Best Baseball Film Matchups

There's never been a bad baseball film. Ever. I swear. But when you pair them up competitively, which films come out on top?


Bull Durham vs. Field of Dreams
Both Kevin Costner films will make any top ten list of sports films, but which one is tops? If you're playing Field of Dreams, I will watch. It was nominated for Oscar's Best Picture. However, when choosing the purest baseball movie, Bull Durham is truest to "the Church of Baseball" and perhaps the most fun all around. 

The first film about baseball in the minor leagues isn't just romantic and funny, it changed the focus of sports movies for years to come. In the words of Bob Costas, Bull Durham "gave us the romance of baseball without the violins." Winner: Bull Durham.

The Bad News Bears vs. Sandlot

This is the showdown that I'd like to see filmed today. 1976's Bad News Bear crew versus 1993's Sandlot team. Why can't someone make this? You're killing me, Smalls. The Sandlot simply owes too much to the former to take a win here. The pennant goes to: Walter Matthau and The Bad News Bears.

42 vs. 61*
In a matchup of stories, Jackie Robinson's integration of MLB (42) versus Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle's quest to beat Babe Ruth's single-season home record (*61), Robinson's tale is obviously ahead in the count. So is the production. The combo of director Brian Thomas Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Mystic River) and actor Chadwick Boseman (Black Panther) as Robinson is a winning lineup.

61* touts director and noted baseball fan Billy Crystal and Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) as Roger Maris and Thomas Jane (Hung) as Mickey Mantle. Crystal's love of baseball and eye for the small details of the sport can be felt in every scene. You can't go wrong with either film, but I'd give Robinson's story the edge. Winner: 42.

Cobb vs. Pride of the Yankees
In the battle of the b'ball biopics, we have heavy hitters Tommy Lee Jones (Ty Cobb) and Gary Cooper (Lou Gherig). Gherig was much more likable than Cobb and so is his film — which also has Babe Ruth as Babe Ruth. No joke. Winner: Pride of the Yankees.

Moneyball vs. Million Dollar Arm

In the battle of true stories of behind-the-scenes baseball, Jon Hamm's Disney film comes up short. Brad PItt's film is money. Who would have thought that Michael Lewis’ 2003 nonfiction book about the math of baseball could be major league entertainment? Apparently, the top screenwriting team of Aaron Sorkin and Steven Aaillian did. As well as director Bennet Miller (Capote, Foxcatcher) and the shiniest star in Hollywood too. Pitt may have won the Oscar this year for Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, but this is his all-star best performance. Winner: Moneyball.

The Rookie vs. Rookie of the Year
When you're looking for a family film with hijinks and heart, go with Dennis Quaid's 2002 film directed by John Lee Hancock (The Blindside, The Highwaymen, The Founder) not the popular 1993 comedy. This is the most one-sided matchup on the list. Winner: The Rookie.

Take Me Out To The Ballgame vs. Damn Yankees

In a musical matchup, you'd think 1949's hit MGM musical with Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Esther Williams would have knocked it out of the park, but there's not a lot of baseball there. In fact, Kelly and Sinatra's characters spend more time as vaudeville performers (their other job) than on the field. And the team is a fictitious one, the Chicago Wolves.

On the flipside, Gwen Verdon does her damndest to wow you in every scene, and the story revolves around a real damn team, the Washington Senators (and a matchup with the New York Yankees). Winner: In the musical match up, you can't beat Damn Yankees.

The men of Eight Men Out vs. the women of A League of Their Own

Eight Men Out is an eighties gem that needs to be seen. It features a pre-Say Anything partnering of John Cusak and John Mahoney and a pre-Major League Charlie Sheen. But how does one compare the darkness of Shoeless Joe and the bribe-taking 1919 Chicago White Sox team with the sunniness of The Rockford Peaches and opening day for All-American Girls Professional Baseball League? There's no darkness in baseball! Winner: A League of Their Own.

