Vic Sage

i have no "buts" about either MATEWAN or PASSION FISH, and have huge affection for BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET and SECRET OF ROAN INISH. SECAUCUS 7 is good but limited, and BABY ITS YOU is ok but slight. EIGHT MEN OUT should have been better, LIANNA is near unwatchable, and LONE STAR is uninvolving and dull. i haven't been able to get through anything of his since.

also: grapes of wrath Reds Billy Elliot Hoffa Newsies Molly Maguires The Pajama Game and i would take MATEWAN, GRAPES OF WRATH, REDS, and BILLY ELLIOT over NORMA RAE. I'd actually take all of them except HOFFA over it.

48. Ed Wood (1994) - funny, bizarre, and strangely touching, its probably Burton's best movie * 47. Starship Troopers (1997) - piece o crap 46. Heavenly Creatures (1994) - tedious, pretentious Ozzie (sorry, New Zealand) twaddle 44. Metropolitan (1990) - tedious, pretentious prep school twaddle 43. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) - not as good as the 1st, but damn good on its own terms 40. Trainspotting (1996) - too intense for me, but great filmmaking 39. The Blair Witch Project (1999) - overhyped bullshit 37. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) - great adaptation; Baldwin's 7-minute monologue worth the price of admission 36. L.A. Confidential (1997) - solid noir, great perfs 34. Seven (1995) - motherlode of chilling despair; beautiful in its horrible way 33. The Matrix (1999) - exciting, fascinating, ground-breaking, mindbending, influential 30. The Thin Red Line (1998) - tedious, pretentious auteurist twaddle 28. Election (1999) - good, not great 26. Eyes Wide Shut (1999) - tedious, pretentious auteurist twaddle, part 2 25. Fight Club (1999) - action film with something on its mind; great perfs, cool movie 24. Crumb (1994) - sad bio doc about art as a survival mechanism 23. Carlito�s Way (1993) - overheated crime drama with cartoonish perfs, and not in a good way. 21. Fargo (1995) - Ditto. Typical Coen Bros BS, more concerned with shotmaking than storytelling 18. Schindler�s List (1993) - moving epic 16. The Big Lebowski (1998) - rambling and overrated, but strangely funny and compelling 15. Groundhog Day (1993) - funny, romantic, profound in its way; Bill Murray at his best. 14. Hoop Dreams (1994) - overlong doc; i just didn't care. 13. Boogie Nights (1997) - sexy, sad, funny; unsparing yet compassionate in its depiction of a group of people in a particular time and place 12. Miller�s Crossing (1990) - A good Coen Bros gangster film; more about hats than people, but there you go. 11. Barton Fink (1991) - Ugh. Why do i do this to myself? 10. Being John Malkovich (1999) - funny, brilliant satire. 9. Rushmore (1998) - Quirky, and then some. But i liked it. 8. Unforgiven (1992) - Best western in ages... which is as good a thing as one could say about anything. 7. Reservoir Dogs (1992) - Tarantino unplugged. Awesome. 6. Out Of Sight (1998) - solid crime drama, with great romantic chemistry between Clooney and whatshername with the great ass. 4. Dazed And Confused (1993) - coming of age in slackerville; a seminal film. 3. Toy Story 2 (1999) - Its OK, but why over TS 1? 2. Pulp Fiction (1994) - yup. I'd put it first. 1. Goodfellas (1990) - I wouldn't put it first, but its in the top 5. * Tim Burton filmography: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=19045

