RobertR

Just to be different, Wisconsin is the birthplace and home of Frank Lloyd Wright. A Wright architectural tour is something to consider. Wingspread in Racine ( http://www.johnsonfdn.org/contact-us/tours-johnson-foundation-wingspread ) is probably the closest major Wright building. It's probably too far for a day trip, unless you're very ambitious, but Wright's home and studio Taliesin in Spring Green is about 2 hours from Milwaukee. Reserve a tour in advance ( http://www.taliesinpreservation.org/ ). The Edelweiss boat tour ( https://www.edelweissboats.com/ ) is probably a good bet for a few hours. For a rainy day excursion, if there's something of interest in the main house at the Oriental theater ( http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/Milwaukee/OrientalTheatre.htm )you'll get to see one of the nation's best examples of an old fashioned movie palace. And, if the weather cooperates, there are many fine examples of parks and beaches in southeast Wisconsin. Consider packing a picnic and enjoying the outdoors. If you're into motorcycles, the Harley Davidson museum is likely worth a visit. Robert

Time to play catch up. Moneyball This is definitely a simplified version of reality. A somewhat inaccurate one as well. That said, I think it's a really solid movie anchored by Brad Pitt. Sure, Brad Pitt doesn't transform himself, but without those actor's crutches of an accent or a distinctive look, you get to see what an actor truly brings to the table in terms of charisma and subtlety. The movie also knows that life is full of contradictions asking "How can you not be romantic about baseball" while showing people using stats to find market inefficiencies. It's not a mindblowing movie, but it's a really solid one from unlikely source material. The Trip This is really a meta-movie with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon playing "Steve Coogan" and "Rob Brydon". They take a trip through northern England as Coogan works on an article on great restaurants of the region and they bond, try to one-up each other doing impressions (their Michael Caine is truly inspired), while Coogan ponders his mortality and place in history amidst great historical and geological features. It's probably about 15 to 20 minutes too long as it does get a bit repetitive, but it's certainly well worth a rental. 50/50 Another funny film about mortality, although with much more immediate stakes. I'm a fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and he continues his string of good work. The script is solid and while it's not devoid of manipulation, it comes up with clever variations on the standard way of looking at coping with cancer. Seth Rogen was fine. I'm not a big Anna Kendrick fan and this didn't change that any. OTOH, I thought Anjelica Huston was terrific with relatively little to work with. Hanna The action/spy thriller/fairy tale movie of 2011, which is pretty much a genre unto itself. It's nice to see Joe Wright stretch out of the "Masterpiece Theater" mode and into something contemporary and action based. Wright brings style to the proceedings and Saoirse Ronan brings the heart. Cate Blanchett makes a terrific villain. I don't think there's a lot of meat on the bones of the story, but as an exercise in genre style it's pretty top notch. The Bakery Girl of Monceau Suzanne's Career My Night at Maud's I'm working through Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Tales series, these are the first three. They all are fairly formalistic, lots of talking, nothing in the way of flashy camera moves, long takes, but they all have intriguing moral problems, usually with the protagonist having to choose between two women, without obvious solutions. My Night at Maud's is clearly the best of the bunch, the first two are basically Rohmer establishing his style and are a bit slight, while Maud's is a full course meal of terrific acting, great dialogue, palpable chemistry between the two leads, and really solid cinematography. Rashomon I probably have talked about this before. It's a certified classic for a reason. Robert

