This week in DVD - October 9th.

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Meek's Cutoff.

Good cast, but boring-ass movie.  If you suffer from insomnia, then this is a pretty good movie to watch.  How is a modern movie done in 4:3?  Did I hit the wrong button on the DVD?  Whatever...it's just a bunch of people walking for miles and miles.  It's funny cause when I was watching it, I started thinking of There Will Be Blood and how the first 10-15 minutes of that movie, there's very little dialog.  The different is with TWBB is that it's actually interesting and then movie develops and stuff actually happens.  In Meek's Cutoff, NOTHING HAPPENS!  They walk, then walk some more, then set up camp, cook, drink water, have conversations about nothing, and then repeat the process.  That's pretty much the whole effing movie.  The ending is so what the eff that I can't believe it actually happened.  It's a non-ending if I've ever seen one.

Don't watch this.  I'd mention the cast, but I don't want to tarnish their reputations.


Transformers 3: Dark Side of the Moon

I watched this 'masterpeice' again over the weekend, but you can see my original review here:

http://angryvader.blogspot.com/2011/07/transformers-3-revenge-of-dark-side-of.html

I managed to pick up few things the second time around that slightly addressed some of my nitpikcy issues pointed out in my review.  However,  the sad part is that on a second viewing, I found this movie WORSE.  The characters were more annoying and I found myself going, 'that's stupid' more.  I guess that's a Michael Bay film for you.  Bad movies don't hold up to repeat viewings.  I'm ashamed this film did so well in the theater.  We're just encouragng him.

I'd tell you to pass on watching this, but if you skipped in the theater, you're probably itching to watch it.  It's worth renting and watching...once.


Fast Five

I'd post my old review, but I really didn't write all that much about it.  It's funny when I go back and read some of my old reviews.  My writing sucked even more back then, but at least I say more about the movie and I'm more thorough.  But, I digress...

I actually liked Fast Five, and this is coming from someone that isn't a big fan of the franchise.  In fact, outside of the first one, I've thought these all sucked.  Even the first film isn't great by any means, but it was at least entertaining and had it's moments.  Anyway, with Fast Five I thought they did a good job of transitioning from being just another car chase movie, to more of a heist movie.  It's over the top, but in a fun way.  It was a good start the fun summer movie season where you can shut your brain off, but not feel bad for doing it.  The current DVD release is an extended version, so I'll probably check it out again eventually to see the longer version, as I haven't seen it since the original theatrical release.

It's worth a rental.


Buck


Here's a good example of a short, little documentary that you'll find interesting and care about what's goign on, even it's not really your thing.  Don't get me wrong, I don't hate horses or anything like that, but watching a documentary about a horse traininer doesn't sound all that interesting to me.  However, they did a good job and I ended up being facinated.

This follows Buck Brannaman, who was essentially the inspiration for the main character in The Horse Whisperer novel. They even brought him in as a consultant when they made a movie and show you a few behind the scenes on The Horse Whisperer and Robert Redford tells a few stories about the guy.   Cesar Melan has nothing on Buck!

It's not just about how he trains horses though.  They do go into Buck the man and that's just as interesting.  He had an upbringing that would have affected most people in a much different way.  It's interesting to see how he treats animals and the man he's become as opposed to the household he was raised in.

You see him with the horses and he's able to make them do whatver they want in a matter of minutes.  Their owners are stunned.  Even as you're watching it, you can't believe how he can handle these horses.   Buck really is The Horse Whisperer!

This is one of those movies that if you didn't like it, then you might not have a heart or something.  You might even make you tear up a little at points.

Directed by first time director Cindy Meehl and I think she did a fantastic job.  I'm normally not as engaged and invested in a documenatary as I was with Buck.

I highly recommend renting this.  This is a great documentary!


Scream 4


I was disappointed in this.  It's better than Scream 3, but I think this franchise is on it's last legs.  It just wasn't all that interesting to me.  The kills were very boring and had no imagination.  I'm not expecting Final Destination or Saw here, but everything was a stab to the gut.  This got an R rating, but I didn't see anything here that someone in the 13-17 year old range wouldn't have been able to handle.

I thought the interaction between Ghostface and Sidney (Neve Campbell returning in her role) was fun, and Ghostface in general was funny, but otherwise, it was too long.  The Scream series was never about actually being scary than it was being silly or meta.  I think they overdid it with the meta though and it wasn't quite as funny as I would have hoped.

Still, not a bad rental if you're a fan of the series.


Submarine


Quirky, indie film about a boy that's a bit of an oddball.  He starts dating a girl that's emotionally distant and a bit of an oddball herself.  His parents aren't doing well and things are made worse by the fact their neighbor is an old flame of his Mom.

I like independent films, but sometimes they try to be independent.  I got a little bit of that here.  It's not bad, but there were parts were I wanted to just fast forward through it.

Some funny moments, but the pacing was a little slow.  If you like indy films, then this is worth a rent.

Ides of March - Movie Review

The Ides of March is a story that follows a behind-the-scenes look at a political campaign.  George Clooney plays Governor Mike Morris, a Democratic presidential candidate.  His campaign team centers around his senior manager, played by the PSH (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and a junior campaign manager, played by Ryan Gosling. Hoffman is the veteran, and as a result is more cynical and jaded, where Gosling is young and idealistic and really believes in Morris.

On the opposing side, you have Paul Giamatti, the campaign manager for Miller's primary opponent.  You really don't see much of Miller's actual opponent, as that's really not the focus of the story.

Dirty campaigning and disillusionment ensue.  It's a surprisingly cynical film about politics and the process.  Marisa Tomei plays a reporter for New York Times and sums it all up in a few lines in one of her earliest scenes in the movie.  I'm not really going to get into the politics of the movie, as I'm not much of a political animal these days, but her thoughts echo my thoughts about politics quite a bit.

The first half of the movie isn't terribly interesting, but the great cast makes up for it.  There's something to be said for having a bunch of great actors and just letting them do their thing.  As I mentioned earlier, it felt like a behind the scenes look at a political campaign, and more of a political drama.  Once the movie hits about the halfway point, a few key things happen that make this movie really take off and it almost becomes a political thriller.  I won't really get into what happens, as I don't want to spoil anything.  Fortunately the trailer also does a good job of not spoiling anything.  It really helps coming into this movie clean.

When you have a powerhouse cast like this, you do expect the performances to be top notch and they don't disappoint.  They really stacked the deck here.  The only people missing were Daniel Day-Lewis and the JGL.  Paul Giamatti is more of a supporting role this time around, but was as effective as he always is.  You even have Jeffrey Wright show up for a few scenes.

