Baseball Movies
 

I read a few minutes ago about bad baseball movies, they talked about how Bull Durham was so good and Field of Dreams was so bad. Am I the only one who got that Field of Dreams wasn't all about baseball?

Re: Baseball Movies
 

I really enjoy both of those movies and I don't think either of them is "really" about Baseball.

Bull Durham is a love story and a damn good one. It is also about a man coming to grips with the fact that he must begin a life after Baseball. Sure, it has plenty of Baseball in it but is it really about Baseball?

Bull Durham is about sex.

:D

And what PW said. It's about two people that know they must move on to a world outside baseball. But in their journey toward each other, we're treated to some of the funniest moments in any movie, ever.

As to Field of Dreams, I'm sorta an expert. Really. ;) I did write a journal article on the book, Shoeless Joe, and it was published, and I've studied scholarly writing on both the book and the film. Field of Dreams uses baseball as a metaphor for "perfection," a going back to the basics of life. It's about embracing life by connecting with your past and those that have gone before you. Ray Kinsella says Iowa is "heaven," thereby realizing that his life is rather perfect after all. It's about looking around you and embracing the world. It's about second chances and redemption. In one aspect of the story, it also seems to be about how the actual art of writing is a form of life. (In the book, the James Earl Jones character is J.D. Salinger.)

And those that think the movie is bad don't really understand how amazing the story is. Who has said this? Most people I know love the film and it was nominated for BP that year, and it has become a traditional "Father's Day" film.

In my journal article, I actually argued that Native American spirituality existed in the book. But I won't get into that, it would take pages. :yawn:

Re: Baseball Movies
 

I think you guys are accurate but looking at the films (and baseball) backwards. Baseball is about hooking up with your past and your father (or your "roots" and a purer, simpler life). Baseball is about perfection; they even have the term "perfect game" for a pitcher who allows no runners on base for the entirety of the game. Baseball is about life; it's all about finding some way to get home, even if you have to sacrifice to do it. Baseball is obviously about sex. Sure, most sports are about scoring, but in baseball you have a pitcher and a catcher and a little something called the squeeze play. I'll come back later when I have something even more relevant about the specific films, but I really want to start a new thread right now. :)

Re: Baseball Movies
 

That Mark is a total perv. :p

Yes, he is. :p

Baseball is also the perfection of the circle: the ball is a circle and the bases represent the returning to the point you began. In Kinsella's book and in the film, there is a circle of time: the past is present, the present is past. It is all linked together and each exists in the other.

It is also a diamond and in Native American spirituality, the diamond represents healing (the diamondback snake is used for this.)

Ah, baseball. I love it. :D

If you've never read the book, I highly recommend it. There are some differences between the book and film which would lead to someone enjoying it even if they know the movie. Imo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om_yq4L3M_I

I have never seen Bull Durham but have heard it is a great movie. I love Field of Dreams and everyone else I talked to does. I didn't understand what this guy was saying about. Thanks for letting me know other people like the movie as much as I do.

Re: Baseball Movies
 

Re: Baseball Movies
 

Obviously Carlin forgot about certain cutthroat (meaning "win at all costs") players, such as Ty Cobb and Pete Rose. They don't hope they're safe at home. They plan on laying you out when they get home.

I do think Bull Durham is one of the very best while I think less of Field of Dreams, but I also agree Field isn't just a Baseball movie. Anyway, for me the best of the best (not including documentaries) are...


