Hot Properties Rule

After seeing the first two season of “The Tudors,” I was curious to see “The Other Boleyn Girl,” which was released on DVD this week (6/17). I was sorely disappointed; compared to ”The Tudors” it is an inept telling of the tale. While the initial 15 minutes seemed promising, especially for its visual splendor, as the cinematographer had a keen eye for color, composition, and making subtle connections with Renaissance painting, the overall drift of the narrative wasn’t equal to that early look of the picture. Unfortunately, it slid down to mediocrity in its lame attempt to describe the fate of Mary and Anne Boleyn and their father and uncle, the Duke of Norfolk.

But after that start with the pretty pictures, which created a credible ambiance of the time period, we come hard up against the two sisters and the two actresses who play them, Natalie Portman as Anne and Scarlet Johansson as Mary. I found it difficult to get by who they were, two hot properties of Hollywood, two lovely young actresses thrown together willy-nilly to make a movie that was supposed to make the producers a lot of money. Both girls are all the rage right now, and a sure bet at the box office. Their Hollywood personae simply overshadowed the historical personalities they were attempting to play. I could not believe their projections, as they never left their Hollywood identities behind; they were merely costumed for the occasion, although I would say that Scarlet Johansson was a bit more successful than Portman. The story was fashioned to fit them rather than the other way around. As a result it descended into a shrill and tedious melodrama, full of sound and fury, but signifying damn little.

With “The Tudors,” which I grant you had more room to breathe and a larger canvas to work on, there was a complex intellectual involvement with the ramification of Henry’s pending awesome decision to separate England from the rule and power of Rome. For example, Anne Boleyn, besides being a “scheming trollop,” was a bright girl committed to the notions of spiritual revolt; she introduced Henry to books that influence his thinking about reform of the Church. She’s passionate in more than one way. You get none of that in “The Other Boleyn Girl.” Indeed, the film as directed by British Director Justin Chadwick skated over those events of huge historical consequence in a brief scene, which surprised me how short and awkward it was, like something that had to be shoehorned in at the last moment. It was as if Henry’s decision was of little moment next to twists and turns of Court intrigue and affairs. Chadwick gave short shrift to the monumental crisis of Christendom, which was splitting apart after 1500 years of cohesiveness and steadfast unity, with only rare bumps in the road from a heresy here and there. The Reformation was no bump in the road; it was a full-scale upheaval that eventually led to over 250 forms of Christianity. That important fact was faced with earnest seriousness and appropriate thoughtfulness in “The Tudors,” but it was so downplayed in “The Other Boleyn Girl” it was like a minor event in the background, while the historical soap opera dragged on and on to satisfy middlebrow expectations. The director’s telling of the tale was wasted as melodrama; it grabbed the story by the throat and throttled whatever life it had to start with.

Eric Bana, who was Hector in “Troy,” does an adequate job as Henry the VIII, but it’s a role that was badly underwritten. His struggle with annulment and divorce and beginning the Church of England hardly were mentioned. Given the subject matter, that doesn’t make much sense. The sharpest performance in the movie was by Kristen Scott Thomas who was the mother of the Boleyn girls. She had bite and reality; she was bitter but very knowing, someone who knew the cost of being an independent woman. She was one character who could have been in the cast of “The Tudors.” She knew the score and what the world was like, like so many in “The Other Boleyn Girl” seemed surprised by, time after time, as if they had a sentimental base, not one characterized by a largely Machiavellian mentality. As it stands, the movie is a limp and rather empty historical melodrama.

David vs. Goliath

David vs. Goliath

It was Bob Costos who said, “Tiger Woods exhausts all superlatives.” Tiger proved that again over the 91 holes of the U.S. Open, which lasted the four days of the tournament at Torrey Pines in Southern California, into Monday and a 18 hole playoff with 45 year old Rocco Mediate, who was ranked 158 next to Woods’ No.1, and then finally into sudden death where, on the first hole, Tiger prevailed by getting another clutch birdie to Rocco’s par. He had gotten two eagles and a birdie on the back nine to leap into first place and on Saturday; and on Sunday, with Rocco in the clubhouse watching, Tiger sank a nerve-wracking 12-foot putt to tie for the lead. It was a bumpy ride to the hole but the ball caught the right edge and fell in. 50,000 people went wild and Tiger did a double pump with both fists and yelped like a banshee, The U. S. Open, unlike other tournaments, has a rule that an 18-hole playoff must take place on Monday.

Even up to this point the match was already considered a classic, with Tiger scrambling while hobbled by a painful knee, due to an operation a month ago, as he made some incredibly difficult shots to stay abreast of Rocco who was playing the game of his life. It brought to mind that confrontation Tiger had with Bob May in 2001. May, another low-ranked player who was playing way over his head, pushed Tiger to the limits just as Rocco was doing. It was a prototypical David vs. Goliath situation.