[u:333vcbat]My Top 50[/u:333vcbat] would include only 20 from their list (though not necessarily in this order): Ed Wood (1994) Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Glengarry Glen Ross (1992) L.A. Confidential (1997) Seven (1995) The Matrix (1999) Fight Club (1999) Crumb (1994) Schindler�s List (1993) The Big Lebowski (1998) Groundhog Day (1993) Boogie Nights (1997) Being John Malkovich (1999) Rushmore (1998) Out Of Sight (1998) Unforgiven (1992) Reservoir Dogs (1992) Dazed And Confused (1993) Pulp Fiction (1994) Goodfellas (1990) [u:333vcbat]plus these 30 (in no particular order):[/u:333vcbat] Avalon (1990) American Beauty (1999) Defending your life (1991) Shawshank Redemption (1994) Lion King (1994) Usual Suspects (1995) Silence of the Lambs (1991) Braveheart (1995) Sixth Sense (1999) Beauty & the Beast (1991) Toy Story (1995) Gattaca (1997) Donnie Brasco (1997) The Crow (1994) Thelma & Louise (1991) Iron Giant (1999) 3 Kings (1999) Grosse Point Blank (1997) Fisher King (1993) A Perfect World (1993) The Player (1992) Shine (1996) Almost Famous (1996) Big Night (1996) Fearless South Park Searching For Bobby Fischer The Grifters The Rocketeer White Men Can't Jump [u:333vcbat]honorable mentions[/u:333vcbat] to big and/or sentimental films which therefore got little critical respect: Total Recall (1990) Dances with Wolves (1990) Titanic (1997) Forrest Gump (1994) good will hunting (1997) Last of the Mohicans (1992) Jerry Maguire (1996) The Fugitive (1993) Misery (1990) The Hunt for Red October (1990) In The Line of Fire (1993) City Slickers (1991) 4 Weddings & a Funeral Air Force One Jurassic Park Men In Black Phenomenon Pretty Woman Saving Private Ryan Shakespeare In Love American President The Birdcage Bridges of Madison County The Freshman [u:333vcbat]and some personal faves[/u:333vcbat] (for which i make neither arguments nor apologies): A League of their own galaxy quest Office Space Alien 3, 4 Beautiful Girls A Simple Plan Bicentennial Man Blade Bob Roberts Bullets Over Broadway Chasing Amy Clerks Con Air Dark CIty Dave Diggstown Don Juan DeMarco Dragon Face / Off From Dusk til Dawn Get Shorty Happy Gilmore Heart and Souls Independence Day Jumanji Kalifornia Little Big League The Professional Mighty Aphrodite Monster in a Box Mother Mystery Men One False Move ONly the Lonely Pleasantville Reality Bites Red Rock West Rounders Singles Smoke Truman Show True Romance TMNT 13th Warrior The Green Mile The Indian In the Cupboard The Last seduction The Long Kiss Goodnight The Muse The Ref The truth about Cats & Dogs Tin Cup 12 Monkees Wag the Dog Waiting for Guffman Waterworld Wayne's World Wedding Singer

loved her in KICK ASS and HUGO, but i didn't see this one and have no interest in doing so.

A typical Martin Ritt film... heavy-handed agitprop mixed with melodramatic soap opera. Even though I agree with it's message about unionism, it's still the kind of drivel for which i have no patience. And i can only stomach Sally "you like me! you really like me!" Field for limited periods. All that being said, it's a solid, well-crafted piece of film-making and this performance is about as good as Field gets. If nothing else, Ritt was a great director of actors.

it IS Sayles' 1st film, and is a progenitor of the BIG CHILL baby-boom movies about middle-aged protagonists looking back ruefully at their own youthful idealism and wondering where it went and how they ultimately had to accommodate real life. It is also the best of those films, despite it's ridiculously low budget, somewhat amateurish acting and rambling storytelling. Unlike BIG CHILL, this film doesn't posit that an entire generation completely sold out its values to make a buck. People became teachers and organizers, or whatever. Their lives became an extension of their values, not a cartoonish violation of them. A good soundrack doesn't cover up Kasdan's soulless apologia for going into the advertising business before striking it rich in Hollywood.

well, we don't know how his career is going to end up, but as of now, KC was the team with whom he came up, won a ROY and was an All-Star, and he played roughly about the same (a little less) of games for them as he did for NYC. Yes, his peak years were in NY, but so were his injury-plagued years and notorious post-season. I figure its about a 50/50 shot, but given his druthers, I think he'd pick a KC hat, and I'd be happy to see him in it. I think if a player comes up with a team and significantly contributes to his HOF credentials with that team, that's the hat he should wear, unless his career for a subsequent team is substantially longer and better. Carter should be an Expos, Piazza should be a Dodger, Winfield should be a Padre. The hometown team should always get any close call in this area, rather than the team a player later gets bought by. Of course, that can be outweighed if the hometeam career was relatively insignificant compared to his later team, but i don't think that's the case for Beltran. Maybe if he'd contributed to a WS championship, that would've tipped the balance, but he didn't.

