Baseball Movies: Home Runs, Strikeouts & 3-base Errors
Jun 05 '01
The Bottom Line Take me out to the moooooovies. Baseball movies are greeeaaat. Buy me some popcorn and Ju-Je-Fruits. I don't care if I throw out my back!
If you want to write an Epinion on the Top Ten Country Music Movies, you can. Same goes for Top Ten Race Relations Movies, Top Ten Classical Music Movies, Top Ten Funky Jiggy Movies, Top Ten Movies You Missed Because of Some Annoying Brat who Kept Kicking your Chair and also Put Gum in Your Hair and Top Ten Movies With More Vowels Than Consonants in the Title.
Alas, no heading for Top Ten Baseball Movies. Ditto football, hockey, basketball and yes, even squash. So welcome to Volume 1 of my Top Ten Sports Movies list.
Since it's the greatest game in the world, I'll start with baseball. Go Phillies.
Eight Men Out - Heartbreaking, smart and fascinating. John Sayles tells us the story of the 1919 Chicago "Black Sox". Keep an eye out for the bucketfuls of cool character actors, like John Cusack, David Strathairn, D.B. Sweeney, Michael Rooker, Perry Lang, John Mahoney, Christopher Lloyd, Michael Lerner and Charlie Sheen! For my money, this is the finest movie ever made about the game of baseball. 6-6, 3hr, 6rbi, 2sb
The Natural - This is the best job I've ever seen of a filmmaker capturing the mythology of baseball. Slowly-paced, quiet and wonderful, this one tells the story of Roy Hobbs...the greatest to ever play the game. Barry Levinson does a wonderful job with the period details and this movie also features a stellar cast: Robert Redford, Kim Basinger, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Barbara Hershey, Richard Farnsworth, Wilford Brimley and a young Michael Madsen. I watch this movie at least once a year. 4-4, 2 doubles, 3 rbi
Field of Dreams - Phil Alden Robinson's much-beloved story of an eccentric farmer and the ghosts of baseball past. I've always contended that this one is perhaps a tad too treacly to be considered the finest baseball movie ever, but this one has more than its share of supporters. Plus Costner is kind of a weenie. Definitely worth seeing though! 3-5, double, 2rbi
Bull Durham - Sports movie director Ron Shelton's finest movie. This one tells the twisted tale of a washed up catcher, a clueless rookie pitcher and the sexy siren who comes between them. It's just plain funny. Costner is at his most likeable, Tim Robbins is joyously daft and Susan Sarandon steals the show with all her sexy doings. 4-5, hr, 2rbi, sb
For Love of the Game - What's this? Kevin Costner in a baseball movie? How odd. This is one that I dug quite a bit more than I expected to, mainly because of Sam Raimi's solid directorial skills, but partially because Kelly Preston is indeed a Q-T-Pa-2-T. The movie switches back and forth between some semi-sweet romance stuff and some truly entertaining baseball goodies. This movie is better than it looks. 2-4, 2rbi
The Bad News Bears - Walter Matthau at his best. God is this movie funny. If you haven't seen this one, I worry about you. Simple and strong fluff about the world's goofiest Little League team. Director Michael Ritchie got more out of this premise than imaginable. Classic. 4-4, hr, 3rbi, 2sb
The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training - I hate lame-o sequels! 0-2, bb
The Bad News Bears go to Japan - I thought we covered this already. I hate lame-o sequels. 0-1, K
(To be fair, I haven't seen either of the Bears sequels in at least five years, but I distinctly remember them being "lame-o".)
