2013 Baseball

My 2013 Baseball Predictions!

American League

EAST

Toronto Blue Jays …. 92-70

New York Yankees*.... 90-72

Baltimore Orioles …. 84-78

Tampa Bay Rays …. 81-81

Boston Red Sox …. 75-87

I think with all the major additions the Blue Jays made this offseason (adding Melky Cabrera, Mark Buehrle, R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson, Jose Reyes, etc)they  are due for a lot more wins, similar to how the Orioles came from nowhere last year. With all the Yankee injuries they will get off to a slow start but somehow make the postseason because of trades they make. Rays and Red Sox seem to be declining right now, both losing many quality players.

CENTRAL

Detroit Tigers …. 100-62

Cleveland Indians …. 82-80

Kansas City Royals.... 81-81

Chicago White Sox …. 78-84

Minnesota Twins …. 62-100

The Tigers should continue to dominate the division and I think they will avoid the slow start that plagued them last season, sure the Indians and Royals have gotten better with some nice additions but not enough to get more than around .500, but they will much more fun to watch then in years past.

WEST

Los Angeles Angels …. 93-69

Oakland A’s …. 89-73*

Texas Rangers …. 87- 75

Seattle Mariners …. 73-89

Houston Astros …. 58-104

The West continues to be a very good/tough division. I had a hard time deciding between the Rangers or A’s, but I figure the A’s pitching is good enough to give them a 2 game advantage. The Angels have an amazing team on paper, this should be the year it all comes together.

National League

EAST

Washington Nationals …. 96-66

Atlanta Braves* …. 90-72

Philadelphia Phillies …. 78- 84

New York Mets …. 70-92

Miami Marlins …. 66-96

The Nats are the best in the NL but the Braves also have another good season thanks to the Upton brothers who shine now that they get to play together. The rest of the division is getting older or needs help. Miami should be pretty bad because they traded everyone.

CENTRAL

St. Louis Cardinals …. 91- 71

Cincinnati Reds …. 88- 74

Pittsburgh Pirates …. 80-82

Milwaukee Brewers …. 76- 86

Chicago Cubs …. 69-93

No more Houston to kick around now! I feel the Reds are in for a bit of a harder season and they barely miss the wild card (by 1 game to the Dodgers). The Pirates miss that elusive .500 season yet again and the Cubs continue to stink, no longer having those easy wins against the Astros to rely on.

WEST

San Francisco Giants …. 92-70

Los Angeles Dodgers* …. 89- 73

Arizona Diamondbacks …. 79-84

San Diego Padres …. 73-89

Colorado Rockies …. 63-99

The Giants have the pitching that continues to get them through the season and another chance for a Championship. The Dodgers make 3 big trades and squeak their way into a playoff spot. The Diamondbacks and Padres play well early in the season but cannot stay with the big boys.

*-Denotes Wild Card

WILD CARD GAMES:

Los Angeles defeats Atlanta

New York defeats Oakland

ALDS:

Detroit defeats New York (3-1)

Los Angeles defeats Toronto (3-2)

NLDS:

Washington defeats Los Angeles (3-0)

San Francisco defeats St. Louis (3-1)

ALCS:

Detroit defeats Los Angeles (4-2)

NLCS:

Washington defeats San Francisco (4-2)

WORLD SERIES:

Detroit Tigers defeat Washington (4-3)

(all predictions as of 3/19/13)

Cinematic Alphabet

My friend le0pard over at It Rains...You Get Wet inspired this blog. I read his and thought it would be fun to make up my own cinematic alphabet. So this is just a fun little blog showcasing some of my favorite movies in alphabetical order. Enjoy!

A is for Alien

B is for Blazing Saddles 

C is for Clerks

D is for The Dark Knight

E is for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

F is for Ferris Bueller's Day Off

G is for Good Will Hunting

H is for Halloween

I is for In Bruges

J is for Jaws

K is for Knocked Up

L is for Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

M is for Major League

N is for North By Northwest

O is for Once Upon A Time In The West

P is for Psycho

Q is for Quiz Show

 R is for Raiders Of The Lost Arc

S is for Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

T is for Terminator 2: Judgement Day

U is for Up

V is for V for Vendetta

W is for Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

X is for X2

Y is for Young Frankenstein 

Z is for Zodiac

Flea Market Report

I have done similar blogs in the past, click HERE to read that one. Recently I have been going to flea about once a month or so, when the weather is nice out. Last Sunday I went to the capitol flea market in San Jose. The market that I used to sell at as a kid with my brother and dad. This flea market has gotten more and more popular in the last few years, once again it was packed by the time we arrived around 9am. Here are some of the finds that I was able to get last time out and even a bonus flea market find.


When we arrived it was busier then usual, maybe people are starting to arrive earlier now because it gets so crowded lately? We usually stick to the same search way, start at the left side of the market and work our way right, its sort of a tradition we always do. This time though I know I wanted a few blurays and we headed to see the guys who sell cheaper then any store blurays. The bad news is that when we got to the table they had nothing out. At first I thought, this serves me right for starting off a different way then usual. I asked the guy for the two blurays I wanted, Skyfall and Argo. He said he was sold out of Skyfall but he did have Argo. I ended up haggling with him for the price until he eventually gave it to me a dollar cheaper then usual.

