Moneyball Review

Justin and I just came back from seeing Moneyball on September 24,2011. This movie was excellent!! The movie follows the Oakland Athletics during the 2002 baseball season and the decisions and planning by the General Manager, Billy Beane played perfectly by Brad Pitt. He works with his crew of scouts and newly appointed strategist Peter Brand (who analyzes players statistics and how they will factor in and who is worth signing) played shockingly well by Jonah Hill. It gives you an insight as to the differences between ball club salaries with the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox and of course the Oakland Athletics and how their club can't really spend the amounts they do. The dialogue was brilliant as it was written by Aaron Sorkin. It was just smart and I loved the interaction with the players that Beane and Brand had. I loved watching the 20 game winning streak and the audience applauded when Hatteberg hit that last home run in the 20th game. Chris Pratt did great in that role as did Stephen Bishop in his role as David Justice who is molded to be sort of a mentor to the younger guys on the team and build confidence. I always loved the Oakland A's colors of green and gold as it reminds me of my high school alma mater North Hunterdon High School in good ol' New Jersey. The interactions with his family specifically his daughter Kasey were awesome. One thing I really liked was when she sang "Anyone Else But You" which was a prominent song featured in Juno. Hey, anything that reminds me of my favorite actress Ellen Page gets two thumbs up automatically haha. Phillip Seymour Hoffman was perfect in his role as Art Howe. He just looked like the manager of a baseball team like Joe Torre did. On a sidenote, I missed when he was around in the Yankees ball club. I'm not saying Girardi is doing a bad job at all, but Torre was the man haha. I also like the snippets of players like Jason Giambi (personal favorite), Johnny Damon(who I honestly never knew was on the A's team), and Kevin Youkilis (He's always been one of my favorites. He has a Stone Cold Steve Austin demeanor, especially when he was on the Boston Red Sox. I'm one of the few in the tri-state area that is a fan of the Red Sox ball club.) I love how they showed how Beane remained loyal to the A's and turned down Boston's $12,500,000 offer. I have alot of respect for the Red Sox club as they did what the As did in terms of talent picks and what not which worked well in 2004. I know one of my best friends Josh Meddaugh will love this movie as the Peter Brand role could have easily been filled by him, plus several references to the New York Yankees and oh yeah he loves baseball. Baseball is really the only legit sport I enjoy myself. I also know another one of my friends who would like this movie, Bill Clinton, because I remember how he liked the Oakland Athletics. GO A's!!!! I always remember Mr. Clinton shouting that off everytime we were watching a Yanks game in Towers. This is a definite 5/5 and much better performances and dialogue then Sorkin's previous movie The Social Network (which I really liked and is definitely in my favorite movies but there were really no likable characters in that).

Contagion Review

I just got back from seeing Contagion on September 14, 2011. This movie was abysmal. There was an all star cast and I like four of the main actors in the movie, but I hated the story. Basically, a virus spreads around the world and health organizations scramble to find vaccines and things of that nature. Honestly, Jude Law's part of the journalist raising inquiries was probably the only redeeming part of this movie (He should have been taking inquiries of why he decided to sign up for this), though Marion Cotillard is awesome and she did well with the crap she had to work with. People just keep dying left and right and you have no idea how half the people became infected. There's alot of random plotholes and the ending was horrible. I thought that was how the movie should have started and at the end everyone in the theater said HUH? That's it. Basically, its a virus contracted from bats and pigs, so basically trying to instill that whole swine flu thing. Matt Damon just tried to protect his daughter from contracting the disease and he somehow was immune to everything going on, but you never see the vaccine he took before the epidemic spread so either he had the H1N1 virus, but how could it prevent him from contracting the new disease. I like Damon, but somehow his wife played by Paltrow was cheating on him and they randomly just threw that in. Even though there is a contagious subplot involved, the cheating aspect just does not belong in this movie. The real ending should have been side effects coming from the vaccine, or a new stream that develops if they wanted to make a sequel. PLEASE DON'T!! Anyway, this is a definite 1/5 and you must avoid this movie at all costs before you contract a disease from the terrible story unfolding before your eyes. I did note the positives of Jude Law and Marion Cotillard. However, the best part was The Dark Knight Rises trailer I got to see.

