- Alright, I think I can start speaking rationally about the Yankees ALDS loss. No, it wasn't entirely A-Rod's fault, no one could seem to hit those last two games. No, Chien-Ming Wang should not have been brought to Detroit to pitch Game 4 on three days rest. He's a different pitcher on the road, and besides, Jaret Wright is supposed to save the Yankees in Game 5? As the sweep of Oakland has proved, Detroit has been playing absolutely out of their minds, and I wish them the best of luck. Having spent a few years in Ann Arbor, and seeing the quite humorous suffering of the Detroit fans, they deserve it.
- So the Yankees lose on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are consumed by the debate whether or not to fire Joe Torre (I said no, no one would've been an improvement, and besides, the team was on the hook for $7 million whether or not Torre works or not) and then Wednesday, the Cory Lidle thing. And yes, I actually forgot that the ALCS was still going on.
- Re: the Lidle thing. Wow, weird. At first, I blew it off, because I knew it wasn't terrorism, it's obvious it was a tiny plane, and it was merely a residential building. But to see that it was Cory Lidle, wow, weird. My thoughts and prayers to his widow and son.
- I can't be the first person to say it, but if the Yankees had won the series, wouldn't Cory Lidle still be alive today?
- So I've obtained the soundtracks of Beyond the Sea and Walk the Line, biopics of Bobby Darin and Johnny Cash, respectively. Both feature Kevin Spacey and Joaquin Phoenix singing as Bobby Darin and Johnny Cash, respectively. Both of them seem rather competent singers, but my question is: why? Why would we get these ACTORS singing as these musicians when we can just as easily buy CDs featuring the original singers?
- With Penn State's loss to Michigan this weekend, the Curse of James Yeh lives on. Yes, it's all me. Since May 1997, when I had to write Penn State to tell them that I was reneging on my agreement to attend PSU to attend UM, and I half-jokedly wrote that I would feel awful when Michigan crushes Penn State later that year, PENN STATE HAS NOT BEATEN MICHIGAN SINCE!
- Some of you know I've got an interest in propaganda films. (Triumph of the Will was my very first Walmart/Netflix rental.) I'm currently working my way through Frank Capra's Why We Fight series, and I've finished The Battle of Russia. And boy, it is funny. Okay, I'm not saying the suffering of the Russian people or the horrors that the Nazis inflicted onto them is funny, not at all, but what is funny is the presentation. The comedy starts even before the opening credits. Because the current edition was made sometime in the 50's or 60's, right in the middle of the Cold War, there's a disclaimer saying that the film should be taken as a historic document, and that the creators don't necessarily agree with the message. So one propaganda from one decade is not in the next. Second of all, and most tellingly, in a movie about the struggles of the Soviet Union against the Nazis, there are only two mentions of Stalin, which, as strange as it could be, is totally understandable. How do you paint a good picture of Stalin to the American people? How do you encourage Americans to fight a psychotic, murderous dictator by supporting another one?
- The Departed was great, absolutely great. Lots of good actors were in it, and they were all at the top of their game. My only beef with the movie was that Leonardo DiCaprio seemed to be playing pretty much the same role that he played in Gangs of New York, a young up-and-comer who must earn the trust of a powerful criminal who he's ultimately trying to bring down. It was like Scorcese getting Joe Pesci to play the psychotic enforcer in both Goodfellas and Casino. They did a great job casting the girl too, who's pretty, but accessible. She looks like a prettier version of Sarah Jessica Parker, that's the best why I can describe it. If any of you guys have seen it, I'd like to discuss the ending, especially regarding Dignam (Marky Mark.) For those of you who haven't seen it, see it.
- More on The Departed:
- Good job on Scorcese's part not simply casting every actor with Bostonian roots. While Donnie Wahlberg would've done fine, at least we were saved two and a half hours of Ben Affleck. (Although, looking at the IMDb, one of the other Wahlberg brothers was in the film. Apparently, we didn't recognize him because he didn't have a crappy singing career.)
- So the film starred Leo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg and ... Anthony Anderson? Was he really that impressive in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle? Or Romeo Must Die?
