Top Five Movies of 2009.

As we get closer to Academy Award time I though it was just about time for me to whip out a list of my choices for the five best movies of the year. Personally I think this is a down year, and there isn't a single movie as good as last years Slumdog Millionaires or The Wrestler, but there were some decent flicks out there. I feel better though, that after I put my list together 4 of the 5 I chose were also nominated for best picture. That is probably the most the movies I though were good were also nominated for an Oscar.

5. District 9 - This movie made me feel like crap. It made me realize that humans aren't nice, and that I truly bought the way humanity reacted in this movie. It made the list because I have never encountered a movie that made me feel like such trash just for being a human.

4. Star Trek - I don't like Star Trek. I don't like any of the other movies, and I didn't like the show. But this movie was really great, really enjoyable, and made me excited to see if the reboot would live long and prosper.

3. Up - There isn't much to say about this movie, I think its Pixar's best effort, and that they have really created a masterpiece here. Cartoons aren't supposed to make adults cry damn it!!!!

2. Inglourious Basterds- In my opinion this is Tarantino's master work. Brilliant paced and of course it has amazing dialogue, written in about 17 languages. This movie should count as a foreign entry.

1. The Hurt Locker - This is the best film of the year, hands down I think. Incredibly tense, gritty, and believable. The type of war movie that I enjoy, because it delivers believable drama. Plus I think Jeremy Renner is exceptional. If I were going to recommend someone only watch one movie this year, it would probably be Inglourious Basterds, because it will probably remain somewhat iconic due to the director and actors, but I believe this movie is the most well crafted, well written, and well acted movie of the year.

Honorable Mentions: Up in the Air, An Education (yea I watched it, thanks Market Cinema)

Five Movies you should see right now.

5. In Bruges- An odd but incredibly well made little flick with a lot of good acting and a drunken midget. Can't go wrong with that combination.

4. Grey Gardens- Creepy, disturbing, and utterly fascinating. I know not everyone is interested in documentary film making, but if you are this is one to see without a doubt.

3. Dances With Wolves- Not only is it a very good movie it will remind all of you who watched Avatar that its a complete rip off of this movie.

2. L.A. Confidential- It has Guy Pierce, Kevin Spacey, and Russell Crowe, how can you go wrong there? This is a really great movie with an excellent script and snappy acting from the ensemble cast. Its my favorite cop movie by far.

1. Twilight- PSYCH!!!! You should never see that trash. The real number one is YOJIMBO. A great samurai movie from possibly the greatest director of all time Akira Kurasawa. It stars Toshiro Mifune as the samurai with no name. This is the inspiration behind Leone's Dollars Trilogy, and in fact the first movie of said trilogy was a complete rip off of Yojimbo, so much in fact that Kurasawa sued his ass in court, and won. This is an excellent movie, and is a little lighter than Sanjuro, or some of his other works like Throne of Blood.

Top Five Shortstop!!

As listed in my previous blog, I don’t consider Ernie Banks to be a shortstop. The majority of his career was actually spent as a first sacker. Also I am leaving off Arod because it seems he is going to go in as a third-baseman, not as a shortstop.

5. Ozzie Smith- Ozzie Smith is not an offensive force, but he didn’t contribute some with the stick in his career. He eventually became a respectable average guy and a pretty decent on base guy as well. He also had 580 career stolen bases to only 148 times caught. That’s a pretty good number. However, Ozzie is not here because of his batting prowess. He is here because he is, by any statistical analysis you choose to employ, the single greatest and most valuable defensive player of all time. At a position where defense is important that counts for a lot.

4. Derek Jeter- With all apologies to Cal Ripken Jr., he isn’t going to make my top five. This is a bit of a surprise to me, as much as it is to the people who know me. First of all Jeter isn’t done. He may actually go into the number 3 spot, even though he has actually been a pretty terrible defensive player for most of his career. He has finally learned to be an average to slightly above average shortstop the last couple of years. No bones about it, his Gold Gloves are a travesty and anybody who thinks that they aren’t should be ashamed. That being said, Jeter is still one of the exception shortstops of all time. To this date he has amassed 2742 hits, and put up slash numbers of .317/.388/.459. And he is a gamer, and a leader, which although not heavily waited, is important. He has the personality that Arod should have, but doesn’t. All in all, I feel confident in putting him in my top 5.

