Apex Mountain on The Rewatchables
17:32 – 20:19… have done that. And they're all actors. But it's very dated. Like it's very, very 80s. And he's, he kind of belongs to that era. This is, we're going to do Apex Mountain later. This is, he had L.A. Law and this movie at the same time. It never got better for Corbin Bernson. Yeah. This was, this was, this was the, the legitimate all time apex. So this movie, it was made by David Ward, a lifelong Cleveland Indians fan who actually won an Oscar. He wrote The Sting. So he had some juice. Oh, wow. Yeah. And he thought the only way he was ever going to see the Indians actually win anything was if he made a sports …
The whole segment, as transcribed
And he was like the kind of dickish playboy lawyer. Was it like the practice, like that level type of show? Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, this guy had a history with this person and this person shouldn't have done that. And they're all actors. But it's very dated. Like it's very, very 80s. And he's, he kind of belongs to that era. This is, we're going to do Apex Mountain later. This is, he had L.A. Law and this movie at the same time. It never got better for Corbin Bernson. Yeah. This was, this was, this was the, the legitimate all time apex. So this movie, it was made by David Ward, a lifelong Cleveland Indians fan who actually won an Oscar. He wrote The Sting. So he had some juice. Oh, wow. Yeah. And he thought the only way he was ever going to see the Indians actually win anything was if he made a sports movie about them. So he put a lot of time and thought into it. But the, the movie was partially, partially inspired by the Minnesota Twins owner, Calvin Griffith, who in the 1970s, when he was trying to make the, the Metrodome Stadium, negotiated for an escape clause in the team's lease, which said if the team's home attendance was under 1.4 million per season for three straight years, they could be released from its contract and leave Minnesota. And he actually let good players leave. He actually, they actually did tank and investors did buy the team and they almost moved into, moved to Tampa. And then a local guy bought the team and saved it. So this actually happened, which I had no idea. Did you know that? That's cool. I like that. Um, and so he writes a script. He bakes, he based all the characters on different baseball players. He liked, like Serrano is based on the Alou brothers, which was supposedly superstitious. Willie Mays Hayes was based on Ricky Henderson. Um, so on and so on. Writes the script. These are Charlie Sheen's words now. When I saw the script, it wasn't like catnip. It was like crack. It was probably as good a script as platoon. Seriously. Charlie Sheen compared major league to platoon. That guy's done a lot of drugs. That is incredible. So, uh, wow. So anyway, great script and everybody wanted to do it. Platoon, but baseball. And then one of the hooks was, you know, he was with Berenger in platoon and the studio wanted to get both of them. And it was like a reunion with obviously a lot happier terms. The movie, uh, was made for 11 million. It grossed nearly 50 million in domestic release. 82 on Rotten Tomatoes. Is that higher or lower than you wanted it to be? You know what? I think, I think it's, I think it should be around 86.
66:29 – 70:13… claims. Margaret Witten. I believe her. How weird is that? That is not the story I expected you to tell. Yeah. So that's it for Half-Assed Internet Research. Apex Mountain. Charlie Sheen, yes. Or is it Two and a Half Men? I mean, Two and a Half Men was the most successful show of, for like eight straight years. I don't know. I thought I was, I was leaning towards that until I forget about Two and a Half Men. It's got to be Two and a Half Men. Yeah. Is it not Beringer? Like, I feel like, I mean, this is like the end of his great run. I don't know if it's the top. I was going to say, I was going to say Platoon …
The whole segment, as transcribed
But according to a court document, she received $100,000 and 2% of the film's net profits to settle her claims. Margaret Witten. I believe her. How weird is that? That is not the story I expected you to tell. Yeah. So that's it for Half-Assed Internet Research. Apex Mountain. Charlie Sheen, yes. Or is it Two and a Half Men? I mean, Two and a Half Men was the most successful show of, for like eight straight years. I don't know. I thought I was, I was leaning towards that until I forget about Two and a Half Men. It's got to be Two and a Half Men. Yeah. Is it not Beringer? Like, I feel like, I mean, this is like the end of his great run. I don't know if it's the top. I was going to say, I was going to say Platoon for Beringer because. Did he win, he won, did he win an Oscar for? No, William Dafoe did. I don't know if Beringer did. He definitely got nominated. Um, but Platoon allowed him to make movies like this. So it's somewhere in there. I don't know if it's definitive. I think for Margaret Witten, definitely. James Gammon, definitely. Um, but for the big stars, I don't think it was Apex Mountain for any of them. It's not Haysbert because President Palmer is. I mean, President Palmer is iconic. Ugh. This movie paved the way for President Palmer. It paved the way for Barack Obama via President Palmer. Without this movie, there's no Barack Obama. The Joey Pants Award named after Joe Pantaleone for best of that guy. We, uh, it's James Gammon or Chelsea Ross. I feel like people know who James Gammon is. I don't think people know that Chelsea Ross's name is Chelsea Ross. They just know him as Eddie Harris or the guy from Hoosiers or the guy from Major League. So he wins that one. Um, would this movie have been better with Danny Trejo, Steve Buscemi or Michael K. Williams? Uh, we needed Michael K. Williams in this movie because he would have been the third black person in it. So he wins. Yeah, even if he's in the stands, just like another black person in the stands. I'm here for that. The Saul Rubinick They Knew Award for, uh, for best overacting. I gotta go. You probably feel differently. I have to go with Roger Dorn fielding grounders at third base like he was being shot by snipers. Wait, did we ever figure out why? Why was it so debilitated to field hard grounders? I've never seen anybody react to them like that. Yeah, like, I mean, unless you're eight years old. Like, he's in the major leagues. He's in the major leagues. He's far enough away from the batter's box that it shouldn't be like he's getting shot at. My son is 11 years old and plays third base and is good at third base and has never reacted to a grounder like that ever. And he's 11. So I don't know. I don't know what you're doing, Roger Dorn. Um, picking nits. We've picked a lot of nits already. I just have two extra ones. Yeah. They mention it. Rene Russo says at one point in the dinner party that Jake used to be one of the best catchers in baseball until his knees went. Do we really believe Jake Taylor is one of the best catchers in baseball? Was he like, am I supposed to think he was like a Mike Piazza in the early 80s? He just like, he never really gave off that good of an athlete or baseball. No. No. His throwing, it wasn't like Tim Robbins' Bull Durham bad, but it certainly didn't look like he had a cannon either. And I think they stunt doubled him a lot. I don't think he was terrible. Serrano, on the other hand. Serrano's. Had a cannon. Yeah, Serrano. He's basically Yasiel Puig 30 years ago. The game winning bunt, I just don't think Jake Taylor beats it out with his bad knees. Even if it took the guy by surprise, I still think he's out. Yeah, he needed like the Angels from Angels in the Outfield to fly him to first base.
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