WELCOME... THIS IS HALLOWEEN, PART 2: TOP TEN MOVIES FOR HALLOWEEN!!!

Hi everybody, welcome to this new entry of Montcada in English which will be dedicated to Halloween!!! As everybody knows, this festivity has been always related to spooky or scary things such as witches, ghosts, spells, evil spirits, etc.

This time I’d like to share my personal Top 10 list of Halloween movies! My list includes horror and comedy films, thrillers and… Tim Burton. There is no a specific order. Even if you agree with me or you don’t, I hope you enjoy it!

Top 10 Halloween Movies

10. ZODIAC

Zodiac is a 2007 American mystery-thriller film directed by David Fincher and based on Robert Graysmith's non-fiction book of the same name. The Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. joint production stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, and Robert Downey, Jr., with Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Elias Koteas, Donal Logue, John Carroll Lynch, Chloë Sevigny and Dermot Mulroney in supporting roles.

Zodiac tells the story of the manhunt for a notorious serial killer who called himself the "Zodiac" and killed in and around the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, leaving several victims in his wake and taunting police with letters, blood stained clothing, and ciphers mailed to newspapers. The cases remain one of Northern California's most infamous unsolved crimes.

9. THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS

HANNIBAL LECTER

The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American thriller film that blends elements of the crime and horror genres. Directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, and Scott Glenn, the film is based on Thomas Harris' 1988 novel of the same name, his second to feature Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer.

In the film, Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), a young U.S. FBI trainee, seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr. Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to apprehend another serial killer, known only as "Buffalo Bill".

The Silence of the Lambs was released on February 14, 1991, and grossed $272.7 million worldwide against its $19 million budget. It was only the third film, the other two being It Happened One Night and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, to win Academy Awards in all the top five categories: Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director, and Adapted Screenplay. It is also the first (and so far only) Best Picture winner widely considered to be a horror film, and only the third such film to be nominated in the category, after The Exorcist in 1973 and Jaws in 1975. The film is considered "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant by the U.S. Library of Congress and was selected to be preserved in the National Film Registry in 2011.

8. THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

The Nightmare Before Christmas is a 1993 American stop motion dark fantasy musical film directed by Henry Selick, and produced and conceived by Tim Burton. It tells the story of Jack Skellington, a character from "Halloween Town" who opens a portal to "Christmas Town" and decides to celebrate the holiday, with some dastardly and comical consequences. Danny Elfman wrote the film score and provided the singing voice of Jack, as well as some minor characters. The remaining principal voice cast includes Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Ken Page, Paul Reubens and Glenn Shadix.

ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC IMAGES OF MODERN HALLOWEEN: JACK SKELLINGTON

The Nightmare Before Christmas is originated in a poem written by Tim Burton in 1982, while he was working as an animator at Walt Disney Feature Animation. With the success of Vincent in the same year, the Walt Disney Studios started to consider developing The Nightmare Before Christmas as either a short film or 30-minute television special. Over the years, Burton's thoughts regularly returned to the project, and in 1990, he made a development deal with Disney. Production started in July 1991 in San Francisco. Disney released the film through the Touchstone Pictures banner because the studio believed the film would be "too dark, and scary for kids.

7. CORPSE BRIDE

The 2^nd Tim Burton’s film in my list is a 2005 British-American stop-motion-animated musical fantasy film directed by Mike Johnson (and Tim Burton) with a screenplay by John August, Pamela Pettler, and Caroline Thompson based on characters created by Burton and Carlos Grangel. The plot is set in a fictional Victorian era village in Europe, when a shy groom practices his wedding vows in the inadvertent presence of a deceased young woman, she rises from the grave assuming he has married her. Johnny Depp led a cast as the voice of Victor (the groom), while Helena Bonham Carter voiced Emily, the title character. It was dedicated to executive producer Joe Ranft, who died during production.

6. BEETLEJUICE

Beetlejuice is a 1988 American comedy horror film directed by… Yeah!!! Tim Burton, produced by The Geffen Film Company and distributed by Warner Bros. The plot revolves around a recently deceased young couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) who become ghosts haunting their former home, and an obnoxious, devious ghost named Betelgeuse (pronounced Beetlejuice, portrayed by Michael Keaton) from the Netherworld who tries to scare away the new inhabitants (Catherine O'Hara, Jeffrey Jones, and Winona Ryder) permanently.