Awards: The only baseball films to be nominated for Oscars' Best Picture are: The Pride of the Yankees, Field of Dreams, and Moneyball. None have won.

The Ten Buck Review: All are worth your ten bucks.

Greyhound

Greyhound is a World War II thriller adapted from The Good Shepherd, a 1955 novel by famed naval fiction writer C.S. Forester. Adapted by none other than its star Tom Hanks. 

It's an adventure that was meant to open in theaters June of 2020 but has headed to Apple+ TV instead. Yes, you heard all that correct. Tom Hanks, America's Captain, has come to save us from a summer without new movies.

Hanks drives this terse thriller with a steady hand. The film is a brisk 91 minutes so it's essential that we are on board with the familiar Hanks as a heroic leader within the first few minutes. The action does not stop.

Director Aaron Schneider (Get Low) serves up a straightforward naval film with a simple mission. U.S. Navy Commander Ernie Krause (Hanks) leads an international convoy of 37 Allied ships across the treacherous Black Pit of the North Atlantic while being pursued by German U-boats (and his insecurity of inexperience).

The film, with its dynamic display of rough seas, was clearly meant for the big screen, giving viewers a hint of what a mission of this sort might have felt like. Similarly, the U-boats are mostly hidden to the viewer, creating the greatest unseen movie villain this side of Jaws.

Hanks anchors this film and lets us know everything we need to know about the commander with just simple gestures. He's amazing. While I appreciated the simplicity of a war film with one mission versus a convoluted epic, the same way I found 1911 perfect, I do wish the film had been a little longer to explore the other characters on board.

In a nutshell: This is a straightforward naval film and a real fresh treat for WWII-film lovers, but don't expect any romance or humor. Do expect a masterful, minimalist performance by Hanks.

Award potential: The Academy is recognizing TV releases this one unique year. However, the sturdy Hanks has reached the point in his career where he's not nominated. Don't expect any FX nods either. As amazing as the Atlantic comes to life, there are a few scenes of TV-quality CGI that should have been movie-quality. Its TV release will make it difficult for sound awards.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks. (Or a month's subscription to Apple+.)

The King of Staten Island

In 2013, I saw Pete Davidson on Comedy Central's Gotham Comedy Live and I've been telling people to watch this hilarious guy ever since. Pretty much anytime anyone did back then, they would wonder "what's the big deal." For good reason. He's never fulfilled the promise of his talent although he eventually reached popularity through Saturday Night Live and by dating pop star Ariana Grande.

Well, I'm about to do it again; watch this guy in his new movie.

I'm not sure how the guy who can't play straight to character in any SNL skit inhabited the lovable loser in this film, but he's great. The character deserves no sympathy, but you root for him anyway.

Davidson is Scott, a failure-to-launch-24-year old who dreams of being a tattoo artist. His mom is portrayed by Marisa Tomei. His dad, a former firefighter, died heroically. 

The script, which Davidson co-wrote, mirrors his own childhood loss; his father was also a fireman, killed on 9/11. Like his early comedy, the humor comes from pain which is likely why this whole thing works. It's a dramedy that plunges Scott into facing grief and adulthood, but there sure are a lot of laughs along the way.

All that to say this Judd Apatow-directed film is the funniest movie of 2020. It may be the only comedy of 2020, but it's great in a way the first Adam Sandler films were. I can't say it's worth the $19.99 "premium VOD" price that it is asking (while theaters aren't fully open), but it is ten-buck worthy. Invite friends over I guess.

In a nutshell: Pete Davidson finally delivers. If you think Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, Knocked Up or Trainwreck are funny, this one goes on that shelf.

Award potential: None.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

Ten Out of This World Space Films

If the launch of SpaceX has you in the mood to discover some new films, this list could steer you in the right direction. Simply put, there are a lot of stinker space films ranging from Plan Nine From Outer Space (1959) to a slew of recent films that ask puzzling plot questions without answering any — I'm looking at you Solaris, Ad Astra and Interstellar. 