After that little detour we headed back on our usual track. There was a lot of sellers out and usually an early find can lead to a good day. Dennis made a few small scores and got caught up looking through boxes and boxes of old VHS tapes so I did a solo walk and found something I wanted. I saw the golden Nintendo cartridge and knew this had to be something I wanted, it ended up being Zelda II aka The Adventures of Link. Anything Zelda related is usually somewhat rare and I was thinking they would want a lot, turns out it was mine for $3 and a small bonus was that it was in a black case.

Shortly after that last find we came about a guy with a bunch of T-shirts on a blanket, I think it was Dennis who saw something and started looking. My eyes saw a cool book about Friday the 13th. I had seen it before when I worked at Barnes and Noble, it is a gigantic book yet cool for any fans of the series. I sort of thought the seller would want a lot so I passed and went to look at the shirts with Dennis. I started to notice that some of the shirts were from comic book conventions (having gone to my fair share of them over the years). Dennis saw a few he wanted, I liked many of the shirts but wasn't seeing anything I liked or thought would fit me. One shirt I liked was in pretty bad condition the tag was ripped out leaving a hole in the neck. I almost took off but then I saw a shirt that I liked and it was in pretty good shape, it read FLYNN LIVES.

I knew this shirt was from the Wondercon and was somewhat rare. They filmed a scene for the bluray extras in San Francisco at the Wondercon and I think they had a crowd of about 250 people who were given the shirt during the filming of the scene. I asked the guy the price on the book and he said $5, not too bad for the massive book. I asked if he would take $5 for the book and the shirt, he agreed and I scored two quality items for a mere $5.

That was a great day at the flea market!

BONUS FLEA MARKET REPORT

Every first Saturday of the month they hold the De Anza flea maket if Cupertino. I have been once before and decided to take my friend Wes since he had never been before. We also had plans to see a movie across the street afterwords.

I didn't really get all that much since the market is much different then the superior Capitol flea. But this time around I did make a really cool score, two old Star Wars glasses. When I first saw them I really liked the look and wanted them. Anything Star Wars that is older usually fetches a high price at the flea. I asked how much for the glasses ecpecting at least a $10 price per glass. I was shocked when he said $2 per glass. I double checked to make sure they were not reprint. The glasses said 1980 so I nabbed those quickly. I got the Luke Skywalker and Lando glasses from the Empire Strikes Back. I hope one day to complete the set! Here are some pictures of those glasses.

Thanks for reading/commenting!

SKY RIDERS (1976) - finally widescreen on DVD

SKY RIDERS
(1976, USA)

What's the most dangerous method for liberating hostages?

Definitely a 70s action movie, centred around a fad that's not related to disco or skateboarding. With a great cast and a Lalo Schifrin score, shot in 2.35 widescreen, I think this tough action movie still flies today.

A gang of Baader-Meinhof (style) terrorists, disguised in hockey masks, invade a wealthy industrialist's home and kidnap his wife (Susannah York) and their two kids. For a lot of money and ammunition he can buy them back, but the Greek police (led by Charles Aznavour) won't give in to their demands. So while her husband (Robert Culp) is dealing with the police, ex-husband (James Coburn) plans to sneak into the baddies' hideout, high in a mountain-top monastery, and free the hostages himself. How on earth is he going to do that?

With hang gliders! For a short while these were everywhere. James Bond even used one for a stunt in Live and Let Die (1973). But the film that top hang glider experts recommend is Sky Riders for some of the best and most dangerous footage of the sport in its early days, before the fliers wore parachutes!

The skateboard movie 'genre' was aimed at kids and teens (encouraging them to try dangerous stunts like riding under moving lorries on their skateboards). But this pitches itself as a tough, adult thriller, completely contrary to the serene feeling of flying high in the sky without an engine. Hang gliders as action vehicles are also limited by their close resemblance to sitting ducks.

The opening kidnap is dramatic enough, then there's a slow build as the rescue mission is planned out and the police investigation fouls up. It's fun to see the experts pretending to glide badly, doubling for Coburn's character as he's learning to fly.

The fantastic, barely accessible location of the kidnappers' hideout is an ancient monastery, surrounded by natural sheer-walled mountains. Note that in the above photo there are more than one monastery. According to the Wikipedia entry, there are actually six in this Greek valley of Meteora, each one perched on a natural sandstone pillar. One was used in the finale of For Your Eyes Only (1981) and maybe the same one was in the live action Tintin and the Golden Fleece (1961). Horror fans take note that Max Brook's novel World War Z also uses Meteora as a handy place for keeping zombies away. I'll leave you to work out which monastery was in each - the Wikipedia article has handy photographs of each.

The gliding looks dangerous and windy as the flock of hang gliders get dangerously close to the mountains.

