I Surrender

21 Aug

And how is your ass today? Man, did we ever get spanked this weekend. And boy, does it ever hurt. Waking up on a Monday morning hasn’t been this rough in some time.

When did it all go wrong? Wasn’t everything going so well? Weren’t we in first place by three games just a few weeks ago? I’m utterly baffled. And now I definitely don’t feel as naïve as I was about the Sox’s chances for the rest of the season.

Then again, what season? This one is over. Finito. Over. Dunzo. Dead. Wait till next year.

It’s time to throw in the towel. Wave the white flag. Surrender. Root for the Patriots. As far as I’m concerned, the 2006 Red Sox season officially ended at 1:30 a.m. last night. I mean, this morning. Just a few short hours ago. What a bitch. But more importantly, what a bummer.

It’s been a long, dragging morning already, and I’m happy the game today — you mean they’re playing again?? — is during the afternoon so I don’t have to get suckered into watching like I was last night.

Happy fall, everyone. See you next spring.

That’s Enough

20 Aug

To paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson in Snakes on a Plane:

“I’ve had it with these mother fucking Yankees winning in our mother fucking stadium!”

I mean, really. This has been a ridiculous weekend. But I still say, it’s not over yet.

Movie Review on My Blog

19 Aug

I have to admit, I had one of the best moviegoing experiences of the year when I went to see Snakes on a Plane on Saturday. I mean, sure, the guys in the back row who were hissing all through the movie (including the trailers) and who were trying to do a call-and-response cheer of “Snakes!” “On a Plane!” before it started became a little much, but really, this is a totally fun movie that completely lives up to the hype and is actually worth seeing.

And if you see it with the right kind of crowd, as I did, one that was totally into it (and I, personally, was quite excited to see the movie), you’ll like it even more. Continue reading →

You Da Man

19 Aug

Trust the Man is an amiable comedy about two couples going through rough patches. One is married with two children, the other unmarried but together for seven years.

Not sure what else the movie is about because basically, all that really happens is things get bad, and then pretty quickly they get better. It’s all a little too pat. Continue reading →

Not So Magical

17 Aug

I won’t spend much time writing about The Illusionist because I don’t expect it to stay around in theaters all that long anyway.

Basically, despite a typically good performance by Paul Giamatti and a typically intense one by Ed Norton — and a surprisingly decent one by Jessica Biel — I found the movie lacking in (please excuse the obvious pun) magic.

Hopefully The Prestige, another movie about magicians, will be more enjoyable. It certainly looks better.

In the meantime, The Illusionist gets a B- from me.

Happy Happy, Joy Joy

14 Aug

I believe it’s Kaplan‘s second law of moviemaking that states: “Never bet against a talking animal picture.” Well, consider it law 2A that you shouldn’t bet against a movie where the animals also sing and dance, and where one animal has the speaking voice of Robin Williams. If that’s the type of movie that appeals to you, then waste no time heading over to the web site for Happy Feet and watch the three trailers (in the “video”) section. Aside from featuring some truly amazing animation, these trailers promise a really great and funny movie. I mean, I don’t even know what this movie is all about, but already I’m dying to see it. I mean, really. Just try to find something more entertaining than a penguin with Robin Williams’ voice singing “My Way” in Spanish — complete with back-up singers. Just try it. But watch these trailers first. Or, if you have a really good Internet connection, click here to watch in high-definition Quicktime video. (Trailer two is the one you want.)

What a Ride

14 Aug

Went home to New York this weekend for Mitzi and Jason’s aufruf, but that wasn’t the only excitement.

Saturday night, my friends Scott and David continued our end-of-summer tradition of going to Friday’s and Playland. Believe it or not, this was the 15th consecutive year we did this.

And who said I couldn’t stick with something that long? Continue reading →

Down, But Not Out

10 Aug

The worst thing the Red Sox did was come back from being down three games to none in the 2004 ALCS. Because now, when they’re down, all I say is “Don’t count them out. After all, they came back against the Yankees …!”

So that’s what I’m saying now, naive as it may be. In the words of my Yankee fan friends, and to quote what they were saying in April (and May, and June, and July), it’s a long season. We’ve had a bad week — a very bad week. But there’s still a month and a half left to go in the season, and we’re less than a handful of games out. ‘Tek and the others will come back right when we need them, and then we’ll have the extra power to go back into first place and win the division. But even before that happens, we’ll rally. We don’t stay down for long. We can still rebound from this slump.

Don’t count this team out just yet, folks.

Towering Achievement

10 Aug

Not that we needed reminding, but 9/11 was a really shitty day. In his new film World Trade Center, Oliver Stone revists the chaos, fear, hysteria, heartbreak, sadness, and destruction of that day, but in the process pays effective tribute to those who lived through it.

In the early moments of WTC, Stone shows how 9/11 started out like any other day. People are going to work, streets are filled with commuters, and all is business as usual. But then the shadow of a plane is seen moving across a building, elsewhere there’s a strong tremor, and suddenly nothing is the same. We all know what happened next, but Stone dramatizes it, recreating the events with a you-are-there quality, and showing us what it was like to look up in shock and see the towers on fire. We’ve not wanted to know how it must have felt to be in the World Trade Center when the towers fell, but there we are with John McLaughlin (Nicolas Cage) and his men experiencing it, and feeling scared just waiting for the inevitable doom that awaits.

Without going too much into a wordy review, I’ll say that the movie maintains the same perspective throughout. Though they get their due, this is not a movie that celebrates those who rescued McLaughlin and Jimez (Michael Pena). Instead, this is a more personal film about those trapped NYPD officers, and we feel like we’re trapped right there with them. Above ground, there’s some fantastic acting by Maria Bello as McLaughlin’s wife (Maggie Gyllenhaal is also good as Jimenez’s wife), and in general, though the film is at times hard to watch and runs over two hours long, it still moves at a good pace.

There were many stories of heroism, courage, and strength that came out of 9/11. WTC tells just one of them. McLaughlin and Jimenez are no more special than many others who lived through the day, but it’s that quality that makes this film so good. Stone illustrates how it’s not those larger-than-life heroes who deserve all the attention. Appropriately, this is a film for the little guy. It’s an excellent tribute. I give it an A.

What’s on My Mind

9 Aug

A few quick questions and observations … Continue reading →

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