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Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
BCB After Dark: Might the Cubs need a Snake?
It's another Monday evening here at BCB After Dark: the coolest club for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and join us. We're so glad to see you. There are still a few tables available. The show will start soon. Bring your own beverage. BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon. Advertisement The Cubs were off today. They're currently tied with the Mets for the best record in the National League. Last week I asked you about a proposed Cubs trade for Pirates ace Paul Skenes. The majority of 58 percent of you wouldn't do the deal that would cost the Cubs Matt Shaw, Cade Horton, Kevin Alcántara and Juan Tomas. I suppose that it's good that you wouldn't do the deal because I'm fairly confident the Pirates wouldn't do it either. Thus the problem with trading Skenes anywhere, at least at the moment. Here's the part with the music and the movies. You can skip that if you want. You won't hurt my feelings. Tonight we have a performance from the Polar Music Prize ceremony from last week. Herbie Hancock was one of the honorees and bassist Esperanza Spalding was there in Stockholm to honor him. There are a few performances to choose from, but I thought tonight we'd feature Spalding and Leo Genovese performing Joni Mitchell's 'Both Sides Now' in honor of Hancock's tribute to Mitchell album from 2007: River: The Joni Letters. Spalding and Genovese even sneak in a few notes from Hancock's 'Maiden Voyage' in this performance. Shockproof, the 1949 noir directed by Douglas Sirk and starring Cornel Wilde and Patricia Knight, is one of those movies that starts out so promising then fizzles into an incoherent mess. Even Sirk's direction, which is normally so obsessed with small details, seems to give up somewhere in the second half of the movie. The stars, Wilde and Knight, have little chemistry, which is ironic since the two were married to each other at the time they made the movie. (Although it may explain why they were divorced two years later.) The biggest reason to watch Shockproof is for students who want to trace the development of Sirk and the film's co-writer Samuel Fuller, who are starting to develop themes they would employ more successfully over the next decade. Advertisement Wilde stars as Griff Marat, a straight-arrow parole office who is assigned Jenny Marsh (Knight), who just got out of prison after serving five years for murder. Griff warns Jenny to stay straight and to stay away from Harry Wesson (John Baragrey), her mobster boyfriend whom she committed to murder for. Spoilers, I guess. Griff decides that Jenny needs to understand the simple pleasures of an honest life and introduces her to his family, including his blind mother (Esther Minciotti). Meanwhile, Harry has tracked Jenny down and makes plans for the two of them to run off together. Jenny apparently has some sort of loyalty to Harry because he waited for her while she was in prison. Although it seems like Harry was the reason that Jenny went to the big house in the first place, but they wisely leave the details mysterious. Of course, it's clear to everyone that Griff has fallen in love with Jenny and Jenny begins to feel the same for him. But Harry decides that Griff's infatuation with Jenny is an opportunity. Griff has political ambitions and even in the forties, parole officers really aren't supposed to be dating the parolees. So Harry tells Jenny to lead Griff on, seeing the opportunity for blackmail later. Advertisement This is the most interesting part of the film, where Jenny is torn between her affections for her straight-arrow parole office and her glamorous mobster boyfriend. This could be straight out of the luscious technicolor melodramas that Sirk would direct in the fifties. It's a simple love triangle. But this is also where the film goes off the rails. Jenny finally makes her decision to stick with Griff and dump Harry. But Harry won't go quietly and calls Griff in an attempt to blackmail him. But before Harry can get far into the call, Jenny apparently shoots him dead. Griff then loses it at this point, knowing that committing another killing is at least life in prison for Jenny and maybe the chair. So he decides that the two of them are going to go on the lam in a wild attempt to get to Mexico. Jenny thinks she should turn herself in, but Griff won't hear of it. They become celebrity fugitives on the front pages of the newspapers and on magazine covers. Griff starts stealing food and cars to keep one step ahead of the police. Oh, and it turns out that Harry isn't dead, just badly wounded. Still, Jenny shooting him would be enough to send her back to prison for life on the parole violation alone. End spoilers. The interesting twist here is that while Jenny is the femme fatale that drives Griff into a life of crime, she's an unwilling femme fatale. Rather than being manipulative like a normal femme fatale, Jenny is the one that is constantly being manipulated. In fact, she very much wants to turn herself in and for Griff to go back