Moneyball

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: The true story of how the General Manager of the Oakland A's, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), took average players with nearly invisible gifts to create a record breaking team, and in so doing, revolutionized the game of baseball... Even though Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) really did all the work.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, Stephen Bishop, Casey Bond, Nick Porrazzo, Reed Thompson, Kerris Dorsey

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! Yay for sports movies! You just can't go wrong.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Yes, and it will also make you want to play fantasy baseball-- even if you don't like baseball. Here's a good place to start: Razzball Fantasy Baseball site

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: No, but it did make me a little nauseous to see the amount of food Brad Pitt shoves down his throat in every scene, for no apparent reason. (Does that really count as a character trait?)

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: This is this year's Facebook movie.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Sometimes we forget that Brad Pitt actually has a skill for which he's famous. This movie is here to remind us. And Jonah Hill is charming, despite being in the body of Jonah Hill.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: The integration of real life documentary footage with actors playing real life people is subtle, and nicely done. And while the flashbacks do a good job of helping us understand Billy Beane's inner motivation, they are heavy-handed, and we all remember what Brad Pitt looked like at 18, and it wasn't Reed Thompson... And one more thing, can somebody tell me why Brad Pitt wears a wedding ring in the movie, even though he's clearly been divorced for quite some time?

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Most of the time it's interesting and clever and engaging... and then there are the scenes where he hangs out with his daughter, which seem like they're in the script because some executive read a book called, "To Make a Character Likeable, He has to Have a Child," and which bring the movie to a full stop every time they appear.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: The score noticeably drives the emotions in ways that are sometimes meant to throw you off, and add some nice suspense within the highly predictable sports movie format. And speaking of music, the song Brad Pitt's 12-year-old daughter (Kerris Dorsey) makes up and beautifully sings to him, is a definite radio hit that proves that America really does Got Talent!

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Moneyball Trailer

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Project Nim

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A family of wacky hippies in the 70s decides it's a good idea to move a baby chimp (Nim) into their Upper West-side Brownstone and raise him like a human being, teaching him to communicate through sign language.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Stephanie, Herb, Laura, Bob, and a bunch of other first names they made a point of writing across the screen real big, which I don't remember.

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. The pace is fairly slow, then it overcompensates to keep your attention with suspenseful music and intriguing camera pans that imply that something fatal is around the corner. SPOILER ALERT: nothing is.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Yeah, the 70s are funny as shit, no matter how many monkeys got hurt in the process.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: It didn't me, because I'm a cold-hearted animal non-worshiper-- by which I mean that I would never put their needs before those of human beings. That said, some pretty messed up things end up happening to this monkey.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It did win the Best Documentary award at the Newport Beach Film Festival, but the Newport Beach Film Festival wins the award for the Closest Film Festival to Los Angeles that No One in Hollywood has Ever Been to.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: One of the best things about this movie is its demonstration of how, in researching this monkey, humans once again prove that they themselves are the stupidest species in the Animal Kingdom.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Similarly to how I felt about James Marsh's previous effort, Man on Wire, there is a constant impending sense of doom, which never leads to doom, and therefore leaves me feeling very... shall we say, "tantric"?

Q: How is the story/script?

A: I'm pretty certain that this is the best story coming out this summer about monkeys acting like humans. I'm talking to you Rise of the the Planet of the Apes! DISCLAIMER: I haven't seen Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The trailer was quite enough for me, thank you very much! Rise of the Planet of the Apes Trailer

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Project Nim Trailer

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The Runaways

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: The true story of how the Runaways came together to be the first all-girl rock n' roll band, eventually spawning Joan Jett.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon, Stella Maeve, Riley Keough, Scout Taylor-Compton, Alia Shawkat, Johnny Lewis, Tatum O'Neal, Brett Cullen, Hannah Marks

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. The movie's not that bad, what makes it hard to take is the music.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Angelenos, who have experienced the smooth tones of d.j. Rodney Bingenhiemer on KROQ 106.7, will get a good laugh at Keir O'Donnell's dead on impersonation of his half-witted manner of speaking. It's like he's always reaching for the next word in a sentence, not quite sure whether or not it will come to him.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: It's sad to see how easily kids on the road slip right into severe drug habits. If you, like I, know someone who is at the beginnings of a potentially very successful career in rock n' roll, this story is a scary reminder of how incredibly concerned you should be.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Yes. It's the Movie the Parents of Twilight Fans, Most Likely Don't Want their Little Girls to See. And the competition is stiff-- as you may have noticed, I saw Remember Me yesterday.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: In my review of The Yellow Handkerchief, I mentioned that Kristen Stewart is a one trick pony. Well, guess what? It turns out she has another trick. She is an incredibly convincing dyke! And Dakota Fanning, I've been a fan of hers since she was 3. Which doesn't make me feel any younger when I watch her in a film that takes place in the 70s, and it's exceedingly clear to me that she has no idea how to use a pay phone or put on a record... I can just imagine what it was like on the set, "Can someone please show Dakota how to play a 45?!" But she still gets it wrong...

