On Thursday, federal authorities in Scranton, Pennsylvania, released charges against nine people they say were involved in a series of dramatic museum heists. The alleged thieves cased their targeted institutions ahead of time, then returned with walkie-talkies — and occasionally in disguise — to make off with artifacts from championship boxing belts to Fabergé punch bowls, leaving a trail of shattered display cases in their wake.
Prosecutors announced the defendants had been responsible for the theft of dozens of treasured artifacts over the past 20 years, including Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol paintings,...
Prosecutors announced the defendants had been responsible for the theft of dozens of treasured artifacts over the past 20 years, including Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol paintings,...
- 6/18/2023
- by Andrea Marks
- Rollingstone.com
With one swing of the bat Tuesday night in Arlington, Texas, Aaron Judge is now baseball’s new (legitimate) home run king.
The New York Yankees slugger established — without debate — an American League record for most homers in a season with the 62nd home run, passing the mark fellow Yankees great Roger Maris set in 1961. Judge tied Maris’ mark on Sept. 28.
“I had a good feeling off the bat,” Judge said after the game against the Texas Rangers. “I just didn’t know where it was going to land or...
The New York Yankees slugger established — without debate — an American League record for most homers in a season with the 62nd home run, passing the mark fellow Yankees great Roger Maris set in 1961. Judge tied Maris’ mark on Sept. 28.
“I had a good feeling off the bat,” Judge said after the game against the Texas Rangers. “I just didn’t know where it was going to land or...
- 10/5/2022
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
New York Yankees star Aaron Judge broke a 61-year-old record when he hit his 62nd home run in a game Tuesday against the Texas Rangers.
The slugger made history by breaking the American League record for single-season home runs that had been held by Roger Maris since 1961. Maris, in turn, had broken Babe Ruth’s record of 60 homers that he set in 1927. Judge had tied Maris for 60 home runs last week when the Yankees faced off the Toronto Blue Jays.
Remember where you were when #AaronJudge made history. 6️⃣2️⃣ #AllRise pic.twitter.com/w4kbDJf5ZC
— MLB (@MLB) October 5, 2022
Judge might’ve broken the American League record but the Major League and National League record for home runs in a single season stands at 73, which was set by Barry Bonds in 2001 when he played for the San Francisco Giants. For the Yankees star, the record set by Bonds is the one...
The slugger made history by breaking the American League record for single-season home runs that had been held by Roger Maris since 1961. Maris, in turn, had broken Babe Ruth’s record of 60 homers that he set in 1927. Judge had tied Maris for 60 home runs last week when the Yankees faced off the Toronto Blue Jays.
Remember where you were when #AaronJudge made history. 6️⃣2️⃣ #AllRise pic.twitter.com/w4kbDJf5ZC
— MLB (@MLB) October 5, 2022
Judge might’ve broken the American League record but the Major League and National League record for home runs in a single season stands at 73, which was set by Barry Bonds in 2001 when he played for the San Francisco Giants. For the Yankees star, the record set by Bonds is the one...
- 10/5/2022
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge belted his 62nd home run of the season on Tuesday evening, setting a new, all-time record for the American League.
Judge’s milestone dinger came in an away game against the Texas Rangers, in the first inning opposite right-hander Jesus Tinoco. With the homer, the outfielder eclipsed the 61 mark set by Yankee great Roger Maris in October 1961.
More from TVLineMight Aaron Judge Make Al Home Run History on... Apple TV+?Ratings: The Real Love Boat Opens Low; Survivor, Chi Fire Lead WednesdayWhite Lotus Season 2 Trailer Reveals Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya Is [Spoiler]
The game is...
Judge’s milestone dinger came in an away game against the Texas Rangers, in the first inning opposite right-hander Jesus Tinoco. With the homer, the outfielder eclipsed the 61 mark set by Yankee great Roger Maris in October 1961.
More from TVLineMight Aaron Judge Make Al Home Run History on... Apple TV+?Ratings: The Real Love Boat Opens Low; Survivor, Chi Fire Lead WednesdayWhite Lotus Season 2 Trailer Reveals Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya Is [Spoiler]
The game is...
- 10/5/2022
- by Matt Webb Mitovich
- TVLine.com
Baseball fans have been following New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge as he made history with his 61st home run, which he hit during a game against the Blue Jays in Toronto on Wednesday to tie Roger Maris for the home run record.
The home run was made even more memorable when a fan in the stands tried to catch the ball, and just missed. The fan’s name: Frankie Lasagna, a moniker that proved irresistible to late-night comedy hosts, as reported by Exclaim!
On “The Late Show”, for example, Stephen Colbert joked that Frankie Lasagna is “either the best name I’ve ever heard, or the worst alias in the history of the mob. ‘Eyyy, I’m Frankie Lasagna. These are my associates: Mikey Pizza, Sal Calzone, and his cousin, Bobby Unlimited Bread Sticks.'” (Colbert’s jokes come just after the 9:50 mark in the video above.)
Read...
The home run was made even more memorable when a fan in the stands tried to catch the ball, and just missed. The fan’s name: Frankie Lasagna, a moniker that proved irresistible to late-night comedy hosts, as reported by Exclaim!
On “The Late Show”, for example, Stephen Colbert joked that Frankie Lasagna is “either the best name I’ve ever heard, or the worst alias in the history of the mob. ‘Eyyy, I’m Frankie Lasagna. These are my associates: Mikey Pizza, Sal Calzone, and his cousin, Bobby Unlimited Bread Sticks.'” (Colbert’s jokes come just after the 9:50 mark in the video above.)
Read...
- 10/2/2022
- by Brent Furdyk
- ET Canada
Aaron Judge is currently finishing off a historic baseball season for the New York Yankees. On Sept. 28, the 30-year-old slugger matched the American League single-season home-run record, 61, set by Roger Maris (who was also a Yankee) way back in 1961. With seven games left on the Yankees' schedule, it seems more than likely he'll set a new record. Judge also seems like a lock for American League Mvp, and he's been doing his best to carry the Bronx Bombers to a major playoff run.
By Judge's side through his historic year? His wife, Samantha Bracksieck. The duo keep their relationship very private, but Bracksieck is often spotted at Judge's games, cheering him on. They also attended the US Open together on Sept. 5 in Queens.