to being a parole officer, but Griff has gone nuts over her and throws himself into the life of crime, using the knowledge he's learned as a parole officer to keep the authorities from catching them. Advertisement The problem is that there seems to be very little reason for Griff to get this nutty for Jenny. I mean, she's beautiful and all, but she is also a convicted murderer out on parole. She doesn't seem to be the type of woman to throw your life away on—especially since she is specifically asking Griff not to and she was lying to him about not seeing Harry. As I mentioned earlier, I wasn't too impressed with the chemistry between Wilde and Knight, even if they were married to each other in real life. Fuller and Sirk wanted to do this 'good guy goes bad' story, but I think they needed to do a better job of setting up the fatal seeds within Griff and giving him more reasons to fall in love with Jenny other than she's gorgeous. To be fair to Fuller, he had written a much better and more fitting ending, but screenwriter Helen Deutsch, at the direction of Columbia Pictures, had to tack on a rather nonsensical Hollywood ending on what could have been a dark classic. So don't necessarily blame the soon-to-be-great Fuller for the mess the second half of this film becomes. The unused ending might have just saved the film, because the first part of the film, with the love triangle, is pretty strong and if it had a punchier ending, we might have been able to forgive Griff's sudden and inexplicable descent into madness. I don't have a trailer for Shockproof, but heck, here's the entire movie. I assume the film is in the public domain because there are like half a dozen copies of the entire thing on YouTube. Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies. Advertisement It's no secret that the Cubs' biggest need at the moment is starting pitching. With Justin Steele out for the season and Shōta Imanaga still probably three weeks away from returning, the starting pitching is thin. It's pretty fortunate that the bullpen, something we once thought of as the team's biggest weakness back in April, has turned out to be one of the best in baseball in May. (The Athletic sub. req.) But if another starting pitcher goes down, well, there's not another Cade Horton to call on in Iowa. The Cubs rotation would be hurting bad if that happened. So picking up a starter should be team president Jed Hoyer's top priority at the trade deadline. Today, Jesse Rogers claimed that the Diamondbacks could be sellers at the deadline. The Diamondbacks have fallen on hard times since early April when they played the Cubs tough. They're three games below .500, eight games back of the Dodgers in the division and five games out of a Wild Card. Ace Corbin Burnes is out with an elbow injury and the team is holding their breath as to the upcoming results of an MRI. But the Snakes have two more right-handed starting pitchers who will both be free agents at the end up this upcoming season: Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen. Brett Taylor over at Bleacher Nation did a good job of summarizing up both Kelly and Gallen. Kelly is having the better season, although Gallen has the better career track record. Kelly is 36 already, a partial function of him not reaching the majors until he was 30. Kelly doesn't throw hard—his fastball comes in at around 92—but that's where he's always thrown. He's not losing any velocity as he ages. But he is throwing it less—only around 25 percent of the time these days. He throws his 88-mile-per-hour changeup almost as often as he throws the fastball and he works in a cutter, a slider and a curve. Advertisement This season, Kelly has a record of 5-2 with a 3.78 ERA. His underlying xFIP (expected fielding independent pitching) is even better at 3.49. He's still throwing strikes and getting swings and misses at the same rate he always has. Taylor makes a point that Kelly has made nine very good starts and three really bad one, which I think you can read either way. It should be noted that two of those three bad starts have been his last two starts. (The other one was at Yankee Stadium back in early April.) Gallen is the bigger name, of course, having been an All-Star and having finished the season with Cy Young Award votes three times, finishing as high as third in 2023. He also doesn't turn 30 until after the trade deadline, so he's a younger arm if that means anything to you. However, Gallen is having a crappy season. So far, he's 3-7 with a 5.54 ERA. His xFIP is a little better at 4.31, but it's still not good. Gallen's velocity is down a touch this year, but the bigger issue is his control: he's throwing fewer strikes and more balls. That means fewer strikeouts and more walks. He's also giving up more hard contact and he's giving up more fly balls. Still, Gallen is the guy that just two years ago finished third in Cy Young balloting and he wasn't a whole lot worse last year. If you think he's just someone in a funk that will snap out of it, there's a real chance for a bargain here. Advertisement I don't think either Kelly or Gallen would cost an arm and a leg in terms of