Warrior Review

I just got back from seeing Warrior with Justin on September 10, 2011. This movie was amazing!! The plot centers around the lives of two brothers: Brendan and Tommy Conlon and their father Paddy. One brother (Tommy) is an ex-Marine who is haunted by his past as a former hero saving his brothers during a mission by ripping the door of a tank to prevent them from drowning. However, he also went AWOL. He had abandoned his father who was an alcoholic to live with his mother. He took her maiden name Riordan as his last name because he didn't want to associate with his ex-Marine father. The older brother (Brendan) seems to have it together as he has the beautiful wife Tess and his two daughters. He is a high school physics teacher in the Philadelphia School District. However, he is struggling to make ends meet and faces foreclosure on his home. He is a former UFC fighter and resorts to fighting low end bouts to make some money. Tommy knocks out a top fighter in a gym and becomes a Youtube sensation from it which starts turning heads. Both brothers end up entering a tournament featuring top fighters throughout the world. One of the reasons is due to the prize money which is a $5,000,000 purse. It will help sort Brendan's mortgage problems and his daughter's medical bills (who had heart surgery) and Tommy wants to give the money to the widows of a fallen brother of his Marine unit. The title of the movie is so apropos as they are fighting in the tournament but they are also battling with the struggles in their lives. Paddy really wants to win his kids hearts again and had entered rehab for his drinking. The fights were incredible and a cameo from one of my all time favorite wrestlers Kurt Angle was a highlight. I don't follow UFC or MMA, but I enjoyed the choreography and the camera work with the fight. Two powerfully emotional scenes were 1) Tommy basically tells Paddy to get the hell out of my life and Paddy goes on a drinking binge seemingly trying to end his life, but the next morning when Tommy realizes what his words from the previous night had done to him he consoles his father and tells him everything's going to be alright. Very powerful scene. 2) Brendon and Tommy have a conversation about their past and how Tommy went to live with the mother, but Brendan wanted to stay behind with pop. Brendan never knew his mother was sick and never got to say goodbye to her. Tommy tells him that forgiveness means nothing from him. As you can see there are alot of problems within the family. However, the main fight between the brothers is tough and they take out their aggressions on one another with Brendan breaking Tommy's arm and Tommy just trying to beat Brendan senseless. Throughout the fight though, you watch as the bond seems to grow and the aggression being shown ends up leading to forgiveness. Even before the last tapout, Brendan goes to Tommy I love you and that scene really wrapped up the movie nicely. The last shot of the movie is Brendan and Tommy supporting each other and helping each other walk out of the arena. The repairing of a brotherly bond is great and the overcoming the odds mantra that follows Brendan is succeeded in more ways than one. He gets the respect from Tommy and he realizes how much Tommy means to him and both realize how much Paddy loves them. The acting was top notch and Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte all deserve nominations for this movie. Yoy felt the emotions as if you were in the cage with them and you follow their journey to the top of the tournament as well as fighting to repair their lives. An easy 5/5 and a definite must see.

"Company" Review

I am cleaning out the draft cue and found this review I had started for the Lincoln Center production of Steven Sondheim's Company. I saw it on a movie screen so I figured I should have a review prepared, haha.

(I moved the more personal version of this to My other blog.)


I recently saw Lincoln Center's production of Steven Sondheim Company. The cast included Neil Patrick Harris ("How I Met Your Mother") in the lead as "Bobby" as well as Christina Henricks ("Mad Men"), Steven Colbert ("Colbert Report"), Jon Cryer ("Two and Half Men") and Patti Lupone ("Evita", "Sweeney Todd"). The show was staged in a concert format with very little scenery and props and the Orchestra on stage.

The plot summary of the show is Bobby (NPH) is the last single guy in his group of married friends. He's the godfather of their children, go-to babysitter, and confidante for them all. They take it upon themselves to make him feel like he's somehow missing something because he's not living their "kind of life". Two songs, I've got a girl for you (sung by the male ensemble) and Poor Baby (sung by the women while Bobby has sex with a Flight Attendent) makes this clear how they perceive Bobby's current life. However, throughout the show the audience sees the pitfalls of the relationships that his friends have and how they are not perfect or ideal. We also get to see Bobby's life and his view on relationships.

One Day Review

Hello All. Its Jacqui. I am back from vacation and a slight break from movie going.

Today I went to see "One Day" starring Jim Sturgess ("21", "Across the Universe) and Anne Hathaway ("Princess Diaries", "Devil Wears Prada"). The basic summary is they are two friends who almost hook-up after the college graduation. The movie is a snap-shot of their relationship that occurs every July 15 from the year they met. The viewer is treated to not just a flashback of fashion and music but also where Dexter (Sturgess) and Emma (Hathaway) are in their lives. We see how Emma struggles while Dexter succeeds and vice versa throughout their 20 year friendship.