- Is it just me, or was Jack Nicholson channeling the Joker the entire time? He even had the bloody teeth in the end. And if he's running an Irish mob, why is he named Frank COSTELLO? Isn't that an Italian name?
- This movie basically summed up everything I hated about Boston.
- So the Yankees lose on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday are consumed by the debate whether or not to fire Joe Torre (I said no, no one would've been an improvement, and besides, the team was on the hook for $7 million whether or not Torre works or not) and then Wednesday, the Cory Lidle thing. And yes, I actually forgot that the ALCS was still going on.
- Re: the Lidle thing. Wow, weird. At first, I blew it off, because I knew it wasn't terrorism, it's obvious it was a tiny plane, and it was merely a residential building. But to see that it was Cory Lidle, wow, weird. My thoughts and prayers to his widow and son.
- I can't be the first person to say it, but if the Yankees had won the series, wouldn't Cory Lidle still be alive today?
- So I've obtained the soundtracks of Beyond the Sea and Walk the Line, biopics of Bobby Darin and Johnny Cash, respectively. Both feature Kevin Spacey and Joaquin Phoenix singing as Bobby Darin and Johnny Cash, respectively. Both of them seem rather competent singers, but my question is: why? Why would we get these ACTORS singing as these musicians when we can just as easily buy CDs featuring the original singers?
- With Penn State's loss to Michigan this weekend, the Curse of James Yeh lives on. Yes, it's all me. Since May 1997, when I had to write Penn State to tell them that I was reneging on my agreement to attend PSU to attend UM, and I half-jokedly wrote that I would feel awful when Michigan crushes Penn State later that year, PENN STATE HAS NOT BEATEN MICHIGAN SINCE!
- Some of you know I've got an interest in propaganda films. (Triumph of the Will was my very first Walmart/Netflix rental.) I'm currently working my way through Frank Capra's Why We Fight series, and I've finished The Battle of Russia. And boy, it is funny. Okay, I'm not saying the suffering of the Russian people or the horrors that the Nazis inflicted onto them is funny, not at all, but what is funny is the presentation. The comedy starts even before the opening credits. Because the current edition was made sometime in the 50's or 60's, right in the middle of the Cold War, there's a disclaimer saying that the film should be taken as a historic document, and that the creators don't necessarily agree with the message. So one propaganda from one decade is not in the next. Second of all, and most tellingly, in a movie about the struggles of the Soviet Union against the Nazis, there are only two mentions of Stalin, which, as strange as it could be, is totally understandable. How do you paint a good picture of Stalin to the American people? How do you encourage Americans to fight a psychotic, murderous dictator by supporting another one?
- The Departed was great, absolutely great. Lots of good actors were in it, and they were all at the top of their game. My only beef with the movie was that Leonardo DiCaprio seemed to be playing pretty much the same role that he played in Gangs of New York, a young up-and-comer who must earn the trust of a powerful criminal who he's ultimately trying to bring down. It was like Scorcese getting Joe Pesci to play the psychotic enforcer in both Goodfellas and Casino. They did a great job casting the girl too, who's pretty, but accessible. She looks like a prettier version of Sarah Jessica Parker, that's the best why I can describe it. If any of you guys have seen it, I'd like to discuss the ending, especially regarding Dignam (Marky Mark.) For those of you who haven't seen it, see it.
- More on The Departed:
- Good job on Scorcese's part not simply casting every actor with Bostonian roots. While Donnie Wahlberg would've done fine, at least we were saved two and a half hours of Ben Affleck. (Although, looking at the IMDb, one of the other Wahlberg brothers was in the film. Apparently, we didn't recognize him because he didn't have a crappy singing career.)
- So the film starred Leo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg and ... Anthony Anderson? Was he really that impressive in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle? Or Romeo Must Die?
- Is it just me, or was Jack Nicholson channeling the Joker the entire time? He even had the bloody teeth in the end. And if he's running an Irish mob, why is he named Frank COSTELLO? Isn't that an Italian name?
- This movie basically summed up everything I hated about Boston.
posted by J. Yeh | 00:39
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