TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection Romantic Comedies Adams Rib Woman of the Year The Philadelphia Story Bringing Up Baby
April 30, 2009 by Sports Gear · Leave a Comment
THE PHILADELPHIA STORY Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Best Actor Academy Award winner James Stewart star in the tale of a faultfinding, bride-to-be socialite who gets her come-uppance. George Cukor directs this screen pinnacle of sophisticated romantic comedy. BRINGING UP BABY When scatterbrained heiress Katharine Hepburn meets mild-mannered museum curator Cary Grant, the results are riotous. Howard Hawks directs a giddy romp thats been hailed as the most glorious laughter-inducing movie ever! ADAMS RIB Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn play a married prosecutor and defense attorney assigned to the same sensational attempted-murder trial in this clever courtroom battle of the sexes. Judy Holliday co-stars and George Cukor directs. WOMAN OF THE YEAR Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn show what chemistry is all about as George Stevens directs this witty Oscar winner about the bumpy romance of a meat-and-potatoes sportswriter and a world-renowned political pundit.
User Ratings and Reviews
1 Star THESE HAVE BEEN ON DVD FOR YEARS; WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?
HOW ABOUT RELEASING OTHERS THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN ON DVD? THAT WOULD BE SOMETHING DIFFERENT!
5 Stars Four Kate the Great Classics Show Off Her Nimble Comic Talents in Clean Print Transfers
TCM (Turner Classic Movies) could not have chosen four better examples of classic golden-era romantic comedies, and it’s no coincidence that Katharine Hepburn stars in all four. At the same time, it makes you wonder why they simply didn’t call this DVD set the Katharine Hepburn Romantic Comedy Collection. After all, there’s an equally reasonable case to include classics from the likes of Carole Lombard, Irene Dunne or Rosalind Russell. To allow for the bargain price offered, the four films are presented on two double-sided discs. The print conditions are gratefully clean for the most part.
Director Howard Hawks, a master of this genre as well as many others, guided 1938’s Bringing Up Baby (*****) and catches Hepburn and Cary Grant at their zenith in buoyant comic energy and youthful vigor. Amazingly, this wacky 1938 screwball classic was her first real foray into farcical comedy, and she makes her exasperating character Susan Vance the definitive madcap heiress. Cross-pollinating the pratfall wackiness of Lucille Ball with the Fifth Avenue glamour of Carole Lombard, Hepburn filters it all through her braying, haughty New England manner. Grant is her perfect match as David Huxley, the befuddled, bespectacled paleontologist, who aptly describes his inadvertent relationship with Susan as “a series of misadventures from beginning to end”. Together, they keep up with the breathless pace Hawks sets with a hair-brained plot involving an elusive research grant, a pet leopard that can only be soothed by one song (”I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Baby”), a mischievous dog with a yen for a missing intercostal clavicle (i.e., a dinosaur bone) and a gallery of comic character actors who make the mistake of trying to make sense of all the shenanigans. The veteran supporting cast is incomparably stellar, in particular, May Robson as no-nonsense Aunt Elizabeth, Charlie Ruggles as the likeably pompous Major Horace Applegate and Walter Catlett as the perennially confused Constable Slocum. With the crack timing of the comedy, the movie is filled with wonderful sight gags, and the sharp script (written by Dudley Nichols and Hagar Wilde) has an abundance of clever lines and witty asides. Director Peter Bogdanovich, who paid tribute to this film with his partial remake, What’s Up, Doc?, provides insightful commentary on an alternate track.
Hepburn was born to play imperious Main Line socialite Tracy Lord in 1940’s The Philadelphia Story (*****). On the eve of her second marriage, Tracy is surrounded by three men who lay claim to her. With whom she ends up is no surprise, but the journey there contains all the biting wit and human insight that one could hope for in what is essentially a drawing room comedy. As Tracy’s ex-husband, the pretentiously named C.K. Dexter Haven, Grant plays the most grounded character in the story, a romantic in cynic’s clothing, watching others get caught in the fear of commitment and a gauzy haze of indecision. As the third point, a young and refreshingly cynical James Stewart portrays Macauley “Mike” Connor, a tabloid reporter covering Tracy’s nuptials. Connor turns out to be a talented author, which Tracy finds immediately attractive. What is so refreshing about this triangle is that it never reduces itself to some heroic duel to win the damsel. In fact, both men have understandable reservations about Tracy’s high-and-mighty stance and her inability to tolerate others’ weaknesses. Further complications ensue with Mike’s unspoken relationship with Liz Imbrie, his smart-mouthed photographer sidekick who of course, pines for him. As you can imagine, it all ties up beautifully, and all these complications come through with a great deal of humanity thanks to the wonderful, sometimes surprisingly edgy dialogue in Philip Barry’s original play and Donald Ogden Stewart’s screen adaptation. It is fair to say that the rest of the cast is fine but overshadowed by the three superb and fully embodied leads. A major portion of the credit for this first-class production needs to go to estimable filmmaker George Cukor, who is completely in his element here guiding his players to their peak. There is an informative albeit rather enthusiastic commentary by film historian and critic Jeannine Basinger.
