A Meme of 15 (Directors)

A meme that started on Facebook, and has invaded the blogosphere. I last saw it on a great blog, Lazy Thoughts from a Boomer.

As fast as I can:

- Alfred Hitchcock. North by Northwest. Rear Window. Psycho. Vertigo. The Man Who Knew Too Much. Rope. To Catch a Thief. First Hitchcock movie I saw? Family Plot. First movie I saw with my wife to be? The Man Who Knew Too Much. The master.

- Quentin Tarantino. Brilliant audacity.

- David Fincher. Haven't seen "The Social Network" yet, but hell - I even liked "Alien 3."

- Christopher Nolan. Fincher's rival as the director of the moment.

- Sidney Lumet. "Prince of the City" is my favorite.

- Steven Spielberg. Hey, he's the man. What can I say?

- Woody Allen. For all his foibles, he's made some damn great films. Sort of like the Bob Dylan of film - you never know when another masterpiece might jump up and bite you in the ass.

- Blake Edwards. For The Pink Panther movies, "10," and "SOB."

- David Cronenberg. From "Scanners" to "A History of Violence."

- John Ford. You like westerns?

- Martin Scorsese. An obvious choice, sure. But a good one.

- Billy Wilder. "Some Like It Hot?" "The Apartment?"

- Michael Mann. I still think he might have directed the best Hannibal Lecter movie.

- Jonathan Demme. But on the other hand, he might have. And he definitely directed the best Talking Heads movie.

- Peter Weir. "Witness." "Master and Commander." And much more.

Call Me A Curmudgeon...

...but I really don't understand why, once the baseball playoffs begin, we're suddenly hearing "God Bless America" instead of the traditional "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch. What - all of a sudden, we love our country more once the baseball playoffs begin?

It made sense in 2001...I'm not sure it still makes sense today. And if we're starting a new tradition, how about a rendition of "This Land Is Your Land?"

"The Town"

Ben Affleck is turning into a hell of a director.

On the list of things about movies you never thought you’d hear, that’s got to be high on the list. But after two expertly-made crime movies, “Gone, Baby, Gone” and now “The Town,” there’s no doubt that Affleck is a terrific filmmaker, and one who can adapt a good book into a good flick – something that’s not as easy as it sounds.

I’m told that the star of the film was supposed to be Affleck’s brother Casey, but he wasn’t available, so Affleck cast himself in the lead role and manages to pull it off. As the leader of a crew that specializes in robbing banks and is very good at it, he’s clearly intelligent, but just as clearly wants to get out of the game. He has his tender moments, but he can turn on the brutality when the circumstances call for it. His best friend and crewmate is played by the great Jeremy Renner, who is wound so tight that you think his head could explode at any given moment. Renner isn’t stupid, but brutality is his middle name, and for him robbing banks is not a means to an end – it is the end, because it’s what he knows how to do. The bond between the two is tight, tight enough that Renner spent a 9-year term in prison for killing a kid that had threatened to do the same to Affleck. He makes it clear that he’s never going back to prison, and when you hear that, you know that his fate is sealed.

The story starts on its inexorable run towards a violent conclusion when the crew, in order to escape from a job that threatens to go wrong, takes a hostage – the bank’s manager, played by Rebecca Hall (who does quite well in the role). Affleck volunteers to be the one to check up on her to make sure she knows nothing, they “meet cute” in a Laundromat, and proceed to fall in love. Thus begins a number of triangles involving the two, the third leg of the stool being Renner in one instance, Renner’s sister (Affleck’s former girlfriend) in the other, and Jon Hamm (as an FBI agent determined the bring down the crew) as the third.

There are several standout scenes in the movie that prove Affleck knows what he’s doing as an action director – one involving a car chase down the narrow streets of Boston; another coming in the climactic scene (set at Fenway Park) when there appears to be no way out, and the crew struggles to find one. But the movie is more than action; there are great quiet moments involving Affleck and Hall, involving Affleck and Chris Cooper (as his imprisoned father), and some creepy if not downright scary moments between Affleck and Pete Postlethwaite, playing the grizzled old man who gets a piece of everything the crew has a hand in – and a lot more than that.