Even though the movie centers around the campaign of George Clooney's character, it didn't feel like he was in it all that much.  You see him in a few debates and town halls, but he's really not involved much in the backstage dealings and such.  This is really more Gosling's film and I think he carries it very well.  It's another great performance by his, but there was something weird about his accent that threw me off.  You could hear a little bit of the voice he used in Crazy, Stupid, Love.  I don't recall his voice sounding like that before, so I'm not sure what's up with that.

There's a nice two man game between Gosling and the PSH and he continues to be one of my favorite actors.  I've never been much of a Evan Rachel Wood fan, but she really surprised me this time.  I think this is the best work I've seen her do.  The scenes with her and Gosling really worked for me and I almost wanted to see more of them together.

The Ides of March was directed and co-written by none other than George Clooney and I think this is his best effort so far.  I think he's been a little hit-and-miss as a director (Leatherheads?  Blech!), but he did a much better job here.  Again, I think the movie was helped by having such a great cast.  It's like having a coach that comes to a team that already has a bunch of great players and system in place.  You expect him to still do well.

It was co-written by Beau Willimon, and this is based off his play "Farragut North".  Grant Heslov also shares writing credits on this one.  You may recognize Heslov more for his acting work, as he doesn't have a lot of writing credits to his name.

Overall, I think The Ides of March is a pretty good movie.  It's a little slow at first, but the great performances carry this movie until the pacing picks up in the second half.  If you're looking for a good political drama, then look no further.

Real Steel - Movie Review

Okay, let's get this out of the way.  Yes, at first glance, it's Rock'em Sock'em Robots:  The Movie.  Years ago I heard a rumor that they were making a Rock'em Sock'em Robots movie. and I was like, 'Are you kidding me?'  Those rumors just kind of went away. Then, I start seeing info about a movie called Real Steel with Hugh Jackman with fighting robots, and thought this might be that same, rumored movie.  Fortunately, it isn't.  Real Steel is actually based on a 1956 Richard Matheson short story called "Steel".  I believe the story was even used for a Twilight Zone episode.

Real Steel is set in a future where robots have replaced humans in boxing.  I heard this was set in 2020, but at one point thought I heard someone say it was 2027.  Then, there was a scene where they said the second generation of fighting robots were built in 2014 or 2016.  This is a bit of a nitpick, but 2014?  It seems like we are decades away from this kind of robotic technology, not just a few years away.  It would take some kind of huge technological advance in robotics in the next year or two for us to have anything like this.  Maybe if they had set this in 2030, I would have had an easier time with that aspect.  Again, this is a nitpick and you can just say this is an alternate universe or something.

I was also going to jump on the fact that Real Steel states that the reason robots took over fighting is because crowds demanded a more brutal sport.  I would have pointed out that we already have a brutal sport and it's called MMA.  They did kind of explain that away in a single line of dialog, but I don't see crowds watching bloodless robots fight as more brutal.  It would seem that watching robots fight would have less consequence to me.  Sure you see arms and legs get torn off and stuff, but you could still potentially fix the robot or just buy a new one.  It would be like watching remote control cars race instead of real people racing.  If there's a crash, nobody really cares because there's no human element.  Judging by the crowd that turned out at my local Buffalo Wild Wings for the MMA fights last night, I would say that we're a ways off from people demanding something even more brutal or not being into watching humans fight.  There's another nitpick there for you.

Hugh Jackman plays "Charlie", a former boxer that never quite made it before the robots took over.  Now, Charlie is just a small-time robot fighter, who's having difficulty making a living.  Charlie is stubborn, kind of a jerk, makes bad decisions and is pretty bad with money.  Charlie has a son, Max, with a former girlfriend, whom he's pretty much never spent any time with.  You see that Charlie gave custody to the girlfriend after Max was born.  However, the girlfriend has died and Charlie agrees to take Max for the Summer.  Initially, they seem to be annoyed with each other, but Charlie's son thinks the fighting robots are cool and they kind of bond over that.

Did I say "Charlie" a lot in the last paragraph?  That's to illustrate another nitpick I had about the movie.  In once sequence of dialog with Bailey, played by Evangeline Lilly (Lost), she says "Charlie" about 15 times in a conversation that's only about two or three minutes long.  I think it was Albert Brooks that pointed out that it's sloppy writing when characters say each other's names over and over.  It's not a natural way of speaking.  You can talk to someone for an hour and never say their name.  Again, it's a nitpick, and not actors fault, but I noticed it to the point to where I started to laugh every time Bailey said "Charlie".

Back to the movie.  Max just happens to find a perfectly good sparring robot that's been thrown away, as it's an older model  As you see from the trailer, sparring 'bots are built to take a lot of punishment, but never deal any out.  Which also makes you wonder, why not just build a robot that can both take a lot of punishment and deal a lot?  Anyway, they teach the robot, named Atom, to box and get him some local fights.  Atom wins his first few fights and quickly becomes a fan favorite.  It all builds to the finale, which you know is coming.  There are no twists or surprises here.  Real Steel is a pretty standard formula.

I know it sounds like i'm being hard on Real Steel, and I am, but it's not because I didn't like the film.  I was actually pleasantly surprised by it.  The trailers looked kind of corny to me and I thought I was going to see a lot overacting and silly dialog.  I think the trailer was poorly edited, as some of what you see didn't work out of the context of the film.

Based on the trailer, I was expecting Max, played by Dakota Goyo, to be annoying, but I actually thought he wasn't bad.  He develops an attachment to Atom, but I'm glad they didn't give Atom a personality and try to make that relationship cute or turn Atom into a puppy.  I think the movie wouldn't have worked as much if they had gone there.

The effects were actually pretty good and I think that it was due to the use of both animatronic robots and CG.  The fighting scenes were really well done and you don't have a problem following the action.  You can actually tell what robots are fighting each other (take note Michael Bay).  The final fight against the seemingly unbeatable Zeus (No Holds Barred fans might get a chuckle at that), has a very Rocky-ish feel to it.

Despite being over two hours, Real Steel was paced pretty well.  I could have used maybe a little more robot fighting though.

I thought the rest of the performances were fine.  Even though Charlie is a bit of a jerk, it's kind of a tough sell, as I just don't think it's possible to not like Hugh Jackman.  Even when he plays a jerk, it still has a likable charm to it.  Evangeline Lilly's "Bailey" is both the love interest and the spunky gear-head that challenges Charlie.  There's a small role played by Anthony Mackie, but it seems like he was underused.  There's also a small role by Kevin Durand, as a rival of Charlie's.  I thought Durand's casting was interesting, as he was also on Lost and was in X-Men Origins: Wolverine as "Blob".

