caulfield12

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 20, 2015 -> 09:24 AM) Michael Moore is not someone I'm listening to when the topic of courage/cowardice is being discussed. What is IB? And I don't think the 9/11 scenes were specifically propaganda (they weren't very long), as much as building a narrative and explaining where he'd be deployed. Completely agree. And I liked Gran Torino a lot. C'mon, Brian. Not really. I can hardly grasp what you're saying most of the time with the layout of your posts. Inglorious Basterds

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 20, 2015 -> 12:40 PM) RF - Soler CF - Fowler/Denorfia LF - Coghlan/Denorfia SS - Castro 3B - Alcantara/Olt 2B - LaStella/Alcantara 1B - Rizzo C - Montero Bench: C Ross, 2B/3B Olt/LaStella, OF Denorfia Then they probably break with one of Sweeney/Lake (I'd assume Sweeney) and another infielder. CF Fowler LF Coghlan 1B Rizzo SS Castrp RF Soler C Montero 3B Alcantara/Olt 2B LaStella/Alcantara Speaking objectively, their top six is better than ours. That's IF IF IF Castro is a capable 4 hole guy. Maybe if you projected POTENTIAL and projected guys out like Bryant and even Schwarber in the middle of the line-up, then you can starting making that argument. Soler's got to stay healthy and prove he can play everyday. Montero has regressed. Coghlan isn't likely to be as dangerous or as pesky. Of course, if Baez and Russell are for real, your middle infield solidifies and then you can plug Bryant in at 3B or potentially he moves to the OF and you can fit Baez, Russell and Castro together as some sort of infield combination.

American Sniper isn't awful, but it's far from great. I'll leave it at that. As far as Citizenfour goes, lots of polarizing opinions there as well. Some say because of unpolished editing, that it's quite the opposite of tension-filled and suspenseful. Supposedly it does give us a little bit more sense about Snowden the man (and his motives), but he's still largely a mystery. As to the coward comment, I'm sure Moore would say it ONLY applies to snipers, that he didn't mean it to be extended to infantry, nurses/medics, etc.

Speaking of IB, I'm watching a movie with Melanie Laurent and Jake Gyllenhaal called "Enemy" that's really creepy like Nightcrawler...some websites list it as the best movie of the year that earned under $10 million. As far as American Sniper goes, I think the main reason that comment was made (by Moore) was because of the fact that a family member was killed by a sniper during WWII...the idea that it's not heroic to shoot someone from a long distance/with their back turned, etc. I'm not sure that there's much of a political statement there. The movie is too straightforward for that. The only "counterpoint" about the country's "war mindset" is a minute long conversation with his brother who he randomly comes across on a deployment and his brother pointedly questions why he's there and what the mission is...for Chris himself, the point of his survival is not getting bogged down in thinking at all, essentially. Almost like a robotic killing machine, with the exception he has to assess threats, make split-second responses and be held accountable for his actions in real life, unlike a computer simulation. While some of the scenes have the feel of propaganda, there's enough of a moral quandary bent when you have to take out women and children to protect your guys that I'm not sure most moviegoers would choose to be in those same shoes. Of course, there's the obligatory 9/11 scenes to serve as motivation, but it's nothing we haven't been through 1000 times with the likes of the Pat Tillman Story. Personally, I feel that Gran Torino was considerably better than A.S., even though its subject matter and bleakness made it a difficult watch for some. Big Men....great documentary about oil and capitalism, should be a case study in every business school Our Brand is Crisis....if you're interested in shows like West Wing, House of Cards, read The War Room or want to know what political consultants do in off election years in the US, this is your documentary

Guess the days for Alcantara are numbered, at least he'll probably have to wait another year in the minors. Not sure exactly how he fits into their future plans. Trade bait for another starter, packaged with Russell/Castro/Baez? Then again, they might end up moving him to 3B to start the season and hold the position for Bryant until May or June.

QUOTE (Jerksticks @ Jan 19, 2015 -> 08:55 PM) Lol finally unlock the CSN Chicago channel on everyone's direct tv dish down there? First, they would have to make owning a satellite dish legal, lol. Maybe it has happened in the last year, or will happen soon. That's an 11 million population. One wonders if Brooks Boyer and the marketing group ever looked at making the White Sox "Cuba's Team" like the Cubs and Braves attempted with WGN and TBS in the 80's and early 90's?