According to the New York Post, Bracksieck and Judge's mom, Patty, were both on hand at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 21 to see him hit his 60th home run.
By Judge's side through his historic year? His wife, Samantha Bracksieck. The duo keep their relationship very private, but Bracksieck is often spotted at Judge's games, cheering him on. They also attended the US Open together on Sept. 5 in Queens.
According to the New York Post, Bracksieck and Judge's mom, Patty, were both on hand at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 21 to see him hit his 60th home run.
- 9/29/2022
- by Victoria Edel
- Popsugar.com
Aaron Judge just made history during the Yankees game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Officially, he tied the all-time American League (and New York Yankees) record for most home runs in a season, held by Roger Maris since 1961. But for baseball purists (like my editor who forced me to write that headline), Judge tied the record for all-time home runs in a season league-wide.
During the 7th inning against the Toronto Blue Jays, the California native hit the ball over the bullpen and against the left field wall, marking his 61st home run this season.
During the 7th inning against the Toronto Blue Jays, the California native hit the ball over the bullpen and against the left field wall, marking his 61st home run this season.
- 9/29/2022
- by Tomás Mier
- Rollingstone.com
New York attorney general Letitia James started the week with a 250 million civil suit against the Trump Organization September 21, alleging years of fraudulent business practices. She ended her week on another controversial note, albeit one of much less national importance: She’s calling on Apple TV+ to make September 23’s New York Yankees game available for all New Yorkers to watch without a paid subscription. Specifically, to watch it on local Yankees-focused cable channel Yes.
The backstory for those of you don’t follow Buster Olney on Twitter or check in with ESPN throughout the day: Tonight, Aaron Judge, the star Yankees slugger and outfielder, may hit his 61st home run of the season, which would tie him with the record Roger Maris set in 1961 for the most home runs ever by any player from any team in an MLB season to that point, breaking the previous record of 60 established...
The backstory for those of you don’t follow Buster Olney on Twitter or check in with ESPN throughout the day: Tonight, Aaron Judge, the star Yankees slugger and outfielder, may hit his 61st home run of the season, which would tie him with the record Roger Maris set in 1961 for the most home runs ever by any player from any team in an MLB season to that point, breaking the previous record of 60 established...
- 9/23/2022
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
The New York Yankees are hosting the Boston Red Sox for a four-game series, but this edition of the teams’ fierce rivalry has different stakes than usual.
Rather than win-loss records or the playoff race, the main focus this time will be whether Yankees slugger Aaron Judge sets an American League record for home runs. And, to the consternation of media watchers and many Yankee fans, tonight’s series opener will only be available on Apple TV+, not on the Yes Network or anywhere else on the linear TV dial.
Apple and Major League Baseball in March announced a multi-year deal for Friday Night Baseball, with the tech giant paying a reported 85 million per season for exclusive rights to stream the weekly showcase. Unlike the norm for Prime Video, Peacock, ESPN+ or other sports streamers, Apple isn’t requiring viewers to pay to see the games, as they would to...
Rather than win-loss records or the playoff race, the main focus this time will be whether Yankees slugger Aaron Judge sets an American League record for home runs. And, to the consternation of media watchers and many Yankee fans, tonight’s series opener will only be available on Apple TV+, not on the Yes Network or anywhere else on the linear TV dial.
Apple and Major League Baseball in March announced a multi-year deal for Friday Night Baseball, with the tech giant paying a reported 85 million per season for exclusive rights to stream the weekly showcase. Unlike the norm for Prime Video, Peacock, ESPN+ or other sports streamers, Apple isn’t requiring viewers to pay to see the games, as they would to...
- 9/23/2022
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
The Critics Choice Assn. has selected Billy Crystal to receive this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s ceremony on March 13.
A Billy Crystal life achievement reel might look a lot like a history of American showbiz. Crystal’s family roots are embedded in the greatness of American music via his father and his uncle Milt Gabler’s Commodore Records, home to recordings by blues and jazz greats such as Bessie Smith, Bix Beiderbecke and, most stunningly, Billie Holiday. How many showbiz family trees include Holiday’s landmark 1939 record, “Strange Fruit,” named by Time magazine as best song of the century?
In his 20s, Crystal worked his share of 1970s comedy club stages, first as part of a comedy trio known as “3’s Company,” then as a solo act. Variety caught the trio in 1973 and it’s clear from the review that Crystal’s trademark skills as the...
A Billy Crystal life achievement reel might look a lot like a history of American showbiz. Crystal’s family roots are embedded in the greatness of American music via his father and his uncle Milt Gabler’s Commodore Records, home to recordings by blues and jazz greats such as Bessie Smith, Bix Beiderbecke and, most stunningly, Billie Holiday. How many showbiz family trees include Holiday’s landmark 1939 record, “Strange Fruit,” named by Time magazine as best song of the century?
In his 20s, Crystal worked his share of 1970s comedy club stages, first as part of a comedy trio known as “3’s Company,” then as a solo act. Variety caught the trio in 1973 and it’s clear from the review that Crystal’s trademark skills as the...
- 3/12/2022
- by Steven Gaydos
- Variety Film + TV
Billy Crystal, whose multi-faceted career covers movies, TV, Broadway, books, stand- up comedy, directing, producting and writing in all mediums — not to mention hosting the Oscars nine times — will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 27th annual Critics Choice Awards on March 13 at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel.
It will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. Et on TBS and The CW and tape-delayed in the West.
Crystal, a Tony and Emmy winner is currently prepping his Broadway return in his first musical comedy, an adaptation of his 1992 film Mr. Saturday Night which is set to open on April 27.
He joins Lauren Bacall, Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Eddie Murphy, Robert Wise as the only past Life Achievement honorees in the organization’s 27 year history. As previously announced, Halle Berry will receive the sixth annual SeeHer Award during the ceremony.
Crystal’s many feature film credits include the buddy cop...
It will be broadcast live at 7 p.m. Et on TBS and The CW and tape-delayed in the West.
Crystal, a Tony and Emmy winner is currently prepping his Broadway return in his first musical comedy, an adaptation of his 1992 film Mr. Saturday Night which is set to open on April 27.
