At The Movies

Third Monday Movie Day

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Movie of the Month: Following (Christopher Nolan, 1998)

Following is a lean little movie (69 minutes) that's clearly made on a shoestring budget, but first-time director Christopher Nolan knew what he was doing as far as plot, tension and language were concerned. This black-and-white film full of no-name actors won't catch the eye of the average viewer, but it's well worth pulling up on Netflix streaming to see the humble beginnings of a man who would become one of America's premier directors within less than a decade.

The Young Man (Jeremy Theobald, and yes, "The Young Man" is the character's name) has an obsession with following strangers, just to see who they are and what they do. He makes the mistake of following Cobb (Alex Haw, in his one and only film credit), who believes the young man to be a cop about to nail him for his own fetish: breaking into houses and leaving traces of activity, though never stealing anything of note. The Blonde (Lucy Russell, the most consistently working actor in this film, though you won't recognize her) figures into the story with both men, but the more I tell you, the more I ruin.

Following is told out of order, and essentially is about a man with one great flaw who's being used by other people in ways he can't imagine, and he doesn't have long to figure out how. Nolan would soon tell a similar story (Memento) on a much bigger stage and become a household name. His strengths then remain his strengths now, although his one big weakness - his inability to connect the viewer with his characters emotionally, and not just with the plot - remains an unfortunate hole in his game today. Still, he's one of America's great directors, and Nolan completists shouldn't miss this one, especially with the very short running time.

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Otherwise it's been a lean viewing month at Casa de Leche, what with the moving and stuff, although I've also been watching the fantastic British cop show Luther, starring Idris Elba (The Wire's Stringer Bell). It's also on streaming and definitely recommended to fans of cop dramas, and of Elba. The supporting cast is dynamite as well.

What have you seen?

2011 Twins Game Recaps

Game #70: Twins 5, Padres 4

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Twins Record: 31-39
Fangraphs
MLB Game Wrap

Happy Father's Day to the WGOM Nation from Sunday Recap Central. Just imagine there's a picture of Butters Stotch hugging his dad or something right here.

Hitter of the Week: Even in a week during which the Twins win all their games, when two of those are 1-0 wins, picking this award gets a little tougher. Or, maybe it gets a little more obvious: Team MVP Michael Cuddyer seems to be the best candidate once again.
Pitcher of the Week: All the starters were good-to-great. I'll have to again pick Scott Baker as the best. He is this team's first half All-Star as far as I'm concerned.

2011 Twins Game Logs, Minnesota Twins, MLB

Game 70: Padres at Twins

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Dustin Moseley vs. Francisco Liriano

The Twins already have won four 1-0 games. The Padres struck out 10 times in eight innings against Scott Baker yesterday and now face Francisco Liriano. The Twins scored just one run yesterday and Mauer won't be catching today, although he could be a DH. Danny Valencia has homered in consecutive games, but he strained a muscle his arm in the eighth inning last night and most likely won't be playing today. Based on this and my many years of watching baseball, I'll predict a 9-7 game.

At least we won't have to sweat through a Matt Capps save since he's pitched in each of the last three games and probably won't be pitching today. Glen Perkins will probably pitch the ninth. I'm fine with that as long as Liriano goes eight. Actually, a blowout will be much better.

FWIW, Capps has allowed 1 run in his last seven innings with 5 hits and 1 BB and five strikeouts.

Keeping Track

Minor Details: Games of 6/18

Indianapolis 7, Rochester 5 in Rochester (Game 1).  The Indians scored four in the sixth to break a 3-3 tie.  Chase Lambin had three hits.  Trevor Plouffe doubled and homered.  Steve Holm had two doubles.  Dustin Martin doubled and singled.  Mike Hollimon had two hits.  Eric Hacker pitched five innings, allowing five runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks.  Chuck James threw two shutout innings.  The Red Wings made three errors.

Rochester 12, Indianapolis 7 in Rochester (Game 2).  The Red Wings scored five in the second and ten in the first four innings.  Trevor Plouffe doubled, tripled, and homered, scoring three times and driving in three.  Steve Holm singled and homered.  Brian Dinkelman and Steve Singleton each had two hits.  Jeff Bailey hit a three-run homer.  Cole DeVries got the win with 3.1 innings of relief, giving up a run on five hits, walking none, and striking out three.

New Britain 2, Reading 1 in Reading.  Dennis Suarez got the win with six shutout innings, giving up four hits and a walk.  Deolis Guerra struck out five in two shutout innings, giving up just one hit and walking none.  Bruce Pugh came in with the tying run on second and struck out the only man he faced for the save.  Deibinson Romero had two doubles.  Chris Parmelee and Yangervis Solarte each had two hits, with Solarte raising his average to .320.  Evan Bigley hit a home run.

FSL All-star Game.  North 5, South 3.  Danny Rams struck out in his only at-bat.  Dakota Watts retired both men he faced, striking out one.

Beloit 7, Burlington 4 in Burlington.  The Snappers scored all their runs in the second inning.  Michael Gonzales had four hits to raise his average to .307.  Wang-wei Lin and Jairo Perez each had two hits, with Perez raising his average to .342.  Andrew Achter pitched seven strong innings, giving up a run on four hits and two walks.  Michael Tonkin worked a scoreless ninth for the save.

DSL Twins 3, Reds 1.  The Twins scored single runs in the third, fourth, and seventh.  They had only four hits in the game.  Jose Jimenez pitched the first three innings, giving up a run on three hits and a walk.  Javier Vargas struck out four in two shutout innings to get the win.  Edgar Martinez struck out three in three shutout innings, and Francisco Nunez pitched a perfect ninth to get the save.

Remodeled basement. Same half-baked taste.