caulfield12

http://www.movieinsider.com/m13053/unfriended/ Will tech-based thrillers or horror movies become the next big thing? Tales of Mystery, a co-production between Hong Kong and the mainland, uses the popular WeChat app as the basis for a thriller. If the film succeeds financially, it could usher in more tech-based fright flicks. In North America, the sub-genre is starting to gain more ground thanks to Unfriended, a thriller about teens who are haunted by a dead girl over a Skype group chat. The first trailer for Unfriended generated a ton of online buzz last week. http://pro.boxoffice.com/statistics/news/2...ies-set-to-rule

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 06:33 PM) there's something to be said for the "intangibles" that come through when a guy works his ass off after a pretty serious shoulder injury to get back on the field with his teammates well before expected, even when that team is not competing for the post season. I like this kid a lot. The second coming of Mags but only better, IMO. We can only hope. Personally, I'm not setting the bar so high. That's his "everything goes according to plan" ceiling IMO.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 07:11 PM) where does he promise that? lol The community college idea, for one.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-leag...-011454392.html Rooftop owners' lawsuit heading towards Federal court

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 12:57 PM) I honestly watch the VP and Speaker reactions more than the President. "oh, oh! is he going to stand?! He is going to clap?!" But I do think you're right. the Repubs have to do something not named Keystone or repealing Obamacare. That's why I think there's a legit chance some of this middle class stuff may happen. Child tax credits, help with child care, etc. are things that Republican voters also want. The question is how many corporate tax laws are the Repubs going to throw in the same legislation? I’d have suggested he dispense with the cursory mention of a hundred topics and the anecdotes about people sitting in the balcony, and instead use the entire speech to tell a story — much as Bill Clinton did at the 2012 convention — about why the economy tanked in 2008 and why it’s rebounding now. I’d have suggested he become the first president to use PowerPoint slides in a national address, so that Americans at home could see the graphs showing job growth (about 246,000 per month last year), falling unemployment (the largest annual drop in 30 years, even if some of that reflects a decline in workforce participation) and shrinking deficits. Also, it would have been a riot to see last month’s unemployment numbers projected onto John Boehner’s forehead. http://news.yahoo.com/obama-declares-victo...-043549344.html Obama declares victory way too late, Matt Bai

QUOTE (Jose Paniagua @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 03:05 PM) The Avi thing has completely changed now. This is a below average fielder based on metrics (awful routes to balls....hideous-to-awful, roughly), and he's not an on-base guy. The positives are only the power potential and that ability to take the second base w/ his speed. This was all absolutely great to plug into RF before the recent acquisitions. But we're now win-now. What is frightening is that this goes from being a positive situation (we know how mercurial this board can be)........to becoming a scapegoat thing if next year falls short of expectations. 2015 expectations will be high, no matter what we tell ourselves. Conor or Avi are prime candidates for becoming the soxtalk whipping boy if things aren't going wonderfully. The hope you hold onto with Avi is that he's been young at each stage of the MLB/MiLB development. Sadly last year was really important. Something salvaged at the end. But to have our win-now track means expectations for AG are sky high now. Pressure is up and that's what the gig is, of course. But it's twofold now. Of course, you could say the same thing about Robertson, Duke, LaRoche, Tyler Flowers, Melky and whoever's at 2B. They are all prime "whipping boy" candidates along with Danks and Noesi to a lesser extent. It's not even assured 100% that Abreu won't have a bit of a sophomore slump. Not expecting it, but stranger things have happened.

QUOTE (Armchair Hahn @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 08:37 AM) not sure on the politics of the Sox/Nats relationship...but Fister is the guy i feel would be appropriate for the Sox. We don't need another #2, #3 guy such as Zimmermann for the price that he will command in terms of trades. Fister should be relatively less costly and will fill our need of a backend #4 or 5 guy without breaking the bank. I would perhaps trade a Matt Davidson or other one of our prospects in the 6-10 range. The Nats don't have many needs at the MLB level I'm sure there's a stat out there that says Fister was/is one of the best 50 starters in the majors over X/Y/Z time period dating back to maybe 2011 or 2012. They would laugh at such a trade proposal and probably publicize it to the world. With Anthony Rendon in place for the next decade, why on Earth would they need Matt Davidson?