Real Steel was directed by Shawn Levy, who also directed Date Night, but then also directed borderline unwatchable stuff like The Pink Panther, Cheaper by the Dozen, Just Married and both of the Night at the Museum movies.  Even thought I liked Date Night, Real Steel is I think his best effort yet.  Outside of the sloppy dialog in parts, I didn't think the writing team was all that bad.

Despite all of my nitpick issues, Real Steel is not all that bad.  It's not a great movie by any means, but it's entertaining and it should appeal to a broad audience.  I saw many families in the theater and they all seemed to enjoy it.  If you're going to see one fighting robot movie this year, Real Steel is a much better choice than Transformers.  This is something you could take your son to and he's probably going to love the hell out of it and you'll likely get enough out of it that you won't think it's a complete waste of time.  On that level, it's a matinee.

50/50 - Movie Review

This review might be a little more spoiler filled than normal, so be warned.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (the JGL) plays Adam, a 20-something that finds out he back cancer.  It's a rare form of cancer that even the doctor seemed a little surprised about.  After he gets the news, he looks up the cancer on WebMD and sees the survival rate is about 50%, hence the title of the movie.  One thing that struck me as odd was that his doctor didn't even tell him that.  I remember thinking that his doctor had a terrible beside manner.  He was just throwing all of these complex medical terms at Adam and it was clear he didn't understand what he was talking about.  I was wondering why the doctor wasn't giving it to him in layman's terms.

You find out at the beginning of the movie that Adam has never learned to drive, so he relies heavily on his best friend, played by Seth Rogen, and his girlfriend, played by Bryce Dallas Howard.

Adam undergoes chemotherapy and befriends two other chemo patients, played by Philip Baker Hall and Matt Frewer (Max Headroom!).  The scenes were they are together were actually some of my favorite moments of the movie.  There's a great camaraderie between them.

He also sees a psychologist (Anna Kendrick), that the hospital assigns to him to help him deal with his situation.  Kendrick's character is just starting out in her career, and Adam is one of her first patients.  She appears to be learning as she's going and Adam doesn't really seem all that interested in the thearapy sessions at first.

You also have his parents, played by Angelica Huston and Sergo Houde.  Adam's father is shown to be suffereing from Alzheimer's disease.  Angelica Huston was really great and Houde actually kind of broke my heart a bit.  I think he really sold the Alzheimers and that kind of stuff always makes me a little sad.

The performances were all great.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt continues to give great performance after great performance.  It won't be too long before you start hearing his name consistenly around Oscar time.  He gives his character an emotional weight and you really are along for the ride with him emotionally.  His character is just a normal, boring guy, but you actually see him grow and become a better person.  If there can be a silver lining to getting cancer, it would be the growth he gets out of the experience.

Seth Rogen is basically playing Seth Rogen again.  The guy doesn't seem to have much in the way of range, but it works here and I actually thought this was one of Seth Rogen's better roles as far as I'm concerned.  As you might expect when you see Seth Rogen in a movie, there's a a few scenes of pot smoking and eating food with pot in them.  It happens often enough that I was beginning to think 50/50 was going to turn into another pot comedy.  The use (with the exception of Rogen) did actually appear to be for medical purposes and they didn't really go there with any kind of message about drug use one way or another.

Anna Kendrick just lights up a room.  She gave her performance the right amount of sweetness and insecurity in her job as she's just starting out.  I really like Bryce Dallas Howard, but it's like her presence signaled 'she was going to be the bad guy' from the start of the movie.  This is kind of spoiler-y, but she does something about halfway through the movie and you just knew it was coming.

This is an example of a movie where the trailer is a little misleading.  It's not quite the light-hearted comedy it seems.  There are some very serious and emotional moments.  I actually ran into some friends after the movie that had also just saw it and they remarked on the fact that it wasn't as light as they thought it was going to be. They had a much stronger emotional reaction than I did as well.  However, you can attribute this more to the fact that I'm more machine than man.  Therefore, I don't suffer from the same human emotions that you normal humans have.  Seriously though, there's a good balance of humor being used to balance out the serious nature of what Adam is dealing with.

50/50 was written by Will Riser, and the interesting thing is that the story is based on Riser's actual life.  The funny thing is that Riser's real life best friend is Seth Rogen, so he really is playing himself this time.  I thought Riser wrote a good story and made the characters as real as possible.

Jonathan Levine directed this and I think he did a great job.  It's not his first feature, but another interesting thing is that he directed a movie called All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, which stars Amber Heard.  I saw trailers for that movie years ago, but it appears it never actually came out.  I was reading up on it and it's been in limbo for years and may be coming out soon.  I'm betting the critical success of 50/50 will likely get All the Boys Love Mandy Lane pushed out finally, so that should be interesting to watch, even though it's an older film.

50/50 is a bit of an emotional roller coaster.  You'll laugh and you'll cry.  Fortunately, the movie strikes a good balance between all of the emotions and it doesn't go totally dark.  If it had been darker, I don't think I would have liked this.  I guess it's about as funny as a movie about a guy getting cancer could be.  Overall, it is a really good film filled with great performances.  I recommend checking it out.

This month in DVD - September Edition.

This is going to be a hugely long post, as I watched a lot of stuff during my vacation.  I need to post these DVD reviews reviews a little more frequently, so you don't have to suffer through such long blog posts.  Plus, starting next month I think I'm going to change it up a little bit, and also mention the new releases have come out during the week that I've already seen, so that way you have better idea of what's out.  If I already have a review up, I'll link back to it in the new posts.  I'm open to suggestions if you have any.

Here we go...

Priest

Set in a weird, post-apocalyptic future, Paul Bettany is somehow typecast as a 'Priest', which are members of the clergy that fight vampires.  Priests also have abilities that exceed that of normal men that appear to be inherited or genetic or something.  I don't recall it being explained where their abilities came from, just that they have them and not the general public.

This is another movie based on a comic. Maybe this is how the comic was, but there was lots of stuff that seemed inconsistent. It's one of those alternate futures where some things are super advanced and then other things seem like from a completely different era.  For example, the Priests drive around on super advanced motorcycles that have all these digital displays and go hundreds of miles an hour, but then you have guys walking around carrying kerosene lamps. Yet, there were normal lights on the wall. They don't have flashlights in the future?  Stuff like that.  It drives me nuts cause there doesn't seem to be any reason for it.