3. Joe Cronin- This may be a controversial pick as well, but he was a damn good player. First of all Cronin was a great fielder. Absolutely superb, and one of the best ever. But no only could he field the ball, he could hit it as well. His percentage numbers are a very solid, .301/.390/.468. These are very, very good, particularly for a short stop, and even rarer for a shortstop who can field his position.

2. Arky Vaughn- The proud owner of the best season by a shortstop not named Honus Wagner. This guy could hit, this guy could field, and frankly I am just a sucker for players with career OBP’s over .400. His slash numbers are .318/.406/.453. His 1935 season was truly amazing. In that particular season he hit .381/.491/.607. That’s an absolutely sick season.

1. Honus Wagner- This is pretty much a given, and beyond debate. Hans Wagner is the greatest shortstop of all time, bottom line, end of story. 7 time batting champion and the best defender of his time. His career numbers are .327/.391/.466. This doesn’t look all that impressive but given the average season of his time he was leaps and bounds better than everyone else. Putting up a near 1.000 ops, which he did often, was a near super human feat in early baseball. And according to his peers he was far and away the most feared hitter in the National League.

Cal Ripken Jr.- Cal Ripken Jr. is, of course, one of the great players in baseball history. However, I have a hard time putting him in the top 5. Sure he had the games streak, and that is one of the most impressive records in baseball, but that in itself does not make you the best player at your position. His career OPS is .788. Frankly this is just a bit low to put him in, even counting that he played in an offensively repressed era. Defensively he was very very good, but not great. I have no qualms putting him in the Hall of Fame, and among baseball’s greats, but he doesn’t crack the top five.

Five best names in baseball history!

I like names and baseball has sure had some good ones. I am not talking nicknames here, this are the actual given names of these guys.

5. Johnny Dickshot- I can't imagine what the origination of this last name is but I certainly wouldn't want to grow up with it. To make matters worse this guys nickname was Ugly. Ugly Dickshot. What a terrible name.

4. Biff Pocoroba- Absolutely a great name.

3. Razor Shines- I love it when the Cardinals play the Mets just because I know that I will get to see Razor Shines send someone homes from third. Its really a great name.

2. Sixto Lezcano- If only this guy actually had six toes.

1. Rusty Peters- Seriously what was this guys mom thinking. That is just a bad idea.

Five Most Memorable Movie Bad Guys

I like movie bad guys, they can really make or break a movie. I am not going to list Darth Vader, or Sauron, or Voldemort, or any of the obvious choices. I am going for those with a little more quirky flair.

5. Hans Gruber, Played by Alan Rickman in ""Die Hard and the Sheriff of Nottingham from "Robin Hood Prince of Thieves." I decided to give a tie for this spot to two characters especially since both or these characters were played by the same actor. His character in Robin Hood is an excellent combination of cruel and evil, yet scared and whiney, a perfect portrayol of this particular character. In Die Hard is gives an iconic eighties performance in an iconic movie. Plus he is named for a character from "Our Man Flint" which is funny to me.

4. David Lo Pan,played by James Hong in "Big Trouble In Little China"
This movie is perhaps my favorite movie of all time. Its not the best movie I have ever seen, but it is still my favorite nonetheless. David Lo Pan is an ancient shriveled old man, EXTREMELY ancient and shriveled, who turns into an incorporeal seven foot tall unstoppable mound of magic. He is actually more terrfying as a shriveled old man than he is as a big ass magician.

3. Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg played by Gary Oldman in “The Fifth Element." Has there ever been a quirkier villian? Gentile southern accent in an evil corporate president that wears a plastic plate on his head and walks with a limp. His performance of this character is hilarious and although a bit campy, it fits the tone of the movie perfectly.

