Clark Duke b. 1985 (Kick-Ass, Hot Tub Time Machine)
Henry Cavill b. 1983 (Batman vs. Superman, Man of Steel, Immortals, Stardust)
Vincent Kartheiser b. 1979 (In Time, Angel, The Indian in the Cupboard)
Don Payne b. 1964 died 26 March 2013 (writer, Thor: The Dark World, Thor, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer, My Super Ex-Girlfriend)
Manoj Sood b. 1962 (Continuum, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland, Watchmen, The 4400, Stephen King’s Dead Zone, Dead Like Me, Jake 2.0)
Richard E. Grant b. 1957 (Doctor Who, The Little Vampire, Dracula [1992], How to Get Ahead in Advertising, Warlock)
Lisa Eilbacher b. 1956 (Leviathan, Twilight Zone [1986], Man from Atlantis, Logan’s Run, The Amazing Spider-Man)
Roger Rees b. 1944 (Warehouse 13, The Invasion, The Prestige, Veritas: The Quest, The Scorpion King, M.A.N.T.I.S.)
John Rhys-Davies b. 1944 (Time Lapse, 100 Degrees Below Zero, Metal Hurlant Chronicles, Legend of the Seeker, Ferocious Planet, Krod Mandoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire, Anaconda, Lord of the Rings, Revelations, Chupacabra Terror, Star Trek: Voyager, Sliders, Cyborg Cop, The Lost World, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Goddess of Love, 1990)
Michael Palin b. 1943 (Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, Brazil, Time Bandits, Jabberwocky)
Marc Alaimo b. 1942 (Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Quantum Leap, Total Recall, Freddy’s Nightmares, The Last Starfighter, Knight Rider, The Phoenix, The Greatest American Hero, The Incredible Hulk, Wonder Woman, The Bionic Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man)
Lance Hendrikson b. 1940 (Alien Rising, The Witches of Oz, Scream of the Banshee, The Genesis Code, Screamers: The Hunting, Pumpkinhead, Sasquatch Mountain, Abominable, Supernova, AVP: Alien vs. Predator, Dream Warrior, The X Files, Millennium, Super Mario Bros., Alien³, The Pit and the Pendulum, Beauty and the Beast, Near Dark, The Terminator, Piranha Part Two: The Spawning, The Visitor [1979], Damien: Omen II, Close Encounter of the Third Kind)
Michael Murphy b. 1938 (X-Men: The Last Stand, Batman Returns, Shocker, The Sixth Sense [TV], Count Yorga, Vampire)
Richard Schaal b. 1928 (Once Bitten, Song of the Succubus, Slaughterhouse-Five, I Dream of Jeannie)
Joseph Stefano b. 1922 died 25 August 2006 (writer, Swamp Thing, Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Kindred, The Outer Limits)
No disrespect to Henry Cavill or Vincent Kartheiser, the new Superman and Angel's son Connor respectively, but the real competition for the Picture Slot today was among the guys over 70. John-Rhys Davis got the slot last year, and I could have gone with Michael Palin because I love Python so much or Marc Alaimo as the iconic Star Trek villain Gul Dukat, but instead you are looking at Lance Hendrikson, a very long career with a lot of work in genre. I don't know if he's still an Oh That Guy with the general public or has graduated to the "Hey, it's Lance Hendrikson!" level of fame, but I'm always happy to see him in a movie, even in some stinkers, and he's been in some, oh yes he has.
Many happy returns to all the living on the list and to the dead, thanks for all the memories.
Predictors: The ESPN group of experts
Predictions: The outcomes of the first round of the NBA playoffs
Spurs-Mavericks (Spurs 85% favorite)
predicted: Spurs in 5
outcome: Spurs in 7
Thunder-Grizzlies (Thunder 76% favorite)
predicted: Thunder in 5
outcome: Thunder in 7
Clippers-Warriors (Clippers 75% favorite)
predicted: Clippers in 5
outcome: Clippers in 7
Rockets-Blazers (Rockets 74% favorite)
predicted: Rockets in 7
outcome: Blazers in 5
Pacers-Hawks (Pacers 83% favorite)
predicted: Pacers in 5
outcome: Pacers in 7
Raptors-Nets (50%-50%)
predicted: Raptors in 7 or Nets in 6
outcome: Nets in 7
Heat-Bobcats (Heat 95% favorite)
predicted: Heat in 5
outcome: Heat in 4
Bulls-Wizards (Bulls 68% favorite)
predicted: Bulls in 6
outcome: Wizards in 5
Keeping score: Now that Nate Silver and his number crunchers have joined ESPN, the info was put in a much more comprehensive format than last year.
The thing is... comprehensively presented or not, they kind of stunk the place out. Except for the Heat, a favorite who had an easier time than the experts predicted, all the favored teams had a harder battle than the prediction, either winning in seven games or losing earlier than that. They didn't get one prediction exactly on the money, which is worse than the expected value.
While these predictions were not from Silver's crew (they just found a way to format the given data), this sums up my ambivalence about him deciding to leave The New York Times to join ABC/Disney. Political polls, while not perfect, give data that can be used in a methodical way to make very accurate predictions, well over 95% in the long run. Predicting sports is still guesswork and the 75% right that we got here is about par for the course, maybe a little worse. Making more money to look like an idiot more often is not a trade-off I'd make personally.
Looking one day ahead... INTO THE FUTURE!
Geoffrey Hoyle returns with his 1970s view of 2010.
Join us then... IN THE FUTURE!
The probabilities posted did point to the correct solution, if series length is ignored. [Five seven-game series is an outlier, to say the least.] Washington advanced with only a 32% chance of winning; the only surprise is how easily they beat the Bulls. Brooklyn won the 50-50 matchup with, appropriately enough, a last-second shot block in Game 7. The other six favorites had a 74% chance or better to advance.
ReplyDeleteAs for Lance Hendrickson, I'm in the "Hey, it's Lance!" camp. Oh That Guys don't get top billing for network TV shows; Hendrickson was the selling point for the ill-executed Millennium.
I do not want to negate your opinion on the relative fame of Lance Hendrikson, but you and I are good at trivia and just because we know him immediately, I don't know if that's true for the general public. I would say Abe Vigoda is at the "Hey, it's Abe Vigoda!" level of fame because he had an important recurring role on a hit that's been in syndication. Being top bill on a relative flop doesn't help as much.
DeleteYou are right that there were a lot of seven game series in the NBA, but they predicted a lot of five game series. Five games shows some serious dominance, and seven games doesn't, so I stick with my "meh" assessment of their abilities.
and he's been in some, oh yes he has.
ReplyDeleteGotta pay the rent.
Perhaps he has reached John Carradine level, with whom he shares a certain charming cragginess of visage.
Yeah, John Carradine is about the right level. A trivia question, but not a deadly trivia question.
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