Distrcit 13

District 13 is a 2004 French martial arts film re-released in dubbed English in 2006. They waste no time getting to business, and what is most engaging about this movie is how much adrenaline it provokes without the use of special effects or wires. A druglord has an enemy's sister, as well as a nuclear weapon he may blow up the French slums with, thus drawing both Damien (a cop who can diffuse the bomb) and Leito (a slum-dwelling avenger who seeks his sister) together. The main characters use parkour, a french technique that was invented by one of the main characters (David Belle, Leito), which emphasizes maximum efficiency in manipulating your environment with the use of the human body. There is a lot of jumping, flipping and spinning in this technique, for example in the popular urban ninja video on youtube. They used a variety of martial arts, as the cop was a self-professed kickboxer, and the druglord watches a famous UFC fight at one point in the movie. The movie was also politically clairvoyant, as the French attitudes towards the slums of Paris showed up in the media a year later when riots broke out due to the hopelessness of the ignored areas. But still, District 13 was a 90-minute adrenaline-rush, that is fitting for any martial-arts movie-fan.

The Protector

Another installment by Tony Jaa, who goes to Australia to protect his companion elephant, a sacred animal in Thai culture, which has been kidnapped by some crooked business people. Some of the plot, acting, and music were silly, but there is one reason to watch this movie, and that is to watch Tony Jaa kick some ass. He is a lot more aggressive and dominant than in Ong-Bak, and there were some long and daunting fight sequences.

The Golden Compass

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Tim Burton delivers another masterpiece in Sweeney Todd. Johnny Depp plays a vengeful barber who becomes a serial killer, while his wife Helena Bonham Carter makes meat pies out of the bodies. The movie will have the amount of gore and grief you would expect from an R-rated movie about a serial killer, even though it's a musical. The singing was pretty good, even by Depp who reportedly had not sung in decades. Tim Burton said that auditioning so many people singing was as intimate as seeing them naked for a porno. The singing certainly brought a level of intimacy to the film that contrasts the dark tone, and the score was as grandiloquent as the barber himself. If you like Tim Burton's aesthetic, then you will love Sweeney Todd. Almost the entire movie was colourless, except of course for the blood, and two brief scenes bookending the movie.

The sub-text played on the theme of how "man eats man," the eating of human meat pies a metaphor for this. The judge wants something that Sweeney Todd has, his beautiful wife, and so unfairly sentences him to life in prison. The judge reflects man's selfish nature. Todd, who escapes and comes back years later, requires vengeance, in his all-too-human nature. Todd has a great capacity for evil, and carelessness, definite traits of humanity. This was probably Tim Burton's darkest movie, but it was a great one, and further cements his status as one of the best director's of his generation.

Latest Views

Walk Hard

The latest from Judd Apatow parodying a Johnny Cash-style singer's life. It's silly and dirty and pretty funny. Not quite 4 stars, but I would probably give it 3.75 if I could. In comparison, Superbad was worth 4 stars, Knocked Up closer to 3.25, and the 40-Year-Old Virgin closer to 3.75. The movies that this core of actors generates are on average better than the one's the "fratpack" usually spurts out. The groups are pretty easy to delineate. The core of the "fratpack" features Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, and Luke Wilson. Old School was amazing, Zoolander and Anchorman pretty good, but then the catalogue starts to slip a bit with Dodgeball, Meet the Parents, Wedding Crashers, and Blades of Glory. The Apatow group is centered around Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd, and to an extent Steve Carell. Obviously there are a lot of overlapping casts and what not. I could probably designate three side groups: one is Jack Black, who gets to be in a field all by himself (Tenacious D, Nacho Libre, School of Rock, Orange County, and High Fidelity). Another is Wes Anderson, who uses Jason Schwartzman a lot, and generally does more self-explorative, sophisticated comedies (Rushmore, Royal Tenanbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and The Darjeeling Limited). These are probably the highest quality movies out of the bunch. Then there is Bill Murray, who is Bill Murray.

Legend

No, not I Am Legend, but the 1986 fantasy classic by Ridley Scott, featuring Tom Cruise as a pants-less forest-dweller, and Tim Curry as one of cinema's most memorable Devil's. It's amazing what a Director's Cut, as well as good DVD quality can do for these solid 80's movies. Watching this made me want to watch Dark Crystal, another movie I remember from my childhood.

Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior

Tony Jaa is pretty good, but this movie proved to be a fairly standard martial arts movie.

Interesting Non-Tendered Free Agents

(featured on www.bluejayway.ca)

After Wednesday’s non-tender deadline, there are a few interesting names available.

Dallas McPherson (3B) – A former Angels prospect, and a lefty with a lot of power. He has been plagued by injuries, but a low market team with no 3B would be smart to give him a shot, especially because he has tons of service time left. The Blue Jays would also be smart to look for a backup 3B in case Glaus gets injured for a few months.

Morgan Ensberg (3B) – Still could produce, as he had good walks and power in the past. But unless he can play LF, another team might be able to offer him a starting spot.

Adam Everett (SS) – One of the best defensive shortstops in baseball, with a poor bat. His type of tools are the kind that go underrated when contracts are given out.

Kevin Mench (OF) – He’s got a decent bat for LF, with a career .791 OPS.

Miguel Olivo [C] – Has hit 32 homeruns over the last two years (and 23 walks!). He might be that good backup catcher Ricciardi has been looking for. He threw out 33% of baserunners last year.

Johnny Estrada [C] – An even better solution offensively than Olivo, since he’s a switch hitter, and has a higher career OBP by 45 points. However, defensively he’s not as good, throwing out 13% last year, even worse than an injured Zaun.