2. The Joker played by Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight." Honestly its just the joker in general, not just the Ledger Joker. The joker is a great combination of funny, honest, and completely terrifying. You know when you see him on stage that he is completely insane and that even his brief moments of kindness are scary as hell. Ledger brings the most visceral and real life version of this character that there has ever been.

1. Cruela DeVille from "101 Dalmations." When I saw this movie in theater as a very young child, the fact that she was after the puppies to make a coat out of them AND was actually wearing a puppy skin coat absolutely scared the hell out of me. Not only that her demeanor with the skunk hair and the cigarette holder just add to the menace. To this day I can't see someone using a cigarette holder without instinctively thinking that they are evil.

My Top Five Most Hated Sports Teams

You know people always assume that I hate the Cubs because I am an extreme Cardinals fan. The truth is I don't really hate the Cubs. I don't particularly like their fans, and I think their booing and heckling gets a little old, but hey they can do what they want. They are only hurting themselves anyway, which is why they have some issues getting some free agents to sign there. But the point is I still don't hate the Cubs. As it is its sort of a one sided rivalry anyway. However, there are some sports teams I really do hate. And I have decided to list them here in no particular order from least hated to worst hated.

5. The Dallas Cowboys- I have always hated the Dallas Cowboys. I don't really have a reason, I just hate them. I hate the "America's Team" label and I hate Jerry Jones. They are just a very hateable team. I do root for Felix Jones to do well, but if I could wish for him to have a monster season and them to go 0-16 I would would be ok with that.

4. Milwaukee Brewers- This is more of a I hate them now situation rather than one of long term despise. I think for the most part they operate in a completely unprofessional manner, and they are a team in a bad need of a veteran leader. Most of this teams problems are because they are led by Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder. They aren't evil guys, but frat boy immature are the words that come to mind.

3. University of Texas- I can't help it, it comes with being a lifelong Hog's fan. Honorable mention in this spot to University of Tennessee for the same reason.

2. The New England Patriots- Tom Brady? An insufferable overrated prick. Bill Belichick, basically a man who makes a farce of the game with his willingness to break the rules. I absolutely LOVED it when the Patriots lost to the Giants in the superbowl. What was great about it is beforehand when Brady got upset at the Giants player who said they wouldn't score more than 21 points. Brady was like "come one, you have got to give us more credit than that." And of course they didn't meet the mark in which he considered a given. I was happy about that for a week.

1. New York Yankees- This is almost a cliche, but alas, its true for many in baseball. I hate the spending. I hate the pretentious we play the game better than you attitude. I hate the fans who call themselves the best fans in the game, but who flee the turnstiles with the speed of the Flash when the team has had losing seasons. I hate Arod and his corporate delivery of cliches and his complete lack of social skills with the press and his teammates. I hate just about every stinking thing about them. I root for them to lose every single game, and when they are in the playoffs I cheer for the other team to kick their ass no matter who they are. This year I kind of want them to make the World Series though, because I would sure the love the Cardinals to have a chance to beat them like a drum in their new ballpark.

Best Five Movies About Baseball!!

Well as many of you know I am both obssessed with movies and with baseball.  So a logical step would be to release  a best five blog rating the best baseball movies of all time.  

5.  Major League-  This movie is no Oscar winner, and its not exactly the dramatic stuff of legends, however it does have a lot going for it.  It has lines and scenes that are repeatedly quoted and easy to remember, and its just darn fun.  Bob Uecker is an absolute riot, and although no best actor nominees will come from this movie it is perfectly cast.  

4.  Bang the Drum Slowly-This is for some reason an oft forgotten film.  Its a great bit of work with a good script, heart wrenching story, and good acting.  It features a very young Robert De Niro as Bruce Pearson, a role that is often considered to be one of his most tragic and emotional roles.  This is not a feel good movie about baseball but what it is, is a movie that puts professional baseball in perspective with the realities of life.  

3.  Bull Durham- I am sure this is number 1 on a lot of people's lists.  I do enjoy this film, but I think that it is a hair over rated.  It is very well acted and it does have some very quotoble scenes, and it gives a perspective on minor league baseball as opposed to the big show.  

