caulfield12

V for Vendetta was okay (maybe because I can watch anything Natalie Portman's in), but League of Extraordinary Gentleman was borderline horrible and certainly a disappointment both critically and with the box office as well. Unrealistically, Watchmen was hyped as a contender to 300's records and beyond in the media. 300 was the previous picture from Watchmen's director Zack Snyder and was prominently cited in Watchmen's advertising. However, just because a picture has a massive marketing campaign or a fervent fan base doesn't mean it's going to be a blockbuster. 300 set the March opening benchmark at $70.9 million on around 4,800 screens at 3,103 sites (which included $3.6 million at 62 IMAX venues). While technically 300 was a comic book adaptation like Watchmen, that's where the similarities ended, because 300 was first and foremost promoted as a harrowing, clearly-wrought tale based in history with a then-striking visual style. As visually punchy as Watchmen's marketing tried to be, the movie's story was left obscure to the uninitiated. Considering that style and mystery took precedence over clarity and relatability, Watchmen's opening was swell. Eventually, ads vaguely revealed that someone was killing off superheroes and that the Watchmen had to figure out why. However, the superheroes in question were not previously well known to the general public, making it an uphill battle to earn audience investment, especially given the picture's ensemble nature. Typically, the biggest superhero movies are the ones where the superheroes are already ingrained in the culture, like The Dark Knight, Spider-Man, Superman and X-Men. Watchmen's source material had a following but never reached a high level of cultural saturation. What's more, the advertising presented no heroes to root for and no villains to root against (a potent combination that worked like gangbusters with The Dark Knight); instead raising the question "will they save us or destroy us?" www.boxofficemojo.com

Lillibridge is supposed to be back and starting at SS after returning from the ubiquitous "flu-like" symptoms. Beckham , not sure if he will be the B game in the morning against the Dodgers or the afternoon game. Nix will be back Tuesday or Wednesday from the quad strain. "I feel fine," Beckham said of playing second base. "I still have to work on the feeds a little bit. I still have to work on getting my feet underneath me and making sure I'm throwing a strike over to first. If I can do that, I think I'll be all right." www.suntimes.com/sports

I think the case can be made by the Twins that they gave him ample opportunity early in the season...and he proved he wasn't ready. Therefore, in their minds, they were justified in being "conservative" with him because they wanted to make sure he was 100% before the recall. Actually, while he mowed down quite a few subpar offenses (he did beat the Rays once), he wasn't nearly as dominating as one would think and he lost a crucial game to the Royals (I think it was Friday night of the final weekend) that was one of many "lost" games for the Sox and Twins down the stretch that turned out to be crucial. Livan Hernandez was horrible statistically, but he kept winning games the first three months. They had Slowey, Baker, Perkins and Blackburn...along with Bonser...so they didn't have to bring him back. In retrospect, you substitute the last 6 weeks of Hernandez for Liriano and the Twins probably win the division, but there were tons of "what ifs" surrounding the White Sox, too (Quentin's injury being one of many).

Cubano, obviously I read your response as taking a shot at the White Sox for being hypocrites about Viciedo. Well, they've invested MORE money into Viciedo for LESS years, so why wouldn't they start him if he was truly ready? You don't think Ozzie and KW want to win badly enough, or that they'd prefer to go through another 2007 again, especially when that will have real consequences for the season ticket base of renewals in 2010? Not on your life, they're going to make the correct decision after assessing all the factors with both Viciedo and Beckham. Viciedo, according to most (not just Peter Bjarkman) actually regressed or went backwards over the last couple of years in Cuba...he was overweight by 20-30 pounds at his DR workout...he missed the mandatory weight training session last Monday, he just has some more maturing to do. He's just turning 20 this month. Beckham, on the other hand, has been climbing since the day he was drafted...probably moreso than any player from last year's draft. He played well after he signed, then even better in the Arizona Fall League. Viciedo was being left off the national team, Olympic team, WBC team, etc. Of course, the Cubans knew about his potential ability TOO, moreso than anyone in the US, but they also are in the business of winning now, not next season. All that said, I don't think that Beckham will make this team, although he's certainly shown the ability to hit well and confidently (so far) out of the leadoff spot, albeit in ST, but it's certainly a positive sign. He has flinched or wilted under the pressure. And Jerry Owens has shown no ability to steal bases, so there has to be some consideration to giving Beckham that spot because our biggest need right now is at leadoff. I can't wait until they move Ramirez to CF for Beckham, that will be when it really starts to fly around here!!!! I know you are waiting for that moment Cubano, but I don't think it will come if Ramirez is close to as good as advertised defensively. Just think if you were Josh Fields coming off his 2007 rookie year and you were told you're going to the minors? Don't you think he had more of a reason to be bitter than Viciedo would, since Viciedo hasn't proved anything at all in regular season big league play? I know all players EXPECT and play like they expect to make the team, but I'm sure Jaime Torres has already alerted him to the reality. If Josh Fields wasn't healthy, was having huge fielding problems and looking like Brian Anderson at the plate and Viciedo was sent down, then I would agree with you. But Fields, Nix and Kroeger have been the three best hitters, at least until Beckham's performance yesterday. The other reason, as noted, was that they 1) wanted to get him more at-bats, they said they might do that from 3B as well, which, of course, would aggravate you if it got in the way of Viciedo's PT, and 2) Lillibridge and Nix are both out for now, and Eider Torres needs to give Ramirez a rest in ST.

