Ron SheltonReseñas

Checked out this book from the library mostly to force myself to finally watch the movie. Watched the movie on Monday, then read this book luesday and Wednesday. And I liked both! The movie is very good, definitely watch it if you're like me and somehow is both a big baseball fan and hadn't seen it. This book is also a great behind the scenes of the making of and I really like that kind of stuff. It's also quite funny. It had some lines that made me laugh out loud, including this one:

The reviews were terrific-except for the guy in Durnam-but two particular responses stuck with me then and now.
First, a message on my phone from Bill Kirkpatrick, a tough pitcher and teammate from the minors I hadn't talked to in years. The message was simple: "Shelly. Willy K. Great fuckin' flick. Bye." I had the guys on the bus.

Good stuff, definitely recommend.

This book is for a specific audience. You pretty much have to be a fan of the movie Bull Durham to get into this book. I also happen to be a fan of the city of Durham which helps also. If you are, then you will find much of this fascinating--he covers the origin of the story and the birth of it's characters, the crafting of the screenplay and translating it to film in a straightforward informative manner. If you are not a fan of the movie you will likely not care about any of it. Written by the writer/director, the book touches on broader industry topics but usually with a throwaway line or quip. A minor league player himself, his career is treated as a series of impressions rather than a personal history. Alas, I am a fan of the movie and Durham, so this is in my wheelhouse--otherwise this would be three stars.

Fascinating! I don't know how directors manage to make the great films they do. This book would certainly discourage anyone from taking up the task. We watched the film before we read the book. Now I'm ready to watch it again. Ron Shelton did a good job reading his work. I'm grateful for all he put up with to make this film. I want to track down some of the books and movies he mentioned in the book as well. I love a book that opens so many doors.

Shelton, Ron. The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham: Home Runs, Bad Calls, Crazy Fights, Big Swings, and a Hit. Knopf, 2022.
In 1987, Ron Shelton was a first-time director, and Kevin Costner was not yet an actor whose presence would automatically greenlight a Hollywood movie. Nor was a script about minor league baseball an idea to make studio moguls dig for their wallets. But Costner looked good swinging a bat, and Shelton, who had played in the minor leagues, had the bones of the script that would eventually become Bull Durham. The film launched Shelton’s career and became a lasting cultural icon. His memoir about the gestation of the project is the best book I have read on the process of filmmaking since William Goldman’s Adventures in the Screen Trade (1983). It details a filmmaking process and an industry structure that already seem as nostalgic as a Whitman poem about baseball. 5 stars.

It's got a decent amount of funny moments (though much fewer than the first one), and some of the endless action is a little cool, but unfortunately there's little else here. The small but precious amount of grounding from the first film is completely gone, having devolved to a completely ridiculous non-stop-parade of car chases and gunfights, with supposedly good guy cops who for no apparent reason have little to no respect nor need for the law, and certainly none for human life. The plot is strung together with the same sense of willing suspense of disbelief as the action and character choices. In fairness to the film, a lot of these elements would be less of an issue if I came to the film expecting an over-the-top actionfest, but I was expecting along the lines of the first film -- exaggerated, yes, silly, absolutely, but at least with some core story you could care about at the core.

But if you can get with the new programme and enjoy the mindless fun, the film is reasonably entertaining, thanks largely to a good pacing (which it somehow has in spite of the very bloated running time and disappointing lack of plot) and of course the never-failing charm of Smith's quips and the ridiculous lines given to Pantoliano. Just don't expect a sequel that matches the tone and feel of the first -- except in the bickering relationship between the protagonists, which maybe feels a bit more forced here, but is otherwise exactly as before.½

From the box: An unreachable shot to the green. A hopeless romance. Driving-range pro Roy McAvoy can't resist an impossible challenge. Each is what he calls a defining moment. You define it. Or it defines you.

With lady-killer charm and a game that can make par with garden tools, Kevin Costner rejoins Bull Durham filmmaker Ron Shelton for another funny tale of the games people play. For Costner's Roy, golf is a head - and heart- game. On both counts, that's where shrink Molly Griswold (Rene Russo) comes in. She's big city, Roy's small time, and he believes only the grandest of gestures can lure her away from a slick touring pro (Don Johnson) and earn her love. So Roy and his dutiful caddy (Cheech Marin) set out to do the impossible: win the U.S. Open. With laughs, clever battle-of-the-sexes banter and a handy way with a 7-iron, Tin Cup winningly defines the moment and contemporary romantic comedy.

1996/Color/135 minutes/Rated R

To view the preview on Netflix, simply click on the following link, then use the "back" button on your computer to return here to the Neighbors Lending Library of Verrado on LibraryThing.com.

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Tin_Cup/1050300?trkid=222336&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&a...