TBG 61 - Eephus (The Film)

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Ellen Adair and Brennan Brown talk about the brand-new instant-classic baseball film EEPHUS. Ellen introduces Brennan (0:40), and then the film (3:50) overviewing its festival appearances, the director Carson Lund, and some of the cast. They summarize the film (10:40) and review the 20-80 scouting scale (13:25) and talk about the scouting director to whom Brennan will be reporting Eephus's grades (14:30). They begin with Amount of Baseball (18:50), discussing this film's tool-defining wealth of baseball in numerous ways. Baseball Accuracy (26:37) delves into the baseball ability as depicted, and some of the questionable ball/strike calls that end the game. Ellen brings up an apparent What Inning Is It discrepancy that is not what it seems, and Graham as the MIA third base coach. They discuss Franny's paraphrasing of the baseball quotes in the film from Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Branch Rickey, Rickey Henderson and Yogi Berra. Ellen, scarred from REVERSE THE CURSE, has some trauma around the amount of Yankee content in a Massachusetts-based movie, which gets the scouts into a heated conversation. They talk about the definition and history of the eephus pitch, discussing Rip Sewell, Maurice van Robays, Ted Williams, Fernando Abad, Luis Tiant, Yu Darvish, Steve Hamilton, Phil Niekro, Dave LaRoche, Carlos Zambrano, Vicente Padilla, Satchel Paige, Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Zack Greinke, Brock Holt, and, of course, Bill Lee. A small sidebar on position players pitching, and a longer dive into some delightful Easter eggs with Bill Lee's appearance in the film, and its magical realism. In Storytelling (1:03:45), our scouts discuss the tradition of slow cinema and how that applies to EEPHUS. They marvel at the way information is skillfully planted for the audience to put together, and appreciate the even-handedness of the depictions of the teams, if with some disagreements about the way the audience's empathy is guided. The fact that no one else besides the men involved care much about the game feels important, as does the fall setting, and this season as a thematic character. They discuss the film's relationship of comedy to tragedy. Brennan brings up GOODBYE DRAGON INN, and thinking about transcendental filmmaking leads to a conversation about being present, acting, baseball, time, mortality, and the spiritual exercise of play. The metaphor of the fireworks is explored. The Score Tool (1:51:26) discusses Carson Lund's percussive score and the use of radio as background scoring. In Acting (1:56:56) they discuss the performances of Russell J. Gannon, Cliff Blake, Keith William Richards, David Torres Jr., Ray Hryb, Peter Minkarah, David Pridemore, Theodore Bouloukos, Ethan Ward, Patrick Garrigan, Conner Marx, Brendan Burt, and the commendable evenness of tone across the whole ensemble. Delightfulness of Catcher Character (2:09:28) discusses the performances of John R. Smith, Jr, as John and Chris Goodwin as Garrett. Brennan is vulnerable with a personal trial that mirrors a moment in the film. Delightfulness of Announcer (2:22:23) considers the presences of Frederick Wiseman and Joe Castiglione. Lack of Misogyny (2:26:00) addresses Bobby's light moment of misogyny, balancing the film's intent with lack of full female characters. They also discuss the film's view of male friendship and male loneliness. No spoilers on the following segments: Yes or No (2:36:26) Six Degrees of Baseball (2:40:49) Favorite Moment (2:41:10) Least Favorite Moment (2:45:50) Scene We'd Like to See (2:46:01) Dreamiest Player (2:48:20) Favorite Performance (2:49:40).