Kiko Calero (RHP) – A career 3.55 ERA has got to make some teams look twice for bullpen help, even though he struggled last year. The Blue Jays would be wise to beef up their bullpen to protect against any possible regressions from some of the overperforming young pitchers last year. Not that the Jays bullpen will be bad, but you can never have enough pitching.

Akinori Otsuka (RHP) – He has a 2.44 career ERA. I’m not sure why the pitching hungry Rangers non-tendered him, as even though he’s returning from injury, he still has an awful lot of service time left, making the risk of losing a few million dollars over 1 year logical. He was also the last valuable commodity left in the Adam Eaton/Otsuka for Adrian Gonzalez/Chris Young/Termel Sledge trade.

Mark Prior (RHP) – The Cubs non-tendering Prior makes more sense than the Otsuka situation. He will be a free agent after next year, and could resign anywhere. He will be returning from injury, so a big market team might want to drop $3.5 million to see if he can be useful for half of the year.

Josh Towers (RHP) – NL West bound.

Matt Wise (RHP) – Another potentially useful bullpen arm. He’s got a career ERA of 4.18, with a good K:BB ratio (238:103).

Other names:

Jose Garcia, RHP, John Parrish, LHP, Cory Doyne, RHP, Roberto Novoa, RHP, Nick Gorneault, OF, Brendan Donnelly, RHP, Emil Brown, OF, Chad Durbin, RHP, Jason Tyner, OF, Andy Gonzalez, INF, Heath Phillips, LHP, T.J. Beam, RHP, Matt DeSalvo, RHP, Darrell Rasner, RHP, Bronson Sardinha, OF, Willie Harris, OF, Aaron Miles, 2B, Mark Hendrickson, LHP, Scott Munter, RHP, Ben Johnson, OF, Juan Padilla, RHP, Nook Logan, OF, Mike O’Connor, LHP, Jack Cassel, RHP, Ryan Ketchner, LHP, Jason Lane, OF, Brad Eldred, 1B; Brian Rogers, RHP, Jerry Gil, SS, Brad Salmon, RHP, Sean Barker, OF, Darren Clarke, RHP.

Dexter: End of Season 2 Comments

SPOILERS! Please don't read unless you've finished season 2.

Season 2 was pretty fun in that there was a whole lot of tension and excitement throughout the entire season. There was also more introspection into Dexter's past, which I enjoy. However, I and many other fans can't help but feel a little disappointed with the plot developments. Doakes ends up dying, getting blasted to smithereens, and is pinned as the Bay Harbour Butcher (BHB). Doakes is no different from Dexter. He's a good cop that wants justice and to kill bad guys. Everyone who watches the show roots for Dexter. He's the loveable serial killer. The feeling of disappointment comes in when you realize that Doakes' blood is on Dexter's hands. Even though Lila killed him, Dexter was planning to frame Doakes for the BHB murders, which would probably have lead to him getting the death penalty since it is legal in Florida. So even if you're not the one doing the killing, but you set them up to be killed, you are absolved? I also think that was a weak plan by Dexter, considering Doakes' accusations would at least cause investigation into Dexter's past, basically screwing him over. The chances of them finding something in Dexter's past to connect him to the BHB would be way higher for him than Doakes. As well, season 2 saw a markedly different Dexter, who battled much more moral problems (since his hand was forced by the law and revelations by Harry's code), and he got a lot closer to people, such as Lila, and caring for Rita and the kids. At times you wonder, if Dexter stops killing people, then wouldn't this be just a normal cop drama?

I loved the conversations between Doakes and Dexter once Doakes knew that he was the BHB. Towards the end, you felt that Doakes layers were being knocked down, and he somewhat understood Dexter. And Dexter also helps Doakes from being killed by those drug lords. What a team those two would make! That would have been epically cool, if there weren't the problem of the law hunting down at least one of them as the BHB.

I did write one alternative ending, which I think would have tied things up much better:

Doakes survives the blast - but is in a coma, and when he wakes up has retrograde episodic amnesia. He is able to be a cop, but not homicide, as he has lost his episodic memory for a few months back (forgetting that Dexter is the BHB). He still hates Dexter for some reason. The law acquits him because they find out that Lila is the BHB, after its discovered she was trying to make Doakes her latest victim in a plea to get Dexter back. (I suppose her fingerprints were found on something in the cabin, and they identify her motive). Lila as the possible BHB could have worked well if the writers developed it more. The viewers of the show know that she can kill, and that she had all those body parts in her studio, alluding to chopping up bodies. From the law's perspective, they first find she has an alias and no paper trail. All that would be required is writing in on how she was a killer of chopping a person up 15 years ago in Britain before coming here, yadda yadda yadda. Anyway, before the law gets to her, Dexter has already "taken care" of her, both framing her and killing her in the process, making it look like a suicide because she was "found out." This way, Dexter doesn't have any of Doakes blood on his hands, Doakes lives, and Dexter goes on being his old self.

Do you believe in the Jays?

On a recent board discussion on Blue Jay Way, someone asked if you really believed that the Jays had a chance. I'll put my long rant of an answer here. However, I was partly depressed because I lost my mp3 player last night by leaving it on a (coach) bus.
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First, no one can say with absolute certainty who is going to win this year. I know you may think I'm being facetious, but look at it in terms of a matter of probability. No one can answer "no the Jays won't make the playoffs again next year." There is a shot, even if it's in the 10% range, it's still could happen.

