R.I.P. Mr. J.D. Salinger

NO! Just read a post on Yahoo saying the great author died at the age of 91.

It has been my dream to someday meet this great writer and somehow, SOMEHOW convince him to let me adapt "Catcher in the Rye" into a screenplay for the silver screen. I know he is famous for being a reclusive hermit that thinks the movies is a "form of prostitution" (or so Holden believes).

Salinger's book has been my favorite novel since I read it in high school as it embodies all the important societal questions that we face; not unlike "Lord of the Flies", "Of Mice and Men", and almost any Kurt Vonnegut book. More importantly, as a psychology major, many of Holden's views (and thus problems) must be addressed to real people who relate to them. As it is shown in the book, psychoanalysis seems to fail in curing Holden of his troubles.

Salinger was truly an interesting man and I would have loved to have a chance to chat with him. After having watched Julie and Julia recently, Salinger is the Julia Child to my Julie. May he rest in peace and my thoughts go out to the Salinger family.


Sources:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100128/ap_en_ot/us_obit_salinger

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._D._Salinger

Cuckoo for CoCo

Apparently CoCo (Conan O'Brien) already has a new deal in place with NBC. It's probably not what you think, however. It's just a television show based off Conan's production company. Still, I'm glad they were able to break up amicably, though The Tonight Show's last week was quite hilarious with all the NBC bashing. After what they did to him and had promised him, he showed he is a man that doesn't hold grudges when he gave his heartfelt speech on the last episode. I hope this (re)union helps NBC realize Conan earned the former Johnny Carson job and will give him the job once again very soon. It was his dream job. I have no idea if it is anymore but at least offer him it to him. If Conan takes it, I don't think anyone will think of him as a coward or anything less to going back to the network that betrayed him. Long live CoCo!


Sources:

http://tv.yahoo.com/blog/conans-surprising-new-deal-with-nbc--947

Public Enemy #1: Billy Beane

Ben Sheets. One-year contract. $10 million. REALLY?! I don't know if the A's got the memo, but Sheets and his agent was seeking a one-year contract for approximately $8 mil. The Mets, the Mariners, and several other teams were interested in signing the former All-Star...but not for anything north of 8 mil considering he missed all of last season.

Obviously my bitterness comes from the fact that I strongly believed the amazing Jack Zduriencik would somehow lure Sheets into Seattle giving his familiarity with him from the Brewers organization. I thought a rotation that features The King (as in King Felix) and The Ace (Cliff Lee) and Sheets as "just" a #3 starter would propel this team from being division contenders to WORLD SERIES contenders. My optimism was for naught, however, and now we wait for Z's next move in a division where no GM is willing to surrender the crown so easily. I predict the AL West will in fact be the most competitive and intriguing division in all of MLB this upcoming 2010 season.

I wonder what the A's plans are for acquiring Sheets. Certainly with the plethora of young starters they have in the rotation and on the field, they know they are still a couple years away from true contention. Secondly, I don't think Sheets is the prototypical pitching mentor you'd seek to be the anchor and teach the younger pitchers. Glavine, Smoltz, and Pedro will be better options for that and they're all still free agents. Finally, the A's already have a promising rotation (a perennial Billy Beane staple) so it'd behoove them to let their young guys get more MLB experience. Brett Anderson, Trevor Cahill, Duchscherer, and their pick between Braden/Eveland/Gonzalez/Mazzaro/Outman. Yikes! My guess is that they acquired Sheets just so they can flip him at the deadline ala Matt Holliday circa 2009. So overpaying him now won't matter so much if they trade him for worthy prospects and have the team eat up part of Sheets' salary (though 10 mil is relatively cheap for 2-3 good prospects). Damn you Billy Beane!

I know Rome wasn't built in a day and the 20+ game improvement we made last season was a refreshing start. However, with Cliff Lee rented for just a year and us going out and getting Figgins, Bradley, and Co. and with this being Junior's probable last year in the Majors, it'd be nice to see us win it all this season. Regarding the World Series: If we had acquired Sheets or another legit starting pitcher/bopper that hits for average, that would put us over the top and qualify us as legitimate contenders. Hell, I'm all for signing Bedard now even if it means he misses the first 2-3 months. If we can stay competitive until then, surely he'd help us run away with the division.

My hope now is that Kotchman overachieves in the first half and hits 20+ HRs and the Padres stink so much that they'd trade us A. Gonz for Kotchman straight-up. It's a pipe dream. Besides, if he really did hit over 20 home runs, you'd be incline to think we ought to keep him thinking he'd keep it up. I don't know what's a realistic package we can give the Pads though - Kotch, Triunfel, Saunders? or Kotch, Lopez, and Saunders?

I know us hardcore M's fans are trying so desperately to believe our team is a WS contender right now even w/o the power bat. But let's face it, when you walk into a place like the new Yankee Stadium, if you're not going to hit some home runs, you can kiss your pitchers goodbye because that ballpark is built for left-handed batters to pad their stats. As of right now, we COULD make the World Series but will we? I think we are 1-2 key players away. A third pitcher with Bedard's stuff would be nice. But more importantly, a 1B like Adrian Gonzalez would be much more nicer.

