#10- Good Will Hunting (1997)

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Who's This Was This On
- The 'Bright' One: #2
- Adam Kaplan: #9
- Cubsfan4ever1: #14
TOTAL VOTES RECEIVED: 53

Directed By: Gus Van Sant
Written By: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck
Starring: Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Minnie Driver, Stellan Skarsgard, and Ben Affleck

The Plot

Will Hunting (Damon) is a mathematical genius with no potential or drive to use his gift due to his horrific upbringing full of beatings and abuses by his father. While working as a janitor at MIT, Professor Gerald Lambeau (Skarsgard) discovers Hunting's gift and does his best to nurture it. He enlists the help of his former college roommate Sean Maguire (Williams), a psychologist, to help Will Hunting get through his demons and reach his potential. Maguire, along with Hunting's newfound girlfriend Skylar (Driver) and his best friend Chuckie (Ben Affleck) help to aid Will Hunting to get through his problems.

Why This Movie Is Great

This movie is brilliant because it's a character study into a wounded genius. The film is great because it doesn't show you why Will Hunting is the way he is, it just plops you right in the middle of his life and takes you on a journey to try and make this guy better. The film doesn't try to be cliche and bash you over the head saying, "Look! See! This guy is messed up! See! This is what happens when you beat children!" Instead, it takes a subtle approach. It comes out in bits and pieces. Hunting's abusive childhood affects his future relationships (no shit) but it does so at key moments. Hunting is very good at picking up chicks (he picks up Skylar with relative easy and bravado) but as the relationship progresses and gets more intimate, Will Hunting starts to get more distant.

*** WARNING: REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS***

A fantastic example of this is when Skylar asks Will to move away with her. As the audience all we see is a great and blossoming relationship. It just seems logical that Will would want to take his relationship to the next step. Instead, Will lashes out as a defensive mechanism to avoid intimacy. (In fact, most of what Will does is a defensive mechanism).

We see early on in the film that Will is messed up as Lambeau takes him to see psychiatrists, but we, as the audience, are not fully aware of how deep and troubled Will is because he is constantly fucking with everybody he meets. It's not until Sean Maguire, Lambeau's old college roommate, starts to see Will that we start delving deep into Will's problems. The meetings between Sean and Will are like Will Hunting himself. They start of tame and superficial but as you dig deeper the true colors get revealed.

Sean, like Will, is also troubled. Sean has lost the love of his life- his wife- and he still struggles to cope with her death. He has to deal with his own problems and he does so vicariously through his aid of Will. Like Will, Sean also grows and matures as we see through his therapy sessions with Will as well as his time spent with his old, and much more successful, former college roommate Lambeau.

Gus Van Sant does his best directorial job ever in Good Will Hunting. There are subtle shots and scenes that are just amazing. For example, as Will is riding on a train as he is getting closer towards his ending point, we see Will slouched in his chair with his arms spread across the seats next to him. The shot is just Will silent on a train but it's shot so as it looks like Will is Jesus on the cross. Brilliant! It's subtle things like that help make this movie fantastic.

I was reading a lot of online reviews before typing up this post and the most common criticism I found was that this film was too predictable. No shit Sherlock, of course it's predictable. Of course Will Hunting is going to overcome his demons and be with Skylar. I have two responses to that: 1) This movie is completely character driven and not even remotely close to being plot driven. I care more about what happens to the characters and their journey to get there rather than the plot itself and 2) That ending was not even close to a typical Hollywood ending. Will did not catch Skylar before she left for California and made some romantic speech to win her back. Will pushed Skylar so far away that she actually left for California thinking they were broken up and Will travels on a open road (a great, yet widely used symbolic gesture (see: Cast Away) to show Will's open path ahead of him). He just says "I'm going to see about a girl". He doesn't actually meet up with her. I thought the ending of the movie was great. Also, if you complain the movie ending was typical and cliche then ask yourself, would you want the reverse to happen? You want to see Will Hunting be a nobody piece-of-shit for the rest of his life? Well, if so, you're a dick.

It's a shame Good Will Hunting was released in 1997- the same year as Titanic- because otherwise it would have swept the Oscars. It did win two Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actor (Robin Williams) and Best Screenplay (Damon and Affleck) but it's a shame it didn't win more. But hey (and a bit of a spoiler alert), Good Will Hunting made Game Of Inches Top 25 Movies Of The Past 25 years and Titanic wasn't remotely close to making it. So, at least it's got that working for it.

FUN FACTS:

1) During a therapy session, Sean is discussing to Will how his wife used to fart all the time. This scene was ad libed by Williams which is why Damon is laughing so damn hard through it. The camera also shakes throughout the scene because the cameraman was laughing so hard as well.

2) During the therapy session where Sean tells Will how he met his wife before attending a Boston Red Sox game, we see a bird's eye view of Sean's office. In Sean's office are four chairs. They are set up like the bases of a baseball diamond (another subtle proof of Van Sant's greatness in this movie).

3) Will's three friends are Chuckie, Morgan (played by Ben's brother Casey Affleck), and Billy (played by Cole Hauser). Hauser barely talks throughout the movie because he purposefully gave up most of his lines to Casey. He did so because he felt there is always one shy dude in the group and if he barely talked it would add more authenticity to the movie. He was right.

4) In the scene where Skylar meets Will's three friends at the local bar, Chuckie (Ben Affleck) is telling a story about how his uncle got pulled over after a night of heavy drinking a stole a cop car. Van Sant told Casey to constantly interrupt Ben as he was telling the story to add authenticity to the group dynamic- without telling Ben what Casey was about to do. As Chuckie is telling the story he yells at Morgan "Will you shut the fuck up!" This was ad libed by Ben because he was pissed Casey kept interrupting his big monologue. Another subtle example of Van Sant's brilliance.

5) In the very beginning of the movie, Will and his three friends are watching a little league baseball game. They leave the game and one of them says, "Let's go to Kelly's" (which the boys then do). Kelly's is a fast food chain in the Boston-area and is the best fucking place ever for seafood. I try to go to Boston once a year and when I do I always go to Kelly's to get a lobster roll. Part of the reason I ranked Good Will Hunting the best Boston movie of all time.