Usually the movies to me, in this category...are movies that make $100 million, like Hancock or Seven Pounds...except they are disasters. No matter what, Watchmen was going to make $100 milllion domestically...just because of its production budget and advertising budget alone. I won't even use profitability versus losing money, because some might use that standard to say The Reader or Frost/Nixon were utter failures. Part of it is based on expectations...for instance, Valkryie and Marley & Me were successes because they did better than expected. I'm sure Valkryie even had a pretty similar budget (to Watchmen), but I was expecting it to tank and it did reasonably well and stood up decently for an extended run. Paul Blart and Taken did much better, OTOH. I would put this Watchmen movie in the Jonas Brothers category...not a disaster, not a major success, but one that would them think twice about making a second movie, if there was a thought to do that. So I'll leave that as one measure...just like The Golden Compass, the second CS Lewis movie (Prince Caspian)...where there's a reasonable doubt as to a second movie generating a profit. Obviously, that threshold was met by 300 or Transformers. Second, did it do anything but positively affect the careers of the director and the cast? If it is a minor success, then no damage has been done to either...but their careers haven't been significantly advanced, either. I'll use the example of The Village here...it made a lot of money, it was a "success" in many measures, but didn't live up to the Sixth Sense and caused many to start doubting the director's ability to deliver. So even though that movie made a lot of money, it was probably LESS successful than Watchmen will turn out to be. I might even argue that I liked The Fountain more than Watchmen, but it was surely a bomb both critically and at the box office.

Nonetheless, the movie's $55.7 mil take (including $5.5 mil from 124 IMAX screens) is substantially smaller than the $70.9 mil that 300, the last R-rated graphic-novel movie from director Zack Snyder, earned on its opening weekend two years ago. And aside from that theater-count statistic (which almost any film could break at any time, really), there will be no major records to report on this weekend (for example, Watchmen's debut was just the fifth-best opening ever for an R-rated movie). I'd argue, in fact, that this opening is a bit soft, considering the great expectations that came with Snyder's adaptation of Alan Moore's landmark comic book -- not to mention Watchmen's hefty grosses from screenings at midnight on Friday and throughout its first day. After attracting some major initial interest, banking $25.1 mil on Friday, the film's audience dropped off dramatically during the weekend: It grossed $19 mil on Saturday and is expected to bring in just $11.5 mil on Sunday. These are all big numbers, don't get me wrong, but, when combined with the fact that the film got a lukewarm CinemaScore grade of B from an audience that was largely comprised of older men, it all points to a rapid downward trend that may be difficult to reverse in the weeks to come. from ew.com Reality doesn't matter. It's perception. This movie isn't going to go down as a great success, you'll see. You your instincts, you can feel when a movie will be a big commercial success and when it won't, outside of what you think of it as a movie.

wonder what Kershaw did? well, let's hope CQ can pick up the French singer and get 2 RBI's

Walks Ethier but escapes without any further damage. Guess there's an additional B game tmrw morning against the Dodgers tomorrow morning.

