#baseball reviews

[ee2e29]

baseball

[palmettoshenanigans]

Someone suggested Aaron deserves a chance in a rage room but now I'm just wondering... what would every Fox be like if offered an hour in a rage room? Like I know those things usually give you options so like,,, what would they do?

[astoundingbeyondbelief]

Kaiju Week in Review (March 24-30, 2024)

A coworker asked tonight me how Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire measured up to Godzilla Minus One, and I responded, "Almost as good, but in a completely different way." If you like monsters (and if you're following me I have to assume you do), see it, no questions asked. There's about a million of them and they're all delightful. The franchise has long struggled to recapture the specific charms of the Showa era, and I think this comes closer than any of them. (It's the climactic tag-team battle... also Mothra returning to knock some sense into Godzilla). Pure junk food, but you can't just watch Oppenheimer all the time.

Godzilla x Kong tore up the box office this weekend, performing well above expectations. Its $80 million opening Stateside was the second-best of the Monsterverse (after Godzilla). It added another $114 million internationally for the best overall opening of the (still-young) year. China was a big part of that with $44 million; giant monster movies are among the few Hollywood imports that still play well there. With a $135 million budget, lowest of the Monsterverse by a wide margin, it's a matter of when, not if, Legendary announces the next one.

The Oxford English Dictionary has added an entry for tokusatsu, defined as "A genre of Japanese film or television entertainment characterized by the use of practical special effects, usually featuring giant monsters, transforming robots, and masked and costumed superheroes." It's part of a group of 23 freshly-acknowledged Japanese loan words; unclear if the timing is coincidental. Oh, and if you're curious, they added kaiju in 2018. As someone who remembers when the only English-speakers who used either word were in fandom, it's pretty wild to see.

French company Extralucid Films will release Gappa on Blu-ray in June. The impressive-sounding bonus features are naturally all in French, but there's one that transcends language: 17 minutes of extra monster footage. The U.S. version of Gappa, Monster from a Prehistoric Planet, only has about 7 minutes worth of shots absent from the Japanese version, so I'm pretty curious about the other 10. It's also the first time this footage has been released in HD (Tokyo Shock blew it in 2020).

Season 2 of Chibi Godzilla Raids Again is indeed receiving official English subtitles, starting the same day as the Japanese premiere, April 10. Godzilla Battle Line also added a hilariously busted joint Chibi Godzilla-Chibi Mechagodzilla unit, along with a Destoroyah variant. (Maybe Godzilla x Kong units are next month?)

A new Monsterverse movie means new books to buy. The prequel comic Godzilla x Kong: The Hunted is out already (not recommended), but officially you'll have to wait until April 23 for the novelization and May 14 for the art book. Chalk that up to the late release date change, maybe. Unofficially, people are already getting the novelization from Amazon, because they're a monopoly that can afford to pay the fines from publishers for breaking street date. The audiobook version also released on the same day as the film. I don't have intel on what it adds and changes yet; adding everything from the film itself to Wikizilla is all I can handle right now.

The San Francisco Giants are offering a Godzilla VIP Experience on May 17, a long-overdue acknowledgement of the savior of their city. Tickets are almost gone, though I think it's a shame that the promotion is opt-in to begin; what happened to giving these tchotchkes out to the first thousand fans? Well, figures that they'd make getting merch of the Minus One Godzilla in the States a hassle.

[rosiethereviewer]

Episode 49: The Catcher Was a Spy

Happy Friday! This week... Eesh. We really wanted to enjoy this one. The Catcher Was a Spy is a movie about the wildly fascinating American baseball player-turned-spy Moe Berg. It stars Paul Rudd, which Maartje, in particular, was quite excited about until she realised he plays himself. Oh well. Can't all be winners. Batter up! Listen to our episode here.

Find out more background, like our book rec, here.

