I usually stay away from doing movie reviews, the reason should be pretty obvious. But I do have some thoughts which are related to, though not necessarily about, Terminator Salvation, which I just saw. The bottom line first: I think the movie is better, scratch that, much better than you've heard it is. I'd give it about a 7.8. I'll definitely go see the next one if they make it.
My first reaction on just having read some of the reviews again is, "Hmm, these people remember the first two movies a lot differently than I do." I don't view this movie as some sort of egregious affront to the 'Terminator legacy,' whatever that is supposed to be. I've seen Christian Bale's characterization of John Conner disparaged as 'someone who's been told how important he is and has started to believe it.' Duh! If that wasn't what Bale was going for at least he got there by accident. For me it felt true to the character.
Moving on, I'm most surprised by the criticism of one particular element of the ending as 'unoriginal.' Folks, it's a Terminator movie. There are signposts which must appear. That is part of what makes it fun, for me at least. Now, is the ending itself cliched? totally. Predictable? very, especially if you have actually been paying attention to what certain characters have been saying during the darn movie! It's something that can be seen coming a mile away in fact, which really doesn't bother me. What is true is that the way the ending plays now, well, to say that it stretches credibility is an understatement. I guess the difference is knowing the above doesn't kill the rest of the movie for me. If it did for you, then I'm not sure you were expecting the same movie I was. I enjoyed it.
28 May, 2009
19 May, 2009
For all debts public and private
I suppose it's time for me to finally weigh in on the mess currently unfolding (unraveling?) in Phoenix.
It's hard to know where to even begin. For years, it has been rather an open secret in NHL circles that there are a significant number of teams (6 to my count) which find themselves in a catastrophic financial position. These are teams which are not only not profitable, but in some cases teams which are losing many millions of dollars each year. These teams, in no particular order, are: Atlanta, Florida, Tampa Bay, Nashville, Phoenix, and the New York Islanders. It is important to note that for more than six months, it has been the unequivocal position of the commissioner and those in his office that the NHL and all of its teams stand on good financial footing. Comprehensively researched reports in the press have been officially denied, and their authors publically attacked by league officials as having an axe to grind against the administration. Well reckoning has arrived. A court in Phoenix is about to demand full disclosure of the league and its finances as applies to the Phoenix Coyotes.
There are three issues at play in this case: who currently owns/controls/maintains the right to declare the team bankrupt, who is allowed to petition for ownership, and what, exactly, are they buying. In terms of ownership, the NHL is claiming that Jerry Moyes, who is listed as the official owner of the team, turned over control of the team to the NHL itself at some point during 2008. This circumstance is apparently similar to the one which found Major League Baseball essentially owning and running the Montreal Expos until they were moved to Washington and became the Nationals under new ownership. Mr. Moyes is reportedly the team's largest creditor, having personally invested more than $80 million in order to keep the team operating over the last several years. Putting aside the fact that he is the largest creditor, isn't the most fundamental right of a business owner the right to sell that business, or to attempt to recover their debts? turns out, not necessarily. People who sign franchise agreements waive all sorts of rights related to owning and operating their business. Assuming the franchise agreement between Phoenix and the NHL becomes part of the court record, it'll be interesting to finally get a look at one of these. And it'll be interesting to see if an agreement like this one is even found to be binding. Sometimes the government doesn't let you waive certain rights, and contracts which claim to do so are helf to be invalid. Finally, in terms of the ownership/control question, there's a reason why I mentioned the league's previous statements on this matter earlier. Surely you're thinking at this point that this is ridiculous, that the NHL can't claim for half a year that everything is fine while it is secretly paying the bills for one of its teams. Unfortunately they can. Neither the NHL, nor any of its individual teams, is a public entity. A private business can say whatever it wants through the media, it is not held to the same standards as a public corporation. So sadly, the despicable conduct of the league office will likely not be held against it in court.
An obvious question to ask at this point is, why couldn't Moyes simply announce that he was selling his ownership to Jim Balsillie? the answer appears to be that such an action would indeed violate the franchise agreement. So the bankruptcy filing was necessary in order to declare that or any other part of the agreement invalid. But filing bankruptcy also opens up the process to anyone else who might want to buy the team. That's all well and good, but who wants to own a team which can not be moved out of a location which results in an anual loss of tens of millions of dollars? This is why the questions of who will be allowed to make an offer for the team, assuming the process gets that far, and what the rights of the new owner will be, are closely related. It is impossible to imagine anyone stepping forward with an offer which is financially comparable to Balsillie's proposal, unless that individual is in fact a front for the present NHL owners, who will continue to operate the team and sustain its losses. This of course is the point: no one is likely to step forward with a desirable offer under the conditions imposed by the NHL, therefore, in order for the bankruptcy process to provide for the creditors, the court must rule those conditions invalid.