I went into this movie expecting something like 2000's "Love and Sex" starring now-action director Jon Favreau  and Famke Jannsen (and also one of my favorite movies of all time because of Favreau [yes I have a crush on him, lol]). The background of that movie was two people meet randomly and then it took time for the "timing" to be right for them to be together. Possibly combined with the classic "Same Time, Next Year"(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078199/). "One Day" seemed like it didn't know exactly where on that spectrum it wanted to be. If anything, it was like a nasty hybrid of every single romantic movie ever made. It had your unrequited love, the anti-climatic get together, and the tragedy that occurs once the main characters finally get together.

Overall, I am not a fan of this movie. I felt the movie was very choppy among its many issues (Hathaway's inability to do a consistent English accent, for example). I came away feeling that something was missing from this movie and its story telling style. Whenever the vignette shifted, it seemed like as a viewer I lost out on something. For example, one scene where Dexter and Emma discuss something that happened in between one of the prescribed days. I feel that would have been a pivotal scene that explained everything else that followed. But no, the event is hinted at, talked about but you never see it.

While the books are usually always better than their adaptations, this one really fails to even partly live up to the book. I feel it left too much just "floating out there". I will give this movie one of the lowest ratings I have given a film since we started the blog... 1 out 5 stars

(Gerard asked me about where this ranked on the "Tree of Life" scale, I said slightly higher because I sat through this one.)

Colombiana Review

I just got back from seeing Colombiana on August 26, 2o11 with Justin. I really liked this movie. Basically, the plot is when Cataleya Restrepto played by the gorgeous and talented Zoe Saldana (personal favorite of mine) witnesses the murder of her parents by Colombian drug lords and crooked army officials she vows to get revenger. She goes to her uncle Emilio played by Cliff Curtis who looks shockingly like current WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio and wants to be trained as an assassin. Now, I thought the movie was smart and didn't rely on extreme violence to tell the story which is sometimes a good thing. She uses different aliases and goes on vigilante killing missions to show the people responsible for killing her parents that she never forgets. She always leave the cataleya flower at the crime scenes in some way and works her way around the police. She reminds me of a great mix of Beatrix Kiddo in Kill Bill and a female version of Dexter Morgan. She is an assassin, but she targets people who commit evil deeds and in that instance the audience can identify with her. By the end of the movie it's her against the entire faction that took our her parents...and other members of her family. She takes them out systematically and completes her deeds in innovative ways, such as using sharks, dogs, or advanced weaponry skills and wait for it...toothbrushes, yes she beats a guy with toothbrushes. Saldana is perfect in the female action role and I personally really like strong female characters and that could be a major reason why I really like this. I definitely say give this movie a try as its a fun movie and you really want Cataleya to get revenge. I'll give this a 3/5 as well, but it was pretty good and worth seeing.

Final Destination 5 Review

On August 19, 2011, I saw Final Destination 5 with Jake and Justin. Now going in you know that you can expect gruesome scenes and things of that nature. I enjoyed this installment and the only other ones I actually liked were the original and the third one. The story begins with Sam played by Nicholas D'Agosta who has a premonition as he and a group of employees on a retreat are crossing a bridge under construction. This is the second time there's been a male who has the premonition since Alex Browning in the original. The supporting cast were mostly unknowns which is fine because big name actors can take away from a movie like this. The death scenes in this really make you cringe. WARNING: Be aware of the gymnastics scene!! In my opinion, that is the most cringeworthy death in the ENTIRE series and there's been some bad ones. The story flowed pretty well and the acting wasn't horrendous like the last movie which was so terrible. It wasn't Oscar worthy acting, but the cast did a decent job in their own right and it's not meant to be an acting movie in general anyway. Molly played by Emma Bell was the best acting wise and i could see her getting some roles in the future. Keep your eyes open for little details throughout the movie as they can help to show where the ending will take place. I think it's a brilliant ending and really thought it was smart. It was a perfect twist and really brings everything full circle. I'll give it a 3/5, but the movie is worth seeing as I liked what they did with this installment in terms of twists, making you cringe (again beware the gymnastics scene), and a decent story to begin with. I would reveal some more plot points but then it takes away from what I said about subtle hints. You may even be able to guess the ending from the first pieces of dialogue but when it gets to the end, it's pretty awesome.