July 2009

There were 15 posts published in July 2009 (this is page 2 of 3).

All Star Game Recap


Just to spite Colin I’m going to try my best to get back in the habit of posting bi-yearly.

First off, what a game. With the pitching and defense dominating providing for a quick pace I seriously had to pinch myself and make myself realize I wasn’t watching a Mariners game. That was some of the most exciting, edge of my seat all star game I have ever seen. Here are some of my thoughts throughout the game.

  • I’m a sucker for all of the pagentry. I love when they announce the players and the managers. It was so cool to see Ozzie Smith and Bob Gipson, two of my favorite HOF’ers, and especially Stan ‘The Man’ Musial give the ball to Obama. While by his own admission, Obama has a pretty weak arm and you can tell he had never played organized baseball, but I hella respect him going with his White Sox Jacket. If only Bush had worn a Texas jacket throwing out the first pitch in NY after 9/11. I guess that was a little different situation.
  • My heart is always pounding when a Mariner is making their appearance in an All Star game because I know in the back of my mind that their opportunities are limited. Thankfully Ichiro got his hit out of the gate and Felix threw a brilliant scoreless inning and we didn’t have to go through that Putz debacle of a few years back.
  • I LOATHE Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. The only reason Joe Buck is in a radio booth is because his dad is Jack Buck and he’s got a nice voice. He’s often distracted and has little tangible enthusiasm. Tim McCarver on the other hand is even worse. He should be in a home rather than being paid to be heard aloud for humans to hear. He says the most obvioius things like, “This switch hitter hit a home run from both sides on Sunday. That means he hit one batting right handed AND left handed.” No shit. The thing that really pissed me off is when Felix came into pitch they did not even mention his name until there was two outs. It’s like what the hell! Stop talking about how great a guy Ryan Howard is and focus on the game! He’s not even up yet!
  • People will probably say that Albert Pujol’s All Star performance was disapointing. I beg to differ. He made some plays at first that I’ve never seen made. He is one hell of a first basemen. Sure he made an error but that guy was standing right in front of him. I knew he was good but his defensive play tonight solidified that he is the best player in the Major Leagues in all facets of the game right now.
  • Speaking of defense, Carl Crawford is a beast. A natural center fielder, I had little doubt that once he jumped he had it. Once Hamilton was out of the game, I felt like Joe Maddon knew what kind of game was going to be played with the caliber of pitching on the mound. He ran out Carl Crawford, Curtis Granderson, and Adam Jones. Thats basically the Mariners outfield in terms of defensive ability. Its a new approach dubbed the “3 CF” approach and catches like Crawfords hopefully solidify what people like Adam Dunn shouldn’t be able to own a baseball glove, let alone play the OF.
  • I love Curtis Granderson. Ever since my failed attempt to play fantasy baseball, I’ve always followed his career and really admired the way he plays. He is a triple hitting machine and let out as loud of a little ‘woo’ as I could tonight when he hit that triple.
  • If I was an Indian’s fan I would be SO pissed. I understand Charlie Manuel’s got a pretty good shot to get back to the World Series and he was managing the game to win, but still. I would be so mad that my only representative in the game got intentionally walked.
  • I’m pretty much over the whole Adam Jones situation to the point where I really like just rooting for him. I’m glad he got the winning sac fly and wish him the very best. Besides we got GOOT!
  • I’m glad Heath Bell got the loss because he is a hated rival Padre and a big fat douche bag.

All in all it was a very exciting game and for as long as I live I’ll never get used to one run games. So exhilarating every time. I’m sure Comish Selig was relieved to go from that 4 hour and 50 minute debacle to a 2 hour and 30 minute thriller. Here’s to keeping the streak alive!

C.A.T: Centerfield


John Fogerty – Centerfield (1985)
Being that it’s All Star Week, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to review John Fogerty’s fourth and arguably best post-Creedence solo album Centerfield. Named after it’s classic Baseball themed title track, Centerfield was also John Fogerty’s first album in nine years and his return to the charts.

The result of a long break, after Fogerty’s previous album was rejected by Asylum records, Centerfield saw Fogerty’s transition to Warner Bros. Records and a return to his catchy rock sound of the 60s. Filled with poppy americana flavored rock (“Rock and Roll Girls”, “Centerfield”) and as usual, some of Fogerty’s more politically charged tunes (“Mr. Greed”, “Zanz Kant Danz”), Centerfield is simple, short and sweet, and perfectly suited for the summer season.

Although a welcomed return to success, Centerfield was not without it’s controversies. Most notably was the hit single “The Old Man Down the Road” which Fogerty’s former record company claimed was too similar to the classic Creedence number “Run Through the Jungle”. What would follow was a long and tiresome trial which fortunately Fogerty would win. Though it sure is something that the trial made it to the Supreme Court.

There’s a lot to discuss with Fogerty’s comeback album but most importantly it’s just a fun album. The musicianship is tight and poppy (Fogerty recorded all the instruments himself) and there’s whole splendor of great, catchy tunes. “Centerfield” is in my opinion the best rock song ever written about Baseball and ‘Old Man Down the Road” is probably one of Fogerty’s best songs since his Creedence years. Whether most people would regard it as a classic?… I don’t know, but for Creedence fans like myself it was the closest we ever got to getting a new Creedence album, check it out.

Favorite Tracks: “Centerfield”, “The Old Man Down the Road”, “Vanz Kant Danz”

Gay Borat

Bruno

With 2006’s Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen made quite a splash by bringing his warped style of docu-comedy to the big screen.  His latest release Bruno, of course finds him milking familiar territory, but I still found myself laughing while feeling a little guilty about it, probably just as much if not more than I had during Borat.