25,000 people showed up to see the playoff, an unusually large number for a Monday contest. I was at Click’s Pool Hall playing 8 ball and the playoff was on a big TV next to our table. My concentration was so split we finally quit playing and retreated to a Famous Sam’s in the neighborhood to watch the final four holes on a better television. The crowd seemed to be cheering equally for Tiger and Rocco, Mr. Everyman who was going toe to toe with the best golfer on the planet. Rocco was different than other opponents because rather than intimidated by Tiger he was simply excited to be there and playing well at the right time. He was amiable, chatty, somewhat like Lee Trevino, who talked a lot and kept everyone loose. He gained a lot of fans with his carefree attitude. But when he got over the ball he was quite focused on what needed to be done.

Both competitors had shone through this remarkable Open. It was an event that would long be talked about for its drama, clutch shots, and its Odd Couple pairing. Tiger got his 14^th Major, which means he needs four more to tie Jack Nicklaus, and, if memory serves, his 70th win. He’s on top of the world, the only threat to his continuing dominance being that gimpy knee that already has been operated on more than once. It could possibly shorten his career, or so wondered the pundits of the golf world. As for Rocco he made a cool $810,000, his largest paycheck ever, and became the 51^st millionaire on the list for 2008, and there’s two majors and many other events on the docket for the rest of the year. He had the time of his life competing with Tiger like he did, and although he lost, he was satisfied by his performance. And well he should be.

There was a farmer who brought a large ostrich egg into his hen house. He set it down as the hens stared at it. He told the hens take this egg as your role model. Try to match its size. That was a story told by one of the golf wits on the Golf Channel; it was by way of analogy to Tiger’s dominance on the Tour. Goliath or ostrich egg, Tiger is BOSS.

Two Movies, an Iron Man and an Iron Fist

I finally saw “Iron Man,” a diverting, slick, and entertaining piece of escapism that has brought Robert Downey back to prominence as one of our better comic actors. It is pure comic book fantasy brought to the screen with all the requisite CGI magic, gadgetry, explosions per square inch, with a Super-hero who flies to Afghanistan, not on a magic carpet, but in a supersonic iron suit, which gets him there in the wink of an eye, using a fuel source I’d like to put in my truck. Tony Stark, alias Iron Man, starts out as the mere shadow of his father who was a successful weapons inventor and dealer; he is also a man-about-town and a hedonist who chases the ladies. But during his first trip to Afghanistan under the auspices of the Army, some Islamic bad guys capture him. It’s his first experience of bad guys up close and personal, and through the encounter he sees the light and becomes a do-gooder, who, like Batman saved Gotham from the malice of The Joker, he’ll do his part to quell the deadly ambitions of the terrorists. It’s an old formula in the world of comic books and it still works magnetically among the young, who can’t seem to get enough of Super-heroes, Arch-villains, explosions, hi-tech hi-jinxes, and the rest of it. Personally, I enjoyed the droll humor of Downey, and I look forward to seeing more of him as Tony Stark / Iron Man. Next time Tony will be in cahoots with Samuel Jackson, the head of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Two days before seeing “Iron Man” I saw “Nanking,” the story of the Japanese invasion of China in 1937, a prelude to the Second World War. I knew something of the savagery of the Japanese when they occupied Nanking, the then capital of Chang Kai-shek government. But this documentary reveals just how extreme and deliberate the killing was. A good deal of the visual material in the film is from grainy footage from the late thirties. The film also explains the part played by some Westerners who witnessed the massacre of tens of thousands by the occupiers; they came up with the idea of a SAFETY ZONE in the international section of the city of 500,000 people that the Japanese were supposed to respect. Citizens crowded into the zone to save their lives. That was no small accomplishment when you understand that 260,000 people were killed between December.8, 1937 and February 3, 1938. Add to that astonishing number the 20,000 women raped and killed because dead women tell no tales. Three of the main Westerners were John Rabe (Jurgen Prochnow), a German administrator who had lived in China for a long time; Dr. Robert Wilson (Woody Harrelson), an American doctor; and Minnie Vautrin (Mariel Hemmingway), Head Administrator of Ginling College for girls. Other witnesses were several elderly Chinese who had survived the siege and the carnage, and also a handful of Japanese soldiers who were still around that gave their reading of events in a cold, matter-of-fact way. All the witnesses were filmed in color, while the raw footage from the thirties was black and white and rather scratchy. But you could see the beheadings of men thought to be soldiers, bayoneting others, and burying people alive. The brutality was unimaginable, and many people in other countries could not believe the Japanese would do such things. Many scenes looked like a prelude to the German Concentration Camps.

