Tag Archives: martin sheen

Grace and Frankie

comedy, drama, family, television, , , ,

Grace and FrankieGrace and Frankie airs on Netflix and stars four legendary actors worth watching until it is obvious they have run out of material. Homosexually is not uncommon anymore. Nobody has to be in the closet because it is excepted now. I just wish the series moved forward more quickly with the story handling other situations that are funnier and not so sad.

Grace, played believably by Jane Fonda, is straight-laced and a former owner of a cosmetics company. Frankie, played over-the-top by Lilly Tomlin, is an open-minded hippie who tries to generate good vibes no matter if her life is falling apart.

The point to the series is these two women in their early 70s have nothing in common until their husbands, played by Sam Waterson and Martine Sheen, declare their love for each other and are leaving them to live as homosexuals.

All due respect, they are bisexuals and Waterson’s character clearly shows his attraction to his former wife, Frankie.

The series is a comedy with serious undertones, but it would have been much better in the 1980s with the issue a hot topic. Today, this is old news. Though husbands leaving a 40-year-old marriage for another man is not common, the idea is not shocking anymore nor is it funny.  Still the series has funny moments with more slow and off-beat situations.

The cast is what makes the series. They bring a lot of charm, verve and truth to their characters.  Sheen and Waterston are cast against type because they are not your usual eye-candies. Tomlin is as funny as ever as the flaky hippie, and Fonda timing is beautiful but a bit crusty.

I just wish the four of them would get on with their lives and deal with situations that are more entertaining for this day and age.

Martin Sheen Narrates “Baseball Legends”

documentary, historical, history, legend, movies, sports, television, , , , , , , ,
B_LEGENDS_3D_DVD

Baseball is America’s favorite pastime.  We certainly have our fair share of baseball heroes who have become legends in their own time.  Watching the four documentaries in Baseball Legends, I learned so much about four very different athletes.  All special and talented in their own way, some are Gods, and they built the foundation of what we have today.

Co-directed by Josh Oshinsky and Jeff Spaulding, Baseball Legends is narrated by Martin Sheen.  The DVDs offer epic tales of four baseball heroes. Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Hank Aaron and Lou Gehrig turned baseball into the National Pastime that it is presently.

Each story is inspiring while bringing a fresh historical and poignant perspective of the lives of these sports icons. Using rare and enhanced archival material and state-of-the-art production techniques, these films are perfect for anyone interested in baseball and history.

Some key points covered in the movies are Babe Ruth, his bat turned him into a household name; Ted Williams, the last player to hit .400; Lou Gehrig, who won 6 World Series before illness ended his career; and Hank Aaron, who rose from adversity to break the record of a king.

DVD Special Features include The Making of American Hercules about Babe Ruth, and his rare player interviews with historic game footage. Ted Williams Hall of Fame induction is included. Saving the best for last, there are several extended interviews with various experts and archival footage from the Major League Baseball Film and Video Archive.

All in all, I discovered information I had never known about these four legends. Babe Ruth cut his teeth as a pitcher with the Boston Red Sox. He developed into a lethal opponent with both his arm and bat, helping Boston win a couple of World Series titles. Lou Gehrig was an Ivy League student and played baseball while going to school at Columbia. Ted Williams left baseball twice in order to fight for the Marines.  He was a jet pilot during both World War II and the Korean War. Hank Aaron went unnoticed as a player for the Milwaukee Braves, yet he broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record when the team transferred to Atlanta.