Of course there’s not a whole lot of plot to go around in a movie like this, but it shows Bruno, an overtly gay Austrian fashion journalist on a quest to “become a celebrity” in America.  Much like Borat this makes for a series of instances in which Bruno causes unsuspecting victims to look ridiculous.  These all range from a scene in which Bruno tries to seduce former presidential candidate Ron Paul, to Bruno’s incredibly brief interview with Harrison Ford, who might have the funniest line in the movie.
Going in to Bruno I wasn’t expecting a whole lot, seeing as though I thought he was probably the least amusing of Cohen’s three character’s from Da Ali G show, but I was really surprised at how clever a lot of the gags in the movie were.  Sacha Baron Cohen’s fearless commitment to his character is just as brash this time around.  And though there’s plenty of shocking, un-P.C. moments, plenty of these moments are able to expose some of the shocking bigotry that still exist in this country.  
There’s certainly a lot more to laugh at than just jokes that poke fun at the cost of homosexuals, Bruno takes aim at pretty much every one with it’s sharp sense of satire.  And although it’s brand of shocking humor might not seem quite as fresh as Borat, it still offers plenty of demented hilarity.  In fact, I’m actually kind of looking forward to what Cohen will do next, seeing as though I’m not sure if he could pull off the same formula for a third time, but I’m sure it’s possible.

Lock and Load


The Hurt Locker

Here it is, the first post after the longest hiatus we’ve ever had at Cat Fancy. Why it happened I’m not sure, but now that we’ve seen a couple new flicks and are entering the MLB’s All Star week, I think it’s safe to say the blog will now be returning to it’s normal state.

Anyhow, here’s one of the film’s I saw this weekend. From director Kathryn Bigelow (Known for such films as; Point Break, Strange Days and possibly my favorite movie about vampires Near Dark) The Hurt Locker is a bleak, suspenseful film about both the physical and emotional damage that war can have on a person.

Set in post-invasion Iraq, The Hurt Locker follows the day to day lives of an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal, which is basically a bomb squad) unit lead by the seemingly fearless Sgt. William James played excellently by Jeremy Renner. Accompanied by his teammates Sgt. JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and an often shaken specialist named Eldridge (Brian Geraghty), The Hurt Locker delivers marvelously genuine and emotionally powerful performances (Look for some welcomed cameos as well). Filmed on location in the Middle East, The Hurt Locker strives for authenticity in both it’s style and intricate detail and leaves for an exhilarating experience.

Although a razor-sharp war drama, The Hurt Locker certainly has it’s fair share of high adrenaline action sequences. Your heart pounding away as men become engulfed in shrapnel filled explosions and get shot down by unseen foes. Perhaps it’s the film’s documentary style camera work that makes the experience seem so real, but this film has some surprisingly elaborate effects work that easily rivals any major Hollywood production.

Somehow, I feel like I’ll need to see this film again someday to fully judge it. There’s a lot to take in as The Hurt Locker is hardly a conventional war picture. If there’s anything I didn’t like it was probably the over use of some shaky cameras. I found a few quick cuts and wobbly movements to be distracting but I got used to it as the film progressed.

I was reading in an issue of Entertainment Weekly today that they believe The Hurt Locker could be a serious contender for the Oscars later in the year. Though it’s far too early to tell I wouldn’t be surprised if this film was put into consideration. I mean now that the best picture category has been extended to 10 nominees who knows what could happen. Some have said that it may possibly be the best “non documentary” made about Iraq yet.

Fight the Power


Public Enemies

In a mess of blockbusters and blockbusters to come, Public Enemies doesn’t seem to fit in. Although advertised as an action packed gangster film, I think you’ll find that the latest from Michael Mann is more a slow moving, character driven drama than a shoot em up summer romp.

Following the exploits of infamous bank robber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) and the man who endlessly pursued him Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), Public Enemies is both a brooding crime drama and somewhat of a bittersweet romance. A great deal of the film focuses on Dillinger’s love life with girlfriend Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) and the things that continually kept them apart. Depp plays Dillinger to a tee with just the right amount of toughness and charm. It wouldn’t be all that surprising if he somehow managed another oscar nom, I’m sure he’ll get a win someday but not for this. I find it surprising how sympathetic Dillinger despite him being on the wrong side of the law. He’s very likable and the film does an adequate job portraying him realistically while at the same time romanticizing him.

A relatively lengthy film, I’d say it probably took me almost 40 minutes to really get into it. The film is somewhat slow at times and certainly doesn’t break the mold in anyway, but it’s still a thrilling and entertaining experience. I wasn’t surprised to see a lack of historical accuracies in the film but it’s a minor complaint. I don’t think the edgy Michael Mann is the best filmmaker to approach this subject but it has it’s moments (Any of Dillinger’s high adrenaline escapes are worth note).

I’d definitely agree with some critics that Public Enemies overall “misses it’s mark” to some extent. Sure I liked it but with such a great character and subject matter, this really had the potential to be so much more. Instead what we got was a fairly straightforward, conventional drama with good acting and some highly suspenseful action sequences. This film probably would of been better suited for a fall release, but it’s still a nice change of pace from all the other noisier and stupider films often released in these muggy summer months. I wouldn’t recommend you rush out and see it but it’s worth seeing if you like Johnny Depp or the subject matter.

The Boy Ain’t Right

Hey check this out, Paul made this abstract yet somehow amusing test video. I believe he edited in premiere and used After Effects to pull off of the visual FX. Makes me want to utilize some more effects in a future Cat Fancy production. Anyhow I hope you enjoy it, I did.