The best movie ever made that used baseball as its motif. Funny, adult, great acting. Love that movie. It ain't about baseball, and yet it's all about baseball. Did I mention I love that movie?

You like it because you have a thing for Kevin Costner. C'mon, admit it, Sam.

He's OK, but I'd trade him for Albert Pujols.

The best movie ever made that used baseball as its motif. Funny, adult, great acting. Love that movie. It ain't about baseball, and yet it's all about baseball. Did I mention I love that movie?

I'd give the nod to the original Bad News Bears, but Bull Durham was quite good.

I'd give the nod to the original Bad News Bears

I hadn't seen this movie for a long time. I showed it to my then-10-year-old. Wow, the language! But it was HI-larious (after I put him to bed and watched the rest by myself).

Anyone remember The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings?

A question for CBW or any other mechanics expert: suppose someone from Hollywood called you up saying they were making a baseball movie. The lead actor last played baseball at the age of 12 in Little League. What could you accomplish in a few weeks if the objective were to make said actor look good while pitching or hitting? (You don't have to worry about where the ball actually goes, the movie guys can take care of that later.)

Gotta say I think "Long Gone" did the whole hardscrabble minor leagues thing much better than BD did. William L. Petersen was great, and Virginia Madsen >>>>>>> Susan Sarandon.

Gotta say I think "Long Gone" did the whole hardscrabble minor leagues thing much better than BD did.

I don't think Bull Durham was really mostly about the hardscrabble minor league thing -- it just used that as a backdrop. It used it brilliantly, and mined it for tremendous humor as well as some of the offsetting sad moments in the story. But Bull Durham was about the choice Annie had to make between the life she'd been living (represented by Nuke, just a continuation of the year-by-year relationships she'd had for who knows how long), and the life she'd always been afraid to live (with Crash, who represented something so much more dangerous and so much more real). Or maybe she wasn't afraid -- just never had the chance to, because how often do guys like that come along? But the movie is really about callow v. experience, and the relationship between them. And that could be in a steel mill, a war zone, or a minor league ball club in Durham.

Love it, love it, love it.

Eight Men Out is my pick. One of the finest historical dramas ever filmed.

I've always been partial to Bang The Drum Slowly, myself.

Nobody appreciates Major League III: Back to the Minors?

There is Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch, and then there is every other movie ever made.

There is Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch, and then there is every other movie ever made.

Air Bud totally went down hill after Air Bud: Golden Spike. The lack of diamond thieves, beach volleyball, and Gabrielle Reece really brings down the quality of his later work. Plus by then he was feeling the heat of the M.V.P.: Most Valuable Primate franchise. It's hard to compete with a chimpanzee on ice skates.

Nobody appreciates Major League III: Back to the Minors?

As far as Major League movies go it's my third favorite.

There's always William Bendix as Babe Ruth, hitting his 60th home run of the 1927 season -- repeat, 1927, during Prohibition -- at Yankee Stadium complete with a huge beer advertising sign in the outfield.

It Happens Every Spring.

That is all.

Oh, and as always, I hope Petroskey dies filthy and naked in a gutter somewhere, weeping softly over the ruins of his life.

Damn Yankees is a much better movie musical than Take Me Out to the Ballgame (which has Sinatra and Gene Kelly).

Plus by then he was feeling the heat of the M.V.P.: Most Valuable Primate franchise.

Which was just a rip-off of "Ed."

Which was just a rip-off of "Ed."

Take that back.

The first one was a ripoff of "Ed", but by the second one ("Most Vertical Primate", in which the chimpanzee learned to skateboard X-Games-style), it was blazing new trails. Groundbreaking!

Rose always goes in front.

But Bull Durham was about the choice Annie had to make between the life she'd been living (represented by Nuke, just a continuation of the year-by-year relationships she'd had for who knows how long), and the life she'd always been afraid to live (with Crash, who represented something so much more dangerous and so much more real). Or maybe she wasn't afraid -- just never had the chance to, because how often do guys like that come along? But the movie is really about callow v. experience, and the relationship between them.