QUOTE (Eminor3rd @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 07:17 AM) This is where you're wrong. It's not about it being THE year to go for it, it's about it being the first of many years to go for it. With the second WC, we're seeing teams strive to be "in contention" frewquently in stead of building a super team for a year or two and having to tear it down later. If we commit too much of the future to 2015, we're going to be right back in a rebuild. I think you're underestimating the cost. The Samardzija trade was a coup, but we don't have another Semien to give up and we shouldn't expect other GMs to value quantity over quality like Beane has done for years. Especially not the Nats, who have no need for modest upgrades at this point since they have possibly the best team on paper already. Plus, they're not going to be satisfied with treading water and trading Ian Desmond only to replace him with Alexei Ramirez. They're going to want a future superstar in Tim Anderson, there's no way around that. They have so much pitching depth Montas (except as a closer) and Danish wouldn't be interesting to them, so they're definitely asking for Anderson, Hawkins and one more Top 10 piece. Then we're eventually stuck in the same situation about 10-12 teams are every off-season, paying premium prices for a upper-tier SS who will be a long-term answer.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 06:51 AM) you and caulfield12 do have a point and i will not dispute it. i come from a family of vets, from my grandfather in WW2 to uncles and immediate family. there is no denying what he did to serve his county. yeah every once in a while we will have to put up with self indulgent people like him. but i will refuse to label all of them b/c if this person. no matter what, 4 tours and the most kills. save many lives. I'd love to see how many of those kills were situations similar to the ones portrayed in the movie, "life and death" decisions involving women and children...the split second decision of are they civilian non-combatants or terrorists? Is all of that information still classified? Certainly it's not in the interest of the government for the public to find out, for example, how many of his kills were shot in the back or not holding weapons, etc. It's hard to imagine he didn't make a few mistakes when the kill record has somewhere between 160 and 270 insurgents listed, depending on the source. The movie makes a dramatic point about potentially shooting an unarmed woman and child (if he was wrong) and intimating he would have been court-martialed. As far as the all-time record, I think it's hard to compare World War II snipers with Gulf War I and II, or how many kills World War I flying aces had with WW II, for that matter. Context is always important to take into consideration. http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/2013/02/0...tation-in-2009/ Here's a story that supposedly confirms the gas station shootings. Not sure how believable the explanation of the cover up is...it doesn't say the two victims were Mexican/Latino, but it intimates he suspected they were going to try to sell the truck across the border. That doesn't sound like a typical gringo move IMO. http://frontburner.dmagazine.com/2013/03/2...-of-chris-kyle/ And the counterpoint, why that story, if true....is troubling for so many different reasons.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 06:37 AM) I don't know if it's possible for Mike Rizzo to trade with the Sox right now. He and KW still have issues. Hahn may have the title of GM, but KW is still in the mix. There's the Dunn/EJax non-completed trade situation, then the drafting and protecting of Nieto last year, among other things.

"Frank" with Michael Fassbender and Maggie Gyllenhaal has to be the weirdest, yet strangely compelling movie ever made about a band. For 85% of the movie, Fassbender's wearing a giant head like Big Boy mashed together with the old Astros logo. Everyone in the movie is mentally ill except for the main protagonist. It also captures the idea of "pure music" coming into conflict with commercialization/Twitter/social media universe and the SXSW music festival. I don't know how to describe it, but it's got a 92% rating at Metacritic and it's just a really cool original movie. Another one, Harry Potter and Zoe Kazan in "What If," which some critics are claiming is a better romantic comedy than 500 Days of Summer. Definitely worth a viewing. Now on to IDA, a Polish film which has won a lot of accolades.

QUOTE (Tex @ Jan 21, 2015 -> 06:17 AM) Didn't he claim to have killed dozens of looters in New Orleans from the roof of the Superdome? He lost the lawsuit (his estate) that he liable Jesse Ventura in the book and in interviews. He also claimed to have executed two guys who tried to rob him at a gas station in Dallas. Those were his claims. Picking off snipers from the roof of the Superdome? Maybe that could be murder in our society. Killing two guys who may have been robbing him? Maybe. And $1.8 million, supposedly. No corroboration from anywhere about the supposed gas station incident.

What are you willing to give up to acquire Zimmermann, Strasburg, Fister or Tanner Roark? For the first two names, it's going to require three of our top five prospects. Besides, Passan wrote a very perceptive article stating that the Nationals (and multi-billionaire Ted Lerner) would be crazy to give up the advantage they have in depth with 6 pitchers and five big-time starting prospects, including what many consider the best in Giolito. Every baseball season proves you adage you can never have too much pitching. There are some affordability concerns with the likes of Ian Desmond (his name is mentioned everywhere) and Denard Span, but trading Tyler Clippard helped a bit. And the Vegas odds of the White Sox being involved in a third Gio Gonzalez trade are slim and none, especially with the plethora of lefties in the current depth chart. Plus, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if Shields signed with the Tigers, which would go a long ways toward convincing David Price to stay put in Detroit.