My predictions: Actor in a Leading Role •George Clooney in "The Descendants" It could easily be Dujardin, but I think Clooney as kind of the ultimate Hollywood insider gets it here. Actor in a Supporting Role •Christopher Plummer in "Beginners" Plummer's been the frontrunner all along, and I don't think anything has changed. Actress in a Leading Role •Viola Davis in "The Help" I could see Meryl Streep picking up her first since Sophie's Choice, but Viola Davis has been the frontrunner for awhile and The Help is very popular. Actress in a Supporting Role •Octavia Spencer in "The Help" I suppose Bejo is a Dark Horse, but I think Spencer is as much a lock as anyone. Animated Feature Film •"Rango" Gore Verbinski I've no doubt that the French films are good, but Rango has this in the bag. Art Direction •"The Artist" Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould Hugo could and probably should get the win here, but I think The Artist is going to pick up some wins as part of its roll to Best Picture. Cinematography •"The Tree of Life" Emmanuel Lubezki Whatever else you can say about Tree of Life, spectacular cinematography is among its chief assets. Costume Design •"Jane Eyre" Michael O'Connor This might be the most competitive category of the night as I think Hugo and The Artist are both in contention. I'll go with the Gothic romance. Directing •"The Artist" Michel Hazanavicius I don't think there's a split this year, although Scorsese picking one up seems the only other possibility. Documentary (Feature) •"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory" Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs When in doubt, go with the one most of the Academy has heard of. Documentary (Short Subject) •"Saving Face" Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy I know nothing here except for what I read and this is apparently the favorite. Film Editing •"The Artist" Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius I'm taking this as a bellweather for Best Picture. Foreign Language Film •"A Separation" Iran Frankly, A Separation is a better movie than all of the Best Picture nominees. Makeup •"The Iron Lady" Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland Why not? Music (Original Score) •"The Artist" Ludovic Bource I hate the decision to use the theme from Vertigo for the climax, but this "silent" film wouldn't work as well as it does without the lush score. Music (Original Song) •"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie Lock of the night. Best Picture •"The Artist" Thomas Langmann, Producer Hugo or The Help seem like the only films with a shot, but I don't see an upset brewing. Short Film (Animated) •"La Luna" Enrico Casarosa No idea. Wild guess. Short Film (Live Action) •"Raju" Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren I haven't seen any, but my understanding is that this is the serious one among a group of funnier ones. I'm hoping it stands out in a crowd and the comedies split the vote. Sound Editing •"Hugo" Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty The Artist isn't eligible. Sound Mixing •"Hugo" Tom Fleischman and John Midgley The Artist isn't eligible. Visual Effects •"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett Andy Serkis plus CGI apes for the win. Writing (Adapted Screenplay) •"The Descendants" Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash I hope Community works the Oscar into Dean Pelton's office when it returns. Writing (Original Screenplay) •"Midnight in Paris" Written by Woody Allen A Separation has the best screenplay. The Artist could pull the upset, but I think Woody takes this one and I don't have an issue with it. The premise is clever, the voices of the characters are pitch perfect, and Woody throws in a surprising twist in the third act with the Belle Epoque. That's how I see it anyways. Use these picks in your Oscar pool at your peril. Robert

Seems the place to ask questions over players I'm having a tough time evaluating. What's Ryan Vogelsong worth in a 12 team, $260 cap, NL only, 4x4? I have the option of keeping him for $10 but I'm also seeing if there's trade interest. Robert

As I said, I can only assume Abrams is messing with us. Or he realizes he has no distinctive style of his own and is trying to come up with something. At this point, I have no idea what a JJ Abrams movie actually is. He's tackled two preexisting franchises and a deliberate throwback. At some point, he has to create something with no cinematic predecessor, or at least make something radically different than what came before. Robert

Catching up on my DVD watching. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II If you liked the series overall, I can't see complaints about the last film. They make a good decision by turning the film into a siege movie which gives the film structure. I'm not pleased overall by the decision to split the last book in two, but moreso because of Part I. The Exterminating Angel Woody Allen inspired me to check this out via Midnight in Paris. It's my second Bunuel film and I'm already becoming a big fan. It's absurd, sharp, and satirical all at once. Super 8 I really liked the kids making movies material, but the alien monster on the loose material never felt integrated into the story in a satisfactory way. I can only assume that JJ Abrams is messing with us with lens flare at this point. Lots of good ingredients that never come together. The Ghost Writer It's Roman Polanski, so if you're boycotting I'm not arguing. That said, it's one of the best thrillers I've seen in a long time, harkening back to the paranoid thrillers of the 70s. Scandal Akira Kurosawa's 1950 film about unscrupulous newspapermen, noble artists, and a lowlife lawyer playing both sides. I've never seen Kurosawa so blatantly manipulative before and I hope to never see it again. It's not a terrible picture and there are some genuine moments of inspiration, but Kurosawa is clearly angry so it clouds his judgement of what makes a good movie. I've gone over Moneyball and The Help in the Oscars thread. Moneyball's a good movie, The Help is tolerable solely due to the acting. The Thin Man and After the Thin Man I watched these New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and they're entirely appropriate. William Powell and Myrna Loy are still completely winning. I don't know if the mysteries are anything special, but when you're having this much fun who cares. Robert