I sortof agree, especially about the callow vs experience, but I think Crash is as much the central character, needing to make the same kind of choice, as Annie.

Hate Tim Robbins' politics. Love this movie. Glad to see they've rectified this egregious error.

(Robbins and Sarandon, both big baseball fans, had vowed not to use the appearance for political purposes.)

Would be funny if Robbins and Sarandon were to launch into a political tirade against McCain during the upcoming ceremony. With the election only 6 weeks away at that point, can they really be trusted? :-)

Would be funny if Robbins and Sarandon were to launch into a political tirade against McCain during the upcoming ceremony. With the election only 6 weeks away at that point, can they really be trusted? :-)

I'd hope we could trust them to do so.

It Happens Every Spring.

My grandpa used to break this movie out every April. Several times I joined him. Haven't seen it since he passed. I really ought to.

Pride of the Yankees

Gotta say I think "Long Gone" did the whole hardscrabble minor leagues thing much better than BD did. William L. Petersen was great, and Virginia Madsen >>>>>>> Susan Sarandon

I have mentioned Long Gone in these threads before. It is underrated, and Madsen acts well in it and is sexy (does a cool, brief nude scene). I like Sarandon OK as an actress but do not find her at all attractive, which takes the movie down a notch for me given her role. But I like Bull Durham--I think it well-written and well-cast.

Petersen is now on a certain level a bigger star than Costner due to CSI (Fishburne is apparently taking over for him--I have never seen CSI).

I think I've seen Long Gone, but it has been a while. Does he play a character who lost a position battle with Musial?

Does he play a character who lost a position battle with Musial?

Yeah. It is set in the 1950s. At the end, IIRC, he has a chance to get a job in the Cardinal system--his dream--if he sits out a game to allow the Cards' affilliate to win the pennant. He is about to but then doesn't do it, and they win the pennant when he is hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. IIRC the Tampico Stogies, his team, is independent, so there is a little independent vs. controlled minors David/Goliath message there.

It is well-done, but I saw the ending plot device as a bit contrived. One thing I like about BD is that there is no "big game" moment.

I hope Petroskey dies filthy and naked in a gutter somewhere, weeping softly over the ruins of his life.

He's now some suit in the Rangers front office, so he's definitely on the right path.

Okay, I admit there are some good baseball movies out there, but for sheer movie magic nothing tops Field of Dreams. When Moonlight Graham steps off the field and transmogrifies into Burt Lancaster with a medical bag, it gets me every time. Anyone ever notice his only plate appearance with the ghosts was a sac fly? Even with the ghosts, he never got an official at bat.

Plus, the James Earl Jones monologue about base...ball marking the time is an all-time classic.

Long Gone has a line I wish I would have taken to heart earlier:

"I'm gonna tell you one of the great truths you'll learn: All girls f#*&."

"Yeah, but this one's real religious."

"when I said all girls, I meant all girls. It's a fact."

Virginia Madsen >>>>>>> Susan Sarandon.

Hmm. This is a tough call. Madsen's a little beefy, but it looks good on her, while Sarandon looks great, but she's not particularly sexy, oddly enough. Does anyone here find her genuinely attractive? You'd think she would be, with her raw attributes. Maybe she's a little too toolsy for me, and not enough production...

Madsen looked better at her peak; Sarandon has aged better.

This is just peak vs. career.

http://www.bostonbaseball.com/baseball_movies/

Alibi Ike (on why he was late for spring training: "My calendar was wrong") and Bang the Drum Slowly deserve some recognition. The Stratton Story has James Stewart. He alone makes anything worth considering seriously.

This is a tough call. Madsen's a little beefy, but it looks good on her, while Sarandon looks great, but she's not particularly sexy, oddly enough.

Not tough for me. I've never found Sarandon attractive at all. I agree with robinred in that it actually takes the movie down a notch with her in it. I find it hard to believe that all of the young minor leaguers want to sleep with her.

Nobody's mentioned "The Natural" yet?
It might not be the best baseball movie, but it's got the best baseball movie moment.

Not tough for me. I've never found Sarandon attractive at all. I agree with robinred in that it actually takes the movie down a notch with her in it. I find it hard to believe that all of the young minor leaguers want to sleep with her.

