Of course, after the best comes the worst. None of these movies were true stinkers. No. Instead, they were just really bad. And the worst movies this year are...
1. Scooby-Doo - It didn't need to be made but it did and it doesn't even come close to the decent cartoon it's based on.
2. The Tuxedo - Whoever thought Jackie Chan and Jennifer Love Hewitt could have on-screen chemistry should be fired.
3. Jason X - Mindless killing. If that's your kind of movie, then maybe it's on the wrong list.
4. The Rules of Attraction - College kids on the brink of killing themselves. Just die already.
5. National Lampoon's Van Wilder - It all seemed out of place to me. Can you really stay in college for 8 years?
6. Solaris - Even at 2 hours, it felt like 20.
7. The Mothman Prophecies - Really...we're supposed to be scared of a moth?
8. Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams - Strays past the original and into bizarro land.
9. Full Frontal - It looks bad, the story's bad, the acting's bad, it's bad.
10. Eight Legged Freaks - It has Kari Wuhrer, but big spiders sadly do not mean a better movie.
12/31/2002
12/30/2002
I've seen an enormous amount of movies this year, 60 by my count. That's way too many but that's enough to make what every critic makes at the end of the year, a list of the best and worst of the year. It's just the combined rankings from the two lists from the summer and fall from the left sidebar and the few movies I saw in the beginning of the year.
1. The Pianist - Roman Polanski's new take on the Jewish holocaust is one of the best on the subject. Adrien Brody masterfully brings realism to the picture.
2. Minority Report - Cruise and Spielberg team up to make a great movie for sci-fi fans as well as the mainstream audience.
3. Chicago - Sets the bar high for the continuing revival of the musical started by Moulin Rouge.
4. Gangs of New York - Captures 1860s New York superbly with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role. Daniel Day-Lewis gives a masterful performance.
5. The Quiet American - Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser fight for the same girl in 1950s Vietnam.
6. About Schmidt - Jack Nicholson gives one of his finest performances ever. And the movie's pretty good too.
7. Punch-Drunk Love - Yes, that really is Adam Sandler toning down his slapstick comedy just a tad to let in some dramatic scenes.
8. Catch Me If You Can - Another DiCaprio flick with Tom Hanks this time. The chase and its inevitable end is entertaining and funny.
9. Y Tu Mama Tambien- Great coming-of-age story about two Mexican teenagers growing up by learning about themselves and an attractive woman.
10. Antwone Fisher- The power generated by poor Antwone can no longer be ignored in this true story directed by first-timer Denzel Washington.
Of the 60 movies I've seen, these are the top ten movies of the year through a composite ranking of 129 prominent critics (i.e. professionals, not a nobody like me) courtesy of moviecitynews.com
1. Y Tu Mama Tambien
2. About Schmidt
3. Adaptation
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
5. The Pianist
6. Chicago
7. Gangs of New York
8. The Hours
9. Punch-Drunk Love
10. Minority Report
1. The Pianist - Roman Polanski's new take on the Jewish holocaust is one of the best on the subject. Adrien Brody masterfully brings realism to the picture.
2. Minority Report - Cruise and Spielberg team up to make a great movie for sci-fi fans as well as the mainstream audience.
3. Chicago - Sets the bar high for the continuing revival of the musical started by Moulin Rouge.
4. Gangs of New York - Captures 1860s New York superbly with Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role. Daniel Day-Lewis gives a masterful performance.
5. The Quiet American - Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser fight for the same girl in 1950s Vietnam.
6. About Schmidt - Jack Nicholson gives one of his finest performances ever. And the movie's pretty good too.
7. Punch-Drunk Love - Yes, that really is Adam Sandler toning down his slapstick comedy just a tad to let in some dramatic scenes.
8. Catch Me If You Can - Another DiCaprio flick with Tom Hanks this time. The chase and its inevitable end is entertaining and funny.
9. Y Tu Mama Tambien- Great coming-of-age story about two Mexican teenagers growing up by learning about themselves and an attractive woman.
10. Antwone Fisher- The power generated by poor Antwone can no longer be ignored in this true story directed by first-timer Denzel Washington.
Of the 60 movies I've seen, these are the top ten movies of the year through a composite ranking of 129 prominent critics (i.e. professionals, not a nobody like me) courtesy of moviecitynews.com
1. Y Tu Mama Tambien
2. About Schmidt
3. Adaptation
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
5. The Pianist
6. Chicago
7. Gangs of New York
8. The Hours
9. Punch-Drunk Love
10. Minority Report
12/29/2002
Catch Me If You Can
Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks star in a highly enjoyable and fun chase movie involving bad checks, deceptions, and women along the way. DiCaprio plays Frank Abagnale, Jr., a high school kid whose just found out his parents were getting divorced after his mother was caught cheating on her husband, played by Christopher Walken, with the Rotary Club President. But Frank won't accept this new turn in life and instead runs away. After failed attempts to get some money, he notices how well-liked and adored pilots are and soon turns into one with a little research. Soon, he is living the high life, traveling around the country, and eventually the world, and making checks that are such good copies that the banks can't tell they're fake until it's too late. Hot on his trail is Carl Hanratty (Hanks) from the FBI. He always seems to be one step behind but like he says in the film, the house always wins and in the end, he does.
The movie is told in flashback mode, so you know right from the beginning that Frank is going to get caught. It's just a question of how and when. The ways he alludes the federal agents is just a riot to see, both in its ingenuity and the fact that a group of trained agents can't catch a high school aged boy. Though with a length of 140 minutes, some of it gets a little repetitive and storylines are cut one after another. It would have been nice to see what happened to some people in the film or events that occured, but the editing done by Steven Spielberg's team keeps things moving along at a lively pace, leaving us to enjoy the authentic-looking 60s world created by Spielberg and the events that kept Frank out of jail for 6 years. 3.5 stars
Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks star in a highly enjoyable and fun chase movie involving bad checks, deceptions, and women along the way. DiCaprio plays Frank Abagnale, Jr., a high school kid whose just found out his parents were getting divorced after his mother was caught cheating on her husband, played by Christopher Walken, with the Rotary Club President. But Frank won't accept this new turn in life and instead runs away. After failed attempts to get some money, he notices how well-liked and adored pilots are and soon turns into one with a little research. Soon, he is living the high life, traveling around the country, and eventually the world, and making checks that are such good copies that the banks can't tell they're fake until it's too late. Hot on his trail is Carl Hanratty (Hanks) from the FBI. He always seems to be one step behind but like he says in the film, the house always wins and in the end, he does.