Final Lists For The 25 Greatest Movies Of The Past 25 Years

Game Of Inches' Final List

25) Lock, Stock, And Two Smocking Barrels (1998)
24) The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2009)
23) Back To The Future Part II (1989)
22) For Love Of The Game (1999)
21) In Bruges (2008)
20) Mullholland Drive (2000)
19) Saving Private Ryan (1998)
18) Jurassic Park (1993)
17) Casino Royale (2006)
16) My Cousin Vinny (1992)
15) Superbad (2007)
14) The Rock (1996)
13) Inception (2010)
12) Terminator II: Judgment Day (1991)
11) Toy Story (1995)
10) Good Will Hunting (1997)
9) Forrest Gump (1994)
8) Die Hard (1988)
7) Goodfellas (1990)
6) The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
5) The Dark Knight (2008)
4) The Departed (2006)
3) Inglourious Basterds (2009)
2) The Matrix (1999)
1) Pulp Fiction (1994)

Adam Kaplan's Final List

25) Saw (2004)
24) Mean Girls (2004)
23) My Cousin Vinny (1992)
22) The Social Network (2010)
21) The Sixth Sense (1999)
20) Inglourious Basterds (2009)
19) Inception (2010)
18) Sin City (2005)
17) Wall-E (2008)
16) Taken (2008)
15) Se7en (1995)
14) The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
13) Terminator II: Judgment Day (1991)
12) Forrest Gump (1994)
11) Stepbrothers (2009)
10) Saving Private Ryan (1998)
9) Good Will Hunting (1997)
8) Toy Story (1995)
7) Requiem For A Dream (2000)
6) Pulp Fiction (1994)
5) Superbad (2007)
4) Die Hard (1988)
3) The Matrix (1999)
2) The Dark Knight (2008)
1) The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

David "MVP" Eckstein's Final List

25) Schindler's List (1993)
24) Wall-E (2008)
23) Trainspotting (1996)
22) Spiderman II (2004)
21) Children Of Men (2006)
20) Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)
19) Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
18) The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001)
17) Match Point (2005)
16) Mystic River (2003)
15) The Pianist (2002)
14) Terminator II: Judgment Day (1991)
13) Spirited Away (2001)
12) The Matrix (1999)
11) Jurassic Park (1993)
10) Toy Story (1995)
9) Inglourious Basterds (2009)
8) Pulp Fiction (1994)
7) Goodfellas (1990)
6) Inception (2010)
5) The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
4) The Departed (2006)
3) The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2009)
2) The Dark Knight (2008)
1) Mullholland Drive (2000)

Cubsfan4evr's Final List

25) The Fugitive (1993)
24) The Italian Job (2003)
23) The Blind Side (2009)
22) Remember The Titans (2000)
21) Terminator II: Judgment Day (1991)
20) The Matrix (1999)
19) As Good As It Gets (1997)
18) The Hunt For Red October (1990)
17) Deep Impact (1998)
16) The American President (1995)
15) Pulp Fiction (1994)
14) Good Will Hunting (1997)
13) Catch Me If You Can (2002)
12) Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
11) Apollo 13 (1995)
10) Con Air (1997)
9) The Rock (1996)
8) Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
7) The King's Speech (2010)
6) Mr. Holland's Opus (1995)
5) The Prophet (1999)
4) Forrest Gump (1994)
3) The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
2) Inglourious Basterds (2009)
1) For Love Of The Game (1999)

The Bright One's Final List

25) Major League (1989)
24) Vegas Vacation (1997)
23) Ocean's Eleven (2001)
22) Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
21) Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)
20) There Will Be Blood (2007)
19) Sin City (2005)
18) Edward Scissorhands (1990)
17) Dumb And Dumber (1995)
16) Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
15) The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
14) Superbad (2007)
13) The Departed (2006)
12) Field Of Dreams (1989)
11) Home Alone (1990)
10) Casino Royale (2006)
9) Die Hard (1988)
8) Titanic (1997)
7) Forrest Gump (1994)
6) Terminator II: Judgment Day (1991)
5) The Matrix (1999)
4) Speed (1994)
3) The Rock (1996)
2) Good Will Hunting (1997)
1) Back To The Future II (1989)

Daniel Bennett's Final List

25) The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2009)
24) Forrest Gump (1994)
23) Scream (1996)
22) Mean Girls (2004)
21) The Social Network (2010)
20) The Lion King (1994)
19) Se7en (1995)
18) The Sixth Sense (1999)
17) Aladdin (1992)
16) Batman (1989)
15) My Cousin Vinny (1992)
14) Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (2004)
13) Taken (2008)
12) Remember The Titans (2000)
11) Men In Black (1997)
10) Inglourious Basterds (2009)
9) The Departed (2006)
8) Toy Story (1995)
7) Inception (2010)
6) Die Hard (1988)
5) Pulp Fiction (1994)
4) The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
3) The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
2) The Dark Knight (2008)
1) Goodfellas (1990)

Bryan Hernandez's Final List

25-11 (in no particular order)
- Full Metal Jacket (1987)
- Snatch (2000)
- Gangs Of New York (2002)
- UHF (1989)
- Ocean's Eleven (2001)
- The Addams Family (1991)
- Big Fish (2003)
- I Love You Philip Morris (2009)
- Get Shorty (1995)
- Inglourious Basterds (2009)
- Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
- Green Street Hooligans (2005)
- Saving Private Ryan (1998)
- Moulin Rogue (2001)
- Lethal Weapon (1987)

10) Jurassic Park (1993)
9) Casino Royale (2006)
8) Pulp Fiction (1994)
7) Goodfellas (1990)
6) My Cousin Vinny (1992)
5) The Matrix (1999)
4) The Departed (2006)
3) Gladiator (2000)
2) Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels (1998)
1) In Bruges (2008)

Adam Kaplan's Best Movies From Each Of The 25 Years

1987: Full Metal Jacket (Stanley Kubrick)
1988: Die Hard (John McTiernan)
1989: Batman (Tim Burton)
1990: Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese)
1991: The Silence Of The Lambs (Jonathan Demme)
1992: My Cousin Vinny (Jonathan Lynn)
1993: Schindler's List (Steven Spielberg)
1994: The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont)
1995: Toy Story (John Lasseter)
1996: Fargo (Joel Coen)
1997: Good Will Hunting (Gus Van Sant)
1998: Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg)
1999: The Matrix (Andy and Lana Wachowski)
2000: Requiem For A Dream (Darren Aronofsky)
2001: Memento (Christopher Nolan)
2002: Minority Report (Steven Spielberg)
2003: Mystic River (Clint Eastwood)
2004: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry)
2005: Sin City (Robert Rodriguez)
2006: Little Miss Sunshine (Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris)
2007: There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson)
2008: The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan)
2009: Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
2010: Inception (Christopher Nolan)
2011: Young Adult (Jason Reitman)

"The Dark [Ugly] Knight"

Listening to The Scott Van Pelt show with Ryen Russillo, they were doing the same old run down "greatest (insert anything) of the decade" routine. Something so lame that GOI would never consider doing, ever. Stop laughing, i'm being serious. The ESPN radio gang were discussing the greatest movie of the decade. I will still go with "Good Will Hunting", regardless what decade it was made. I first saw it this decade so it's new to me. The guys would not accept "The Dark Knight" as the best movie for 2 reasons. First, why did Batman have to use the Batman voice the entire movie? I understand using the Batman voice when you're fighting bad guys and all dressed up in your bat suite, but going with the deep, scratchy voice when you're enjoying hot coco in front of the fireplace is what we call over-acting. Second, how realistic is it for a superhero to be fighting over a 4. And yes, we are objectifying women with numbers. The 4 referring to Maggie Gyllenhaal playing the love interest in "The Dark Knight".

I had the absolute same reaction when we were leaving the movie theater. By no means am I a movie buff like DME and Sexy Rexy, but it just didnt make sense to me why the greatest, richest movie in history couldn't find a pretty face to put on screen. Not surprisingly, the only girl at the movie with us said she thought Maggie was pretty...which in girl speak means I'm glad they put some ugly bitch on screen making me look better. Hence, I decided to give Maggie a slight makeover that would have put "The Dark Knight" head over feet above every other movie this decade, except "Good Will Hunting". Actually, I may need to give Mini Driver a new look too, except for the sexy accent. The accent can stay.