The film spawned an animated television series that Burton produced and a planned unproduced sequel, Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian. In 2012, new development on a sequel was announced.

5. EDWARD SCISSORSHANDS

Edward Scissorhands is a 1990 American romantic dark fantasy film directed by… Come on people… You have to guess... No? Ok… directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. The film shows the story of an artificial man named Edward, an unfinished creation who has scissors for hands. Edward is taken in by a suburban family and falls in love with their teenage daughter Kim. Supporting roles are portrayed by Winona Ryder, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Michael Hall, Kathy Baker, Vincent Price and Alan Arkin.

JOHNNY DEPP AS EDWARD SCISSORSHANDS

Burton conceived the idea for Edward Scissorhands from his childhood upbringing in suburban Burbank, California. During pre-production of Beetlejuice, Caroline Thompson was hired to adapt Burton's story into a screenplay, and the film began development at 20th Century Fox, after Warner Bros. passed on the project. Edward Scissorhands was then fast tracked after Burton's success with Batman. Before Depp's casting, the leading role of Edward had been connected to Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Robert Downey, Jr., William Hurt and Jim Carrey, while the role of The Inventor was written specifically for Vincent Price.

Tim Burton considers Edward Scissorhands his most personal and favorite work.

4. SLEEPY HOLLOW

First of all I appreciate your patience and tolerance, because this list has lots of TB’s movies. I promise you. This is the last one.

It is a film adaptation loosely inspired by the 1820 short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving and stars Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci, with Miranda Richardson, Michael Gambon, Casper Van Dien and Jeffrey Jones in supporting roles. The plot follows police constable Ichabod Crane (Depp) sent from New York City to investigate a series of murders in the village of Sleepy Hollow by a mysterious Headless Horseman.

3. SCREAM

Scream is an American horror franchise created by Kevin Williamson and one of the masterminds of horror Wes Craven. Starring Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette, the film series has grossed over US$600 million in worldwide box-office receipts and consists, to date, of four motion pictures. The first series entry, Scream, was released on December 20, 1996 and is currently the highest-grossing slasher film in the United States. The second entry Scream 2 was released on December 12, 1997 followed by a third installment, Scream 3, released February 4, 2000. Eleven years after the previous film, Scream 4 was released on April 15, 2011.

GHOSTFACE HAS BECOME IN ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR ICONS IN MODERN HORROR FILMS

The films follow the character of Sidney Prescott (Campbell) who becomes the target of a succession of murderers who adopt the guise of Ghostface to stalk and torment their victims. Sidney receives support in the films from town deputy Dewey Riley (Arquette), reporter Gale Weathers (Cox), and film-geek Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy). A television adaptation of the film series was released by MTV on June 30, 2015. The series follows all-new characters.

2. SCARY MOVIE

Scary Movie is a 2000 horror comedy spoof film directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans. It is an American dark comedy that heavily parodies the horror, slasher, and mystery genres. Several mid- and late-'90s films and TV shows are spoofed, especially Scream, along with I Know What You Did Last Summer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Sixth Sense, The Usual Suspects, The Matrix, The Blair Witch Project, and Dawson's Creek.

The tagline reads No mercy. No shame. No sequel, the last reference being an ironic nod towards the tendency of popular horror movies becoming cash cow franchises. 2001 saw the release of Scary Movie 2, with the appropriate tagline We lied. Later video covers of the first film frequently drop the tagline's third statement. The film was originally titled Last Summer I Screamed Because Halloween Fell on Friday the 13th. Scary Movie was followed by four more sequels Scary Movie 2 (2001), Scary Movie 3 (2003), Scary Movie 4 (2006) and Scary Movie 5 (2013). Its title serves as a homage to the production title of Scream, which was also released through Dimension Films.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Blair Witch Project, The Addams Family, The Shinning, The Witches of Eastwick, Hocus Pocus.

