Quite Busy in South Philly

This is the schedule of events for the four venues in the area of Broad and Pattison, starting last night:

Fri. 7 pm - 76ers vs. Milwaukee - 76ers home opener (Wachovia Center)
Sat. 1 pm - Flyers vs. Carolina (Wachovia Center)
Sat. 7: 3o pm - Pearl Jam - final concert at the Spectrum
Sat. 7:57 pm - Phillies vs. NY Yankees - World Series Game 3 (Citizens Bank Park)
Sun. 1 pm - Eagles vs. NY Giants (Lincoln Financial Field)
Sun. 8:20 pm - Phillies vs. NY Yankees - World Series Game 4 (Citizens Bank Park)
Mon. 5 pm - Flyers vs. Tampa Bay (Wachovia Center)
Mon. 7:57 pm - Phillies vs. NY Yankees - World Series Game 5 (Citizens Bank Park)

Tomorrow will be the wildest day, with big games at the two largest stadiums. 68,000 at the Linc in the afternoon and 45,000 at CBP at night. Imagine the traffic headaches, even if there isn't a transit strike (as of now it appears the buses and subways will continue to run through the weekend).

Quick Review: Paranormal Activity

A movie that cost $15,000 to make and is probably going to hit $100 million at the box office: why can't I come up with something like this? I feared that "Paranormal Activity" would be terrible based on the marketing campaign that helped bring in that box office bonanza. It reminded me too much of both "Cloverfield" and "The Blair Witch Project." Both of those movies also had clever marketing and, like this one, are faux documentaries using found video footage depicting the events. The former, I found quite overrated; the latter, I never saw in the theater but when I finally tried to watch it on cable I turned it off after no more than 30 minutes. With "Paranormal Activity," though, it works much better. A woman has been haunted since she was young, and her boyfriend sets up a video camera and other equipment in their bedroom to try and capture evidence of the hauntings. It starts out with a lighthearted tone as he cracks jokes and doesn't take it that seriously. As we see portions of each passing night, though, the tension is ratcheted up. I had an idea of how it might end, and my suspicion was confirmed. It didn't lessen my enjoyment, though. What is lessening my enjoyment is the news that Paramount is planning a sequel. My grade: A-minus.

My Week In Comics 10-21-09

Between my usual procrastination and other events, I'm falling behind again, so I'll keep this rather brief. In order from most- to least-liked...

Blackest Night: Superman 3 (of 3): As with the Batman tie-in miniseries, since the black ring-wearing pseudo-zombies are still causing death and destruction in many parts of the universe, it's not a complete conclusion to the story. However, the immediate threats to Smallville and New Krypton are repelled in a more satisfying way than it was handled in "Blackest Night: Batman."

Supergirl 46: The final chapter in "The Hunt for Reactron" finds Reactron with the upper hand against Supergirl, Nightwing and Flamebird. Trying to reach them are Lois Lane and Lana Lang, but they run into a problem...

Lois: Oh snap! Science police have blocked off the area. We'll have to go another way.
Lana: Did you...did you just say "Oh snap"?

Simpsons Comics 159: Lisa makes a friend online, which leads to, among other things, new employees of Springfield Elementary: substitute teacher J. K. Rowling and swim instructor David Hasselhoff.

DC Universe Halloween Special '09: A one-shot featuring "13 All-New Tales of Terror!" Actually more funny than scary, though. What do you expect when the story that bookends the whole thing stars Bizarro?

Superman/Batman 65: Also something of a Halloween Special. Superman, Batman, Lex Luthor and the Joker are all having nightmares thanks to another villain. The Luthor and Joker dreams are clever, but that's about all that I really enjoyed from this book.

iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen - 2009 World Series Edition!

Okay, it has nothing to do with the World Series whatsoever. Only one of the songs is even remotely sports-related, and that's only because it's from the soundtrack to a rather disappointing movie in which Bugs Bunny and the other Looney Tunes slummed it with some former basketball player.

