Top 5 Baseball Movies

Spring Training is just wrapping up and opening day is just around the corner. Spring is officially here and we are starting to get warm weather days (more then usual) in San Diego. Turned on the TV the other day and one of my favorite sports movies and favorite movies of all time was on, The Sandlot. So I thought I would put down my Top 5 Baseball Movies. I guess America really loves their baseball movies, because there are a lot of classics that do not make my list, and some really good ones just got left off. Heck this is my list anyways, go make your own.

#5 Major League - With Greg "Wild Thing" Vaughn and Willy Beaman this movie about a bunch of ragtag, washed up baseball players has just the right amount of charm and love of the game to always require repeat viewing. Wild Thing, I think I love you.

#4 Bull Durham - Another movie with a young wild pitcher and a wily veteran catcher, see a trend here? If for nothing else I love this movie for the behind the scenes peek at what goes on during a pitchers huddle on the mound. When is a good time for men to talk about wedding gifts anyways?

#3 Stealing Home - The core of this movie is a father/son relationship and how baseball tied the two together. As the movie moves on and the father dies, the son gets away from his love of the game with life and grief and growing up. But it all comes back to the end when he decides to get his stuff together and steal home one more time. Mark Harmon, Harold Ramis, and Jodie Foster bring a story together that spans a generation. This movie is one of my favorites, the music brings it home for me, and it does not even show up on most Baseball movie list.

#2 A League of Their Own - "Theirs no crying in Baseball!" Tom Hanks plays Jimmy Duggan, a washed up drunk ex ball player who is pegged to coach a women's baseball team when the men go off to war in World War II. Geena Davis, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell and others round out the cast of this charming movie that shows that women can indeed play baseball, and Tom Hanks is at his absolute best the drunker he gets in the movie.

#1 The Sandlot - What can I say? I'm a sucker for kids movies that are good and they came out when I was growing up. Bad News Bears is just as good, but this one sticks with me. From the classic one liners "Your killing me smalls", to the reverance the boys show for the game, the pickling of the beast, to the music of the early 1960's in America; this movie has it all for me. And I gotta tell you, a special treat for me is the 4th of July scene with Ray Charles singing "America the Beautiful". Tell me that scene does not spark up nostalgia for you everytime.

Top 5 Ways to Survive a Rainy Day in San Diego

So it's raining in San Diego today. Doesn't happen very often. In fact I was not even ready for this today. Got my homework done, and then realized it was raining. So how to survive a rainy day.

#5 Catch up on homework or chores......yeah right

#4 Catch up on shows you missed during the week on the DVR/Tivo.

#3 Catch up on reading a good book. Currently reading Dangerous Dames by John Zakour and Larry Ganem. Love it.

#2 Read some old comics or find some new ones to download illegally online......maybe ignore that last part. ;)

#1 Do all of the above. And when you find you still have time left over, you could always cook a hot meal and then repeat the above steps. Except #5. And the second half of #2.

Top 5 Ben Moments on LOST

I'm back! I know I really should not say that. My blog is more of whenever I get around to it then I would like, but I have been sitting on this topic for a couple of weeks now. Ben Linus, on of the villains on the tv show LOST, has done many evil and devious things on his time on the show. He is an evil, sadistic, and highly manipulative bastard and we love him for it. Here is a list of the Top 5 Ben Moments on LOST.

#5 Episode 216 "The Whole Truth" - In one of Michael Emmerson's first chances to shine and bring this character to life, he begins to play Locke and Jack against each other when talking about drawing up a map for Ana Lucia. He calmly begins eating his cereal while absentmindedly discussing how he would set a trap if he was on of the bad guys. " I guess it's a good thing I'm not one of them, huh? You guys got any milk?" Classic Ben.

#4 Episode 409 "The Shape of Things To Come" - It's really hard to pick out my favorite moments. He just has so many good ones. Season Three and Four really set the bar high. Here in Season 4 we see that Charles Widmore has sent armed mercenaries to the Island to kill Ben and everyone in their way. When Alex, Ben's adopted daughter, is captured and held at gun point, Ben calls Kearny's bluff and tells him to shoot her. Kearny does. Ben's simple response "He changed the rules." It was a shocking moment, and led to even further violence from this evil man. And this episode alone carried at least 3 moments in Ben history that could have made the list.

