Vic Sage

Movies often do serious damage to NYC. Sometimes, like in CLOVERFIELD, the disaster is from a monster, alien, supernatural being or giant robot: Godzilla (98) Ghostbusters I, II Independence Day Beast From 20,000 fathoms Deadly Mantis King Kong (33, 76, 05) Sky captain & the world of tomorrow Sometimes, like in I AM LEGEND, we bring our doom upon ourselves: The Siege Escape From NY Gangs of NY Daylight World Trade Center 16 Blocks Daybreak Sometimes, its a result of natural disaster: Day After Tomorrow Armageddon Deep Impact Deluge (1933) and superheroes are constantly doing damage to NYC: Daredevil Fantastic 4 Men In Black Spider-man Superman X-Men, and My Super ex-Girlfriend not to mention such other NY disasters as "Hercules in NY" and "Can't Stop the Music"!

Benjamin Grimm wrote: I was expecting to see Eight Men Out for Chicago. DOH! Cheerleaders, shmearleaders, San Diego had The Kid from Left Field. DOH DOH!

here are the cities with baseball-related movies (or, at least some tenuous connection to baseball or sports) EAST New York - BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY / PRIDE OF THE YANKEES Philadelphia - THE WINNING TEAM Atlanta - THE SLUGGER'S WIFE Washington D.C. - DAMN YANKEES Miami - ANY GIVEN SUNDAY (football) Baltimore - DINER (Colts fan) Boston - FEVER PITCH Tampa Bay - THE ROOKIE Toronto - OWNING MAHONEY (gambler's addiction) CENTRAL Chicago - [on edit] EIGHT MEN OUT / ROOKIE OF THE YEAR Cincinnati - THE CINCINNATI KID (poker) Cleveland - MAJOR LEAGUE Detroit - COBB Houston - BAD NEWS BEARS II (1977) Kansas City - KANSAS CITY BOMBER (roller derby) Milwaukee - MR. 3000 Minneapolis - LITTLE BIG LEAGUE Pittsburgh -ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD (1951) St.Louis - PRIDE OF ST. LOUIS WEST Anaheim - ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD (1995) Arizona - JERRY MAGUIRE (Arizona cardinals) Colorado - CITY SLICKERS (Crystal's Mets hat) Los Angeles - BAD NEWS BEARS (1976) / THE SANDLOT Oakland - NORTH DALLAS 40 (Matuzak) San Diego - [on edit] THE KID FROM LEFT FIELD San Francisco - THE FAN Seattle - LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT (baseball player boyfriend) Texas - THE ROOKIE

The scenic design was really impressive. And, as for the zombies, the whole new style of portraying them, ala 28 DAYS LATER and the remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD, is indeed much scarier than they've ever been. But the script and the storytelling left alot to be desired, dontcha think?

but its not just a good, gory action film... which it is. It's also a moving story about a young husband and father trying to return home, to save his family. And it's also a cautionary tale about the limits of empire... no matter how indomitable a people may be, a ship can pull into their harbor that will end their world. There is always a greater power out there, ready to bring down the apocalypse upon us, for our sins... an interesting message for a born-again christian. Maybe Brother Gibson is a prophet preparing us for the end of days.

Vic's review: It's no OMEGA MAN, that's for sure. and, in case you're wondering, that's not a compliment.

soupcan wrote: I liked 'Star 80'. well, I like it, too. I like any movie where mariel hemingway is naked.

