See When Baseball was Fun in Trailer for 'The Battered Bastards of Baseball'

Tired of hearing your friends rave about the World Cup? Join the club. And while baseball doesn't rate a lot higher than soccer on the excitement scale, a documentary like The Battered Bastards of Baseball shows just how much fun the diamond can be....at least in the minor leagues.

Premiering at Sundance to rave reviews, and already in line for a remake by Justin Lin (Fast Five), The Battered Basterds of Baseball chronicles the true story of the Portland Mavericks, a minor league squad owned by Bing Russell (Kurt Russell's father) in the 1970s. Putting together a team full of misfits and working outside of the Major League Baseball system, Russell made every game a wild spectacle of a sporting event, and the team became a phenomenon during their brief-but-awesome existence.

The Battered Bastards of Baseball hits Netflix on July 11th.


THE BATTERED BASTARDS OF BASEBALL (Netflix) Trailer by thesevensees

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Kathryn Bigelow and Todd Field Developing Rival Films on P.O.W. Bowe Berghdahl

Over the last couple of weeks we've seen a rather remarkable controversy erupt over Bowe Bergdahl, an American soldier recently freed by the Taliban after five years in captivity, traded for a handful of Guantanamo Bay detainees. The deal struck by President Obama has led some to actually suggest Bergdahl should have been left behind because he may have abandoned his post, or was a traitor who tried to join the Taliban, or even deeper conspiracies you can probably find by perusing Alex Jones' website. There's no doubt Bergdahl has a lot to answer for when he recovers, but for now the controversy has attracted the lure of Hollywood and two rival projects about Bergdahl are developing.

It should probably come as no surprise to learn Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal have been researching Bergdahl's story for years and are planning a film on Bergdahl's story. The duo took a lot of heat for their prior military-themed films The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. The latter film was racked by claims it was pro-torture (it really wasn't) and had some in Congress thinking Obama leaked military secrets to the filmmakers. Boal notably had to delay then rewrite the ending of Zero Dark Thirty because of Osama Bin Laden's death, and this Bergdahl situation is similarly open-ended at this point. No word on when this would shoot and if it will come after The True American, the post-9/11 drama Bigelow has Tom Hardy lined up for.

Bigelow may want to hurry because Fox Searchlight has a Bergdahl film of their own with Todd Field (Little Children) attached in some capacity. The studio has picked up the rights to the late Michael Hastings' Rolling Stone article "America's Last Prisoner Of War", which investigated the Bergdahl story. Not many details on this one yet but it's clear we'll be seeing a lot more of Bergdahl even if we shut off the cable news. [Deadline]

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Sure Shots: Christian Bale; William Hurt; 'Guardians of the Galaxy'

* It's been a long wait for those longing for another film from multi-Academy Award nominated filmmaker Todd Field(In the Bedroom, Little Children), but that time may finally be coming to an end. About a year ago we learned that Leonardo Dicaprio was circling a role in The Creed of Violence, an adaptation of Boston Teran's western novel set during the Mexican Revolution. While financing was always the major problem, that appears to have been resolved, and now word has emerged that Christian Bale has come aboard. It remains to be seen if Dicaprio is still interested, but if so that would make for one Hell of a pairing. The story follows an assassin and a Bureau of Investigations agent involved in a scheme to deliver illegal weapons across the border.




* The always reliable William Hurt has joined Akiva Goldsman's long developing adaptation of Winter's Tale, based on the quasi-religious fairy tale from Mark Helprin. With Colin Farrell and Jessica Brown Findlay(Downtown Abbey) starring, the film follows a small time thief who breaks into a wealthy family's home and falls in love with the terminally ill daughter who resides there. Time shifts, flying horses, and other crazy twists all factor into the story. Goldsman, a super-producer and writer with a string of hits under his sleeve called in a few favors getting Will Smith and Russell Crowe for smaller roles, and now he's got Hurt to play the sick girl's father. Must be nice to have such an extensive Rolodex. [Deadline]



* Even though the rumors had been flying around for weeks, many who aren't familiar with the Guardians of the Galaxy were likely surprised when Marvel announced the film for August 1st 2014. The space-faring team is sort of the black sheep of the Marvel comic book universe(along with New Warriors), and has a quirkier tone than most others. What else would you expect from a team that has a gun-toting talking Rocket Raccoon and a giant tree monster named Groot? Fortunately, a writer known for off-kilter scripts has just come aboard with the addition of Chris McCoy. The Black List approved scribe will rewrite the script, initially penned by Nicole Periman. [THR]


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