The Greatest Directors Of Our Generation

Let me read off some names to you of the last three directors who have won the Oscar for best director: Tom Hooper, Kathryn Bigelow, and Danny Boyle. Here are some other guys who have been nominated recently for best director: David O. Russel, Darren Aronofsky, Jason Reitman, and Gus Van Sant.

Who?

"Who" indeed. Unless you are an avid movie watcher and/or frequent imdb.com seeker like I am, chances are you have never heard of half, or even any, of the directors I just mentioned. Chances are you have heard of some of their great movies, but not really the director. Van Sant directed Good Will Hunting. Aronofsky directed Requiem For A Dream. Reitman directed Juno.

I think in the past decade or so that a new class of directors has taken shape and prominence. The big names that your parents have heard of seem to be fading out and a new batch of great directors have started coming in.

Certainly big name directors are still making movies and get nominated for Oscars. Ron Howard was nominated in 2009 for Frost/Nixon. Martin Scorsese won Best Director in 2007 for The Departed (his second greatest movie ever made). Steven Spielberg got nominated for Munich in 2006. However, these big name directors and directors of yesteryear seem to be vanishing for no name guys with enormous talent.

It is these "no name" guys that I would like to give a face to and recognition for their great work. Guys who are becoming the next Scorsese, the next Spielberg, the next Howard. With the exception of the first name mentioned, this list is in no particular order of how awesome or talented they are.

Christopher Nolan

Great Movies: Inception, The Dark Knight, The Prestige, Batman Begins, Memento.

If Christopher Nolan were a baseball player he'd be having the best season ever. Why? Because he's batting .833 right now with two home runs (OK so maybe not a perfect analogy because a 2 HR season is terrible, but just go with it. Technically he "only" has five hits). It's extremely hard to make the best movie of the year once and Nolan has managed to do it with his past two movies (Inception in 2010 and The Dark Knight in 2008). The only bad movie he's made is Insomnia and when you make the great work that he's made, that can be forgiven. Hell, Scorsese made Shutter Island and Casino. Spielberg made War Of The Worlds and A.I and the 4th Indiana Jones movie. All directors are allowed mulligans and kudos to Nolan for having probably the least amount of them out of any director mentioned in this post.

Nolan first emerged onto the scene with Memento. Call it a novelty movie or call it what you will, it's still brilliant. Sure, it has the hook of telling a story as the last scene first and the first scene last, but to create a complicated film noir-esque movie that's both compelling and entertaining while still being cohesive is damn impressive.

He unfortunately followed up Memento with Insomnia but then brought back the Batman franchise with a darker edge with Batman Begins. People forget how good Batman Begins is because of how amazing The Dark Knight was (in my book The Dark Knight is in the top two greatest action movies ever made along with Terminator: 2) but go back and watch Batman Begins again. It's great.

Nolan seems to be this guy who does one for the studio then one for him. He gave the studio Batman Begins so he got to do The Prestige. He gave the studio The Dark Knight so he got to do Inception- with each movie seemingly better than the next.

Sure I'll go see movies directed by a certain guy based upon what they've made in the past (I saw Jarhead which also had the same director as American Beauty- Sam Mendes) but I don't get excited for anyone else as I do for Nolan. All you have to tell me is that Nolan wrote and directed the movie and I'll go see it. You could tell me that the entire movie was one dude taking a shit on his toilet for two hours and I would still be super excited to see it because it was a Christopher Nolan movie. He has earned that kind of respect (even though for some reason the Academy hates him with a Richard Gere like passion. The Dark Knight neither got nominated for Best Picture nor Best Director in 2009 and Nolan failed to garner a Best Director nomination in 2011 for Inception. In fact, Nolan only has three Oscar nominations: Best Screenplay for Memento and Inception and Best Movie for Inception as a producer. He never has gotten a Best Director nod nor has taken home any golden statute).

One last note about Christopher Nolan and my love for him before we move on. Can everyone please stop complaining about any part of The Dark Knight Rises! I hear people complaining about Bane being the main bad guy and that Catwoman's suit sucks and that she also should not have been a villain. What!? You have not seen the movie yet or even read the script. You have no idea how Nolan plans to use the bad guys or how they interact with the overarching theme of the movie. Plus, has anything in Nolan's past four movies shown to you that he's not capable of making these "crappy" evildoers awesome or make a bad movie with these characters? Nolan, more than any other director in Hollywood right now, deserves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his creativity.

David Fincher

Great Movies: Fight Club, Se7en, The Social Network, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Fincher has absolutely made some stinkers- most notably Zodiac (Fincher has many more mulligans than Nolan has), but I think he's made some of the best movies of our generation.

While I personally do not like Fight Club (I think if you watch the movie again knowing the twist then it's just silly and stupid how everyone reacts to Tyler Durden [Brad Pitt] and Edward Norton's character. But I digress), it's probably in my generation's collective top five favorite movies of all time. Very few movies have had the kind of effect that Fincher movies have had on kids who grew up in the 90's.

Se7en is just a great thriller all around. It's got a great cast (Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, and Gwyneth Paltrow), a great twist ending and line (What's in the box!? What's the the boooooox!?), a great and engaging plot in general, amazing dark visual motifs that Fincher is known for, and the cherry on top is that we all know the seven deadly sins because of that movie.

However, I think The Social Network was the movie that really cemented Fincher's name as one of the greatest directors of our generation. Se7en came out in 1995 and Fight Club was in 1999. Both movies had a great influence on this generation but it's hard to be great yet not come out with an influential movie in over a decade. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was good and extremely well made, but not really influential and kind of boring at times. But then to give us a movie about facebook, well then David Fincher, welcome back to the club! Here, let me send you a facebook event invite.

I personally don't care that The Social Network isn't true at many points, the story Fincher tells about Mark Zuckerberg is just great. I knew Inception was going to get screwed at the 2011 Oscar's but I did not expect The Social Network would have as well. I believe in 50 years when we look back on the 2011 Oscar's we will be asking ourselves why didn't The Social Network win more and what is the plot of The King's Speech again?

Adam McKay

Great Movies: Step Brothers, Anchorman, Talladega Nights, The Other Guys.

Before we begin, I just want to say that for some reason it is really hard to get a good picture of Adam McKay. I didn't want to use the picture I did but it's also his imdb.com photo so I guess it's OK but god forbid a comedy director is smiling in at least ONE photo.

As it turns out all of McKay's "great" movies are the only four movies he's directed. You can quibble with me that Talladega Nights was not a great movie but our generation still enjoys it and if you watch it again (go turn on your TV, it's playing on FX right now) it's still pretty funny and Will Ferrell's best sports movie. Also, history may not be kind to The Other Guys but it was still the funniest movie of 2010.