How Michigan is 5-2 in conference is one of the biggest stories of the early season. The importance of Kaminsky to WI was clearly showcased in their inexplicable loss to Rutgers. Iowa sweeps OSU and gets completely blown out of the gym in Madison...expected more resistance with White being a senior. Just couldn't get the broad side of a barn shooting-wise, and WI obviously plays tough defense, especially at home.

Thought Rasmus could get as much as $18-22 million for a two year deal, but $8 million isn't too far off. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12198478...lsong-deal-near Looks like Vogelsong is next. Rasmus, Marisnick, Springer and Gattis (LF/C) will split time. Once top prospect Singleton seems to be on the outside looking in...same with Grossman and Dominguez. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12199140...elds-unemployed Good article speculating on where Shields will end up by Stark. Right now, for $110 million and five years, nowhere. For $80-90 million and four years, there will be someone that bites, eventually.

QUOTE (LDF @ Jan 20, 2015 -> 02:37 PM) this is a true story from someone who was not near Katrina the aftermath and of Rita and after. the government hired a special security forced to help police the area. they wore all black and purple uniforms and had a special FRENCH name of their company. but most were ex-american military, make 15,000 a month. they were shipped in from Europe. they went where the military couldn't and b/c the government didn't want to be pegged as sending US military shooting americans. i know this, b/c i owned a store and i was with the rebuild after Rita the tues after the storm. i had to deal with these men. great guy but a little crazed. the curfew was on and they patrolled the harsh areas. so if i hear of someone here at that time and couldn't name the company, they are bulls***ting. it was a crazy time and we had to be armed at all times. many killings of those burglarizing stores and homes. the local government was really trying to downplay that. that is the truth. peace So Blackwater was using a French name for the same corporation? That wouldn't surprise me in the least, public relations. How do you know they were shipped in from Europe? http://www.cbsnews.com/news/stars-voice-su...ftag=YHF4eb9d17 Moore gets ripped to shreds on Twitter. Is that the same Jane Fonda or Jane Seymour (Bond Girl) married Peter Fonda? Rob Lowe usually not aligned with the conservative side of the entertainment industry. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/incredible-t...r9UwEYALRuTmYlQ On the truths and fiction of Kyle's life...as well as some poignant comments from Bradley Cooper at the end about the movie not being a political statement but more about returning from war and dealing with domestic life and family.

Well, you can't accuse the Astros and Padres of being boring anymore.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 20, 2015 -> 02:02 PM) Sure, but my point was they are better 1-6 so I'm not sure what your point is. The back of our lineup still sucks. We are a better team than the Cubs because of our pitching staff. Top 3, definitely. Back end of the rotation, nobody knows exactly what each team will end up with. But sure, Quintana vs. Hammel, that's a pretty easy one. Then you have Hendricks and Wood/E. Jackson/Wada at the back end. Hendricks was REALLY solid last season, but it was unexpected and nobody knows if it's repeatable, just like Noesi's success with the Sox (which wasn't as good as the numbers Hendricks put up, albeit in the NL). Although quite a few Kool-Aid drinkers in Cubbieland would tell you they prefer Arrieta now to Samardzija.

QUOTE (iamshack @ Jan 20, 2015 -> 02:20 PM) Perhaps I've been watching too much Madam Secretary and State of Affairs recently House of Cards and Homeland is more like it, lol, with a twist of The Blacklist and Person of Interest.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Jan 20, 2015 -> 02:07 PM) With the hard-on the media had about the government's response to Katrina, you don't think someone would have written a story about 20-30 bodies found with bullet holes from rifles shot at great distances? I mean that one is totally implausible. Edit: not to mention you'd have thousands of people in and around the superdome that would be hearing those gunshots, and helicopters circling the city almost nonstop that probably would have seen him. But I find the notion that we sent SEALs and/or mercenaries into New Orleans to shoot looters from the rooftops ludicrous. What, exactly, would be the upside? Further, even if we were to believe that the Bush administration was capable of ordering such a thing and that they found willing participants at Blackwater to carry it out, we’d also have to believe that no one who knew about the order—and there would have had to have been dozens, just from a planning and logistical standpoint—objected strongly enough to speak out. The author's counterargument in the same article.