Love Is A Matter Of Distance - Will Young
Downhill Racer (Kenny Dope Remix) - Everything But The Girl
All At Once - Whitney Houston
Party Girl (Turn Me Loose)(Satoshi Tomiie Interpretation) - Ultra Naté
Space Jam - Quad City DJ's
A Big Hunk O' Love - Elvis Presley
Love Is A Stranger (Coldcut Remix) - Eurythmics
Move Your Feet - Junior Senior
Someday We'll Know - New Radicals
Heaven Knows - Donna Summer
Echo - Cyndi Lauper
Where Did My Heart Go? - James Ingram
Just Like Noah's Ark - Elton John

World Series: Good vs. Evil

It's the Big Apple against the Big Scrapple. ;-) The Phillies are hours away from beginning the 2009 World Series against the New York Yankees, also known as the Evil Empire. I've written a preview for Outsports.com's blog, which you can find here.

I'm looking at the outcome as I looked at the previous two playoff series. I can very easily see the Yankees winning the World Series, just as I wouldn't have been too surprised if the Rockies took the Division Series or the Dodgers had won the League Championship Series. However, the way the Phillies have bounced back from seemingly dire circumstances -- starting with the 7-game deficit with 17 left in 2007, up through the Rockies' and Dodgers' closers blowing saves this year while Brad Lidge (so brilliant in 2008, such a mess in 2009) hasn't allowed a postseason run yet -- this determination, focus, fearlessness, whatever you want to call it has astounded me. Seeing them fall short every year from 2001-2006, I didn't think they had it in them. Now they do. So, as in the NLDS and the NLCS, I'm going to give the defending world champions the benefit of the doubt. Phillies in 6.

GO PHILLIES!! SPANK THE YANKS!!!

Quick Review: Law Abiding Citizen

I wasn't expecting what I got from "Law Abiding Citizen." The main reason I wanted to see it was because they filmed it here in Philadelphia. I didn't realize it was going to be so much fun despite the cheesy dialogue, some over-the-top acting, and so many plot implausibilities. A man (Gerard Butler) whose wife and daughter are murdered takes the law into his own hands, against both the murderers and the system, including the prosecutor (Jamie Foxx) who cut a deal with one of the murderers. It started a bit slowly, but once the revenge started happening, it got to be a real hoot. I think my favorite moment was when a judge, who had earlier admonished Foxx's character over his cell phone's ringing in the courtroom, answers a cell phone call in her chambers...I won't spoil what happens. I place this movie in the same category as two other 2009 movies, "Obsessed" and "Orphan." Totally stupid fun popcorn movie. Don't think, just enjoy. My grade: B.

By the way, Gerard Butler has a brief moment of rear nudity in the film. Jamie Foxx is not nude in the film, but a full-frontal shot of Foxx hit the Internet in August, and he recently confirmed on the Tonight Show that it's not a fake. You can find that one on your own, but here's a nice, less x-rated photo.

Quick Review: Couples Retreat

"Couples Retreat" was rather disappointing, to say the least. Three married couples and a divorced guy with a new, younger girlfriend go off to a beautiful island, at the behest of one of the couples (Jason Bateman, Kristin Bell). They're trying to save their marriage and decide on a couples' therapy retreat, called Eden. However, to afford it they have to book a group rate so they persuade their friends to go along by saying the other couples (Vince Vaughn and Malin Ackerman, Jon Favreau and Kristen Davis, Faizon Love and Kali Hawk) can do all the fun stuff without participating in the couples' therapy activities. When they arrive at Eden, they're told all the couples must go through the therapy sessions or they all must leave.

Had this movie been raunchier, more adult in nature, it might have worked better. Instead there are obvious turns -- the happiest couple starts arguing, the young girlfriend just wants to party, etc. There are some fun moments, but not nearly enough. My grade: C.