Lincoln center is hosting an 8-film Bob Fosse festival over the christmas week: http://news.yahoo.com/s/playbill/20071220/en_playbill/113682;_ylt=Aoyo50ubZ4Vc_rU3.GFt0.IE1vAI "Give a Girl a Break" "My Sister Eileen" "The Pajama Game" "Sweet Charity" "Cabaret" "Lenny" "All That Jazz" "Star 80" Kiss Me, Kate (1953) - Not included in the festival, this 3-D adaptaton of the Broadway hit featured Fosse's first movie role and screen choreography (uncredited), appearing as "Hortensio" and choreographing his own dance. Give a Girl a Break (1953) - the same year, he co-starred in this obscure MGM tuner with Debbie Reynolds, again choreographing his own numbers. My Sister Eileen (1955) - another co-starring musical role, but this time he gets his first screen credit for choreography. The Pajama Game(1957) - he adapted his choreography from his first Broadway hit (and the first show he ever choreographed). Including his famous "steamed heat" number. Damn Yankees (1958) - Not included in the festival, he adapted his choreography from his next Broadway show, also a hit. He also has a dance number with his wife Gwen Verdon. Show features his "whatever Lola wants" number How to Succeed in Business in Business (1967)- Not included in the festival He was not involved in the film version, which just recreated his choreography. After "Pajama Game" and "Damn Yankees", from 1956 - 1962, he worked mostly on Broadway, choreographing "Bells are ringing" (56), "New Girl in Town" (57), "Redhead" (59) (he also directed), "How to Succeed" (61), "Little Me" (62) (he also directed) and "Sweet Charity" (62) (also conceiving and directing). Sweet Charity (1969) - he directed and choreographed the movie adaptation of his Broadway hit, with Shirley MacLaine. features "Hey, Big Spender". Cabaret (1972) - Fosse directed and choreographed this film adaptation (a show he did NOT do on Broadway), and as a result pulled off the Director's Triple Crown in 1973, a still unmatched accomplishment. He received the Oscar for directing "Cabaret", the Tony for directing "Pippin" on Broadway, and an Emmy for directing the musical TV special "Liza with a Z", all in the same year. Never before, and never since. Lenny (1974) - Fosse's grounbreaking film work on the bio of Lenny Bruce earned him a host of other accolades. The Little Prince (1974) -Not included in the festival - the same year, Fosse was featured in a bizarre adaptation of this chldren's book, and his choreography and performance of "the snake" was memorable and not a little disturbing. During this period, he was also developing another Broadway musical for his estranged wife, Gwen Verdon, and "Chicago" came to Broadway in 1975. He tried for years to get a film adaptation going, but it never happened during his lifetime. Somewhere in this time of overwork, he had a near-fatal heart attack. As a result, he created his masterpiece. All That Jazz (1979) - Fosse tells the thinly veiled story of his life in spectacular musical theater terms. One of the greatest movie musicals ever made. Star 80 (1983) - he followed up with another biopic, this one of murdered Playmate Dorothy Stratton. Star 80 was neither a critical nor commercial success. Nor was his last Broadway musical, BIG DEAL. He died of another heart attack in 1986

Imagine a Grisham-style legal thriller, but with moral and emotional complexity and depth of character. Thougtful and compelling. Clooney is terrific. Tom Wilkenson even more so. highly recommended.

it just came out on DVD. I once again refer it to your attention.

BEOWULF was pretty good, contrary to popular opinion. The movie, i mean. With a script by Neil Gaiman, one of the best fantasists of his generation, the story finally made some kind of sense to me. I wasn't crazy about the "motion-capture" style of animation, but it did allow them to create imagery that would've been impossible with live action. There's also a great song over the final credits, sung by Idina Menzel, "a hero always comes home".

oh, i get what it was trying to do. And i'm sure if i had stuck with it, it would've paid off to some degree. but unlike FAST TIMES, i just found the characters in SUPERBAD (while truthful in alot of ways) just so repellant, i didn't want to spend another conscious moment with them. You have shown a higher tolerance for such characters over the years, so this probably wasn't a big deal to you. But i could not tolerate the company of that fat, brillo-haired, mono-maniacal walking dildo for another second

i guess i'm getting old. I got about 1/2 way thru and had to turn it off. I liked KNOCKED UP alot more. maybe i was just too tired.

i hate to break it to you, mm, but 1) you don't happen to be in 1st place today (I am), but even if you were... 2) i will be on you like a cheap suit all season long! No retreat and, baby, no surrender.

This movie also has the added extra bonus of Ms. Tomei romping topless throughout. The TiTTS gives this one 2 thumbs up!