The movie is told in flashback mode, so you know right from the beginning that Frank is going to get caught. It's just a question of how and when. The ways he alludes the federal agents is just a riot to see, both in its ingenuity and the fact that a group of trained agents can't catch a high school aged boy. Though with a length of 140 minutes, some of it gets a little repetitive and storylines are cut one after another. It would have been nice to see what happened to some people in the film or events that occured, but the editing done by Steven Spielberg's team keeps things moving along at a lively pace, leaving us to enjoy the authentic-looking 60s world created by Spielberg and the events that kept Frank out of jail for 6 years. 3.5 stars
12/24/2002
Christmas is almost upon us, which means I have to go finish buying presents. Luckily, this year, there's only one left so that's what I'm gonna do for the rest of the day. Too much food already after my birthday dinner, and now tonight's stuff, tomorrow, my dad's birthday at the end of the week and New Year's. I'll just have to get through it all. So merry christmas, happy new year and in general, happy holidays.
I leave you with something I found a long time ago, I think 1990, by now probably distributed by many. It's the math/physics point of view of the job Santa does on Christmas night. Sure, there are various rebuttals to disprove the proposal, but come on, it's just a fun read.
1) No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not COMPLETELY rule out flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen.
2) There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to Population Reference Bureau. At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.
3) Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc.
This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles per hour.
4) The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized lego set(2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that "flying reindeer" (see point #1) could pull TEN TIMES the normal amount, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine. We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. Again, for comparison - this is four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth.
5) 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy. Per second. Each. In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.
In conclusion - If Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead now.
I leave you with something I found a long time ago, I think 1990, by now probably distributed by many. It's the math/physics point of view of the job Santa does on Christmas night. Sure, there are various rebuttals to disprove the proposal, but come on, it's just a fun read.
1) No known species of reindeer can fly. BUT there are 300,000 species of living organisms yet to be classified, and while most of these are insects and germs, this does not COMPLETELY rule out flying reindeer which only Santa has ever seen.
2) There are 2 billion children (persons under 18) in the world. BUT since Santa doesn't (appear) to handle the Muslim, Hindu, Jewish and Buddhist children, that reduces the workload to 15% of the total - 378 million according to Population Reference Bureau. At an average (census) rate of 3.5 children per household, that's 91.8 million homes. One presumes there's at least one good child in each.
3) Santa has 31 hours of Christmas to work with, thanks to the different time zones and the rotation of the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each Christian household with good children, Santa has 1/1000th of a second to park, hop out of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house. Assuming that each of these 91.8 million stops are evenly distributed around the earth (which, of course, we know to be false but for the purposes of our calculations we will accept), we are now talking about .78 miles per household, a total trip of 75-1/2 million miles, not counting stops to do what most of us must do at least once every 31 hours, plus feeding and etc.
This means that Santa's sleigh is moving at 650 miles per second, 3,000 times the speed of sound. For purposes of comparison, the fastest man-made vehicle on earth, the Ulysses space probe, moves at a poky 27.4 miles per second - a conventional reindeer can run, tops, 15 miles per hour.
4) The payload on the sleigh adds another interesting element. Assuming that each child gets nothing more than a medium-sized lego set(2 pounds), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons, not counting Santa, who is invariably described as overweight. On land, conventional reindeer can pull no more than 300 pounds. Even granting that "flying reindeer" (see point #1) could pull TEN TIMES the normal amount, we cannot do the job with eight, or even nine. We need 214,200 reindeer. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. Again, for comparison - this is four times the weight of the Queen Elizabeth.
5) 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - this will heat the reindeer up in the same fashion as spacecraft re-entering the earth's atmosphere. The lead pair of reindeer will absorb 14.3 QUINTILLION joules of energy. Per second. Each. In short, they will burst into flame almost instantaneously, exposing the reindeer behind them, and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugal forces 17,500.06 times greater than gravity. A 250-pound Santa (which seems ludicrously slim) would be pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 pounds of force.
In conclusion - If Santa ever DID deliver presents on Christmas Eve, he's dead now.
12/22/2002
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
The Fellowship of the Ring was a competent film that was way too long for a movie meant to introduce us to the world of Middle Earth. While The Two Towers is a marked improvement, it suffers to a lesser extent the same problems its predecessor had.
The Two Towers continues on with the adventures of various groups of characters right where they left off after the Fellowship was no more. Frodo and Sam are still trekking toward Mount Doom to destroy the ring. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are trying to follow their tracks as well as the tracks of Merry and Pippin, who have been taken hostage by Orcs.
For Frodo and Sam, they meet the creature Gollum, who wants "his precious" back, but is soon forced to lead the way into Mordor. But they are soon discovered by a group from Gondor led by Faramir, the brother of Borodir, and taken as prisoners.
For the others, Merry and Pippin escape from their captors after they were slaughtered and head into a forest where the trees are alive. Here, they find that Gandalf is alive and he tells one of the trees to protect the two for the time being. When the tree and the two hobbits find part of the forest cut, the trees soon declare war on Isengard. Alas, the army from Isengard are in a weakened Rohan, where most of its troops have been banished by an affected king and the Isengard threaten to overrun one of its most indestructible fortresses, Helm's Pass. It is here where Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli help them make their stand.
Fellowship of the Ring spent way too much time introducing us to the characters that it didn't spend enough time on the exciting action relegated to the end of the movie. The Two Towers doesn't have this burden to bear but still takes the time to re-acquaint us with the first movie through dreaded flashbacks, which are unneeded. In my eyes, the movie doesn't truly start until Gandalf reappears in the forest. From then on, the pace quickens and the events more exciting, but it never falls into a rhythm. They want to remain faithful to the book, which is commendable, but there's so much going in so many different places that the only way to touch bases with them all is to cut away every few minutes to the next place. It all degenerates into pieces of battle scenes and chase sequences put together into a jigsaw puzzle. What it has going for it however is that these battle scenes and chase sequences are all top-notch, especially the big Isengard vs. Rohan battle where thousands of troops fight each other in rain, different terrain, and in the midst of lots of arrows at Helm's Pass. It's a worthy middle chapter, if long (3 hours!), and leads in greatly with the third and final chapter of the trilogy Return of the King. 3 stars
The Fellowship of the Ring was a competent film that was way too long for a movie meant to introduce us to the world of Middle Earth. While The Two Towers is a marked improvement, it suffers to a lesser extent the same problems its predecessor had.