In early 2012, I had an unexpected conversation with my friend Chris Kyle (author of American Sniper) about the Katrina debacle. I had heard rumblings about Special Operations (mainly SEALs) snipers being deployed to New Orleans to support the effort to restore order. He confirmed the rumors and shared his own intimate knowledge that close contacts of his, many who were apparently still serving on active duty, took leave to work for the controversial PMC (Private Military Company),Blackwater. Chris went on to tell me that the bulk of the guys he knew directly had racked up over thirty kills between them near and around the Super Dome. This came from an article in early 2013. FWIW. Also mentioned the scary concept of "180 grains of due process." http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/did-speci...-after-katrina/ I do believe with all the focus on this movie and momentum building for Bradley Cooper's nomination as Best Actor, that you're going to see a ton of new digging and research on the claims being made in the movie. Of course, those against the glorification of war will try to find examples of racism, of anything he did in his work with veterans that might have provoked his demise, the Katrina accusations, about his drinking problems, etc. If you read up on Tillman, you quickly find out how intelligent and how complicated he was...Kyle is complicated in the sense he seems so simple and straightforward that many are looking to complicate him retroactively.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 20, 2015 -> 09:24 AM) Michael Moore is not someone I'm listening to when the topic of courage/cowardice is being discussed. What is IB? And I don't think the 9/11 scenes were specifically propaganda (they weren't very long), as much as building a narrative and explaining where he'd be deployed. Completely agree. And I liked Gran Torino a lot. C'mon, Brian. Not really. I can hardly grasp what you're saying most of the time with the layout of your posts. Inglorious Basterds

QUOTE (raBBit @ Jan 20, 2015 -> 12:40 PM) RF - Soler CF - Fowler/Denorfia LF - Coghlan/Denorfia SS - Castro 3B - Alcantara/Olt 2B - LaStella/Alcantara 1B - Rizzo C - Montero Bench: C Ross, 2B/3B Olt/LaStella, OF Denorfia Then they probably break with one of Sweeney/Lake (I'd assume Sweeney) and another infielder. CF Fowler LF Coghlan 1B Rizzo SS Castrp RF Soler C Montero 3B Alcantara/Olt 2B LaStella/Alcantara Speaking objectively, their top six is better than ours. That's IF IF IF Castro is a capable 4 hole guy. Maybe if you projected POTENTIAL and projected guys out like Bryant and even Schwarber in the middle of the line-up, then you can starting making that argument. Soler's got to stay healthy and prove he can play everyday. Montero has regressed. Coghlan isn't likely to be as dangerous or as pesky. Of course, if Baez and Russell are for real, your middle infield solidifies and then you can plug Bryant in at 3B or potentially he moves to the OF and you can fit Baez, Russell and Castro together as some sort of infield combination.

American Sniper isn't awful, but it's far from great. I'll leave it at that. As far as Citizenfour goes, lots of polarizing opinions there as well. Some say because of unpolished editing, that it's quite the opposite of tension-filled and suspenseful. Supposedly it does give us a little bit more sense about Snowden the man (and his motives), but he's still largely a mystery. As to the coward comment, I'm sure Moore would say it ONLY applies to snipers, that he didn't mean it to be extended to infantry, nurses/medics, etc.

Speaking of IB, I'm watching a movie with Melanie Laurent and Jake Gyllenhaal called "Enemy" that's really creepy like Nightcrawler...some websites list it as the best movie of the year that earned under $10 million. As far as American Sniper goes, I think the main reason that comment was made (by Moore) was because of the fact that a family member was killed by a sniper during WWII...the idea that it's not heroic to shoot someone from a long distance/with their back turned, etc. I'm not sure that there's much of a political statement there. The movie is too straightforward for that. The only "counterpoint" about the country's "war mindset" is a minute long conversation with his brother who he randomly comes across on a deployment and his brother pointedly questions why he's there and what the mission is...for Chris himself, the point of his survival is not getting bogged down in thinking at all, essentially. Almost like a robotic killing machine, with the exception he has to assess threats, make split-second responses and be held accountable for his actions in real life, unlike a computer simulation. While some of the scenes have the feel of propaganda, there's enough of a moral quandary bent when you have to take out women and children to protect your guys that I'm not sure most moviegoers would choose to be in those same shoes. Of course, there's the obligatory 9/11 scenes to serve as motivation, but it's nothing we haven't been through 1000 times with the likes of the Pat Tillman Story. Personally, I feel that Gran Torino was considerably better than A.S., even though its subject matter and bleakness made it a difficult watch for some. Big Men....great documentary about oil and capitalism, should be a case study in every business school Our Brand is Crisis....if you're interested in shows like West Wing, House of Cards, read The War Room or want to know what political consultants do in off election years in the US, this is your documentary