1. DRACULA: DEAD AND LOVING IT

LESLIE NIELSEN AS DRACULA AND MEL BROOKS AS DR, VAN HELSING

Dracula: Dead and Loving It is a 1995 satirical comedy horror film directed by Mel Brooks and starring Leslie Nielsen. It is a spoof of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, and of some of the films it inspired. As of 2015, this is the most recent film Brooks has directed.

Brooks co-authored the screenplay with Steve Haberman and Rudy De Luca. He also appears as Dr. Van Helsing. The film's other stars include Steven Weber, Amy Yasbeck, Peter MacNicol, Harvey Korman, and Anne Bancroft.

The film follows the classic Dracula (1931), starring Bela Lugosi, in its deviations from the novel. Its visual style and production values are particularly evocative of the Hammer Horror films. It spoofed, among other films, The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).

In the film references are made to fictitious books Transavia Folk Law, The Theory and the Theology of the Evil Undead, The Vampires of Prague and Nosferatu. The Vampires of Prague is a reference to the film Mark of the Vampire (1935) and Nosferatu is also a reference to the film of the same name released in 1922.

I wish you a Happy Halloween and if you have the opportunity to watch some of my favorite Halloween movies, I hope you enjoy them!!!

C Ya!

WELCOME... IT'S GRAMMAR TIME!!! PRESENT SIMPLE, PART 1!!!

Welcome back people to this new entry of Montcada in English and thanks for join me in this amazing adventure. Today we are going to talk about the Present Simple.

The present simple is one of the verb forms associated with the present tense in modern English. It is called simple because its basic form consists of a single word (like write or writes), in contrast with other present tense forms such as the present progressive (is writing) and present perfect (has written). For nearly all English verbs the present simple is identical to the base form of the verb, except when the subject is third-person singular, in which case the ending -(e)s is added. There are a few verbs with irregular forms, the most notable: be and the modal verbs such as must, can, could, should, etc, which have only a single form, with no addition of -s for the third person singular.

The structure for affirmative sentences in present simple is:

SUBJECT PRONOUN + MAIN VERB +COMPLEMENT

We use the present simple to express the idea that an action is repeated or usual. The action can be a habit, a hobby, a daily event, a scheduled event or something that often happens. It can also be something a person often forgets or usually does not do.

For example:

I play tennis.

She plays tennis.

The train leaves every morning at 8 AM.

She always forgets her purse.

Every twelve months, the Earth circles the Sun.

The present simple can also indicate the speaker believes that a fact was true before, is true now, and will be true in the future. It is not important if the speaker is correct about the fact. It is also used to make generalizations about people or things.

For example:

Cats like milk.

California is in America

Windows are made of glass.

New York is a small city. (It is not important that this fact is untrue).

Speakers occasionally use present simple to talk about scheduled events in the near future. This is most commonly done when talking about public transportation, but it can be used with other scheduled events as well.

For example:

The train leaves tonight at 6 PM.

The party starts at 8 o'clock.

Sometimes we can use the present simple to express the idea that an action is happening or is not happening now. This can only be done with Non-Continuous Verbs and certain Mixed Verbs.

For example:

I am here now.

He needs help right now.

He has his passport in his hand.

Is important to know that the time tenses in English have auxiliary verbs. An auxiliary verb is a verb that adds functional or grammatical meaning to the clause in which it appears—for example, to express tense, aspect, modality, voice, emphasis, etc. Auxiliary verbs usually accompany a main verb. The main verb provides the main semantic content of the clause. The auxiliary verb for the present simple tenses is DO. In the present simple sentences, the auxiliary verb is not used. Otherwise, in negative sentences, do (1st person singular, 2nd person singular and plural) or does (3rd person singular) is used with not.

The structure for negative sentences in present simple is:

SUBJECT PRONOUN + DON'T/DOESN'T + MAIN VERB + COMPLEMENT

For example:

I do not play tennis / I don't play tennis.

She doesn't study English / She doesn't study English.

The train does not leave every morning at 8 AM / The train doesn't leave every morning at 8 AM.

We do not play soccer / We don't play soccer.

You do not help me at home / You don't help me at home.

When we use the negative structure of the present simple, the verb returns to its original form.

So people, as far as I'm concerned, I'm done! I hope this information can be useful for all of you!

C Ya!!!

WELCOME... THIS IS HALLOWEEN, PART 1!!!