He joins Lauren Bacall, Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood, Eddie Murphy, Robert Wise as the only past Life Achievement honorees in the organization’s 27 year history. As previously announced, Halle Berry will receive the sixth annual SeeHer Award during the ceremony.
Crystal’s many feature film credits include the buddy cop...
- 2/1/2022
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Billy Crystal has earned the right to be choosy. After nearly 50 years in the entertainment industry — from roasting Muhammad Ali to being a cast member on “Saturday Night Live,” hosting his own variety show and helping to modernize the romantic comedy, even serving as the contemporary ideal Oscars host, and that’s just the funny stuff — Crystal has hit comedic milestone after comedic milestone.
He’s also starred in some of the box office’s biggest hits, hosted the Grammys, directed four films, won six primetime Emmys, plus a Tony and a Mark Twain Prize. He even got to be friends with his childhood hero, Mickey Mantle, after directing HBO feature “61*” about Mantle and Roger Maris’ quest to break Babe Ruth’s home run record. It’s been a good run, and it’s not over yet.
While Crystal’s resume isn’t exactly lacking, there is one area in...
He’s also starred in some of the box office’s biggest hits, hosted the Grammys, directed four films, won six primetime Emmys, plus a Tony and a Mark Twain Prize. He even got to be friends with his childhood hero, Mickey Mantle, after directing HBO feature “61*” about Mantle and Roger Maris’ quest to break Babe Ruth’s home run record. It’s been a good run, and it’s not over yet.
While Crystal’s resume isn’t exactly lacking, there is one area in...
- 5/6/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
The birth of banjo great Earl Scruggs — born 96 years ago on January 6th, 1924, in the Cleveland County community of Flint Hill, North Carolina — predated the debut of the Grand Ole Opry by less than two years, but since then the musician has become synonymous with the Opry, as well as bluegrass and country music.
In late September 1961, Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, and their band, the Foggy Mountain Boys, played a show at Greenville, South Carolina’s Memorial Auditorium, alongside fellow Opry stars Ray Price, Porter Wagoner, Minnie Pearl, Mother Maybelle Carter,...
In late September 1961, Earl Scruggs, Lester Flatt, and their band, the Foggy Mountain Boys, played a show at Greenville, South Carolina’s Memorial Auditorium, alongside fellow Opry stars Ray Price, Porter Wagoner, Minnie Pearl, Mother Maybelle Carter,...
- 1/6/2020
- by Stephen L. Betts
- Rollingstone.com
Jim Bouton, whose groundbreaking book Ball Four was one of the first tell-all books in sports, has died at age 80. He passed today in Massachusetts from a brain disease linked to dementia.
Bouton had great success as a pitcher with the New York Yankees in the early 1960s, winning 20 games and two World Series contests. But his book Ball Four (written with New York Post sportswriter Leonard Shecter) broke some of the sporting world’s biggest taboos, revealing behind-the-scenes carousing by legends like Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Whitey Ford, and the widespread use of amphetamines by ballplayers.
The book chronicled Bouton’s 1969 season pitching for the expansion Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros, but it was the Yankees information that drew the biggest uproar. For breaking the omerta, Bouton was ostracized by many of his fellow players, particularly ex-teammates, and he was blackballed from Yankees events for 50 years. Finally, the...
Bouton had great success as a pitcher with the New York Yankees in the early 1960s, winning 20 games and two World Series contests. But his book Ball Four (written with New York Post sportswriter Leonard Shecter) broke some of the sporting world’s biggest taboos, revealing behind-the-scenes carousing by legends like Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Whitey Ford, and the widespread use of amphetamines by ballplayers.
The book chronicled Bouton’s 1969 season pitching for the expansion Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros, but it was the Yankees information that drew the biggest uproar. For breaking the omerta, Bouton was ostracized by many of his fellow players, particularly ex-teammates, and he was blackballed from Yankees events for 50 years. Finally, the...
- 7/11/2019
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Being a great network drama in 2016 is like being New York Yankee Roger Maris in 1961: It takes you just a little too long to get there. Sure, network shows pull in the biggest ratings, but when it's time for the industry to honor its best, those lumbering beasts seem just a little too unwieldy: The last time a season longer than 13 episodes won the Emmy for Best Dramatic Series was 2006; the last time one was even nominated was 2011.
The Good Wife was that final nominee — to date, and possibly forever.
The Good Wife was that final nominee — to date, and possibly forever.
- 5/9/2016
- Rollingstone.com
In the midst of March Madness and with the Kentucky Derby around the corner, the first pitch of baseball season is almost here.
A quote from Field Of Dreams best describes America’s national pastime, “The one constant throughout the years has been baseball.”
To mark the start of the 2016 season, here’s our list of the Best Baseball movies.
The Bad News Bears
Considered by some to be the best baseball movie ever, the film celebrates its 40th anniversary this month (April 7, 1976). In an article from the NY Daily News, one line reads, “It is a movie that someone like the late Philip Seymour Hoffman called his favorite, and one which resonates on many levels today, with all different generations.”
Who are we to argue with greatness?
After skewering all-American subjects such as politics (The Candidate) and beauty pageants (Smile), director Michael Ritchie naturally set his sights on the...
A quote from Field Of Dreams best describes America’s national pastime, “The one constant throughout the years has been baseball.”
To mark the start of the 2016 season, here’s our list of the Best Baseball movies.
The Bad News Bears
Considered by some to be the best baseball movie ever, the film celebrates its 40th anniversary this month (April 7, 1976). In an article from the NY Daily News, one line reads, “It is a movie that someone like the late Philip Seymour Hoffman called his favorite, and one which resonates on many levels today, with all different generations.”
Who are we to argue with greatness?
After skewering all-American subjects such as politics (The Candidate) and beauty pageants (Smile), director Michael Ritchie naturally set his sights on the...
- 4/4/2016
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Wgn America has announced that its critically acclaimed original event series "Underground" shattered records as the most-watched program in nearly 18 years on the network, since the Cubs vs. Cardinals game on 9/8/1998 where Mark McGwire famously hit his 62 home run beating Roger Maris’s single season record. "We couldn't be happier with the outstanding performance of 'Underground,' but the overwhelmingly positive response of the audience to this story about the unsung American heroes of the Underground Railroad is even more gratifying," said Matt Cherniss, president and general manager, Wgn America and Tribune Studios. "The talented creators Misha Green...