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 19, 2015 -> 09:30 PM) How do you prove that, though? That's your personal opinion. If these professional acting critics didn't think it was top 5, I'll believe them. They're not critics, with a few notable exceptions. When you hear statistics like that, you start to wonder about all the nominations for American Sniper, for example. And no club in the United States — over the last several years, the Academy has been around 93 percent white, 76 percent male and an average of 63 years old — is in more need of new blood than Hollywood. from nytimes.com article earlier cited

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/opinion/...top-span-region How expensive it is to be poor. The last 1/3rd of the story goes back to Ferguson, a city with a population of 21,135 where there were 33,000 non-violent (mostly traffic) violations in 2013 (roughly 90 per day) targeting mostly the African-American population...also mentions the high court fines and wide array of fees and penalties.

QUOTE (gatnom @ Jan 19, 2015 -> 07:23 PM) It would take a Cardinals-esque run in order for there to be a real shift in fans. The Cubs have too many innate advantages at the moment. Not to mention the fact that the Royals are making inroads in western Missouri, Nebraska (farm team there), Kansas and southwestern Iowa. The Brewers pen them in from the north. Tigers from the near East. The major market opportunity they have is the opening up of Cuba, but how to take more advantage of it economically...where the money would go to the Sox directly and not be split with MLB?

No playoff appearances in 6 years (nearing the normal Sox total of one appearance per decade that kind of got ruined there with the anomalies of 2005 and 2008 so close together). 2007/2009/2011/2013 really sucked. Other than Abreu, no significant talent added to the team in the free agent market, largely due to the presence of Dunn and Danks...until now. thanks, M34 Actually, the White Sox should at least be as strong as the Mariners franchise. However, Seattle has a nicer stadium, a huge new tv contract that pays around $120 million per season (dovetailing nicely with their recent spending) and the fact they've never made it to the World Series.

QUOTE (farmteam @ Jan 19, 2015 -> 07:54 AM) Yeah, ready to go kick some pseudo-Westboro Baptist Church ass! What would be even funnier...Westboro attempting to disrupt the filming of Shameless in real life. Life imitates art? Please, for God's sake, no more Chucky pooping scenes. God, that whole story arc with the four of them is already growing tiring. I'd almost prefer a Road Rules/travelogue show to them being gentrified. And the biggest dramatic tension is V vs. Svetlana? Can't go anywhere but up.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 19, 2015 -> 11:32 AM) This reaction is just strange to me give that a year ago this issue was supposedly put to bed when The Black Movie and The Black Director/Writer and The Black Actress and The Black Actor were all nominated and/or won at the Oscars. How'd the Academy go from being not so racist to racist again in 12 months? Should The Black Movie of every year be nominated just because? I mean this movie very well may be deserving and they could have gotten screwed out of a nomination, but a lot of movies are. I hate when people just scream "because racism." That's one of the main points of the criticism. That the Academy just "checks off boxes" and then returns to the good 'ol boys network. A female director wins for The Hurt Locker, the first time ever, then there's less pressure to nominate other women in the future (like Zero Dark Thirty, which wasn't nearly the film Selma is IMO). In this case, the same director, James Cameron's ex. In all honesty, I think the biggest thing that hurt Selma was not getting all the screening copies out in time...making it very hard to vote for a movie you've yet to see, no matter the universal praise of the Metacritic or rottentomatoes ratings. I like that the Academy isn't rewarding so-so films like Cake and Big Eyes with nominations for Aniston and Amy Adams. On the other hand, they seem to be giving Julianne Moore a lifetime achievement award for Still Alice, because I've seen better (and lower-budgeted) overall films on Lifetime. Probably the biggest injustices this Oscar season are for Selma's director and The Lego Movie.

But if Washington had maintained the status quo with its rotation -- arguably the best in the majors as it was -- the Nationals probably would've had an excellent chance to get to the postseason again. That's a tremendous group, reflected in their cumulative 20.3 WAR, and there really is no reason to think that quintet wouldn't do something close to that in 2015, or maybe even better. Fister, who turns 31 in a couple of weeks, is the oldest of the group, and seems to be getting better and better. Gonzalez is 29, Roark is 28, Zimmermann is 28 and Strasburg is 26. www.espninsider.com/busterolney

Obvious Child 4/5 Night at the Museum 3 2.75/5 Leviathan 4.5/5 The Seventh Son 1.75/5 Pride 4.25/5 The Two Faces of January 3.75/5

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/19/business...p-news&_r=0 More on the why the Oscars omission of Selma matters from a former NY Times film reporter/reviewer Birdman is definitely the most original/creative movie of the year. It might not be the best movie (I'm still going with Selma over Boyhood even though Boyhood's going to win the Oscar next month) but it's packed with a trio of great performances from Keaton, Norton and Emma Stone.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jan 17, 2015 -> 04:47 PM) i saw american sniper. a really nice movie. i am surprise on the acting, i should have known better. anything with clint eastwood directing is usually going to be good. i got to read up on alot of this movie and real life stories. Everything you read....he was basically a "good ol boy" and pretty darned racist. Seemingly the main positive was the work he did with veterans after the war. Of course you're going to come off more heroically with Bradley Cooper and Clint Eastwood controlling the story...but it still feels a bit like a recruiting video for the military. Lone Survivor was a much better film. http://www.salon.com/2013/02/07/death_of_an_american_sniper/ Some of the concerns about the real Kyle and glorifying him.