The film is graphic and disturbing, another testimony of man’s inhumanity to man. It relates the same old story: How the Sunni feels about the Shiites, who they describe as “dogs,” and how the Turks could slay 1.5 million innocent Armenians in the early 20^th century. The Japanese were raised to believe that the Chinese were subhuman, so it was no big deal to kill a multitude. Joseph Rabe was Nanking’s equivalent to Oskar Schindler, another German who went out of his way to save many lives. “Nanking” is now available on DVD. I highly recommend it as a tragic chapter in the wars of the 20^th century; it is a powerful glimpse at awful events that actually took place, although I doubt if such events were described in a novel, few would believe them.

NBA Finals: Boston vs. L. A.

The NBA Finals: Boston vs. L.A.

Prelude to Game Two. There has been a lot of talk in the media and around the water coolers across the nation about Paul Pierce’s knee injury and all the theatrics involved with getting him off the court, first by his teammates carrying him to the sidelines, where he got in a wheelchair to go to the locker room. From all appearances he was in excruciating pain. Doc Rivers thought it was a catastrophic injury and entertained thoughts of the championship flying out the window. Pierce was the team’s leading scorer and has been for several years. Without him they’d be in trouble. But, alas, within two minutes he walked unaided back on to the court, accompanied by thunderous applause from the Celtic faithful, so happy to have their wounded warrior back in the game. He had no limp; he had a kneepad on but that’s all that was out of the ordinary. He went right back in the game and before you could say Larry Bird he scored two three pointers which were pivotal in the outcome of the game. Here was an injury and recovery to rival the heroics of Curt Schilling in the World Series a few years ago—I am thinking of the episode of the bloody sock and Schilling going the extra mile with it. Angelinos, however, remain skeptical about the whole episode and tend to see Pierce as a hot dog not a true hero.

Game Two. The big change at the start of the game was the Lakers drove to the Basket rather than taking outside jump shots. They had the early lead until the Celtics defense tightened and they began to score some points. The first quarter ended with the Lakers ahead 22-20. The other factor that became immediately obvious was the refs seemed determined to call a lot of tacky fouls with the vast majority charged to the L.A. club. They home team usually gets the majority of calls but in this game it was beyond reasonable. A foul was called every 20 seconds or so, allowing no flow to develop. By 9:40 of the second quarter the Celtics had forged ahead by 8 points as Leon Powe made 8 points in 3 minutes, 4 of them coming from free throws. Pierce ended the first half with 16 points. The halftime score was 54-42 in favor of the Celtics. As for the free throw count, it was 19 to 2 in favor of the Celtics. After the game Phil Jackson called that “ridiculous.” He also pointed out that Powe had more free throws than the entire Boston team, in the first half and in the game. He called that “unbelievable.” TV commentator, Jon Barry, skip over the rank foul calling in the first half, saying, “The big difference in the game was the Boston’s tenacious defense.”

The third quarter started out poorly for the Lakers who played as if discombobulated. The Celtics, scoring at will, went up by 24 points. The Lakers had no rhythn, too many turnovers, and had trouble rebounding against Boston who played more physical all night long. But with 4:29 left in he the third quarter they got the score down to a 9-point difference. But the Celtics came right back to boost the score to 79-59 in a two minute scourage of scoring. However, in the fourth quarter the Celtics grew complacent and the Lakers made a run at them and nearly pulled the game out. They scored 41 points in the quarter, 13 by Kobe Bryant, and the team as a whole sank 7 out 9 three-point shots to accelerate the comeback. But the Celtics sank some free throws at the end to clinch the victory, 108-102.

Pierce and Kevin Garnett combined for 45 points. Coming off the bench the surprising Leon Powe scored 21 points and played extremely well. Rondo had 16 assists. Pierce showed no aftereffects of his knee injury. Boston shot 53% through the game. The fourth quarter rush of L.A. upped their shooting percentage from 48% to 51%. Kobe had 30 points and Pau Gosal had 17 points and 10 rebounds. But the lack of free throws (30 to 10), too many turnovers, and a porous defense were too much to overcome.

The next three games will be in Los Angeles.

One other event this weekend is worth a mention, and that was the strange behavior of Big Brown, the horse that was supposed to be a cinch to win the Triple Crown. Instead he quit early on and came in dead last. Why is a real mystery? His owners and trainers looked him over afterwards and could find nothing physically wrong with him. It looks to me like he just did not want to do it on Saturday. He got blocked early in the run and then got to the outside, which should have been an ideal place for him to turn on the turbo jets. But instead he said, to hell with it, I am not up for this today. His jockey went with him, saying,"I had no horse today.” This is a horse that got a shot of a steroid once a month, but he hadn’t had one since April 15. He won the Preakness without a shot. There will be much speculation about the influence of steroids. Was the lack of it a factor in the horse’s withdrawal from competition? Is there such a thing as a psychologist for horses? If there isn’t, maybe there should be.