Al-i-say kind of like Alicea (Luis) Where's the game thread? By the way, Bill Melton thinks Adam Russell is catching for the Canadian WBC team and out of the Dodgers' line-up.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Mar 8, 2009 -> 01:35 PM) define minor success. 55.7 million in one weekend isnt anything to shake a stick at, even though it trails 300 by 13.2 mil The reason is that I think the movie was "front-loaded" with the die-hard fans coming out the first weekend. I think the dropoff next weekend will be pretty strong, at least 55-65%. It's not the kind of movie that people are going to want to go to see over and over again while it's running in the theatres. It's certainly a thinking/intellectual movie, and one I will watch again SOMEDAY, but not anytime soon. Heck, I would venture Taken might end up having as many people watch that movie twice as Watchmen...and we're coming up on college basketball conference finals and the NCAA tourney, that will also cut a little bit into the next three weekends. Of course, 300 came out exactly two years ago this weekend and had a very good run of sustained success. It's just that many were predicting $70 million plus and better numbers, than 300, so that's why it's going to be termed a disappointment to some. I don't know what the final cost for the project was, the big bonus was that there weren't an big salaries for the stars. Just like 300, with Gerard Butler being the most famous. Ironic, Patrick Wilson and Butler were together in Phantom of the Opera, now they're both graphic novels stars about five years later in the same director's movies. I also don't think it will have the appeal around the world that 300 did. Once again, Watchmen is a better movie, but that doesn't mean as much in Hollywood these days as box office, unless it's earning the studio Academy Awards nominations.

Cunningham has a chance to be another Rowand, which is probably going to end up as better than Ryan Sweeney. He has consistently put up OPS's of around 900 or better, and really did well in AAA at the end of last season. I know Sweeney would be a competent CF (compared to the likes of Everett, Griffey, Swisher and Mackowiak), and he has a better throwing arm and mechanics than Jerry Owens, but I'm not sure he'd be even major league average for that position, probably just a tick under. Cunningham comes with the same problem...although he has better speed than Sweeney and Anderson. It's interesting, because all four of them (including Rowand and Jeremy Reed in the discussion) were thought to be fourth outfielder types at different points in their careers. For such a young lefthanded hitter, we really gave up on Sweeney quickly, but the feeling had to be that USCF wasn't the best fit for him. He belongs in a stadium where he can bang out (eventually) 35-40 doubles. If he can do that, he can still end up at 825-850 in terms of OPS, as long as he hits .280-.310 and gets his share of walks, too. The odds of DLS and Gio making major impacts in their careers...well, neither one has the odds in their favor at this point in their careers, but TJ surgeries are a lot easier to recover from than shoulder/labrum ones (see the article on Schilling in the Trib today for more).

As for Floyd, he has much better raw physical ability than Danks and just about every other pitcher in baseball. If Floyd can keep it together mentally, he's going to win even more games than the eye-popping 17 last season. www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=277539&src=162 That and the insight that we won't see Contreras until May. John Danks was consistently throwing 92-93-94 for most of last season, I don't get where so many people shortchange him and treat him more like Mark Buehrle. He was a first round draft pick, too. I don't think you can make the statement Gregor does simply based on the fact that Floyd has an awesome curveball when it's on, which is about 30-40% of the time. Yes, there are lots of pitchers that have the ability to be the best in baseball based on pure stuff alone, but a little hyperbole for your Sunday morning...I think everyone in White Sox Nation would be pleased as punch if Gavin somehow managed 15 wins this season. Gregor predicting 18 or more? Well, he's out on a limb, I hope he's right.

QUOTE (kyyle23 @ Mar 8, 2009 -> 12:06 PM) Not the same director at all. Zach Snyder directed Watchmen and James McTeigue directed V for Vendetta(with a lot of help from the producing Wachowski brothers). Thought I read that somewhere. Looking at IMDB, his two most famous are 300 and Dawn of the Dead, which was surprisingly successful. He's already got six movies lined up for the future. I think that Watchmen will go down as a minor success, but it won't make 300's box office domestically or around the world. It's not a story that's "relatable" for many reasons, where there are obvious heros and villains. Cobalt 60 (2011) (announced) Heavy Metal (2010) (announced) The Illustrated Man (2010) (announced) Untitled 300 Sequel (2010) (announced) Sucker Punch (2010) (pre-production) Guardians of Ga'Hoole (2010) (filming)

QUOTE (bmags @ Mar 8, 2009 -> 11:49 AM) generally, okay, but have you guys ever sat through the happening? Signs was okay until the aliens showed up in the last 15-20 minutes (back when Joaquin Phoenix had a little energy to move around and swing a bat!)...but The Village, The Lady in the Water, Unbreakable, etc. He's getting progressively worse, a one-trick pony that could never live up to the hype he projected about himself and the arrogance with which he dealt with Hollywood and the media while he was a "hot commodity," not to mention his "cutesy" cameo appearances in his movies.

