Hot Rod

Hot Rod! Andy Samberg, SNL's digital shorts, along with friends Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer have crafted an enjoyable little film in Hot Rod which is being released this Friday. After seeing the previews I quickly came to the conclusion that one way or another I was totally going to either love this movie or completely loath it. So I was pleasantly happy to find out how much I liked it. I think alot of it has to do with the fact that Samberg just seems to be a likable guy. He just seems normal. If I had to compare this movie to anything it would have to be Billy Madison, Adam Sandler's freshmen project. This movie gives off the same feeling as Billy Madison. Basically that the movie is a mild celebrity making a movie about what he and his freinds found to be funny. Not the cookie cutter formulic movies that Sandler has perfected. In the movie Samberg is Rod a decent guy who envisions himself a stunt man like his father before him. The problem is he's not very good at it. I hated Jackass the Movie because those guys knew what they were doing and they purposely messed to hurt themselves. That just makes those guys idiots. Samberg's character despite the evidence surrounding him honestly believes he can perform these stunts he's trying to perform. I know it's immature but I found the footage of Samberg repeatedly crashing into things and hurting himself to be hilarous. I was literally laughing outloud in the theater. The sub plot that Samberg has to raise 50,000 to get his step father a heart so Samberg could finally kick his ass and prove himself a man could of been awful but Ian McShane, from Deadwood, is wonderful as Andy's step father. And Sissy Spacek, Carrie herself, plays Samberg's mother well. Isla Fischer, gorgoues as always, brought likeablity to the role of the girl next just like she did for Wedding Crashers. And the eighties music montages that litered this movie were simply awesome. Especially the ridiculous Footloose one. I found a scene were Samberg is walking down the street with his friends and people start randomly following them and singing hilarious because itactually terrifies Samberg and his friends because that would never happen in real life. For me this movie really works because it doesn't take itself too seriously. It's supposed to me a stupid fun movie and that's exactly as it is. Samberg manages to come off as likeable and dim-witted at the same time. Two thumbs way up.

The Yankees hit eight home runs last night and A-Rod didn't hit any of them. I think as long as the Yankees can guarntee 16 runs a night that they could be trouble.
I do agree that Brian Cashmen has punted the AL East after the Rangers informed him that if the Yankees didn't up their offer for Gagne he was going to end up in Boston. I think Cashman is a good GM. I don't agree with everything he does but the prospects Texas wanted for Gagne were too high a price. Even with Gagne on the Yankees that doesn't make their starters go seven innings. It's becoming more and more apperant that after Johan Santana blasted the Twins front office that his future lies with another team. The Twins will trade him before he hits free agency so next year Yankees fans will be happy Cashmen held on to the prospects. It is sad to Santana's comments because they're actually correct. Even though the Twins do have a good front office because of their payroll the Twins are never going to be able to add that one player to put them over the edge. The Red Sox paid Dave Roberts 3-4 million dollars to Dave Roberts in 2004 to essentially a pinch runner and a late inning defensive replacement. The Twins could never do that. I know they're getting a new stadium in the future but if they have to trade Santana this could follow them.

I think the Red Sox getting Gagne was a great move but I'm still concerned about their offense. There were a couple of games before the break where the Red Sox just couldn't push a run accross the plate. There wasn't a bat out there that the Red Sox could get without giving up some of their core young guys. What the Red Sox need is for Drew to find a pulse and hit closer to what he hit last year. His slugging percentage is down .123 from last season .495-.375. Youkilis who hit .328/.419/.502 before the All-Star Game is hitting .200/.338/.329 since. This is the second year in a row that Youkilis has tired down the stretch so I think the Red Sox have to give somewhat of a rest. The Red Sox are a much better team when Youk is getting on base.
Drew and Youk aren't alone in not being able to find their bats Varitek is hitting .214/.310/.358 since the break. Positives are Lugo and Coco are the playing the way the red Sox envisioned when they signed these two since the break Lugo is hitting .316/.358/.434 and Coco is batting .333/.390/.467. Ortiz and Manny are both on tears. Ortiz is hitting .355/.420/.613 with four HRs since the break and Manny's hitting .366/.435/.735 with seven HRs. If those two can hit close to those numbers for the rest of the season scoring runs shouldn't be a problem.