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You Ought To Be In (14) Pictures

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  Given those guidelines, it is time once again to look at the now 111 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of August 1.

We continue today with the six actors that have starred in exactly fourteen movies that I have seen, a decrease of three from three years ago.

Morgan Freeman

The first film I saw starring Morgan Freeman was the Kevin Costner vehicle Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.  Starting in 2000, he put together a six-year streak that covered eight films.  My biggest Freeman years were 2000, 2005, and 2008, when I saw him in two films each.  After a five-year layoff, he returned in 2020, starring in 2019’s Angel Has Fallen.

Woody Harrelson

In 1992, I headed to the theaters to see White Men Can’t Jump, where I first encountered Woody Harrelson in film.  That was followed by six more films between 1994 and 2000, after which there was a long lull.  Harrelson came back in to my world in 2008, then added two more in 2010.  His most recent appearance came in 2024, when I saw 2017’s War For the Planet of the Apes.

Anna Kendrick

Kendrick, who packed nine films into just three years, started in 2016, when Pitch Perfect 2 was the first of four films I saw starring her.  She followed that up with another four in 2017, an additional two in 2018, and single outings in 2019 and 2021 and again in 2024 and 2025, when I watched her in Another Simple Favor.

Adam Sandler

2011’s Just Go With It, which I saw in 2013, is still my most current exposure to Sandler’s work.

Christian Slater

The last film of Slater’s that I saw was Alone In The Dark, all the way back in 2006.

John Travolta

The last starring role of Travolta’s that I saw was the 2009 remake of The Taking Of Pelham 123, which I saw in 2010.

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18 To Go

Despite losing to the Twins last night, the White Sox saw their magic number to clinch the AL Central division drop to 18 thanks to the Tigers holding on against the Guardians, winning 6-0.  With the loss, the Guardians fall out of the final Wild Card spot.

The 2026 White Sox sit with 74 wins, the most in MLB history for a team coming off of at least three straight 100-loss seasons.  They are looking to become the first team to ever make the post-season after two straight 100-loss seasons.

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The Railyards

Canal Edge, a Chicago-based developer led by future White Sox owner Justin Ishbia, used the lucrative Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend to release plans for a potential new stadium as part of a larger development across the Chicago River from the South Loop neighborhood known as The 78.  The site, currently a maintenance yard for Amtrak, was purchased by Ishbia’s private equity firm earlier this year.

Calling the space The Railyards, a new White Sox stadium would join a previously announced healthcare complex.  The stadium would sit alongside the river, stretching from Roosevelt Road in the north to 18th Street in the south, and bordered with the river on its east side and Canal Street to its west.  McDonald’s Park, the new stadium under construction for the Fire, would sit directly across the river.

In a statement, Canal Edge noted it is “currently beginning a multi-month study and feasibility review evaluating a range of factors from transportation to environmental impact. If feasible, this plan could be presented to Chicago White Sox leadership for consideration as one of the team’s ballpark options when its current lease in the state-owned ballpark ends.”  The team’s lease with the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority for Rate Field ends following the 2029 season, which just happens to be the first year Ishbia could contractually buy out current White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf and take full control of the franchise.

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Book 48 (of 52) – Hot Girl Murder Club

Hot Girl Murder Club – Ashley Winstead

Ten years after a young starlet’s sister was murdered at a famous Hollywood Christmas party, she and her best friend work behind the scenes to help troubled women escape from the bothersome men who keep them down.  When she is framed for murders, it leads her to the truth of who murdered her sister and why and brings her secret society out into the open.

Ashley Winstead’s latest, Hot Girl Murder Club, builds off of the #metoo movement from both sides, one working silently behind the scenes to help women advance and one working out in the open and trying to bring down the worst of the worst, no matter the cost.  This was another good time, so I look forward to whatever comes next from Winstead.

 

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Going Back To School?

In March, Trey Kaufman-Renn wrapped up his college basketball career, finishing with 1,655 points, averaging 11.3 over his 147 career games across his four seasons with Purdue.  In June, he was selected in the second round of the NBA draft by the Timberwolves and spent the summer playing for their Summer League team. What he has not done, however, is sign a professional contract.