The Two Towers continues on with the adventures of various groups of characters right where they left off after the Fellowship was no more. Frodo and Sam are still trekking toward Mount Doom to destroy the ring. Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli are trying to follow their tracks as well as the tracks of Merry and Pippin, who have been taken hostage by Orcs.
For Frodo and Sam, they meet the creature Gollum, who wants "his precious" back, but is soon forced to lead the way into Mordor. But they are soon discovered by a group from Gondor led by Faramir, the brother of Borodir, and taken as prisoners.
For the others, Merry and Pippin escape from their captors after they were slaughtered and head into a forest where the trees are alive. Here, they find that Gandalf is alive and he tells one of the trees to protect the two for the time being. When the tree and the two hobbits find part of the forest cut, the trees soon declare war on Isengard. Alas, the army from Isengard are in a weakened Rohan, where most of its troops have been banished by an affected king and the Isengard threaten to overrun one of its most indestructible fortresses, Helm's Pass. It is here where Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli help them make their stand.
Fellowship of the Ring spent way too much time introducing us to the characters that it didn't spend enough time on the exciting action relegated to the end of the movie. The Two Towers doesn't have this burden to bear but still takes the time to re-acquaint us with the first movie through dreaded flashbacks, which are unneeded. In my eyes, the movie doesn't truly start until Gandalf reappears in the forest. From then on, the pace quickens and the events more exciting, but it never falls into a rhythm. They want to remain faithful to the book, which is commendable, but there's so much going in so many different places that the only way to touch bases with them all is to cut away every few minutes to the next place. It all degenerates into pieces of battle scenes and chase sequences put together into a jigsaw puzzle. What it has going for it however is that these battle scenes and chase sequences are all top-notch, especially the big Isengard vs. Rohan battle where thousands of troops fight each other in rain, different terrain, and in the midst of lots of arrows at Helm's Pass. It's a worthy middle chapter, if long (3 hours!), and leads in greatly with the third and final chapter of the trilogy Return of the King. 3 stars
Gangs of New York
After 30 years of research and a year's worth of delays, director Martin Scorsese's work finally gets released to theatres and it's a masterpiece. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Amsterdam Vallon, the son of a priest killed by Bill the Butcher, remarkably played by Daniel Day-Lewis, over control of the Five Points, a section of growing New York City, between the Natives and a coalition led by the priest's Dead Rabbits gang. In the wake of his father's death, Amsterdam is sent to a reform school for sixteen years before being let go. Once out, he goes back to his old home of Five Points to see that Bill is still in charge and his father's death celebrated as a local holiday annually. He soon makes it his mission to kill him for revenge. His old childhood friend Johnny works for Bill and Amsterdam uses those ties to get close to bill, even becoming his right-hand man. Along the way, Amsterdam befriends Jenny (Cameron Diaz), a pickpocket and former assistant of Bill's. When Amsterdam's attempt at killing Bill fails, he is cast off and forced to find a new way to accomplish his mission. He resurrects the Dead Rabbits and challenges Bill. He accepts, leading to the final battle, coinciding with the draft riots, a bloody ordeal protesting the Civil War draft.
Scorsese does his best to raise this movie above the level of a simple story of revenge. Not only does he show the ordeal Amsterdam faces, he does it in an environment that is so real and authentic, it's as if we were there. From the snow-covered ground turned crimson red by the bloody battle of the first scene to the horrible riots that swept all across New York, both rich and poor, Scorsese creates a world where nothing is guaranteed and the shocking isn't so surprising.
While Bill Cutting may be the antagonist, he could also be the film's tragic hero. When he bleeds, patriotism bleeds from him as well. He honestly believes what he does is what's best for his people and in the spirit of the United States. His powerful monologue while wrapped in the American flag shows this. It is helped tremendously by the performance of Day-Lewis.
If the film has a flaw, it would be the performance of Diaz, who doesn't seem to be comfortable in the role she's put in. It seems as though she wants to do more in a male-dominated society (and movie for that matter) even though doing so makes her look a tad awkward. Don't get me wrong, her performance is well-done, one of the top female performances of the year, but it doesn't come close to the work put forth by Day-Lewis and DiCaprio. Otherwise, Scorsese puts forth a story that is utterly compelling to watch not only for the tale it spins, but also for its role as the roots for a new nation, as some of the corruption that tore people apart back then seems to still exist in a different form today and as some of society's views have changed to keep up with the times. 3.5 stars
After 30 years of research and a year's worth of delays, director Martin Scorsese's work finally gets released to theatres and it's a masterpiece. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Amsterdam Vallon, the son of a priest killed by Bill the Butcher, remarkably played by Daniel Day-Lewis, over control of the Five Points, a section of growing New York City, between the Natives and a coalition led by the priest's Dead Rabbits gang. In the wake of his father's death, Amsterdam is sent to a reform school for sixteen years before being let go. Once out, he goes back to his old home of Five Points to see that Bill is still in charge and his father's death celebrated as a local holiday annually. He soon makes it his mission to kill him for revenge. His old childhood friend Johnny works for Bill and Amsterdam uses those ties to get close to bill, even becoming his right-hand man. Along the way, Amsterdam befriends Jenny (Cameron Diaz), a pickpocket and former assistant of Bill's. When Amsterdam's attempt at killing Bill fails, he is cast off and forced to find a new way to accomplish his mission. He resurrects the Dead Rabbits and challenges Bill. He accepts, leading to the final battle, coinciding with the draft riots, a bloody ordeal protesting the Civil War draft.
Scorsese does his best to raise this movie above the level of a simple story of revenge. Not only does he show the ordeal Amsterdam faces, he does it in an environment that is so real and authentic, it's as if we were there. From the snow-covered ground turned crimson red by the bloody battle of the first scene to the horrible riots that swept all across New York, both rich and poor, Scorsese creates a world where nothing is guaranteed and the shocking isn't so surprising.
While Bill Cutting may be the antagonist, he could also be the film's tragic hero. When he bleeds, patriotism bleeds from him as well. He honestly believes what he does is what's best for his people and in the spirit of the United States. His powerful monologue while wrapped in the American flag shows this. It is helped tremendously by the performance of Day-Lewis.