The Giants spawned the mets: the orange in our uniform is THEIR orange, their Willie Mays was our city's Willie Mays, we PLAYED in the polo grounds, for crissakes. And Whitey Herzog, tony larussa, Mark McGwire, terry pendleton, willie mcgee, tommie herr, Vince Coleman, Adam Wainwright, playing in that astroturf pinball park --- they can blow me. And Beltran? His vaunted post-season production included only 2 series for the Mets, in `06: he was crap against the Dodgers (but we won anyway) and he played well against the Cards, until he watched the Wainwright curveball. so she can blow me too. and don't worry Ceetar, he aint going into the HOF with a Mets hat, so you won't be betraying the Blue & Orange.

I would have done it differently... keep Strasburg in Florida, working out, staying in shape, throwing easy, from April-May, then have him pitch a few AAA games late May-early June, before bringing him up by early-mid June; if he has a strong 2nd half, maybe he pitches the Nats into the playoffs and beyond, assuming they could hang around for the first few months without him... and ay, that's the trick. But i don't have a problem, in principle, with a GM deciding to limit the IP of a very young pitcher, a #1 pick coming off Tommy John surgery, as a strategy going into a season, and even if i disagree with the way he did it, i respect his commitment to that strategy. And it is his decision about who is and who isn't on the roster... no one else's. Is it arrogant of him to say so? Maybe, but it's also true. I'm rooting for the Nats in this situation, just to shut everybody the hell up for a while. Also, they're playing the Cards. What, you want me to root for the Cards???

1) Did you watch it on a 20" zenith tube tv? 2) the AVENGERS cartoon totally rocks; i've been watching it with my son since it started.

Ellis is So High on the Diamond (To the tune of �Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds� by Lennon / McCartney) Picture him now on the mound at Three Rivers With two base-runners starting, and threatening skies The umpire calls him, he answers quite slowly He�s the guy with 2 pinwheels for eyes With the sweat soaking through the yellow and black Wiping his brow, he looks in for a sign He stares like a guy with the sun in his eyes He's so gone Ellis is so high on the diamond Ellis is so high on the diamond Ellis is so high on the diamond Aaaahhhhhh..... He stands in the dugout, takes a sip at the fountain He got out of the inning to his great surprise His teammates all grin as he drifts past them, smiling He is so incredibly high Newspaper writers appear at his stall Anxious to drive him away They tear at him, frenzied, blood in the water� He�s gone. Ellis is so high on the diamond Ellis is so high on the diamond Ellis is so high on the diamond Aaaahhhhhh..... Picture the man on a train leaving Pittsburgh With the sealed plastic cups packed in with his ties Suddenly something is there by the turnstile But the drug-sniffing dog lets him by Ellis was so high on the diamond Ellis was so high on the diamond Ellis was so high on the diamond Aaaahhhhhh..... -THE BARD, song parody contest, 2002

Is it wrong that I get possessive of Gary? I don't want anyone else to hear him because I want him doing Mets games forever. i remember listening to Fran Healy and feeling similarly... except, you know, the exact opposite. "Cleveland! Come and get this goober off our hands!"

No Topps Padres McReynolds cards exist. None were ever produced, not even in Mac's retirement. i would suggest that ALL of Mac's cards as a Met were produced during his retirement. and i would also suggest that, all these years later, he can still go fuck himself.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: As remarkable/horrible than the loss itself is the fact that anyone who follows the two on Twitter could watch the entire thing unfold in horrifyingly bland textual bursts. In a time when we've almost mapped out the entire human genome, it's staggering that SIDS happens as often as it does (over 6 incidences per 1,000 live births). a reminder that we're a remarkably fragile species. condolences to the Nesheks.

i read that as "video suppository" (seriously!) and I immediately thought 2 things: - well what will those folks in silicon valley come up with next?, and - I don't care how good that video is, i don't want to see it that bad.

