MyBlogLog

Million Dollar Arm Movie Review

The baseball movie went in decidedly different directions starting in the 1970s and '80s compared to what Hollywood had done 20 or 30 years prior. By the 1970s, movies about baseball had taken a considerably long break for reasons unknown. It took the 1973 movie Bang the Drum Slowly with a young Robert De Niro playing a pitcher to reignite interest in baseball movies after over a decade of nothing. Perhaps the disruption of America through the turbulent '60s didn't put enough people in the mood to celebrate baseball cinematically, despite the game itself still flourishing during the decade.

Ten years prior to Bang the Drum Slowly, there was a movie called Safe at Home, which had non-actor baseball greats Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris playing themselves. Perhaps their lack of acting ability killed the baseball movie for the above duration. But that movie was a bit of a set pattern in Hollywood where some baseball greats played their own selves in movies. In other cases, A-list actors played real-life baseball figures in movies meant to inspire kids that looked up to baseball players.

Real-life tales in baseball were the name of the game considerably in the '40s and '50s with such titles as The Pride of the Yankees on up to The Jackie Robinson Story. Only occasionally would there be a left turn into fiction or fantasy like Angels in the Outfield or Damn Yankees. By the time Bang the Drum Slowly came out, it changed the entire direction of baseball cinema into one that celebrated more fictional stories. When movies like the Bad News Bears franchise takes off, you know you're in different territory from several decades before.

Even The Natural with Robert Redford 30 years ago might be thought by outsiders to be the story of a real baseball player. When you look at abstracts about the movie, you see one key word jump out at you: Fable.

No one brought that truly to life than Kevin Costner in the 1980s. Other than Eight Man Out being the only true baseball movie story of the decade, most people preferred the fantasy view Costner brought. While his Bull Durham was more of a sexy comedy showing the possible raucous actions behind the scenes, Field of Dreams took baseball into the world of the near holy.

There really hasn't been a baseball movie like Field of Dreams since it was made. It was all the more of a feat considering those who don't even care about baseball can watch the movie and be moved by it. No one dared copy it, which is why all the movies that followed up until recently have been mostly comedies and mainly fictional characters and teams.

It wasn't until the movie 42 about the life of Jackie Robinson did baseball movies finally get back to where they were in the 1950s. The success of that has led to the idea that there's still plenty of inspiring real-life stories still out there yet to be told about baseball players. Could it be that Million Dollar Arm is a concerted effort to gain some respect back to baseball after being tainted by steroid scandals?

Million Dollar Arm as a Shot in the Arm for Baseball Biopics

Outside of 42, Moneyball may have to be given credit for showing the interesting stories that still reside within baseball amid all the scandals. Baseball movies have finally found a new niche and success in movies again. And it had to take going out of America to find compelling baseball figures that helped show not everyone is trying to cheat. Indian pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel are an example of the old-fashioned ideal where natural talent paves the road to a successful baseball career. They also proved that India might be one of the few countries where a reality show has some sense of worthiness in finding real talent.

Whether Million Dollar Arm finds success or not will determine whether we'll be seeing more baseball movies that scout out real stories to tell again. Fantasy may be out and realism may be in going on the surprising amount of stories yet to be told. Regardless, will we see baseball movies depicting the brutal reality of steroids eventually? Movies haven't gone there yet, perhaps because baseball is still a sacred subject for many people who grew up with it in their lives.

Eventually, the movies and the public will need a catharsis on what's really happened to baseball in order to get back to the inspiring baseball stories with a 1940s and '50s sensibility.

Watch Fifty Shades of Grey

Has this ever happened to you: you go to the cinema, sit down in front of the big screen and five minutes after the movie starts you feel like you have seen the same film before. OK, maybe not the same but it's very similar to ten's of other. This happens to me a lot because I watch movies regularly but let me tell you something - this is not the case when you watch Fifty Shades of Grey online free and I really like this. The movie is very different and refreshing, not the usual romance or drama, original plot unlike most of the latest hollywood productions.

There is a lot of controversy about Fifty Shades of Grey - some people love the film and some think it's no so good and the plot is thin. They are all right on they own, the truth is the storyline is not the best. On the other hand it's somehow different and entertaining flick especially if you're fan of the book and all the Young Adult novels like Twilight. The characters performed by Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are really attractive and the actors have done good job in the front of the camera.

Johnson's character Anna isn't very interesting but her acting and good look makes up for it. As a student she decided to interview the millionaire Christian ( played by Jamie Dornan) to help her roommate and this changes her life forever. Anastasia liked the rich man at the moment she met him and thought they can have good romantic relationship but it turns out Grey is looking for other type of entertainment so to speak. He is wealthy and likes to be in control of everything and everyone including in his bedroom. Christian likes to play nasty games and to make the rules to his own preference and for his own pleasure, this is where we can see his 50 shades.