Saw Watchmen in an empty theatre here in Thailand (Sunday 925 show). The box office for the weekend will end up at $55-60 million (not sure if they counted Thursday midnights shows with Friday's net)...inevitably, that will be compared to 300's $70 million net. Part of it is running time...although I think Watchmen has more screens now in play and ticket prices are a tick higher. My first thoughts, it was a futuristic cross between V for Vendetta (same director), The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Fountain. In general, I liked it...as some of the reviews have noted, it's going to be more understandable for those who grew up in the 80's, versus teenagers today. Things have trended away from nuclear war and more towards terrorism and the environment/ecology as the most pressing threats. It definitely had that 80's feel with Iacocca's character (a subliminal message to Chrysler delivered?), the McLaughlin Group, 99 Luftballoons by Nena, Ted Koppel, etc. I thought Adrian and Rorschach were the two best/most compelling characters. Adrian belongs in a Bond movie now I think. Patrick Wilson and Malin Ackerman were hard to deal with in the beginning, but I gradually warmed to them. I think having seen both Phantom of the Opera and Hard Candy (that movie should be mandatory viewing for Internet predators), I initially resisted his presence, but then I came to think of him in a Chris O'Donellish way and moved past it. Malin Ackerman left me wishing that Carla Gugino had a bigger role, that they did the Brad Pitt trick with her and made her a 25 year old love interest. It was better than 300, but not better than Sin City. I think it was simply too ambitious...but it was definitely inspiring to watch, even though it fell just a little bit flat in the end. I got tired of Richard Nixon and the whole Kissinger thing, as well as that love making scene set to Hallelujah...that made me feel like I was watching Solaris all over again.

''It's crazy because it almost seems he was way out of position at second base,'' Sox outfielder Brian Anderson said. ''He was almost overqualified. You can just tell that he can cover more ground than what's really required at second base. He was probably feeling a little sheltered over there. ''He's going to be exciting to watch. I mean, people are going to see balls hit in the hole to his right that they thought were automatic hits, and he has the range and arm to make them outs.'' The more impressive endorsement has come from manager Ozzie Guillen -- someone who knows a little bit about playing shortstop. ''He's going to make people forget about Ozzie Guillen playing there,'' Guillen has said. cowley cst Since we're on the subject of Cubans...

Nix, according to the Tribune, has an injury that will put him on the shelf for 2-3 days at least. If it wasn't already, it looks like it definitely is not Getz's job to lose. For the next couple of days, Chris Getz is the second baseman because Jayson Nix is nursing a strained right quadriceps and Brent Lillibridge was sent home Saturday with flulike symptoms. Getz responded with a pair of hits against the Rangers. … Ryan Braun, who was signed in the off-season after missing last year with the Royals because of elbow surgery, threw 55 pitches Saturday in the bullpen. Braun was 2-0 in 26 games for the Royals in 2007. … The Sox have added a B game against the Dodgers on Monday morning. www.chicagotribune.com/sports

QUOTE (Tony82087 @ Mar 7, 2009 -> 06:49 PM) Cabrera isn't going anywhere. If needed, you sell everything, and build around him. They have some terrible deals on the books. Carlos Guillen is making 13 million in 2010 and 2011, Bonderman is making 12.5 in 2010, Dontrelle is making 12 million in 2010, along with Inge making 6.6 in 2010. Ouch. Not to mention Gary Sheffield, a $3 million buyout for Edgar Renteria and Robertson's contract, which is maybe the worst considering he was one of the least serviceable fifth starters in all of baseball last year. Ordonez certainly isn't cheap, as he's basically just a DH playing the outfield, like Dye. They're starting to pay Verlander more and more, and he's far from being the ace we felt he would be in 2006. Granderson, Cabrera, Verlander and Porcello might be something to build around, we'll just have to wait and see. They've also traded away valuable pieces in A. Miller (good timing), but Maybin and J. Jurgens were (and will be) huge losses.