If the film has a flaw, it would be the performance of Diaz, who doesn't seem to be comfortable in the role she's put in. It seems as though she wants to do more in a male-dominated society (and movie for that matter) even though doing so makes her look a tad awkward. Don't get me wrong, her performance is well-done, one of the top female performances of the year, but it doesn't come close to the work put forth by Day-Lewis and DiCaprio. Otherwise, Scorsese puts forth a story that is utterly compelling to watch not only for the tale it spins, but also for its role as the roots for a new nation, as some of the corruption that tore people apart back then seems to still exist in a different form today and as some of society's views have changed to keep up with the times. 3.5 stars
12/20/2002
The day of December 20 marks two important milestones. First, people realize there there are only 5 days left til Christmas and now they need to rush and swamp those shopping malls, looking for the perfect present that will get them out of there as quick as they can. Second, Oscar movies. All movies up for consideration must open by December 31 in Los Angeles to qualify for the Oscars, which makes now the best time to catch a movie, for during this period, quality usually stands out from the pack. This year, there's too much quality. So if anyone wants to come with me to catch any of these flicks, I'd be happy to go. Now the list, in no particular order.
Gangs of New York, The 25th Hour, Antwone Fisher, Chicago, The Hours, Catch Me If You Can, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Narc (the poster looks like Traffic, doesn't it?), About Schmidt, and Adaptation.
Gangs of New York, The 25th Hour, Antwone Fisher, Chicago, The Hours, Catch Me If You Can, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Narc (the poster looks like Traffic, doesn't it?), About Schmidt, and Adaptation.
12/19/2002
Finals are over and as I await the bad news, I went home to beat the rainstorms pounding the Bay Area today. Chances are it will also rain tomorrow, Friday, December 20, which is a shame. In fact, all my memories of the 20th have been rainy days. But, (dusting off my old weather stuff from school, I know, nerd alert), the record rainfall in San Jose on the 20th is 0.51 inches, well below the records for other days in December. While weather is unpredictable, based on history, there is a 29% chance it will rain tomorrow and it looks like nature will beat the odds.
You don't know what happens on the 20th? Shame on you. You know but don't care? I don't blame ya.
Here are some things I've noticed in the past few days.
America Online won the patent on instant messaging. As a result, those of you who use Yahoo or MSN Messenger for your chatting needs may need to switch over to AIM soon or pay a hefty fee. Then again, AOL may not take advantage of their patent. Ha, fat chance.
I was flipping the channels and caught Final Jeopardy. The answer was, "This man (name I forgot), who died in 2001, was the last surviving veteran of this war." First guy guessed World War I, good guess but no. Second guy answered the Civil War. What!?! That would mean the guy lived to be at least 140 years old. This is Jeopardy people. I thought smart people got on the show. The third guy redeemed the group, correctly answering the Spanish American War.
Rick Rosner, the producer of CHiPs back in the 70s, is coming back to make a new show, CHiPs. This one is different he insists. This one is set in the Bay Area. Hmm, I don't about you but while I did like the original show, that reunion movie set in modern-day was a disaster. Changing the locale makes matters worse. Who wants to watch two guys in motorcycles weaving through rush hour traffic?
Worst premise for a movie coming out next year has to be The Core. Scientists have discovered a way to artificially induce earthquakes. Why and how anyone would accomplish this is beyond me but they did it in this film. But as a side effect, the earth's core has stopped spinning, which can only mean disaster for the planet above. What to do? These same scientists figure the earth just needs a jump-start in the form of a nuclear bomb. Simple! All we have to do is drill to the center of the earth, plant the bomb, and get out before the thing explodes. Nothing like the movies to allow us to laugh in the face of disaster.
You don't know what happens on the 20th? Shame on you. You know but don't care? I don't blame ya.
Here are some things I've noticed in the past few days.
America Online won the patent on instant messaging. As a result, those of you who use Yahoo or MSN Messenger for your chatting needs may need to switch over to AIM soon or pay a hefty fee. Then again, AOL may not take advantage of their patent. Ha, fat chance.
I was flipping the channels and caught Final Jeopardy. The answer was, "This man (name I forgot), who died in 2001, was the last surviving veteran of this war." First guy guessed World War I, good guess but no. Second guy answered the Civil War. What!?! That would mean the guy lived to be at least 140 years old. This is Jeopardy people. I thought smart people got on the show. The third guy redeemed the group, correctly answering the Spanish American War.
Rick Rosner, the producer of CHiPs back in the 70s, is coming back to make a new show, CHiPs. This one is different he insists. This one is set in the Bay Area. Hmm, I don't about you but while I did like the original show, that reunion movie set in modern-day was a disaster. Changing the locale makes matters worse. Who wants to watch two guys in motorcycles weaving through rush hour traffic?
Worst premise for a movie coming out next year has to be The Core. Scientists have discovered a way to artificially induce earthquakes. Why and how anyone would accomplish this is beyond me but they did it in this film. But as a side effect, the earth's core has stopped spinning, which can only mean disaster for the planet above. What to do? These same scientists figure the earth just needs a jump-start in the form of a nuclear bomb. Simple! All we have to do is drill to the center of the earth, plant the bomb, and get out before the thing explodes. Nothing like the movies to allow us to laugh in the face of disaster.
12/14/2002
Star Trek: Nemesis
With the sounds of Sheryl Crow's "Soak Up the Sun" and U2's "Beautiful Day" blaring from my alarm clock, I woke up early to venture into very rainy and windy San Francisco to shop and to watch the new Star Trek movie. As a fan, I'm a bit biased, but I can distinguish between the good and the bad Trek adventures. And this is one of the better ones. Though sadly, this #10 doesn't come close to becoming a classic every Trek fan will reference, as #2 and #4 have.
With the assassination of the Romulan senate, Shinzon and his Reman followers take control of Romulus and ask the Federation to come and talk about peace. With the Enterprise nearby, Starfleet (specifically, Admiral Janeway from Voyager) sends Picard and his crew to Romulus to see what they want. Along the way, they find a prototype of Data, named B-4, obviously primitive with a limited positronic net, though visually alike. Once at Romulus, Picard is shocked to discover that Shinzon is a double of himself, instead of the vampire-like Remans. In fact, he's a clone of Picard. But even this relevation does not convince Picard to trust him and it forces Shinzon to move ahead with his own plans. The cloning process has an expiration date, and for Shinzon, time was almost up. As a result, he needed a full transfusion from the original, Picard, to stay alive. Furthermore, he's promised the Romulan fleet who put him in power that Earth will be destroyed in a matter of days to pave the way for invasion. He intends to do so with a newly controlled radiation once thought to be purely theoretical by Federation scientists. Instead, a microscopic amount can kill everyone on a ship. All this leads to a big battle in a rift with an ending where both sides lose.