- 3/14/2016
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Los Angeles – At the 2013 Chicago International Film Festival awards ceremony at the Ambassador East, an older man started shooting me with a video camera in the bar area. Later that same man, Haskell Wexler, picked up a lifetime award at that ceremony. Haskell Wexler died on Dec. 27, 2015, at the age of 93.
Haskell Wexler, Oscar Winning Cinematographer
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
Wexler won two Oscars for his cinematography, for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” – the last separate Oscar given for Black & White cinematography – and “Bound for Glory,” which was also notable for the first use of the Steadicam. The rest of his resume isn’t too shabby either, with Best Picture winners or nominations for “In the Heat of the Night, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” “America America” and “Coming Home.” Wexler had five Oscar nominations, including his wins, during his career.
Haskell Wexler, Oscar Winning Cinematographer
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com
Wexler won two Oscars for his cinematography, for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” – the last separate Oscar given for Black & White cinematography – and “Bound for Glory,” which was also notable for the first use of the Steadicam. The rest of his resume isn’t too shabby either, with Best Picture winners or nominations for “In the Heat of the Night, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” “America America” and “Coming Home.” Wexler had five Oscar nominations, including his wins, during his career.
- 12/27/2015
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Visual consultant Haskell Wexler prior to a screening of “American Graffiti,” presented at Oscars® Outdoors by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday, August 2, 2013. credit: Todd Wawrychuk / ©A.M.P.A.S.
Haskell Wexler, one of Hollywood’s most famous and honored cinematographers and one whose innovative approach helped him win Oscars for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and the Woody Guthrie biopic “Bound for Glory,” died Sunday. He was 93.
From the AP:
Wexler died peacefully in his sleep, his son, Oscar-nominated sound man Jeff Wexler, told The Associated Press.
A liberal activist, Wexler photographed some of the most socially relevant and influential films of the 1960s and 1970s, including the Jane Fonda-Jon Voight anti-war classic, “Coming Home,” the Sidney Poitier-Rod Steiger racial drama “In the Heat of the Night” and the Oscar-winning adaptation of Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Haskell Wexler, one of Hollywood’s most famous and honored cinematographers and one whose innovative approach helped him win Oscars for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and the Woody Guthrie biopic “Bound for Glory,” died Sunday. He was 93.
From the AP:
Wexler died peacefully in his sleep, his son, Oscar-nominated sound man Jeff Wexler, told The Associated Press.
A liberal activist, Wexler photographed some of the most socially relevant and influential films of the 1960s and 1970s, including the Jane Fonda-Jon Voight anti-war classic, “Coming Home,” the Sidney Poitier-Rod Steiger racial drama “In the Heat of the Night” and the Oscar-winning adaptation of Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
- 12/27/2015
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Is this heaven? Nope, it’s Opening Week.
Recently Mlb rounded up a group of players to recite, word for word, James Earl Jones’ famous “people will come, Ray” speech from Field Of Dreams.
Wamg declares America’s national pastime, Baseball, to be the official sport of movie fans everywhere. As Brad Pitt said in Moneyball, “How can you not be romantic about Baseball?”
It all started Sunday night with the Cardinals at the Cubs with St. Louis winning 3 to 0.
To celebrate the first pitch of Opening Week, here’s our list of the best Baseball movies.
The Rookie
One of the best baseball biopics to come along over the years, The Rookie, starring Dennis Quaid, tells the true story of Jim Morris, a man who finally gets a shot at his lifelong dream-pitching in the big leagues. A high school science teacher/baseball coach, Morris’ players make a bet with him:if they win district,...
Recently Mlb rounded up a group of players to recite, word for word, James Earl Jones’ famous “people will come, Ray” speech from Field Of Dreams.
Wamg declares America’s national pastime, Baseball, to be the official sport of movie fans everywhere. As Brad Pitt said in Moneyball, “How can you not be romantic about Baseball?”
It all started Sunday night with the Cardinals at the Cubs with St. Louis winning 3 to 0.
To celebrate the first pitch of Opening Week, here’s our list of the best Baseball movies.
The Rookie
One of the best baseball biopics to come along over the years, The Rookie, starring Dennis Quaid, tells the true story of Jim Morris, a man who finally gets a shot at his lifelong dream-pitching in the big leagues. A high school science teacher/baseball coach, Morris’ players make a bet with him:if they win district,...
- 4/6/2015
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Can you remember when a major studio would premiere a major film at a mid-west drive-in? This was the case with Safe at Home, a 1962 film little-known outside the United States because it was cobbled together quickly to capitalize on New York Yankees teammates Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle, who were both competing to be the home run king in baseball history. The competition between the sluggers galvanized the nation. Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon and featured Mantle and Maris as themselves in a children's film about a young boy obsessed with baseball. When he can't deliver on his promise to have the legendary Mantle and Maris appear at his little league function, the two players take pity on him and show up at the event. The premiere of the film was held at the Pioneer Drive-In Theater to benefit the Des Moines Little League team. The photo shows theater...
- 9/19/2014
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
A quarter-century ago, Kevin Costner hit a double-play, following up "Bull Durham" with "Field of Dreams" and becoming king of the sports movie. Twenty-five years later, as "Field of Dreams" marks its 25th anniversary (it was released on April 21, 1989), Costner is back with "Draft Day." The movie's about football, not baseball, and Costner's character plays in the executive suite, not on the field, but his mere presence still offers a reminder of great sports movies past.
And after all, isn't nostalgia a key element of sports movies? "Field of Dreams" makes this explicit -- we long for the sports heroes of our childhood, for a supposed long-gone golden age of our preferred sport, as a way of connecting with our past and bridging the generational divide that separates us as adults from our parents. Sports movies offer more than just the drama of winners and losers, or the journey from dream to achievement,...
And after all, isn't nostalgia a key element of sports movies? "Field of Dreams" makes this explicit -- we long for the sports heroes of our childhood, for a supposed long-gone golden age of our preferred sport, as a way of connecting with our past and bridging the generational divide that separates us as adults from our parents. Sports movies offer more than just the drama of winners and losers, or the journey from dream to achievement,...
