EARLY ACCESS: A League of Their Own

This was a good one. Please watch Field Of Dreams soon!

Brandie Woodward

I love this film so much.

JayWantsACat

Pretty sure what Disney injected into Chapman's version of Brave was LESS plot. I would absolutely prefer to have seen her version of the movie than the one that got made, which is, IMO, not very good.

Tyler Foster

Missed the unboxing...did you get my package, lol?

Daniel Örtoft

And, to be fair, punk-rockumentarian Penelope Spheeris, director of the first Wayne's World, did eventually say "I was a great director before I sold out", when she regretted doing the Little Rascals and Beverly Hillbillies movies. At least she handled it better than Chapman did when Pixar told her her "mother-daughter empowerment message" needed an actual PLOT. (And I've softened a bit on "Johnny Dangerously", so I won't fault Heckerling for that.)

Eric Janssen

I mean, Amy Heckerling has described European Vacation as the worst experience of her directing career, so it's not like that's the one she's gonna hold up as evidence she knows what's she's doing. Similar story with Brave, where Brenda Chapman pitched a very personal mother-daughter story only to get steamrolled and ultimately replaced when Pixar wanted something goofier. I didn't like Brave, but I strongly suspect I'd have liked Chapman's uninterrupted vision better. Plus, to what I was saying, two very random films, neither especially old -- I've seen films by women from every decade. There are so many to choose from. Why these two, of all films? It's like judging movies in general on Beverly Hills Cop 3 and Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Tyler Foster

Ashleigh not a movie sort of but the Monkees TV show

Nicole contreras

"a boozy, toxic, grungy male" Yeah, I identified with him the most... :)

Manuel Johnen

@Tyler - Guess it's some kind of Mars/Venus thing that guys don't consider the pinnacle achievement of a job to be the fact that you GOT it, and can show it off to everyone on Day One...There's still the little matter of whether you can still screw it up on Day Two. One can say "I'm going to be a female director in Hollywood!", and another can say "Have you ever sat through Amy Heckerling's 'European Vacation'?" (And most people I know who tried the one-a-week thing usually stopped at Pixar’s “Brave”…YIKES.)

Eric Janssen

What, a boozy, toxic, grungy male who needs to be "fixer-upped" with his association with learning to take the side of ambitious females in the chauvinistic wartime years? No, I was fine, up until the huggy, self-congratulatory reunion scene.

Eric Janssen

Tom Hanks really does his best to make this movie watchable for men, but he doesn't quite succeed... :P

Manuel Johnen

Wow, that's gotta be the most idiotic and ignorant thing I've read all morning. Not exactly sure why you'd want to advertise your bigotry for all to see... but I suppose this is the internet, after all. Good luck with all that.

Uncle 'Traveling' Matt

I mentioned Ida Lupino earlier..."The Hitch-Hiker"(1953) was great noirish suspense based on a real life hitch-hiking spree killer...she also directed one of the greatest "Twilight Zone" episodes ever "The Masks"

Paul Johnson

Meh...

Danika Silva

For the past five years I've been doing a yearly pledge or challenge that my friend turned me onto called "#52FilmsByWomen." It was originally created by Women in Film Los Angeles. It challenges people to watch a film directed or co-directed by a woman every week, and I've gone well over the minimum every year. To put it simply, if anyone doesn't think there are plenty of great women directors out there, then they're just not looking hard enough.

Tyler Foster

I’m having trouble parsing what you’re saying about women-directed movies. They’re largely unwatchable by anyone?

Kristen North

I’ve never seen this, so I’m skipping the episode. I’ve heard it’s excellent. There are just so many movies out there. This has probably come up, but Bull Durham is phenomenal.

Kristen North

Okay, so far, I'm STILL the only person to mention Robert ("Sneakers") Redford in "The Natural"...

Eric Janssen

Penny Marshall was a unique achiever in directing, in that she was, and is, one of the few female film directors who could direct movies other people could actually WATCH. Yes, we might have A League of Their Own, and Riding in Cars with Boys, but any time we get whines of "Why aren't there more female directors in Hollywood?", ask whether any of them could have directed "Big" or "Jumpin' Jack Flash".

Eric Janssen

I’m so happy you lived this movie! Another really good one with American historical context is Far and Away (1992). It’s amazing!

AmyGENX

Nice try. They don’t have summer in England.

Kate Cassidy

Garry was her brother.

Tyler Foster

Ashleigh... My Mother's parents were born in Manchester, England, and I found out what the English call the 4 of July: "SUMMER"!!!