Bang the Drum Slowly Ladies, you wanna see a man cry? Rent this movie for him. Starring Robert DeNiro and Michael Moriarty and directed by John D. Hancock, this one tells the story of two baseball players - one a fresh-faced rookie and the other a grizzled vet. One is dying. I ain't telling which. 3-4, rbi
Major League - What does it tell you about me if this movie gets me misty-eyed at the end? (Basically, it means I've been a life-long baseball fan in Philadelphia!!!) This one is strictly Animal House on a baseball diamond, but it sure is a fun movie! Tom Berenger, Corbin Bernsen and Charlie Sheen head a fun cast (Margaret Whitton particularly is a hoot) through one of moviedom's funniest seasons. This one is a particular favorite of fraternity guys, single men and married men. 4-5, 2hr, 4rbi, 2sb and a suicide squeeze
Major League 2 - Oh dear sweet lord what have you DONE? I loved the original so much and guess what? This is perhaps one of the worst comedy sequels ever! Just take all the best stuff from the first one and suck all the fun out. That's Major League 2. 0-5, 4K
Major League 3: Back to the Minors - OK, this sequel is pretty darn bad too, but I can at least admire the attempt to lighten it up a bit for the kiddies. With a cast lifted directly from the latest Police Academy sequel, this is definitely one to miss. 0-4, BB
The Slugger's Wife - Gak! One of Neil Simon's rare misfires, this one tells of a mawkish romance between a baseball player and his quirky girlfriend. But I guess the title kind of gives away the happy ending. Plus, you don't want to see Michael O'Keefe doing the entire "Singin' in the Rain" bit. Trust me. Also starring Rebecca De Mornay as The Slugger's Wife. 0-3, 2K, CS
Ed - Joey from Friends plays baseball with a chimp. Contrary to popular belief, the chimp was not played by David Schwimmer. This one's not even good for the kiddies, unless your kids happen to be huge fans of stupid jokes in awful movies. 0-6, 3K, 2CS, 3 errors
A League of Their Own - OK, this is a movie you have to tread lightly around. I don't want all the Baseball Mommies out there up my neck. I'm kidding. This is a sweet little comedy...as long as you take out that god-awful framing story with Geena Davis all pancaked up and looking like Morticia Addams. Tom Hanks is hilarious and Geena Davis is at her least gorky. Rosie O'Donnell has a few good gags and Madonna has a few sexy spots. Jon Lovitz steals the entire movie in the first fifteen minutes. 3-5, HR, 2rbi, nice legs
Little Big League - Young kid inherits the Minnesota Twins from his deceased grandfather while a baseball player woos his Mommy. Not as stupid as it sounds, but there's not much praise you can give a movie starring Timothy Busfield. It could be worse. You could be watching Rookie of the Year. 1-4, BB
Rookie of the Year - Dumb. Annoying lanky kid falls and breaks his arm which heals weird and gives him a killer fastball. Of course he gets signed to the majors. Kids might dig it a bit, but Daniel Stern's awful performance will have you lunging violently for your remote. Plus, this is a baseball movie that does the unforgivable by mocking the sport. Feh. (John Candy has a few funny bits as a frantic announcer.) 0-5, HBP
Cobb - Ron Shelton time again. This one was bashed quite a bit upon its release for not being an accurate depiction of infamous nasty guy Ty Cobb. I'm no historian, but I got into this one. Despite the terrible supporting performance by the clueless Robert Wuhl, there's a lot to enjoy here. Tommy Lee Jones is fantastic as Cobb, authentic or not. 3-5, 3sb, 3 f-bombs
The Sandbox - Half of you reading this list just went "Aw, cool!" when you saw this title included. This is a sweet, simple and FUNNY little movie about a group of childhood buddies and their beloved baseball sandlot. Imagine Stand By Me with more laughs and less dead bodies. All the kids are great, and there are some nice turns by Karen Allen, James Earl Jones and Denis Leary. Trust me on this one. 3-4, 2 "over the neighbor's fence" HRs, 5rbi
Angels in the Outfield - Sappy, corny Disney remake. Angels help the California Angels to win at the request of a starry-eyed scamp. Seems kinda unfair to the other teams. Danny Glover, Brenda Fricker, Christopher Lloyd (at his most grating) and Tony Danza (?) mug their way through the syrupy proceedings. Wait till you see the stadium-wide "wings 'a flappin'" technique. It makes The Wave look like Riverdance. 0-4, sent to minors
Long Gone - William Peterson, Dermot Mulroney and Virginia Madsen star in this made-for-HBO movie that is surprisingly good! This one tells the story of a low-rent minor league team, the Tampico Stogies. With a funny and entertaining screenplay and some nice support from Henry Gibson and Teller as the team's sleazy owners, this is one worth searching out, 'specially you baseball freaks. 1-1, 3rbi, Pinch-Hit HR
Talent for the Game - Edward James Olmos and Lorraine Bracco star in this little-seen (but underrated) baseball movie. Olmos plays a MLB scout who discovers a pitching phenom deep in the sticks. Picture Jerry Maguire without all the Tom Cruise stuff and catch phrases. 1-3, single
The Scout - Why not save the worst for last? If this isn't Albert Brooks' worst movie...oh yeah - forgot about The Muse. Well, this is worse. Brooks plays a simpering whiner for a change and Brendan Fraser plays a truly moronic rookie pitcher. Logic, laughs and fun are sucked from your living room the second you put this one in the DVD player. Go ahead, don't believe me. I dare you to watch it. 0-12, 7K (It was a double-header!)
That's all I got for now, and I'll have you know that the Phillies lost to the New York Mets 7-0 while I was writing this. Thanks a lot.
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Epinions.com ID:
scott29
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 - Top 500 |
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Location: Philadelphia
Reviews written: 457
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About Me:
Passionate, opinionated, and always on the lookout for the next great movie.
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