Ugh. The worst part of the baseball season has arrived. Two days without any baseball surrounding a day with a meaningless game given artificial significance with players selected mostly for name-recognition.
The All-Star Game disgusts me. On the one hand, I have no problem with letting fans select which players they want to see in this game. On the other, I have no problem giving the game significance by having home-field-advantage in the World Series turn on which league wins the ASG. Putting the two together is rather less than intelligent, and ruins my ability to enjoy the game.
If the game is so unimportant that fans select the players, then make it a fun atmosphere, make the game insignificant, surround it with silly and inane things, let the players have wide latitude, give the fans high access. Basically, I’m thinking Rock ‘n’ Jock. Utterly watchable, fun for all, and inconsequential.
If the game has importance in the grand scheme, such as possibly having a determinative impact on who wins the World Series, then selection of the players should be entirely based on who gives the team the best chance to win, NOT based on fan popularity. The game should be treated as a serious game, the best players should play the majority of the game, and the hoopla surrounding the event should be minimized.
Put the two together, and you get what is essentially a silly event to showcase popular players having a determinative impact on the season. It’s just awful. So tune off that Home-run Derby, ignore the ASG, and demonstrate to Mr. Selig that this particular renovation of the game is unworkable.
Until yesterday, I’d never been to a movie where the audience cheered during the movie and applauded at the end. Transformers, despite certain hiccups, was certainly worth that treatment. The major reasons: incredible special-effects, really good story line, and adherence to the traditional story-telling rules regarding building of tension, a strong climax, and short but necessary anti-climax. There were no epic battle scenes - only a handful of robots per side made each individual conflict matter to the story, and it certainly didn’t hurt to have the original voice of Optimus Prime return to the role. It had its downfalls - cliches abound and the humor is, at times, very adult (watch out, theater jam-packed with kids…) The acting is usually just fine, but certain aspects (Jon Voight, I’m looking at you) was rough, flat, or just not good.
I’m also sick of the handsome-teen-actor-being-portrayed-as-total-loser-but-getting-with-the-uncomfortably-attractive-actress-who’s-obviously-in-her-mid-20s schtick. Word to the not-so-wise directors of the world: you obviously can get away with casting not-supermodel men with good acting abilities, and whether you want to believe it or not, movies would be more enjoyable if you didn’t feel the need to populate your entire fictional worlds with men that run the whole gamut (skinny, fat, attractive, not-so-attractive, etc.), yet all the women look like they’ve just come from a Victoria’s Secret catalogue. This leads to a serious interruption of the suspension of disbelief. Find an occasional normal lady (heck, I think I’ll just settle for run-of-the-mill attractive. It’d be a step in the right direction).
But all this comes after long reflection, because for the first hour after you walk out of the theater, you’ll be stumbling around going, WOW. It’s not perfect, and it’s not for everyone, but it is definitely worth the six bucks.