The action-packed climax packs a ton of firepower, though the original certificate remained a PG. The 'high' point of the movie is James Coburn personally performing a perilous stunt by hanging off a helicopter hundreds of feet in the air.

Not essential, but a reminder of how big action scenes had to be shot for real. The story of the making of the film would probably be equally interesting. But this has a strong cast, stronger than the storyline anyway, and a gung-ho finale.

Robert Culp (the original star of the TV show I Spy) looks convincing on the big screen, when he was fighting to escape endless TV movies. But James Coburn (Our Man Flint, A Fistful of Dynamite) sneaks in to steal the best scenes! Seventies Brit-chick Susannah York (The Shout, Gold, Superman - The Movie) gets good mileage out of facing up to her female captor. Eccentrics Kenneth Griffith and Harry Andrews pep up the cast list but only get one scene each. Hunky John Beck (between supporting roles in Rollerball and The Big Bus) is largely wasted, despite being in the rescue squad.

I'm not a slave to auteur theory, but director Douglas Hickox did give us several enduring cult movies - Brannigan (1975, John Wayne as a Dirty Harry-style cop wreaking havoc in London), Behemoth the Sea Monster (1959, another dinosaur wreaking havoc in London) and the marvellous Theatre of Blood (1973, Vincent Price as a Shakespearean serial killer wreaking havoc in London).

After catching Sky Riders on TV in the eighties, I've waited until now to see it in the original 2.35 widescreen. It was only previously available in cramped 'what the hell is going on' pan-and-scan vision on TV, VHS and laserdisc. Shout Factory have released Sky Riders as a James Coburn action double-bill on DVD in the US. It's rated 'R' because of the brutal Peckinpah-style western The Last Hard Men. Both films are presented anamorphically in their original 2.35 widescreen, finally revealing the spectacular aerial photography throughout Sky Riders.

A longer review of both movies, with screengrabs, over at Eccentric Cinema, who enjoyed The Last Hard Men much more than I did.

The best pictures and posters online, used for this review, are also for sale at MovieGoods...

Everard Cunion's hang gliding site reviews the film with notes about the hang gliders and stunt pilots.

The only clip on YouTube is this hang gliding display that gives Coburn's character the idea of how to rescue his family...

(This is an update of my review from 2010, written before the DVD was announced.)

OCTANE (2003) - a caffeine-fuelled, nightmare road trip

OCTANE

U.S. title: PULSE

(2003, UK/Luxembourg)

 Norman Reedus doing horror ten years ago!

A rain-drenched motorway, an upturned car, an ambulance nearby. But when the paramedics check out the two crash victims, they gag the survivor and take him away before the police arrive...

Senga (Madeleine Stowe) drives past another similar crash. The same ambulance is there. She's taking her teenage daughter (Mischa Barton) home, though it's tough for them to even share a car. They disagree on music, piercings, life... When Mom nearly crashes, trying to avoid a baby in the road, they take a rest stop to argue in comfort.

Strangers in the diner, a young hitchhiker (Bijou Phillips) they pick up, everyone they meet... all are a little weird. And like the crash victim, some of them suddenly disappear into the night. Is Mom paranoid? Are her meds too strong? Is she seeing the same vehicles at every diner? Who will disappear next?

First saw this ten years ago and it's stayed with me. It's not a must-see but it's certainly got something. The premise is full of possibilities that make you work hard to work out what's going on. But your imagination might well trump what happens here. But full marks for a huge dose of intrigue and suspense generated by the an unwelcome, unfamiliar road trip, travelling through darkness.

The soundtrack by Orbital helps the film 100 percent. Good to hear them used for the Pusher remake. (I still haven't dared see that, having been so impressed with the original movie - Nicolas Winding Refn's debut). Here, Orbital perfectly complements Octane, and vice versa.

Madeleine Stowe (Twelve Monkeys) carries the film, balancing on the edge of being a fairly unlikeable character. 

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (Shelter, The Tudors) is supposed to be strong and sexy, which he normally does very well, but here he looks pretty ordinary, and not as turned on as many of the minor characters, like the truck driver, the daughter, the hitcher, the punk, or even the car mechanic (Norman Reedus).

Norman? Is that you?

It's fun to see that Reedus hasn't changed over the past ten years, with the same facial hair and haircut as his cult character, Daryl, in The Walking Dead. Most of the rest of the cast of this European production succeed at sounding American, but Rhys-Meyers hasn't at this point. The diner chain (cheekily called Benny's) looks authentic, but the cars, police uniforms and road signs all scream of Europe. Which maybe helps further the feeling of disorientation.

The paranoia, the increasing nightmare, and Stowe's face are all a little scary. The story starts well, builds well, but then drops a gear by losing the gloriously dark, rain-drenched atmosphere. But there are enough sleazy, druggy, bloody moments to compensate.

Some of the DVD cover art online show this as a PG certificate, but it's definitely a 15.

In the USA, this was retitled Pulse, which sort of makes sense to the story, but confuses it with half a dozen other recent horror films.