Quick review: Away We Go

In "Away We Go" John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph are very sweet together as an expectant couple (she's six months pregnant but looks much further along). His parents (Jeff Daniels and Catherine O'Hara) have sold their house and are moving to Belgium, and her parents are deceased. They feel that, with no other loved ones in their current hometown, they're no longer in the right place to raise their family, so they travel to various locales visiting friends and family members, hoping to find the right place to settle down. The movie is at times both heartwarming and heartbreaking, funny and touching. Highly recommended. My grade: A.

Poor Joyce DeWitt

The moral of the story: don't drink and drive, especially if you used to be somebody.

Quick review: Public Enemies

I remember seeing the trailer for "Public Enemies" a while back; based on that I expected a more lively, fast-paced and fun (not in a jokes-and-punchlines way) over-the-top film. I didn't get what I expected. Part of the reason for this is that Johnny Depp, as infamous bank robber John Dillinger, and Christian Bale, as FBI agent Melvin Purvis, are barely onscreen at the same time. They have one short scene together. While it's a competent crime drama, and not poorly acted, it lacks energy. Dillinger is supposed to be this legendary figure, a modern-day Robin Hood for many in the Depression-scarred nation, but you don't see that in this movie. It could've used some hammy "Pirates of the Caribbean"-style overacting by Depp. My grade: C-plus.

Sweep the Mets, sweep the Mets...

...always fun to sweep the Mets!

The way the season has gone, it's probably still premature to say the Phillies have finally righted the ship after today's 2-0 win to finish off a three-game sweep of the reeling, injury-riddled New York Mets. They've had good stretches before and then slipped, but once again a lot of things seem to be falling into place. They got three consecutive strong starts -- today it was Joe Blanton with 7 1/3 shutout innings. The bullpen didn't allow a run all weekend, with Brad Lidge getting two saves by striking out five of the six batters he faced. Jimmy Rollins homered to lead off the first today, also singled and walked; in the last 4 games he's batting .467 with a .556 on-base percentage, a slugging percentage of .867, 5 runs batted in, 2 runs scored and 3 walks. And it's the first time the Phils have won a series at home against a team other than the pitiful Washington Nationals.

And while the Phils' defense was sparkling all weekend, the visitors' wretched sixth inning yesterday (two dropped foul pops and a horrendous throw from the outfield that wasn't cut off, allowing a run to score) tells you all you need to know about the New York Mess. Even their ace, Johan Santana, couldn't save them today.

Madonna's tribute to Michael

It might have been nice if she actually sang one of his songs, but this was a nice moment anyway. Madonna took her "Sticky And Sweet" tour to the same arena where Michael Jackson would have begun his comeback tour and, with the help of an impersonator, she paid tribute to him last night:

My fave t-shirt speaks to Mets fans!

After watching the Phillies beat the Mets 4-1 (for their second win in a row; Jimmy Rollins* had another hit, a key 2-run double, and walked twice -- can he keep it going?), I headed to center city Philadelphia to get a bite to eat and hang out before the July Fourth fireworks show on the Ben Franklin Parkway.

On my way to the Parkway I passed by the Westin Philadelphia Hotel on 17th Street, and a small group of Mets fans were outside. One of them noticed my 2008 World Champions cap and said, in a snide tone, "Oooh, champions, oooh..." So I stopped and said, "Well then, you'll really like the back of my t-shirt." I then turned around to show it to them:



They were not particularly amused as I walked away. I, on the other hand, was very amused.

*Edit to add: as a tribute, Rollins is using Michael Jackson songs, including "Billie Jean" and "Smooth Criminal," as his intro music before his at-bats.

Just sit back and enjoy the Phils' ride

After looking as bad as a team can look in the last three games, the Phillies returned home and rolled to a 7-0 third-inning lead over the hated New York Mets, and went on to a 7-2 win. Back from the dead (to be specific, the minor leagues), Rodrigo Lopez shut out the Mets until the 7th and got his first win since 2007 when he was with Colorado. He hasn't even pitched in the majors in two years after having Tommy John surgery in August of that year. Jimmy Rollins led off the first with a double, scored the first of three runs in that inning, then drove in two in the third with another double. Even Ryan Madson pitched a scoreless inning. The Phils regained a one-game lead in the division.

This team just makes no sense. It really didn't last year, either, until September and October. The Phils have been rather mediocre but in a lot of ways it's been just like last year. All the pondering and analysis is kind of useless (although it won't stop us from doing it). It would be a lot easier to just let the season play out. Whatever happens will happen. There's still a lot of potential for a repeat championship and a lot of fun along the way.

I have a free ticket for tomorrow's game. Woo-hoo!

This Week's Comic Books 7-1-09

A light week. I only would've bought one, but I took a chance on another title...

Justice League: Cry For Justice 1 (of 7): ...and boy, I won't make this mistake again. The writing is terrible. The dialogue is laughable, details of the plot (so far) are vague and the premise (some of the superheroes want to become more...shall we say, pro-active in going after villians before they cause further death and destruction) has been overdone recently. Some of those that will team up as part of this more aggressive hero grouping are obscure (Congorilla? Really?) while others (Supergirl, the new Batwoman) were barely in the book, if at all. Supposedly this miniseries will be important to some huge future events, but that's what they always say. Speaking of comic book events...

Simpsons Super Spectacular 9: "The Best Radioactive Man Event Ever!" concludes with more fun jabs at the comic book industry. The "new direction" for Radioactive Man comics is finally revealed, and Bart's response turns out to be more popular than the book itself. Some of the stories they come up with in the comics are better than those in new episodes of the TV show. This is one of them, especially if you're a comic book geek.

Phils almost phaded out of first

With tonight's 5-2 loss, finishing off a three-game sweep at the hands of the Atlanta Braves, the Phillies have now lost 14 of 18 games and are in a virtual tie for first with the Florida Marlins. They wasted a good 7-inning start by J.A. Happ, with Ryan Madson giving up 3 in the 8th for the winning margin. Madson's been a mess recently, even after returning to his setup role when closer Brad Lidge returned from the disabled list.

While the hitting hasn't been good lately (but hey, Jimmy Rollins got 2 hits!) it's the pitching that's been poor night after night after night. Some nights it's a bad start, other nights (like tonight) it's a lousy bullpen, some nights it's both. No trades are on the horizon yet as very few teams consider themselves out of the playoff chase and, thus, willing to be a seller. Even when that happens, lots of teams need pitching. The bidding will presumably be high.

The Phillies have to somehow stay afloat until some team makes a quality pitcher available, and the way things are going, the only reason to think they can stay afloat is that most of the National League is as mediocre as they are. The Phils are back home starting tomorrow night. Of course, now that they're losing road games maybe they'll win home games. (For those who don't know, this paragraph is an example of "grasping at straws.") The Mets are in tomorrow; they're only a game out of first place, and the Braves are now just two back.

My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 7-2-09

Totally random (or as random as iTunes gets), 13 tracks from my library that I just listened to...

Found a Cure (Mood II Swing Extended Original Mix)-Ultra Naté
Another Postcard-Barenaked Ladies
Beautiful Love-Adeva
Piece of My Heart-Tara Kemp
Pure & Easy-The Dining Rooms
I Found My Smile Again-D'Angelo
Help Me Make It Through The Night-Sammi Smith
"Yokel Chords" Medley-The Simpsons
Promises, Promises-Dionne Warwick
Why'd You Lie To Me (Nu Soul DnB Mix)-Anastacia
Into Your Arms-The Lemonheads
Looking Through Patient Eyes-P.M. Dawn
I'm Falling In Love With You-Marvin Gaye & Diana Ross