Earlier this week, he filed a lawsuit against the NCAA looking for a sixth season of NCAA eligibility and asking a judge to prevent the NCAA from hindering him from enrolling, practicing or competing for an NCAA program.  The NCAA adopted a new five-year eligibility model in June, effectively replacing the old system that lets athletes play four seasons in a five-year window.  Under this new model, Kaufman-Ren has exhausted his eligibility, having redshirted during the 2021-22 season after suffering a knee injury.  His argument, however, is not simply that he deserves another season because of his injury, but that he is being excluded from a new benefit granted to other athletes.  He is challenging where the NCAA drew the line when it made the transition to its new eligibility structure.

Assuming he is successful, would he return to Purdue?  It doesn’t seem likely, as the team added three front court transfers along with the returning players already under scholarship.  They are also currently sitting with 16 players on their roster, one over the NCAA limit, although three walk-ons are grandfathered in.

How will this all play out?  Only time will tell, and with the 2026-2027 season starting in about two months, there is not a lot of time to get this all resolved.

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Playoffs Part The Second

With less than four weeks remaining in the 2026 season, both Chicago teams are primed to be heading to the postseason for the first time since 2020.  The Cubs got the ticketing process started a few weeks back and the White Sox joined the fray earlier this week.

Holding a three-game lead over the Guardians for the AL Central crown, the White Sox sent out post-season invoices to their season ticket holders on Monday for the first time since 2021.  Thanks to what I assume to be operational incompetence, I have no idea what tickets I would be getting, but it appears as though I would retain my normal seats.

The White Sox currently sit as the second seed in the American League, giving them the inside slot for a first-round bye.  The Guardians currently hold a one and a half game lead for the final Wild Card slot, so, even if they fall off for the division, they look to have a good path to the postseason, barring a huge collapse.

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Fitbit 12 – Week 32

Still another great week, as I surpassed my daily goal once and finished above 40,000 steps for the eleventh straight week.  Things got off to a nice start on Sunday thanks to a morning walk, which left me with 6200 steps.  Monday pushed things up to 6600 steps.  A quiet Tuesday left me with 6400 steps.  More of the same on Wednesday, ending the day back up at 6600 steps.  A slight improvement on Thursday pushed me up to 6700 steps.  Friday turned out to be the best day of the week, finishing 34 steps shy of 9400.  Saturday wrapped up the week needing just 13 additional steps to reach 5200.

Total steps: 47,260

Daily average: 6751.4

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Book 47 (of 52) – The Girl In The Green Raincoat

The Girl In The Green Raincoat – Laura Lippman

With Tess on bedrest as she awaits the birth of her first child, she becomes enmeshed in the case of a woman she claims went missing from the local dog park.  The more she digs, through intermediaries, since she can’t leave her house, the surer she is that the woman has been killed by her husband, who has seemingly done this before.  But all is not what it seems, as she is soon to find out.

The eleventh entry in Laura Lippman’s Tess Monaghan series, The Girl in the Green Raincoat, is a novella originally serialized in the New York Times.  A baby shakes up the status quo, although with only one more entry to go in the series, that may not matter as much.  I hope to finish things up by the end of the year.

 

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You Ought To Be In (13) Pictures

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  Given those guidelines, it is time once again to look at the now 111 actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of August 1.

We continue today with the seven actors that have starred in exactly thirteen movies that I have seen, an increase of one from three years ago.

Kristen Bell

The Veronica Mars star made her first “big screen” appearance in my life with the television remake of Reefer Madness in 2005.  She’s been a pretty steady presence since, with a two-year gap in 2015 and 2016 being her largest.  After a four-year absence, she returned to my screen in 2025, thanks to her role in 2021’s Queenpins.

Gene Hackman

Hackman, who died in 2025 at age 95, first entered my movie consciousness when I saw the original Christopher Reeve Superman.  My most recent experience with his work remains 1971’s The French Connection, which I saw in 2018.

Katherine Heigl

Katherine Heigl first burst on to the scene in 1994’s My Father, The Hero, which I took in the following year.  After achieving television stardom, she leaped back to the big screen in a big way in the mid-2000s, including four films in three years between 2006 and 2008.  She last showed up on my screen in 2018, with the ironically titled Unforgettable.