Owens is basically useless in the current Willie Harris/Pods after July of 2005 form...pretty soon, it's going to get into his head and he's going to start to getting more tentative and make even more mistakes, because psychologically he knows he has to run out there, that's the only way he can prove he's healthy and make the ballclub. If he's not capable of stealing 45-55 bases in a full season, he's useless. And he has to get at least 75% of them....which would mean he now needs 9 steals in a row to be effective. That doesn't seem likely. Forgot about Josh Fields, along with Kroeger, Viciedo, Nix and Beckham and the seeming health of Contreras/Colon and Marquez and Richard pitching well, the highlight of the spring so far. However, the CF situation seemingly is getting worse by the day. It can't be DeWayne Wise, can it? I just hope KW doesn't make some sort of desperation move like Juan Pierre.

The Rangers' announcers were very complimentary to Viciedo. Said that was as long a throw as you can make, and that his reactions were "quick" down there. He also made a nice throw to end the inning with the forceout at 2B. It's amazing how much more exciting it is when Beckham, Viciedo, Flowers, Nix, Kroeger, Jordan Danks, etc., are in the line-up instead of our "normal" somewhat boring line-up. I guess we have Getz and Viciedo, but Torres isn't the kind of hitter you stand around and watch in BP either. Richard seemingly learning from Buehrle how to work with a fast pace...good to see, that really keeps the fielders on alert and helps the defense.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Mar 7, 2009 -> 12:34 PM) You're saying that we didn't have CF problems WHILE Nick Swisher was here? It has been a problem for sure since Rowand's 2004 season. We haven't had above MLB average production (offensively and defensively) since then from that position. Heck, I'll go all the way back to Lance Johnson to the last time we had a CFer I really liked...or Mike Cameron, warts and all. Lofton was good for six weeks in 2002. We've run through Jeremy Reed, Chris B. Young, Anthony Webster, Rowand, Ryan Sweeney, etc. One of the biggest miscalculations KW ever made was thinking Brian Anderson would be ready in 2006. Whatever he was doing in the minors (and he put up some good seasons statistically), they should have realized his swing has significant holes that would be exposed, especially to breaking balls and sliders low and away. Not only that, but he's a horrible players in terms of fundamentals and execution...hitting the cutoff man, bunting, baserunning (sometimes), hitting to the opposite field, shortening up his swing for contact (it seems like he's still taking some god-awful cuts up there that leave him with no chance of even hitting the ball). He's just a very talented athlete right now at age 26 still trying to figure out how to play. Like Borchard, he'll hit some balls that make you think he's a natural...or when he got Felix Hernandez twice out in Seattle, where for some mysterious reason 75% of his homers come from (of all MLB parks!). When you compare him at the plate with the presence of a Beckham or even Viciedo, it's like night and day. With Uribe gone, he's the batter that opposing pitchers would MOST want to face in our line-up, it's not even close for 2nd place at this point. Owens might at least put some pressure on the defense with the idea he will bunt or force the infield to make a play...most of the time the defense can just sit back on their heels with Anderson at the plate.

Well, no matter how we "spin" it, as Viciedo/Marquez for Swisher, it's going to be remembered for how Swisher and Marquez do respectfully...and perhaps for continued CF problems in Chicago as well.

Possibly, but maybe KW liked Nunez a lot better...so let's say the two minor league relievers are an even swap, it makes the deal Swisher for Marquez, Betemit and Viciedo, essentially. That's the other angle that hasn't been raised, and the way KW has consistently presented it this offseason. I guess it could have been Hudson instead of Viciedo and Colon, but we'll never know for sure...the market sure turned against Hudson...I wouldn't be surprised if the Dodgers beat everyone, if they could get strong enough starting pitching and Furcal stays healthy.

Ryan Roat they said...different guy I guess.

ViciAdo according to Melton. Nice. Swinging out of his a-- against Thomas on that high FB, but he made solid contact, just hit it right at the SS. Beckham took a walk. These last two lefties have had really good arms, albeit not so much control. This is their closer apparently. UMMMM...melton, whisler is the definition of AAA/AAAA pitcher.