With that being said, and in my honest opinion, it's really tough to see the Jays ever making the playoffs. The Red Sox and Yankees are way too good for us. They both have money and are both developing terrific young players. The Jays spend a decent amount, though considering the cap of $100 million, you could heavily criticize the allocation of resources by JP Ricciardi. The Wells contract looks expensive in the last few years, though that is far away. BJ Ryan is a very expensive reliever. Not only that, but JP seems to acquire those free agents with his eyes and ears closed with regards to their medical reports. It's almost like he pretends it might not be a factor. It was known that Glaus, Burnett and Thomas were all injury concerns, and that BJ had a funky delivery and was due. The point is, spending money in an absolute vacuum may increase your chances to win, but the Red Sox and Yankees pummel us on that front, so we have to be even more shrewd with spending money.

The Red Sox and Yankees have been drafting better than us until this year and perhaps the last. JP wasted picks here and there (for example, on some of the aforementioned signings, and maybe the Koskie one), and blew several high picks on signability. Look at what the Tigers are doing. They drafted Maybin for a signing bonus of perhaps 400K more than Ricky Romero, and just traded him as the centrepiece for Miguel Freaking Cabrera. I know it's in the past, but I think that with JP at the helm, and the current economic structure (luxury tax, no draft slotting), as well as weighted divisions, the Jays are essentially screwed. The Red Sox and Yankees are going to make the playoffs almost every year, and if not them, an AL Central powerhouse. It is almost like the NBA, where the Western Conference is dominant and the Eastern one not so much (for baseball, like the AL over NL). However in basketball 8 teams make the playoffs, whereas only 4 do in baseball. A small change that could help is taking away the weighted divisions, and making the best 4 teams in each league make the playoffs. Baseball is usually slow to change though, so you can't expect something drastic like a salary cap or expanded playoffs (which would probably require a shortened season, even though 8 playoff teams would be really fun and lucrative).

It IS a delicate situation though. You can't just fire JP unless you can hire away a Brian Colangelo type guy. There are much worse GM's than Ricciardi. There are a few great GM's floating around right now, like Terry Ryan or John Schuerholz. The Jays could offer a somewhat big payroll, a good market, a good paycheque, and a supportive ownership group to try and sway one of these guys away.

It's also frustrating when you think that basically any other team has a chance but the Jays (and other AL East teams). If you haven't noticed, there is a lot of parity in baseball. Seven different world champions in the last 8 years (or so), with several new teams making the playoffs. However, the newest CBA actually heightened the level for luxury taxes, and there has been no discussion on slotting of the draft. With the weighted divisions, the Jays have to face these two teams very often, and have to hope that they both don't automatically make the playoffs. At least teams in the Central and West can hope to win the division in any one year.

What do I want from the games? Well, you can always watch them with tempered expectations, because certain good things will happen, like breaking out young players like McGowan, etc. You can watch for the good plays too. I don't agree with corpusse on his point about having an awful team. It would just desensitize you. It's better to have a somewhat competing, talented team...and even if you get good draft picks every year, it could take you 10 years to be good. Plus, you can still draft the Roy Halladay's of the world with the 18th overall pick. Also, you can always find a new team (which is hard for me to do personally because I've grown up with the Jays), but I'm a big fan of what Dave Dombrowski does for the Tigers. Look at how they draft over slot every year, getting Andrew Miller, Cameron Maybin, and Rick Porcello. Why can't we do that? It'd be only adding another $5 million on the draft, easily affordable. It's pennywise, poundfoolish not to. They are also the closest team to us, and Dombrowski used to work for the Expos I believe.
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Now someone did respond and intelligently pointed out that the Red Sox and Yankees merely have an abundance of picks the last several years, and that the Blue Jays drafts are improving tremendously. That and the solid payroll makes me feel better about the future at least, since they are going in the right direction.

Garza for Young: A Prospect Blockbuster

It's hard to say who got the better of the Delmon Young for Matt Garza trade right now. The Twins gave up the 5th best pitching prospect in baseball last year and a possible number 2 starter, a great defensive shortstop in Jason Bartlett, and power-pitching relief prospect Eduardo Morlan. The Rays gave up the best player in the deal – Delmon Young, who many scouts see as having unlimited potential - as well as role players Brendan Harris and Jason Pridie. Young was a number 1 overall pick who treaded water in the majors at 21, a resume you don’t want to give up on too quickly. It all basically breaks down as to whether Delmon Young breaks out into a superstar. He had discouraging plate discipline in 2007, with 127 k’s and only 26 walks, despite logging only 13 homeruns in 645 AB. However, he still had 38 doubles, and some of those will turn into homeruns. Scouts have always loved his quick bat speed, and I should reiterate that he is only 21. It may not be for a couple of years, but there’s no reason to think Delmon Young still won’t become a perennial All-star.

In the context of how each team improves, it’s still a fairly even trade. Both teams dealt from a position of strength to fill a weakness. The Twins had numerous young pitchers for the rotation without Garza, including Bonser, Baker, Slowey, Perkins, Liriano, and Swarzak, so selling high on Garza makes sense. In 2006, Baseball America said of Garza, “calling him a No. 2 starter behind Johan Santana almost seems conservative.” He had a good year in 2007, and obviously the pitching hungry Rays believe the same things that Baseball America does. However, they are downgrading their shortstop position, hoping that Harris, Alexi Casilla and Nick Punto can share time effectively between SS and 2b. The offense still looks weak up the middle (including CF) and 3b, but will obviously be helped if Delmon Young breaks out.