Having already established the headstrong aspect of her screen persona, Hepburn added a worldly intellect and beguiling sexual ardor in her portrayal of multilingual political journalist Tess Harding in 1942’s Woman of the Year (****) directed by George Stevens. In her first teaming with lifelong off-screen partner Spencer Tracy, she sets off palpable sparks with the normally taciturn actor, who plays sportswriter Sam Craig working at the same newspaper. Written by Ring Lardner Jr. and Michael Kanin, the plot is about the characters’ whirlwind courtship from an immediate sexual attraction to an impulsive marriage, all the while struggling with each other’s priorities. Needless to say, given that it’s a product of its era, it becomes a matter of time before Tess bends to Sam’s will but not until some intriguing observations are made about sex roles in a basically fractious relationship. However, rather than the comic fireworks generated by their later collaborations, this film treads in unexpectedly sentimental melodrama, especially in the episodes where Tess has to let go of a Greek orphan she wants to adopt and in the climactic scene when she tearfully recognizes her wifely responsibilities as her aunt Ellen marries her father. Still, the pair’s familiar bantering occurs when Sam explains the rules of baseball to Tess and in the final feminist reversal as she fails miserably in her attempt at domesticity. Intriguingly, for a Tracy-Hepburn vehicle, it feels much more like her movie than his, and consequently their rapport is not quite up to their normal standard here.
Seven years into their screen partnership, Tracy and Hepburn made what is arguably their best effort together, 1949’s Adam’s Rib (*****), the sixth of nine movies they made together. The zingy repartee and old-shoe comfort in their relationship are in full bloom here as directed by Cukor. Written by the legendary husband and wife writing team of Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon, the plot focuses on a headline-grabbing court case involving Doris Attinger, a dim-witted wife who shoots her philandering husband Warren just as he is caught with his blowsy mistress Beryl Caighn. Representing the wounded husband is Assistant DA Adam Bonner who is looking for a quick conviction of the wife. However, his proto-feminist attorney wife Amanda sees the alleged crime as an act of justifiable defiance and decides to defend the wife. This potentially tense set-up leads to a trial where Amanda sets out to prove that a double standard exists for women and that Doris was merely defending her family and home. Adam, however, believes that the law is the law no matter the gender of those involved and that a murder was indeed attempted. Consequently, the story is not so much about Adam’s inherent sexism as it is about Amanda’s single-minded determination to prove her point even as the case degrades into a media sideshow. Hepburn plays such a convincing litigator that her case actually sounds persuasive at times, and Tracy brings his unique combination of sympathy and combustible bluster to a man who respects his wife deeply but becomes increasingly disillusioned with her unlawful stance. As Doris, Judy Holliday delivers in her first significant screen role, bringing a deeper pathos to the scorned wife than you would expect. Tom Ewell plays Warren for the smarmy, sexist cheater that he is, while Jean Hagen expertly plays Beryl as a media-hungry floozy. As the Bonners’ next door neighbor Kip, David Wayne acts rather fey for someone who supposedly wants to run away with Amanda, but I suppose the approach was intentional to ensure nothing would really threaten the Bonner marriage except the case. However dated some of the sexual politics feel, the film is still one of the most smartly played of romantic comedies.
5 Stars Super Value on Hepburn Classics
TCM Greatest Classic Films Collection: Romantic Comedies (Adam’s Rib / Woman of the Year / The Philadelphia Story / Bringing Up Baby)
This recent purchase a gold mine to someone who revels in fine directing, witty dialog and talented, dedicated actors. I was a little thrown off when I saw the unlabeled discs, but, believe me, I’ll take great movies on plain discs over the fancier-packaged second-rate ones any day.
The quality of the picture and sound for each of the 4 movies is very good. The only extras for “Adam’s Rib” and “Woman of the Year” besides their movie trailers are subtitles. The other two offer some commentaries, subtitles and their original movie trailers.
