Vic Sage

Man At the Wheel: A Filmography http://archives.thecranepool.net/17500/f11_t17501.shtml

loved it. Edgar wright is one of the best filmmakers on this or any other planet (as far as i know).

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I've seen all of the top 22. I agree about The Rocketeer; I really liked that movie and it should be ranked higher. It could easily swap positions with Iron Man 3. I also think that, as low as it's ranked, Dick Tracy should be ranked even lower. I was trying to think of any movies that you've missed, but nothing's coming to me. If I think of anything, I'll be back! I wouldn't rank ROCKETEER outside of the top 25. And at least DICK TRACY has a couple of Sondheim songs and cool visuals.

see selection criteria: theatrical features only; no serials or tv series. it's a different challenge (and arguably easier) to adapt a comic book series into the episodic chapter/based storytelling format of serials and tv, and so not quite comparable. Same thing with adapting them into animated films/series.

they need revenue, so maybe they just put an ad on the front of his jersey that says: "put your team's name here!"

nobody is taking cespedes at that price. with a body that is continually breaking down, WE shouldn't have taken him at that price.

I've now gone beyond the rankings of superhero movies that I posted in the Wonder Woman thread, in order to create this study that ranks superhero movies based on 4 criteria (Rotten Tomatoes "fresh" percentage, RT critic's average score, Metacritic score [when available] and IMDB rating); it then averages their rankings in each of these categories. These categories represent a cross-section of both critical and popular opinion, so aggregating them gives us (I would argue) a good cross-section of different views on these films. Here is the criteria i used for defining a "superhero film" (as i previously stated): * English language live-action feature films, * Released theatrically in the US after the publication of Action #1 (1938), that are * Based on a pre-existing US or UK comic-book or comic-strip superhero. This resulted in a list of 102 movies (not including the recently released "Spider-Man: Homecoming," for which not enough data has yet emerged). The list includes a few comic-strip based pulp characters that preceded Superman (flash gordon, the phantom, Dick Tracy, Sheena), but there are prose or radio-based characters that have not been included (Tarzan, Lone Ranger, Conan, the Shadow, Green Hornet, Zorro, Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, etc.), because this exercise is really about seeing how the American film industry has converted 4-color sequential "superhero" stories into live-action motion pictures. So adapting radio shows or prose or animation, or creating original movie superhero characters, or comparing theatrically released films to tv shows or d2v movies, or comparing US adaptation to foreign films, are all very different things with significantly different artistic and economic models involved. Ultimately, this gets into some arbitrary line-drawing, but without parameters, I'd have to include myths, legends, religious tales, anime, etc. from all over the world, from every medium, and it would be totally unwieldy and a less useful exercise. And we wouldn't be comparing apples to apples, as it were. Anyway, here are the results of this unscientific survey: rank TITLE 1 DARK KNIGHT, the 2 LOGAN 3 IRON MAN 4 DARK KNIGHT RISES, the 5 SPIDER-MAN 2 6 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 7 SUPERMAN 8 WONDER WOMAN 9 AVENGERS 10 X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST 11 CAPTAIN AMERICA III: CIVIL WAR 12 BATMAN BEGINS 13 SPIDER-MAN 13 CAPTAIN AMERICA II: WINTER SOLDIER 15 DEADPOOL 16 DR. STRANGE 17 MEN IN BLACK 18 SUPERMAN II 19 X-MEN II: x-men united 20 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 21 X-MEN: FIRST CLASS 22 HELLBOY II: the golden army 23 CROW, the 24 KICK-ASS 25 X-MEN 26 ANT-MAN 26 V FOR VENDETTA 28 HELLBOY 29 BATMAN (89) 29 BATMAN RETURNS 31 AVENGERS II: AGE OF ULTRON 32 IRON MAN 3 32 CAPTAIN AMERICA: FIRST AVENGER 34 WATCHMEN 35 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 36 SUPERMAN RETURNS 37 KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE 38 DREDD 39 THOR 40 FLASH GORDON 41 WANTED 42 IRON MAN 2 43 MASK, the 44 BATMAN: The Movie (66) 45 INCREDIBLE HULK, the (08) 46 THOR: DARK WORLD 47 MAN OF STEEL 48 MEN IN BLACK III 49 WOLVERINE, the 50 SPIDER-MAN 3 50 X-MEN III: the last stand 52 X-MEN: APOCALYPSE 52 ROCKETEER 54 BLADE 54 MYSTERY MEN 56 BLADE II 57 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN II 58 DICK TRACY 59 HULK (03) 60 CONSTANTINE 61 SWAMP-THING 62 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (90) 63 X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE 64 MEN IN BLACK II 65 BATMAN V SUPERMAN 66 BATMAN FOREVER 67 PHANTOM, the 68 KICK ASS 2 69 DAREDEVIL 70 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS (16) 71 FANTASTIC FOUR II: rise of the silver surfer 72 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES II: Secret of the Ooze (91) 72 TANK GIRL 74 SUICIDE SQUAD 75 PUNISHER (04) 76 FANTASTIC FOUR (2005) 77 GREEN LANTERN 77 SUPERMAN III 79 BLADE III: Trinity 80 PUNISHER WAR ZONE 81 GHOST RIDER 82 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (14) 83 RETURN OF THE SWAMP-THING 84 SHEENA 85 SPAWN 86 BARB WIRE 87 LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN 88 JUDGE DREDD 89 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES III (93) 90 ELEKTRA 91 GHOST RIDER II: spirit of vengeance 92 JONAH HEX 93 SPIRIT, the 94 CROW II: CITY OF ANGELS 94 HOWARD THE DUCK 96 BATMAN & ROBIN 97 FANTASTIC 4 (2015) 98 SUPERGIRL 99 STEEL 100 SUPERMAN IV: the quest for peace 101 CATWOMAN 102 SON OF THE MASK While i have personal quibbles about the order (everyone would, i imagine), i think the top 10 are the right 10 (more or less), and the top 40 are the right 40 (except for the criminally overlooked ROCKETEER, ranked 52). So, in the aggregate, i think this is a pretty good list to approach an objective understanding of the comparative quality and success of these films.