Welcome everybody to this new entry of Montcada in English!!! Today I'd like to talk about one of the most popular festivities in America (and in other English speaking countries): Halloween!!! I hope you enjoy it!!!

Halloween or Hallowe'en (a contraction of All Hallows' Evening), also known as All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve, is a yearly celebration observed in a number of countries on October 31st , the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day, the time of the year which is dedicated to remembering the dead, including saints (hallows), martyrs, and all the faithful departed believers.

According to many scholars, All Hallows' Eve is a Christianized feast influenced by Celtic harvest festivals, with possible pagan roots, particularly the Gaelic festival Samhain. Other scholars maintain that it originated independently of Samhain and has solely Christian roots.

Typical festive Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, decorating, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, divination games, playing pranks, visiting haunted attractions, telling scary stories and watching horror films.

In many parts of the world, the Christian religious observances of All Hallows' Eve, including attending church services and lighting candles on the graves of the dead. Although the modern Halloween is based on traditions from the USA, the origins of Halloween can actually be found in Celtic Britain. The Celts lived in the British Isles during ancient times and worshipped the gods of nature. There were two important festivals in the Celtic calendar, Beltane and Samhain. Beltane celebrated the beginning of summer and Samhain the start of winter, and was the first day of the year on the Celtic calendar.

The festival of Samhain started on October 31st and finished on November 1st. The Celts were frightened of winter because the days were short and cold, and the nights were very long - they associated winter with death and evil spirits. The Celts believed that on the night of October 31st the spirits of the dead rose from the tombs and they made big fires to scare the ghosts away. They also wore scary costumes and played games on October 31st to bring good luck for the year. Nuts and apples were eaten and were considered lucky foods.

The colours of Halloween are also of Celtic origin. Black was the colour of winter and long nights. Orange was the colour of the harvest. The black cat is another symbol of Halloween because the Celts believed that a black cat had special powers.

Well... Do not panic!!! I hope this information will be helpful for everyone!!! Soon I'll post more things about Halloween!!!

C Ya!!!

WELCOME... THIS IS SPORTS!!! WELCOME TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!

The 2015 World Series will be the 111th edition of Major League Baseball's championship series, a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion New York Mets and the American League (AL) champion Kansas City Royals. The start date is October 27, with Game 7 (if necessary) scheduled for November 4. If Game 5 is necessary, since it is played on November 1, it will be the first time since 2010 that a game of the World Series is played in November.

The Royals will have home field advantage for the series because of the AL's 6–3 victory in the All-Star Game at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, on July 14. This is the 13th World Series in which home field advantage was awarded to the league that won the All-Star Game. The series will be played in a 2-3-2 format: the Royals will host games 1, 2, 6, and 7 while the Mets will host games 3, 4, and 5.

The Mets will be making their fifth appearance in the World Series, and their first since 2000. They have split their four previous appearances, winning in 1969 (against the Baltimore Orioles) and 1986 (against the Boston Red Sox) while losing in 1973 (against the Oakland Athletics) and 2000 (against the New York Yankees, their cross-town rivals). The Mets qualified for the postseason by winning the National League East, their sixth division title. They faced the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS winning in five games. In the NLCS, Daniel Murphy led the team by homering in each game of a four game sweep of the Chicago Cubs. By winning the NLCS, the Mets ensured that they have the most World Series appearances by an expansion franchise with five, and that this Series would be the first between two expansion franchises. In addition, the Mets have made World Series appearances in all but one of their six decades of existence (winning in 1969 and 1986, losing in 1973 and 2000, and not appearing in any that were played during the 1990s).

DANIEL MURPHY
Second Baseman of the NY Mets & NLCS MVP

The Royals will be making their second consecutive appearance in the World Series, and fourth overall. They won the World Series in 1985 (against the St. Louis Cardinals), and lost their two other appearances, in 1980 (against the Philadelphia Phillies) and 2014 (against the San Francisco Giants). The Royals qualified for the postseason by winning the American League Central, their seventh division title and their first outside of the American League West. They faced the Houston Astros in the ALDS winning in five games. They followed that up in the ALCS, beating the Toronto Blue Jays in six games. By winning the ALCS, the Royals became the first team since the Texas Rangers in 2010 and 2011 to play in consecutive World Series.