To make us feel better, here's a picture of Vince Vaughn from the movie "Clay Pigeons," back when he was younger and firmer-bodied:

Quick Review: Whip It

I am bound and determined to catch up here, so here's the first of three movie reviews for tonight (I hope).

"Whip It" is Drew Barrymore's directorial debut. Not being a filmmaking expert I don't know how one determines if a movie is well-directed or not. For me, a great movie must mean a great job of directing. Yet I'm sure there are plenty of occasions where a film wins major awards for best picture but not best director. I'll just say that I liked the movie but didn't love it, so I guess for a first-time director Drew didn't do a bad job. Film aficionados please feel free to educate me.

Ellen Page ("Juno") stars as Bliss, who doesn't really fit in with the crowd in her small town. Her mother is pushing her into entering beauty pageants, but she isn't really into it. On a shopping trip she discovers a flier for a Roller Derby event in Austin, and attends with her best friend. She loves it, and is encouraged to try out herself by one of the Derby participants. Since she knows her family won't approve, she hides her involvement. The whole thing plays out much as expected, with the appropriate messages for young girls about female empowerment and being yourself and so on. But it's somewhat enjoyable. One thing that I liked about Page's performance is that Bliss isn't quite Juno -- she's not yet confident, self-assured, quick with a smartass comment, and so on. Page needs to avoid being typecast, so this is a step in the right direction. My grade: B-minus.

My Week In Comics 10-14-09

These are a week old, thanks to my procrastination. I'm going to try to remember each week to put these in the order in which I enjoyed them, starting with the best...

Adventure Comics 3: I'm disappointed in what I've read about the plans to replace Superboy as the star of this series after a few more issues, because I'm really loving what they've done so far. Conner is still making up his checklist comparing his own actions to those of his "fathers," Superman and Lex Luthor, and enlists the help of his best friend Tim Drake, AKA Red Robin, in finding Luthor. The reason is a surprise. Tim, of course, is on his own quest -- to prove Bruce Wayne is still alive. This story does a better job of explaining Tim's actions than his own book (more on that shortly). And the dialogue between the two is spot on. Plus, another nice moment between a (Super-)boy and his (Super-)dog.

Action Comics 882: The third of four parts of "The Hunt For Reactron," starring Supergirl, Nightwing and Flamebird. They're back in Metropolis and still hunted by Squad K. As it turns out, Squad K has been joined by Reactron. There's plenty of action (befitting the title of the book) and treachery in abundance. And the "second feature," with Captain Atom, more and more ties into the whole Superman/New Krypton/General Lane puzzle.

Blackest Night: Batman 3 (of 3): The miniseries concludes, although it doesn't really conclude, because the whole Blackest Night event isn't even half-over. The immediate threat to Batman and Gotham City ends, in a not-entirely satisfactory manner, as the title of this column explains. But you have to love a book that features, thanks to guest-star Red Robin (boy, he gets around), the following not once, but twice: "Robin." "What?" "No, the other Robin."

Red Robin 5: And speaking of Red Robin, he's getting more deeply involved with Ra's Al Ghul and the League of Assassins. He's detoured from his mission of finding Bruce Wayne. He's now got an innocent bystander to protect. And I'm slowly losing interest.

Detective Comics Annual 11: The conclusions to the two stories that began in Batman Annual 27 that I bought a week earlier. And I'm wishing I hadn't bought either of these annuals at all. One of the two stories doesn't really conclude, and I'm not even sure what's going on in it. I imagine they'll follow up on it somewhere, but they'll do so without me.

Another Programming Note

For those of you sitting by the computer waiting breathlessly for my latest update...I'm sure there are three or four of you...I'm a little behind on some of my regular topics. I still have to write about my comics from last week (not to mention those I bought today), and the movies "Whip It" and "Couples Retreat." Circumstances (and the Phillies) have kind of gotten in the way, particularly the last couple of days. I will get these updates done, though.