Moneyball the Movie- Brad Pitt Rapes Baseball

That isn't fair, but I really didn't like this movie because I read the book and Pitt completely dominated the film, where in reality Billy Beane did nothing close to what he was projected as doing. It was a much larger effort than Beane and Paul Dipodestro, who refused to have his name associated with the movie and is Paul Brand. The story is the 2002 Oakland A's and how they overcame losing Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, and Jason Isringhausen off of a great, young 2001 club who lost in the ALDS Game 5 to the Yankees (standard). It never gets mentioned the incredible pitching staff of Barry Zito, Tim Hudson, Corey Lidle, Mark Mulder, and Aaron Harang, just the incredibly GRITTY veterans with high OBP's who helped them win. I get pissed off when you get fed bullshit in a movie even if it isn't a documentary. That team was pitching based, fuck everything else. They had a great bullpen anchored by a great finds in Corey Bradford (especially), but also Billy Koch, Jeff Tam, and Jim Mecir. No need to mention that at all, only Bradford got even a nod in the movie where he has an entire chapter devoted to him in the book. I hated the dramatization of Beane's role in giving pep talks and advice to players, along with Jonah Hill acting as Paul Dipodesto. Scott Hatteberg gets shit on for playing bad defense, yet yielded a .994 fielding percentage. Bottom line is the A's never made it past the first round of the playoffs, but they play the Moneyball concept to explain how the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series. Johnny Damon is a Moneyball money pit, but he was the starting centerfielder, as was former A Keith Foulke as the closer, that was what Moneyball gave them. That team won because nobody could beat Schilling, Pedro, and Lowe/Wakefield in a 7-game series and David Ortiz played out of his fucking mind in clutch moments. It wasn't they walked a shit-ton, or only had cheap, high OPS players. They paid a shit-load of money for great players + a few guys who had decent OBP's, but Kevin Millar, Gabe Kapler and Mark Bellhorn were certainly NOT the reason the Red Sox won the World Series.

Sorry, I couldn't judge this movie solely as a movie because I read the book. It totally got in the way, so I really can't give an accurate ranking, but here's what I thought.

6.2 out of 10. An attempt at a feel-good baseball movie that really just scratched the Moneyball surface. Really just a Brad Pitt vehicle with baseball and arrogance sprinkled in. See when it's free, so don't pay $10 FUCKING DOLLARS to be disappointed, per usual.

SNL- The Written History

I just completed a book on the entire history of Saturday Night Live up until around 2004 and it was phenomenal. It's really interesting because it's written from the perspective of all the former cast members, writers, and some producers/creators. A great mix of talent and interesting perspective on an incredible force of pop culture and American culture. Interesting facts and opinions are abound in this essentially autobiographical recollection of a great THING in America that's been around longer than most of us have been alive. 1975 ushered in the most talented cast in SNL and TV history and it's gone up and down since experiencing highs and lows, failure and success all intertwined throughout the last 36 years. Highly recommend it and I am super excited to read the book the authors did about ESPN. Lorne Michels is for the most part incredibly respected, but there were more than a few people who flat out did not like the man in any way. The amount of fun facts I can't even describe, but it is SUPER interesting. I went out and bought season 4 for $15 from Best Buy, the last season the entire original cast (except Chevy Chase) and I'm very excited to watch it and enjoy. So much talent walked through those doors it has almost defined comedy in America for the last 35 years through the actors and what they went on to do on and off the show. DAMON WAYANS was even on for 1/2 a season. Chevy Chase was only on for 2 years, another shocker.

The Wild Bunch

I took a flier on The Wild Bunch, a 1968 western that introduced violence and gore to the western genre, and really American cinema, the likes of which we've never seen. Ernest Borgnine and Sam Peckinpah are the stars of a mixed cast a badass men who rob and outlaw for a living. The movie starts with them attempting to rob a bank in a small town that gets shot to shit because the railroad hired bounty hunters to wait for them and execute/capture them in any manner possible. Only the four main characters escape to move on to the next big job. They are picked to run guns for a Mexican dictator/ general from the USA for big money. It falls apart in spectacular fashion and really is a fun, interesting, good movie from credits to FIN. I was amazed what was all in the film in terms of violence and content. It's not the reason you see the film, but it had to be groundbreaking for the time. Stronger acting that expected and a great story makes this a VERY good film.

Bottom Line: 8.1 out of 10. Highly recommend seeing this film. I'd be amazed if you'd be disappointed. There is a lull in the middle, but it's really well done with character development running rampant.

Warriors- Classic Badassery

The Warriors was a cult classic I never got to sit down and enjoy. The movie from 1979 is pretty much balls out from minute one. It's a supposedly futuristic story about New York city being divided into the different sections run by different street gangs of varying toughness. The Warriors are a badass group from Coney Island who rock sicks leather vests. There is a huge meeting of all the gangs headed by Cyrus, a man who can bring the gangs together and take over the city. He reminds them there are 60,000 gang members and 20,000 cops in the city, CAN YOU DIIIIIGGGGG IIIITTTTTT? He is promptly shot and the Warriors are wrongfully blamed and they are hunted all the way back to Coney Island. There is hardly any downtown from the crazy scraps along the way from the different gangs. It's just a great premise executed very well with a small budget. I was surprised more actors didn't come out of this film as regular actors getting work. There are some obvious moments where the small budget is an issue, but I think it's a very good film.

Bottom Line: 8.2 out of 10. It's simply very entertaining and unique. It's a film I'm going to watch again in the near future and just soak it in. Short on character development, but the story is important, not them.