But those Willie McGee eyes of hers are the essence of baseball.

There's always William Bendix as Babe Ruth, hitting his 60th home run of the 1927 season -- repeat, 1927, during Prohibition -- at Yankee Stadium complete with a huge beer advertising sign in the outfield.

Wait a minute. In a movie where Babe Ruth is suspended by the commissioner for leaving in the middle of a game to rush an injured puppy to the puppy hospital, and in which Babe Ruth dies by sacrificing his own life for untested medical research that will help future generations, it's the anachronistic billboard that caught your attention?

Field of Dreams... the James Earl Jones monologue about base...ball marking the time is an all-time classic.

I dunno, there's something icky about a guy with black skin rhapsodizing about how 1910s baseball "reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again."

I like Sarandon OK as an actress but do not find her at all attractive

To me this is her best film credit, period. And her sexiest moment on screen, ever.

Anyone ever notice his only plate appearance with the ghosts was a sac fly? Even with the ghosts, he never got an official at bat.

I remember it as a scoring groundout, but it's been a while.

I remember it as a scoring groundout, but it's been a while.

It's definitely a sacrifice fly. Seeing it for the 1st time as an English kid not knowing the rules of baseball well, I did not understand why everyone was so pleased with Graham when he was caught in the outfield...

I remember it as a scoring groundout, but it's been a while.

It was a sac fly. Though after the Adam Greenberg incident, I thought it would've been something if Archie Graham came to the plate, winked at the pitcher and was promptly Ray Chapman'd, with nobody with medical experience around for miles. That would've taught everybody the same lesson in a different way.

It was a sac fly. Though after the Adam Greenberg incident, I thought it would've been something if Archie Graham came to the plate, winked at the pitcher and was promptly Ray Chapman'd, with nobody with medical experience around for miles. That would've taught everybody the same lesson in a different way.

The scene with the choking little-girl would have been kind of a bummer.

Your version of the film seems much darker. More of a Tim Burton-type baseball film.

I think one of the ideas in the movie was that Annie had not just sexual qualities but a sort of maternal quality to the young players. And she was getting sort of worried that she might end up being actually old enough to be their mother without ever settling down.

I think one of the ideas in the movie was that Annie had not just sexual qualities but a sort of maternal quality to the young players. And she was getting sort of worried that she might end up being actually old enough to be their mother without ever settling down.

Well, being as how Sarandon was 42 at the time, for the majority of them she was old enough to be their mother.

Not that those motherfukkkers would necessarily care. But thank God they didn't try to make Bull Durham II, III and IV.

I still say it's a sad truth that there's never been a truly great baseball movie, at least one on the level of Raging Bull and about half a dozen other boxing movies. Closest to it was Death on the Diamond, which is sort of like JFK, only with a happy ending.

And for a much better Tim Robbins movie---an infinitely better Tim Robbins movie---try Robert Altman's Short Cuts.

And for a much better Tim Robbins movie---an infinitely better Tim Robbins movie---try Robert Altman's Short Cuts.

Unless, of course, you'd feel traumatized by seeing Huey Lewis's penis.

Yeah but Julianne Moore does a full frontal so there's that to consider.

Short Cuts was a great movie. "The Player" was also good. I think the first movie I ever saw Susan S. in was Bull Durham, and I thoguht" ho hum" but after watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show I find it hard to imagine someone not finding her hot. That was a much better peak than Madsen.

And as a left-wing, weed-smokin', gay-marriage-allowin', non-interventionist, Timbit-eatin' Canadian, Tim Robbins's politics are just fine by me.

There are a hundred great scenes in Short Cuts, but the best has got to be when Peter Gallagher chainsaws every piece of furniture in his ex-wife (Frances McDormand)'s house, but pauses in midstream to let a door to door salesman shampoo the carpet!

"Hudsucker Proxy" was a good movie.

I still say it's a sad truth that there's never been a truly great baseball movie...

"Well, that's a very rare 'get-off-my-lawn' moment from Andy! Baseball, I tell ya, who can figure out this game?"