2.  The Natural- This was actually the first baseball movie that I am watched.  It is as good to me now as it was back then.  It has a great cast with Robert Redford, Glenn Close, Robert Duvall, Kim Basinger and the perfect cast Wilford Brimley and Richard Farnsworth as the coaches.

1.  The Pride of the Yankee's-  This is hands down the best movie about baseball.  Gary Cooper is legendary in portraying Lou Gehrig.  Gehrig's heart wrenching speech upon his retirement is enough to bring tears, and made even sadder by the fact that this speech really happened (more or less, lines are slightly different) and that Lou Gehrig truly meant what he was saying and is one of the greatest men to ever suit up and play a professional sport.  

Best Five Starting Pitchers Pitching today.

I was thinking about baseball, as I normally do, and I was wondering to myself who are the best five starting pitchers in today's game? I am not going to base this purely on numbers, because with pitchers more than hitters a lot of their numbers are deceptive, and with pitchers more than hitters injury concerns are also always more of a risk. But still, I came up with this list.

5. Roy Oswalt- Undeniably he is losing his stuff a bit, and he may not have the stuff of a number 1 any more. But he also hasn't really had the benefit of a very good team behind him. But I want him for one reason. This guy will battle you each and every pitch. He is a bulldog, and his attitude towards pitching will spread to all on the staff. As a long term investment I don't like him as pitchers under six feet that are right handed do not have a very good history of having long careers.

4A.Tim Lincecum- Yea I cheat, 4A and 4B. This guy is young, and has lights out stuff and he is just purely hard to hit. There is no question he has the potential to be great for many years to come. On the other side he is very short and as a short right handed power pitcher the odds say he will have some injury troubles.

4B. David Pryce-Not much of a track record yet, but many I don't know if there is a left handed pitcher who looks harder to hit than David Pryce. 97 with movement and a slingshot wide up, if he can stay healthy and keep it in the strikezone he will have some Cy Young type seasons.

3. Johan Santana-Best changeup in baseball + knowing how to pitch= lots of unhappy NL East batters.

2. Roy Halliday- Consistently he is one of the best pitchers each year. He has a killer slider and pin point control with his 94-95 fastball. I wouldn't want to be in the box against him.

1. Chris Carpenter- I would not have put him in until this year. There is something about this guy, he can be out for a year and half and then just show up and throw a shutout. He has given up two earned runs this year in his 28 innings, and both of those shouldn't have been, since they were Chris Duncan missplays. This tells me that he has something beyond stuff. This man knows how to pitch. Even if he goes out there and has his D grade stuff he is going to get guys out. And when he has his A grade, or even B grade stuff, teams don't score runs, period.

Top Five Movies with Kurt Russell !!!

Now for a very special Top five blog honoring the greatest actor of our time, Kurt Russell.  ( A bit tongue in cheek)

5.  Deathproof-  Only a actor of his talent could make a middle aged man disgustingly eating a greasy pile of nachos interesting.

4.  The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes- Gotta love a very young Kurt getting the a computer put into his brain due to a little electric shock. Pfft, and all he got out of it was a photographic memory.

3.  Escape from New York- A legitimate classic, and one of the coolest movies of the 80's.  Women wanted to be with Snake Pliskin, and the men just dreamed of being him.  

2B.  Captain Ron-  One of the greatest action heroes in movie history.

2A.  Tombstone-  Actually a very good movie, and a good performance by Kirk, no joke here.  And Val Kilmer got to utter some of the most quotable lines in movie history.

1.  Big Trouble in Little China-  My favorite movie of all time, I could watch this movie daily when I was a kid, and probably did for large stretches of time.  This should have one best picture, and Kurt Russell should have won best actor, because "its all in the reflexes."

Five Best Works of Literature from the 20th Century.(excluding Theatre, Thats a different list )

Those of you that know me understand that I have a bit of a bias towards certain authors, but I guess that is just the way it is in regards to literature, we tend to like what we like and hate what we hate and often there isn't a lot of reason for which category it goes in other than we like it, or don't.  Regardless, here is my top five.  