The movie starts off awkwardly with the sudden death of the Senate, Riker and Troi's wedding, and the discovery of B-4. The infusions of small comedic touches seemed a little forced and sometimes not funny at all. It was nice to see Whoopi Goldberg and Wil Wheaton reprising their early roles from TNG. And I might've heard incorrectly, but the planet B-4 was on was a pre-industrial, pre-warp society. Then how did they get vehicles to chase after Picard, Data, and Worf? After this awkwardness, the movie gets into a good rhythm and has a very good climactic ending. Credit the creative solutions from Picard for this good ending. Truthfully, credit John Logan's script, who co-wrote Gladiator and an admitted fan of Trek. Direction was okay but whoever did the photography on the B-4 planet needs to be fired. It was so bright and bleached yellow, you couldn't see a thing. And who cast Shinzon, played by Tom Hardy? His acting was fine, but he doesn't look anything like Picard. True, in 30-40 years, you may look different from young to old, but really, that different? You get to see an Academy photo of him (looking just like Shinzon with shaved head) and you get the idea of "wow, no wonder he's never been married." Finally, this movie doesn't have much crossover appeal. Non-fans probably will be turned off by the inside jokes and the technobabble, making this a movie for fans and people familiar with the Trek phenomenon.
The final question is, is this the last we'll see of this crew? Judging from the box office receipts, yes. A $20 million opening weekend doesn't bode well for a film that cost $70 million. Judging from the ending, probably not. They leave the door open to another feature but they do show, as it is mentioned throughout the film, that Riker finally gets the command he's been chickening out of the entire series. I, for one, hope this crew does get another one. The other Star Trek series aren't strong enough to get a motion picture. DS9 was set on a space station, not too much hope for exploration and such. Voyager's premise was that they were stranded across the galaxy. Now that they're back, who cares? Enterprise is young and the fact that the timeline is before the feature films will confuse people. So if this was the end, it's a fitting one. After all, this is an even numbered feature film, it has to be good. 3 stars.
The updated order of Trek films from best to worst: 2 (Khan), 4 (the whales), 8 (the Borg), 6 (peace with the Klingons), 10, 7 (Kirk dies), 9 (eternal youth), 3 (Enterprise blows up), 1 (V'Ger), 5 (search for God)
With the sounds of Sheryl Crow's "Soak Up the Sun" and U2's "Beautiful Day" blaring from my alarm clock, I woke up early to venture into very rainy and windy San Francisco to shop and to watch the new Star Trek movie. As a fan, I'm a bit biased, but I can distinguish between the good and the bad Trek adventures. And this is one of the better ones. Though sadly, this #10 doesn't come close to becoming a classic every Trek fan will reference, as #2 and #4 have.
With the assassination of the Romulan senate, Shinzon and his Reman followers take control of Romulus and ask the Federation to come and talk about peace. With the Enterprise nearby, Starfleet (specifically, Admiral Janeway from Voyager) sends Picard and his crew to Romulus to see what they want. Along the way, they find a prototype of Data, named B-4, obviously primitive with a limited positronic net, though visually alike. Once at Romulus, Picard is shocked to discover that Shinzon is a double of himself, instead of the vampire-like Remans. In fact, he's a clone of Picard. But even this relevation does not convince Picard to trust him and it forces Shinzon to move ahead with his own plans. The cloning process has an expiration date, and for Shinzon, time was almost up. As a result, he needed a full transfusion from the original, Picard, to stay alive. Furthermore, he's promised the Romulan fleet who put him in power that Earth will be destroyed in a matter of days to pave the way for invasion. He intends to do so with a newly controlled radiation once thought to be purely theoretical by Federation scientists. Instead, a microscopic amount can kill everyone on a ship. All this leads to a big battle in a rift with an ending where both sides lose.
The movie starts off awkwardly with the sudden death of the Senate, Riker and Troi's wedding, and the discovery of B-4. The infusions of small comedic touches seemed a little forced and sometimes not funny at all. It was nice to see Whoopi Goldberg and Wil Wheaton reprising their early roles from TNG. And I might've heard incorrectly, but the planet B-4 was on was a pre-industrial, pre-warp society. Then how did they get vehicles to chase after Picard, Data, and Worf? After this awkwardness, the movie gets into a good rhythm and has a very good climactic ending. Credit the creative solutions from Picard for this good ending. Truthfully, credit John Logan's script, who co-wrote Gladiator and an admitted fan of Trek. Direction was okay but whoever did the photography on the B-4 planet needs to be fired. It was so bright and bleached yellow, you couldn't see a thing. And who cast Shinzon, played by Tom Hardy? His acting was fine, but he doesn't look anything like Picard. True, in 30-40 years, you may look different from young to old, but really, that different? You get to see an Academy photo of him (looking just like Shinzon with shaved head) and you get the idea of "wow, no wonder he's never been married." Finally, this movie doesn't have much crossover appeal. Non-fans probably will be turned off by the inside jokes and the technobabble, making this a movie for fans and people familiar with the Trek phenomenon.
The final question is, is this the last we'll see of this crew? Judging from the box office receipts, yes. A $20 million opening weekend doesn't bode well for a film that cost $70 million. Judging from the ending, probably not. They leave the door open to another feature but they do show, as it is mentioned throughout the film, that Riker finally gets the command he's been chickening out of the entire series. I, for one, hope this crew does get another one. The other Star Trek series aren't strong enough to get a motion picture. DS9 was set on a space station, not too much hope for exploration and such. Voyager's premise was that they were stranded across the galaxy. Now that they're back, who cares? Enterprise is young and the fact that the timeline is before the feature films will confuse people. So if this was the end, it's a fitting one. After all, this is an even numbered feature film, it has to be good. 3 stars.
The updated order of Trek films from best to worst: 2 (Khan), 4 (the whales), 8 (the Borg), 6 (peace with the Klingons), 10, 7 (Kirk dies), 9 (eternal youth), 3 (Enterprise blows up), 1 (V'Ger), 5 (search for God)
12/13/2002
The terrible trio of finals has passed and appropriately on a rainy Friday the 13th. With one more final next week, I'm gonna try to take it easy this weekend, especially with a trip to the city tomorrow and football on Sunday. Today, I'm stuck in the apartment. My friends have cited the rain and finals to stay indoors. So, seeing as how I can't see any carpet in my room, I'm going about cleaning my room. O, and ordering gifts online. A fascinating thing.