The Rays had an overloaded outfield, a bad pitching staff, and the league’s worst defense. The defense is helped by Jason Bartlett at shortstop, and the rotation is much deeper now: Kazmir, Garza, Shields, Sonnanstine, Niemann, Jackson, and Hammel. I still don’t see the Devil Rays competing next year. They lost 96 games, and the bullpen is still awful, even though it is fronted by Al Reyes, Dan Wheeler, and now Troy Percival. Their offense is not as strong as it looks: you can't rely on Baldelli because of injuries. B.J. Upton may regress offensively due to his ridiculous .393 BABIP (definition: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/glossary/index.php?search=babip), showing that he was getting lucky with hits, and whopping 154 strikeouts. However, he's still a good hitter, as his power, stolen bases, and walks were all good. Carlos Pena may be good next year, but not as good as his career year in 2007. As well, Bartlett, Josh Wilson (2b), and Dioner Navarro [C] don’t have great bats. Considering the long-term upside of Delmon Young, I would say that the Twins have the slight edge in this trade.

Jim Callis of Baseaball America is driving the 2010 Devil Rays World Series champion bandwagon. He also does not believe in the Jays at all. In a recent chat, he picked the Blue Jays as the worst AL East team over the next 10 years (that’s right, even worse than the Orioles, even though the Jays organization is run better in many ways over the Orioles). So will the Devil Rays be taking the traditional 3rd place reigns (or higher) in a few years? It’s an important question, because the Rays have been an arch nemesis to the Blue Jays, beating them when they needed wins the most, while the Red Sox and Yankees frequently posed as less a problem.

The future has several key prospects coming up. Evan Longoria (SS/3b) and Reid Brignac (SS) will presumably take the left side of the infield, while Iwamura moves to 2b, and Pena stays at 1b if he is still there. The rotation could have 5 number 1 or 2’s, with Kazmir, Garza, Shields, Wade Davis, Jake McGee, and David Price, which may be enough to put them over the top. But that is several years away, and not counting the attrition rate for prospects, especially pitchers. Prospects often take a long time to develop, and may not hit their stride until well past 2010. If their management is reluctant to start spending a lot of money in a poor market to keep players like Crawford and Kazmir, then all the pieces will never be there at once, and they will never reach their potential. All in all, the Rays have collected many top prospects from years of losing, but their future is so prospect-based that I’ll believe it when I see it.

The Vernon Wells Contract in Perspective

(featured on www.bluejayway.ca)

Torii Hunter just signed a deal worth 5 years and $90 million with the Angels. That’s an annual average value of $18 million. I was waiting to see how this deal turned out to compare what Wells would have cost the Jays. Hunter and Wells are relatively similar players. They are both very good defensive centre fielders and probably in the same bracket (remember, all those homerun stealing catches by Hunter is partly because the fence is low in his home park). Hunter averages about 25 homers a year, with 17 steals, 42 walks, 114 strikeouts, and a .271 average. Wells chimes in at 26 homers a year, with 11 steals, 47 walks, 91 strikeouts, and a .281 average. All in all, Wells is a slightly better hitter. Another thing to consider is that Wells is entering his age 29 season, whereas Hunter is entering his age 32 season, and younger players always get a higher premium. However, Hunter had a better walk year, whereas Wells struggled with an injury.

The Vernon Wells contract is much better than the Torii Hunter one. The Angels are paying Hunter through his age 36 year, whereas the Blue Jays are paying him only through his age 35 year. However, the key difference is that the Jays have Wells for 2 extra years closer to his prime. Now, considering Wells had such an awful year, perhaps he would have earned less. In this instance, Andruw Jones may be a good comparable because he had such an awful walk year as well. He is a bit older than Wells, but in the past has been a better hitter. We don’t know what sort of contract Jones will get, but the speculation is that it will be for $15 million per year (number of years unknown).

So, even by this criteria, at worst the Blue Jays are overspending by $3 million per year (or $21 million over the life of the contract), hardly a crippling amount. Yes, it’s true that it would be much better for the contract to be about 1 or 2 years less, as a player is more likely to decline by their mid-30’s, and Wells is being paid an awful lot by then. However, if the organization is smart, this obstacle will hardly be crippling, and they can field a competitive team around Wells just as the 2007 Rockies did around Todd Helton.

Tracy Ringolsby recently wrote an article (http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7469504) hammering the Jays for their lack of direction. First, Ringolsby is wrong in saying that the Jays are only an $80 million team, and not a $100 million one. Last year, they spent $90 million on payroll, and when you add up all of the money given out in arbitration, and include signing bonuses, the payroll will be right up against the $100 million mark (I have an estimated $95 million right now). Their willingness to spend money shows that they are trying. The division is formidable, so some owners would see no point in adding in the extra $40 million a year to at least try and win. Second, the Red Sox illustrate perfectly why the payroll disparity in the AL East is not the main reason why they won the World Series. Free agents JD Drew, Julio Lugo and Daisuke Matsuzaka were all disappointments. The real contributors mostly came from the farm system: Pedroia, Youklis, Bucholz, Papelbon, Ellsbury, Delcarmen, Lester, and the ability to trade for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell (Hanley Ramirez).

So, if the Jays are going to compete, they are going to need to draft well, and not just spend a lot of money. The Jays had a great draft this year, taking Cecil, Jackson, Ahrens, Arencibia, Eiland, and Tolisano. They also have Travis Snider waiting in the wings. The players from this years draft all project to be in the majors in 3-5 years, around when the Wells contract gets expensive. The Jays FO are clearly smartening up when it comes to the draft, and they are hoarding picks too. The mutual interest with Michael Barrett is a good example. The Jays rightfully don’t want to give up their first round pick just for him. (If they do, I’ll quickly agree with Ringolsby). J.P. Ricciardi can be baffling, but he does have strengths, such as at identifying quality major league talent (see: Burnett deal, not trading McGowan), and he deserves kudos for assembling one of the best pitching staffs in baseball last year. My guess is Ringolsby is just trying to earn his paycheque. Ricciardi is an above average GM, and his weakness is soon becoming a strength. It’s going to be hard to close the gaps between the Red Sox and Yankees, who are both rich and intelligently run. But luck is the residue of design and if the Jays continue to draft well, you never know what could happen.