Priest seemed to have a Western feel, which just seemed like a forced stylistic choice.  Again, this might have been how the comic was, but I just didn't think it translated well.

I thought some of the action sequences were pretty good actually, but the rest of the movie was just blah.

I'd only say to rent it if you're dying to see it, otherwise you're not missing much.

The Conspirator

This is a movie about the trials held after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.  For a movie called The Conspirator, there really isn't all that much actual conspiracy in it.  It's mostly courtroom scenes where they have put Mary Surratt, the mother of one of the conspirators, played by Robin Wright, on trial.  They did this because they couldn't find her son, so they tried her, as she ran a boarding house where the conspirators hung out.  It's another one of those based on a true story movies, but I think they were a little more respectful of the source material here.  I haven't studied up on my Civil War era history lately, so I have no clue how accurate this all it, and I'm too tired to look it up on Wikipedia.

The Conspirator wasn't bad, but it's a little on the slow side and it takes a bit to get going. The courtroom stuff is what I enjoyed the most. Also, the movie seemed kind of washed out color-wise.

The performances of Robin Wright and James McAvoy were both good.  I wasn't a big fan of his initially, but I'm really starting to like this guy.  However, there are a lot of people miscast in this. It kind of takes me out a period piece when actors like Justin Long, Alexis Bledel and Evan Rachel Wood show up. They didn't seem mature enough for the roles they were playing.

If you like period pieces, then I think it's worth a rental.  The pace is kind of plodding, so you might not be into it if you're looking for something with a faster pace. I didn't come away from this having strong feelings about it one way or another.

Something Borrowed

This was AWFUL!. Nobody in the movie, save for John Krasinski's character, is likeable. Everyone is a cheating asshole and a bad person.  Even Krasinski's character repeatedly lies and misleads one of the characters rather than tell them the truth.  Every character is both self-absorbed and yet not self-aware.

The movie follows two friends played by Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin.  They've been friends since they were kids.  That's basically the only thing their current friendship still hinges on, as there's no reason for them to still be friends as adults.  They have different personalities and career paths.  It seems like they should have grown apart during college or shortly after that.  Hudson plays one of those aggressive, domineering friends, while Goodwin is the doormat that just lets Hudson walk all over her.

Anyway, Hudson starts dating a friend of Goodwin's, even though Goodwin was clearly into him, but too much of a chicken shit to say anything.  Eventually, just as Hudson and the boyfriend are about to get married, the boyfriend finds out about Goodwin's crush on him and they start to sleep around.  You see, he's always liked Goodwin, too.  I guess he couldn't have just asked her out years ago?  But you see, it's okay that they sleep around because they are nice and attractive, and Kate Hudson's character is a bitch.

I tried to keep an open mind about this movie, but when I see Kate Hudson as the star of any kind of romatic drama or comedy, I see it as a bad sign.  This was a movie that I hated throughout.  There's almost nothing redeeming about it at all.  I don't know why Hollywood makes movies like this.  Why do they think movies about people that cheat and backstab their friends appeal to people or make for interesting stories?  They try to pass this off as a romantic comedy?  What's romantic about it? What's worse is that it's almost two hours long, so you really suffer through this.

I'd like to take a moment to shame the director, Luke Greenfield, and writer, Jennie Snyder.  You should be ashamed of yourselves for making this atrocity.  What's really amazing is that this is based off a novel by Emily Griffin.  I really hope this is one of those instances where the book was better than the movie.  If not, then she should be ashamed of herself, too.  It makes you wonder how these people view humanity if these are the types of people they make movies and stories about.

Pass. There is no need to ever watch this piece of shit.

Jane Eyre

I've never read Jane Eyre, so I can't say if this was a faithful adaptation or not. I liked the performances and thought the movie was shot well. I really liked Mia Wasikowska as Jane and Magneto, I mean Michael Fassbender as Rochester. I usually enjoy period pieces and I thought they did a good job with the look and feel of the movie.

This was directed by Cary Fukunaga, an Oakland, CA native, and I think he did a good job with this.

It's kind of long, but wasn't bad. Since I liked the cast and performances, it helped me get past that.

This is a good rental, but be warned that it's a serious film. It's not cheery or anything like that.

The Chameleon

"Based on a true story"...oh no...

Sometimes true stories, especially if unresolved, really aren't all that interesting.  This is an example of that.  It's kind of unfortunate because the premise is actually pretty interesting.  A young boy that had been missing for years is supposedly found as a teenager overseas.  He's sent back home to his family, only he seems to not remember anything about where he was from or any kind of meaningful details about his family.  Also, his eye color has inexplicably changed and now has a French accent.

Obviously, it starts to become clear to certain members of his family, and an investigating FBI agent, that this teen isn't who he says he is.  Eventually, it's found that he's actually impersonating the missing child.  Then it's implied that the original son wasn't actually missing, but killed by his family years ago, and that's why certain members of the family always knew he was an imposter.  However, there's no resolution.  They just leave you hanging and tell you that the real case is still unsolved.  Um...okay...

The real imposter actually went on to impersonate several other people.  The press nicknamed him "The Chameleon" because of all of the people he had tried to impersonate.  The movie only focuses on this one instance and the family involved.  Since they never actually found out what happened to the real missing kid, it just seems like that was a bad choice.  The movie should have focused more on the imposter himself and his motivation.

I thought it was really slowly paced. The character's aren't really well defined. I also felt like I came into this movie like halfway through.

I'm going to have to say pass on this one.  It's a real misfire and just not worth watching.

The Beaver

I'm sure you've heard of this one and thought it looked weird and were turned off.  The rest of you were probably turned off just by the mere presence of Mel Gibson.  It actually wasn't that bad though.  It was kind of an interesting take on exploring a person suffering from severe depression and mental issues trying to work through his problems.  I guess in a way, it had a weird, meta-ness about it considering Gibson's character and his real life.

There's an unnecessary subplot, featuring Mel Gibson's son, played by Anton Yelchin and this girl he's into, played by Jennifer Lawrence.  As much as I liked them, there was too much of their subplot and it took away from the main story.  Their story didn't have an real tie in to the main plot and felt kind of thrown in.  Plus, Yelchin looks too old to play someone in high school.  That guy is not aging well.

It was directed by Jodie Foster, who I think did a good job overall, save for needing to dump the Yelchin/Lawrence subplot.

It's worth a rent if you can get past the fact it stars Mel Gibson.