[clonerightsagenda]

I invite you to a reading of my dark academia novel. You expect a bunch of smoldering boys in button up dress shirts. I start reading. Chapter one is a transcript of a two hour faculty senate meeting. You try the doors. They're locked.

[freshthoughts2020]

[askmovieslate]

I know you like to ship your stuff and what not, Tumblr.

But nah.

Don't do it.

Jamesy: This is what we call reverse psychology. She actually really wants you to do it.

Shut up feather duster!

[bloodbruise]

Jegulus ❤️

my loves for ever and ever and ever <3

[thoughtdaughter4264]

[hardcore-gaming-101]

MLB Power Pros / MLB Power Pros 2008

Tucked away in a montage of releases during the February 2023 Nintendo Direct was the announcement of WBSC eBaseball: Power Pros. Little would give any indication it’s a long-running Konami franchise without familiarity of the brand. Despite the game itself being a modest offering at 99 cents and features mainly geared towards online gaming, it was a reason to celebrate for some beyond Konami selling basic merchandise at their American store. To understand why requires going back to 2007 when the uniquely Japanese franchise came to America for a short while.

Read more...

[o-the-mts]

365 Movies in 365 Days: Unhittable: Sidd Finch and the Tibetan Fastball (2015)

This year I’m trying to watch one movie every day of the year, with the provision that the movie be no longer than 36-1/2 minutes long. I’ll be selecting movies randomly from this list that’s already way too long, but I still welcome suggestions for short films. Title: Unhittable: Sidd Finch and the Tibetan Fastball Release Date: April 1, 2015 Director: Peter Sillen Production Company: Synopsis…

[fordreviews]

📽️ A League of Their Own (1992)

Surprisingly to me, this movie was very touching. There were several moments that brought tears to my eyes. I don’t want to give any spoilers, but it’s a pretty emotional movie. I thought it would just be a fun movie about a women’s baseball league, but it’s much more than that. It’s funny, sad, and real. The fact that it’s based on a true story just makes it even better. I really like this movie a lot. I could watch it again and again.

Sex/nudity: 3/10 (quite a few sexual innuendoes and comments, females seen in underwear frequently in a non-sexual manner)

Language: 2/10 (no f bombs, a few instances of milder language)

Violence: 2/10 (some sports fighting, baseball injuries shown, talk of war and war injuries)

Overall rating: 9/10

[newangels1995]

Idk how I feel abt sunny day real estate, Marietta, Mondern Baseball, tigers jaw, or LSD and the search for god like their just not hitting it which is so sad cuz I’d feel so silly if I got to say that my favorite band was LSD and the search for god like I just like that name but I’ll never get to say that, unless I decide to lie which could be funny as but I don’t know why I’d do that lol. Idk none of them are really bad but I’d add them to my playlist as filler, and there would never go on my fav songs playlists.

[ducksplat]

review #1

“…And Beyond” by Modern Baseball

like i said in my introduction, i love mobo and this is probably one of my favorites by the band! the intro with the false start is great, it adds authenticity to the recording. regarding the lyrics, i’m the biggest lover in the world. i am THE lover girl. i quite literally told someone today i like telling people who im in love with cause i love sharing it— he agreed. thank god. i like to build a friendship before i ask a guy out, so the mantra of “you and i have come such a long way for us to start again” at the end strikes me deep. the rejection after confessing to someone— especially your friend? god, a fate worse than death. it hurts. having to see them around your town (or campus for me) after the fact and knowing that they never felt the same? yeouch! the lyrics, “say things you understand, that way you’re catching my drift” are so relatable too. i drop so many hints and apparently no one i like gets it. no one catches my drift bruh. it’s happened TWICE this school year. do guys just … not realize anything…

anyway, that’s the review. final notes: love the song, love the band, love the genre. 10/10 EZ.