I just got a call from AT&T thanking me for using their long-distance service. I listened and soon they offered me local service. I wasn't interested but somehow he heard it as a yes and he transferred me to their sales department. I hung up but they do this for a living, don't they know the difference between yes and no?
To fill up the rest of this post, I'll comment about what I've seen on TV.
ABC showed Christmas in Aspen, where ABC stars talk about Christmas and share in the spirit. I don't know, I just don't want to see the cast of 8 Simple Rules singing Christmas carols. They might turn into the Brady Bunch.
Fox is introducing Joe Millionaire. It's set up just like the Bachelor except at the end, it's revealed that the bachelor is just an average joe instead of the millionaire as advertised. Please, these shows have to stop.
ABC had Extreme Makeover on Wednesday. Yeah, this has to stop too. But they won't as long as people keep watching, and they do watch in large numbers.
Sports shows have been talking non-stop about the BCS, where the best teams in college football gets lots of money to play in playoff games. Critics want a playoff system to reward hot teams who had an unfortunate loss in the beginning of the season that ruined their chances at the championship. Why not combine the two? As I see it, this year, there are three Saturdays between the last regular-season game and the BCS bowls. The 6 big conference champions and the top 2 remaining teams should be seeded according to the BCS rankings and play against each other. After the first Saturday, the losers stay home and the winners advance. They face off the next Saturday and those winners play in the national championship. For the $13 million they're being paid to participate, I think they can afford it. Everything else is business as usual. It preserves the bowl system and puts in a playoff. Still, it makes so much sense, no one will consider it.
What is it with SNL and non-comedic hosts? John McCain, Robert DeNiro, and this weekend, Al Gore. The show is truly hurting after the departure of Will Ferrell and Ana Gasteyer and it's not helped when the only laughs you get is when a straight-faced guy is in a different situation.
Who watches 24? The show is still pumping out quality episodes with the exception of Kim Bauer. She has to be stuck in one of the worst plotlines in history. She's a nanny who's on the run from the abusive father she works for. Oh yeah, she's taken the daughter with her. The last episode had them stealing his car and making a run for it. The police stops them for speeding and finds blood dripping from the trunk, only to find the wife. Soon, she's supposed to deal with a cougar. Her plot is such a waste of time, I flip channels until the adventures of Jack, CTU, or the President come back.
So this new Busta Rhymes video "Make It Clap." A long commercial for the Clapper?
VH1 and AMC have lost their way. VH1 used to show music videos, you know, an MTV for the older generation. Now? They're showing fashion shows and 80s comedies. Bull Durham and Major League? These don't involve music. They've pushed the music videos exclusively to the mornings. AMC stands for American Movie Classics, emphasis on the word Classics. What's a classic to them these days? Charlie Sheen's Hot Shots, Keanu Reeves' Chain Reaction and Speed, and Robocop 1 and 2.
Solaris
George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh have teamed up again to produce this "sci-fi" flick named Solaris, named for the mysterious cloud planet of light a space station is orbiting. After watching this, I had to ask, where has Soderbergh gone? After Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven, he's come up with one dud, Full Frontal, and this monster.
Clooney gets a call from his buddy from the space station proclaiming strange things are happening on the station. He wants him to travel and investigate. Upon his arrival, he finds his friend dead, a crazy female scientist who doesn't want anyone near her and a guy who just seems out of it. He gets himself acclimated to his new environment when his dead ex-wife suddenly appears. Obviously surprised, Clooney shoots her out into space in an escape pod only to have her re-appear later. The female scientist explains it's a copy from Solaris, a visitor. Why? It's not explained. Soon, Clooney re-develops his relationship with his wife only to have herself commit suicide in the end. In the process, the space station is getting sucked into Solaris. The female scientist leaves but Clooney stays. Did he die? Is he alive? That's for you to decide.
But to get to this question, we have to go through so much that moves so slowly. The camera lingers at such unimportant things that all of it is just a waste of time. Clooney's performance is good. You can feel the emotions he's going through, from the surprise, to the anger, to the terror, and finally to sadness. And the shots of Solaris are beautiful. But it's all much ado about nothing. 1.5 stars
George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh have teamed up again to produce this "sci-fi" flick named Solaris, named for the mysterious cloud planet of light a space station is orbiting. After watching this, I had to ask, where has Soderbergh gone? After Erin Brockovich, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven, he's come up with one dud, Full Frontal, and this monster.
Clooney gets a call from his buddy from the space station proclaiming strange things are happening on the station. He wants him to travel and investigate. Upon his arrival, he finds his friend dead, a crazy female scientist who doesn't want anyone near her and a guy who just seems out of it. He gets himself acclimated to his new environment when his dead ex-wife suddenly appears. Obviously surprised, Clooney shoots her out into space in an escape pod only to have her re-appear later. The female scientist explains it's a copy from Solaris, a visitor. Why? It's not explained. Soon, Clooney re-develops his relationship with his wife only to have herself commit suicide in the end. In the process, the space station is getting sucked into Solaris. The female scientist leaves but Clooney stays. Did he die? Is he alive? That's for you to decide.
But to get to this question, we have to go through so much that moves so slowly. The camera lingers at such unimportant things that all of it is just a waste of time. Clooney's performance is good. You can feel the emotions he's going through, from the surprise, to the anger, to the terror, and finally to sadness. And the shots of Solaris are beautiful. But it's all much ado about nothing. 1.5 stars
12/11/2002
Finals have started meaning there's been a lack of updates. The sidebar still gets updated and look for reviews of Solaris, the Santa Clause 2, and Star Trek: Nemesis over the weekend. Though I'm going with people on Saturday to watch Nemesis, my schedule's open on Friday to watch it if anyone's interested.
12/07/2002
The last day of instruction has arrived. Everyone, including me, celebrates. Then it left. Now it's just a couple of days until the reality of finals sets in. Then, as you ruffle through your scribbled notes and crumpled up old homeworks, you ask yourself, where has the time gone? Maybe I cut one too many classes? Did I really do 12 weeks of homework? All these zeroes don't add up to much. Then you go to a review session, where your GSI tries to sum up 100 hours of the course into 1 or 2 hours, a great idea, but not executed very well. I already went to my first one, a Stats one with my GSI on Thursday night. That was a big bust. Concepts I actually knew about were covered first leaving the other iffy questions I had in the dust. I ask him if I could ask questions on a later date and he says in a heavy European accent, "no, I'm leaving Berkeley tomorrow." So now I have to rely on my professor with a heavy Indian accent to get me through this. I've got two more review sessions on Monday and Tuesday. That's two more days of going to campus when I don't have to but feel like I do.