However, you can not fight with me that Anchorman and Step Brothers are not great movies. They absolutely are. Step Brothers seems to be pretty polarizing. Unlike Talladega Nights, nobody just kinda-sorta likes Step Brothers. They either can't stand the humor/Ferrell's and Reilly's characters or are like me and think it's the funniest movie ever made. I have found that most people are like me and love Step Brothers. Sure, it really doesn't make that much sense but it's just freaking hysterical.

I believe McKay is the best comedic director of our generation. I really wanted to put Judd Apatow instead but he's only made three movies (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Funny People) and Funny People blew. All of McKay's movies have been good. Plus, I feel like Apatow is better behind the scenes. He had a hand in Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Walk Hard, Pineapple Express, and Bridesmaids, but directed neither of them.

Lastly, don't give me that "The reason these movies are great is because of Will Ferrell, not McKay" bullshit. Ferrell has made some pretty terrible movies without McKay (Kicking and Screaming, Land of the Lost, Semi Pro, and Bewitched to name a few) and part of the reason Ferrell is so funny is because of McKay. McKay will create scenarios for Ferrell to be in to be funny and will often shout hilarious lines for his actors to say. The reason guys like McKay and Apatow are great comedic directors is because they are funny guys themselves. Apatow is a former stand up comedian and McKay was Ferrell's writing partner on Saturday Night Live.

McKay's influence on comedy extends beyond movies. Along with Ferrell, he started the website FunnyOrDie.com and directed some of the sites best videos like "The Landlord"

Comedies define a generation just as much as dramas and action movies have and Adam McKay is the poster child of comedies for this generation.

Paul Thomas Anderson

Great Movies: There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights, Magnolia

Some people will put Punch Drunk Love on P.T. Anderson's list of great movies but I will not for two reasons. First, holy crap was that a long and boring movie. Second, I don't think this generation really knows nor cares about that movie.

Anderson's a fantastic director and has made some really great movies but I feel like his movies has not had an effect on this generation say like even David Fincher's has. I loved There Will Be Blood and still contend to this day that it was the best movie of 2007, better than either There Will Be Blood or Juno. Nevertheless, because of the great quality and awesomeness of Anderson's four movies in the past fifteen, I think he deserves his props.

Nobody creates better three dimensional characters than Anderson. It doesn't matter if he focuses around one character like Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) in There Will Be Blood or like seven characters in Boogie Nights, all of his characters are more than cardboard cut outs and all multi-character driven movies (i.e. Crash, Adaptation) will be judged compared to Boogie Nights and Magnolia.

Zach Snyder

Great Movies: 300, Watchmen

To really cement Snyder's legacy he needs at least one more movie to add to his "great movies" list (and he will probably do that when the Christopher Nolan produced Man Of Steel comes out in 2013) but his style and vision has already earned him a spot on this list.

He burst onto the scene with 300 and had everybody in the world screaming "THIS IS SPARTA!" and he earns a little bit of props for having a movie catchphrase become one of the great movie lines ever (Also, Paul Thomas Anderson did the same with "I drink your milkshake!" in There Will Be Blood) but more than that, 300 became a phenomenon. While I personally think the movie's a bit overrated, it still did (and still does) capture the minds of this generation.

He followed 300 up with Watchmen which I think is a great superhero movie. The concept is such an inventive idea (how would America react if we had won the Vietnam War) with its own Superhero twist. The style for both Watchmen and 300 (and probably Sucker Punch as well but I haven't seen it and it saddens me that it was critically and commercially panned) to me is just great. I can see where people think it's too novelty but I think it falls more in the line of Sin City's effect. When I watch a comic book movie I enjoy the feeling of actually watching a comic book as opposed to watching a movie that is based upon a comic book.

Snyder seems like the perfect Josh Wheedon-esque nerd to create awesome superhero and comic book movies for this generation.

Kevin Smith

Great Movies: Dogma, Clerks, Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Zach and Miri Make A Porno

I don't believe Smith has ever made a "great" movie and one that will define a generation or be long lasting within a generation's mind like any other director in this post has, but I think he earns a spot on this list for his longevity in the the sense that he's made a lot of really good movies- essentially all starring Jay and Silent Bob.

I remember in middle school and high school watching Clerks and Mallrats and just being fascinated by them. I actually went back and watched Mallrats again and it was pretty terrible and the "witty" banter just got annoying for me, but still, the movies were a part of my childhood and I'm sure played some role in yours whether it was laughing to the religious hypocrisies in Dogma or to Seth Rogen in Zach and Miri.

Other notable mentions
- Todd Phillips (The Hangover, Old School)
- Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You For Smoking, Up In The Air)
- Darren Aronofsky (Requiem For A Dream, Black Swan)
- Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile)
- The Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix, V For Vendetta)
- Ben Stiller (Zoolander, Tropic Thunder)
- Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later, Trainspotting, 127 Hours)

Influential "Big Name" Directors on this Generation
- The Coen Brothers (The Big Lebowski, Fargo)
- Quentin Tarintino (Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds, Kill Bill)
- Martin Scorsese (The Departed, Goodfellas, Gangs of New York)
- Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Back to the Future trilogy, Cast Away)
- Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings trilogy)
- James Cameron (Titanic, Avatar)
- Ridley Scott (Black Hawk Down, Gladiator, American Gangster)
- Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, Minority Report)
- Michael Moore (Bowling For Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11)
- Peter Farrelly (There's Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber)
- Cameron Crowe (Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky)

One Movie Directors
- M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense)
- Greg Mottola (Superbad)
- Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me)
- Brad Bird (The Incredibles)
- Guillero del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth)
- Nick Cassavetes (The Notebook)

If I Could Turn Back Time: Oscars Editions

I was listening to a recent Bill Simmons podcast where he joked that like all Hall Of Fame voting, there needs to be a waiting period between when the movie comes out and when people actually get to vote on the Oscar nominations. Obviously this will never happen, but there's plenty of truth to this sentiment. After watching last Sunday's Oscars and seeing The Social Network getting fucked in the ass like a Hugh Grant hooker by The King's Speech, I'm really sick of the politicking that goes on in Hollywood for what wins and what does not.

Now I fully realize that my cries will fall on deaf ears. Not only is one blogger (who writes for a blog that no one reads) going to change anything, but like everything in life, the Oscars are driven by money. They need an award show to appeal to the masses. They nominate movies in order to help those movies make money. What can I say though, I have a great medium to bitch, so bitch I shall.

Part of the reason the Oscars are this way is because that's how it's always been. The format for nominating movies, the way the award ceremonies go, and even what type of hosts and speeches should be performed. It's all essentially more of the same.

Well that's not an acceptable excuse here at Game Of Inches (and really shouldn't be an acceptable excuse anywhere). Whether it's the way we look at baseball and football statistics or the way we look at the Oscars and its ceremony. If the old way of doing things is not the best result, then the old way of doing things should not be done.

Did Hugh Grant ever have anal sex with a prostitute? I don't know. Anyways, here's a list of the films and nominees that got screwed out of awards at the time and with the ability of foresight, we can now saw the Academy got it wrong.