James Falato

So . . . Penny Marshall wasn't in the movie . . . but her BROTHER was . . . Garry Marshall. Who was the producer of the Laverne and Shirley. Also . . . did you notice Whistler, the blind guy from Sneakers? Also one of the bad guys from Sneakers?

Raul Melendez

Yes

ingibingi2000

Fun fact: Penny Marshall and Carrie Fisher were best friends.

Foxx was an incredible hitter...for 68 years he held the Boston Red Sox single season home run record until it was broken by "Big Papi" David Ortiz in 2006

Paul Johnson

Take 6 minutes out and watch Abbot and Costello's "Whos on First" one of the best comedy routines ever....

David Harrison

Wonderful choice! This is one of my go-to movies for baseball, along with The Sandlot. Such wholesome, but hilarious movies that center around the perfect game for the 4th. Also, Tom Hanks’ character was based on Jimmie Foxx (aka, double-X), who was a star baseball player in the 1920’s and 30’s before (I think) going into managing. I don’t think he had a drinking problem, though. Oh, and Gary Marshall’s character is based on the real-life owner of the Chicago Cubs with the last name Wrigley, who made his fortune in chewing gum and candy, that’s why the field used for the tryouts was Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Charles Edwards

I knew I recognized him but couldn’t place who he was! He looked so damn young still! Good for him.

Charles Edwards

Joe vs. The Volcano and The ‘Burbs are two of my favorites of his, although this is probably number 1.

Charles Edwards

He has no business being that good, but I’ll be damned if he isn’t a delight to watch! I haven’t heard of a pitcher playing the field on off-days since before the 60’s, nor an American League team foregoing using the DH because their pitcher that day is so good at hitting! He could be such a bigger draw to baseball and a real shot in the arm for the sport as a whole if he played in a market that had fans who care about the sport.

Charles Edwards

Perfect choice lol

Yes, any play for a tag out like that (or at any base) requires the fielder to maintain control of the ball. If it is lost as part of the play, such as a collision at home plate, then the runner is ruled safe…provided the touched the base. Collisions at home used to be allowed, and still are on a VERY limited basis. Catchers are no longer allowed to block the base path unless they have the ball, and even then I believe they are supposed to try and avoid the collision and just tag the runner out.

Charles Edwards

Geena was also a cast member of the very funny early 80s cult TV series "Buffalo Bill" starring Dabney Coleman

Paul Johnson

great choice for a movie to watch!!! did not expect. LOL I haven't seen this in long time. also this is probably the only good movie Madonna was in. maybe Dick Tracy. LOL

stephen phillips

Ashleigh, I'm really digging this thumbnail you created!!!

WEEZER MANN

Great reaction I really enjoyed this movie Penny Marshall did an amazing job(although when it comes to trailblazers I would say Ida Lupino has her beat) I'm a lifelong baseball fan and just to answer a few questions: baseball is also very big in Japan, Korea, Central America and the Carribean islands, being able to hit from both sides of the plate(ambidextrous) is known as being a switch hitter and if a pitch is within the "strike zone"(an area just over the plate extending roughly from the batter's upper arms to their knees) you don't have to swing at it for it to be a strike...as for not knowing much about Madonna's film career that's understandable because outside of this film and "Desperately Seeking Susan" (OK "Dick Tracy" and "Evita" too) she has been in an embarrassing number of stinkbombs...as for Geena Davis you should check her out starring with her ex husband Jeff Goldblum in "The Fly"....Have a happy happy 4th!

Paul Johnson

He also directed one of the movies already covered on the channel: Pretty Woman.

Tyler Foster

I don't know exactly what the rules are against flagrant contact, but there is sort of an assumed grey area in baseball, since the runner is potentially sliding into a base at high speed and the fielder is trying to dive and tag them. Some amount of physical collision is sort of inevitable.

Tyler Foster

The dancer doing all of the flips and stuff is Eddie Mekka who had previously been a regular on Laverne & Shirley playing Carmine Ragusa

Alexander Fish

I’ve been asking for this for months! What a nice surprise!

Kate Cassidy

A couple of "first movie"s connected to this (and also starring some of your faves): Geena Davis (Dottie) debuted with a small role in 1982's "Tootsie" (with Bill Murray); and Bill Pullman (Dottie's husband)'s first movie role was in 1986's "Ruthless People" (which co-starred Bette Midler)

JHB

Young Tom Hanks - that is a wonderful movie rabbit hole to go down! You've got Splash and Joe Vs the Volcano and The 'Burbs...the list can go on. One of my favorite Gina Davis movies is The Long Kiss Goodnight with Samuel Jackson

Jennifer M

As far as running over the catcher, it was legal for a long time till just a few years ago when a star player( Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants) got ran over and broke his leg. Abd the runner can be called out only if the catcher holds onto the ball throughout the play.