I wouldn't even call The Artist that good an emulation of the silent era. There's nothing in it as ambitious as what Chaplin, Keaton, Murnau, Eisenstein, Dreyer, etc. were producing on a regular basis. Granted, there were plenty of movies in that era that were right on the level of The Artist, but The Artist looks positively quaint when compared to City Lights,The General, Safety Last,The Passion of Joan of Arc, Battleship Potemkin, Nosferatu, Metropolis, Haxan, Nanook of the North, Intolerance, or Sunrise.... My biggest problem with The Help was Bryce Dallas Howard as the face of institutional racism. She's a complete paper tiger made to look like a fool when anyone bothers to stand up to her. As a metaphor she's a complete failure completely underselling how ingrained and powerful racism is. It's as big a cheat as the main character delivering a big speech to save the day. I understand that you don't always have to treat every serious subject with complete earnestness, but it's hard to take any of the character "triumphs" seriously with that weak of a villain. The Help tries to have it both ways, and, IMO, comes up short in both directions. Although, it must be said, fine acting across the board. Robert

Name dropper. I, for one, am jealous. Robert

I think "gimmicky" is the word I'd use for The Artist. I've seen the movie. Twice in fact due to circumstances. And I don't see how it's the frontrunner either except that it's a film that plays broadly and it's a real crowd pleaser. How this may win Best Picture while better post-1927 silent films like City Lights got shut out will be a mystery to me. FWIW, here's my personal ranking of the BP nominees that I've seen. Tree of Life - Pretentious as it is, the 50s childhood scenes really hit home with me. Plus it is beautiful, even if the Sean Penn bookends are problematic. Midnight in Paris - Fun. Briskly paced. No bloat. A novel concept which is treated playfully. And good and funny performances throughout the cast. War Horse - Yes, it is a sentimental tearjerking melodrama featuring a horse. It doesn't try to hide that at all. Plus, Spielberg is taken for granted, the windmill shot would be the highlight of most director's filmographies. Hugo - Can 15 to 20 great minutes about cinematic history elevate an otherwise o.k. movie to Best Picture? It does look great throughout, but it's a kids film for adults. Moneyball - Solid across the board, but is there any greatness in it? The Artist - A simple story told well. Well acted. Distinctive. Very slight. The Help - It's well acted, but it seems to bounce between wanting to tackle serious issues and being cartoony. Robert

I think Pitt is getting a little extra credit for Moneyball. Pitt, more than anyone, kept the project alive when a lot of people would have let it die after Soderbergh's version got the "no go" from the studio. And, Pitt has the reputation of the being a "character actor trapped in a leading man's body" and this is one of the times he really embraced his star persona for a film. Moneyball isn't a great film, but I think you can make a good case that it works because Pitt and Hill work. I liked The Artist albeit with some issues. However, "pretentious" isn't the word I'd use for it. Not for a film that relies on a cute dog to get laughs. The team behind The Artist seems to just like taking older film types and recreating them as their OSS 117 series of films is a throwback to 60s spy spoofs. To me, The Artist is basically a better spin on the Austin Powers type of throwback film. Besides, "pretentious" should be saved for Tree of Life. And I liked that film a lot. Mind you, I also write 2500+ word, nerdy dissections of Kurosawa's movies, so that should say something about where I'm coming from. Robert

