CF for the Twins these days.

i couldn't stop giggling on Saturday when they played the theme from SANFORD AND SON for Cliff Floyd, as he hobbled to the plate.

I gots guns you gots guns all god's chilln' got gunnnss..... We should make that our new national anthem. "Remember, you're fighting for this woman's honour, which is probably more than she ever did."

ditto.

they should certainly stay out of businesses where they are trying to compete entreprenaurily (sp?) with experienced adults, with superior judgment and resources. I remember renting tables at comic conventions when i was in 13-14, buying and selling my collection. It was all very exciting, but i wasn't much of a businessman, and i'd get emotionally involved with acquiring certain books (thus overpaying) or needing to shed myself of others (thereby underselling). And the adults in the room were more than willing to take advantage of the stupid kid who just HAD to have that badly damaged Spidey #1 and hated the new X-Men so much he was willing to sell Giant-Sized X-Men #1 for a pittance. But some kids i knew made good business decisions, and it proved valuable lessons for their future careers. To be good at it, though, you had to treat the thing you loved like a commodity and distance yourself from it. I couldn't do that. And i agree its not generally a good idea to encourage kids to do that, either. And when the baseball card and comicbook industries turned their sights on the "serious collector", they sabotaged their businesses to a degree that neither of them have truly recovered from.

Despite my comicbook-collecting fetish, i never actively "collected" baseball cards. Oh, sure, i had some. Who didn't? And I "flipped" cards with the kid next door, Stewie. But even as i was lovingly bagging and cataloging my Silver-age and Bronze-age Marvel comics, i had my baseball cards tacked to my bulletin board, or stuffed roughly into desk drawers, or loosely scattered amongst my dirty laundry. And its not like i was unaware of the collectibility of the cards. I had a cousin with a very impressive collection of late 50s-early 60s cards of NY players (Yanks, Dodgers, Giants, Mets), including a Mantle rookie card in very nice shape. I just didn't care about them. Unlike comics (or SF/fantasy paperbacks, which i also hoarded), the cards had no intrinsic value to me. There was no entertainment value in them, beyond the static picture and blurb on the back, with some stats. It took all of 1 minute to drain a baseball card of all its entertainment value. Whereas a story took time to read, and could be re-read on ocasion, or shared and discussed with friends. "The Hulk could kick Thor's ass!"... "No way that gay viking puts a dent in the Hulk! Hulk is strongest one of all!" I'm not suggesting that card collecting is or was any more or less valid or fulfilling as any other hobby. I'm just saying i was never into it. I did save alot of my Mets yearbooks though.