- 4/20/2014
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball was not only a great moment for sports but a great moment in American Civil Rights Movement. Baseball was the national pastime at a time when racial segregation was still a subject amongst half the population. And the fact that an African American was going to have a prominent role on a baseball team seemed ludicrous. But, “White Man’s Guilt” is still prominent in America that is none more evident than in the latest Jackie Robinson biopic, “42”.
The story of Jackie Robinson is a valiant one in which he had to go through struggles in order to feel accepted in a previously all white sport. But, he is no saint. However, Brian Helgeland, a white filmmaker, decides to treat his story as one of sainthood. This is disappointing from the guy who wrote about the sordid streets...
Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball was not only a great moment for sports but a great moment in American Civil Rights Movement. Baseball was the national pastime at a time when racial segregation was still a subject amongst half the population. And the fact that an African American was going to have a prominent role on a baseball team seemed ludicrous. But, “White Man’s Guilt” is still prominent in America that is none more evident than in the latest Jackie Robinson biopic, “42”.
The story of Jackie Robinson is a valiant one in which he had to go through struggles in order to feel accepted in a previously all white sport. But, he is no saint. However, Brian Helgeland, a white filmmaker, decides to treat his story as one of sainthood. This is disappointing from the guy who wrote about the sordid streets...
- 4/18/2013
- by Patrick Hao
- Obsessed with Film
“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and it could be again.” – Field Of Dreams.
No truer words were ever spoken about America’s Pastime. Baseball began this past Spring with 30 teams vying for the chance to become World Champions and now it’s been decided. The San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers will play ball in the 2012 World Series. Before the final hurrah of nine innings, stats, bases and 3 strikes you’re out, Wamg has compiled a list of the Best Baseball Movies. Did we leave any in the dugout or are there some that should be sent to the showers?...
No truer words were ever spoken about America’s Pastime. Baseball began this past Spring with 30 teams vying for the chance to become World Champions and now it’s been decided. The San Francisco Giants and Detroit Tigers will play ball in the 2012 World Series. Before the final hurrah of nine innings, stats, bases and 3 strikes you’re out, Wamg has compiled a list of the Best Baseball Movies. Did we leave any in the dugout or are there some that should be sent to the showers?...
- 10/23/2012
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
On the heels of yesterday's Hardball dust-up with Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Il), which saw the Congressman score big with his "thrill up the leg" zinger, but also featured hot Chris Matthews landing body blow after body blow on the lack of substance in the Gop's "Cap, Cut, and Balance" plan, Matthews followed up tonight by noting the number of times a belligerent Walsh said the host's name during the interview. It was Matthews' "Big Number" for Wednesday night, and Roger Maris would be proud.
- 7/20/2011
- by Tommy Christopher
- Mediaite - TV
Reelz Channel The cast of the Reelz Channel Miniseries, “The Kennedys”
For Barry Pepper, an Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie is a reward for months of historical research.
Playing former Attorney General, U.S. Presidential candidate and political wunderkind Robert F. Kennedy in the Reelz Channel biopic miniseries “The Kennedys,” Pepper spent hours listening to recordings of his real-life character’s distinctive voice.
“The accent was extremely daunting going in,” Pepper said in a...
For Barry Pepper, an Emmy nomination for outstanding lead actor in a miniseries or movie is a reward for months of historical research.
Playing former Attorney General, U.S. Presidential candidate and political wunderkind Robert F. Kennedy in the Reelz Channel biopic miniseries “The Kennedys,” Pepper spent hours listening to recordings of his real-life character’s distinctive voice.
“The accent was extremely daunting going in,” Pepper said in a...
- 7/15/2011
- by Nick Andersen
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
There was a time in this country when athletes were giants among men, revered and respected as warriors that proudly took to the field in the epitome of our patriotic zeal. Today, in the harsher, colder America that followed Vietnam and its parallel revolutions at home, sports have become a frenzied pastime racked with scandal and plagued by human greed. The honeymoon has certainly ended for our young country, but devoted Yankees fan Billy Crystal heroically champions the better days in this staggeringly good television movie that tells of friendship and quest for immortality shared by Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle in the summer of 1961.
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- 6/9/2011
- JustPressPlay.net
Yankee great Yogi Berra, a fellow St. Louisianan, said as he witnessed Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle hit back-to-back home runs, that it was "Deja vu all over again." When I began this column on Essence.com last summer, I'd just embarked on a solo trip around the Mediterranean. At the time, I was without a boyfriend, and this year, I'm without a boyfriend. Being single has never stopped me from doing exactly what it is I want or need to do...
- 6/6/2011
- Essence
Family Guy creator/rememberer of things Seth MacFarlane has closed a deal to reboot the Flintstones franchise through a series of “tv and film projects.” Predictably, this has been met with an internet wave of “Oh God No”, probably because Seth MacFarlane makes bad things and people remember the Flintstones fondly; my colleague Alex Zalben summed up this impending disaster in an all-too-accurate Tweet, “Hey Wilma, do you remember the time when Oh Wait Nothing Has Happened Before This.” While I share and probably exceed the internet’s general distaste for Seth MacFarlane’s animated humor, and still believe The Flintstones was an objectively great show and not just something we remember fondly out of blind nostalgia, I also believe that some perspective is in order for the panicky masses who are acting like this MacFarlane announcement will somehow ruin the pristine legacy of one of television’s all-time most beloved cartoons.
- 5/17/2011
- by Dan Hopper
- BestWeekEver
Sen. Jon Tester hunts, farms, has seven fingers, and could well determine his party's fate in 2012. So why are liberals at his throat?
Jon Tester, United States senator, is face down in the mud. Earlier today, Tester and his wife, Sharla, drove from Great Falls, Mont., to their home, T-Bone Farms, 80 miles northeast. It's a journey the Testers have been making nearly every weekend since Jon joined the Senate in January 2007. As usual, they followed the Teton River through sloping sandstone canyons and out onto a vast expanse of flat, treeless farmland, with only the occasional man-made interruption: the United Grain silos in Kershaw, the Ace High Casino in Loma, a billboard about chewing tobacco. "Quitting Was Tough," it said, "But I'm Tougher." The trip took 80 minutes.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Double Trouble for the Reid Family
Not everyone, however, enjoyed such a pleasant drive. After turning down Son Lane,...