Affleck has now done very well by Dennis Lehane and Chuck Hogan – I’d love to see him give Robert Crais or Michael Connelly a try.

Looking For That Happy Place

Lyric of the Day #6

At least, I think we're on #6...

"Always remember, there is nothing worth sharing
Like the love that let us share our name"

- "Murder in the City," The Avett Brothers

Torture

Yes, I've been remiss in not commenting before now on the San Francisco Giants' inspiring victory over the Atlanta Braves in the National League Divisional Series. But an awesome experience it was, although "torture" has become a word very familiar to Giants fans this year.

With the Giants, nothing comes easy. They're not one of the great teams in baseball history; they're not the 1961 Yankees or the 1970 Orioles or the 1975 Reds or the 1984 Tigers or the 1986 Mets or the 1998 Yankees...they're not even the 2004 Red Sox. They have a great, albeit inconsistent, pitching staff. Roy Halladay pitched a no-hitter for the Phillies in the NLDS, but Lincecum's 2-hitter against Atlanta - with 14 strikeouts - just might have been a more dominating performance. On any given night, Matt Cain can look like Dwight Gooden at his best. Jonathan Sanchez...well, he pitched a no-hitter, something not even two-time Cy Young Award winner Lincecum can say.

And then you think about players like Buster Posey and Madison Baumgarner. These are the kind of players about whom you can honestly say, the sky is the limit. Either or both might end up in the Hall of Fame. Either or both could be a flash in the pan. Right now, they are key cogs in the machine, players that could either be heroic in a critical point of the series yet to come, or the goat that people will remember for decades to come. And that is part of what makes baseball so special - you just never know.

Part of this is entirely selfish on my part, because right now a Giants win would mean a lot...but flawed though it is, there is something about this Giants team that makes me think it is the one that is going to take it all. I've had dreams - while asleep, and while awake - that the Giants are going to win the World Series this year, in Game 7, against the New York Yankees. And it will be someone like Travis Ishikawa, or Pat Burrell, or Freddy Sanchez, or Aubrey Huff, to get the hit to do it. Players who won't make the Hall of Fame, but who have played key roles in making this Giants season as special as it has been.

Humm-Baby!

Great Music Moments

- The way Donald Fagen sings "Oh, yeah" on Steely Dan's "Pretzel Logic"

Lyric of the Day #6

You could say I lost my faith in the people on TV
You could say I'd lost my belief in our politicians
They all seemed like game show hosts to me

"I Ever I Lose My Faith in You," Sting

Heaven?

Lyric of the Day #5

"And if you said jump in the river,
I would, because
It would probably be a good idea"

- Sinead O'Connor, "Jump in the River"

Autumn Albums - "Simple Dreams," Linda Ronstadt

Autumn has arrived. The days are warm, but the sun is setting earlier, and as night descends one can actually feel a bit of a chill in the air.

It’s time to think about “Autumn Albums,” those albums that I most closely associate with fall. And just because an album is released during the fall months doesn’t mean that it’s automatically going to land in this category. There has to be something about the music, something about the style; that lends itself to this time of year.

My first choice is Linda Ronstadt’s “Simple Dreams,” released in September 1977.

For a period of about 5 years in the mid-to-late 1970s, Linda Ronstadt was one of the most popular artists on the planet. She didn’t write any of her own songs, but she had a great voice, and the success of her work was inextricably linked with the songs she selected. Her two best albums were “Heart Like A Wheel,” released in 1974, and this one. When pressed, most fans would probably choose the former, but I prefer the latter.

The album starts out on a bright note, with her cover of Buddy Holly’s “It’s So Easy.” On an earlier album, she’d made the mistake of trying to top Holly’s “That’ll Be The Day,” a task that was doomed to failure from the start. Ronstadt was at her most successful when she would focus on lesser-known, sometimes even obscure songs, and in the Holly catalogue, “It’s So Easy” fits the bill.