Since I almost never view the unnecessary baggage usually included on movie discs, this is no loss to me. Turner Classic Movies can leave off all the fluff they want as long as they continue to offer this kind of quality at such a remarkable price.
“Adam’s Rib” and “Woman of the Year” pair Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy and I always enjoy these two playing off each other. (An additional bonus for old movie buffs like me is that you’ll see Judy Holliday, showing some of her wonderful flair for comedy, in a supporting role in “Adam’s Rib.” And Tom Ewell as Judy’s philandering husband is no slouch, either.)
I will admit I prefer some of the later Hepburn/Tracy films more (e.g., “Pat and Mike”, “State of the Union”, “Desk Set”), but the two films in this collection do show two wonderful actors in top form.
In my opinion, “Bringing Up Baby” remains one of the finest screwball comedies ever made. Hepburn and Cary Grant are perfectly matched in both this one and “The Philadelphia Story.” You just don’t get better than these two. Add Jimmy Stewart and Ruth Hussey in major supporting roles in “The Philadelphia Story” and you’ve got a real winner!
One note: Each film is on 1 side of this 2-disc set. Many of you may have come across this before, but it took a moment of thought before I realized I had to flip the discs to see the 3rd and 4th movies.
If you enjoy quality comedies, I can’t recommend this one highly enough.
5 Stars Great Movies for a Great Price
I purchased this set of movies at wal-mart. (Sorry Amazon!!)This is a WONDERFUL set of classic romantic comedies at a GREAT price! I have always wanted BRINGING UP BABY but have found that it is rather expensive by itself. It’s a hilarious comedy with Katherine Hepburn & Cary Grant. Grant is a palentologist waiting on the last bone to complete a dinosaur exhibit. Hepburn is a socialite who “runs into” Grant on the golf course, who just happens to have a leopard named “Baby”. Needless to say, Grant & Hepburn stumble through crazy shenanigans to fall hopelessly in love. The other movies are just as good or better. Jimmy Stewart & once again, Cary Grant come to review the social highlight of the year. The marriage of Hepburn to one of society’s finest, most eligible bachelors. Grant, happened to be Hepburn’s first husband, reviewing the marriage in the society pages, along with Stewart. Well the reviews lead to a rekindling of an old flame. Needless to say, Grant has to write his “own” review. Loaded with LOTS of laughs!!ADAM’S RIB is Hepburn & Tracy at their finest as huband & wife lawyers. Hepburn comes to represent a woman who shot her philandering husband caught in the act. Tracy is the District Attorney who she has to defend her client against. Tracy & Hepburn’s “magic” is evident in this funny, romantic comedy.WOMAN OF THE YEAR is Hepburn & Tracy’s first movie together. The screen sizzles as Hepburn a political pundit, battles Tracy a sports writer. Fortunately, all the sparks that fly kindle a romance. This is a great way to introduce yourself or your teenagers to “classic movies”!!! I love this set at such a wonderful price! You can’t go wrong with this set.
5 Stars A great set of romantic comedies
This is one of 27 sets of four movie packs that Warner Home Video plans to release in the next few years. Their purpose is to introduce classic film to people previously unaware of these films via very affordable bare bones versions of these movies. This set has four very good films, all featuring Katharine Hepburn.
Woman of the Year (1941) - The film that introduced Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy and sparked a long relationship both on and offscreen. Here Hepburn plays an early feminist who goes around collecting causes. Spencer Tracy is the sportswriter that loves her. They marry, but things go downhill quickly since Kate is really already married to her causes.
Adam’s Rib (1951) - Ten years have passed and Hepburn and Tracy have aged a bit, but the spark and the chemistry is still there. This time the pair are married lawyers. He is a prosecutor and she a defense attorney. Problems arise when Hepburn defends a woman who shot her husband when she caught him cheating on her and Tracy is the prosecuting attorney in the same case.
Bringing Up Baby (1938) - One of the original screwball comedies. Stars Cary Grant as an anthropologist who gets mixed up with a very dizzy young woman played by Hepburn. The plot involves a tame leopard - Baby - and a dinosaur bone buried by a dog - the exact whereabouts are unknown.
The Philadelphia Story (1940) - Reteams Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant as a divorced pair of socialites. Hepburn’s character is about to marry a man of the people who pulled himself up by his bootstraps, and also happens to be one of the most annoying people who has ever lived. James Stewart oddly won a Best Actor award for what is essentially a supporting role. It is especially odd when you think about all of the other great performances in which he was the undisputed lead and he wasn’t even nominated.
