Moneyball

Baseball: America's past-time. Each spring the sport begins again with prospective recruits from around the nation being scouted, watched, and trained during spring training. Some recruits meet the expectations and others do not. However, one man: Bill James, came up with a way of optimizing the team called Sabermetrics, where players are chosen solely based on computer analyzed statistics.

Baseball as of late has turned into a game of money. Sabermetrics, in the right hands, can take the minimal salary cap and turn it into a winning team. This was the strategy employed by Billy Beane, which came to be known as Moneyball.

In his third film, Bennett Miller takes Michael Lewis' novel Moneyball and turns it into an enthralling movie experience. Chronicling the life of Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt, as general manager of the Oakland Athletics, Moneyball shows the behind the scenes of a baseball team and shows what it takes to really be the general manager of a baseball team. After losing the ALDS to the Yankees and losing his star players, Billy Beane must rebuild his team. While looking for new players he meets a stats analyst, Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), and takes the idea of Sabermetrics and puts it into action.

Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill are atop their games in this film. It was amazing fun to watch. Making a baseball movie entertaining for people who are not huge followers of the sport is tough to do, but with these two holding the lead roles there was no doubt that it was possible. With this movie, Brad Pitt has at least thrown his hat in the ring for the Best Actor Oscar race. Jonah Hill should score a nomination for his supporting role. A meticulous, calculating man in his role as general manager who is a loving and supporting father in his familial role, Brad Pitt has surely made Billy Beane proud with his portrayal.

Not having read the book the script was great. There was only dialogue when it was needed. Very well could put the screenplay in the race for adapted screenplay. At 133 minutes and a fairly slow pace, the script keeps you into the movie the entire time teaching about Sabermetrics and interjecting Billy Beane's past. Very fun to watch. And with all of these nominations I'm throwing Moneyball into the ring for Best Picture.


Moneyball was incredible. I was not entirely sure what to expect going in and I was blown away. This movie has definitely placed itself in the top five of sports movies of all time. Definitely a must-see.

9/10

50/50

Heartwarming, healing, and hilarious 50/50 really surprised me. The premise alone could turn audiences away: a comedy about cancer? How could it be done well? If you want to know, see this movie.

Starting as a normal day in the life of Adam we are introduced to the other characters. Then, as luck would have it Adam learns he has a rare form of back cancer. The comedy before this event, while good, is nowhere near as fun or funny as after learning he has cancer.

The writing is stupendous! Line after line of pithy witty dialogue, each more entertaining than the last keeps the audience engaged. With much humor it seems that the heart of the story could be lost, and yet the story stays true to what it should be. The theater was full and tears were flowing from many faces as the sounds of sniffling filled the air during various touching events. Cancer is a scary thing and one of the best lines of the films personifies how I'm sure many cancer patients feel. To paraphrase: Why can't people just say 'hey, you're dying' and stop ignoring the problem.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives an incredible performance. To be honest I actually believed that he had cancer the entire movie. The emotions, or lack there of for much of the movie, he expressed were astounding and real. It didn't hurt to have a therapist (played beautifully by Anna Kendrick) throughout the movie to help us understand that Adam's reactions were normal responses to cancer. It made his emotions seem more real.  Even Seth Rogen gives a fantastic performance. Most of the time he plays a naive idiot, but this time his performance is full of heart.

The final part of this movie that brings it all together is the music. Michael Giacchino gets it. He knows the exact music that fits the emotions of the movie. He did it in Up and he does it again in 50/50. Simple songs fitting every mood and occasion. The music adds to the acting and the writing and creates a near perfect movie experience.

If you or anyone you know have been touched by cancer, see this movie. Or even if you just like comedies see this movie! Excellent! Early Oscar contender for sure. Best Acting nomination to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Best Score nomination to Michael Giacchino, and it could possibly steal a Best Picture nomination as well.

8.5/10

Scream Series

While Halloween is not even close to the top of the list of my favorite holidays, it does bring about some of my favorite types of movies: horror films. The horror genre has had some tough times and has lost fan bases as more sequels are made. Which brings to light the question: Do you like scary movies?

A horror film series starting in 1996 got its reboot April 15th 2011 with Scream 4. The best thing about the Scream series was that they never take themselves too seriously. Every film references other horror movies and plays on the horror clichés and pokes fun at itself, making them all incredibly entertaining to watch.

Starting in Woodsboro in 1996 Scream introduces us to Ghostface and Sidney Prescott, America's favorite innocent victim. The opening scene throws the viewer into the action with Drew Barrymore responding to questions about her favorite scary movies by Ghostface. From there the rules of a horror movie are explained as they come up. The ironies start piling up as do the bodies. Characters say things like "She runs up the stairs when she should be running out the front door" and not ten minutes later that same character cannot leave through the front door and has to run upstairs. The twists and turns in the first installment of this series keep you guessing until the end. While we may follow Sidney, Gale, and Dewey for much of the movie, one of the most important characters in my opinion in Randy, the movie nerd. He lays out the rules for the characters as well as the audience and makes it clear what is to be expected.

Scream 2 released almost exactly a year after the original Scream revisits Sidney at college two years after the events of of Woodsboro and three years after the death of her mother (whom the original Ghostface claimed to have murdered). Instead of just playing on the clichés of horror movies, Scream 2 takes it one step further and plays with the rules of sequels with Randy again explaining the reasoning behind them as they come up. The three main characters, Sidney, Dewey, and Gale, all step up their game and improve their acting. Sidney this time around has been attacked and is a survivor so she knows the ropes a little better than the first time. The writing is just as good and creates an actual great sequel to an outstanding first film.

