#robert gunter

[90smovies]

[vendriin]

The Sandlot (1993)

[90smovies]

[90smovies]

[90smovies]

The Sandlot

[thecinescopepodcast]

Episode 60 - The Sandlot

In Episode 60 of The Cinescope Podcast, Chad and Mikey Fissel talk about one of their favorite movies, The Sandlot!

The Cinescope Podcast on iTunes

Check out the latest episode of The Cinescope Podcast!

[iloveabunchofmovies]

The Sandlot

The first one is even better than the sequel!

The Sandlot came out when I was five, and it took off with my demographic in a major way. My family never owned it on home video, but that was fine. Seemingly every kid I knew had the VHS, and none of us ever got tired of watching it. In fact, even though I haven’t seen it in for-ev-er, for-ev-er, for-ev-er, it just might be among my most-watched movies of all time. I probably haven’t stopped and watched this movie in something like fifteen years. Honestly, even in its heyday, The Sandlot was more likely to be background noise while playing with Legos or doing crafts than a film viewed with dimmed lights and hushed voices. I’m not sure I’ve ever previously given it my complete focus. I won’t be coy about my verdict: It totally holds up. It’s just as good as I remember because every line and every moment is exactly as I remember. It’s not hilarious and exciting because there are no surprises, but it is a fun and ideal summer hang-out concentrated into 101 minutes, and it pretty much turns into a Warner Bros. cartoon in the third act. I always thought that part was too brief, but looking at it now through the lens of someone with a bit more knowledge of story structure, I can finally explain why that is. I think we can all agree that the worst part is the useless adult voice narrating the story. A good editor could chop it right out and not lose anything. My theory is that some of the dumber children in the test audience couldn’t follow the complex plot of “baseball-playing children enjoy summer hi jinks, and then they need to get a baseball back from a large dog,” so they hired some weasel to say, “That summer, I got us into the biggest pickle of our lives,” but that still wasn’t enough, so they put they had him say the same line three more times. You can hear it, can’t you? You can hear exactly how he says pickle, with too much emphasis and that unnatural pause afterward, like some smug radio DJ filling air while he fumbles for the next record. I hate that narrator. Every scene starts and ends with him telling you that some things were good, but some things were bad, and, by the way, here comes that pickle. Even in the middle of the pickle, he keeps reminding you that it is biggest pickle. The wacky schemes to retrieve the ball occupy only a slight portion of the total running time, which is as it should be. The problem is that the narrator can never chill out and let you enjoy what you’re watching. Hey. Hey, guess what. It’s coming. It’s gonna be here soon. The climax is on the way. Pickle pickle pickle pickle. And just in case it sounds like the old man is knocking the kids’ movie for being too childish, no. I never liked the narrator, and his condescension seems especially out of place in a movie that otherwise respects its audience a great deal. Despite taking place close enough to the same era, these are not “gee, whiz!” Leave It To Beaver kids. Between the swearing, the tobacco-induced vomit, and some good-natured sexual assault, The Sandlot is really skirting the edge of a PG-13 rating. Throw in a dead body and some railroad tracks and it’s not hard to imagine this group of youngsters pushing straight through to an R. It’s not that, though. There’s nothing so serious at stake. This is kid world. (Check out the way the camera stays about four feet off the ground, tilting back when it can be bothered to make eye contact with parents - very Spielberg-esque.) Ultimately, it’s a movie about grown-up sixties kids reminiscing about how much they loved being kids in the sixties. It’s the version they choose to remember. I’m not quite down with the vision they’re presenting, but I can’t resist the enthusiasm with which it’s presented. (The bit about Wendy Peffercorn falling madly in love with Squints is just one detail that makes me think writers David Evans and Robert Gunter might not have been the biggest women’s lib activists. In fairness, they teamed up again for 2005′s The Sandlot 2, which was all about overcoming misogyny, I think, but it was so bad I couldn’t get through it, even for a goof.) (Oh... Oh, no, nooooo. I just learned about The Sandlot: Heading Home, the third movie in this series. Luke Perry magically travels back in time after sustaining a baseball injury. I swear this is true. What was I talking about? Oh, right, The Sandlot.) The Sandlot is so enjoyable. Have you seen it? Have you not seen it? Have you seen it a gazillion times? Doesn’t matter. Watch it again. Pickle. EDIT: Ack!!

- - - The Ranking So Far 1. The Sandlot 2. Jem and the Holograms 3. Battle Royale II: Survival Program 4. Muppet Treasure Island 5. The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun 6. Scarface 7. The Running Man 8. The Exorcist 9. The Princess Bride 10. Ava’s Possessions 11. Special Correspondents 12. Looney Tunes: Back in Action AN EXPLANATION OF THE LIST