Cubs BCB after dark: Burnes third degree

Welcome to BCB After Dark: the coolest meeting for night owls, early risers, young parents and Boys Fans abroad. Come in and sit with us for a while. There are still a few tables available. There is no admission charge. The show will start shortly. Bring your own drink.

BCB after dark is the place to talk about baseball, music, movies, or anything else you want to get off your chest, as long as it follows the site’s rules. The night owls are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in the next morning and afternoon.

The Cubs had the day off.

Last week I asked you which rookie would have the better career with the Cubs: Pete Crow-Armstrong or Michael Busch? There was a lot of good discussion on the topic, but by a vote of 70 to 30 you said that Pete Crow-Armstrong would ultimately have the better career with the Cubs.

Here’s the part where I talk about jazz and movies. You can skip that if you want. You won’t hurt my feelings.

On this day exactly 55 years ago, Miles Davis began recording the groundbreaking jazz fusion album Bitches Brew. This record has since been both hailed as a masterpiece and decried as overrated. It was certainly an attempt by Davis to capture the audience (and the money that came with it) that rock musicians had at the time. Females Brew is the main reason Davis is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The recording is brilliant, creative, unfocused and self-indulgent all at the same time. It is Miles’ entire style in one.

Here Miles plays the title song in Copenhagen in 1969. Wayne Shorter plays saxophone, Jack DeJohnette drums, Chick Corea keyboards and Dave Holland bass.

We’ve lost two great actors since we last saw each other – Gena Rowlands and Alain Delon. I’ll have to write about a film with Rowlands in the lead role later, but for now I’ll just say that she was an actress’s actress. The kind that made other actors stop and look at her. She particularly shone in several films directed by her husband Nick Cassavetes in the ’70s. Rowland was an indie queen before there was such a thing.

Tonight I’m going to write about a film by Delon, who was one of the biggest movie stars in the world outside of the United States. While the first thing everyone noticed about Delon was his stunning looks and piercing blue eyes, he also had a certain coolness on screen that few actors ever possessed. He had that style like James Dean, only Delon always had something more dangerous about him. Dean played tortured souls (admittedly he only managed to make three films before he died), while Delon often played untroubled psychopaths – none more so than in his film debut in Purple Noonthe first adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s The talented Mr. Ripley.

I wrote about Purple Noon mentioned in this area before, and I am sure many of you have already The Samurai, where Delon plays a contract killer, and The swimming pool. Or maybe you saw it in the English language Scorpio with Burt Lancaster, where he again plays a contract killer.

Tonight I will watch a film from Delon’s early years—Any number can win (French title. Melody under the sun or “Melody in the Basement”) from 1963.

Any number can windirected by Henri Verneuil, is a gangster film in which Delon plays a young ex-convict alongside Jean Gabin, who plays the older member of the gang and a former cellmate in prison. And that’s the appeal of the film: Gabin and Delon. For those of you who don’t know the stars of French cinema, this is like putting Gary Cooper together with Robert Redford. A legendary actor of the 1930s teaming up with the hottest movie star of the 1960s. Like Cooper, Gabin was always a little rough, which is a great contrast to the always elegant Delon.

As far as the plot goes, it’s OK. There are many better heist movies—Asphalt Jungle, The Killing or if you want to learn French, Rififi are all better when it comes to the mechanics of a heist. Like all heist movies, there is planning and preparation followed by the heist. Delon has to crawl through ventilation shafts and ride in an elevator shaft. This is good, but other movies have done it better. And like almost all heist movies, something goes wrong. I have to say I really liked the ending of Any number can win when you-know-what happens. It is clever and visually impressive. It reminds me a bit of The killingbut it is different enough not to be a derivative.

The film is supported by a great jazz soundtrack by Michel Magne. It’s loud, direct and very 60s. It certainly gives the film a “cool” factor that a film starring Gabin and Delon doesn’t really need, but we’ll happily accept it anyway.

But the most important reason to watch it Any number can win are the great portrayals of the older, cynical Charles (Gabin) and his relationship with young star Francis (Delon). Part of the plot of the heist involves Francis wooing a dancer at the casino they are robbing, allowing Delon to show off his looks and charm halfway through the film. Delon always seemed like a “movie star” on screen, and while there are many articles discussing why he never made much of an impression in Hollywood, a film like this will make you wonder why he never had a major American hit.

Any number can win is an entertaining, light heist film. It’s certainly not Delon’s or Gabin’s best work, but it lets their talents shine through. If you’re not familiar with these two titans of the French screen, you can get an introduction for the price of two here. Then you can move on to films for Delon like The Samourai or Purple Noon and films for Gabin like The great illusion And The human animal for Gabin.

Unfortunately I can’t find a trailer for Any number can win. There are a few fan-made trailers you can watch if you want, but I avoid those because most of them aren’t good at not giving the plot away. Or they go too far the other way and don’t tell you anything. The film is currently streaming on the Criterion Channel.

And let’s see if anyone knows the film that tonight’s title refers to. It’s not a Delon film.

Welcome back to all those who avoid music and movies.

A report by Bruce Levine said he believes the Cubs’ top offseason target will be Orioles pitcher Corbin Burnes, who will be a free agent.

That makes sense, of course. Ever since the Cubs hired Craig Counsell as their new manager, some here and elsewhere have speculated that Burnes could follow his former manager to the North Side.

I’m not going to ask you if you think signing Burnes is a good idea. There are some arguments against it, but I suspect if I asked you if the Cubs should sign the 2021 Cy Young Award winner who has been an All-Star in each of the last four seasons, about 95 percent of you would say you’re for it. And the other five percent would be Brewer fans who got lost looking for the other BCB.

Instead, I’m simply asking you how likely you think it is that the Cubs will sign Burnes. If anyone thinks it’s a sure thing, they’re obviously wrong. And if anyone thinks there’s no chance, they’re probably wrong too. (Although I think there’s pretty much no chance they – or anyone other than the Yankees – will sign Juan Soto.)

So I’m going to ask you if the Cubs are the favorites, among the favorites but not necessarily the favorites, if they have a real chance, or if it’s very unlikely.

Thank you for stopping by tonight. I hope you enjoyed serving us as much as we enjoyed serving you. Please get home safely. Let us know if we need to pick you up. Recycle cans and bottles. Tip your servers. And come back tomorrow for more. BCB after dark.