The Ward

Amber Heard plays a crazy chick that burns down a house and is committed to a mental ward.  While she's in the ward, many of the other patients begin to disappear.  Oddly, nobody seems to notice or care (you won't either).  Something is going around killing them.  Throughout the film, they throw this random clip of some hillbilly entering a barn or basement.  You'll spend the majority of this movie wondering what the hell is going on.  There's a twist though.  However, when the big reveal comes, you've already figured it out and won't even care.

It's all cheap jump scares and wusses out on all of the kill scenes. I'm not sure how this earned an R rating.  This could have been on television.  I don't recall the language being bad or anything like that, but that wouldn't have been a difficult thing to work around considering the rest of th story.

It's a shame cause this was directed by John Carpenter, who's a horror legend as far as I'm concerned.  I was expecting more.

Pass on this.  It's not worth renting.

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Skateland

This is kind of a Dazed and Confused knock off, except it's not as good or as funny.  I had a hard time keeping my interest in it.  I'd get up to leave the room, but after coming back, I never felt compelled to rewind the movie and catch up on what I missed.

If you're nostalgic for the disco and roller skating era then you might like it.  I wouldn't go out of your way to rent it though. This felt like the kind of movie that if you were channel surfing on a lazy afternoon, you might stop to watch it, thinking it's Dazed and Confused at first.  You might even be able to finish sitting through it.  That's a wonderful endorsement of the movie, eh?

Peep World

I was really disappointed in this. Based on the cast, I was expecting a lot more.  I see people like Rainn Wilson, Sarah Silverman, Michael C. Hall and Judy Greer and I was really expecting something funny or quirky. Boy was I wrong!  I was bored out of my mind watching this, which is even more amazing considering this is only 79 minutes.

It's basically a story about a dysfunctional family with a bunch of messed up kids (who are now adults) and how they all hate their Dad.  It's centered around them all meeting for their Dad's 70's birthday dinner.  Sometimes a dysfunctional family story can work, but it doesn't here. It's just not funny or interesting. There's nothing to identify with or like about it.

Pass on this.

Made in Dagenham

Another based on a true story movie, only this time it's based on a historical event in Britain from the late 60's.  A group of women working for Ford had a strike demanding equal pay.  It's basically about their struggle and how the strike ended up causing the creation of the Equal Pay Act.

It's an interesting enough story, but it was one that just really didn't grab me.  It might have been the time the movie was set in or the cast, but I just wasn't all that interested in it.  There are actually some good people in the cast like Bob Hoskins, Sally Hawkins, Rosamund Pike and Miranda Richardson, but the rest of the cast you won't recognize.

I wasn't all that invested in this one, so it's tough for me to recommend it, but it's not like it's a bad movie.

Win Win

Paul Giamatti stars as a small-town attorney that struggling to keep his business afloat.  He also moonlights as a high school wrestling coach, but his team sucks, so that's not going very well for him either.  He's clearly not 'winning'.  Get it!

The movie follows Giamatti's character and how he starts to make a series of questionable decisions to try and get ahead.  You see that he's not a bad guy, maybe just a little misguided.  Even though he's flawed, you like his character, and want to see how he's going to get out of the mess he appears to be creating for himself.

I actually loved this! Paul Giamatti was great as he always is.  His wife, played by Amy Ryan, was also good.  The supporting characters, Bobby Cannavale, Jeffrey Tambor and Burt Young all do a good job.  The real surprise here is Alex Shaffer's debut as the wrestling prodigy.  You wouldn't think this is the first movie this kid has ever been in.  He was actually a successful high school wrestler, so it helps sell the wrestling parts of this movie.

Win Win felt real and I thought had some geniuinely funny moments.  This is a strong rental recommendation and one of the better, if not one of my favorite, movies I've seen this year.

Everything Must Go

From the opening moments, you know this movie is going to be a little bit of a bummer, despite starring Will Ferrell.  Ferrell's character is fired from his job and largely due to the fact he's an alcoholic.  He goes home to find he's been locked out with a note from his wife saying she's leaving him.  To make matters worse, his wife threw all of his belongings on the front lawn.  Then, his company car gets repossessed by his company, his wife locks him out from his bank accounts and terminates his phone.

Since Ferrell has nowhere to go, he just says, 'screw it', and decides to live on his lawn.  He befriends a neighborhood kid, played by Christopher Jordan 'C.J.' Wallace, and his new neighbor, played by Rebecca Hall.  Eventually, he's forced to have a yard sale and starts to sell off all of his stuff with the help C.J. Wallace.

I also loved this. It's easily Will Ferrell's best dramatic work since Stranger Than Fiction, but this is a much better movie.  I like when he does dramatic roles like this and I hope that he does these more often.  Newcomer C.J. Wallace also gives a nice performance.  The interaction between Ferrell and Wallace is worked the best for me.  There are small roles by Michael Pena, Laura Dern and Stephen Root that are also nice.

If this movie had been just a tad funnier, or tad darker, I probably would have put this in one of my top films of the year list.  As it stands, it's still another strong rental recommendation.  

True Legend

Here's one for the martial arts fans.  I normally watch these movies strictly for the fighting, as even with subtitles, I sometimes have no idea what is going on in the story.  I'd like to blame it on something being lost in translation, but some of these stories really are batshit insane.  Anyway, as far as the fighting, it didn't disappoint me.  The story was about what I would have expected, which is to say that it didn't make much sense to me.  In fact, I'm not even going to bother trying to explain it.

It's way too long for what it is and it seems like they should have made this into two different movies. The second half of the movie is so different from the first half, that it felt like it was s completely different movie, just starring the same guy.  Make it a sequel. .Also, the second half has an unusual cameo from David Carradine, so it was kind of sad to see him.  It's sad this was one of his last movies.

It was directed by Woo-ing Yuen, who has directed a ton of martial art films like the original Drunken Master, Iron Monkey, and was the action choreographer for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  That should give you an idea of the type of martial arts action you're in for.

If you like martial arts, it's worth renting for the fight scenes. You can fast forward past anything that isn't fighting.


Meet Monica Velour

Boring movie about a directionless nerd that has a fixation on an old porn star.  He's just graduated high school and has no idea what to do.  No job prospects and doesn't appear to have any college plans.  Can you even call this guy a nerd?  He's more of just a loser/slacker in a nerd's body.  Anyway, he finds out that his porn star crush is going to make an appearance at a strip club, so he drives hundreds of miles to meet her.