Scream 3 was released in 2000 and takes place three years after Scream 2. This time the rules have changed again. With Randy being killed off in the second movie (quite gruesomely) who is going to explain the rules this time around? It's simple. Randy from the grave! The killer in the third movie brings the characters together in Los Angeles around the set of the fictional Stab 3. It turns out that Randy, who figured he was going to die, recorded himself explaining the rules of the third act of a trilogy: mainly how everything goes back to the beginning. The third time around Sidney is no longer an innocent victim. She is fighting back though she may be terrified. While much of the acting has deteriorated in the supporting roles, Dewey, Gale, and Sidney are still giving powerhouse performances.

The writing of these two films is excellent! Kevin Williamson was rumored to have locked himself in a cabin for two days to write it and he based it off of a serial killer preying on college students, whether this is true or not the scripts for the three films he wrote were great and suited to the genre and style of films. For the third one, Williamson jumped ship and did not pen the screenplay. Unfortunately it really shows. Some of the twists are messy and seem to have been rushed. The dialogue is less revolved around other movies and more revolved around the shallow plot and supporting characters. Thankfully, though, Williamson got on board again for Scream 4.

New decade. New rules. This is the hook and the main idea in Scream 4. The opening of this Scream is fun to watch every time. The fourth film takes meta-reflexivity (the idea, in this case, of making a movie within a movie and referencing many other films) to a whole new level. Characters even explicitly say "how meta can you get?"; irony at its' finest. While Scream 4 may follow some rules similar to its predecessors new rules are rampant. The unexpected has become the expected. Somehow the fourth installment fights through the obstacle of just meeting expectations. It creates a very entertaining movie to watch and somehow, Kevin Williamson keeps you guessing until the end. The three main actors reprising their roles 10 years after the events of Scream 3 give even better performances this time around. My favorite part of this film is the fearlessness of Sidney. She fights and fights because she wants it to stop. She doesn't bat an eye when she gets attacked.

Overall, a great horror franchise, my favorite to be exact and I hope they keep making them, only if Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson keep teaming up, and as long as the three main characters keep reprising their roles as Sidney, Gale, and Dewey. They're fun to re-watch every October or when you're just in the mood for an entertaining scary movie.

Scream: 9/10

Scream 2: 8.5/10

Scream 3: 7/10

Scream 4: 8/10

Drive

In recent years, Ryan Gosling has proven that he is a great actor and Drive is no different. A thrillingly brutal drama about a daytime stunt driver who moonlights as a wheelman who seemingly has nothing really to live for.

Ryan Gosling makes the movie and literally becomes the Driver. The violent acts he commits, while stylized, are very well done. Gosling's lack of emotion is what makes his performance believeable. Only slight tics of emotion are shown aside from his aggression, which makes him an anti-hero of sorts. Every move he makes is precise and articulated beautifully. Armed with a hammer, his boots, gloves, and most importantly his car, the Driver has all the tools he needs to take care of what needs to be done.

The acting all around is incredible. Carey Mulligan definitely should have been utilized more because whenever she was on screen with Gosling we got a bit more emotion, making the Driver seem more human. Aside from that she was perfect for this role. Innocent beauty at its' finest. Bryan Cranston pulls a 180 from his character on Breaking Bad and is not tough, but rather a weak little man trying to work his way up in the world. The supporting acting was great, but Gosling steals the show, not that he really has to steal it since the whole film revolves around him. Every little thing he does has a purpose.

A nameless main character always makes a huge impression on the audience. It makes the character seem like more than just a person, but a symbol and the Driver is a great example. The choice to have silence and minimal dialogue throughout adds to the persona of the nameless anti-hero. Just as in The Dark Knight silence adds an eerie effect in Drive. Many movies of this genre include far too much dialogue which ends up getting repetitive and boring so the lack of dialogue was refreshing.

The brutality the Driver uses when fighting is outstanding. The most memorable and arguably one of the most brutal scenes occurs in an elevator directly after one of the most tender moments of the movie. The Driver is an enigma that is sure to bring many homemade sewn on scorpion patch jackets to Halloween this year.

Hands down one of the best movies of the year!

9/10

Warrior

A surprisingly moving drama Warrior is a modern day Rocky story. Revolving around the Conlon clan consisting of an alcoholic father and two estranged brothers, one of whom is married, the movie starts out slow, but picks up speed as the fighting picks up intensity.

The cast could not have been more perfect for this movie. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton look like they could actually be brothers and Nick Nolte looks like he could be their father. Nolte gives an outstanding and heartfelt performance as the alcoholic father. Edgerton and Hardy give believable performances as the estranged brothers and as the movie moves along we are presented with a film that revolves around family ties and isn't so much about the fighting. Even Jennifer Morrison, most well known from her time spent on House, gives a heartfelt performance.

With an all-star cast director Gavin O'Connor, previous credits including Pride and Glory and Miracle, couldn't go wrong. The directing gave the acting the subtle, nuanced touches this type of movie needed. Over the entirety of the film each of the characters seemingly develops more emotion which works towards the conclusion.

The script was very well done, with just the right amount of dialogue and just the right amount of fighting. The progress from slow moving pure drama in the beginning to moving family drama revolving around UFC fights was flawless. Each fight showing how close the estranged brothers were after all these years and how close both really were to their father.

One issue that arose during the movie was the accents. The characters would flow from a Jersey accent, to a Brooklyn accent, and sometimes even something similar to a southern drawl. It became a little distracting, but if that detail can be ignored the movie is very enjoyable. I found myself cheering throughout the fights along with everyone else in the theater.

Overall an unexpectedly good movie showing how strong the ties of family really are.

8/10