The Un-reviewed

There are a couple of shows and movies that I have watched recently but have not reviewed.

The Wire


Slow-moving cop drama that forgoes the usual mindless violence and gets to the meat and potatoes, with politics, plot-turns, characters, and a bit of humour on the side.

30 Rock


The funniest show on TV since Arrested Development.

Arrested Development


The funniest show on TV.

Juno


A quirky comedy about an under-aged girl who gets pregnant, with many of the same actors as Arrested Development.

Lars and the Real Girl


An original take on the romantic comedy genre, where a socially withdrawn man starts to date a plastic woman, thinking she is real. The small-town plays along and dives into what it means to be loved in a relationship.

Let's Go to Prison


A silly comedy that probably got bad reviews elsewhere, but since it's my type of humour, with prison and Will Arnett, I found it enjoyable.

No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men is the Coen Brother's best film since The Big Lebowski (1998) and Fargo (1996). The story is an adaptation of a book by the same name by Cormac McCarthy. A drug deal has gone wrong near the U.S.-Mexico border in 1980. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) is a welder that stumbles upon the abandoned drug deal shoot out, and decides to take a large sum of cash ($2 million). But taking the money causes some people to hunt his trail, particularly Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). Moss occupies most of the story-line, but is not your typical American movie-hero. Instead, he is a Tragic hero, as he's likeable and not particularly evil, but he's greedy when he starts to protect his found money. Anton is a cold hard killer and at times uses coin-flips to decide whether to spare people's lives (unless of course you really inconvenience him). Chigurh is described at times as "just a psychopath" and the "ultimate bad-ass." He carries around a cattle gun, which normally shoots a rod at an animal's head to make it "lose consciousness"; but Chigurh uses it to break open locks and shoot people in the head. Bardem is a heavy-weight actor, staring in such films as The Sea Inside, where he plays a quadriplegic who fought for 28 years for euthanasia and the right to end his own life. Tommy Lee Jones' character (Sheriff Ed Tom Bell) was great, and anchored the movie morally. He also provided scenes that were subtly humourous, that evolved organically. The movie had no soundtrack, and was as minimalistic as the barren Texas landscapes that it featured. (spoilers) In the end, the movie is a tragedy. Chigurh is a completely unstoppable evil force, and ruthless too, as he kills the wife just for the sake of killing. Sheriff Bell's remarks cast a hopeless attitude on a modern cultural landscape that features violence and dishonesty. (spoilers end)

There is one more Western movie coming out at the end of the year that I want to see called There Will Be Blood, by P.T. Anderson. The genre is seemingly making a mini-resurgence, as all of the 2007 Westerns have been very good. Even though this movie is more a modern Western than a classic one, it exceeded 3:10 to Yuma and Jesse James in quality. In sum, the Coen Brother's are masters of their craft and exceed conventions on so many levels, that this movie is a must-see for movie-lovers.

American Gangster

American Gangster was about the real life story of Frank Lucas, a black man in the 60's and 70's who outdid the mafia by getting shipments of heroin straight from Southeast Asia and peddling it onto the streets of Harlem. On the other side is Richie Roberts, a good cop who attempts to take down both Frank Lucas, and the heavily crooked drug force working in New York at the time. The movie was fairly conventional, although it was well-made and well-acted. The ending was intriguing, but there was not much to dig beneath the surface, as the movie worked more as a biopic than a commentary. Taken together, American Gangster is a good movie, but not necessarily a must-see unless it particularly interests you.

A side-note is that today, I started watching The Wire, an unheralded but critically acclaimed HBO TV show that is entering it's final season. The show is a very slow developing crime drama based in inner-city Baltimore. Unlike American Gangster, the cops are a lot less resourced, and at times seemingly defeated, for a more realistic and humbling feel. It's not as easy as marching in to get the bad guys, since there is a lot more crime and politics than anyone bargained for.

Gone Baby Gone

I took awhile before sitting down to write this review because it's a difficult one to write. The story is too complex to dissect in full: it's about a drug-addicted, neglectful mother, whose daughter (Amanda) is kidnapped. A private investigator, Patrick Kenzie (Casey Affleck) is hired due to his inside knowledge of the Boston neighbourhood. Chief Doyle (Morgan Freeman) lost a young daughter of his own and is dedicated to persevere on the issue of missing children. After Patrick stumbles upon inside information, he is drawn more and more into mystery and corruption, as he constantly tries to make the honourable decision.

The movie blurs the lines between right and wrong. Patrick is constantly taking risks to find Amanda: he offers an under the table exchange with a drug lord, and he seeks to uncover the truth behind corrupt cops - typical vigilante stuff. But in his final decision, Patrick goes up against his notions of love and sacrifice for the state. (spoilers) He discovers that Chief Doyle had Amanda all along, and he is forced to decide on whether to expose Chief Doyle for the selfish kidnapper that he is. His wife claims she will hate him for returning the girl because despite it being the "right" thing to do, the mother was a no-good, lying, drug-addict. Patrick believes that the mother will change, and that he owes it to Amanda who, when she grows up, would have her real identity. In the end, Patrick realizes his mistake, as the mother does not show signs of change, opting to sleep around on dates while leaving her 8-year-old daughter at home unattended. Despite Chief Doyle's delusional motives for kidnapping the girl (to fill a void in his life for his own lost daughter), you really get the sense that he's a good person that wanted to save her from a bad home. In a way, everyone loses - Patrick loses his partner, Chief Doyle goes to jail, Remy (a corrupt police officer played by Ed Harris) dies, and the girl is left with a loser of a mother. The movie delivers strong emotions to masterfully emphasize its point. (spoilers end)

Casey Affleck, Morgan Freeman, Michelle Monaghan, and Ed Harris were all superb in Gone Baby Gone. Casey's acting resume is much better than Ben Affleck's is, but Ben did a great job in his directorial debut. This movie is a lock to be nominated for Best Picture, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it won.