http://www.clevelandfilm.org/images/...-men-out79.jpg
1. Eight Men Out
1988, John Sayles

http://www.homevideos.com/freezefram...lDurham19.jpeg
2. Bull Durham
1988, Ron Shelton

http://unsportsmanlikecomment.files....bears-cap2.jpg http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:...vie_poster.jpg
3. The Bad News Bears
1976, Michael Ritchie

http://www.freewilliamsburg.com/arch...ugar-movie.jpg
4. Sugar
2009, Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck

http://eternalperspectives.com/wp-co...al-Posters.jpg
5. The Natural
1984, Barry Levinson

http://i1.fc-img.com/CTV02/Comcast_C...pg_408_209.jpg
6. Bang the Drum Slowly
1973, John D. Hancock

http://www.homevideos.com/freezefram...fdreams53.jpeg http://tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn:...eamsPoster.jpg
7. Field of Dreams
1989, Phil Alden Robinson

http://assets.espn.go.com/media/pg2/...to/hanks_i.jpg http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:.../MPW-17448.JPG
8. A League of Their Own
1991, Penny Marshall

http://videodetective.com/photos/130/00549216_.jpg
9. The Bingo Long Traveling
All-Stars and Motor Kings
1976, John Badham

http://videodetective.com/photos/130/00549011_.jpg
10. Cobb
1994, Ron Shelton

http://videodetective.com/photos/319/013426_31.jpg
11. Soul of the Game
1996 made-for-TV, Kevin Rodney Sullivan

http://www.scene-stealers.com/wp-con...2007/11/61.jpg
12. 61*
2001 made-for-TV, Billy Crystal

Re: Baseball Movies
 

Yeah, but hasn't most folks over the years basically turned those guys into pariahs?

Edit: I love that you have Cobb on your list Holds. Underrated flick that one.

PW, that Carlin video was funny and pretty spot on! :laugh:

Susan, you should check out Bull Durham. It's a favorite film of mine: incredibly witty writing and sexy performances by Costner and Sarandon. The baseball scenes are hysterical.

My husband and I used to quote the movie all the time when we would go to baseball games. Our favorite: "Hit the bull!" We also liked the discussion about candlesticks, and "I give you a gift and you stand there... Run, Dummy!"

There are so many great moments.

You should definitely check it out. I also know this speech by heart and can recite it (so I'm weird..lol):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBfdl6hNZ9k&feature=related

I agree about Cobb.

Re: Baseball Movies
 

I like both films and agree that neither is about baseball.

I can't believe nobody's mentioned The Sandlot.
Yeah, it's a kid's movie, but it sure as hell is fun.

http://imagecache5.art.com/p/LRG/10/...he-sandlot.jpg

P.S.

Are any baseball movies really about baseball?

Re: Baseball Movies
 

Yeah, I think Sandlot is one of those movies that can be enjoyed by all.

Re: Baseball Movies
 

Indeed. The Sandlot is almost single-handedly responsible for turning me into a baseball fan. It caused me to start following it and playing it, so much that I formed a tiny neighborhood league which played in my backyard (complete with uniforms), and I almost immediately started a baseball newsletter on AOL, which turned into a baseball website, which is what eventually led to the creation of other sites, like Movie Forums.

So you can all thank Benjamin Franklin Rodriguez for the fact that we're all here.

Well, they can capture the emotion around the game and be about the game, but there was one film that really captured, imo, one of the greatest things about baseball: the perfect game.

I know people like to rag on Costner, and this film isn't in the same league as Bull Durham and Field of Dreams, but half of this film -- the "perfect game" half -- was a lot of fun to watch. It was reenacted right down to the audio commentary, and I love Vin Scully's commentary: "He's pitching against time. He's pitching against the future, against age, and even when you think about his career, against ending. And tonight I think he might be able to use that aching old arm one more time to push the sun back up in the sky and give us one more day of summer."

Corny, I know, but I love it. I also love John C. Reilly's catcher. In this scene, Costner realizes he has a perfect game going and the first time I saw this movie I was on the edge of my seat, certain he wouldn't get the perfect game. It was like watching a real one. And if you've ever watched one, when it gets broken near the end, it's kinda heartbreaking. I was certain Mike Mussina was gonna get one when he was with the Orioles, but he never quite made it. :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLrqdqBfqcw

I LOVE THAT MOVIE!!!!:p