5.   Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans-  This work probably hits home more if, like me, your parents are older.  My Mom was born as sharecropper in circumstances very similar to the farmers that are featured by James Agee, and it gives some unique and touching insights to what life was like back then.  It is also unusual because Agee wrote the words, but Walker Evans was actually given co-authorship for his photographic work.  The images tell the story just as much as the words do, and I might be a bit biased because I am a photographer and Evans is my favorite.  Either way it is recommended reading.

4. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson-A wonderful collection of intertwining short stories that encapsulate the good and the bad (mostly the bad) of living amongst colorful characters in small town Ohio.  Anderson in this work is an exquisite writer, and just reading the words he puts on the page is a treat.  

3.  Catch-22 by Joseph Heller- Dark, scary, hilarious, touching, and socially provocative.  Those are all ways to describe Joseph Heller's one literary success.  Quirky characters immediately pull you in and let you know that war is in fact hell.

2. Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut-  With him the question is which one do you pick?  Most people tend to pick Cat's Cradle or Slaughterhouse-5.  Myself, I tend to enjoy Hocus Pocus, Bluebeard, and Breakfast of Champions more.  I decided on Bluebeard, because it is the closest he comes to creating a real character, not a caricature of one.  I immediately became attached to the elderly painter with a very real idea of his own mortality and the fascination with panty lines.

1. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway-  I have been told that I am obsessed with this book, and that could very likely be true.  I read it for the first time when I was very impressionable, and I still remember the first time I realized that Jack Barnes was, how to put it, damaged.  Its a wonderful written novel that really shows us the meaning of torment and escapism.  

Five Best's.........Characters from the Fantasy Genre.

I love lists. I love reading them, I love making them, and I love debating them. I have decided that I am going to start periodically rating the five best (insert topic here) lists on a variety of random things that I enjoy, or find interesting or important. To start it off I have decided on listing the five best characters from the fantasy novel genre. Literature is to strong a word for what most of these characters come from. This a list not containing the characters from Tolkien or Rowling's worlds, but rather the ones that come from the type of books that are put out by Tor Publications. They are are the characters that generally will only be known by fans of the genre, not by the ones who only know characters that make it into popular culture.

5. Artemis Entreri (Forgotten Realms, R.A. Salvatore) A master swordsmen whom upon his first appearance is evil incarnate. He lives to be the best assassin there is, and has felt that to be a deadly master of the blade that means crushing all emotions inside him. However, his character grows and his comes to terms with what he has done and what it means as he grows older and looses his edge.

4. Matrim Cauthon (Wheel of Time, Robert Jordan) Lazy, gambling, womaning, the type that avoids work whenever possible. However, he is also is nigh unbeatable with a quarterstaff, by any swordsmen, and has the devils own luck (or rather the dark ones, as they call it in the series) throw in the fact that he has 10000 years of memories from former generals filling in the patches of his own swiss cheesed memory and he is a very formidable opponent and a very interesting character.

3. Vin Venture (Mistborn Trilogy, Brandon Sanderson) I was debating which character from this series to include as their are at least 3 possible candidates, I still ended up with two. I went with Vin because she is somewhat unusual amongst fantasy characters, or rather at least the ones that are the primary protagonists. And that is because she is a she. But not only is she the female, but she is also is truly a strong character, both in strength and in force of will.

2. Croaker (The Black Company, Glen Cook) Truly my favorite character from any movie, comic book, fantasy novel series, or anything really. Part soldier, physician, historian, general, and full time cynic. He is aware that he is the one writing the history, and although he tries to stay neutral, he can't help but transfer a little bit of himself into the histories he writes. His interactions with the Lady are some of the best uncomfortably romantic scenes in fantasy literature. And of course their flirtation spans about 40 years.

1. Sazed (The Mistborn Triology, Brandon Sanderson) He gets the nod because he is the most interesting and unusual character in any story I have read. First of all he is a eunuch, and it just gets more interesting from there. I can't really go to much into detail about his awesomeness without giving away the entire twist to a fantasy trilogy.