#3 Episode 402 "Confirmed Dead" - This moment was further proof that even when we think the heroes of the show, the 815 survivors, catch up to Ben and have him pinned down he proves that he is always two steps ahead. At the end of the episode Ben recites Charlottes name and background to those around him completely unexpectdedly. When John Locke asks him how he knows who she is, Ben responds "Because I have a man on their boat." It was a great WHAT?! moment from LOST.

#2 Episode 322 "Through the Looking Glass" - Ben's daughter Alex is complaining about the treatment that Ben has been giving her boyfriend Karl when this exchange occurs. I must admit that it is not a well remembered moment, but it makes me laugh all the same. Alex "You put my boyfriend in a cage and then you locked him in a room and tried to brainwash him!" Ben " I didn't want him to get you pregnant. I suppose I may have overreacted..."

#1 Episode 413 "Theres No Place Like Home part 2" - After almost four seasons of LOST and the survivors of 815 struggling with nature, fate, each other, The Others, a smoke monster, and now mercenaries from Charles Widmore we finally get a weird sort of freedom moment from Ben when talking to Richard Alpert. Sayid and Kate had teamed up with Richard to help save Ben from the mercenaries, and after they were successul Ben simply asks Richard what the arrangement was. When Richard says their freedom from the island, Ben replies "Fair enough, the helicopter is yours, You and Sayid have a safe journey back." When Kate asks if that is it, Ben replies "That's it." The man is always in control and it seemed like he was finally allowing the survivors there freedom.

Top 5 Movies at the Box Office 3/08/09

Okay so this is kind of a copout I will admit. But I found it interesting to find out that movie attendance is up by 14% this year, and this is the first time I have been to the theaters in 2009. I of course went and saw Watchmen. Which after going back and rereading the comic book proves to be a faithful and fantastic adaptation of the original work.

#5 - Paul Blart: Mall Cop $4.1 Million (which is hilarious to me because the trailer for Seth Rogen's mall cop movie is making the rounds and no one thought this movie had a chance. It was #1 it's opening weekend and still in the top 5 weeks later)

#4 - Slumdog Millionaire $6.9 Million. Talk about an Oscar push.

#3 - Taken $7.5 Million. Liam Neeson still pulling in some dough for this movie.

#2 - Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail $8.8 Million. I swear this guy sold his soul to the devil to strike a cord with so many movie goers. He just keeps putting out hit movie that NO ONE I know has seen after hit movie. For the last 4 years I have asked myself how this modern Ernest Goes to Camp stays successful.

#1 - Watchmen $55.7 Million. Almost three hours and yet it still brought in huge numbers. Honestly if the movie was 30 minutes shorter, it could have brought in another 20 million IMO.


Notice anything strange about this list? None of the horror movies from the last few weeks like the Friday the 13th remake, no real romantic comedy (#6 was He's Just Not That Into You), and no Jonas Brothers in 3D. Could it be that the tween's are outgrowing these guys?

Top 5 Reasons to see The Watchmen

So The Watchmen came out in theaters today and I caught an early matinee. First of all, if you have never read the Graphic Novel, don't start now. See the movie first, and appreciate the book for all it's subtlety. Or read the book first and enjoy the orgy of violence and imagery that is the movie.

#5 - If you loved 300, you will love this. The movie is in love with it's own violence. I used to think that movies in the 90's that starred Steven Seagal featured a lot of bones breaking, but this movie treats bone breaking like it was some sick pornography.

#4 - The movie is actually a pretty faithful representation of the graphic novel. Taking many of the themes directly from the book.

#3 - The creator Alan Moore had his name taken off the movie and wants nothing to do with it. Although I think he should relax a little.

#2 - Sex, sex, and more sex. Not really, but there are boob shots, and I have seen enough blue penises to last me a lifetime.

#1 - Jackie Earle Haley. AKA Dukes in Semi Pro, AKA Kelly Leak in the 1970's Bad News Bears films. He is absolutely brilliant in this movie in his depiction as Walter Kovacs/Rorschach. In fact he almost steals the movie.