Tommy Lee Jones

Tommy Lee Jones first showed up on my screen back in 1993 in The Fugitive.   My big Tommy Lee Jones years were 1997 and 2000, when I saw him in two films per year.  After a few years away, my most recent experience with him was in 2020, in 2019’s Ad Astra.

Mila Kunis

After years on That ’70s Show, Mila Kunis first moved to my movie screen in 2003, with the unfortunate American Psycho II: All American Girl.  After a six-year break, she came back with a vengeance, appearing in seven films I saw between 2009 and 2011.  I last saw her work earlier this year, thanks to 2022’s Luckiest Girl Alive.

Julianne Moore

Julianne Moore first showed up on my screen in 1996, thanks to the previous year’s Nine Months.  She was helped by two movies each in 2003, 2011, and 2014.  After a decade away, she returned to my screen in both 2024 and 2025, with Echo Valley being my most recent exposure to her work.

Al Pacino

My first experience with Al Pacino was in 1997, when I saw him in City Hall.  I splurged on his films in 2000 and 2001, when I took in five, including The Godfather and The Godfather II.  After a twelve-year absence, Pacino returned to my screen twice in 2020, in 2017’s horrible Hangman and 2008’s Righteous Kill.

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150 Years Of Cubs Baseball – The Final Team

Originally founded in 1869, the Chicago Cubs became a charter member of the National League in 1876.  Over the next 150 seasons, the Cubs have played more than 22,000 games, scored over 103,000 runs and recorded more than 200,000 hits, more than any other team in baseball history.  Nearly 2,300 players have worn a Cubs uniform, earning eight division titles, 17 NL pennants, and three World Series championships.

Fans have witnessed generations of unforgettable players, from historical heroes like Joe Tinker, Gabby Hartnett, Ernie Banks, and Billy Williams to more recent stars like Ryne Sandberg, Derrek Lee, Kerry Wood, and Anthony Rizzo.  The team has called Wrigley Field home for 110 of those 150 seasons.

To celebrate this milestone, the Cubs held a fan vote to select the franchise’s anniversary team, and the final results were released last week.  Let’s take a look at who the fans selected and who I thought should be selected.

Manager – Frank Chance, Leo Durocher, Joe Maddon

This pretty much lines up with what I was expecting.  Chance and Maddon are the only managers to win a World Series with the Cubs and Durocher, while more successful in other points in his career, did lead the storied 1969 club.

Catcher – Jody Davis, Gabby Hartnett, Randy Hundley

Again, this lines up pretty much with what I initially thought.  I would have gone with Willson Contreras over Jody Davis, but I guess you could make an argument either way.

First Base – Frank Chance, Mark Grace, Derrek Lee, Anthony Rizzo

This is certainly a situation where recency bias is playing a role.  Cap Anson, as one of only two Hall of Famers in the nominee list, is the only glaring omission.

Second Base – Nico Hoerner, Rogers Hornsby, Ryne Sandberg

Four of the nominees are in the Hall of Fame.  Nico Hoerner has yet to make an All-Star team or win a major award, but he is the current second baseman, so of course that has to count for something.

Third Base – Kris Bryant, Stan Hack, Aramis Ramirez, Ron Santo

It is hard to argue with any of these choices.

Shortstop – Javier Baez, Ernie Banks, Shawon Dunston, Joe Tinker

Again, no real surprises here.

Outfield – José Cardenal, Andre Dawson, Ian Happ, Andy Pafko, Hank Sauer, Sammy Sosa, Billy Williams, Hack Wilson

There’s a lot here that makes sense, but the inclusion of Cardenal, and to a lesser extent, Happ is somewhat ludicrous.

Starting Pitcher – Jake Arrieta, Mordecai Brown, Kyle Hendricks, Fergie Jenkins, Jon Lester, Greg Maddux, Rick Sutcliffe, Kerry Wood

With all due respect to Kyle Hendricks and Kerry Wood, their inclusion here owes more to popularity and overall team success rather than personal achievement.  Charlie Root is the franchise leader in Wins, and pitched in a time when that meant something, yet did not make the cut.

Relief Pitcher – Rod Beck, Ryan Dempster, Lee Smith, Pedro Strop, Bruce Sutter

Beck literally spent less than two seasons with the team. The rest seem like ok choices.