ALCIDES ESCOBAR
Shortstop of the KC Royals & ALCS MVP

This will be the first ever World Series in which both teams will be expansion teams, which are teams that were formed after the 1960 season; the New York Mets began play in 1962, while the Kansas City Royals began play in 1969. Additionally, they have been the most successful expansion teams in the major leagues: The Mets and Royals were the first expansion teams in their respective leagues to not only win a pennant (1969 for the Mets and 1980 for the Royals) but the World Series as well (the Mets in 1969 and the Royals in 1985); with five and four pennants respectively, they are the only expansion franchises with more than two league titles. Each is also seeking to end a long championship drought; the Royals' last championship was in 1985, with the Mets' last title coming one year later in 1986. The Mets and Royals are set to meet on April 4 for Opening Day 2016 in Kansas City. This will be the first time ever that the previous year's World Series contenders meet on Opening Day.

Now we just have to wait to see the bottom line!!!

PLAAAAAYYYYY BAAAAALL!!!

WELCOME... IT'S GRAMMAR TIME!!! VERB TO BE, PART 2: YES/NO QUESTIONS!!!

Hi everybody and welcome to this new entry of Montcada in English. Our very first post was dedicated to the most common verb in the English Language: to be. We explained both affirmative and negative forms, their structure and their use. Today I'd love to talk about how to use the verb to be to ask questions.

First of all it is important to understand that In English -- as in almost every language -- there are two ways of asking questions: YES/NO questions and WH Questions. We will focus this time in the first ones. In linguistics, a YES/NO question, formally known as a polar question, is the one whose expected answer is either yes or no.

So how can we ask YES/NO questions with the verb to be?

QUESTION: VERB TO BE + SUBJECT PRONOUN + COMPLEMENT ?

ANSWER: YES, S.P. + V.TO BE / NO, S.P. + V.TO BE + NOT

For example:

Are you Martin? -------------------------------------- Eres Martin?

Yes, I am ---------------------------------------------- Si soy yo.

Are you Peter? ---------------------------------------- Eres Pedro?

No, I am not / No, I'm not --------------------------- No lo soy.

Are you British? -------------------------------------- Ustedes/Vosotros son/sois Británicos?

Yes, we are -------------------------------------------- Si somos.

Are you Canadians? ---------------------------------- Ustedes/Vosotros son/sois Canadienses?

No, we are not / No, we're not / No, we aren't ---- No somos.

Although it is logical, usually when questiona are asked with you (both forms singular or plural), answers are given with I or we.

When questions are asked in the third person, answers are given in the same way.

For example:

Is he Romina? ----------------------------------------- Ella es Romina?

Yes, she is --------------------------------------------- Si es.

Is she Laura? ------------------------------------------ Ella es Laura?

No, she is not / No, she's not / No she isn't ------- No es.

Is he American? -------------------------------------- El es Americano?

Yes, he is ---------------------------------------------- Si es.

Is he a doctor? ---------------------------------------- El es doctor/médico?

No, he is not / No, he's not / No, he isn't ---------- No somos.

So people, as far as I'm concerned, I'm done! I hope this information can be useful for all of you!

C Ya!!!

WELCOME... THIS IS SPORTS!!! THE AMAZING METS!!!

Hi everybody!!! I want to share with you this article related to the New York Mets. The recently qualified to the 2015 World Series (the annual championship series of MajorLeague Baseball). I took the article from the New York Times. I hope you enjoy it!!!

Mets, Team of Big Shoulders, Sweep Cubs to Reach World Series

CHICAGO — The baseball globe spins differently now. It obeys the whims of a blue-and-orange team with a hapless history marked by spikes of the amazing. This is the latest, and it is overwhelming in its totality.

The Mets reached their fifth World Series on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field, completing a four-game sweep of the National League Championship Series with an 8-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. The Mets, who never trailed in the series, will visit the Kansas City Royals or the Toronto Blue Jays for Game 1 on Tuesday.

Long after Jeurys Familia struck out Dexter Fowler to clinch the pennant, the Mets returned from their clubhouse to celebrate on the field with family. The Cubs fans had cleared out by then, and a throng of Mets fans, several rows deep, crowded around the dugout to chant the players’ names and cheer.