Famous Puppet Death Scenes

First a note on the Distillery District, home to the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. I've never been to this part of town, and I consider it a hidden gem, as it was new to me. It had brick roads and Industrial Gothic style buildings, saved from earlier industrial use. There are galleries, bakeries and cafe shops galore. It's a very nice neighbourhood to hang out in.

Famous Puppet Death Scenes is gaining notoriety and is traveling internationally. The show is exactly what it sounds like; it truly captures what the Theatre of the Absurd is all about. The influences of Edward Gorey were highly apparent. The skits were at times funny, in a quirky, black comedy type of way. But there was also imaginative scenes that perplexed the mind - a tendency in which the topic of death is inclined to do. There is a video on you tube, but it does not do justice to the charm and craftiness of the show. The puppets themselves were detailed, and their expressions and gestures were able to say so much. Famous Puppet Death Scenes was a very good show, and merits 4 stars based on its originality and creativity alone.

Shortstop Options in 2008

(featured on www.bluejayway.ca)

The Blue Jays failures in 2007 can be summed up to one aspect of the game: offence. While much of the offence can be blamed on injuries, teams have to prepare knowing that injuries are a part of the game and affect every team. While some people reflect on 2006 as being a great offensive year and what the “real” Blue Jays are like, I should point out that they still finished 7th in the AL in runs scored per game, and that was even with great years from Molina, Overbay, Glaus, Wells, Rios, Zaun, Hinske, Catalanatto, and even Hillenbrand. Everybody and their dog had a career year in 2006. Going into 2008, there is offensive potential at every position except for shortstop. John McDonald is a great defensive shortstop, but as a team the Jays had a .598 OPS out of the shortstop position, compared to an average OPS of .758 for starters (2006). That's a whopping difference of .160 OPS points. McDonald had a .612 OPS this year (and .595 career), which would slot in 3rd last amongst qualifiers (in 161st place, beating out Jason Kendall and Nick Punto). I’m as much a John McDonald fan as the next guy, but I don’t see this team making the playoffs with him as the starting shortstop. JP has said he’ll stand pat this winter, but I think he is bluffing, and is going to make a splashy move, which will most likely be an improvement at shortstop. So, with 2008 looking rosy as ever, with some great pitching and healthy hitting, let’s see what is available (* denotes free agent in 2008):

Top 10:

1) Tomohiro Nioka*: He is not technically a free agent until next year, but he could be posted and perhaps had for Akinori Iwamura money (around 3/$12 million), which is great for a shortstop. He hit .295/.346/.457 with 20 homers and 83 RBIs last year, and is 31 years old. As a basis of comparison, Iwamura hit .311/.389/.544 in his last year in Japan at 27, and ended up with a .770 OPS in his first year in the major leagues.

2) Alexei Ramirez: Ramirez is a 26 year old player from Cuba who also might be worth the risk financially. He went 6-16 in the WBC, has played in the Olympics, led his team with 20 homers last year, and is considered one of the top Cuban players around. For more information and a video, see: http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=597

3) Jack Wilson (trade): he might be the best option to get without paying too much in talent or money. He is still quite valuable as he had a .790 OPS this year (.690 career) with a .983 fielding percentage, edging out McDonald’s .982. The Pirates might be desperate to get that $14 million/2 year contract off their hands, but if they threw in some money, this would be an improvement.

4) Orlando Cabrera* (trade): of the next 3 big name possibilities, he is the most likely. There are tons of options for the Angels at SS/3B next year, from Brandon Wood, to Chone Figgins, Maicer Izturis, Erick Aybar, and Sean Rodriguez. Cabrera had a .742 OPS and a slick .983 fielding percentage last year, and is due about $9 million. Really, any of these players are trade options: Maicer Izturis is interesting, as he has a .724 careers OPS and has experience at 3b, a definite plus with Glaus’ creaky legs at 3b.

5) Rafael Furcal* (trade): also in his last year, and is due $13 million. His speed would go nicely at the top of the Blue Jays lineup. The prospect pushing him out, Chin-Lung Hu, might also be trade bait, as he won the MVP at the futures game and had an .871 OPS between AA and AAA this year as a 23 year old. We all know how reluctant the Dodgers are to play prospects. It would be a heist if some relievers could net Lu.

6) Edgar Renteria* (trade): he has a nice $11 million option in 2009, and with how shrewd the Braves are with prospects, I don’t see this as a viable trade possibility. They have Yunel Escobar that could take over, or could also be trade bait in a swap for one of the Jays young pitchers.

7) Felipe Lopez*: either him or Cristian Guzman* is a non-tender candidate, but Lopez’s bat has declined badly over the last two years, and he has poor defence. Angel Berroa* is in the same boat, as he may be released by the Royals, and despite hitting .300/.364/.433 in AAA this year, has a poor glove.