http://variety.com/2015/film/opinion/why-t...ers-1201406226/ Why the Academy Awards will struggle to draw younger viewers...although perhaps the success of American Sniper might offset some of that concern.

http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/1...direction/?_r=0 Selma/African-American actors/actresses and directors shut out of Oscar nominations for the first time since 1998 http://insidemovies.ew.com/2015/01/15/osca...15-nominations/ Full list of nominees

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Jan 15, 2015 -> 05:23 PM) I wouldn't say the Brewers are in that class quite yet, but St. Louis and Pittsburgh I'd definitely say are better. I don't think a playoff appearance is completely out of the picture, but I just don't see how they're better than either of Pittsburgh or St. Louis. Also, I do not think St. Louis could win with me as their cleanup hitter. I would require a $10 million contract and I would hit .005/.008/.008. I explained this in PHT today. With my lack of range, weak arm, inability to catch the ball, terrible base running, fear of bunting a 94 MPH fastball, tendency to run out of the batter's box at the mere sight of a breaking ball, and incapability of sliding (my "slide" is some drunken version of a summersault), I believe I'd be worth roughly -15 fWAR per season, which would make me the worst player in major league history. What was Eddie Gaedel's OPS?

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 14, 2015 -> 05:55 PM) The first part is why I wanted Denorfia, or any defensive minded OF, who I know is going to have a great year with the Cubs. The second part is just gold. I don't know how you came up with Phegley and Swisher as comparables. Other than that the Sox didn't like their individual personalities, there is absolutely nothing similar about them. All of a sudden we trade a player who sucks, and some posters are quickly expecting him to become a legit contributor because they believe deep down that Billy Beane's smarter for some reason, or at least a better judge of hitters/platoon players. Maybe Nick Swisher is a bit of hyperbole, but Beane's far from infallible.

QUOTE (chitownsportsfan @ Jan 14, 2015 -> 11:48 PM) well it's not like some team wouldn't trade for him if chicago picked up 2 million on his deal. The clubhouse chemistry issue with Alexei and Jose is a non-starter. You think those two All-Star level players don't know you perform or you leave, no matter how good the chemistry? I think they would be offended if that wasn't the case -- both want to win. If Viciedo wants to file a grievance after a negative WAR season let him. The CBA has wiggle room there and I doubt the Union would pick Dayan's case to try and set precedent. I have written more about Dayan Viciedo than probably the rest of the acquisitions combined this offseason, wtf man. Why would Hahn offer him arbitration if he believed he was going to have to eat $2 million to trade him? That makes absolutely no sense. Why not just NOT offer him a 2015 contract and invest that money in another player, or hold it back for a mid-season acquisition? This whole thing of WAR being the sole indicator of a player's value has to stop. I don't even understand why any team would put themselves in the position of fighting off a grievance...unless Hahn is omniscient and knows that either Cabrera or Garcia will be hurt in spring training. They could only find two examples in recent MLB history, it's a very rare occurrence and far from a slam dunk for the team to win.

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 15, 2015 -> 06:08 AM) I love David Fincher, but Benjamin Button was such garbage to me. I can't even explain how because I have successfully erased most of it from my mind. I think it's because it got so much hype like it was a surefire Academy Award winner and most who ENDURED it felt that it was too gimmicky and that the main point of enjoyment was Taraji Henson...plus, that whole criss-crossing ages romance thing just turned out to be weird instead of heartbreaking.

http://entertainment.time.com/2013/12/18/b...t-performances/ Brad Pitt's ten best performances...some might add Legends of the Fall and Burn After Reading, along with the supporting turn in 12 Years a Slave (which I felt was too distracting at that point in the movie, like Matt Damon in Interstellar)

The alternative is the government version of the Wal-Mart approach to doing business, translated to a not-for-profit environment. One would have to believe that's not possible, not with the scale and scope necessary to make purchasing more cost-efficient. If there's any hope, it has to come from a private endowment (probably The Gates Foundation) coming up with a unique solution by thinking outside of the box. Or maybe it's the charity version of Amazon.com, with all the services bundled together in one place. Incredibly difficult to execute in reality.

https://www.yahoo.com/movies/rotten-tomatoe...8109617147.html On the influence of Rotten Tomatoes ratings on the film industry...especially one young director's problems getting financing and actors for a second film when her debut was rated in the 30's and not widely-reviewed.