Best of 2002, and other stuff

On the movie front, yes, I have seen DARK BLUE and it is good. I would let Scott Speedman walk, though, because he nearly ruins the whole movie. Finally got around to seeing ABOUT SCHMIDT, which is of course a character study more than it is a story (anything with someone's name in it), and I enjoyed Nicholson very much but still favor Daniel Day-Lewis for GANGS. I've also seen THE HUNTED already, and it's a fine adventure film, probably Friedkin's best in a long time (and Tommy Lee Jones, for that matter). Also guys, you absolutely, positively, must see, when it is available for you to see, CITY OF GOD which is a Portuguese-language film that was not nominated for Best Foreign Film because the Academy thought they were watching a documentary--and that's a true testiment to how good it is. Hollywood lucked out and got a print to show for critics, but I have no idea when it opens (and likely Green Hills at that...and Mike, I don't know the Louisville circuit so you'll have to wait for it at the Churchill Downs 6 or something). Anyway, CITY OF GOD may be in my top 10 all-time. Although I've not reviewed what I believe are my top 10 in ages. I've also seen TALK TO HER, the Pedro Almodovar film that is probably 2nd to COG for my 2002 top 10. I've actually seen everything, and everyone, who is nominated

My favorites:

1. CITY OF GOD
2. TALK TO HER
3. CHICAGO
4. THE PIANIST
5. FAR FROM HEAVEN
6. GANGS OF NEW YORK
7. ADAPTATION
8. LOTR: THE TWO TOWERS
9. NARC
10. CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

And some will pick MINORITY REPORT (good...but THAT good? Maybe a 2nd viewing in order) and ABOUT A BOY (which is good and I have on DVD). There's a guy at work who puts THE BELIEVER in his top 10, which I never saw (has Ryan Gosling from MURDER BY NUMBERS playing a Jewish skinhead). There's also IGBY GOES DOWN and THE HOURS (nominated for Best Picture but I had an interrupted viewing of it, so I may need to see it again).

This post has been edited, the beginning of this post now emphasizes the movies (Chris).

OK, I'm here for my weekly appearance. One day, one day, I will have enough money to support service in my own home. But not now. Which makes my fantasy baseball looming in the distance scary because I'll have to hope my week's worth of lineups will work out (starting pitchers, injuries, etc.). I remember this last year being exciting, and then it started to wear down a little as the season grew longer. And my team did exactly what the Atlanta Braves would do: get the best record and lose in the playoffs. Once again, I have a stacked pre-rankings set, hopefully ensuring that I get a good player at each position, weakest at the top and strongest at the bottom (and some other positions occasionally mixed in). My pre-rankings are hilarious, likely, to anyone who could take a gander, since I have Sammy Sosa behind people like Mike Remlinger and David Eckstein, but you gamble your whole team looking to have one guy, and that's why ARod is not at the top of my list. I've tried to figure out what the best way to do this draft thing, and it's the only way that consistently could give you an all-around team. Some people, also, will not edit the pre-rankings, so that means all the top players will be gone in the first couple of rounds. So you have to make sure that you are filling your positions. And I love the extremely low ranked guy who had a bad year or was injured--they can pay off. But I put those guys in the middle since rarely will anyone have them high enough to get before you do. I also try to make sure that in all my pre-rankings, I would be happy with any of the players I could get off that list, and try to make the number of players correspond with the number of teams in the league multiplied by the number of positions to fill.

Baseball predictions next week?

Now, in regards to Jeff Kent. He's borderline right now, and he definitely needs to put up more numbers, but he doesn't need Barry Bonds. He's going to have Bagwell and Berkman this year, AT Enron, and while I believe he'll start off slow like he always does and the Astros always do, he'll have a hell of a year in the end.

And yes, the Plummer thing is ridiculous in Denver. They are so preoccupied with running backs and quarterbacks right now, they are forgetting about the rest of the team.