It's trying to be quirky, but it just wasn't very funny or interesting.  A movie like this only works when you really like the characters.  The lead not only wasn't a good actor, he came off as just a creepy stalker.  You can't really identify with him.  I liked Kim Cattrall's performance, and it was nice to see her in a role that wasn't a retreat of her character from Sex in the City.

The pacing is slow and the movie seems much longer than it's 1 hour and 37 minute run time.  This is movie that really seems like it didn't know what it wanted to be.  If they had done this as a dark comedy, I think it would have been a nice sleeper.  This is another first time writer/director movie by Keith Bearden.  It seems like he could have used some help.  It's not awful, but it was just missing too many things to be worth watching.

Pass


Hesher

I heard a lot of good things about this one, and I've never made any secret about Joseph Gordon-Levitt (hensforth to be referred to as "JGL") being one of my favorite up-and-coming actors.  Actually, can he still be considered up-and-coming at this point?  I think he's arrived.  He's in frigging everything now.  Hell, I'm seeing a movie with him (50/50) this weekend.  Anyway, just based on JGLs appearance in the movie, I was really looking forward to this.  It also stars Natalie Portman and Rainn Wilson, so great cast, right?

The movie follows a father (Rainn Wilson) and his son, T.J., played by Devin Brochu, that are dealing with the death of his mother after a car crash.  They are both dealing with depression and his father just lays around an pops pills all day.  T.J. is having trouble at school and is consistently picked on by a bully.  T.J. one day draws the ire and attention of Hesher (JGL), who's a metalhead that drives around in a van.  He appears to be homeless as well, as we first see him he's squatting in a home under construction.  He follows T.J. home and just moves into their garage.  He doesn't ask, he just moves in.  At the same time, he's exacting revenge on the bully that's tormenting T.J.  It's like Hesher is trying to be his guardian angel.  Eventually, they bring Natalie Portman's character into the mix and they all hang out together.

It's just okay. I thought the performances were good, but I didn't get enough about JGLs motivation or back story. Why is he protecting this kid? Why is he homeless?  I'm going to sound like a broken record, but like I said about Meet Monica Velour above, it just didn't go anywhere.  I think the movie suffered cause it couldn't quite pick a tone.  If this had been more of a dark comedy, I think it would have worked better.  It came off as too serious and depressing.

I still think it's an interesting enough movie to rent thought.  Unlike Meet Monica Velour, it has a much better cast and you get more out of the performances.


Bronson

Tom Hardy plays Bronson, who is known for being one of the UK's most dangerous criminals.  He was born Michael Gordon Peterson, but changed his name to Charles Bronson on the recommendation of his fight promoter.  Before he was in prison, he spent some time as a bare-knuckle boxer.  While some of what you see in Bronson is fiction, the crazy part is that this is a real guy.  He's in prison now as you read this.

Anyway, once in prison he became notorious for routinely fighting inmates and guards, sometimes even taking hostages.  He would consistently spend time in solitary confinement and transferred to other prisons when they  couldn't handle him anymore.  Bronson is brutal and very strange at times. It's one of those movies where you might find yourself laughing at points, but then you aren't sure if you should be laughing.

It features a great performance by Tom Hardy.  It's really his one-man show.  If you have any doubts about his ability to play 'Bane' in The Dark Knight Rises, watch this movie.

Bronson was directed by the same guy that directed Drive, Nicolas Refn.  You can see some of the similarities between the two films as far as his use of violence.  Refn seems like to like to make violent movies that are 'artistic'.  You can feel that here, too.

Bronson is another movie that is an interesting rental, but it's not for everyone.  It's available on Netflix streaming at the moment.  I'll likely find myself watching this again just before The Dark Knight Rises comes out.


Spartacus: Gods of the Arena

If you liked Spartacus: Blood and Sand, then you'll like this. It's basically a prequel to Blood and Sand outlining the backstory of Batiatus and people like Crixus and Oenomaus.  It's set in the same location and house, just a short time before the events of Blood and Sand.  It features the same actors and has the same style, blood and nudity you've come to expect from the Spartacus series.  That's all I really need to say about it.

Fans of Spartacus should rent this.  It's only six episodes, so you can knock it out in a weekend if you wanted to power through it.  If you're interested into getting into the series, start with Blood and Sand and then watch Gods of the Arena.


Prom

Ugh...frigging Disney.  Aimee Teegarden plays the class president that is planning the school's prom, only she doesn't have a date yet.  She's waiting for her friend to ask her to prom and she's all stressed out about it.  Through a bunch of lame events, she's eventually paired up with the school's resident 'bad boy' and they have to work together to finish the preparations for the prom.  They don't like each other at first.  I have no idea where this could be going.  I wonder if they'll get together...

I'm clearly not the target audience for a movie like this, but that doesn't mean the movie can't be good.  It bascially uses every lame cliche in the book.  You've seen it all before.

I also had a hard time getting into Prom because I didn't go to my prom, so this just has no nostalgia for me. At the beginning of the movie, you hear Teegarden's chacter talk about prom like it's this magical event that brings everyone together.  That's not how I remember it.  I remember asking a bunch of girls and not going.  I remember friends telling me about arguments they had with their dates.  Plus, she's talking about an event that she hasn't yet experienced, so how would she know?  Also, Aimee Teegarden is really cute, so I have a hard time believing she'd be hard up for a date for the prom or that she didn't already have a boyfriend.  She's the class president, so it's not like she's that cute girl at the school that nobody's heard of.

It's harmless, but not really worth watching.  The only real audience for this movie are teens and pre-teens.  This is something you rent for your kids or let your kids rent and watch on a slumber party.  Um...not that I'd know anything about that either.

It's a pass for the rest of us.


Barney's Version

Another great Paul Giamatti performance, where he's basically playing Barney: a very flawed, and pretty much unlikeable person.  Maybe 'unlikeable' is the wrong word.  I didn't really dislike him.  Maybe selfish is the word I'm looking for.  Despite his character flaws, you still want to watch what happens to him and see how his life plays out.

The story is told by Barney and covers most of his adult life.  You see how he is at work, his relationship with his family members and his failures in his relationships (you see that he's had three wives over the course of the film).

It's a little long, but I liked it.  As I said earlier, Giamatti is great. How I feel about Giamtti is like the opposite of what I said about Kate Hudson earlier.  Where Hudson's presense in a movie is usually a bad sign, Giamatti's presense is usually that sign that the movie is at least going to be well acted or interesting.  He seems to excel at making flawed characters watchable or even likeable.  This also stars Dustin Hoffman, Minnie Driver and Rosamund Pike, so it's got a nice cast.