8) Ronny Cedeno (trade): he is known to have a great glove, and has had a .959 OPS last year in AAA, and a .921 OPS in AAA in 2005, but has been a disappointment at the ML level, and is thought to amount to a light-hitting shortstop. Only Ryan Theriot is blocking him and the Cubs may need him for their own shortstop problems.

9) Clint Barmes (trade): he is blocked in Colorado, mainly by Tulowitzki, Ian Stewart, and Kaz Matsui, but had a nice year in AAA (.815 OPS). It might not take a lot to get him in a trade but he’s a bit of a wild card.

10) Others: David Eckstein - he’ll be 33, and his bat has .100 OPS points over McDonald's, but his defence is slipping (20 errors this year), and he might not be worth the dollars he’ll command in free agency. Juan Uribe*, who will probably be retained by the White Sox for $5 million, is basically John McDonald plus 20 homers a year. And Jeff Keppinger of the Reds might not be a bad trade option, as the 27 year old has an .806 OPS at the major league level and .794 career minor league OPS. He played mostly 2b in the minors, but had a .989 fielding percentage at shortstop filling in for Alex Gonzalez.

World Series Preview

The Red Sox vs. Rockies World Series is primed to be an epic series. The Rockies are playing the role of the classic underdog with a $50 million payroll (ranked 25th in MLB), while the Red Sox are supported with a much nicer $150 million payroll (ranked 2nd in MLB). These teams met in the regular season with the Rockies taking the series 2-1 (including a 7-1 win over Josh Beckett), which nicely sums up how the Rockies are well-suited to battle an American League style team. As a die hard Jays fan, I whole-heartedly want the Rockies to win. They have only reached the playoffs once in their 15 year existence and have never made the World Series. What is more is that they have a history of a good attendance record (especially for a consistently underachieving, low payroll team), partly added by a beautiful park.













They have constructed their team the way any mid-market fan boy would admire: through the farm system approach, having their farm system widely seen as the second-best one behind only the Devil Rays to begin the year. And the team is full of homegrown products, led by future perennial all star and rookie Troy Tulowitzki, who has a great bat (24 hrs, .291 ave, 57 walks) and gold glove defence to back it up. They also have long-time and very underrated Todd Helton, who has played for only the Rockies since he was 23 in 1997, and put up one of the quietest .928 OPS seasons ever. What's more is that this truly seems like destiny's team. The Red Sox are lauded for the miraculous 3-0 come back in the 2004 ALCS, but the Rockies have gone 21-1, including winning 13 of their last 14 regular season games against potential playoff teams, and becoming only the second team to go 7-0 to start the postseason ever (tied with the 1976 Reds). Whether the 9 day layoff will rest them up or make them cold (like the Tigers last year), we will see - it's too hard to predict - but the Rockies are definitely the hotter team right now.

Offensively, these teams are about even. The Red Sox scored 867 runs in the regular season, while the Rockies scored 860, both very good offensive totals. However, the Red Sox are going to be without their DH for 3 games of the series, and they are struggling with their own issue of whether to put in Youklis or Ortiz at 1b under the NL rules. It is a tough question, as Ortiz has a much better bat, but Youklis has been scorching hot this postseason (he's batting .500/.576/.929!!! in 28 at bats) and likely has better defence at 1b. The Red Sox and Rockies are also home to two of the most intriguing parks in baseball. The Rockies have an extreme hitters park, as the lower gravity and drier air causes balls to be hit farther; and the further fences ensures a more spacious outfield for hits to fall into (although recent humidors have dampened the effects). Questions have always been on Rockies hitters whether they are as good in other parks, as many of them have extreme home/road splits. As a team, the Rockies hit an .852 OPS at home this year, and a .731 OPS away (.121 diff), whereas the Red Sox hit a less extreme .844 OPS at home and .768 OPS away (.76 diff). What complicates things is the Red Sox enigmatic park: it is hitter friendly but suppresses homeruns. The green monster greatly reduces homeruns hit, but the short right field porch may increase them. As well, there are many nooks and crannies for balls to get caught in, and they can bounce off the green monster to increase the number of hits. It is going to be interesting to see how these teams adapt to playing in such different parks; but as a whole these are very close offences and an edge cannot really be given to either team.

The Rockies are faced with a similarly tough question on the pitching front. Bring back Aaron Cook, one of the Rockies better pitchers, but who hasn't pitched since August 10th, or stay with Franklin Morales, a highly regarded prospect and flame throwing lefty. Both could do well or implode, one is rusty and the other inexperienced. Personally, I think Morales is a better pitcher and has a better chance of being dominant, whereas you never know what you're going to get with a returning from injury pitcher. The match-ups should look something like this:

Beckett vs. Francis

Schilling vs. Jimenez

Matsuzaka vs. Morales/Cook

Wakefield vs. Fogg

Defensively, these are both good teams, with the Red Sox tallying 81 errors in the regular season, versus the Rockies record-breaking 68 errors (they set the ML record in fielding percentage with 0.98925%, edging out, ironically, the 2006 Red Sox with a 0.98910%). The Rockies and Red Sox both have good bullpens, led by relief aces Papelbon and Okajima, versus Fuentes and Corpas. But the starting pitching looks definitely in favour of the Red Sox. The team ERA's favours the Red Sox by 3.87 vs. 4.32, however, in a short 7 game series that seems to have less importance. Furthermore, aside from one of the game's most clutch pitchers in Josh Beckett, the difference is not as big as it initially appears with the following matchups - and the Rockies already pounded Beckett this year to the tune of 6 earned runs in 5 innings. Not to say that that will happen again, but all in all I think this series is going to go 7 games, and the Rockies are going to win it, becoming the 8th new team in 8 years to win a World Series. This is going to be an exciting series, with two evenly matched teams that have it all: speed, defence, offence and pitching.