BEST MOVIE

1941
What Should Have Won: Citizen Kane
What Did Win: How Green Was My Valley

1964
What Should Have Won: Dr. Strangelove
What Did Win: My Fair Lady

1971
What Should Have Won: A Clockwork Orange
What Did Win: The French Connection

1977
What Should Have Won: Star Wars
What Did Win: Annie Hall

1979
What Should Have Won It: Apocalypse Now
What Did Win: Kramer vs. Kramer

1980
What Should Have Won: Raging Bull
What Did Win: Ordinary People

1990
What Should Have Won: Goodfellas
What Did Win: Dances With Wolves

1994
What Should Have Won: (1a) The Shawshank Redemption, (1b) Pulp Fiction
What Did Win: Forrest Gump

1996
What Should Have Won: Fargo
What Did Win: The English Patient

1997
What Should Have Won: Good Will Hunting
What Did Win: Titanic

1998
What Should Have Won: Saving Private Ryan
What Did Win: Shakespeare In Love

2008
What Should Have Won: The Dark Knight*
What Did Win: Slumdog Millionaire

2009
What Should Have Won: Inglorious Basterds
What Did Win: The Hurt Locker

I will say that between The Hurt Locker and Avatar, I'm super glad The Hurt Locker took it, but I can't believe how screwed Tarintino was in 2009

2010
What Should Have Won: (1a) The Social Network (1b) Inception
What Did Win: The King's Speech


There are definitely more films that got screwed (especially movies from 2001-2010) but up above were a few I found the most egregious.

Some other notables that got "screwed'. These are films that got left off of the All-Star team and I wish they made it on but I'm content with them being left off: There Will Be Blood (2007), Mystic River (2003), The Sixth Sense (1999), E.T. (1982), Jaws (1975), Dog Day Afternoon (1975), Chinatown (1974), The Exorcist (1973), The Graduate (1967), To Kill A Mockingbird (1962), 12 Angry Men (1957), Sunset Blvd (1950), and The Maltese Falcon (1941) (has the unfortunate luck (for the sake of this post) to go up against the greatest movie ever made in Citizen Kane. Also goes to show you what a crock it was for How Green Was My Valley to win anything).

BEST DIRECTOR

1941
Who Should Have Won: Orson Wells (Citizen Kane)
Who Did Win: John Ford (How Green Was My Valley)

SIDENOTE: I get upset nowadays with Oscar voters but one thing that's just unacceptable was how screwed Citizen Kane was during the 1941 Oscars. You may not have liked the movie, the movie may not even hold up anymore, but the reason films and movies and directors do what they do today was because of Orson Wells and Citizen Kane. Wells revolutionized film making and I have to imagine people who saw the movie at the time realized the great piece of cinema that is Citizen Kane- and yet snubbed it.

1960
Who Should Have Won: Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho)
Who Did Win: Billy Wilder (The Apartment)

1963
Who Should Have Won: Federico Fellini (8 1/2)
Who Did Win: Tony Richardson (Tom Jones)

1968
Who Should Have Won: Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey)
Who Did Win: Carol Reed (Oliver!)

1971
Who Should Have Won: Stanley Kurbick (A Clockwork Orange)
Who Did Win: William Friedkin (The French Connection)

1972
Who Should Have Won: Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather)
Who Did Win: Bob Fosse (Cabaret)

1980
Who Should Have Won: Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull)
Who Did Win: Robert Redford (Ordinary People)

1994
Who Should Have Won: Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction)
Who Did Win: Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump)

While I absolutely still think Taratino should have won this award no matter what, it's a damn travesty that Frank Darabont didn't even get a directing nod for The Shawshank Redemption.

1996
Who Should Have Won: Joel Coen (Fargo)
Who Did Win: Anthony Minghella (The English Patient)

1997
Who Should Have Won It: Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting)
Who Did Win It: James Cameron (Titanic)

2009
Who Should Have Won: Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds)
Who Did Win: Katheryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)

2010
Who Should Have Won: David Fincher (The Social Network)
Who Did Win: Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)

There are some other notables that I think deserved to win but them losing the Oscar really wasn't THAT big of a deal. I personally think Jonathan Dayton and Valarie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine) had the best directed movie in 2006 but at that point in time, because the Oscar's were so dumb and Scorsese hadn't yet won an Oscar, it had to go to him. Plus, Dayton and Feris weren't nominated.

Other notables who got "screwed": Ridley Scott (Black Hawk Down, Gladiator), David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, The Elephant Man), M. Night Shyamlan (The Sixth Sense), Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull, Casino, Goodfellas, Gangs Of New York), Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now), Sidney Lument (Dog Day Afternoon, Network, The Verdict), P.T. Anderson (There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights*), Robert Altman (Short Cuts, Nashville), Darren Aronofsky (Requim For A Dream*, The Wrestler*) and Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight*, Inception*, Memento*, Batman Begins*, The Prestige*) who has never even gotten a best director nomination.

*Not nominated

Top Ten Boston Movies, Part II: 5-1

You can read my intro and movies 10-6 here

Now we start getting into the meat and potatoes of Boston movies. The cream if the crop. The creme de la creme. Or any other cliche you find fitting

5) The Fighter (2010)

While not technically set in Boston you get the "Boston feel" right off the bat in the opening sequence with boxer Mickey Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his brother Dicky (Christian Bale) walking down the street and everybody in town cheering for them and giving them high fives. In my experience very few actors can pull off the Boston accent but I think by 2010 actors are starting to realize the subtlety in the dialect as Bale and Ward mother (Melissa Leo) pull it off very well.

While there have been a bajillion boxing movies from Raging Bull to Rocky to Cinderella Man, what The Fighter actually lands a few punches and brings something new to the genre. Director David O. Russell used special cameras to film the boxing scenes to make the fights look like an HBO fight you would watch on Pay-Per-View.

The Fighter follows the story of the rise of Mickey Ward and his addict trainer/brother Dickey as Mickey struggles between gaining respect in the boxing world and trying to balance his family dragging him down with his super hot girlfriend Charlene (Amy Adams) with wanting his brother (who really is a phenomenal trainer) to be in his life.

The Fighter follows in the decade long trend of being that gritty, blue collar, salt-of-the-earth Boston movie that we've come to grow and love over the years. Plus, you know, its got those great accents which includes Wahlberg as being one of the best actors in Hollywood to do a Boston accent (him being from Boston certainly helps)

4) Mystic River (2003)

The movie that really started the whole Boston movie trend and the first of two author Dennis Lehane who sets his stories in Boston and the surrounding area.

Mystic River, directed by the great Clint Eastwood, follows the story of Jimmy Markum (Sean Penn) as he deals with the murder of his daughter and Jimmy's relationship between two of his childhood friends now-cop Sean Devine (Kevin Bacon) and local blue collar guy and victim of childhood rape Dave Boyle (Tim Robbins).

The movie follows both Penn and Bacon as they search for Jimmy's daughters murderer, Bacon with his partner played by Laurence Fishburne use their legal resources while Penn and his gang of thugs use their underground resources and the movie is a slow burn as the mystery unravels with some of the acting performance of not only 2003 but of the decade.