From there on, her song selection is almost perfect. Her version of Warren Zevon’s great “Carmelita” almost matches the original, and her take on Zevon’s “Poor, Poor Pitiful Me” actually improves on Zevon’s recording. She does a wonderful job on Roy Orbison’s “Blue Bayou,” a herculean task when one considers the greatness of Orbison’s original vocal.

But the strength of “Simple Dreams” really lies with the album’s lesser known songs. Ronstadt’s performances on Souther’s “Simple Man, Simple Dream,” Eric Kaz’ “Sorrow Lives Here,” and Waddy Wachtel’s “Maybe I’m Right” are all spot on. But it was her take on two traditionals – “I Never Will Marry,” with exquisite backing from Dolly Parton, and “Old Paint,” which lifted the album from good to great. The only misstep was trying to cover the Stones’ “Tumbling Dice.” – which seemed silly then, and just sounds stupid today. Unfortunately, Ronstadt seemed to take that effort as the direction that she should head in the future, and her future rock albums felt contrived and inauthentic.

But on “Simple Dreams,” she was almost perfect. And the tone of the album is perfect for a chilly fall evening.

Track Listing:

1. It's So Easy (Buddy Holly, Norman Petty)
2. Carmelita (Warren Zevon)
3. Simple Man, Simple Dream (J.D. Souther)
4. Sorrow Lives Here (Eric Kaz)
5. I Never Will Marry (Traditional)
6. Blue Bayou (Roy Orbison, Joe Melson)
7. Poor Poor Pitiful Me (Warren Zevon)
8. Maybe I'm Right (Waddy Wachtel)
9. Tumbling Dice (Keith Richards, Mick Jagger)
10. Old Paint (Traditional)

NL West Champions!

Giants manager Bruce Bochy on a victory lap following a NL West-clinching, 3-0 victory over the San Diego Padres.

October baseball in San Francisco - it's been a while!

Playoff Baseball

Though not technically the postseason, today's Giants-Padres game is a playoff game, for all intents and purposes. And even though the Giants have a lead for the first time in this 3-game series, I'm not having any fun at all.

There really is nothing more excruciating in sports than playoff baseball, if your team happens to be in the playoffs. Every pitch is magnified. Every bad call (like the inexplicable "foul" call in the first inning of this game) sticks in your mind like a bad memory. Football is not so bad - maybe it's the physical nature of the game, maybe it's the structure of the game, which somehow leaves you thinking you always have a chance, even when you're trailing and it's deep into the fourth quarter.

But playoff baseball? Man, it's just torture. And "torture" is a word that has become synonymous with this Giants team, a team with so many flaws that I won't even try to list them all here. But this team has personality, and this team has character. The baseball Gods owe us one, so even though we're not there yet, and we're certainly not as good on paper as the Phillies, or the Yankees, or even the Rays (hell, maybe not even the Padres, for that matter), we're the kind of team that if we get hot, watch out.

Story Starters

Challenge to myself - before the end of the year, write short stories that begin with the following lines:

"In the end, all that was left was the pain."

"God only knows where I come up with this sh*t."

"I'd seen dogs in carry-on bags before, but never one that size."

"All she really wanted was to see the team win one more title before she died."

"I don't know where that sense of entitlement came from, but man was it annoying."

Signs I May Be More Tired Than I Thought

I forgot to take my laptop out of my carry-on luggage before sending it through security at the airport.

I'm standing there thinking, "boy, this sure seemed easy," and the next thing you know, the TSA guy is holding up my bag asking me if I've got a laptop in there.

At least I made him laugh with my reply of "oh, shit."

Bad Design?

I'm at a conference at a hotel in Los Angeles that shall remain nameless, and scattered throughout are chairs with this...shall we say, unusual design.

As I took this picture I was sitting in one, and you'll just have to take my word for it that it was not particularly comfortable.

Interesting, but somewhat bizarre.