seawolf17 wrote: Vic Sage wrote: when players are on their last year, they are looking for (in commercial real estate parlance) a "blend and extend" deal, in which they forego free agency for a raise IMMEDIATELY and a long term commitment. If the Mets are going to force wright and/or dickey to just play out their current deal, and thus run the risk of injury during the season at below-market prices, there is absolutely no reason for them NOT to go to free agency the following year and take the best deal in the market at that time with a contending team (if that's their priority). The Mets only edge is that they can buy out this last season and lock them up now. If they don't (or won't or can't), then Wright and Dickey are gone after next year, like Reyes, and they should be traded over the winter rather than let them walk away for nothing. No, I'm saying they sign the extension now, but factor that raise into 2014 and beyond, when the financial picture has changed because we've rioted and tossed the Wilpons into Flushing Bay. If they agree to make the average value, say, $20 million a year, then toss in an extra $5 million somewhere along the line to "offset" the "lower" 2013 salary. oh, your just talking about back-loading the contract. gotcha. nevermind. Except... radically back-loaded deals like that run a significant risk of turning into the Santana/Bay-type albatross deals we're suffering from now, as we seriously overpay aging players in decline. But, if we're cash poor, i see little alternative to it. of course, they could just start an anonymous smear campaign against Mr. Wright, in attempt to lower his value and drive away suitors, then float low ball numbers to his agent without actually making a formal offer, while leaking "reasonable" numbers in the press, and then paint him as a selfish pig when he takes an actual offer from a team with a shot at contention willing to pay him fair market value, so we lose him for nothing, but everybody's ass is covered. cuz, you know, that's worked so well before.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Charley Smith did you just pick that name out of your ass, or did you look it up? Cuz i had to look it up. I never heard of the dude, and i've been a fan since 71.

Wash v Balt has: * a regional rivalry, * 2 teams that haven't been there in recent memory (or ever), * with both having playoff seasons off of sub-.500 years, * they are both young and evenly matched, * Davey Johnson v Buck Showalter, and * neither team is the Yankmees

but i don't see one of my faves, for whom we have an ongoing thread... Rico Brogna! on edit: DOH! beaten again. then how about another 1bman, Donn Clendenon.

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Vic Sage wrote: John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Edgardo Alfonzo see row 3, center card How many cards per row are you displaying? I get three, though I can adjust for more or less. i see 5 cards per row.

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Edgardo Alfonzo see row 3, center card

Of course there's the guy who did it for more years than just about anybody for the Mets (tied with Piazza and Wright at 5, until this season when Wright became a 6-timer and passed him)... HOJO! on edit: DOH!

I dismiss what he writes because his arguments are, always, based on asserting things which I don't find to be tautologies. Tautologies, at least in the context of making a persuasive argument (i.e., rhetoric, rather than logic), are a rhetorical device that in essence means to say the same thing twice and pretend its a logical statement, and is considered a FLAW and critique of an argument; in that light, the absence of tautologies in Megdal's argument is a GOOD thing. Right, but Dickey and Wright are paid for 2013. Any new contracts would be for 2014 and beyond, so I don't see how that's germane to that particular discussion. Germane to the fact that they're going to continue to suck next year, yes, but once Santana and Bay are off the books for 2014, suddenly that's a big financial opening. when players are on their last year, they are looking for (in commercial real estate parlance) a "blend and extend" deal, in which they forego free agency for a raise IMMEDIATELY and a long term commitment. If the Mets are going to force wright and/or dickey to just play out their current deal, and thus run the risk of injury during the season at below-market prices, there is absolutely no reason for them NOT to go to free agency the following year and take the best deal in the market at that time with a contending team (if that's their priority). The Mets only edge is that they can buy out this last season and lock them up now. If they don't (or won't or can't), then Wright and Dickey are gone after next year, like Reyes, and they should be traded over the winter rather than let them walk away for nothing.

we've had 3 catchers do it, each doing it multiple times, which is pretty unusual i think. and i don't think anybody has mentioned even one of them, so i'll start with the first: the recently departed kid, Mr. Gary Carter.