I'll agree with the general sentiment that it's not a very exciting list of nominees. But, other than Harry Potter, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Bridesmaids getting Best Picture nominations, I don't see much out there that would excite the general public and be credible. It's not like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is some huge hit which would make the Awards more interesting to the general public. Likewise, Drive and Warrior didn't exactly set the box office on fire. And, it's always a longshot that a foreign film gets a nomination unless it's a big hit. So, like usual, we get a lot of middle of the road picks that appeal to the Baby Boomer demographic. The Help appeals to women and is about IMPORTANT ISSUES. Hugo and The Artist are about film history. The Descendants and Moneyball are popular dramas anchored by two of Hollywood's biggest stars. Midnight in Paris is the art house hit. Tree of Life is the critically acclaimed art film. War Horse and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close are the ones that aim straight for emotions. Robert

And, some thoughts. You can tell that voting took place a few weeks back. Before Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close got pummelled by critics and ignored by audiences. The Artist is clearly the front runner. If there's an upset, I think only The Help, Midnight in Paris, and The Descendants have a chance to pull it off. The Foreign Language Film category is probably stronger than the Best Picture category. Also, good for the Academy for nominating A Separation for Original Screenplay. That's a terrific adult film with a smart script. I thought Tintin was a shoe-in for a Best Animated Feature nomination. Shows what I know. I'm happy Rango is going to win though. As usual, the Documentary category is more about what the film is about than how well it's made. Although, I hear Pina is terrific. The Artist is going to win Best Score even though it uses the theme from Vertigo for the climax of the movie. Discuss. FWIW, I've seen 7 of the 9 Best Picture nominees, missing The Descendants and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. I'll likely see The Descendants before the awards are handed out. Also, I highly, highly recommend A Separation which I believe is opening in Milwaukee on February 10th. Robert

Here are the nominees. Actor in a Leading Role Demián Bichir in "A Better Life" George Clooney in "The Descendants" Jean Dujardin in "The Artist" Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Brad Pitt in "Moneyball" Actor in a Supporting Role Kenneth Branagh in "My Week with Marilyn" Jonah Hill in "Moneyball" Nick Nolte in "Warrior" Christopher Plummer in "Beginners" Max von Sydow in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" Actress in a Leading Role Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs" Viola Davis in "The Help" Rooney Mara in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady" Michelle Williams in "My Week with Marilyn" Actress in a Supporting Role Bérénice Bejo in "The Artist" Jessica Chastain in "The Help" Melissa McCarthy in "Bridesmaids" Janet McTeer in "Albert Nobbs" Octavia Spencer in "The Help" Animated Feature Film "A Cat in Paris" Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli "Chico & Rita" Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal "Kung Fu Panda 2" Jennifer Yuh Nelson "Puss in Boots" Chris Miller "Rango" Gore Verbinski Art Direction "The Artist" Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan "Hugo" Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo "Midnight in Paris" Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil "War Horse" Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales Cinematography "The Artist" Guillaume Schiffman "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Jeff Cronenweth "Hugo" Robert Richardson "The Tree of Life" Emmanuel Lubezki "War Horse" Janusz Kaminski Costume Design "Anonymous" Lisy Christl "The Artist" Mark Bridges "Hugo" Sandy Powell "Jane Eyre" Michael O'Connor "W.E." Arianne Phillips Directing "The Artist" Michel Hazanavicius "The Descendants" Alexander Payne "Hugo" Martin Scorsese "Midnight in Paris" Woody Allen "The Tree of Life" Terrence Malick Documentary (Feature) "Hell and Back Again" Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front" Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory" Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs "Pina" Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel "Undefeated" TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas Documentary (Short Subject) "The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement" Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin "God Is the Bigger Elvis" Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson "Incident in New Baghdad" James Spione "Saving Face" Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy "The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom" Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen Film Editing "The Artist" Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius "The Descendants" Kevin Tent "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall "Hugo" Thelma Schoonmaker "Moneyball" Christopher Tellefsen Foreign Language Film "Bullhead" Belgium "Footnote" Israel "In Darkness" Poland "Monsieur Lazhar" Canada "A Separation" Iran Makeup "Albert Nobbs" Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng "The Iron Lady" Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland Music (Original Score) "The Adventures of Tintin" John Williams "The Artist" Ludovic Bource "Hugo" Howard Shore "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Alberto Iglesias "War Horse" John Williams Music (Original Song) "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie "Real in Rio" from "Rio" Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett Best Picture "The Artist" Thomas Langmann, Producer "The Descendants" Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" Scott Rudin, Producer "The Help" Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers "Hugo" Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers "Midnight in Paris" Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers "Moneyball" Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers "The Tree of Life" Nominees to be determined "War Horse" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers Short Film (Animated) "Dimanche/Sunday" Patrick Doyon "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore" William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg "La Luna" Enrico Casarosa "A Morning Stroll" Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe "Wild Life" Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby Short Film (Live Action) "Pentecost" Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane "Raju" Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren "The Shore" Terry George and Oorlagh George "Time Freak" Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey "Tuba Atlantic" Hallvar Witzø Sound Editing "Drive" Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Ren Klyce "Hugo" Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl "War Horse" Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom Sound Mixing "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson "Hugo" Tom Fleischman and John Midgley "Moneyball" Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin "War Horse" Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson Visual Effects "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson "Hugo" Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning "Real Steel" Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier Writing (Adapted Screenplay) "The Descendants" Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash "Hugo" Screenplay by John Logan "The Ides of March" Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon "Moneyball" Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan Writing (Original Screenplay) "The Artist" Written by Michel Hazanavicius "Bridesmaids" Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig "Margin Call" Written by J.C. Chandor "Midnight in Paris" Written by Woody Allen "A Separation" Written by Asghar Farhadi