The only drawback to this set is that - if you want all the extras - you might want to consider Classic Comedies Collection (Bringing Up Baby / The Philadelphia Story Two-Disc Special Edition / Dinner at Eight / Libeled Lady / Stage Door / To Be or Not to Be) in the case of Bringing Up Baby and The Philadelphia Story. Hepburn and Tracy fans might want to consider The Hepburn & Tracy Signature Collection (Woman of the Year / Pat and Mike / Adam’s Rib / The Spencer Tracy Legacy). However, both of these sets are considerably more expensive than this basic four-pack, and low cost is really the point of this set in the first place.
Ron Shandlers Baseball Forecaster 2009 Gravity Defying Edition
April 30, 2009 by Sports Gear · Leave a Comment
Ron Shandlers Baseball Forecaster 2009 Gravity Defying Edition
This is the place where the original throught and ground-breaking research began. Ron Shadler’s Baseball Forecaster has become the bible for Major League executives, the media and thousands of fantasy leaguers, and continues to pioneer innovative new ways to win.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars The Best !
Never fails to deliver. After you get used to all the special stats, the book becomes easy and useful to navigate.
Gets you that edge in your Rotiserrie league
2 Stars Proofreader Needed
I’ve been buying this book annually for better than a decade. I’ve always considered it a valuable resource in preparing for table and roto baseball drafts.
But I’m very disappointed with the 2009 edition. It’s loaded with errors. For example, it lists a 2007 line of MLE’s for Daniel Murphy of the Mets being calculated based upon his stats supposedly compiled in AA ball. The problem is that Murphy played his entire 2007 season in A ball, for which they don’t do MLE’s because A-ball stats aren’t projectable under the system. So God only knows where these numbers came from.
I’ve found a lot of other errors - players being listed as having played AA when they actually played AAA, or vice versa. These are serious erros for a guy like me, who conducts his own independant evaluation of the info provided and expects 100% accuracy.
Economic downturn or no, they need to bring back the proofreaders they apparently laid off. I’m very disappointed. This is not the quality I’ve come to expect from Shandler Enterprises.
5 Stars A great read whether you play fantasy baseball or not
Let the record show that I am not a fantasy baseball participant: I have only participated in one such league, and it was a season long home run derby. I think I finished third or fourth, if it’s of any consequence to you. I’ve only participated in one other fantasy venture - a hockey league that I drafted my players and promptly forgot about it. I don’t even know where I stand in that league.
While I don’t participate in fantasy sports, I certainly appreciate the analysis and insight that those who do have brought to the table for discussion. When you are serious about the league you are playing in, and by serious I mean willing to put money out on your predictions, you want the best information as possible.
That is what Ron Shandler and his crew are trying to deliver, and is what they once again succeed at doing, of course with the all important disclaimers.
When I spoke with Mr. Shandler last year about his 22nd edition, he was careful to remind all of us that right now, the best projection systems are only able to achieve about 70% accuracy. That number is still in effect with the 23rd edition, so bear in mind that there is still a fairly large amount of space that can’t be nailed down.
Along with that, it’s tough to be critical of the projections that the book puts forth because we won’t know their accuracy until after the season, which isn’t the best time to put out a review of a book such as this. So I’m leaving the projection side alone, and focusing on the commentary and analysis portions of the book, which I find to be the real juicy parts and the ones that almost any fan can get into, regardless of whether or not they participate in fantasy baseball.
For me, the first 50 pages of the 271 in the book are where the goodies lie - Shandler and his contributors do a remarkable job explaining their thoughts and strategies in a way that makes it easy to understand and gives the reader an understanding of the trends that shape player performance and valuation.
If anything, the book is brutally honest - case in point, The Gravity Principles, mentioned on page 23, which basically state that it is incredibly hard to be good, and that all levels of success are susceptible to disappearing at any time. Likewise, it’s much harder to get yourself out of a slump than it is to maintain a level of success.
The Baseball Forecaster also establishes age and performance markers that help you really see if a prospect or player is worth picking up or not. Having crunched the data on thousands of players over many, many years, they have developed a fairly accurate way to look at a player and see what he might be capable of. Again, by no means a definitive set of criteria, but something that does provide a guide tempered by historical research.
As I read the book, I began feeling that I could make the argument that this is as much a life philosophy title as it is a baseball book focusing on fantasy projections. It strips down the task of trying to predict player performance to looking at “component skills analysis,” a much easier thing to wrap your head around.