Huey Lewis's penis

Wasn't that a throw-in in the Prince Albert Pujols trade?

I think the first movie I ever saw Susan S. in was Bull Durham, and I thoguht" ho hum" but after watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show I find it hard to imagine someone not finding her hot.

Bull Durham was the first move I saw saw Susan Sarandon in, as well. So if her attractiveness factor is based on what she looked like when she was younger then I missed out on that. I may never have seen her in anything earlier than that.

[Checks IMDB]... Yeah, I've never seen any of her movies from before Bull Durham. So if she pulled a Dale Murphy then I may be missing something.

...but after watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show I find it hard to imagine someone not finding her hot.

Agree

I still say it's a sad truth that there's never been a truly great baseball movie...

"Well, that's a very rare 'get-off-my-lawn' moment from Andy! Baseball, I tell ya, who can figure out this game?"

Which is exactly the problem with baseball movies. 99% of them are pitched along the lines of "you don't have to be a baseball fan to like -----." And it shows.

Seriously, I've never been quite able to figure out why there are so many first rate, and realistic, boxing movies, and not one similar baseball movie, with the semi-exceptions of Eight Men Out and to a lesser extent, Cobb. Maybe it's just because the corruption in boxing is so generally known and accepted as a given, whereas baseball fans still would rather have their fantasies.

What would be a great baseball movie, if you could get it past the lawyers, would be one based on the whole steroid scandal. NOT, I hasten to add, from any superimposed and easy moral perspective, but from the point of view of the very real pressures felt by ballplayers to get a competitive edge. And how they deal with it in radically different ways, just as Major Leaguers do.

If you gave honest and non-judgmental portrayals of a mix of these varied paths that players choose, you probably wouldn't make for a blockbuster hit (duh), but OTOH you might finally produce a great baseball movie. Maybe even one as good as Raging Bull.

Like I said, you'd have to get it past the lawyers, and so you'd obviously have to change all the names, but if you had a small studio with some guts, you could make a hell of a good movie.

It might not be the best baseball movie, but it's got the best baseball movie moment.

I'm not even sure that's the best Hobbs-hitting-the-ball moment in that movie. You pretty much know he's going to homer at that point. His first at-bat in a game, after Pop pulls Bump, you don't know quite what to expect -- or if you're guessing, you're guessing mammoth homer. So when he literally knocks the cover off the ball, I think that's better.

And I recall Susan Sarandon looking pretty good in The Witches of Eastwick, though I can't say I was paying much attention to her when Pfeiffer was onscreen.

What would be a great baseball movie, if you could get it past the lawyers, would be one based on the whole steroid scandal. NOT, I hasten to add, from any superimposed and easy moral perspective, but from the point of view of the very real pressures felt by ballplayers to get a competitive edge. And how they deal with it in radically different ways, just as Major Leaguers do.

Substitute "football" for "baseball" and I agree. I think that would actually be a huge public service in that case.

Well, Andy, the real point of that post was my attempt at calling you out Steiner-style. ;-) May have failed at my impression.

Substitute "football" for "baseball" and I agree. I think that would actually be a huge public service in that case.

It might be, but it'd be a completely different movie, and since there's no particular historical event in football that people associate with steroids, it would also lack the dramatic context of a movie set around the two great recent home run chases.

Of course if all you wanted was a public health promo, then I guess you would be better off focusing on football. But that wasn't what I had in mind.

Well, Andy, the real point of that post was my attempt at calling you out Steiner-style. ;-) May have failed at my impression.

That's OK, Lassus, we're all allowed once in a while to respond to points that have never been made. ;-)

It might be, but it'd be a completely different movie, and since there's no particular historical event in football that people associate with steroids, it would also lack the dramatic context of a movie set around the two great recent home run chases.

The lack of a specific dramatic context like that -- focusing on the everyday reality of steroids, not the anomaly -- would arguably make for a much more powerful movie, though probably not as box-office friendly.