I'll add that if the media likes you, they'll find a way to forgive you. Andy Pettitte being the prime example. If Braun is cleared, I expect that the media will be fairly forgiving as he seems to be well liked. Robert

I've always said that awards typically reveal more about the voters than it does about those that are awarded. Apparently the voters are a bunch of people that know nothing about baseball, and think they're voting for the actual Hall of Fame. The process is broken. Frankly, the Brewers should end this sham and just put whoever they want as an organization in the walk. Robert

Why are we only looking at one year's worth of data? Maybe it's a trend. Maybe it's an off year. Clearly Zambrano isn't the player he was at his peak, but by simple measures such as ERA+, Zambrano's been clearly more valuable than Volstad over the last 4 years, which comprise Volstad's career. That's without including Zambrano's bat. And it's not like Zambrano's terribly old. If there weren't concerns, justified, about his attitude, I bet there would be quite a few people touting Zambrano as a bounceback candidate simply by regression to the mean of his three year average. I'll admit that my choice might be neither, as I'm pretty convinced that there's no real upside to Volstad. He's possibly an o.k. option at the back end of your rotation, but he's only really tolerable so long as he's cheap and he may be a bad fit for Wrigley. For 2012, I think there's plenty of argument that Zambrano has a higher upside. At least on the field. Robert

It's clear that the Cubs had no leverage here. Zambrano is hellishly overpaid and a distraction in the clubhouse, but when you combine his bat and pitching he still has value on the field. It's clear that the Marlins want to contend this year in their new stadium and there's certainly more upside with Zambrano than Volstad. The Cubs replaced Zambrano's innings which will likely make 2012 semi-tolerable instead of a disaster, but I don't think they'll look back on this as anymore than appeasing the fanbase in the long run. Robert

