Movies and baseball

Since the only things I ever post about are what I'm reading, I thought I'd get off that topic for a brief second and talk about my other two favorite things, movies and baseball. I'm watching Rachel Getting Married just now, and I gotta say I'm not totally into the drama of uncomfortableness. I do like the comedy of uncomfortableness, but that stuff's funny. Rachel is just excruciating. When it got to Kim's wedding toast, I just couldn't watch anymore. Plus, Kim's family is flawlessly perfect so far. How does such a self-obsessed, beyond obnoxious person come from such a place? I get the feeling that the perfection isn't real, and things are gonna break down at some stage, but we'll see.

Also, The Thin Red Line is one of the greatest war movies ever. Grittily real. And Nick Nolte as the coronel or general or whatever he is is just a truly transformative performance. There's a scene where he's seriously pissed and screaming into the phone, and the veins on his neck are popping out. It's seriously crazy.

And, of course, Ernst Lubitch is the master of the screwball comedy, but The Shop Around the Corner (on which You've Got Mail was apparently loosely based) is both funny and beautiful and sad all together. Really one of Jimmy Stewart's most subtle performances (Jimmy was not the most subtle of actors). And Margeret Sullivan is really wonderful. I need to rent more Maraget Sullivan movies. Plus, Frank Morgan as Matuscheck has this really pitch perfect child-like quality to him. It all adds up to a damn fine film.

Well, the Sox are in the top slot in the AL East but just barely. The yanks are breathing down their necks. The Jays are saying they'd consider trading Halladay, but I don't think the Yanks have enough to offer or the Sox would give up their young talent. If Hall went to the yanks, that would be it. Hank'd get his pennant for sure.

Now, no one wants John Smoltz to succeed more than me (except maybe Smoltz himself), but with the East such a tight division, how many sub-par outings can you allow the guy to try and turn himself into a finesse pitcher a la Schill? Especially with Buchholz burning up the rubber down in Pawtucket. Still, I have all the confidence in the world in Tito. And this has been his most creative work with the line-up since he's been the skipper of the Sox. And it's paid great dividends. Seems to be taking a page from Joe Maddon's playbook to good effect.

So, that was mostly rambling, little tidbits moreso than anything useful or considered. It's just good for me to write things down. My memory appears to be really useless. I was watching the preview for Elegy, which I saw in the theaters last year, and I was all, 'This looks so familiar. Have I seen a movie with Sir Ben and Penelope Cruz?' I still can't remember what the whole thing was about beyond a may-december romance. Maybe that was all it was about. It's weird watching something you clearly know and have seen, but can't for the life of you remember at all. I don't enjoy that, but then again having a not so good memory has it's advantages too. Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind and all that. Okay, enough of this. I'm not getting anywhere.