That's OK, Lassus, we're all allowed once in a while to respond to points that have never been made. ;-)

Absolutely. Now tell us about how there are no good 9-ball movies either because there are no good pool halls anymore.

ahem

I think what allows so many boxing movies to succeed is that very few people have ever boxed or know much about being in the ring, so we all share the same boxing experience. And since that boxing experience is largely what we saw on Wide World of Sports or Friday Night Fights it's something that movie makers can recreate. Also, it's not a team sport so you don't have to be concerned with the whole issue of team dynamics. With that as a base, a director can focus on the movie plot without nearly as much worry about the sport itself, or in-game banter, or the locker room or a bunch of other things that many viewers might identify as false.

Either that or boxing is more lyrical, thoughtful and artistic than baseball (or any other sport.)

but from the point of view of the very real pressures felt by ballplayers to get a competitive edge. And how they deal with it in radically different ways, just as Major Leaguers do.

And bonds could be a Gordon Gekko character.

Pretty much every boxer's life/long-term health is in danger every match. So there's just automatically a heightened drama associated with fighters that actors and directors can exploit. It's more or less the same reason there are a lot of good war movies.

It might be, but it'd be a completely different movie, and since there's no particular historical event in football that people associate with steroids, it would also lack the dramatic context of a movie set around the two great recent home run chases.

The lack of a specific dramatic context like that -- focusing on the everyday reality of steroids, not the anomaly -- would arguably make for a much more powerful movie, though probably not as box-office friendly.

The truth is that if a baseball movie about steroids took a non-judgmental view about the peer pressures involved---if, for example, it depicted "Barry Bonds" or "Mark McGwire" in a multi-dimensional manner rather than as cartoon figures, it probably wouldn't be much of a hit at the multiplexes, either.

As for a football movie, I'm sure that you're right, that you could also make a very good one based on the realities of big time football from the NFL down to the Texas high schools. I only offered the baseball version because we were talking about baseball movies on this thread. I'm not for a minute arguing against a similar film treatment of the steroid-related peer pressures of football.

I think the appeal of boxing as a dramatic subject is the elemental nature of it, the "either I do this or I'm on the street with a cup in my hand" aspect. The protagonist is always compelled into a confrontation with brutality, corruption, his own debasement and possibly death because he has no choice. And how he deals with that situation is loaded with dramatic potential.

That's not true of the other sports. The viewer can always ask himor herself "Why does he continue to put up with that crap? Why doesn't he just go back to Iowa and farm?" or something like that.

Absolutely. Now tell us about how there are no good 9-ball movies either because there are no good pool halls anymore.

Well, there's never been a really great pool movie, either, not even when there were pool rooms of every street corner of Manhattan. Not even The Hustler. So there. (ahem)

Not The Color of Money either, Andy?

Grady Seasons will kick your ass for saying that.

And really, even though it's about bowling, Kingpin was really a poolhall movie.

I thought The Hustler was better than The Color of Money. Neither was great, but both were pretty good. But then I have never been a Cruise fan.

Not The Color of Money either, Andy?

Grady Seasons will kick your ass for saying that.

I liked that one a lot better than The Hustler, but in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king. And other than Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio's looks, the only thing about The Color of Money worth remembering was that great "Grady Seasons" line about Tom Cruise's nightmare. And BTW the real "Grady Seasons" (Keith McCready, who played him in the movie) is one of the top 10 real life characters in sports history, not to mention being one of the all time great money players.

The real problem I have with both of those movies is admittedly an "elitist" one. I cringe every time I see either Cruise or Newman try to impersonate a pool player, since both of them can barely pick up a stick. It's like watching William Bendix play Babe Ruth. Jackie Gleason, OTOH, is a pleasure to watch in The Hustler, and he and George C. Scott are all that rescue that movie from the dumpster.

EDIT: Never saw (or even heard of) Kingpin, but I'll check it out. Hope springs eternal.

I dunno, there's something icky about a guy with black skin rhapsodizing about how 1910s baseball "reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again."

The speech doesn't say anything about 1910's baseball; in fact, its specifically about the timelessness of baseball.

But then again, I'm the greatest Field of Dreams homer of all time, so I may be biased.

I thought North Dallas Forty was a pretty good movie about the price of playing football.

Ya gotta see Kingpin, andy. I'm just going to leave it at that without an intro but you just gotta see it.