High average contact hitter with possibly very little MLB power, good but not great speed, and possibly with not enough arm strength for CF? How does that not sound like Juan Pierre? Sure, that might be the low end of expectations for Aoki, but I don't think it's a non-zero possibility. Especially if there's a learning curve for his transition. It should be noted that I don't think Juan Pierre is a terrible player that brings nothing to the table. Overrated and overpaid at his peak, sure, but still a useful player and by all accounts a good guy to have in the clubhouse. Now, maybe Aoki will drive the ball more than Pierre ever did and rack up quite a few doubles and turn out to be fairly valuable. I'm just saying that there needs to be a reasonable range of expectations for him and the Brewers need to cover themselves for the lower end of expectations as best they're able. I'm sure that we'll all have a read on him fairly quickly at the big league level if he has any power, but in the meantime I think the question is best left open. Robert

If Braun's suspension holds, I'd think that you'd want to split the playing time between Aoki and Gindl to see what you have out of both of them. Ichiro-light could be Juan Pierre with less speed. If the Brewers had signed Juan Pierre, would people be making all these future plans? Robert

Hey, feel free to disagree. I'd rather start a conversation than end it. I don't think any of the superhero movies from last year will have that much staying power. I really liked the first half to two-thirds of Captain America, but when it turned into a series of montages it felt like it was just marking time until the big fight at the end. Was I supposed to care about Bucky? Green Lantern was messy throughout, although I really didn't think it was that much worse than the other superhero films of the summer. Thor was the least problematic to me, probably because Branagh's good at the family drama aspects, but SHIELD seemed wedged in there just to give Thor someone to fight in the middle. Honestly, Vaughn's a talented director, but looking at his pictures as wholes they're a lot less satisfying than seen as a series of individual scenes. You bounce from deadly serious scenes of Magneto hunting former Nazis to a CIA agent stripping down who happens to be wearing a fetishtic lingerie ensemble on the spur of the moment? Is the tone serious or slightly campy? I don't know if the film ever settles on a tone. I have similar issues with Kick Ass where Nic Cage and Chloe Moretz wander in from a different movie than the one established. Robert

Compared to January Jones, Jennifer Lawrence should get an Oscar for her work in X-Men. Robert

From what I understand, it's common for players to get kickbacks from the Japanese ballclubs to sign. I'm skeptical of C.J. Wilson longterm, so I can certainly see someone preferring Darvish to Wilson. Robert

I've probably said it multiple times before, but Kurosawa's Stray Dog rocks. It's a great, early police procedural / action film. We rented Horrible Bosses and I don't feel strongly about it in either direction. There are things that work, Colin Ferrell in particular, but there's not enough of the things that work, the plot seems to belabor the setup, and it coasts a lot on the charms of the cast. The cast is game, but Ferrell is the only one that's really inspired. Kevin Spacey probably could play his part in his sleep, which kind of takes out any kind of surprise factor. X-Men: First Class had me with Michael Fassbender, superpowered James Bond. He's great and James McAvoy and Jennifer Lawrence are also very good. I wish the initial spy premise of the film had lasted longer, but at about the midway point it basically turns into a rehash of the first X-Men movie with extended montage/training scenes. And some dodgy CGI. Ultimately I think it's enjoyable blockbuster entertainment, but Fassbender in particular clearly outshined the rest of the material. I tried watching Insidious, but never could get into it. When I started having problems with the DVD I said the heck with it. In theaters, I enjoyed Hugo, but the second half concentrating on Ben Kingsley is vastly superior to the Hugo Cabret portion of the story. The Artist is a real crowd pleaser and charming, although the story is slight and there are nits to be picked with its conceit. Plus, I think the choice for music at the climax is an enormous cheat. Robert

I don't think ARam was getting a better deal if he played for another year. $36 million guaranteed is still greater than $16 million guaranteed. Plus, the Cubs aren't likely to win in the near future, and it might be worth it to ARam, who's set for life already, to play for a playoff contender at the sacrifice of a couple of million. Robert

Honestly, I think it's a mistake looking at individual years of the deal instead of the present value of the deal as a whole. Yeah, he'll be overpaid in 2014. And he could be significantly underpaid in 2012. I'm not necessarily a fan of extravagant structuring of a deal, but the present value of the contract is really the bottom line. If you have to toss in $6 million to trade him in 2014, that probably is better than giving him an extra $6 million in 2012. Robert