Well, considering i wasn't able to be there for the live draft, i kind of like the results of my auto-draft. Usually, those things are a disaster for me. but with Kobe, Iguodala and Gerald Wallace as my first 3 picks, i can't complain too much that my only point guard is Jameer Nelson. Anybody have a spare point guard?

ending is ending. climax is climax. 2 different things.

they didn't even list the "door closing" scene that the Godfather scene was an homage to... John Ford's THE SEARCHERS. Also, I love the ending to Frankenheimer's twilight zone-esque SECONDS.

comedy comes from truth. the "reality" of the movie (even if its not OUR reality) has to make internal sense. the fact is, they DID bring up abortion in 2 scenes, but the idea was dismissed without explanation. You don't need to give her a religious objection, necessarily, but you do need to set up her character in some way that her decision seems plausible. And yes, the baby is a legit reason for her to give the slob a shot, but there was never any real chemistry between those 2 people, or those 2 characters, so the idea that they would end up together seems just another plot contrivance. I'm not saying i didn't like the movie. There is enough humanity in it to make much of the comedy work. Its just not great, and this is why. OR at least, part of the reason why.

it was ok, not great. It would've been helped greatly by some Heiglian boobage. I thought her choice not to abhort seemed an unsupported plot contrivance, not a choice based on the nature of her character. That decision needed more rationale in the story. And I never bought their love story for a second. There didnt' seem any chemistry between either the actors or the characters. But given these fundamental problems, i still liked it. I preferred 40-YEAR OLD VIRGIN because Steve Carrell is a wonderful comic actor, and his relationship wth Katherine Keener seemed only slightly implausible (as compared to KN0CKED UP, anyway.)

and (2) I was more productive than Paul LoDuca this year by sitting home and doing nothing. © Norrin Radd 2002 (?), all rights reserved.

Edgy DC wrote: What's catching worth? Well, LoDuca kept the ball from rolling to the backstop. So there was that.

Norrin/Vic actually gives you: 30 - Wright - MVP 29 - Beltran - up and down, but solid overall numbers 28 - Perez - while up and down a bit, he was the best pitcher on the team. 27 - Reyes - 2 great months, + 4 crappy ones. 26 - Maine - 2nd half slide leaves questions 25 - Delgado - he was finally getting hot when he got hurt near the end 24 - Hernandez - mostly great, when available 23 - Wagner - great 1st 3 months, lousy last 2 22 - Alou - Terrific for 1/2 a season 21 - Glavine - ERA+ = 96; 200 IP of total mediocrity 20 - Heilman - stronger in 2nd half 19 - Green - finished strongly, better OPS+ than Reyes 18 - Feliciano - great 1st half; but too many walks 17 - LoDuca - OPS+ = 81 16 - Milledge - solid as part-timer 15 - Easley - best 2bman, in limited time 14 - Castillo - okay 13 - Sosa - good start as SP, then crash; inconsistent in pen 12 - Castro - better than LoDuca, but hurt 11 - Gotay - good hitter from 1 side, glove erratic 10 - Martinez - great in 5 GS 9 - Anderson - great PHer, productive in limited role 8 - Smith - great start, then "boom" 7 - Pelfrey - still waiting 6 - Gomez - shows flashes of speed and leather 5 - Chavez - not much this year 4 - Schoeneweis - better in 2nd half, but crap overall 3 - Mota - crap from day 51 on 2 - Velentin - crap, then hurt 1 - Burgos - hurt

Frayed Knot wrote: Which leads us to the combined list: 30 - Wright 29 - Beltran 28 - Reyes 27 - Maine 26 - Perez 25 - Delgado 24 - Hernandez 23 - Wagner 22 - Glavine 21 - Alou 20 - Heilman 19 - LoDuca 18 - Feliciano 17 - Green 16 - Castillo 15 - Milledge 14 - Sosa 13 - Easley 12 - Castro 11 - Gotay 10 - Martinez 9 - Smith 8 - Anderson 7 - Pelfrey 6 - Chavez 5 - Gomez 4 - Schoeneweis 3 - Mota 2 - Velentin 1 - Burgos So go ahead, show me where I'm nuts. Perez was better than Maine overall, and Green was better than LoDuca. And whether Glavine's full season of mediocrity was slightly better or worse than Alou's abreviated season of excellence is also open to debate. Other than that, i agree with your list.

Well, i implied it, and you inferred it, but now i'll say it... DAYS OF THUNDER SUCKS. In fact, it sucks BHMC.