Keith Boyd

The pitcher is trying to throw the ball over the plate in a certain range called the strike zone. If the pitcher succeeds, then it will be a strike against the batter even if the batter does not swing and miss. The challenge is that this is also the area in which it is easiest for the batter to hit the ball, so the pitcher is trying to get the ball either in the strike zone while convincing the batter it's outside of it (so that he doesn't swing but then it turns out to be a strike), or get the batter to swing and miss. If the ball is outside the strike zone, the batter decides whether or not to swing, and it will be a "ball" if it's outside and the batter doesn't swing at it. If four pitches are outside the strike zone and the batter doesn't swing, the batter gets to go to first base for free. The batter can only swing and miss at three pitches before it's a strike. If the batter hits a pitch and it goes foul (out of bounds), that's a strike, but a batter cannot strike out hitting a foul ball (so you can rack up two strikes against yourself as a batter hitting foul balls, but you would stay at bat until you either missed or hit the ball into fair territory if you kept hitting fouls).

Tyler Foster

And just to let you know this is all based on a true story. None of the characters on the teams are real but there was such a league at that time.

Keith Boyd

please check out these other baseball theamed movies Major League91989) and Field Of Dreams (1989)

Keith Boyd

You should see Penny Marshall when she played Oscar Madison’s secretary Myrna Turner in the 70’s series “The Odd Couple!”

Bobby Bates

If you don't swing and it is outside the strike zone it's a ball, the definition of the strike zone is knees to the letters on the Jersey [the chest) and above the plate

ingibingi2000

Other countries do have baseball, the most dynamic player in mlb is Japanese

ingibingi2000

Aww, such a great film, super choice for independence day! Loved your review as always! So many more great Tom Hanks films for you to discover, and someday you'll need to watch Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon in Thelma & Louise.

Laura Neary Smith

i'm sure someone already cleared it up for you but (my understanding is ) if the catcher drops the ball in the tackle (which yes is a valid move) then the runner isn't out because the catcher lost control of the ball

Elisa H.

GREAT HAIR DAY!!! You look fantastic!!!

Jill Peterson

Garry Marshall was Penny’s brother. He created both Happy Days(which was spun off from an episode of Love,American Style)and Laverne & Shirley.

Richard Stegman Jr.

This is a wonderful surprise. Rarely a movie I think about, but always remember it fondly when it comes up.

Amstrad

FYI, the huge bruise on that actor’s leg. It was real!

Richard Meyer

Didn’t expect this to be the movie today, but can’t say I’m mad about it! Happy 4th! 🇺🇸 ALSO, if you wanna see another wholesome baseball movie check out The Sandlot this month.

Gio Vidrio

Have a fun, safe and happy 4th O’July! 🎉🇺🇸

Tara M. Wilcoxon

I am so glad you enjoyed it!

Tara M. Wilcoxon

Favorite Geena Davis movie for me is Earth Girls Are Easy.

Bill Bevins

This was a great movie. All the performances are great. Other good baseball movies you should consider: The Sandlot, Field of Dreams, Bull Durham, Damn Yankees, Major League, The Rookie, Bad New Bears, The Babe Ruth Story (with William Bendix), Pride of the Yankees, Bangthe Drum Slowly and Angels in the Outfield (1951).

Bill Bevins

This has become a classic baseball movie and one of my favorites. Another hilarious baseball movie is "Bad News Bears" from 1976, probably the best baseball movie ever.

Billy Hogner

Next year July 4th falls on a Monday. Please tell us now that you will watch the movie independence day!

Mark Finley

Now you're even more teed up for The Long Kiss Goodnight, a movie starring Geena Davis (from this), Samuel L. Jackson, and written by Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang).

Tyler Foster

I mean - you could still play softball though!

Ashleigh Burton

HAHAHAAHAH

Ashleigh Burton

What does the Queen of England call the 4th of July? Sunday

Nicholas & Heather

Yes! I love this movie. Isaw this when I was a kid and told my parents I wanted to grow up and play women's baseball. But they informed me that the women's baseball league is no more, and I was so sad.

Rebecca Anne

It was SUCH a wholesome movie

Ashleigh Burton

OH SHIT - thank you!

Ashleigh Burton

IT's solid advice!

Ashleigh Burton

Youtube title fix needed. "A League of the Their Own" "the" is not needed. :)

Todd Preble

This makes me so happy to see you watch this. I think I was the 1st person to send you the DVD. (I'm sure you have multiple copies by now)

Mark Finley

"Avoid the clap, signed Jimmy Dugan!" "That's good advice!" 😬😁😬😁

Carl Sage