Hacker Cinema
A League of Their Own
1992 · Film · 128 min
Directed by Penny Marshall
As America's stock of athletic young men is depleted during World War II, a professional all-female baseball league springs up in the Midwest, funded by publicity-hungry candy maker Walter Harvey. Competitive sisters Dottie Hinson and Kit Keller spar with each other, scout Ernie Capadino and grumpy has-been coach Jimmy Dugan on their way to fame.
3 positive1 neutralfrom 4 commenters
Where to watch
No streaming data for this title.
4 comments on Hacker News
I recently watched A League of Their Own and Die Hard. In my opinion, these movies are just categorically different from what's being made today, are still totally compelling start to finish, and really capture the magic and the high art of the golden age of cinema. I truly believe movies were Just Better 30-40 years ago.
That was the era of "every second counts." Every second has meaning and purpose and adds something to the narrative. The Fifth Element is another good example, and almost 30 years old. Now in the age of binging, where a 2 hour plot is stretched into 17 hours of TV, there is SO much filler and downtime and it's honestly just offensive in comparison.
I kind of enjoyed Pluribus, I liked the concept and what they did with it, but there's way too much forgettable filler that dilutes it into a slog. The movies I mentioned are (again, IMO) absolutely gripping and just lean and mean storytelling vehicles. Like it kind of reminded me that watching a movie wasn't just something you did leisurely while doing other things.
An example of where the show's writers just really missed the mark...
I wanted to like "A League of Their Own" -- I loved the movie. But I can't watch the TV show.
It seems like they have spent a lot to make the world feel like it's WW2-era. Except when anyone speaks. All the dialogue and idioms seem pulled from the present.
And, for me, it doesn't seem intentional. It just seems sloppy. And that makes it impossible for me to get lost in the story. Like it feels like all the actors know it's 2023.
Like, "Mad Men" was a great period piece. "Halt and Catch Fire" was also a great period piece. And even "A Knights Tale" was a good sort of modern spin on "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court"... where even though it's set back in time, the actors portrayed a more modern spin on antiquity.
But "A League of Their Own" seems to unintentionally shift back and forth. It just feels weird. Hard for me to watch. I can only guess the dialogue gets improvised (I can see this being the case given the casting choices), or the writers don't have a shared style guide for consistency, or the story editor (or whatever role) is pressed for time.
They don't have rights to stream any decent movies
That seems hyperbolic. Just browsing around (I decided to cap this at 5 minutes):
The Interview
Forrest Gump
Major League
Pirates of Carribean
Hot Fuzz
Armageddon
Kingpin
A League of Their Own
Inglorious Basterds
Scarface
Django Unchained
Legally Blonde
E.T.
Days of Thunder
The Princess Bride
Crocodile Dundee
Clear and Present Danger
V for Vendetta
Galaxy Quest
Running Man
Big Trouble in Little China
Talladega Nights
Kill Bill (1 and 2)
Star Trek Movies (including The Wrath of Kahn)
Tommy Boy
Team America World Police
Lilo & Stitch
Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back
Wayne's World
Clerks
Bill & Teds Excellent Adventure
If you are serious, you could research how on-site daycare was handled during WWII to entice women into the work force and help them succeed. It has been done before, and very successfully, but only long enough to win WWII and then send women back home in droves to be full time moms -- which they mostly were happy to do, in part because prior to WWII everyone was suffering through The Great Depression and savings rates for a great many de facto 2 income, no kids families during the war was as high as 50%. People were happy to buy a house in the 'burbs and live the good life after suffering through the depression and then the war back to back. But lots of interesting things happened during WWII. As part of your research, you might start by watching historically based movies, such as A League of Their Own.