Weekend Quick Hits

It's been an on and off week of posting here. Mostly due to tiredness, and the fact that it hurts to type. That wrist injury that I mentioned earlier, suffered in the soccer game hasn't gotten any better. And really, I think that something in there may be broken. Of course, there is a game Sunday, so I need to play. And after that I am not free till Wednesday, when I have a day off from work. So, that's when we will get it checked out. Ugh. But, some films and wild card fever have taken up my mind in the meantime.

3:10 to Yuma - Suddenly I am on a bit of a westerns kick. 3:10 to Yuma is one of the better one's I have seen though. It clocks in at just about 90 minutes so it is a quick watch. The last hour is incredibly tense and just fly's by. You think you are seeing maybe one of the better films you have ever seen, until the ending. A friend tells me to ignore the ending as it was just symptomatic of Hollywood at the time (1957), and that makes a bit of sense. It's based on an Elmore Leonard story, so the dialogue is quick and a bit more grey than some black and white moral dilema westerns. Given the way teh story progresses the camera also focuses much more on the faces of our characters than the expansive lanscapes of some other westerns. Apparently this is being remade,
and apparently Russell Crowe is due to star. I guess Elmore Leonard's name is still gold, with good reason. Now let's see if they can do something bout that ending.

Les Carabiniers Apparently critics hated this when it came out. It's certainly not the prettiest Godard to watch. Full of stock footage and title cards it's interesting as hell. It's a dark sometimes comedic ant-war film. The payoff comes during a postcard scene at the end. Much like the apartment scene in Contempt or bedroom apartment scene in Breathless during the scene at one point or another I felt as if it will never end. But then that eventually passes and I felt like I was seeing something special, or at least something different than I have seen before. And, it's those moments that keep me coming back to Godard, and make him my favorite director.

And finally, your eventual 2006 World Series Champion Philadelphia Philles. I've held off writing about them because I don't wanna jinx them. And it seem absurd, as I had written off this season as a disaster 3 or 4 times already. But somehow this team keeps fighting back. And now they are only 1 1/2 games out of the Wild Card. They are doing this with players like Chris Coste, Shane Victorino, Abe Nunez, and Joe Thurston getting regular at bats. Are you kidding me. If you told me those guys would be starting in August, I woulda guessed we have been mathamatically eliminated. What's even better? On a clear night I can get 1210 AM the Big Talker on my car stereo, and driving around to the final inning or so on my way somewhere hearing "Put this one in the win column for the Phitin' Phils!" is about the best phrase of summer. 2 months ago I never woulda guessed following this team would be so fun down the stretch, but they have made a believer of me. I fully expect this team to win the Wild Card now. How did this happen? I'll try not to analyze it and just enjoy it. Cause really, few things are more exciting than a competitive baseball team in September. It's as good as it gets.