10.2: The Natural

We move into the eighth inning of our baseball season. This time, Dan and Lex follow a coulda-been-a-contender pitcher in 2002’s The Rookie. Hot topics include Disney movie formulas, offscreen plot developments, and how this is basically two movies in one. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and after the film, members can watch along with Lex and Dan in a full-length commentary track, available in the members-only First Class feed. If you’re not already a member, why not sign up? And if you are, now’s a great time to update your membership allocations and maybe throw a little support in the direction of Not Playing. Thanks! Lex Friedman and Dan Moren.

Back from our checks scores fifth-inning stretch, our baseball season continues! This time, rookie freshman Lex Friedman is taken under the wing of (very!) veteran Dan Moren in 2016’s Everybody Wants Some!! Hot topics include repercussions (or the lack thereof), how this differs from our college experiences, and whether this movie is even really a baseball movie. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and after the film, members can watch along with Lex and Dan in a full-length commentary track, available in the members-only First Class feed. If you’re not already a member, why not sign up? And if you are, now’s a great time to update your membership allocations and maybe throw a little support in the direction of Not Playing. Thanks! Lex Friedman and Dan Moren.

As we hit the middle of our tenth season, Lex journeys to Dan’s hometown for a momentous historical baseball event with a so-so love story in 2005’s Fever Pitch. Hot topics include an unlikeable lead, when the sport overshadows the story, and missing comedy. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and after the film, members can watch along with Lex and Dan in a full-length commentary track, available in the members-only First Class feed. If you’re not already a member, why not sign up? And if you are, now’s a great time to update your membership allocations and maybe throw a little support in the direction of Not Playing. Thanks! Lex Friedman and Dan Moren.

It’s the top of the fourth, and grizzled veteran catcher Dan Moren is trying to corral wild pitcher Lex “Wild Thing” Friedman as they watch 1989’s Major League. Hot topics include a terrible romance based on stalking, a surprising lack of comedy, and how exactly a team this offensive lasted so long. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and after the film, members can watch along with Lex and Dan in a full-length commentary track, available in the members-only First Class feed. If you’re not already a member, why not sign up? And if you are, now’s a great time to update your membership allocations and maybe throw a little support in the direction of Not Playing. Thanks! Lex Friedman and Dan Moren.

We return for the third inning of our baseball season, where intrepid reporters Dan Moren and Lex Friedman try to get to the bottom of a cheating scandal in John Sayles’s 1988 film, Eight Men Out. Hot topics include ticker-tape simulcasting, playing good baseball badly, and so many character actors. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and after the film, members can watch along with Lex and Dan in a full-length commentary track, available in the members-only First Class feed. If you’re not already a member, why not sign up? And if you are, now’s a great time to update your membership allocations and maybe throw a little support in the direction of Not Playing. Thanks! Lex Friedman and Dan Moren.

For the second inning of our baseball season, newcomer (?) phenom Lex Friedman joins the down-and-out team of grumpy manager Dan Moren in 1984’s The Natural. Hot topics include allegories, villainous villains, and whether the main character is a ghost. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and after the film, members can watch along with Lex and Dan in a full-length commentary track, available in the members-only First Class feed. If you’re not already a member, why not sign up? And if you are, now’s a great time to update your membership allocations and maybe throw a little support in the direction of Not Playing. Thanks! Lex Friedman and Dan Moren.

We lead off the tenth(!) season of our podcast with a fastball right up the middle as veteran minor leaguer Dan Moren takes prodigal but wild talent Lex Friedman under his wing in 1984’s Bull Durham. Hot topics include what to get a couple for a wedding gift, why it’s called Bull Durham, and whether a certain character is too annoying. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and after the film, members can watch along with Lex and Dan in a full-length commentary track, available in the members-only First Class feed. If you’re not already a member, why not sign up? And if you are, now’s a great time to update your membership allocations and maybe throw a little support in the direction of Not Playing. Thanks! Lex Friedman and Dan Moren.

As season 9 draws to a close, naturally born Dan Moren and genetically superior Lex Friedman must work together to overcome a discriminatory society in 1997’s Gattaca. Hot topics include: when is a metaphor just a metaphor, so many surprise actors, and whether Uma Thurman is a superhero. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and after the film, members can watch along with Lex and Dan in a full-length commentary track, available in the members-only First Class feed. If you’re not already a member, why not sign up? And if you are, now’s a great time to update your membership allocations and maybe throw a little support in the direction of Not Playing. Thanks! Lex Friedman and Dan Moren.

Finally, a movie musical that tells the truth: dentists are jerks. Lex Friedman sits down Dan Moren to watch 1986’s Little Shop of Horrors, a movie based on a musical based on a movie (that wasn’t a musical). Hot topics include: Can a puppet be both impressive and unsettling? Has Rick Moranis ever been more Rick Moranis? And how do you ride that line between too weird and not weird enough? Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and after the film, members can watch along with Lex and Dan in a full-length commentary track, available in the members-only First Class feed. If you’re not already a member, why not sign up? And if you are, now’s a great time to update your membership allocations and maybe throw a little support in the direction of Not Playing. Thanks! Lex Friedman and Dan Moren.

The Rock-a-who? Crotchety old inventor Dan Moren and handsome flying ace Lex Friedman team up to watch 1991’s Disney adventure flick, The Rocketeer. Hot topics include what makes a superhero, the joys of central casting, and why no one can twirl a mustache like Timothy Dalton. Programming Note: In addition to this capsule episode, which contains our discussion before and after the film, members can watch along with Lex and Dan in a full-length commentary track, available in the members-only First Class feed. If you’re not already a member, why not sign up? And if you are, now’s a great time to update your membership allocations and maybe throw a little support in the direction of Not Playing. Thanks! Lex Friedman and Dan Moren.