Search

Friday, October 21, 2011

Dammit...

I know I only started this blog a week ago, but midterms are killing me.  I'll work on something new once I get some more free time.  I did see Real Steel though.  I enjoyed it.  Not amazing, but lots of fun.  Maybe I'll go into more detail when I get back.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Moneyball (2011)

Before I begin, I need to lay down that I'm not a baseball person by any means.  My knowledge of the sport is limited to a few trips to a few games, but not much more.

"Moneyball" is the story of Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) a former baseball player turned general manager for the Oakland Athletics.  Along the way, he teams up Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a recent Yale graduate, and together they turn the losing Oakland Athletics into a competitive team and change the way baseball is played.



Brad Pitt plays the part with conviction.  His charming performance makes the audience really root for him and sympathize with his character.  Jonah Hill is nothing spectacular, but he's not terrible either.  His joking teenager persona that he usually plays is not present here.  Unfortunately, he's overshadowed by Pitt.  The other supporting actors such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Chris Pratt, and Robin Wright all contribute their talent to the movie and play well off of Pitt.


Overall, "Moneyball" is great movie.  Even with my limited knowledge in baseball, I was able to follow the story.  The music is subtle but effective and the script by Aaron Sorkin can even make talking heads exciting.  Based on the true story of Billy Beane and the book of the same name, some liberties were taken, but the changes do not take away from the story at all.  I fully expect "Moneyball" to get some recognition when Oscar season comes around.  Even if you're not a baseball person (like me) I fully suggest seeing this movie.

9/10

One Sentence Review:  The "Social Network", but with Baseball.

Rotten Tomatoes
IMDB

Introduction

Hey everyone, my name's Justin. I usually go by Jack T. Chance online. I've decided to start blogging again. I'm starting over from scratch though. I want to use this blog to talk about movies and television shows I feel like talking about. There is no set schedule yet, but hopefully I'll update as soon as I watch something new.