prospects, since they are both in the last year of their deals. They'd be two-month rentals. (Hopefully three months with a long playoff run.) The Cubs wouldn't get either one for a bag of balls and cash, but they likely wouldn't need to part with a top-5 prospect either. I know that a lot of this is dependent on cost, but assuming the cost for Kelly and Gallen is roughly the same, which one would you rather the Cubs trade for? Do you go with the solid and unexciting older guy in Kelly, or would you rather go with the struggling former ace? (I actually think Gallen would cost more, but that might not be true if he continues to pitch as poorly as he has into July.) I will let you vote 'neither.' However, it's completely possible that these two pitchers are the best two starting pitchers on the market in July, especially if the Marlins decide to hang on to Ryan Weathers (and they certainly might as Weathers is not a free agent until after 2028). Advertisement Thank you for stopping by. We hope you enjoyed yourself. Please get home safely. Tell us if you need us to call a ride for you. Don't forget your card. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us tomorrow evening for more BCB After Dark. More from
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
BCB After Dark: Grade the Cubs' first month
It's Wednesday evening here at BCB After Dark: the coolest club for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Thanks for stopping by. We're always glad to see you. Let us know if you need anything. There are still a few tables available. Bring your own beverage. BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon. Advertisement The Cubs lost to the Pirates tonight, 4-3 in one of those games you say 'They should have won.' The BABIP Gods were against the Cubs tonight. Also, it seemed like no one wanted to play after that incident with the fan at PNC Park. Unfortunately, now the team has to beat the Pirates with Paul Skenes starting or they will lose their second-straight series. Last night I asked you if thought it was time for the Cubs to call up Cade Horton. There was a real division of opinion there, but 38 percent think the Cubs should wait until at least Memorial Day. Another 31 percent voted to call him up now and 18 percent think he should stay in Iowa until the All-Star Break at least. Here's the part where we listen to music and talk movies. You're welcome to skip that. You won't hurt my feelings. Today (April 30) is International Jazz Day at the end of Jazz Appreciation Month. One of the events of Jazz Appreciation Month is the honoring of the new NEA Jazz Masters. One of this year's inductees is Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés. Here's Valdés playing one of those NPR Tiny Desk Concerts last summer. I don't have any film to write about tonight. I watched Alias Nick Beal (1949) and I don't have much to say about it other than Ray Milland was a good Devil. Advertisement So I thought I'd just throw the floor open to you and ask 'What films would you like me to write about?' If there's a film that you are curious about my take on it, tell me in the comments and maybe I'll write about it. I don't write about the big classics like Casablanca, The Godfather, Some Like it Hot, Gone With the Wind, Raiders of the Lost Ark and so on because I think there are enough words spilled all over the internet on those films and I don't know what I would say that would be any more enlightening. I also don't do recent, 21st century films, unless they are obscure indie fare. Again, there are lots of people on the internet writing about Sinners and you don't need my take. (I haven't seen it anyway.) But if there is some classic films you'd like me to write about, tell me in the comments and tell everyone why they should watch it. I'm not saying that I will watch and write about it, but I will consider it. The vast majority of the films I watch are viewable on one of the streaming services I subscribe to so if what you suggest isn't available on one of them, I probably won't write about it. Or at least I won't until it shows up on one of them. Someone asked me to watch Ikiru a while ago and I swear it is in my watch list on the Criterion Channel. The problem is that Ikiru is part of Criterion's permanent collection and I'm always struggling to watch all the films on that channel that are only available for two or three months before they disappear. Advertisement It doesn't have to be a movie you've seen. It can be something you've always wanted to see but haven't gotten around to it. Even if I don't end up getting any workable suggestions, this gives you all a chance to talk about the movies you want to talk about rather than me dictating the conversation. Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies. We've finished the first month of the season and it was a long month, since the month of April started in Tokyo on March 18. It was a 31-game month. There was much written, including by me, about how tough this first month of the season has been. They finished their season series with three NL West powerhouses already, the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Padres. In fact, until the Cubs faced off against the Pirates yesterday, every team they played in March/April has a winning record at the end of the month. Advertisement Despite that schedule, the Cubs finish the month at 18-13 and in first place in the NL Central, two games ahead of the Reds and Brewers. There are a lot of good things to say about the month. The offense is the best in the majors. Kyle Tucker has been a huge addition. Pete Crow-Armstrong is showing himself to be a possible future superstar and Michael Busch has taken a step forward over his rookie year as well. The catchers have been ridiculously good—so good that no one believes that they'll keep it up. On the other hand, Justin Steele is out for the year after elbow surgery. Dansby Swanson has struggled, although he's showing signs of coming out of it in Pittsburgh. The bullpen has been unpredictable, and not really in a good way. So give the Cubs a grade for the first month. Thank you for stopping by this evening and all week. We appreciate all of you who read, vote and comment. Please get home safely. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again next time for more BCB After Dark. Advertisement More from
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
BCB After Dark: Schedule blues
Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images Welcome back to BCB After Dark: the grooviest gathering of night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. For the first time this week, there's no game happening right after we go live, and we won't have another early-morning game for a few years at least. But come on in and join us anyway. There's no cover charge. The hostess will seat you shortly. Bring your own beverage. BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon. Advertisement Yesterday I asked if you Shōta Imanaga should have stayed in the game past the fourth inning in the season opener. The vote was close, but 53 percent of you thought it was the right move to pull Imanaga when Counsell did. The other 47 percent thought he should have stayed in at least one more inning. Here's the part where we listen to music and talk movies. You can skip that if you want. You won't hurt my feelings. Tonight we're featuring a performance from 1983 featuring trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker with saxophonist Stan Getz. This is 'Just Friends.' In honor of the Cubs' trip to Japan, I thought I'd ask you to tell us about your favorite Japanese films. I'm going to define 'Japanese' films loosely, so it can either be your favorite film from Japanese creators, such as a Toshiro Mifune picture, Godzilla or a Studio Ghibli movie. Or it can just be a film set in Japan, such as Hiroshima mon amour, which is a terrific French film that I keep meaning to write about here but every time I try to re-watch it, I get stuck on the first 20 minutes of footage of atomic bomb victims. But Hiroshima mon amour is the kind of French New Wave film that makes you think these guys and gals were utter geniuses or just plain nuts. (I tend towards genius.) Advertisement So tell us your favorite Japanese films—either made by the Japanese or set in Japan. Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies. There wasn't a good photo of the Cubs schedule—I suppose I could have screenshotted one—but that Pikachu photo was too good to pass us. So this has been floating around the internet the past few days. I hope you can read that, because it ranks the projected difficulty of schedule for each MLB team for the year and for each month. As you can see, the Cubs have a projected below-average difficult schedule for the entire season—23rd hardest out of 30 teams. On the other hand, and this has been mentioned many times around here and even on the Cubs' broadcasts, the Cubs' first month of the season is brutal. The projected record of Cubs' opponents in March and April is .546. Only one team has a single month within .010 of that winning percentage. Advertisement After that, things get a lot easier. The Cubs have the easiest schedule in the game of any month in May and no other team is within .010 opponents projected winning percentage. The Cubs play 30 games in March and April and they're already 0-2. Coming up, the schedule for the rest of the month is: 3 @ Arizona 3 @ Sacramento 3 San Diego 3 Texas 3 @ Dodgers 3 @ San Diego 3 Arizona 2 Dodgers 3 Phillies 2 @ Pirates So at what win total on May 1 do you start to panic? I know Jim Deshaies said on the Marquee broadcast that if the Cubs go .500 through the end of April, they'll be in good shape the rest of the year. But do you agree? If the Cubs are 13 and 17 at the end of April, do you think the season is in trouble? Advertisement Remember, games in March and April count the same as ones in September. If the Cubs fall too far behind, they might not be able to catch up. Thank you for stopping by this week. It's been an unusual week for all of us around here and we're glad you came around for the ride. Please get home safely. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join Sara Sanchez tomorrow night for more BCB AFter Dark. More from