In more news and notes, I'd never heard of the movie Equilibrium with Christian Bale and Taye Diggs, but suffice it to say, judging by its ad, I'm not planning on seeing it. The ad is an obvious ripoff of the Matrix, but the big quote on top says to forget the Matrix because this is the next big action movie. Not only that, it also proclaims that Vin Diesel should move over because Taye Diggs is the next big action star. For some reason, these two statements really made me laugh. REALLY made me laugh.
Winona Ryder was sentenced to three years probation, a fine, and 500 hours of community service. It is said that this service also includes work with the blind. I must ask, is this really safe? She could steal their belongings and nobody would know.
The Sharks went out and won their first game under head coach Ron Wilson with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. While it all sounds good, it's anything but. The first period was a jumbled mess as players weren't making anything work including giving up a shorthanded goal. It looked as though Wilson shuffled the lines and that got a spark out of the team and as a result, got a few lucky goals off a bad goaltender. They also traded Marcus Ragnarsson for Dan McGillis. Yes, they needed another tough defenseman, but the trade of Ragnarsson really surprised me.
Once the Sharks game was over, I switched over to the Lakers game. People can deal with me being an Orioles fan but the Lakers? Yes, it's true. (Did you know I've mentioned the Lakers more in this blog (4) than the Orioles (3)? But nothing beats the Sharks at 13 times.) At halftime, they trailed by 28, a blowout in the making, and 27 entering the 4th quarter to the surprising Dallas Mavericks. I admit, I didn't have too much hope. But then something amazing happened. They came back. Yes, they overcame a 28-point deficit to win by 2, an amazing feat, and a NBA record. Maybe this season won't be a disaster after all.
In more news and notes, I'd never heard of the movie Equilibrium with Christian Bale and Taye Diggs, but suffice it to say, judging by its ad, I'm not planning on seeing it. The ad is an obvious ripoff of the Matrix, but the big quote on top says to forget the Matrix because this is the next big action movie. Not only that, it also proclaims that Vin Diesel should move over because Taye Diggs is the next big action star. For some reason, these two statements really made me laugh. REALLY made me laugh.
Winona Ryder was sentenced to three years probation, a fine, and 500 hours of community service. It is said that this service also includes work with the blind. I must ask, is this really safe? She could steal their belongings and nobody would know.
The Sharks went out and won their first game under head coach Ron Wilson with a come-from-behind 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. While it all sounds good, it's anything but. The first period was a jumbled mess as players weren't making anything work including giving up a shorthanded goal. It looked as though Wilson shuffled the lines and that got a spark out of the team and as a result, got a few lucky goals off a bad goaltender. They also traded Marcus Ragnarsson for Dan McGillis. Yes, they needed another tough defenseman, but the trade of Ragnarsson really surprised me.
Once the Sharks game was over, I switched over to the Lakers game. People can deal with me being an Orioles fan but the Lakers? Yes, it's true. (Did you know I've mentioned the Lakers more in this blog (4) than the Orioles (3)? But nothing beats the Sharks at 13 times.) At halftime, they trailed by 28, a blowout in the making, and 27 entering the 4th quarter to the surprising Dallas Mavericks. I admit, I didn't have too much hope. But then something amazing happened. They came back. Yes, they overcame a 28-point deficit to win by 2, an amazing feat, and a NBA record. Maybe this season won't be a disaster after all.
12/04/2002
First, happy birthday Jon.
(pause for reflection or to ask yourself who Jon is) For future reference who paused for the latter reason, of all the hits this page has gotten, at least 2,000 since August (really, who reads this crap?), Jon is the only one who regularly comments on the things I write. Thanks for that. So go out and enjoy your first day of true adulthood at age 21.
Moving on, did anyone catch the Simpsons on Sunday? The beginning of the episode had Homer getting tickets to an arena luxury box after metal plating gets dropped on his head. When he comments that he's excited to be going to a basketball game, he's informed by Lisa that they're actually going to a hockey game. He reacts by screaming and sobbing. A similar reaction is seen by fans arriving to the arena and reading the marquee.
Now, I'm gonna talk about hockey in this post so if you react to hockey like they do, you can happily skip the rest of this post.
According to the Mercury News, the Sharks are all set to hire Ron Wilson as their next head coach. For the most part, this seems to be a good move. He was fairly successful in Anaheim, where he worked with current Shark Teemu Selanne. But with a mediocre defense and spotty goaltending from Guy Hebert (comparable to the Sharks' Arturs Irbe, successful goaltender for one year), Wilson only made the playoffs in his last year and his contract was not renewed. He then headed to Washington. With a mediocre team, but great goaltending in Olaf Kolzig, he managed to mostly make them into winners, achieving 90+ point seasons in 3 out of 5 years, even reaching the Stanley Cup finals his first year. His last year was also a winning season but they did not make the playoffs. Ownership at this point felt it was time for him to go since after all, they got Jaromir Jagr, the league's leading scorer, and still couldn't win.
The Sharks obviously have the pieces to go all the way. But Sutter's defensive philosophy probably limited their potential. Too many games passed when they lost by 1, including most notably the season-ending Game 7 loss to the Avalanche 1-0. This season, Sutter seemingly continued to promote defense first but the fact is the Sharks have the worst defense at home and penalty killing was 26th in the league last I checked. Sure, people can point out that Jillson is having a hard time replacing veteran Gary Suter, that the defensemen are having trouble adjusting to the new crackdown on obstruction, that Evgeni Nabokov just came back to being a goalie 3 weeks ago. But 24 games into the season, these things should have been fixed, and frankly, they haven't.
That's the general manager's thinking. I still think firing Sutter was the wrong thing to do, at least not yet. He's been around for five years, bringing this team to be a competitor, not a cellar-dweller. He should've been given more time than this. A trade or some benchings may have stirred the team enough. But hiring Ron Wilson is a good move on a team where scoring is balanced and the goaltending is solid, and what Wilson has going for him is that he has 56 more games to get this team back into the playoffs.
Luckily, under interim coach Cap Raeder, the Sharks won tonite 3-2 in overtime against Phoenix on the strength of a Selanne goal.
(pause for reflection or to ask yourself who Jon is) For future reference who paused for the latter reason, of all the hits this page has gotten, at least 2,000 since August (really, who reads this crap?), Jon is the only one who regularly comments on the things I write. Thanks for that. So go out and enjoy your first day of true adulthood at age 21.