But there is a world of film that will satisfy. I'm going to eliminate the franchise films such as StarWars, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, and Alien to recommend these X (ten) stellar films:

The Right Stuff (1983)

Based on Tom Wolfe's book, this film follows the story of the Mercury 7 astronauts. Sam Shepard, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid play the space cowboys and give us one of the first uses of the now overused Slo-Mo-Power-Walk in film. (The Magnificent Seven did it first.) It was nominated for Oscars' Best Picture, Cinematography, and Actor (Shepard) and walked away with 4 technical awards. Available on Amazon, iTunes, and all the VOD.

Moon (2009)
Sam Rockwell does his best Cast Away homage as a lonely  astronaut finishing up a three-year gig at the space station —until he discovers something. The film relies on a well-appointed set and Rockwell's talents — not a bad combo at all. Free on Netflix.


October Sky (1999)

Jake Gyllenhaal plays a teenage rocket builder who is inspired to escape his small town (and coal mining destiny) after the Soviet Sputnik flies over the October sky. It's a feel-good, coming of age story with an amazing cast (Chris Cooper, Laura Dern, and Chris Owen). Available on Amazon, iTunes, and all the VOD services.

Apollo 11 (2019)
Last year's most powerful doc (Winner of PGA'S Best Documentary of 2019) is simply breathtaking. Watch never-before-seen footage and audio of astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins embark on that 1969 trip to the moon. Currently free on Hulu and available on VOD.

Apollo 13 (1995)
This Ron Howard-directed drama was nominated for nine Oscars and is based on the problematic events of the Apollo 13 lunar mission. Astronauts Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton,) and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) find everything going according to plan after leaving Earth's orbit. Does Gene Kranz (Ed Harris) have the right stuff to get them home? Find out for free on Hulu.

Arrival (2016)
A linguist (Amy Adams) works with the military to communicate with the inhabitants of one of twelve mysterious spacecraft appear around the world. Of all the similarly-themed films (Contact, Interstellar), I think Arrival does the best job of providing a satisfying ending. Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker round out the stellar cast. Nominated for Oscars' Best Picture and 7 other categories. 

Moonraker (1979)
When The Spy Who Loved Me's credits rolled in 1977, it noted Bond would return in For Your Eyes Only. However, that didn't turn out to be the next film. Star Wars happened that summer too and soon everyone went to space. Yogi Bear left Jellystone Park for Yogi's Space Race on TV, Gary Marshall had Mork land in the Cunningham's Happy Days house, and James Bond actually went to deep into space.

This 007 entry landed between The Spy Who Loved Me and For Your Eyes Only, the two best Roger Moore films, and suffered as a punchline for many years. However, in time it ranks more often in the top ten than bottom ten of 007 lists. After all, it gave fans Holly Goodhead, Hugo Drax, Jaws, and another Shirley Bassey song. Free on MGMhd, available on VOD, and totally watchable today.

Gravity (2013)

Winner of seven Oscars, including Best Director and Cinematography (It lost Best Picture to 12 Years a Slave), Alfonso Cuarón’s space odyssey gets more points for visuals than story, but it's still a fun ride to see whether Sandra Bullock and George Clooney will make it back to Earth. Available on all VOD services.



Hidden Figures (2017)

This lighthearted film tells the seriously amazing story of three NASA women behind the launch of astronaut John Glenn. Taraji P, Janelle Monae, and Octavia Spencer light up the screen as the previously unrecognized heroes. It's free on Hulu.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Is this the most critically-celebrated space films of all time? Affirmative Dave. If you've never seen man vs. machine play out in Stanley Kubrick's film from start to finish, now's a good time.

The Ten Buck Review: All worth ten bucks.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Thrills await. Resistance is futile.

This film, the final in the nine-episode Skywalker saga, will divide Star Wars fans.

There's a group that has bought into J.J. Abram's nostalgic recreation of the 70s and 80s magic (The Fierce Awakens, The Rise of Skywalker), and there is a group that wants a more inventive, fresher forward take on the series. This second group loved director Rian Johnsons Rise of Skywalker (2017).