If you still did not understand what "the city of Boston as a character" means look no further than this movie. I think you could set this same exact story in another city but I don't think it would have had the same powerful effect. The streets shape this movie and the characters and I think it's just a great movie.

3) Gone Baby Gone (2007)

I'm sure I am in the small minority who likes Gone Baby Gone over Mystic River but out of the two Dennis Lehane stories on this list, I prefer this story better.

Directed by Ben Affleck, who was raised in Cambirdge, Massachusetts and starring his little brother Casey (who plays Patrick Kenzie) I like this movie as a Boston movie better because I think the Affleck brothers add their unique experience to this movie which enhances the Boston-ness.

The best non-Bostonian Boston accent comes from Amy Ryan (who plays Helene McCready. You may know her as Michael Scott's girlfriend in The Office). The movie was filmed on location in Massachusetts neighborhoods and one day on set Amy Ryan, who was in full character, tried to get on set and the security guards wouldn't let her on because they thought she was just a local who showed up for the day and tried to weasel her way on to a Hollywood movie set.

The movie follows Patrick and his girlfriend Angie (played by the atrocious Michelle Monaghan. Seriously, she's awful in this movie and far and away the worst part of this movie) and their search for Helene's daughter along with police officer Remy Bressant (Ed Harris) and chief of police Jack Doyle (Morgan Freeman). In true Dennis Lehane fashion, the movie is a mystery of what happened to this little girl and as the movie progresses the more strings get unraveled.

The movie is great because it wrestles with the question, "What is best for a child?" Is it a shitty parent who happens to be the child's biological parent and does care for the child or a non-shitty non-biological person who also cares for the child. You may not agree with what Patrick does in the end or if Helene really does change, but I think it's an interesting argument the movie makes.

2) The Departed (2006)

The second greatest Scorsese movie ever behind Goodfellas? Maybe, maybe not but there is no doubt how awesome this movie is. On of the best most awesome bad-ass scene comes a shot in the beginning of the movie between Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio) and a barfly

Barfly: What are you drinking?
Billy: Cranberry juice
Barfly: It's a natural diuretic. My girlfriend drinks it when she's got her period. What, do you got your period?

Billy then stares at his drink, stares back at the barfly, and then smashes his drink full of cranberry juice in the barfly's face

I think DiCaprio's a great actor but good lord is that man horrible at accents (see: This movie, Blood Diamonds) and Jack Nicholson (Frank Costello) didn't even attempt a Boston accen. However, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg put on great Boston accents (as always).

If there was ever any doubt that The Departed was a Boston Movie then look no further than Nicholson's source for his character: the recently captured Whitey Bulger.

The movie, based on the Hong Kong flick Infernal Affairs follows the story of two moles (one from the police force into Costello's gang and another from Costello's gang in the police force) as they search to find each other. And in true Scorsese fashion, lots of violence and awesomeness ensues.

1) Good Will Hunting (1997)

In one of the first scenes in the movies the group of friends Will Hunting (Matt Damon), Chuckie Sullivan (Ben Affleck), Morgan O'Mally (Casey Affleck), and Billy McBride (Cole Houser) are watching a little league baseball game when one of the friends state, "Let's go to Kelly's" In the very next scene the boys are driving and Chuckie is hassling Morgan about Morgan's roast beef sandwich and how Morgan can't pay for his sandwich right now.

I bring up this scene because there is nothing more Boston than Kelly's. Whenever I visit another buddy of mine's college I always want to try local cuisine and not some chain restaurant. If you ever go up to Boston, go to Kelly's. A few weeks ago my family and I went up to Boston to visit family and we ate Kelly's as much as we could. They have the best lobster rolls ever which is one of the greatest sandwiches ever. Also, its just a great anecdote to show you (as if you needed explaining) how GWH is a Boston Movie.

The movie was written by Affleck and Damon and directed by Gus Van Sant (who hasn't done anything good since, or really before). The movie follows Will Hunting who is a genius and one of the smartest people in the world but he refuses to be anything more than a janitor solving the hardest math problems ever at M.I.T. Through his relationship with his therapist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) and his girlfriend Skylar (Minnie Driver) Damon attempts to overcome years of physical and emotional childhood abuse and to reach his genius potential. The movie is not cliche and Damon gives the best performance of his career. The story doesn't feel sappy or overdone or like a "typical Hollywood" movie and The 'Bright' One considers this movie the best movie ever made.
___________________________________________

There are not many Boston movies and I have seen most of them. If I did not see the movie, I did not put it in on the list. Two movies that will probably make this list once I see them are The Friends of Eddie Coyle (19973) [thank you for the suggestion by GOI fan Bryan Hernandez] and The Verdict (1982) [A movie that have come up on essentially every single list I have researched].

The Best Year For Movies In The Past 25 Years

Recently Game Of Inches just wrapped up their series on the best movies of the past 25 years. I thought it would be fun to piggy back off of this idea and briefly discuss the best year for movies within these 25 years.

There are always going to be crap movies released every single year. I do not think it would be fair to compare years with their worst movies. Rather, I think it is best to compare years based upon their best movies of the year and what critics and The Academy thinks are the best moves of the year. The worst movies of the year stay constant, the best movies do not.

Here is my list for the top ten best years for movies in the last 25 years:

1) 1994

BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR: The Shawshank Redemption, Pulp Fiction, Forrest Gump, The Lion King, Leon: The Professional, Quiz Show, True Lies, Dumb and Dumber, Speed
MOVIES ON GOI'S LIST:  3

2) 1999

BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR: The Matrix, The Sixth Sense, American Beauty, Fight Club, Magnolia, The Green Mile, Being John Malkovich, South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut, For Love Of The Game
MOVIES ON GOI'S LIST: 2

3) 2010

BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR: Inception, The Social Network, The King's Speech, Kick Ass, The Fighter, Black Swan, Toy Story 3
MOVIES ON GOI'S LIST: 1

4) 2005


BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR: Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Spiderman II, Sideways, Million Dollar Baby, Hotel Rwanda, Ray, Closer, The Incredibles, Collateral, Super Size Me
MOVIES ON GOI'S LIST: 0

5) 2008


BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR: The Dark Knight, Wall-E, In Bruges, The Wrestler, Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, Tropic Thunder, Iron Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Stepbrothers
MOVIES ON GOI'S LIST: 2

6) 1997


BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR: Good Will Hunting, L.A. Confidential, Wag The Dog, Boogie Nights, Men In Black, Air Force One, Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery, Donnie Brasco
MOVIES ON GOI'S LIST: 1
NOTE: Fuck Titanic!

7) 2002


BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR: Minority Report, Road To Perdition, Catch Me If You Can, Gangs Of New York, The Pianist, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Ring, 8 Mile, Spiderman
MOVIES ON GOI'S LIST: 0

8) 1995


BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR: Se7en, Toy Story, GoldenEye, The Usual Suspects, Tommy Boy, Billy Madison, Braveheart, 12 Monkeys, Casino, Leaving Las Vegas, Babe, Clueless
MOVIES ON GOI'S LIST: 1

9) 2000


BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR: Requiem For A Dream, Mullholland Drive, Gladiator, Traffic, Erin Brokovich, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Cast Away, Almost Famous
MOVIES ON GOI'S LIST: 1

10) 1988


BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR: Die Hard, Big, Rain Man, Mississippi Burning, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Coming To America
MOVIES ON GOI'S LIST: 1

Coming up with this top ten list was really hard and I had trouble coming up with the correct order. I think I finally got this list to where I like it (for now). I would probably kill myself if I had to go further with this list. That means I'm not going to write (at least not right now) the worst years for movies. But if I did, I am confident 2011 would be somewhere in the top 5. As of right now, in no particular order, here is my top four worst years for movies of the past 25 years: 1987, 1989, 2007, and 2011.