Golf in the Kingom

Golf in the Kingdom

47 year old Kenny Perry emerged the victor in the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, which garnered him just over a million bucks and advanced his chances to make the Ryder Cup team, something he is very anxious to do. It was the journeyman pro’s 10^th win on tour, which positions him in the middle echelon of accomplishment as a pro golfer, those who win between 10 and 20 tournaments. (That’s my own scheme of things. Others may measure accomplishment differently.) Perry pretty much coasted on Sunday, racking up one par after another and getting one well-placed birdie on the back nine, while other contenders began to stumble or fade. His 3-under 69 provided him with a 2-shot victory; but his total of 8-under 280 was the highest winning score in 23 years. That was because the event was pestered by rain, a soggy course and strong winds.

Annika Sorenstam was a non-factor in the Ginn Tribute event in South Carolina, shooting a 75 on Saturday, which ruined her chances at winning. Lorena Ochoa, although scheduled to play, withdrew to attend the sick bed of her father’s brother in Mexico; the uncle eventually died over the weekend, so it was a good thing she was there. Sophie Gustafson went into the final round with a whopping six-stroke lead, something many players would sell their soul to the devil to have on Sunday. It sounded very safe, but it wasn’t. She blew it with a whopping 79, with 5 bogeys and 2 double bogeys to end up 3 strokes back. It was one of the worst collapses in LPGA history. The two girls who leaped forward were Karrie Webb and See Hwa Lee; they ended up tied for the lead at 274. The Playoff ended on the first hole when Webb, who had missed a couple of short putts during her round, missed a 3-footer for par, which would have continued the playoff. Lee turned toward her caddie with a look of disbelief, as if she didn’t really believe she had won the Grand Prize of $350,000, one of the best paydays on the Ladies Tour.

In a good move, Michelle Wie played in the Ladies German Open over the weekend. There was bound to be less pressure on her there, out of the spotlight for change. She played credibly, finishing in 6^th place and finishing under par for the first time in almost two years. However, an 18-year old Korean girl named Amy Yang, who lives in Orlando, FL., outclassed Wie by shooting a sparkling 63 on Saturday and finished up with a 67 to win the tournament. Nonetheless, doing as well as she did Wie should have gained some confidence back by performing up to her talent.

Sticking to the kingdom of golf, John Daly’s turbulent life is back in the news. On Sunday (6/1) there was a long article in the New York Times by Larry Dorman about how he drives his best friend, Pat Perez, also a pro golfer, to despair over attempts to reach him to start changing his behavior and bad habits in order to save himself and to recoup his career before it is too late. Perez is 32, ten years younger than Daly. According to his friend, J.D. refuses to admit he has a drinking problem and that is the main block to change. Butch Harmon, the renowned golf coach, recently cut all ties with him, saying, “The most important thing in his life is getting drunk.” Perez said he doesn’t know what it will take to wake John up to the fact he is walking a plank over a sea of booze. It doesn’t take a wizard to know that he is a heart attack waiting to happen.

Controversy has followed Daly’s career since his first improbable victory on tour, the winning of the PGA Championship at Crooked Stick in 1991, when he first demonstrated his awesome drives that seemed to fly into the next county. He was a likeable chap straight off but since then his appeal has slowly been eroded and is in sad shape today. All three of his marriages and divorces have made headlines. In one case all who saw him play that particular weekend saw his scatched up face, supposedly an attack from his last wife, who has had legal troubles of her own. He has pulled out of tournaments because he got an eight on a hole and gotten angry with his game, rather than sucking up the bad score and shaking it off, rather than indulge in a petulant display.. Then there are all his failures at alcoholic rehabilitation and all his ups and downs with sponsors, which are part of his legend. Golf is by and large a gentleman’s game—think of the roll models, Bobby Jones, Byron Nelson, and Jack Nicklaus—so Daly’s ‘bad boy’ image is wearing thin and quickly becoming his nemesis. He has gotten away with it for a number of years but now people who flocked to him in the past are now saying enough is enough. At the same time his game has deteriorated, while he has not been not receiving the sponsor exemptions he used to get routinely. He has won and lost two fortunes, as he likes to gamble as well as drink. Legend has it he once took the $25,000 he won in tournament and spent it all in two days on partying and gambling. But now his ability to make the big bucks is in serious jeopardy. Perez keeps telling him if he could clean up his act he could make $5 million in no time at all, which is probably true, as he does have a remarkable talent. But the only way to rein in the beast inside him is to admit he has a problem. No positive move will be possible until he does that. Ask any member of AA.