Which is why I enjoy the book so much - while it deals in statistics and projections, it maintains a level of approachability that other books don’t. It also manages to throw in a good amount of humor - some laugh out loud funny, some not - but it manages to keep the book from getting too heavy. Instead of just being page after page of numbers, it helps you look at the traits a player exhibits, both good and bad, and how that fits into his makeup and thus affects his performance.
Using a good amount of well-known players as examples, they clarify the concepts even further, something that will be appreciated by those both familiar with fantasy baseball and those just wanting a better understanding of how players get valued for what they bring to the park everyday.
The Baseball Forecaster 2009 presents the opportunity for any fan who wants to better understand the performance side of baseball to do just that, and in a format that should keep you engaged while not bogging you down with too many numbers. Not to say that there aren’t a good amount of stats and terms put forth - but think of it like this: remember when you had to take a class in college that was taught by several professors? You’d ask your friends which professor made the material more enjoyable, and you tried to get his or her class. The same goes with this - Professor Shandler and his book make player valuation an approachable subject for those who might otherwise be intimidated by it, while keeping his credibility with his upper-level students who want more information and knowledge.
Shandler asks you to leave antiquated statistics like ERA and batting average behind in favor of looking at performance rates - but he doesn’t expect you to make the jump on your own. The explanation for his requests are always present, and his rationale is clear. If you’re still looking at the scoreboard to see what a guy is hitting or how many wins the starting pitcher has, this will be a bit of a departure for you, but the net is never taken away; you’re just reminded why you won’t need it.
4 Stars About the same as always
I am a big Forecaster fan but the one thing about the book is that it rarely breaks much new ground. Usually there is a new idea or two that is presented - some kind new strategy or new statistic - but that’s about it. The rest is just updated player profiles and stats to reflect the coming 2009 season, as well as the glossaries that explain everything. Personally, as someone who buys the book every year, I wasn’t disappointed, but they didn’t exceed my expectations either.
That’s not necessarily bad, and if you’ve never read the Forecaster before, you will definitely get a LOT out of it. There are a ton of stats you might not have known about before (strand rate, line drive rates, hit rates, etc) and the book does a great job explaining how to use them. This book is definitely a “teach a man to fish” book rather than “give a man some fish” book - Shandler’s methods will change the way you look at baseball statistics for the better.
For people who are more concerned with fantasy baseball projections and useful fantasy info than commentary and analysis for “real baseball” this might be a better book than the Baseball Prospectus. But I personally like the Prospectus better and I think there’s enough info in there that you could use it for fantasy prep, albeit with a bit more difficulty.
5 Stars Numerically Whipped
Yes, this one takes the plate. And deliver’s a grand slam! Not only is there enough statistics to keep you busy for hours on end, the breakdown and analysis will help you sort out the players that are often over-rated in the $7.99^ fantasy magazines. Why buy 2 of those magazines, when you can buy this book and have 5 previous years and far more stats to speculate on upcoming projections? I absolutely love this book and would recommend it to anyone trying to win a fantasy league championship and/or some money ;-).
Spalding Inflating Needles
April 30, 2009 by Sports Gear · Leave a Comment
2 Pack, Inflating Needle, NBA Endorsed
JanSport SuperBreak Classic Backpack
April 28, 2009 by Sports Gear · Leave a Comment
JanSport SuperBreak Classic Backpack
Featuring strong construction and a stylish exterior, the JanSport Super Break Classic daypack will easily and comfortably carry your gear for years to come. This utilitarian pack has a single main compartment, and a front pocket with an organizer to store electronic gadgets and other accessories. It offers padded shoulder straps and a 2/3-padded back.
Specifications:
- Capacity: 1550 cubic inches/25 liters
- Weight: 12 ounces
- Dimensions: 16.75 x 13 x 8.5 inches
- Fabric: 600 Denier Polyester
About JanSport
For more than 30 years, JanSport has created products to help you carry the stuff you need, where you need it, in the most functional and fashionable way possible. JanSport’s success extends across the globe, where they have become a leading designer and manufacturer of durable backpacks, luggage and gear. The company is headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin, and has offices in the United States and Europe.
Manufacturer Warranty
JanSport Outdoor Equipment is warranted to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for the life of the product. The warranty applies when the product is used for the purpose intended, under normal conditions, and does not apply to damages caused by typical wear and tear, unreasonable use, or neglect.
Borderline Anna Pigeon
April 28, 2009 by Sports Gear · Leave a Comment
New York Times