Box Score Tonight: April 21

Filling in for The Bright One again. I feel like Rick Sutcliffe on Sunday Night Baseball!

• Rain continues to plague America. The Red Sox-Twins game gets postponed until tomorrow, when a double header will be played.
  
• After blowing back-to-back-to-back blown saves, Hanrahan gets back-to-back handshakes as the ice cold Washington Natinals (no, that's not a typo) beat the Braves by a score of 4-3.
  
• Joe Beimel, the reigning king of not giving up home runs, goes on the DL with a left hip flexor strain. I'm no doctor, but hip injuries are never good.
  
• I still say Hanrahan loses his job before June, but with Beimel out, it's going to be Garrett Mock's job to fuck up in the future. Yahoo! called Mock the Hanrahancuffs. I laughed.
• Elijah Dukes continues to be a rule breaker and baseball badass. He was fined $500 because he arrived to practice five minutes late. How dare he attend little league charity functions! It's cool though, because the kids are going to pay the fine for him.
• This is the funniest headline ever. Too bad it's a year old.
  
• Chipper Jones, who flirted with a .400 BA through the first half of last season, is batting .353. Adam Dunn hit his 4th dinger of the season, seems determined to hit 40 again.
  
• On the heels of 5 straight losses, the Orioles shut down the poppin' White Sox 10-3. Markakis went 4-for-4 (2B), while Huff went yard twice. Felix Pie continues to struggle, going 0-3 this game. Like I said yesterday, no trade backs.
  
• After a failed bid at a struggling Sizemore in my fantasy league, he's gone yard three times in the past five games. Indians beat the Royals 8-7, as Laffey tosses seven quality innings (7 H, 3 BB, 3K, 1 ER) and Sidney Ponson does his best impression of Chien-Ming Wang (3.1 IP, 8 H, 4 B, 2 K, 6 ER).
• How about V-Mart? After a disappointing and injured 2008 campaign, he's hitting .397 with 5 home runs on the season.
  
• Only one home run (Johnny Damon) in tonight's game in the Bronx. Yankees win 5-3.
  
• Matt Holliday is without a homer and Xavier Nady doesn't need season-ending surgery.
• Dana Eveland has the best HR/9 rate in the league, dating back to last season (10 HR over 182.2 IP) . That doesn't prevent him from giving up his share of runs, however (4 IP, 9 H, 4 BB, 3 K, 4 ER).
• Against all odds, the Pirates continue to pitch well. Jeff Karstens (6 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 ER) outdueled Anibal Sanchez (7 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 3 ER) for the win. Final score 4-3 Buccos.
  
• Uggla continue to piss me off, going 0 for his last 20, with 6 Ks. His OPS has halved over that period of time. Hope you didn't buy high (or at all) on Bonafacio because he was not for real.
• Gotta love those Phillies. Not because they are pitching or hitting particularly well, but because they are helping crush the Brewers' self-esteem. Manny Parra, who I finally dropped (and started for some unknown reason), continues to be ineffectively wild (4 IP, 7 H, 3 BB, 4 K, 5 ER) and the Phillies made him pay. Ryan Braun went yard twice in his 5-for-5 hitting binge, but the Phillies win 11-4.
• Roy Halladay, who has been wheelin' and dealin' in his last three starts, got lit up by the Rangers. Ian Kinsler (who refuses to cool off) and Nelson Cruz (who I of course benched) went yard in the Rangers' 5-4 victory. Aaron Hill, who was on pace for 25 dingers before his concussion in 2007, now has 5 HR on the season. Is he for real? Probably not, as his career ISO is 1/2 of what it current stands at. His .388 BABIP (.365 BA) scream "sell!"
• Jose Valverde picks up his first save of the season in Houston's 8-5 win over the Dodgers, but it was not without its drama. Manny, who went 2-4 with a HR on the night, almost knocked one out of the park with two men on. Instead, he flied out about 7 feet short of the right field wall.
• Clayton Kershaw, who has been dominant in his last two starts, only lasted 4.1 innings (6 ER). He struck out 3, but also walked two and gave up a two-run shot to Carlos Lee.
  
• Mets lose to the Cardinals 6-4, courtesy of Daniel Murphy's poor defense in left. Why pay Fernado Tatis $1.7 million if you aren't going to use him?
• Oliver Perez (4.2 IP, 6 H, 5BB, 4 K, 4 ER) channels his inner wild thing. For an offseason that was peppered with value offerings, you gotta feel bad for the Mets, who were left out of the bargain hunting thanks some Scott Boras magic. How Boras convinced the Mets to pay Perez $36 million over 3 years is beyond my comprehension.
  
• The once feared J.J. Putz has a meager 3 Ks through 8 IP. Sample size or age (31)?
• Rockies beat the Diamondbacks 9-6. Mark Reynolds hit his 4th homer of the season (second in as many games), but has 16 Ks through 45 ABs. Reynold's is striking out 5% less than he did last season, but still whiffing in 1/3 of his ABs.
• Manny Corpas has replaced Huston Street as the team's closer for now. Neither of them is pitching particularly well at the moment, so the name of the game is "who sucks less?" When Taylor Buchholz comes off the DL, he will eventually steal the job from whichever of them is closing.
  
• Curtis Granderson left the yard in back-to-back at bats, but the Tigers still lose to the Angels 4-3. Manager Mike Scioscia was tossed from the game for arguing balls and strikes.
• 2009 Armando Galarraga pitched like 2008 Armando Galarraga, minus the luck. Do you expect him to outperform his FIP by over a full run again this season? Sell high and sell fast.
• Tiger's GM Dave Dombrowski says they have "no interest in trading Miguel Cabrera". He goes on to say "Not only is it one of the last things we would ever consider, we have an owner [Mike Ilitch] who would never let that happen." Sorry, Boston.
• The Tampa Bay Rays continue to struggle. The Mariners beat them 4-2.
  
• Jarrod Washburn is having his best season in over a decade. The flyball pitcher tossed 7 innings of 5 hit, 3 BB, 9 K, 2 ER baseball. Some combination of Seattle's ballpark, which tends to deflate home runs, and a much improved (league-leading) defensive outfield are keeping the flyball-oriented Washburn dominant. He's worth a spot on your bench, but remember that he has a 5.35 career K/9.
  
• Brandon Morrow's average fastball speed sits around 97 MPH and periodically touches 100. True story.
  
