I've Totally Seen That Movie Before

Field of Dreams (1989) Director: Phil Alden Robinson Writers:  W.P. Kinsella (novel), Phil Alden Robinson (screenplay) Cast:  Kevin Costner, James Earl Jones, Ray Liotta, Amy Madigan, Gaby Hoffman, Timothy Busfield, Burt Lancaster, Frank Whaley, Dwier Brown Synopsis: Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella (Costner) has the seemingly perfect life with his wife, Annie (Madigan) and his young daughter, Karin (Hoffman). However, one afternoon he hears a voice from inside his cornfield telling him to build a baseball diamond overtop of his crops. Despite the misgivings of Annie and other townsfolk, Ray goes ahead and makes the diamond, believing that it will somehow appease the ghost of disgraced former White Sox outfielder, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (Liotta), his deceased father's favorite player. Once the field is built, the spirit of the long-dead ballplayer appears one evening and soon invites his former teammates to play on the field with him. However, Ray believes the voice needs him to ...

The Karate Kid (1984) Director:  John G. Alvidson Writer:  Robert Mark Kamen Cast: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, Randee Heller, Martin Kove, William Zabka, Ron Thomas, Rob Garrison, Chad McQueen Synopsis:   New Jersey teenager Daniel Larusso (Macchio) is forced to relocate to Los Angeles when his mother Lucille (Heller) scores a new job. While Daniel soon learns that he doesn't really fit in with the California surfer crown, he manages to catch the eye of Ali (Shue), one of the most popular girls in school. Unfortunately, Ali's ex-boyfriend Johnny (Zabka) still carries a torch for her and decides to take out his frustrations on Daniel by beating him up regularly. Daniel tries to fight back, but Johnny and his friends are black belt karate students trained by their sadistic sensei Kreese (Kove) to show no mercy to an opponent. The tide turns for Daniel when he meets Mr. Myagi (Morita), the maintenance man of his building who is also from Okinawa. Mr. Myagi agr...

61* (2001) Director:  Billy Crystal Writer: Hank Steinberg Cast:  Barry Pepper, Thomas Jane, Anthony Michael Hall, Richard Masur, Bruce McGill, Chris Bauer, Jennifer Crystal Foley, Christopher McDonald, Bob Gunton, Donald Moffat, Peter Jacobson, Seymor Cassel Synopsis: In 1961, two New York Yankee teammates, Roger Maris (Pepper) and Mickey Mantle (Jane), flirt with breaking Babe Ruth's record for home runs hit in a single season. Mantle, a long-time Yankee, is affable and popular, while Maris is more subdued and uncomfortable with the attention the race brings. While Mantle is showered with support from the New York fans, Maris is taunted and even threatened by a fan base that would rather see the beloved Mantle beat a record held by the most famous Yankee ever to play the game.  First Impressions: I didn't catch this one in theaters, mostly because it was never in theaters. The film was produced and aired on HBO in the early 2000s. Since I wasn't subscribed to that parti...

42 (2013) Director: Brian Helgeland   Cast:  Chadwick Boseman, Harrison Ford, Nicole Beharie, Christopher Meloni, Lucas Black, Andre Holland, Alan Tudyk, John C. McGinley   Writers: Brian Helgeland   Synopsis: Branch Rickey (Ford), the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946, decides it's time for baseball's color barrier to fall. To that end, Rickey chooses Jackie Robinson (Boseman) to be the first African-American to play in the MLB. However, Jackie's road isn't so easy as he faces intense racism not only from opposing teams and umpires but also his own teammates. The film takes us through Jackie's rise through the minor leagues and his eventual landmark first season with the Dodgers in 1947.   First Impressions: I love baseball and I was extremely excited to see this movie. Unfortunately, my group of friends that I normally watch movies with, don't care for the game as much as I do. Since I don't like going to movies alone, I didn't se...