Regardless of what happens in Phoenix, either today or weeks from now, the charade of a financially healthy NHL is ended. This league plays too many games in cities which simply lack enough hockey fans to properly support a team. Expansion has not strengthened the league, it has weakened it. Hopefully a bankruptcy court judge is about to force the NHL to take the first step in fixing this problem.
It's hard to know where to even begin. For years, it has been rather an open secret in NHL circles that there are a significant number of teams (6 to my count) which find themselves in a catastrophic financial position. These are teams which are not only not profitable, but in some cases teams which are losing many millions of dollars each year. These teams, in no particular order, are: Atlanta, Florida, Tampa Bay, Nashville, Phoenix, and the New York Islanders. It is important to note that for more than six months, it has been the unequivocal position of the commissioner and those in his office that the NHL and all of its teams stand on good financial footing. Comprehensively researched reports in the press have been officially denied, and their authors publically attacked by league officials as having an axe to grind against the administration. Well reckoning has arrived. A court in Phoenix is about to demand full disclosure of the league and its finances as applies to the Phoenix Coyotes.
There are three issues at play in this case: who currently owns/controls/maintains the right to declare the team bankrupt, who is allowed to petition for ownership, and what, exactly, are they buying. In terms of ownership, the NHL is claiming that Jerry Moyes, who is listed as the official owner of the team, turned over control of the team to the NHL itself at some point during 2008. This circumstance is apparently similar to the one which found Major League Baseball essentially owning and running the Montreal Expos until they were moved to Washington and became the Nationals under new ownership. Mr. Moyes is reportedly the team's largest creditor, having personally invested more than $80 million in order to keep the team operating over the last several years. Putting aside the fact that he is the largest creditor, isn't the most fundamental right of a business owner the right to sell that business, or to attempt to recover their debts? turns out, not necessarily. People who sign franchise agreements waive all sorts of rights related to owning and operating their business. Assuming the franchise agreement between Phoenix and the NHL becomes part of the court record, it'll be interesting to finally get a look at one of these. And it'll be interesting to see if an agreement like this one is even found to be binding. Sometimes the government doesn't let you waive certain rights, and contracts which claim to do so are helf to be invalid. Finally, in terms of the ownership/control question, there's a reason why I mentioned the league's previous statements on this matter earlier. Surely you're thinking at this point that this is ridiculous, that the NHL can't claim for half a year that everything is fine while it is secretly paying the bills for one of its teams. Unfortunately they can. Neither the NHL, nor any of its individual teams, is a public entity. A private business can say whatever it wants through the media, it is not held to the same standards as a public corporation. So sadly, the despicable conduct of the league office will likely not be held against it in court.
An obvious question to ask at this point is, why couldn't Moyes simply announce that he was selling his ownership to Jim Balsillie? the answer appears to be that such an action would indeed violate the franchise agreement. So the bankruptcy filing was necessary in order to declare that or any other part of the agreement invalid. But filing bankruptcy also opens up the process to anyone else who might want to buy the team. That's all well and good, but who wants to own a team which can not be moved out of a location which results in an anual loss of tens of millions of dollars? This is why the questions of who will be allowed to make an offer for the team, assuming the process gets that far, and what the rights of the new owner will be, are closely related. It is impossible to imagine anyone stepping forward with an offer which is financially comparable to Balsillie's proposal, unless that individual is in fact a front for the present NHL owners, who will continue to operate the team and sustain its losses. This of course is the point: no one is likely to step forward with a desirable offer under the conditions imposed by the NHL, therefore, in order for the bankruptcy process to provide for the creditors, the court must rule those conditions invalid.
Regardless of what happens in Phoenix, either today or weeks from now, the charade of a financially healthy NHL is ended. This league plays too many games in cities which simply lack enough hockey fans to properly support a team. Expansion has not strengthened the league, it has weakened it. Hopefully a bankruptcy court judge is about to force the NHL to take the first step in fixing this problem.
12 May, 2009
Bring back the echoes!
I'm well aware that the above is the calling card of another sports institution. But you know what? I'm stealin' it! it's not like those concerned will need it anytime soon. As of 10:15PM, meet the new owners of the best record in Major League Baseball. Let's Go Blue Jays!