I think it's worth a rental, just for Paul Giamatti.


Blitz

Like it or not, when I see Jason Statham is in a movie, I usually don't expect much in the way of a good story.  However, I at least expect a decent action film.  Blitz is neither a good story or good action film.

It felt kind of cheap/low-budget, like it was made for TV.  It just wasn't very interesting.  I started and stopped watching this like three or four times over a week before I finally finished it.  It's also one of those movies were you almost have to watch it with the subtitles on due to the thick British accents.

I did like the opening scene and then ending, but almost everything in the middle just bored the hell out of me.

I would only say to rent this if you're someone that has to watch every Statham movie, like you're obsessed with him.  Otherwise, skip it.

Hobo With a Shotgun

Rutger Hauer plays a hobo...with a shotgun!  The end.  Seriously, he plays a Hobo that has come to a town that is overrun by crime and the local gang.  He originally has plans on buying a lawn mower and starting his own lawn mowing business, but after seeing how out of hand things have become in the town and witnessing the corruption of the local police, he decides to spend that money on a shotgun and take care of the crime itself.

It's not a good movie, but if you like Troma-type films, it had it's moments. Very violent and gory.  It felt like a old 80's horror, exploitation type film.  Much like Toxic Avenger, so if you like that kind of thing, then this is right up your alley.

I enjoyed it enough, but I put this in the category of so bad, it's good.  However, it's clear they did this on purpose, so can you really appreciate it when it's emulating one of those films, or do you call it a tribute to the genre, similar to what Black Dynamite was to blaxploitation films.

It's available on Netflix streaming last time I checked.  Again, worth watching if you like these types of films.


Trollhunter

I really liked this one.  It's a Norwegian film and a different take on the whole found footage thing.  It basically follows a few student film makers that are following some hunters.  The hunters complain about some weird hunter that always seems to follow them around and they believe he's a bear poacher.  They also blame him for some of the weird animal deaths in the area.  The students eventually get an interview with the poacher, who agrees to have them film him and come along.  Only they quickly find out that this guy isn't hunting bears, he's hunting Trolls!  Yes, Trolls!  He reveals that Trolls have always existed and have been covered by up a goverment agency.  His job is to track down rogue Trolls and kill them, while his agency tracks them and works on covering it all up.

I thought the movie was very clever and well made. They really did a lot with the effects on a pretty low budget.  It is a subtitled film though, so I can see people having issues with that.

I strongly recommend renting it though.


Happythankyoumoreplease

Kind of cute movie, but I think it tried a little too hard.  It was really cliched at times.  It basically follows the story of three different relationships, but the central relationship is between the character Sam, played by Josh Radnor, and a foster kid that he randomly meets on the subway.  The foster kid gets separated from his family, so Josh tries to help the kid get back to his family, only the kid has no interest in going back to his foster home and just stays with Josh.  Their relationship was very sweet at times, but at the same time, the whole scenario seemed unrealistic, as you think the guy would have just taken the kid to the police.  While he has the kid he's also trying to start a relationship with a girl, played by Kate Mara.

Another relationship is with one of Josh's friends, played by Malin Akerman.  Akerman probably gives one of the best performances I've seen out of her.  I really thought she was just going to be a Cameron Diaz knockoff after The Heartbreak Kid, but I think she's starting to come into her own.  Initially you think she suffers from cancer, as she's bald, but really she has Alopecia.  She gets tentatively involved with a guy in her office, played by Tony Hale, and it was nice to see him play a character where he's not playing an outright baffoon.

There's a third relationship with Josh's cousin and her boyfriend.  This is the one relationship, I think could have been removed from the film.  It just wasn't developed very well and I didn't really care about either of these two.  Every time the story switched back to them, the movie really slowed down and it just wasn't very interesting.

There are a few parts towards the end that actually kind of got to me emotionally, which I wasn't expecting.  I almost even felt a little bit of a tear coming. It resonanted with me that much.  There's actually a line from the end of the movie that I felt applied to me and need to say to myself a little more, and no, it's not the title.

Josh Radnor wrote and directed this, and I think he did a decent job.  If he had focused more on his relationship with the foster kid and then the Ackerman/Hale relationship, I think it would have been a better movie.

I'm going to recommend renting it.

Tucker & Dale vs Evil - Movie Review

I'm a huge slasher flick fan.  The gorier and sillier the film, the better.  For me, slasher flicks are more of a guilty pleasure than even bad romantic comedies.  So naturally, I was really looking forward to watching Tucker & Dale vs Evil.

This movie takes the typical horror movie and flips it on it's side. It's both gory and hilarious.  I didn't think the gore in T&D was the type that's made to gross you out or shock you though.  Also, when I say it's hilarious, that's a good thing, as this movie is intentionally funny.  Most of the time, I think slasher flicks are funny because they are just plain awful or take themselves too seriously while not realizing how bad they are.  Other times, a slasher flick will use humor to break tension.  With Tucker & Dale, this movie is more of a parody of the slasher genre.  Don't be scared by the word 'parody' though.  This is no Scary Movie or any of the 'films' from that awful family of crap.

In the movie, Tucker and Dale are a pair of hillbilly brothers on their way out to the woods to fix up a cabin they plan on turning into their first vacation home.  At the same time, you are following a group of typical college kids headed to the same woods to go camping for the weekend.  After the first few minutes, you'll quickly realize that this movie isn't quite going the direction a normal slasher flick is going.  Once everyone gets to the woods, the movie takes off and really starts to shine.

This review is tough for me because I'm chomping at the bit to tell you all about it, but I liked it so much that I just don't want to ruin anything for you.  The less you know about Tucker & Dale, the better.  Some of the better moments and surprises in this movie are SPOILED by the trailers.  If you're going to watch this, don't watch the trailers.

I'm kind of torn on the trailer thing this time around, as it was a bit of the double-edged sword.  If I hadn't seen the trailers all those months ago, I wouldn't have known about T&D and wouldn't have had much interest in seeing this right away.  I probably wouldn't have rented it for a few months and then been a little pissed I didn't watch it sooner.  I was considering posting the trailer here, but I just can't spoil it for you.  I really think you should go into this knowing as little as you can.
Despite many things being spoiled, I still enjoyed the hell out of  Tucker & Dale.  As soon as I was done watching it, I immediately started the movie back over and watched a few of my favorite scenes again.  There were a few parts that I found funnier the second time around.