Jon Tester, United States senator, is face down in the mud. Earlier today, Tester and his wife, Sharla, drove from Great Falls, Mont., to their home, T-Bone Farms, 80 miles northeast. It's a journey the Testers have been making nearly every weekend since Jon joined the Senate in January 2007. As usual, they followed the Teton River through sloping sandstone canyons and out onto a vast expanse of flat, treeless farmland, with only the occasional man-made interruption: the United Grain silos in Kershaw, the Ace High Casino in Loma, a billboard about chewing tobacco. "Quitting Was Tough," it said, "But I'm Tougher." The trip took 80 minutes.
Related story on The Daily Beast: Double Trouble for the Reid Family
Not everyone, however, enjoyed such a pleasant drive. After turning down Son Lane,...
- 5/8/2011
- by Andrew Romano
- The Daily Beast
Do you love classic baseball, and, in particular, are you a hardcore Yankees or Pirates fan? Does sitting down in front of a 50-year-old baseball game define the phrase "Sunday Afternoon"? Does your heart race at the thought of watching watch Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Roberto Clemente and Roger Maris play? If you answered yes to all of those questions, then you already know the drama of this game and may well want to own it.
If your not one such fan, you probably wont want to purchase this, but it does have some interesting points for more casual fans of the game (this reviewer included). It’s one of the last remaining baseball television broadcasts from its era, (accidently preserved in Bing Crosby’s wine cellar) and it’s fascinating to see how the game has changed in 50 years. There are no billboards or ads in the stadium, no...
If your not one such fan, you probably wont want to purchase this, but it does have some interesting points for more casual fans of the game (this reviewer included). It’s one of the last remaining baseball television broadcasts from its era, (accidently preserved in Bing Crosby’s wine cellar) and it’s fascinating to see how the game has changed in 50 years. There are no billboards or ads in the stadium, no...
- 1/19/2011
- by Willie Osterweil
- JustPressPlay.net
For baseball lovers everywhere, JustPressPlay has a nice little piece of sports history preserved on DVD for giveaway. Now you can relive the incredible and monumental game wherein the Pittsburgh Pirates made an incredible comeback and scored one of the greatest upsets Mlb has ever seen. JustPressPlay is giving away one copy of Baseball's Greatest Games: 1960 World Series Game 7 on DVD to one lucky winner. To find out how to win, just keep reading.
The 1960 World Series® was a classic sports Cinderella story, pitting the upstart Pirates against the Yankees dynasty, which had already captured 18 championship titles. The star-studded lineups included Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Roger Maris on the New York side with Roberto Clemente, Dick Groat, and Vern Law on the Pittsburgh roster. After six games, the heavily favored Bombers had compiled impressive Fall Classic numbers: a .340 team batting average, 78 hits, and 46 runs to the Pirates 17. Yet the...
The 1960 World Series® was a classic sports Cinderella story, pitting the upstart Pirates against the Yankees dynasty, which had already captured 18 championship titles. The star-studded lineups included Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Roger Maris on the New York side with Roberto Clemente, Dick Groat, and Vern Law on the Pittsburgh roster. After six games, the heavily favored Bombers had compiled impressive Fall Classic numbers: a .340 team batting average, 78 hits, and 46 runs to the Pirates 17. Yet the...
- 1/14/2011
- by Lex Walker
- JustPressPlay.net
The nostalgic husk of Ken Burns’s love of baseball weighs heavily on this latest installment of his documentary series, entitled Baseball: The Tenth Inning. Not his love, necessarily, of training, rained out games, and near-riots inspired by little more than the color and lettering of someone’s shirt, but his love of sepia-tone archive footage, wide shots of masses of people cheering, and the hope that any given game could end in some sort of generation-defining explosion of community spirit (presumably looking something like the ending of The Natural). Burns is certainly aware of the moral intricacy and everyday rigamarole that goes into making the game happen for viewers near and far, and occasionally presents it rather eloquently, but each and every time that it comes into conflict with his vision of baseball as a unifying force for good, he tends to lean towards the more fan-ready perspective, seemingly...
- 10/15/2010
- by Anders Nelson
- JustPressPlay.net
Let's forget for a moment that Mark McGwire admitted that he used steroids. Put it out of your mind that baseball's "juiced ball era" was actually the result of rampant, unchecked use of performance-enhancing drugs. Ignore the fact that baseball, a game that once prided itself on dignity, poetry, gamesmanship and hard numbers has been tainted for at least a generation by the unfortunate fates of greats like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Allow yourself to be transported back to the summer of 1998, when McGwire and Sammy Sosa were engaged in one of the most thrilling bits of baseball one-upsmanship in history that culminated on this day in 1998 when McGwire hit his 62nd home run of the season, passing Roger Maris for the single-season record.
In his first full season in St. Louis (he was traded in the middle of the '97 season), McGwire put on an incredible hitting clinic,...
In his first full season in St. Louis (he was traded in the middle of the '97 season), McGwire put on an incredible hitting clinic,...
- 9/8/2010
- by Kyle Anderson
- MTV Newsroom
"Law & Order: Los Angeles" is shaping up nicely with the addition of another high-profiled actor. Following the news that "Salt" actor Corey Stoll is signed to be one of the police detectives, NBC announced that Terrence Howard is also part of the new family. He would play a prosecutor.
Howard will rotate roles with Alfred Molina as the deputy district attorney in the legal drama. Series creator Dick Wolf told the press at Television Critics Association on Friday, July 30, "I feel like manager of the 1961 Yankees. I have my Mantle and Maris." He was referring to sports ace Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris.
The confirmed line-up so far are thus Skeet Ulrich as Detective Rex Winters, Molina as Deputy D.A. Morales, Stoll as Winters' partner Detective Tj Jaruszalski and Howard as another D.A. who is yet named. No female lead has been introduced this far.
Howard will rotate roles with Alfred Molina as the deputy district attorney in the legal drama. Series creator Dick Wolf told the press at Television Critics Association on Friday, July 30, "I feel like manager of the 1961 Yankees. I have my Mantle and Maris." He was referring to sports ace Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris.
The confirmed line-up so far are thus Skeet Ulrich as Detective Rex Winters, Molina as Deputy D.A. Morales, Stoll as Winters' partner Detective Tj Jaruszalski and Howard as another D.A. who is yet named. No female lead has been introduced this far.