“This is a long time coming,” said David Wright, the team captain, who signed with the Mets at age 17, in 2001. “I’m glad that I got a chance to kind of experience some of the misery with them along this road, because that champagne tastes a lot sweeter having gone through that, let me tell you.”

The Mets will hope that their sudden star, Daniel Murphy, brings his gilded bat to the World Series. Murphy homered for the sixth game in a row, a slugging streak that set a new major league postseason record. He had four hits in Game 4 on Wednesday and torched the Cubs for four home runs and a .529 average in the series.

On Wednesday, Murphy told the Mets’ hitting coach, Kevin Long, that he would look for a changeup from the Cubs’ Fernando Rodney. He got a fastball — and crushed it over the center field fence, anyway. Curtis Granderson, the Mets’ right fielder, called him Babe Ruth.

“I can’t explain it,” Murphy said. “It’s just such a blessing to be able to contribute to what we’ve been able to do.”

The Mets, who also got a homer and five runs batted in from the struggling Lucas Duda, won their first N.L. pennant since 2000, when they lost a five-game World Series to the Yankees. This will be their first World Series at Citi Field, which opened in 2009 — the first of six losing seasons in a row for the Mets, who slashed payroll, groomed prospects and preached patience to their fans.

“Watching the fans like this — this is what I’m getting the most kick out of and the most fun, watching the fans enjoy this,” said Jeff Wilpon, the chief operating officer, on the field after the game. “We got four more wins now. Four more.”

Fred Wilpon, Jeff’s father and the Mets’ owner, thanked the fans and his family in a postgame interview on TBS. He added that he had special affection for this group of players.

“I must tell you I want to thank the players,” said Wilpon, who has been with the Mets since 1980. “They have been awesome right from spring training; they knew what they wanted to do, and they went out and did it. This group of young men are of the greatest character that I’ve ever seen on a team. They play for each other, they root for each other, and I’m tremendously proud of them.”

The Mets’ victory Wednesday was tinged with a bit of worry. Yoenis Cespedes, the star center fielder acquired by General Manager Sandy Alderson in a late-July trade, left in the second inning with a sore left shoulder. Now, at least, Cespedes and the Mets will have five days to rest before facing the Royals or the Blue Jays, who play Game 6 of the American League Championship Series on Friday with Kansas City leading, three games to two.

Manager Terry Collins said Cespedes’s shoulder would be fine and that Cespedes would be ready for the team’s workout Friday.

“They didn’t think there was any damage,” Collins said. “They thought an injection would calm it down in a day.”

The Mets silenced the Cubs with their new style — a complete, quick-strike offense that would have seemed so unlike them just three months ago. Back then, the Mets’ threadbare lineup gasped for runs, threatening to waste all their dominant pitching. Healthy and fortified now, the hitters can practically do no wrong.

An ultimate sweep — in which the losing team never leads, even for a moment — is rare for a best-of-seven series. It has happened only five other times in major league history, and never before in a best-of-seven N.L.C.S.

For Chicago, though, the party was soon over: 70 seasons without an N.L. pennant, 107 without a World Series crown. The Mets’ bruising treatment of their pitchers may have surprised some casual Cubs fans. After July 25, the Mets led the N.L. in runs, homers and slugging percentage, but all of it came after they last played the Cubs, who swept the regular-season series.

In theory, the Cubs could have matched the Mets’ power. They clobbered 12 homers in their five playoff games before this series, eliminating Pittsburgh and St. Louis, who combined for 198 wins this season.

But the Cubs’ hitters also led the majors in strikeouts, and the Mets kept them off balance with a game plan executed to precision: plenty of off-speed pitches mixed in with their usual heat. The Cubs’ offense led the majors in pitches per plate appearance yet could not wear down the Mets, who managed their starters’ innings during the season and unleashed fresh arms in the playoffs.

“I’m looking at guys here in the month of October — which none of these guys had ever performed in — still throwing the ball 98 miles an hour,” Collins said. “And that tells me we did all the right things leading up to this.”

The Mets, doing all the right things? It is a new world, indeed, and the Mets are on top of it — at least, the National League side of it. They will soon have their chance to stand alone.