This stars Alan Tudyk (Firefly, Dodgeball, Transformers: Dark of the Moon) as 'Tucker' and Tyler Labine as 'Dale'.  I thought they were both really funny.  With Alan Tudyk I expected as much, because been in a lot of good things and is a fan favorite.  Tyler Labine surprised me a little more.  He's one of those guys you'll recognize as he's shown up with small roles in lots of different movies and TV shows, but I wasn't sure if he could carry a movie as one of the leads.  I think he worked really well here.

The only other person you might recognize is Katrina Bowden, who plays 'Cerie' on 30 Rock.  She's really cute as the lead.  I'd like to see her get a little more work and see if she has more to offer than the small roles she's played so far.  Maybe a romantic comedy or something like that.

I have to credit the writing and direction Eli Craig for how much I liked Tucker & Dale.  He did a lot with a small budget and a cast of mostly unknowns. Neither Eli Craig, nor co-writer Morgan Jurgenson, have a notable body of work.  It looks like this was the first feature for either of these guys.  I hope they didn't blow their wads with T&D.

If you're a fan of the horror genre and want to watch something that isn't your typical slasher flick, I highly recommend Tucker & Dale vs Evil.  I think this is a great party movie.  Rent it, invite over a few friends and I think you'll have a great time.  It should be available On-Demand starting Friday and in a few smaller theaters here and there.  I know it's playing in Berkeley and I think this would be great movie to see with an audience.  Alternatively, I have it saved on my DVR for the next week or so and will host a viewing party on Saturday, October 8th if anyone is interested.

Oh, on another note.  I was able to sign up for the Amazon Associates program.  If you plan on buying something from Amazon, please click through one of the Amazon related links on my blog to get you to Amazon's site.  I guess I'm supposed to get a little bit of a kickback form Amazon if you buy something going through one of the links on my page.  I appreciate the support!

Moneyball - Movie Review

I wasn't actually all that excited about seeing Moneyball, even though I was a huge Oakland A's fan growing up. In recent years, I've grown out of them, and baseball in general. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to enjoy a movie about a team and the man behind them. What's worse was that this movie is based during a time when I was still heavily into the A's and year after year they would break my heart. The A's would lose in the playoffs and then see their best players jump ship for more money. I think I thought of watching Moneyball as kind of like opening an old wound.

The good thing is that Moneyball is that it's a movie that you don't have to be into baseball, or the A's, to enjoy. I found it made me more nostalgic about those times, than reminding me of my consistent disappointment in the A's.

Moneyball, is more of a story about their Billy Beane, and how he changed the way a lot of people think about baseball, rather than a movie about baseball itself. Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt, is the Oakland A's General Manager. For those of you that don't know, the Oakland A's are 'small market' baseball team that couldn't keep up with the payrolls of larger teams like the Yankees and saw their best player consistently leaving the A's for more money.

Beane had to figure out a way to stay competitive, and put a winning team out on the field at just a quarter of the budget of some of these larger teams. Enter Peter Brandt, played by Jonah Hill. The Brandt character was actually Paul DePodesta, but they had to change the name for legal reasons. Anyway, the two of them started to look at and evaluate players in a different way and were still able to put a winning team out on the field.

They basically did this by looking at players that had a tendency to get on base, but weren't exactly the best baseball players or the flashiest. Many of these guys were cast-offs from other teams or older players way past their prime. As a result, they were able to get them for much cheaper. I remember one of the reasons why I used to love the A's during this time was because they had a underdog feeling to them and were a team full of nobodies. That's not to say they didn't have good players though. One of the things not mentioned in the movie was that at the time, they had one of the best shortstops in the game (Miguel Tejada, who I believe won MVP that year) and one of the best pitching rotations (The Big Three).

As I mentioned before, the movie is more about Beane and their 'Moneyball' theories, than the actual game of baseball. The scenes of baseball are actually kind of few and far between. Most of the baseball is really featured in the last part of the film, when they go into the 20-game win streak (I was actually there for win 18, I believe, but it might have been the 16th). There is very little focus on the players, and only two or three of them are even given much screen time or anything to say or do.

Obviously, when you watch a movie based on real events, there are some things that get changed for dramatic purposes or legal reasons (as with the changing of Paul DePodesta to Peter Brandt). I felt like the baseball stuff was pretty spot on though, or at least how I remember things. For those of you that are interested, I've included a link to a article at the end of the review that goes into details on some of the reality vs. movie.

Moneyball is a pretty dialog-heavy movie, but that's a good thing, as the dialog really pops! The movie was co-written by Aaron Sorkin, who also wrote The Social Network. I felt like Moneyball had a similar tone to The Social Network, particularly with the dialog. Much like with The Social Network, I was pretty engaged in almost every scene of dialog. It was almost to the point that when they would show a short clip of baseball being played, I'd be like, "Get back to the dialog!"

Brad Pitt is great as Billy Beane! He really played him in a way that made him both interesting and likable. He deals with people in a very direct and confident way. This contrasts with the many scenes of him interacting with his daughter that are really sweet. I did kind of get the feeling that this is being put out as Oscar bait for Pitt, but it is a great performance. I'm not sure it's Oscar worthy, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a nomination thrown his way (or at least a Golden Globe).

Jonah Hill is also really good here. It was nice to see him in a roll that was different for a change. This is the first movie I've seen him in where he isn't playing that same character that you've seen in movies like Superbad or Knocked Up, where he's just crass and silly. There's hope for him yet.

The rest of the performances were good across the board. I thought Chris Pratt was good as Scott Hatteberg. I could have used a little more Philip Seymour Hoffman (whom I refer to as 'the PSH') as Art Howe. All movies can generally benefit from more of the PSH though. However, he did play Howe are more of a villain. I'm sure this was done for dramatic purposes, as I guess all films need a villain. I always remember Howe to be a nice guy in interviews, and I recall he had a reputation for be a really nice guy, so seeing him as the villain seemed weird to me.

Moneyball was directed by Bennett Miller, who also directed Capote, which was another great movie starring the PSH. Aaron Sorkin also wrote the screenplay for Charlie Wilson's War, which was yet another movie that the PSH was great in. You can call this section of the review, 'My man-love for the PSH'.

Overall, I really, really liked Moneyball. I could watch this a few more times. Again, I thought the performances were great, the dialog was snappy and you don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this movie. I'm surprised to say this, but I think it is one of the better films I've seen this year. I think this something that everyone can enjoy and don't have a problem recommending it to anyone. Go see it!

Here's an article that goes into some of the movie vs. reality of Moneyball:

http://www.mercurynews.com/athletics/ci_18937796?source=email