There is no third group that wants anything connected to the grim, digital 1999-2005 series.

I understand both, but put me in the wink-and-nod former category for the Skywalker saga and in the latter, evolving category for future Star Wars films and television. To me, any film since 1981is a thrill-ride event with low expectations for inventive cinema. They are popcorn films that arrive during the holidays when I can coordinate with the friends I used to have Hasbro toy playtime with.

If you think I'm in another galaxy on this, some perspective is needed. The films in the new millennium lost fans faster than Jar Jar Binks could say "ooh moey moey," which is actually something he did say. If Abram's stellar Force Awakens (2015) had not captured the old magic, I doubt as many people would have jumped back on the ship. Abrams did it with familiar story arcs, throwback sequences, clever use of cameos, and a love for the 80s films that you feel in each scene. He does all of this again with The Rise of Skywalker.

Star Wars should be done with the cameos and flashbacks from here on, but I loved it here. This one is for the casual fans. For the old fans that want to enjoy a night out and the young fans that need to understand the magic.

In a nutshell: Thrilling, it is.

Award potential: Nominated for Best Visual Effects, Score, and Sound Editing.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

It Happened One Night (1934)

2020 has become a year where trying new things is more common than doing things the way we used to. Many of those disruptions have been refreshing. In that spirit, I recommend you reserve some movie-night-in time for a 90-year old black-and-white flick that you'll have to rent for a buck or two — or three. For real.

If you've seen it, you'll probably relish this reminder to rewatch. If you haven't, this is the time to see the one movie that Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks, Hugh Grant, Jennifer Aniston, Bugs Bunny, and every rom-com and road trip movie of the past two centuries owes something to. I received a copy of It Happened as a gift in my young twenties and it fueled my passion for film discovery.

Although it never makes the cable rotation for a generation of movie-lovers, it was hardly a secret in its day. Frank Capra's It Happened One Night, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, is one of the first "talkies" and the Oscar Best Picture of its year. It's in a small list of films (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Silence of the Lambs) that won all five major Academy Awards.

The plot is simple. A spoiled heiress meets a newspaper reporter in search of a story and two opposites eventually attract. It also introduced America to hitchhiking as well as a scandalous "show a little leg" scene that required a stunt double in its day. And an undershirt-less Gable reportedly caused T-shirt sales to plummet.

Depression-era civilities, culture, and machismo aside, the script and banter are amazingly fresh and it's one of the breeziest movies you can spend one hour and forty-five minutes with.

In a nutshell: You've never seen the remake because no one can touch this magic. However, it has influenced films in every decade that followed.

Awards: Winner of every Oscar it was nominated for including the top five: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay. 

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

Bad Education

This new film, starring Hugh Jackman, premiered at the 2019 Toronto Film Festival along with Jo Jo Rabbit, Hustlers, and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Lucky for us watching movies at home it was purchased for $20 million by HBO instead of a traditional film distributor.

Bad Education tells the true story of beloved Long Island school superintendent Frank Thompson (Jackman) and Pam Gluckin (Alison Janey) who stole millions from their district.

Jackman, who has played charismatic criminal/con-men before (notably P.T. Barnum and Jean Valjean), sinks his teeth into his first bad guy role. It's a bit jarring to see him play such a deeply unsympathetic character. He gets an A+ for this as does Janey, who is in I, Tonya mode.

I won't spoil the story except to say it's unbelievable and true. Other than serving as a cautionary tale, I'm not sure what a viewer truly  gets out of watching this story play out except that the performances pull you in. But I am sure that is fun to see a new cinematic film nowadays that's not a ten-episode series.

Simply put: Who doesn't need a quality film to pop up on TV about now?

Award potential: Jackman has a showy performance that could land award contention, but with HBO taking this film to TV, he and Janney will be contending for Emmy nominations, not Oscars.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.