So we came to the point when we're going to talk about the hot scenes... There are a lot of them during the full movie and if you ask me this is what made so much buzz around Fifty Shades of Grey online. Some of them were even edited and some were cut off before the release because the film was about to receive NC-17 rating by MPAA.org. And this means individuals below the age of 17 won't be permitted in the theaters which will drastically decrease the reach and of course the income generated by ticket sales. In other words not good for the production company at all.

No one can deny the fact this erotic film is made for women and despite all the hot moments and nudity it's clear the director made his best to keep the good tone and this leads to good experience. There are provocative chapters that will make you hold your breath, this is not surprising and most likely you went to watch Fifty Shades of Grey online because of them.

After all being said by the critics it's more important what the masses think and judging by the box office charts the movie is big success. It's not surprise, we all want to see different approach and story. Maybe it would be better if the script was thought out more thoroughly and if some parts we're shorter, but overall it's a blockbuster you don't want to miss. This adaptation is more real and enjoyable compared to the original published by the best seller author E. James and only time will tell if there will be sequel.

Heave is for Real - The Most Believable Depictions

Some spiritual topics simply can't be done seriously in movies very often. I wrote recently about how Adam and Eve have never been depicted very seriously in film (other than a couple of times), and it seems heaven is the same way. Like Adam and Eve, we can't get our head around what the reality of these spiritual topics may be, and we're probably not supposed to in the grand scheme of life. In the movies, translating the ineffable means bringing plenty of irony, and the depiction of heaven has had plenty.

Even though heaven has had plenty of tongue in cheek, one recent film finally took it seriously. It may have kicked off a new wave of more serious heaven depictions that we're seeing now with "Heaven is for Real."

The Satires on Heaven:

Since the earliest days of films, depictions of heaven have always shown us an ethereal and cloud-filled place with literal winged angels. For years, we only saw a literal pearly gates rather than taking us in there to see more of the real estate. "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" in 1941 showed us a little bit more, and it extended all the way to the remake of the same film ("Heaven Can Wait") 40 years later. In the heaven of "Heaven Can Wait", we see the slightly tongue in cheek nod to bureaucracy in heaven for ironic and comedic value.

Movie simply couldn't resist showing departed souls checking into heaven as if herded cattle. That means long lines and then being transported through a luxurious method to a new destination. It seems that Albert Brooks was the only one who decided to explore that higher destination and see how similar it might be to the real world.

In Brooks' "Defending Your Life", we see a heaven that's typical in any of Brooks' movies. It's filled with irony of seeing many of the strange pastimes we see on earth, except we're able to have as much as we want of them. The comedy view always took the idea that heaven allows us much as we want of things that don't disrupt the common good. And yes, that's much funnier than a logician would probably take in a heaven allowing only moderation in everything.

By the time the 1990s arrived, depictions of heaven were becoming so ironic that they became almost became unintentionally funny. "What Dreams Will Come" with Robin Williams showed a heaven so colorful and over the top that it was more unbelievable than the one concocted by Albert Brooks.

The Dramas on Heaven:

In 1989, we saw "Field of Dreams" showing a heaven playing out within the confines of earth and in a cornfield no less. Whether you'd want to call it time replaying itself rather than an actual heavenly realm, it really doesn't matter. It was probably the most magical depiction of a heavenly environment ever depicted without needing to be ironic, satiric, or dramatically over the top. It was a lesson to keep it simple if you're going to depict a dimensional world of the afterlife, plus keeping it mysterious rather than so literal.

"The Rapture" came just a couple of years after "Field of Dreams" in a seemingly new direction of depicting heavenly worlds here on earth. In this one, we're to believe there's a purgatory where the character of Sharon (played by Mimi Rogers) goes to atone for her previous sins.

Perhaps the most daring cinematic depiction of heaven ever done to date was "Tree of Life" in 2011. Even though it's cited as being a depiction of heaven, it doesn't necessarily mean it's in the heaven we usually think of in a literal sense. It gave hints that the resurrection of loved ones was in a very earthly environment, mainly a beach. Leaving it wide open for interpretation, it left the possibility that heaven for most of us may be eventually here on Earth.

"Heaven is for Real", however, seems to take us back into another life after death tale of going into a real heaven away from Terra Firma. It's the first time we're seeing a film about heaven based on a real experience. Regardless, with so many life after death tales (and everyone involved seeing different things), the human mind may be creating our own movies of heaven in order to reduce the incomprehensible reality.

As with most cinematic depictions of heaven, we're better off making it literal to help us get a start on processing what we'll all likely see down the road.