- 7/31/2010
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
With all due respect to cars, guns, and cars that fire guns, there’s only one thing I care about when it comes to videogames: Is There A Freaking Grappling Hook? The mere presence of a grappling hook (or its sibling-clone, the plasma grappling laser) is an easy indicator that the game is A) awesome, B) too awesome for words, or C) so awesome you’ll go to the hospital with awesome-poisoning. You’ve got the classic franchises, like Legend of Zelda (hookshot) or Metroid (grapple beam). You’ve got the stealth masterpieces, like Wild 9. Adding a grappling hook to...
- 6/18/2010
- by Darren Franich
- EW.com - PopWatch
Comedy Central's dynamic duo, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, have inked new contracts to remain on the network through 2012.
According to the New York Times, the deal will keep them on the air through 'Indecision 2012,' or, in other words, the 2012 Presidential election.
Doug Herzog, president of MTV networks, referred to the funnymen as the Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris of Comedy Central.
For more details check out Inside TV.
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals
Permalink | Email this | | Comments...
According to the New York Times, the deal will keep them on the air through 'Indecision 2012,' or, in other words, the 2012 Presidential election.
Doug Herzog, president of MTV networks, referred to the funnymen as the Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris of Comedy Central.
For more details check out Inside TV.
Filed under: Pickups and Renewals
Permalink | Email this | | Comments...
- 4/20/2010
- by TV Squad Staff
- Aol TV.
Jon Gosselin and Octomom may be starring in an upcoming reality show from hell -- but the show's producers are convinced the "two biggest media sensations of our generation" are the next John Lennon and Paul McCartney.TMZ obtained a copy of the pitch for "Jon - Kate = Jon + Octomom" which reads: "Mohammed and the Mountain started a religion. Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris started a Yankee dynasty. Lennon and McCartney started a music revolution.
- 10/29/2009
- TMZ
By Matt Singer
In honor of the start of the 2008 baseball season, Ifc.com has been paying tribute to the national pastime's long relationship with the movies every day this week by giving you everything you'd ever want to know about the odd little quasi-autobiographical ditties in which baseball players have played themselves. Peanuts and crackerjacks not included.
"Safe at Home!" (1962)
Directed by Walter Doniger
As Themselves: Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle
Game Story: A young baseball fan living in Florida named Hutch (Bryan Russell) boasts to his Little League team that his inattentive father is, in fact, best friends with Yankee greats Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. When his teammates call his bluff, Hutch hitches his way to Fort Lauderdale and sneaks into the Yanks' spring training complex, where he's befriended by...
In honor of the start of the 2008 baseball season, Ifc.com has been paying tribute to the national pastime's long relationship with the movies every day this week by giving you everything you'd ever want to know about the odd little quasi-autobiographical ditties in which baseball players have played themselves. Peanuts and crackerjacks not included.
"Safe at Home!" (1962)
Directed by Walter Doniger
As Themselves: Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle
Game Story: A young baseball fan living in Florida named Hutch (Bryan Russell) boasts to his Little League team that his inattentive father is, in fact, best friends with Yankee greats Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. When his teammates call his bluff, Hutch hitches his way to Fort Lauderdale and sneaks into the Yanks' spring training complex, where he's befriended by...
- 4/4/2008
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
NEW YORK -- When San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds breaks Hank Aaron's career home-run record, ESPN and Fox Sports are looking to bring the occasion to viewers live nationwide.
ESPN and Fox Sports said Thursday that they are negotiating with Major League Baseball for the rights to bring Bonds' at-bats -- and perhaps a game -- to a nationwide audience.
For Fox Sports, that could mean carrying an extra game beyond its Saturday afternoon exclusive package as it did in September 1998, when it broadcast Mark McGwire's 62nd home run of the season to pass Roger Maris' long-standing record. For ESPN, it would mean carrying live Bonds' at-bats each game as he nears the record.
"Do we have an interest? Absolutely," Fox Sports president Ed Goren said Thursday.
Fox Sports has exclusive rights to the Giants' July 14 game against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. "It would be an appropriate game to set a record," Goren said.
ESPN and Fox Sports said Thursday that they are negotiating with Major League Baseball for the rights to bring Bonds' at-bats -- and perhaps a game -- to a nationwide audience.
For Fox Sports, that could mean carrying an extra game beyond its Saturday afternoon exclusive package as it did in September 1998, when it broadcast Mark McGwire's 62nd home run of the season to pass Roger Maris' long-standing record. For ESPN, it would mean carrying live Bonds' at-bats each game as he nears the record.
"Do we have an interest? Absolutely," Fox Sports president Ed Goren said Thursday.
Fox Sports has exclusive rights to the Giants' July 14 game against the rival Los Angeles Dodgers. "It would be an appropriate game to set a record," Goren said.
Chronicling the 14-month legal battle over a baseball, first-time documaker Mike Wranovics brings a keen eye for comic absurdity to the saga. "Up for Grabs", whose appeal is by no means limited to baseball fans, is pop-culture footnote as parable, with money, greed, fame, sports frenzy and the philosophy of law all playing a role. The compelling documentary, which screened Friday and Sunday at the Los Angeles Film Festival, deserves theatrical at-bats.
The ludicrous tale begins Oct. 7, 2001, when San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds hit his 73rd home run during the final game of the season. In the stands of San Francisco's Pac Bell Park, a mob dove after the valuable orb. Patrick Hayashi, who emerged from the crush of bodies holding the prize -- expected to fetch as much as $3 million -- soon became the defendant in a lawsuit, with Alex Popov claiming Hayashi attacked him and nabbed the ball from his glove.
Thus began a clash of biblical proportions, dividing eyewitnesses and fans. Refusing Hayashi's offer to split the proceeds from the sale of the ball, Popov amassed legal bills of more than $640,000 in his all-or-nothing pursuit of justice.
A colorful slew of characters offer comments on the case, with increasing exasperation over what one journalist dubs the world's "two worst baseball fans." Bolstering that contention is the easygoing presence of Sal Durante, who 40 years earlier caught Roger Maris' record-shattering 61st home run ball and promptly offered it to the Yankee. "Make yourself some money, kid", Maris said, knowing that a collector had pledged to pay the unheard-of sum of $5,000 for the piece of Major League Baseball history. Durante's humility and good nature stand as implicit rebuke to the present-day feuding duo's sense of entitlement.