Moving on, did anyone catch the Simpsons on Sunday? The beginning of the episode had Homer getting tickets to an arena luxury box after metal plating gets dropped on his head. When he comments that he's excited to be going to a basketball game, he's informed by Lisa that they're actually going to a hockey game. He reacts by screaming and sobbing. A similar reaction is seen by fans arriving to the arena and reading the marquee.
Now, I'm gonna talk about hockey in this post so if you react to hockey like they do, you can happily skip the rest of this post.
According to the Mercury News, the Sharks are all set to hire Ron Wilson as their next head coach. For the most part, this seems to be a good move. He was fairly successful in Anaheim, where he worked with current Shark Teemu Selanne. But with a mediocre defense and spotty goaltending from Guy Hebert (comparable to the Sharks' Arturs Irbe, successful goaltender for one year), Wilson only made the playoffs in his last year and his contract was not renewed. He then headed to Washington. With a mediocre team, but great goaltending in Olaf Kolzig, he managed to mostly make them into winners, achieving 90+ point seasons in 3 out of 5 years, even reaching the Stanley Cup finals his first year. His last year was also a winning season but they did not make the playoffs. Ownership at this point felt it was time for him to go since after all, they got Jaromir Jagr, the league's leading scorer, and still couldn't win.
The Sharks obviously have the pieces to go all the way. But Sutter's defensive philosophy probably limited their potential. Too many games passed when they lost by 1, including most notably the season-ending Game 7 loss to the Avalanche 1-0. This season, Sutter seemingly continued to promote defense first but the fact is the Sharks have the worst defense at home and penalty killing was 26th in the league last I checked. Sure, people can point out that Jillson is having a hard time replacing veteran Gary Suter, that the defensemen are having trouble adjusting to the new crackdown on obstruction, that Evgeni Nabokov just came back to being a goalie 3 weeks ago. But 24 games into the season, these things should have been fixed, and frankly, they haven't.
That's the general manager's thinking. I still think firing Sutter was the wrong thing to do, at least not yet. He's been around for five years, bringing this team to be a competitor, not a cellar-dweller. He should've been given more time than this. A trade or some benchings may have stirred the team enough. But hiring Ron Wilson is a good move on a team where scoring is balanced and the goaltending is solid, and what Wilson has going for him is that he has 56 more games to get this team back into the playoffs.
Luckily, under interim coach Cap Raeder, the Sharks won tonite 3-2 in overtime against Phoenix on the strength of a Selanne goal.
12/02/2002
I went to see Solaris yesterday. I had high expectations with the names attached but boy, was it boring. Full review later.
I also caught the Saved by the Bell: True Hollywood Story. I find it amazing how popular the show was back then and how crazy those fans were. I found it disappointing, but not too surprising, that they could only get Screech and Mr. Belding for interviews. They showed clips of earlier interviews for the rest of the "stars." Geez, Mr. Belding has really let himself go after all these years.
This story caught me off guard. The Sharks, frequently documented in the sidebar, have been struggling. It was thought once they got their pieces back together, they'd succeed. They got Thornton back. Then Nabokov and Stuart signed. And what happened? Only slight improvement. With this talented group of people, someone had to take the fall. And so, the coach got fired. Darryl Sutter was a good coach. He brought the Sharks back to respectability. This was no way to treat him. Management will note his poor home record and the fact that their biggest struggle is on defense when Sutter utilizes a defense-first system, but he's been coaching this team 5 years. At least give him more time to let the team gel again. The Lakers have Shaq back after his injury, but they're still struggling. Yet, no one's advocating the ouster of Phil Jackson.
But GM Dean Lombardi got a little impatient and so we wait for his next coach. This will be his third coach to hire. His first choice should have been Sutter, but instead went for Al Sims, who only lasted a season. Let's hope his choice won't last just one.
In addition, being a Bay Area coach doesn't mean you'll be in it for the long haul. With the removal of Sutter, 49ers coach Steve Mariucci will be the only guy with more than 1 year of Bay Area experience in any pro league. The Raiders, A's, Giants, Warriors, and now Sharks all have new coaches this year. Include the colleges, you add in SJSU football coach Fitz Hill and the basketball coaches at Cal, Ben Braun, and Stanfurd, Mike Montgomery with some experience. All the others have new coaches this year.
Finally, when I got back to Berkeley, there was a return to normalcy. It seems the homeless have turned the area in front of City Hall into People's Park. Many tents out in front or just big blankets. It's a funny sight for some odd reason, but then again not so since I live 4 blocks away.
I also caught the Saved by the Bell: True Hollywood Story. I find it amazing how popular the show was back then and how crazy those fans were. I found it disappointing, but not too surprising, that they could only get Screech and Mr. Belding for interviews. They showed clips of earlier interviews for the rest of the "stars." Geez, Mr. Belding has really let himself go after all these years.
This story caught me off guard. The Sharks, frequently documented in the sidebar, have been struggling. It was thought once they got their pieces back together, they'd succeed. They got Thornton back. Then Nabokov and Stuart signed. And what happened? Only slight improvement. With this talented group of people, someone had to take the fall. And so, the coach got fired. Darryl Sutter was a good coach. He brought the Sharks back to respectability. This was no way to treat him. Management will note his poor home record and the fact that their biggest struggle is on defense when Sutter utilizes a defense-first system, but he's been coaching this team 5 years. At least give him more time to let the team gel again. The Lakers have Shaq back after his injury, but they're still struggling. Yet, no one's advocating the ouster of Phil Jackson.
But GM Dean Lombardi got a little impatient and so we wait for his next coach. This will be his third coach to hire. His first choice should have been Sutter, but instead went for Al Sims, who only lasted a season. Let's hope his choice won't last just one.
In addition, being a Bay Area coach doesn't mean you'll be in it for the long haul. With the removal of Sutter, 49ers coach Steve Mariucci will be the only guy with more than 1 year of Bay Area experience in any pro league. The Raiders, A's, Giants, Warriors, and now Sharks all have new coaches this year. Include the colleges, you add in SJSU football coach Fitz Hill and the basketball coaches at Cal, Ben Braun, and Stanfurd, Mike Montgomery with some experience. All the others have new coaches this year.
Finally, when I got back to Berkeley, there was a return to normalcy. It seems the homeless have turned the area in front of City Hall into People's Park. Many tents out in front or just big blankets. It's a funny sight for some odd reason, but then again not so since I live 4 blocks away.
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