But then again, I'm the greatest Field of Dreams homer of all time, so I may be biased.

I saw that movie in college with my girlfriend. The credits rolled and I just sat there transfixed going "Wow."

That said, to really dig FoD you have to be okay with at least temporarily taking a gauzy view of baseball-as-idyllic, as well as the magical realism stuff. (And dealing with the historical inaccuracies.) So I can see why it's not for everyone.

I haven't seen this rather recent indie one, Andy (and meant to), and even if it's awful, it still might be great, considering the lead.

www.turntheriver.com

Thanks, Lassus. That movie's had a bit of ink in the pool mags, and I'm going to be looking out for it. The problem with nearly all pool movies is that they either never get released or they get killed after a week in New York or LA. And then Netflix doesn't pick up the DVD.

I see it opened in New York in May, but unfortunately I haven't heard a peep out of it since. The trailer makes it look like it could either be the best pool movie ever made, or the worst. Tough to tell in two minutes worth of clips.

"But Bull Durham was about the choice Annie had to make "

There was a girl in the movie?

Confession time: I've never seen Bull Durham, Field of Dreams, The Natural, 61*, Ken Burns' Baseball, Eight Men Out, and probably plenty of other highly regarded baseball movies I can't remember.

Watch the first & last of that list. The others are middling to forgettable to downright dreck.

And Netflix doesn't have Long Gone. Dang.

HOF: I think it's awesome that Jeff Idelson is so deliberately repairing the mistakes of the past. He is absolutely the best person for that job.

Baseball movies: "Field of Dreams" is the best in my book. "A League Of Their Own" is very good, I think, and often underrated in discussions on baseball movies. "Long Gone" is also generally underrated, and I was glad to see it mentioned here.

Bull Durham: I think the point of the movie is the intersection of the life paths of Annie and Crash. Both characters are heading toward a crossroads in their lives and meet at exactly the right time, like pitched ball and swinging bat, colliding right on the sweet spot. It's not about one or the other, but the two together. Great movie.

Billiard movies: I liked "Poolhall Junkies." The acting is a little raw at times, but I think that works well in that particular film. Chazz Palminteri, Rick Schroder, Rod Steiger and Christopher Walken are all supremely fun to watch in it.

Grady Seasons: the best Grady in the history of sports. Definitely better than Grady Little. Ten times better than Grady Sizemore, who is wildly overrated and almost certainly no better than, say, a Jacoby Ellsbury, somebody like that. Grady Seasons rules.

(Sorry I was late. This is a great thread, though.)

Grady Seasons: the best Grady in the history of sports. Definitely better than Grady Little. Ten times better than Grady Sizemore, who is wildly overrated and almost certainly no better than, say, a Jacoby Ellsbury, somebody like that. Grady Seasons rules.

Here's a more recent version of Grady. About 96,360 pints of beer more recent, to be exact. He would've been much better than Mizerak in that Miller Lite commercial, but I can't imagine the Kiefer ever endorsing one of those girly beers.

Also, forgot to add:

Boxing movies: boxing makes for a perfect forum for film because you can dictate the length of a fight and the sport has regularly scheduled natural dialogue between characters (in corners, between rounds). The only other sport I can think of that has routine scheduled verbal interaction as part of the normal course of action on the playing surface is football, between downs. Baseball has mound conferences, but you can't write a movie in which there is a mound visit after every batter.

I've never really gotten all the hype about Bull Durham. I saw it and thought it was a good movie, but have never understood the hype as the greatest baseball movie ever. Then again, I think that is due to seeing the movie when I was still in high school. The central theme of the movie, being at a crossroads in your life and having to make a choice, wasn't something I could relate with at that time. Maybe if I see it again I'll understand and appreciate it better.

I have three favorite baseball movies, all for different reasosn:

Field of Dreams. I saw that movie when I was 10, when I was not cynical about the game or its players. I still had that sense of wonder and fantasy about the game, so I could definitely buy everything presented in it. Still enjoy watching it to this day.

Major League. In my opinion, the best baseball comedy made. It really nailed the team dynamic and interaction. Funny as heck too.