Wranovics deftly navigates the story's layers and shifting sense of truth. Such elements as the expert testimony of an umpire and a twisted nod to Abraham Zapruder in the all-important "Keppel Tape" -- footage of the infamous brawl shot by Josh Keppel, a cameraman for the local NBC outlet (and co-cinematographer of this film) -- play like plot points in a well-crafted satire. Keppel and Zack Richard's camerawork, edited with high energy by Wranovics and Dave Ciaccio, captures the excitement of the game as well as the intimate drama -- and comedy -- of the human conflict.
The ludicrous tale begins Oct. 7, 2001, when San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds hit his 73rd home run during the final game of the season. In the stands of San Francisco's Pac Bell Park, a mob dove after the valuable orb. Patrick Hayashi, who emerged from the crush of bodies holding the prize -- expected to fetch as much as $3 million -- soon became the defendant in a lawsuit, with Alex Popov claiming Hayashi attacked him and nabbed the ball from his glove.
Thus began a clash of biblical proportions, dividing eyewitnesses and fans. Refusing Hayashi's offer to split the proceeds from the sale of the ball, Popov amassed legal bills of more than $640,000 in his all-or-nothing pursuit of justice.
A colorful slew of characters offer comments on the case, with increasing exasperation over what one journalist dubs the world's "two worst baseball fans." Bolstering that contention is the easygoing presence of Sal Durante, who 40 years earlier caught Roger Maris' record-shattering 61st home run ball and promptly offered it to the Yankee. "Make yourself some money, kid", Maris said, knowing that a collector had pledged to pay the unheard-of sum of $5,000 for the piece of Major League Baseball history. Durante's humility and good nature stand as implicit rebuke to the present-day feuding duo's sense of entitlement.
Wranovics deftly navigates the story's layers and shifting sense of truth. Such elements as the expert testimony of an umpire and a twisted nod to Abraham Zapruder in the all-important "Keppel Tape" -- footage of the infamous brawl shot by Josh Keppel, a cameraman for the local NBC outlet (and co-cinematographer of this film) -- play like plot points in a well-crafted satire. Keppel and Zack Richard's camerawork, edited with high energy by Wranovics and Dave Ciaccio, captures the excitement of the game as well as the intimate drama -- and comedy -- of the human conflict.
Chronicling the 14-month legal battle over a baseball, first-time documaker Mike Wranovics brings a keen eye for comic absurdity to the saga. "Up for Grabs", whose appeal is by no means limited to baseball fans, is pop-culture footnote as parable, with money, greed, fame, sports frenzy and the philosophy of law all playing a role. The compelling documentary, which screened Friday and Sunday at the Los Angeles Film Festival, deserves theatrical at-bats.
The ludicrous tale begins Oct. 7, 2001, when San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds hit his 73rd home run during the final game of the season. In the stands of San Francisco's Pac Bell Park, a mob dove after the valuable orb. Patrick Hayashi, who emerged from the crush of bodies holding the prize -- expected to fetch as much as $3 million -- soon became the defendant in a lawsuit, with Alex Popov claiming Hayashi attacked him and nabbed the ball from his glove.
Thus began a clash of biblical proportions, dividing eyewitnesses and fans. Refusing Hayashi's offer to split the proceeds from the sale of the ball, Popov amassed legal bills of more than $640,000 in his all-or-nothing pursuit of justice.
A colorful slew of characters offer comments on the case, with increasing exasperation over what one journalist dubs the world's "two worst baseball fans." Bolstering that contention is the easygoing presence of Sal Durante, who 40 years earlier caught Roger Maris' record-shattering 61st home run ball and promptly offered it to the Yankee. "Make yourself some money, kid", Maris said, knowing that a collector had pledged to pay the unheard-of sum of $5,000 for the piece of Major League Baseball history. Durante's humility and good nature stand as implicit rebuke to the present-day feuding duo's sense of entitlement.
Wranovics deftly navigates the story's layers and shifting sense of truth. Such elements as the expert testimony of an umpire and a twisted nod to Abraham Zapruder in the all-important "Keppel Tape" -- footage of the infamous brawl shot by Josh Keppel, a cameraman for the local NBC outlet (and co-cinematographer of this film) -- play like plot points in a well-crafted satire. Keppel and Zack Richard's camerawork, edited with high energy by Wranovics and Dave Ciaccio, captures the excitement of the game as well as the intimate drama -- and comedy -- of the human conflict.
The ludicrous tale begins Oct. 7, 2001, when San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds hit his 73rd home run during the final game of the season. In the stands of San Francisco's Pac Bell Park, a mob dove after the valuable orb. Patrick Hayashi, who emerged from the crush of bodies holding the prize -- expected to fetch as much as $3 million -- soon became the defendant in a lawsuit, with Alex Popov claiming Hayashi attacked him and nabbed the ball from his glove.
Thus began a clash of biblical proportions, dividing eyewitnesses and fans. Refusing Hayashi's offer to split the proceeds from the sale of the ball, Popov amassed legal bills of more than $640,000 in his all-or-nothing pursuit of justice.
A colorful slew of characters offer comments on the case, with increasing exasperation over what one journalist dubs the world's "two worst baseball fans." Bolstering that contention is the easygoing presence of Sal Durante, who 40 years earlier caught Roger Maris' record-shattering 61st home run ball and promptly offered it to the Yankee. "Make yourself some money, kid", Maris said, knowing that a collector had pledged to pay the unheard-of sum of $5,000 for the piece of Major League Baseball history. Durante's humility and good nature stand as implicit rebuke to the present-day feuding duo's sense of entitlement.
Wranovics deftly navigates the story's layers and shifting sense of truth. Such elements as the expert testimony of an umpire and a twisted nod to Abraham Zapruder in the all-important "Keppel Tape" -- footage of the infamous brawl shot by Josh Keppel, a cameraman for the local NBC outlet (and co-cinematographer of this film) -- play like plot points in a well-crafted satire. Keppel and Zack Richard's camerawork, edited with high energy by Wranovics and Dave Ciaccio, captures the excitement of the game as well as the intimate drama -- and comedy -- of the human conflict.
- 6/24/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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