Jackie Z - if you're out there or one of your men stumble upon this post, PLEASE, PLEASE re-sign Bedard. If the two sides can't come to a fair negotiation and Bedard rather bolt for the Orioles who'd probably pay him more to be on a non-contending team, then so be it. But a rotation of Felix, Lee, Bedard, Rowland-Smith, and Snell is enough to get season ticket-holders salivating at the thought of post-season magic. Or at least sign Washburn or Chien Ming Wang! Alan Nero is Wang's agent and after securing Guti (my favorite Mariner) and Felix long-term, I say it's time to pop some more bottles Nero and Co. after Wang joins the Mariners. SoDo Mojo indeed!

Top 10 of 0-10

Fresh off the list of the '09 film winners, now let's take a look at the most anticipated films of 0-10. I'm excited that both Scorsese and Nolan have films coming out this year.

10. The Book of Eli - Denzel and Gary Oldman open up the new year with a post-apocalyptic prophet and his journey to the West. If there's one thing about Washington and Oldman, it's that they bring it to each and every film they make. Truly professionals.

9. Dinner for Schmucks - I'm simply putting this on there for the three-headed monster of Carell, Rudd, and Galifianakis. Plus, it's a remake of Diner de Cons, a hilarious Pignon French comedy.

8. Robin Hood - Russell Crowe as Robin? I can't see it. But until I watch it, I can't doubt any Scott/Crowe collabos.

7. Tron Legacy - Have you SEEN the trailer?

6. Iron Man 2 - Officially kicking off the 2010 summer blockbuster season is Favreau and Downey's sequel. Though 1 was a success, I fully expect this to surpass it in every way. For one, there are better actors (Rourke, Rockwell, Johansson) and as we all know, the second film is usually the best film of a (comic book) franchise (Batman Returns, The Dark Knight, Spider-Man 2, Hellboy II, X2).

5. Prince of Persia - this would be higher on the list but lately it appears as if Bruckheimer and his production company has been losing their touch. Though I did not despise At World's End as most people did, I do recognize some flaws. The "Pirates" series have declined with each film. Hopefully they at least start off this franchise correctly.

4. Toy Story 3 - It's Pixar. It's Toy Story. It's Tim Allen and Tom Hanks. 'Nuff said.

3. Alice in Wonderland - any Tim Burton movie is a treat to watch on the silver screen. So far this does not seem to be an exception.

2. Shutter Island - Scorsese directing a horror/fantasy film? I don't care. The man can do anything and with Leo in the lead, you know it will be a winner.

1. Inception - Speaking of Leo and winning and amazing directors, Nolan's latest appears to be some sci-fi mindgame. Well, as a psychology major, how can I not put this (and consequently every Nolan flick as #1 for their respective years?


There are still so many other great films that are slated for a 2010 release that I would love to include! Of them include the first part of the Harry Potter finale, a light-hearted buddy-cop movie with Walhberg and Will Ferrell entitled The Other Guys, Percy Jackson & the Olympians, The Wolfman, Last Night (so I'm in love with Knightley, sue me), Clash of the Titans, the Robert Rodriguez-directed Machete, the long-awaited Will Forte feature film role in MacGruber, the last Shrek film tentatively titled Shrek Forever After, The A-Team, Jonah Hex (Megan Fox plays a gun-wielding prostitute? Sign me up!), The Social Network (I'm curious how they'll depict my favorite website okay? Besides blogspot of course), and Due Date.

Due Date - does lightning strike twice?...in back to back years, no less? Todd Phillips teams up Downey with Galifianakis along with Jamie Foxx for a road trip/comedy film...we'll see how this one does following in The Hangover's massive, overly drunk and stumbling silhouette. This and the following were the two films closest to cracking the top ten.

Just let me say this. The Green Hornet was going to be a sure-fire top 3 pick until they forced Stephen Chow out of the roles of director and Kato. The guy's a legend and a genius. Give him the creative control he wants and watch the money roll in and the hilarity ensue. After having watched some of his greatest films recently (All for the Winner, Fight Back to School, Shaolin Soccer), I would say that if he wants to write, direct, and star in his own film - let him! I mean this with no disrespect for Gondry, as I love his films and actually want him to direct my little screenplay...but Chow greatly admires Bruce Lee and would have done the film justice by honoring the series as well as putting his own, unique imprint on it that would have made it a WORLDWIDE success, not just a local US success. Ah well, here I go ranting again...

In Light of the Golden Globes...

Of the movies I've seen, here's my list of the 10 best films of 2009:


#10. District 9

#9. Invictus

#8. Up

#7. Inglourious Basterds

#6. Moon

#5. Star Trek

#4. 500 Days of Summer

#3. The Hangover

#2. Avatar

#1. Up in the Air - excellent script, excellent direction, and a hell of a performance from the three stars. First film that actually made me *like* George Clooney! No, in all seriousness he plays a lovable prick in this Jason Reitman film. Goddamnit!


My apologies to "Precious", "The Hurt Locker", and Meryl Streep as I did not see any of those movies.

Notable mentions:

"The Cove" was perhaps the best documentary of '09 followed by "Food Inc."

"Coraline" was a fantastic animated film and if it wasn't for Pixar, it would have won Best Animated Feature Film IMHO.

Congrats to all the Golden Globe Winners, especially Michael C. Hall for "Dexter." It was also great to see Scorsese get his dues and his award presented by his two stars DeNiro and DiCaprio. Looking forward to "Shutter Island" and "Inception", both DiCaprio films should be great considering they are directed by Scorsese and Nolan, respectively.