sounded like a French porn film by Edward Albee... i was disappointed to learn otherwise.

i enjoyed it (shocking, i know). But they totally dispensed with the key emotional trauma that makes him spider-man... i.e., guilt. There is plenty of room for a friendly, neighborhood spider-man, all properly teenagery and such, but you can't divorce him from the reason he chose to be a hero. You don't have to dwell on it, or replay the uncle ben murder again, but some allusion to the emotional burden he carries, and the reason he's helping people instead of just wrestling for cash, is still necessary for a spider-man movie. And it's not here. That being said, the kid is good and Michael Keaton is terrific.

41Forever wrote: I'd add Matz and possibly Familia to that list (assuming that people on the DL count as being on the roster). I wouldn't. While i wouldn't give them away (i wouldn't recommend we give ANYBODY away), i wouldn't say their off-limits. Matz is wildly inconsistent, except for being consistently injured. Familia? He was erratic at his best, and hasn't been at his best for quite a while. I'd try to keep both, but wouldn't cry if they went.

The notion that they'd by buyers if they went 8-2 and sellers at 6-4 or less is just an awful plan of action. Not that I disagree with your analysis, but its a terrible way to run a franchise. You can't look at this team play day in and day out and think that an 8-2 record over a 10 game span would be a good reason to "go for it." Anybody on the 40-man roster not named Conforto, deGrom, Syndegaard and Rosario should be made available, if anybody is interested.

Edgy MD wrote: Joel Schumacher has recently openly apologized for Batman Forever, including the nipple pouches. Yeah, it stunk, but I didn't find it particularly worse than the other three movies from that serial. And your inability to discern any qualitative difference between BATMAN FOREVER and BATMAN (89), or even BATMAN RETURNS, is why you are the lone voice of dissent in this WONDER WOMAN lovefest.

The Clones was the name of my science fiction club's softball team at John Dewey high school, back in Coney. Our jerseys all had the same number (3.14)

even her nipples are powerful. they require industrial-strength pouches.

[u:1qyhs4dt]lineup:[/u:1qyhs4dt] Rosario (ss) Nimmo* (Cf) - until Cespedes comes off DL, then Walker Conforto* (Lf-CF) (Cespedes Lf-dl) Duda* (1b) Walker #(2b) Flores (3b) Bruce* (rf) d'Arnaud © -pitcher bench: Cabrera # (If) Lagares (of) Granderson* (of) T.Rivera (ut) R.Rivera © [u:1qyhs4dt]Rotation:[/u:1qyhs4dt] (Syndegaard*dl) deGrom Wheeler Harvey Matz Lugo (until Syndy comes back, if ever) [u:1qyhs4dt]bullpen:[/u:1qyhs4dt] (familia dl) ____? Reed Blevins Sewald Smoker Salas Gsellman trade/release Reyes or Cabrera get bullpen help

lovvvvvvvvvvvved DEADPOOL Funny, good action, Reynolds was terrific, and great opening credits. It proved there was a market for R-rated comic book movies, which paved the way for LOGAN.