[mentalanguish]

The Benchwarmers (2016)

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[ecargmura]

Oblivion Battery Episode 1 Review - Returning To Base Form

How long has it been since I watched a baseball anime? My personal favorite baseball anime is Big Windup (Ookiku Furikabutte)…and that’s the only one I watched. So, how is Oblivion Battery? Well, it’s only the first episode, so I need to watch more. I can safely say that, for a baseball anime, it is rather unique.

The story is about how a genius battery disappeared after middle school and one person who had witnessed their greatness, Taro Yamada, finds them at the same unknown public school he went to one day. It turns out that the genius catcher Kei Kaname has gotten amnesia and forgotten how to play baseball while his childhood friend and genius pitcher Haruka Kiyomine tagged along because he wanted to be with Kei whether it be playing baseball together or just hanging out together. Kei was initially disciplined due to all the baseball training but after getting amnesia, he has reverted to his supposed usual self, which is being a whiny goofball. After demonstrating his pitches to an upperclassman with Kei as the catcher, Haruka decides to make Kei remember how much fun baseball is.

Amnesia plots are usually hit or miss due to how the writer handles it. To me, they feel a bit contrived due to the character suddenly retrieving their memories when the plot wants it to. Will Kei’s memories come back or will they stay forever gone? All I know is that the current Kei, the amnesiac one, is rather annoying with his perverted jokes and whiny attitude. While the whiny attitude is understandable and that he doesn’t run away, I think the rather perverted jokes will get old fast. I do hope how he lost his memories will be told and shown.

Though, to me, I feel like the first episode is more about getting used to the characters rather than focusing too much on baseball, hence why I said that I need to watch more to see what happens. I do want to know more about Taro Yamada and how he got into baseball. I want to know more about Haruka and Kei’s friendship before and after the amnesia.

Haruka and Kei seem like a brains and brawn duo with Kei being the brains and Haruka being the brawn. Kei originally was going to make Haruka the best pitcher in Japan, and he had a bunch of notebooks regarding strategies and plans. Haruka seems more like a guy who goes with the flow with whatever Kei concocts and doesn’t question him. While he seems stoic and serious, the way his eyes are drawn makes him look a bit dopey. Despite that, I do like how Haruka is such a good friend that he still sticks by Kei’s side even though he has changed and doesn’t like baseball as much anymore due to his amnesia. Given my rather bad experience with Bucchigiri and how the protagonist Arajin wanted to lose his virginity, simps for girls and abandons his friends for his selfish purposes, I just hope that Kei doesn’t go the same route; however, I believe that he won’t given that he still had the urge to catch Haruka’s pitches even if he doesn’t remember.

Taro is a bit enigmatic so far despite being an ordinary guy. I do like how he’s the narrator of sorts as he witnessed the diabolic battery during his middle school baseball tournament and then goes to the same high school as him. Usually, sports animes do give good characterization, so I hope that Taro isn’t the one guy who gets focus early but then fades into the background later on.

The animation is rather good for MAPPA standards. None of the baseball movements use CG, so I think this might have promise animation-wise. The music is okay. I like the opening! I feel like this anime is more of a “keep on watching and it’ll get better” type, so I won’t comment on the animation and music too much right now.

The voice actors…ARE GREAT! They seriously got a strong cast of voice actors. Toshiki Masuda and Mamoru Miyano play the monster battery with the former voicing Haruka and the latter voicing Kei. Masuda’s softer voice is really nice to listen to! I can tell Mamoru Miyano is having a fun time voicing Kei because he gets to be silly and serious. Not only do these two have great voice actors, throw in Yuki Kaji as Taro and you legit have fans lining up to watch this anime. I think it’s been a while since I watched an anime with Kaji in it. I still like his voice a lot as he does voice high schoolers/young boys well. Oh, speaking of which, Ryota Suzuki and Gen Sato voice those two random boys recruiting people for the baseball club. Crazy casting indeed.

For now, the first episode feels more of a character-driven thing rather than a sport-driven thing, but I’ll keep on watching! Question of the day: What is your favorite baseball anime?