Moneyball

As a fan of sports films, this movie was a must-see for me, and I can't say I was disappointed. This movie is the 'Social Network' of sports films. Well directed, really well acted, and overall well made, this film was successful because it didn't conform to the usual sports movie formula. There was no montage of building up the team and training. There was no inspiring pep-talk before the last game of the season. It was just, this is what happened and here's how and why it happened this way. In fact, this movie was so intriguing because it didn't focus so much on baseball as it did the strategy of fielding a team. Fantastic film, 8.5/10.

Adventures in Netflix: Heartless + Mad World

Heartless just might be one of my favorite movies now. The feel of this film was equal parts paranoia and personality which worked wonders on my interest. It was dark, cryptic, supernatural, and psychological, but for all it's successes with the prior, it still came to an understandable conclusion as well as made a psychological point that could be comprehended. 4/5.


Mad World was what I'd like to call a screwed up growing up story. It was a pretty good film except for a few problems I had with it. I'm not certain if it was the film's intent, but the narration was in the vain of stories like Stand By Me and it felt like it was attempting to make this a feel-good mistfits band together kinda story when everything else the film did was incredibly dark. Acting wasn't that great (particularly among the adults) and the sound, picture, and visual style were noticeably raw in places. Unfortunately scenarios like this do play out in real life and I feel half bad for half-agreeing with the conclusion of this movie. I struggled with a rating but eventually went with 3/5 over 2.

Things I've Seen Somewhat recently

I really haven't felt like doing much for reviews lately, but I feel guilty for not doing them, so I figure it might be cool if I just listed movies I've seen within the last month or two, rated them, and maybe gave some short reasoning. Here goes.

Are You Afraid of the Dark - 7/10 - Decent film, somewhat weak story, nothing really stood out (bad or good)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - 8.5/10 - Lots of fun to watch, really intriguing plot that gets you involved, Andy Serkis, et cetera et cetera

30 Minutes or Less - 7/10 - Funny moments, great concept, good performances (Aziz + Jesse = funnier than expected), not much particularly outstanding

Fright Night - 8/10 - Another really fun film, definitely for a teenage crowd, good entertainment, like Disturbia meets Scream meets Superbad

Captain America - 8/10 - Ranks up there among Marvel films, some really spectacular sequences (propoganda stuff), worked really hard at tying the story and characters into the Avengers and succeeded