My rankings of 102 superhero movies, selected based on the following criteria: * English language live-action feature films, * Released theatrically in the US after the publication of Action #1 (1938), * Based on a pre-existing US or UK comic-book or comic-strip superhero, and * Grouped into categories (in tiers of 12 films each), in descending order. Great (**** TO *****): LOGAN DARK KNIGHT, the IRON MAN GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY WONDER WOMAN CROW, the DEADPOOL AVENGERS SPIDER-MAN 2 CAPTAIN AMERICA II: WINTER SOLDIER CAPTAIN AMERICA III: CIVIL WAR SUPERMAN II Very Good to Great (*** TO ****): SPIDER-MAN SUPERMAN BATMAN BEGINS X-MEN II: x-men united CAPTAIN AMERICA: FIRST AVENGER DR. STRANGE KICK-ASS DARK KNIGHT RISES, the X-MEN: FIRST CLASS ROCKETEER X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST X-MEN Decent to Good (**1/2 to ***) BATMAN (89) GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 WATCHMEN V FOR VENDETTA BLADE SUPERMAN RETURNS KINGSMAN: THE SECRET SERVICE MEN IN BLACK ANT-MAN IRON MAN 3 HELLBOY II: the golden army HELLBOY Mediocre, but watchable (**to**1/2): DREDD MYSTERY MEN WANTED MAN OF STEEL AVENGERS II: AGE OF ULTRON THOR BATMAN RETURNS FLASH GORDON BLADE II BATMAN: The Movie (66) INCREDIBLE HULK, the (08) TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (90) Not good, but watchable if you stumble over it while flipping channels (*1/2 to **): MASK, the SPIDER-MAN 3 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN WOLVERINE, the THOR: DARK WORLD IRON MAN 2 BATMAN V SUPERMAN PUNISHER (04) CONSTANTINE BLADE III: Trinity X-MEN: APOCALYPSE DAREDEVIL Bad, but watchable if stoned (* to *1/2): X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE MEN IN BLACK III LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN SUICIDE SQUAD DICK TRACY TANK GIRL FANTASTIC FOUR II: rise of the silver surfer HOWARD THE DUCK FANTASTIC FOUR AMAZING SPIDER-MAN II X-MEN III: the last stand TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES III (93) Really bad, but watchable if forced at gunpoint (0* to *1): SWAMP-THING GREEN LANTERN PHANTOM, the BATMAN FOREVER MEN IN BLACK II TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS(16) GHOST RIDER SUPERMAN III TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES II: Secret of the Ooze (91) SPAWN ELEKTRA HULK (03) Remaining atrocities, unwatchable even if dead (0*): TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (14) PUNISHER WAR ZONE KICK ASS 2 RETURN OF THE SWAMP-THING SPIRIT, the GHOST RIDER II: spirit of vengeance BARB WIRE SUPERMAN IV: the quest for peace SHEENA FANTASTIC 4 (2015) JUDGE DREDD BATMAN & ROBIN SUPERGIRL CROW II: CITY OF ANGELS STEEL CATWOMAN JONAH HEX SON OF THE MASK

Saw it last night with the family. My kids don't agree on anything, and my son is a particular sort of "yuck your yum" type moviegoer, who'll tear to pieces even stuff he likes. But the only discussion in the car afterwards is where we placed it among the top comic book movies ever made. Is it #1, 3, 6? Nobody thought it was lower than 6th all-time. The acting was top notch. Gal is not just another pretty face and Pine was fine, as well. The choreography of the action sequences is perhaps the best in any movie of recent memory. The cinematography and shot compositions gave me literal goosebumps, as i got one iconic moment after another. The story? Its an origin story, clearly told. My daughter gets easily confused by plots and she was like "i even understood everything!" I would have preferred the ending go in a slightly different direction, closer to the origin of comic book origin in terms of the paternal revelation, and i'm sure, were i of a mind to, i could go through a pick at threads in the plot to unwind the weave, but why on earth would i do that after such an intensely pleasurable experience? Its love story was touching, its humor was good enough to keep it from being too somber (unlike most DC movies), and its action was brilliantly executed. Please, sir, may i have some... more?

She may be homely, but at least she's a nice Jewish girl.

Eventually, they'll bring up Rosario (mid-June?) and he'll lead off, with Conforto batting 3rd. so they better start getting Confy comfy there.

is it worth seeing?

i'm going to the Angels game on Sunday, 5/21, with my daughter. see you there!

what's the over/under on number of games that the Mets play short-handed? I say 3.

i ended up seeing this with Mrs. Sage, and it as i feared. An obvious, heavy-handed, "issue" movie biopic filled with cliches, stock characters and overall banality. Color-by-numbers version of "history". That being said, it has some good performances and i didn't hate it.

first of all, If Harvey were pitching well, i doubt very much he'd have gotten suspended, nor would fans be calling for his immediate tar and feathering. Is he an asshole? Yes, he's an asshole. And, as JCL has repeatedly noted, he's been one from the outset. But i don't recall the outcry for his excommunication when he was dominating the league (well, maybe JCL, but nobody else around here). I, too, don't want a guy who is too hung over to show up for work, but he's an asset. So the conversation that needs to happen now is Sandy sitting Matt down and saying, "we've had it with you. But if you pitch well from now on, you'll prove to other teams that your healthy and maybe worth taking a chance on. so we'll give you the opportunity to pitch well enough here to go win a contract for next year somewhere else." And then, if the Mets still suck by the end of July, and if he's pitched adequately until then, you get a decent prospect in a rental deal with a contender looking to beef up down the stretch.