The Sandlot. I'm surprised no one has mentioned it yet. Simply what baseball is in its purest form.

Oh, and I have to mention the best baseball scene in a movie not about baseball, the last act in Naked Gun. Thank god for Enrico Pallazo.

Oh, and I have to mention the best baseball scene in a movie not about baseball, the last act in Naked Gun. Thank god for Enrico Pallazo.

That scene is absolutely essential. Thank God for the automaton Reggie Jackson as well.

Here's a more recent version of Grady. About 96,360 pints of beer more recent, to be exact.

No kidding. He looks like the guy who ate Grady Seasons.

I've always been pretty "meh" about Bull Durham, but I've never really liked any of the three leads (although Robert Wuhl did a nice job). Watching Susan Sarandon or Kevin Costner attempt to act is fingernails-on-a-blackboard time for me.

There aren't really any "good" baseball movies, but I've always been partial to Major League.

Oh yeah? Well, I'm in Bull Durham.

Good luck seeing me though. I'm an extra in the crowd scenes. They gave us 25 bucks. For a grad student, that was a lot of extra dough.

Take carful not of the shadows in the park sequences. It was filmed in October and you can sort of tell it's not summertime by that.

A terrific steroids in baseball movie could be made about ken caminiti...maybe not for another 5-10 years tho.

Maybe the real Caminiti could make a cameo...oh, wait.

I'm going to come out right now and say I really really liked The Natural as a movie, and don't even start with the Malumud difference and the age of Redford and everything else. I've heard it all. I saw it when I was young, I loved the look of it and the mood and all the stupid crap that happened.

I found Field of Dreams kind of forgettable, honestly.

I really liked Bull Durham, too, but the part everyone quotes and loves, that stupid-ass monologue by Costner to Annie was painful to listen to.

I've never found Sarandon attractive at all.

You should see The Hunger.

As long as we were talking about pool films, and other activities of dark places, I would also recommend the gambling film "The Cincinnati Kid".

I've always had the hots for Sarandon, from Rocky Horror to the present day. Bull Durham is no exception (though she's probably hottest in The Hunger).

As long as we were talking about pool films, and other activities of dark places, I would also recommend the gambling film "The Cincinnati Kid".

They actually showed this movie late last night on TMC. Only caught the first 20 minutes or so before turning in but I liked what I saw. And, any movie with Steve McQueen, Edward G. Robinson and Ann-Margret in it can't possibly be bad.

agree on too much hype for bull durham. over art-directed, over-acted. kevin costner is the worst actor in movie history. the only good thing about that movie was sarandon.

can't say i've ever been satisfied by any baseball movie, really. they all get too sentimental. its a brutal game when you get down to it.

And for a much better Tim Robbins movie---an infinitely better Tim Robbins movie---try Robert Altman's Short Cuts.

I was actually disappointed by Short Cuts. That's probably because I'm a huge Raymond Carver fan, but nonetheless ... I though the adaptation of "So Much Water Close to Home" lost the darkness and foreboding that was such a big part of the short story. Also, Lyle Lovett and Andie MacDowell completely ruined "A Small, Good Thing." I'll never understand why directors employ actors who can't manage anything better than a rote line-reading. Mostly, the whole thing lost the minimalism that was so central to Carver's stories.

On another level, movies with intertwined vignettes always strike me as contrived, but YMMV.

Anyhow, if you're not a Carver loyalist, then the movie probably is pretty enjoyable. And the chainsaw thing was great.

Agreed on The Player--tremendous film.

Watching Susan Sarandon or Kevin Costner attempt to act is fingernails-on-a-blackboard time for me.
I can take or leave Sarandon's acting. I'll go with mostly hot. I think she had the right level of hotness for a baseball Annie. Pam Anderson would not have worked in that role. :)

I strongly dislike Costner, except I liked him in Bull Durham, thought he was okay enough in Field of Dreams. I also liked him a lot in the western he did in the last few years with Robert Duvall and Annette Bening. It might be that Duvall carried him -- I just love Duvall in these crusty, don't-f-with-him, old guy roles he's been doing.