It's the end of Summer, and we're checking out two great baseball movies! First at bat is 1988's "Bull Durham!" Written and directed by Ron Shelton, and starring Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Trey Wilson, and Robert Wuhl, this film follows two minor league baseball players, one near the end of his career and the other just starting his, and their path through the season, and around an "Annie" that affects both of their lives! Find out why this film is worth seeing, why it may be Costner's best acting job, and what other film seems to have copied notes from this one!
Part 2 of our look at classic cinema advances one year later than the last episode, but finds the ultimate film! Episode 59 is a look at the 1942 classic, a template of the closest thing to a perfect film in cinema history, "Casablanca." Directed by Michael Curtiz, and written in just a few weeks by Julius and Philip Epstein, along with Howard Koch, from an unproduced screenplay by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison, this has become one of the top-rated films of all times! Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid as the love triangle set against just before America entered World War II, this is a story that stands up against any of today's films! Co-starring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall, Madeleine Lebeau, Dooley Wilson as "Sam," Joy Page, John Qualen, Loenid Kinskey, and Curt Bois, this is the perfect storm of filmmaking - writing, acting, music, cinematography, directing, lighting, sets, costumes... you name it, this film did it right! Plus, the guys will explain why Baseball influenced their decisions about what films will be reviewed in episodes 60 and 61!
Our listeners asked, and we responded! Episode 58 is the first of our two-episode look at film classics, starting with the incredible first film from Orson Welles, 1941's "Citizen Kane!" Directed by Welles, and co-written with Herman J. Mankiewicz, the film stars Welles as the titular character of Charles Foster Kane. In the supporting roles, all fellow radio actors from the Mercury Theatre, are Joseph Cotton, Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead (in her first ever film role), Ruth Warrick, Ray Collins, Erskine Sanford, Everett Sloane, William Alland, Paul Stewart, and Gource Coulouris. Truly one of the great films of all times, and a proto-noir film that had an incredible (and visual) impact on the film noir genre to come!
Part 2 of our look at the "splatstick" genre is a film that is notable both for its record-setting excessive use of fake blood, and for its director, none other than Peter "Lord of the Rings" Jackson! Directed by Jackson, written by Jackson, Stephen Sinclair, and Fran Walsh, and starring Timothy Balme (of "Almight Johnsons" fame), Diana Penalver, Elizabeth Moody, Ian Watkin, Brenda Kendall, and Stuart Devenie, this is a zombie movie with heavy Oedipal overtones, hinges on a lawnmower, and set the record for blood in a single film! Plus, Jeff, Buddy, and Chad reveal what "classic films" are, and which ones they're going to be talking about in episodes 58 and 59!
The genre is called "splatstick" - a combination of gory horror and comedy. And the film that started it all is 1981's Evil Dead! Jeff, Buddy, and a reluctant Chad (who doesn't do gore) review the cult classic that's still being talked about, and produced on pay-cable, today! Written and directed by Sam Raimi, and starring Bruce Campbell, this film started it all, and was the first major work for both Raimi and Campbell! Co-starring Ellen Sandweiss, Richard DeManincor, Betsy Baker, and Theresa Tilly, and made on a shoestring budget, this film nevertheless gained a following worldwide and made Bruce Campbell a household name!
It's the end of Summer, and we're checking out two great baseball movies! First at bat is 1988's "Bull Durham!" Written and directed by Ron Shelton, and starring Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Trey Wilson, and Robert Wuhl, this film follows two minor league baseball players, one near the end of his career and the other just starting his, and their path through the season, and around an "Annie" that affects both of their lives! Find out why this film is worth seeing, why it may be Costner's best acting job, and what other film seems to have copied notes from this one! 
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