To Live and Die In LA

Watched William Friedkin's To Live and Die In L.A. the other night and dug it very much. It's sort of an L.A. answer to Friedkin's French Connection, and while it's not as good as that film, it's still a really cool 80s movie artifact, and a cracking good thriller. The story of an obsessed Secret Service agent on the trail of an evil, murderous yet brilliant and talented counterfeiter, the movie screams 1980s - from the vivid color scheme to the score by Wang Chung. No, that's not a joke, Wang Chung scored the movie - you may vaguely remember the almost-hit title track. While the film definitely displays plenty of Friedkin's trademark style and obessions, it could almost be mistaken for the work of Michael Mann. Willem Dafoe and William Petersen are both terrific in the film, playing basically unlikeable characters. Petersen's the hero and we're supposed to like him, I guess...but he's pretty much a louse, not unlike Gene Hackman's Popeye Doyle in French Connection. It may not suit all tastes, but I really enjoyed it.

Boston says the A-Rod deal is dead, Texas says it still has a chance. I no longer know what to think, or even what to root for in this issue. The AL East should be a wild ride in 2004.

Harumph

I don't have time to write much this morning, so, suffice to say, Andy Pettitte going to Houston really peeves me. As much as I blame Steinbrenner, and his candy-ass attempts to take over the reigns this off-season and plunge the Yankees back into the mid 1980s, I'm pissed at Pettitte, too. The press made it sound like the Yankees didn't really make Pettitte the high priority they claimed he was, but who's to say for sure except Steinbrenner, Pettitte & Cashman? Andy was always too much of a bible-sniffer for my taste, but he got the job done, and with a modicum of style. I know it's horribly old-fashioned, but after winning 149 games and four World Series with the Yankees, I would have thought Pettitte might want to stay (for MORE money) and spend his whole career in pinstripes, break Whitey Ford's team win record, go to the Hall of Fame, etc. I guess he'd rather "go home." Whatever. The Yankees are now in a jam, and only Pettitte and the Yankees know of who's making it really was.

Winter approaches...

I know it's still autumn, but damned if it doesn't feel like winter, what with all the snow on the ground and the freezing temperatures (okay, actually I think it was 34 or so yesterday, whatevah...). I'm battling off some sort of weirdo cold. I feel okay, but my head is stuffy and my eyes are red and watery. I cough for a bit, and then it disappears for half a day. I don't get sick very often, and I feel like my body can't decide if it's ill or not. I have a long ass work week coming up, plus Christmas shopping and that friggin' three hour Lord of the Rings movie on deck, so I vote for "not ill."
I've been thinking about movies that are perfect for watching on those snowed-in days. Some people would go for all summery, warm, tropical locations and so forth, but I actually like to reinforce that feeling of being inside and cozy on a cold, snowy evening. Therefore, I like watching cold, snowy, wintery movies. The two that leapt to mind were David Lean's Doctor Zhivago and John Carpenter's remake of The Thing. Oh, and Ice Station Zebra, but I've never seen that. I'd like to though. Does anyone want to lend me a copy?

No, its not a musical.

I finally got around to watching The Haunting last night. No, not the cheesy, special-effects overrun 1999 flick with Liam Neeson and Catherine Zeta-Jones, but the much, much cooler 1963 version with Julie Harris and Claire Bloom, directed by Robert Wise. Both films were adapted from Shirley Jackson's novel "The Haunting of Hill House," and while I've never read the book, it's a safe bet the '63 version is truer to Jackson's written words. Wise does such a great job here, it's easy to forgive him for the bloated duds he spent too much of his later career making (and I like The Sound of Music). The story goes that Wise only agreed to take over The Sound of Music (William Wyler was originally to direct) if Fox would let him make The Sand Pebbles (which I dig, largely because of Steve McQueen), and of course, as we all know, The Sound of Music made an obsene amount of money at the box-office and went on to win 312 Oscars...but I digress.
Wise was an editor at RKO before his directorial career, and he notably edited Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons for Orson Welles. The influence of Welles and specifically Kane is deeply felt in The Haunting. Wise's use of the camera to create and sustain tension, dread and atmosphere is flat-out masterful. He succeeds in making Hill House one of the starring characters of the film--we regard it as as important a presence on screen as any of the flesh and blood actors at any given moment. The cast is excellent throughout (Harris is a bit over-the-top, but it works for the film) and there are a handful of genuinely scary moments, with virtually no special effects. Wise creates scares from mood, lighting, camera work, sound effects and psychological dread. The result is certainly more haunting than most of today's effects and gore-laden "horror" films.

Listening to Paul Westerberg's new cd, Come Feel Me Tremble. It's my first time through, so I can't give a definitive opinion yet, but I like it. Nothing earth-shaking, just good basic Westerberg.

Okay, I have to run...A Charlie Brown Christmas comes on in 3 minutes!

Hot Stove Hoop-de-doo

It's safe to assume any baseball fan now knows that Curt Schilling is now a member of the Boston Red Sox. Schilling going to the Sox doesn't bother me nearly as much as the sleazy way the Diamondbacks went about dealing him. The message was clear though: most teams do NOT want to deal with the Yankees. Arizona asks the Yankees for their two best young stars (Soriano and Johnson) for a 37 year old pitcher, and then accepts that ehhh package from Boston instead. Hell, if it was really about Richie Sexson, you'd think the Yankees could have gotten him for Arizona too. Oh well, I'll just have to root for the Sox rotation physically breaking down next year, which isn't really a very far-fetched idea, considering the health of Pedro and Schilling over the years. To be honest, I've never liked Schilling, he always seemed like a bit of an egocentric redneck (hmm, sorta like the Rocket?), and now I like him even less. It was pretty hilarious to hear yet another athlete talk about how "...it's not about the money." Why do they even bother with that one anymore? What's it about then, the dental plan?

Now the word is that Sheffield is going to the Yankees , which I have no problem with. Ideally, I'd like a centerfielder so they could move Bernie to LF (I love Bernie, but his range is diminishing each year and his arm has never been worth a damn), but I can live with a Matsui-Williams-Sheffield outfield. Of course, the rumor is that Williams will become a DH, which would mean dealing Nick Johnson. This idea I really don't like--not only do I really like Johnson (and his steadily growing OBP), but given Giambi's health woes, do you really want to get rid of your younger, better-fielding first baseman? I suppose I could live with dealing Nick the Stick if he brought back Vasquez or Colon, but I dunno...Oh well, I have faith that the Yankees won't do anything 1980s-style stupid and will put a terrific team out there.