30 Days of Night

As a basis of comparison I will talk about Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, which ushered in the modern vampire, as her books are one of the most widely read fiction books ever, and to this day (they were written from the 70's to the 2000's) do not appear dated one bit. They span the creation of vampires from Ancient Egypt to the present day when Lestat becomes an MTV rock star. Her vampires are chosen for their beauty, and they are capable of feelings of love and morality. Rice's vampires are the sort that you would want to be: they can be very much human, like Louis who is very capable of love and is very aware of his conscience. And they can have super strength and senses, like the "brat prince" Lestat, who is powerful and in need of vanity and excitement. They are immortal, unless sunlight or fire maybe kill them (if their ashes are scattered after that). Stakes and crosses, in the words of Louis, are "bullshit." And even only a select few live long periods of time, as the rest are "all too human" and succumb to existential dead-ends and find their way to death. These vampires are seductive, and reason and love.

The vampires of 30 Days of Night are of a much different breed. These are nasty things. They screech like crows, scratch like cats, and seem to have no inherent reason in the excessive killing that they do. You do not want to be one of them. They do not seem to think, but they use weapons and normal fighting techniques. At times the 30 Days vampires looked very cool, all messed up and bloodied. But there was a consistency lacking, where you felt Larry the guy with donuts was just off screen, and the acting in the gestures often did not hold up. Yes there were some iconic images (like the one at the end of the trailer just before the title), but for all of these there were clumsily acted vampires. As well, while some looked absolutely disfigured, the leader looked like a lawyer who had a long night (but had enough time to get a buzz cut in the morning). At times they looked too much like normal people. Story-wise, they did a good job setting up the movie with a lot of intimate, close-up shots of the human characters, in all parts of town. Much of the rest of the movie was tense, while the audience waited for the next encounter. And by the time the ending rolls along, you can truly sense the graphic novel influence on the movie.

All in all, this is not a groundbreaking movie as far as vampire movies go, but it definitely stands out as worth-seeing if you like the vampire genre. I give it 3.5 stars out of 5.

Dexter

Dexter is a brilliant show that is a cut above standard TV shows on every level. The production is well-done, from the creepy solo violin theme, to the acting, the story, the dark humour, as well as incorporating crime drama into the show. But the show goes even deeper, looking intensely into the psyche of Dexter, and what it means to be a moral killer. Is there such a thing?

The first insight into killing the show explores is that of nature versus nurture. Dexter experiences events early in his life that trigger natural genetic urges to kill - but he is raised by a good cop to release these urges in a constructive way, by killing only bad people and knowing how to not get caught. By the end of the first season Dexter has a choice to release his inner killer, to be free and not confined by ideas of 'goodness', or stay to the code with which he was raised. (spoiler) Dexter chooses to stay good, by not killing his 'fake' sister through adoption, but instead killing his murderous blood brother. He sacrifices a brother that he could truly connect with, for a sister that he is close to caring about (if he could). (end spoiler)

The second insight is the issue of whether it is right to kill people at all, ever. A pre-law friend I was talking to said how she hated the show because it tells people that killing is good. But these aren't innocent people - they are evil people, and some people have done such bad things that a Biblical eye-for-an-eye form of justice would be embraced by the families of victims and the rest of society. As well, there are numerous incidences where Dexter has a chance to prevent someone from dying, in which he becomes a sort of avenger. For example, a gang leader named Little Chino murders people who give information about his gang, and Dexter was able to 'intervene' before a child was next. This also happened in the most recent episode where a car salesman was zeroing in on a new single female friend to rape and kill.

Dexter proclaims that he cannot really care about anyone in this world and has no feelings, the typical symptoms of a psychopath. But the show repeatedly shows evidence to the contrary. He constantly makes sacrifices to be closer to his girlfriend Rita. He has an awareness of morality, to help the good and kill the bad. And he reflects on the death of his mother with great sorrow and angst. The closest Dexter is to being mentally unhealthy is having multiple personalities, because it seems the only time when he's cold and calculating is when he's about to kill. It's strange because Dexter fits the bill as a moral killer - most people seem to think he's good (about 85% according to the promo site that asks if he is good/evil), yet if he lived in real society there would be a need to categorize him as mentally unhealthy.

Welcome to my site

I am not going to do this blog to achieve external accolades (except for money and women; women flock to unemployed bloggers, right?). Instead I hope to just synthesize a bit about the tremendous amount of media I take in, from movies to shows to books. I'll also throw in the occasional internet meme that I find hilarious. For me the highest form of accomplishment in these media is when there is meaning underneath the entertaining surface - and that is what I'd like to talk about.

My first official movie "review" will be on Friday, a movie I've been waiting awhile to see called "30 Days of Night," about a bunch of vampires that realize Alaska is a good vacation spot where the sun goes down for 30 days. I love vampire movies and books, and recently have been reading Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles - which kicks ass by the way - so hopefully that will be a good basis of comparison.

By the way, the site's title comes from the logical fallacy that a proposition is true because many or all people believe it, or argumentum ad populum. Be individual, think for yourself.

As well, a note on my rating system. I generally give decent movies 3.5 stars out of 5. Four stars is a benchmark that I give out often to very good movies. Three is mediocre, while 2.5 or below is probably not worth seeing. Five stars is rare, but it means that the show or movie was great on all levels.

Edit: If you haven't discovered it by now, I am also using this site to type a lot about my interest in baseball. So it serves a dual function, and should be pretty evenly balanced - if you don't like baseball, skip over those parts and read on for the media-related entries.