Moneyball

In my opinion this is one of Brad Pitt’s best performances. This is a true story about Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane's successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.
Pitt has taken everything he has learned through the years and brings a solid performance that portrays his mannerisms and essence. When you watch him in this movie you can tell that he not only wants to embody the character but he also wants to entertain the audience. It’s like he is talking to the camera without talking to it. Pitt is no longer the young pretty boy but he is the ultimate charmer and everyone he comes into contact with wants to be in his space.
For those of you who are not baseball fans, don’t worry because this is a not only a true underdog story but also about the relationship Pitt has with his daughter.

Verdict:
Must see movie. Brad will be nominated but it’s Leo’s year for the movie J. Edgar.

Killer Elite

The question that came to mind when I was watching this movie is who is the best? The Navy Seals, The SAS (Special Air Service), or this elite team of ex mercenaries that includes Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro.
The movie starts when Statham’s mentor (De Niro) is taken captive, His mission: kill three assassins dispatched by their cunning leader.
The flick is based on a true story and there is a lot of dialogue. The story has a couple of twist in it so you will have to pay attention to keep up with what is going on. As with all Stratham movies there is plenty of action and Clive Owen is a great adversary. For once we see De Niro in a strong role vs. the weak Wall St. sap that he played in Limitless.
The best action scene in the movie is Statham in kicking ass tied to a chair.

Verdict:
If you like Statham you will get your money’s worth however with Clive Owen and De Niro I expected more.

Drive

The movie is about a Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman and discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist has gone wrong. The director, Nicolas Winding Refnstarts, begins the story with film noir dark lighting and a retro techno sound similar to a scene in an 80's Richard Gere movie ala Breathless or American Gigolo.
Refnstarts know how to build tension in a movie and there were times I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens next. Ryan Gosling, who plays the Driver, does a masterful job of playing the myseterious hero. Carey Mulligan, who I hated in Wall Street 2 shows that she can do more acting by keeping her mouth shut. There were times where I even thought she was cute. Where in wall Street 2 I wanted to push her off a cliff. Speaking of cliffs there are some great driving scenes and
Bryan Cranston and Albert Brooks should be nominated for their roles in this film. The beautiful and volumtous Christina Hendricks from Mad Men is only in the film for a short time but is effective.

Verdict:
Instant classic. I smell a franchise.

Straw Dogs

Is a remake of a Dustin Hoffman classic. The movie is about a Hollywood screenwriter, played by James Marsden, who relocates with his wife, Kate Bosworth, to her hometown in the deep South. While there, the couple get involved in conflict with the locals.
I started writing this review using the Pros and Cons method and I found that I had more Cons than Pros.
Cons:
If you saw the original movie then there is not much difference in the story other than the addition of Friday Night Lights football. In other words you will not be entertained.
Pros:
The lead actors do a decent job, espically Kate Bosworth, who I feel gives her best performance in the movie.
Cons:
The original movie was made in 1971 so the story is not as shocking today. You can see worse on Law and Order SVU.
Pros: I don’t think I have anymore.
Cons: The bad guy, Alexander Skarsgård who I have heard is on HBO’s True Blood, is not threatening. He is just pretty. I have seen more scarier dudes in my gym.
Cons:
Director Rod Lurie is not as good as filming tension which leads to violence as Sam Peckinpah who directed the original classic.

Verdict:
Cons win! Don’t go see this movie.

Warrior

Warrior has been classified as The Rocky of this generation but it’s more of a mash up of tired plot lines we have seen before. The movie stars Tom Hardy, from Inception, as the son of an alcoholic former boxer Nick Nolte. Tom returns home, where he's trained by his father for competition in a mixed martial arts tournament, a path that puts the fighter on a collision course with Joel Edgerton his older brother.
Nick Nolte pretty much plays himself but does more acting with his facial expressions than he does with his mouth. His acting is the glue in this movie and pretty much keeps it together. He deserves an Oscar for this film after coming up short 2 times.
Tom Hardy also does an excellent job but his character is pieced together and not fully fleshed out. The movie takes a while to get started and at 140 minutes fight fans will be disappointed because the best fight scenes are at the end.
Verdict:
Not a Rocky but this fight movie is better than most. Frank Grillo has a breakout role as Edgerton’s coach. He delivers and will be one to watch.

Contagion

This movie tries to be an action-thriller centered on the threat posed by a deadly disease and an international team of doctors contracted by the CDC to deal with the outbreak. Ho Hum!
The flick does not deliver. There are many “A ’” list actors however they are only in the movie for a short duration. The main problem with this movie is that it’s shot as a docudrama and not as a standard Hollywood thriller. The other problem is that the villain in this docudrama is the virus however you don’t see the virus so it’s hard to root against something you can’t see. This may be a guy thing since we are all visual but other than seeing the virus under a microscope I really was just waiting for the next “A” list actor to die.
I recently went out and had a seafood dinner and I immediately got nauseous. A month later I tried to eat seafood again and I got nauseous again. Jude Law’s character focuses on government cover-ups and conspiracy theories and he does mention seafood in one scene. It made me wonder what happened to all the seafood that was contaminated by the BP spill? The story is thought provoking and you can see how things can easily get started. After seeing this movie you can look back and see that Michael Jackson was not that crazy for wearing masks when he traveled the world.
All of the actors give a good performance but Sanaa Lathan is miscast as Fishburne’s wife. He looks more like her dad.

Verdict: I expected Outbreak and got a History Channel documentary. I also won’t be eating seafood again for awhile.