What a night. The Rogers Centre hasn't rocked that hard for a Blue Jays game since 1993. Before A.J. Burnett had even stepped on the mound, Travis Snider gunned down Johnny Damon as he tried to stretch a single and brought the house down. It was only upward and onward from there, as Roy Halladay did his 'best pitcher in baseball' thing and blew the Yankees out of the stadium through the 6th. How great a night was it? In the 7th inning a fan threw an A-Rod foul ball back on the field. A 3-4 night from Scott Rolen and an Aaron Hill home run was all the offense the home team needed. At the end of the night, we were left with a 5-1 win for the good guys, vengeance against the pitcher who spurned us for greener pastures and pinstripes, yet another Roy Halladay complete game masterpiece (9ip 5h 1r 1er 5k 0bb), a 4-0 record in the AL East, and the best record in baseball. Even if the season takes a dive from here, even if this magic ends after midnight, Blue Jay fans will still have May 12 2009, which is more than we've had for a long, long time.
What a night. The Rogers Centre hasn't rocked that hard for a Blue Jays game since 1993. Before A.J. Burnett had even stepped on the mound, Travis Snider gunned down Johnny Damon as he tried to stretch a single and brought the house down. It was only upward and onward from there, as Roy Halladay did his 'best pitcher in baseball' thing and blew the Yankees out of the stadium through the 6th. How great a night was it? In the 7th inning a fan threw an A-Rod foul ball back on the field. A 3-4 night from Scott Rolen and an Aaron Hill home run was all the offense the home team needed. At the end of the night, we were left with a 5-1 win for the good guys, vengeance against the pitcher who spurned us for greener pastures and pinstripes, yet another Roy Halladay complete game masterpiece (9ip 5h 1r 1er 5k 0bb), a 4-0 record in the AL East, and the best record in baseball. Even if the season takes a dive from here, even if this magic ends after midnight, Blue Jay fans will still have May 12 2009, which is more than we've had for a long, long time.
10 May, 2009
It isn't paranoia when they're really after you
So I just got around to watching the last minute of the Nuggets/Mavericks game from yesterday and...wow. I expect an ending like that to come out of pro wrestling, not pro sports. Now I'm not saying that game was rigged or anything. Screw it, that's exactly what I'm saying. Because for that to happen and then for the NBA to come out with a statement which basically says 'uh, oops, sorry about that, but you're still down 3-0' is the same damn thing! I guess it does lead credence to what I've been saying lately about how the NBA rule book only seems to contain rules when the league and its officials want it to.
07 May, 2009
Everything really is bigger in L.A.
Yeah, they won't have anything to talk about on the 10P pacific SsportsCenter tonight.
What do you know? there actually is something that can yank the Lakers off the front page during a playoff run.
Well...um...
This is uncharted terratory for Major League Baseball. Worst case scenario. Premier player, face of a franchise, in the prime of his career, consistent numbers, tests positive mid-season. There are a few things that have to happen, preferably before close of business tomorrow. The list of 104 names has to be released. And the Commissioner's Office alongside MLBPA need to make a joint statement that they have agreed to an emergency amendment to baseball's CBA permitting blood testing. All three active leagues are having a bad week; an NHL team has declared bankruptcy, and the NBA may suspend one of its marquee players for an oncourt incident Wednesday night. But this is a disaster.
What do you know? there actually is something that can yank the Lakers off the front page during a playoff run.
Well...um...
This is uncharted terratory for Major League Baseball. Worst case scenario. Premier player, face of a franchise, in the prime of his career, consistent numbers, tests positive mid-season. There are a few things that have to happen, preferably before close of business tomorrow. The list of 104 names has to be released. And the Commissioner's Office alongside MLBPA need to make a joint statement that they have agreed to an emergency amendment to baseball's CBA permitting blood testing. All three active leagues are having a bad week; an NHL team has declared bankruptcy, and the NBA may suspend one of its marquee players for an oncourt incident Wednesday night. But this is a disaster.
04 May, 2009
AHHHH! NOOOO!
For the love of...what have they done to Barbie?!
One of the things I am profoundly grateful that I can't see, and it is a very short list, is a tattoo on an *otherwise* beautiful girl. Under different circumstances, this foolishness can actually be put to good use. Aside from a cigarette, I can't think of a bigger signal a girl could put up that would inspire me to keep looking. Of course I can't see them, so I'm force to hate them on principle.