• Matt Cain (6 IP, 9 H, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 ER) outdueled Jake Peavy (7 IP, 3 BB, 3 K, 6 ER) in San Fran last night. Padres lose 3-8 as Peavy, who been uncharacteristically wild over his past two games (7 BB, 11 IP), struggles in his second consecutive outing. His second start aside, Peavy hasn't looked very dominant this season. Is this a case of sample size or a repeat of 2006? The World Baseball Classic has not been kind to Jake Peavy.
• Brian Giles has an ISO of .038 this season. Even Willy Bloomquist has a .053 ISO. Ouch.
  
• Last, but not least, The Cubs beat the Reds 7-2 last night. Rich Harden, who finally gets a win, continues to dominate batters (6 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 8 K) in the NL. At this pace, if Harden stays healthy, he will have a 312 K season (180 IP of 15.6 K/9 baseball). I think I'm in love.
• The Cubs need to find a place in the line up for Micah Hoffpauir. He hit his first home run of the season last night.

The Key To Winning The Best Supporting Actor Oscar

2008: Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men)
2009: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
2010: Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds)

While, Waltz hasn't "technically" won the Best Supporting Actor nomination this year, I will bet anyone ALL the ad money I've made from this site that he does. (That's right, all five dollars of it)

Anyways, notice the trend in recent years? It's this:
Play one of the best movie villains of all time

OK, easier said than done, but the three recent Oscar winners have all put up such amazing performances that they almost rival each other as the best villain of all time.

Digitialdreamdoor.com ranks Bardem's character Anton Chigurh as the 14st best villain of all time and Heath Ledger's as the 16th (and my mom has the audacity to say Nicholas' Joker was better! Also, I recommend searching around digital dream door. They mainly do music lists but this site gives the best, most objective lists I've seen anywhere else).

Off of my side tangent. When No Country first came out, I thought Bardem's character was just absolutely phenomenal and one of the most villainous, evil roles I had seen in awhile. I mean, the dude used an air pump to kill people! How bad ass was that!

And then the second greatest action movie came along, The Dark Knight, and Heath Ledger blew everybody out of the water. You absolutely did not realize that the dude that just had sex with Jake Gyllenhall and was this menacing, evil psychopath. Ledger's Joker was pure evil. As Michael Caine said in the movie, "some men just want to watch the world burn." Ledger's Joker was just the epitome of pure evil. He didn't kill people because his wife got murdered or something and he was taking revenge on the world (i.e. Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze), he didn't do what he did for money or power (see, e.g. any Bond villain, Scarface), and he was more than your run of the mill douchebag (i.e. Gordon Gekko). The Joker wanted to kill people just to kill them. He wanted to cause chaos just to play an experiment. And he was damn good at what he did (Both Ledger in his role and The Joker in Gotham). In fact, I think he is the best villain ever. Yes, over Norman Bates (Psycho), Darth Vader (Star Wars), and Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs).

So, there was nothing anyone could have done this year to top Ledger like he topped Bardem, but Christoph Waltz played an amazing villain in Inglorious Basterds this year. For those of you who still don't know who Waltz is- he played Col. Hans Landa aka The Jew Hunter. That opening scene between Waltz and Denis Menochet (the French guy who owned the farm- Monsieur LaPadite) probably won Waltz the Oscar, but his entire performance was just amazing. He never really was menacing like Chigurh or The Joker was, and in fact, Waltz was mostly jovial throughout the entire movie. But that made his character that much more villainous because his actions of hunting down and killing Jews makes him that much more evil.

Sure Hans Landa is not in the same stratosphere as The Joker or even Anton Chigurh, but damn did Waltz give just a fantastic performance (in three languages no less) and damn was that character a great villain.

What Consistutes A Sport?

This has been a question passed on through the ages. I was listening to the Carmen, Yurko, and Harry discuss this today because 59 year old Tom Watson almost won the British Open, so if a guy that old almost won a major golf event, is gol really a sport? Well, I am here to help answer that question. If something is to be considered a sport, it must fulfill all three of these qualifications:

1) It must be a skilled activity

This is of course very broad. A lot of things are skilled activity like poker, chess, and lumberjack rolling. However, this is the simplest base to set up the other two qualifications. This is also the qualification ESPN uses to show ANYTHING at 2 am

"Sports" Now Excluded
None

2) The activity must require athletic ability that limits regular people from doing it

Now what specifically constitutes "athletic ability" is purposefully vague. I do this on purpose because there are certain activities like baseball and golf that many people may not require the physical effort like soccer or basketball, but certainly requires a great deal of physical strength. Even big fat Bartolo Colon and Sidney Ponson have to have a certain degree (albeit very small) of athletic ability to be able to throw a baseball as hard as they do. It also takes a lot of strength to hit a golf ball as hard as people like Tiger Woods hit it. There's a reason the vast majority of people on the PGA tour are in very good shape.

The "limits regular people from doing it" can also be translated very loosely but I will explain what I mean. First, I mean from doing it professionally. I could probably spend a little bit of time if I wanted to learning how to play Texas Hold 'Em or chess. But I can't really teach myself how to throw an 80+ mph fastball and locate it. I also can't go out and teach myself how to jump a ramp on my bike or hit a golf ball 250 yards. These are athletic abilities that requires years of training just to become average.

This line is also meant to include age as an factor. As you grow older, obviously your body starts deteriorating. This means that you should lose your athleticism as you grow older. Even 40+ year old pitcher aren't the same as they were when they were 20. So when a 59 year old man goes out and almost wins a "sport" and remains competitive, that means that the activity is not excluding "regular people from doing it"

"Sports" Now Excluded:
-Golf
-Chess
-Poker (of any sort)
-Polo
-Hunting
-Billiards
-Bowling
-Boating
-Trampolining
-Archery
-Table Tennis
-Curling
-Car Racing
-Fishing
-Frolf
-Jew Frolf

Now for the final and most important point

3) You must be able to affect your opponents play during the activity

This means every single sport that is judged, is out. This also excludes a lot of Olympic games and a lot of physical activities that many people thought were sports. If you disagreed with my point of contention about golf in the last point, there's no disagreeing with this point. If you can not affect how your opponent plays their activity and your opponent is allowed to do their activity whatever it is they'd like to, then this activity absolutely, positively, is not a sport.

"Sports" Now Excluded
-Synchronized Swimming
-Any swimming
-Diving
-Track and Field
-Weightlifting
-Irish Dancing (sorry Colleen)
-Any dancing
-Mountaineering
-Surfing
-Anything in the X-Games
-Bobsledding

So now you may ask, "since you've essentially excluded everything in the Olympics, what is a sport?" Well here's the official list of everything that is a sport:
-Baseball
-Basketball
-Football
-Hockey
-Cricket
-Field Hockey
-Boxing
-Soccer
-Fencing
-Lacrosse
-Rugby
-Softball (barely)
-Jai Alai
-MMA or any other combat
-Volleyball
-Tennis
-Squash

Now don't get me wrong, just because something isn't technically a sport does not mean it's not hard and just because someone does something isn't a sport doesn't mean it's players aren't athletes. It just means it's not "technically" a sport. We may colloquially say those activities are sports, but they are really not.

So I don't care if you disagree with me on this, you're wrong.