One of the things I am profoundly grateful that I can't see, and it is a very short list, is a tattoo on an *otherwise* beautiful girl. Under different circumstances, this foolishness can actually be put to good use. Aside from a cigarette, I can't think of a bigger signal a girl could put up that would inspire me to keep looking. Of course I can't see them, so I'm force to hate them on principle.
Cursing the darkness, with not a match to hand
I don't even know why I'm bothering this morning. What's the point? Clearly people don't care, and are even less interested in listening. The truth is, when you've been warning of disaster, that you are proven right is no comfort in the end; you're just as dead. Well what the hell am I supposed to think after reading this?
See? What the hell good is it pointing out that I said this would happen, that thousands more said the same thing. Obviously people didn't give a damn, and still don't.
But so what? So what if the White House forces a bunch of rich people and hedge funds and bankers to eat billions of dollars in losses, to take 20 cents on the dollar? Who cares. Well, it looks mighty funny for the President to be saying out of one side of his mouth that he's doing everything possible to open up the credit markets again while with the other side telling banks and investors to suck on it. And here's another question, if the United States is no longer a nation of laws, the bankruptcy laws in this case, then what is it? Just what do you think of a government which so blatantly uses its country's banking system as a slush fund it can use to repay political favours. Because that's exactly what is happening. The government is intimidating bond holders into taking a deal worse than the one they would get in court, for no other purpose than securing a better share for the United Auto Workers than they would receive under the current bankruptcy laws.
Let me put this another way in case you're still not getting it. Just what do you think is going to happen to the flow of credit into industries with politically powerful unions in the future if this sort of government coercion is allowed to fly? And if that isn't bad enough, consider what this will do to the secondary credit market - the market which involves the selling of debt to a third-party on the theory that the debt will at least hold value during a bankruptcy. And of course the fact that debt holds no or little to no resale value will make lenders even more wary of extending credit in the first place. My head hurts.
Lauria: Let me tell you it’s no fun standing on this side of the fence opposing the President of the United States. In fact, let me just say, people have asked me who I represent. That’s a moving target. I can tell you for sure that I represent one less investor today than I represented yesterday. One of my clients was directly threatened by the White House and in essence compelled to withdraw its opposition to the deal under the threat that the full force of the White House Press Corps would destroy its reputation if it continued to fight. That’s how hard it is to stand on this side of the fence.
Beckman: Was that Perella Weinberg?
Lauria: That was Perella Weinberg.
See? What the hell good is it pointing out that I said this would happen, that thousands more said the same thing. Obviously people didn't give a damn, and still don't.
But so what? So what if the White House forces a bunch of rich people and hedge funds and bankers to eat billions of dollars in losses, to take 20 cents on the dollar? Who cares. Well, it looks mighty funny for the President to be saying out of one side of his mouth that he's doing everything possible to open up the credit markets again while with the other side telling banks and investors to suck on it. And here's another question, if the United States is no longer a nation of laws, the bankruptcy laws in this case, then what is it? Just what do you think of a government which so blatantly uses its country's banking system as a slush fund it can use to repay political favours. Because that's exactly what is happening. The government is intimidating bond holders into taking a deal worse than the one they would get in court, for no other purpose than securing a better share for the United Auto Workers than they would receive under the current bankruptcy laws.
Let me put this another way in case you're still not getting it. Just what do you think is going to happen to the flow of credit into industries with politically powerful unions in the future if this sort of government coercion is allowed to fly? And if that isn't bad enough, consider what this will do to the secondary credit market - the market which involves the selling of debt to a third-party on the theory that the debt will at least hold value during a bankruptcy. And of course the fact that debt holds no or little to no resale value will make lenders even more wary of extending credit in the first place. My head hurts.
02 May, 2009
Wide World of Sports
It's rare for a sports fan to be granted an embarrassment of riches the likes of which we find ourselves given today. Simply looking down the list, it's almost mind numbing.
Penguins@Capitals (game 1)
Mets@Phillies
The Kentucky Derby
The Crown Royal 400 (Richomnd)
Bulls@Celtics (game 7)
Blackhawks@Canucks (game 2)
Padres@Dodgers
Pacquiao Hatton
Preparations must be made, coolers must be stocked, remote batteries must be checked. What a day!
Penguins@Capitals (game 1)
Mets@Phillies
The Kentucky Derby
The Crown Royal 400 (Richomnd)
Bulls@Celtics (game 7)
Blackhawks@Canucks (game 2)
Padres@Dodgers
Pacquiao Hatton
Preparations must be made, coolers must be stocked, remote batteries must be checked. What a day!
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