Q: How is the Directing?

A: The directing is so good that I actually noticed it. Floria Sigismondi chooses really interesting angles and allows the actors to move around inside of her frames in ways that juxtapose them in one dynamic composition after another.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Floria Sigismondi's screenwriting skills aren't up to her direction, though. It's hard for anybody who's up against a biopic, and as usual, there's no big suspense pulling us through and keeping us involved, beside the fact that we go into it knowing that in real life they had some success.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-runaways/38105/trailers

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The Informant!

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A high level office drone (Matt Damon) gets put in a position where he feels compelled to tell the FBI about his business' illegal dealings in price fixing, and before he knows it, he must become an FBI informant.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Melanie Lynskey, Joel McHale, Rick Overton, Tom Wilson, Tom Papa, Ann Cusack, Eddie Jemison, Andrew Daly, Tony Hale, Larry Clarke, Jayden Lund, Patton Oswalt, Paul F. Tompkins, The Smothers Brothers

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. What I like about the movie is that it is original, true, and in no way underestimates its audience. What I don't like about the movie is that it's the opposite of hopeful.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Matt Damon has a running non-sequitur, inner monologue that rarely makes you laugh out loud, but keeps you at a constant chuckle on the inside.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Only if corruption without accountability makes you cry. Which I'm thinking, if you live in America, it probably doesn't, because if it did, maybe once in a while, one of you would stand up and do something about it.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Even though there's something thoroughly not enjoyable about this story, I kind of think the film deserves some recognition.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Damon is great, but did he really have to put on 30 pounds to play a guy, who no one knows what he looks like? Please discuss.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: The look of the movie is often fuzzy and yellow, as if the film had just been taken out of a vault in which it had been stored for 30 years. This might have been an effect meant to portray the period of the piece, but along with the graphics and the music, it seemed a lot more 70s than the 90s.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: More complex than it appears on its surface... much like its main character.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-informant/34202/trailers

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Crude

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A documentary about the class action lawsuit against Chevron-Texaco by the inhabitants of the Amazon, who have received cancer, death and disease, in exchange for the destruction of their land and natural resources.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: A bunch of humanist lawyers, a bunch of lying deceitful lawyers, a bunch of plaintiffs, environmentalists, and a smattering of celebrities who care, including Sting and his wife, Trudy Styler-- which should come as no surprise to anyone who's seen Bruno, since he told us that Sting has the Rain Forests, and Bono has AIDS.

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. The topic is interesting, and the arguments on both sides are compelling and eye opening, but the movie quickly becomes redundant as we see the same oil-filled riverbeds and lakes, hear the same stories of children with cancer over and over, and are repeatedly told how this is a "David and Goliath story."

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: There is one funny scene about the difference between what it means to an American to come up with a plan, and what it means to an Ecuadorian to come up with a plan.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: There are children dying of cancer all over this thing, and somehow, I didn't come close to crying. But I guess I'm pretty cold hearted.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: There is an indigenous woman who sings an indigenous song at the beginning and the end that literally made my ears feel like they were bleeding. On the bright side, I'm glad I finally have cause to relate to that expression. On the dark side, I'm giving it the Nails on a Chalkboard Award.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: The American lawyer on the plaintiff's side, Steve Donzinger, is incredibly funny, charismatic, and animated. He holds the movie together. But where this movie really excels is in the antagonist department. Some of the most hateable people ever put on tape are in this film. And while it won't surprise you to know that they all work for Chevron, it might surprise you to learn that the worst of them is not a lawyer, but the company's staff environmentalist.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Joe Berlinger directed Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, which is one of the most insightful and well crafted documentaries I've ever seen. I'm gonna take this opportunity to recommend you rent it asap, partly because I don't get that many opportunities to recommend it, but also partly because if I were to tell you how he did on this one, I'd have to repeat myself to tell you it's redundant.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The way they describe the beauty of the Amazon as it was before the oil companies came in and killed and contaminated all the water and vegetation got me thinking about the story of Adam and Eve. What if it wasn't so much a story from the past, as it is a cautionary tale about the future? What if the story was trying to say that we already live in paradise? Currently, I mean. But if we are tempted by greed (the apple/evil) we will destroy our paradise, and cause it to become no longer liveable, at which point we will be banished from our Garden of Eden. Mostly because we will all die, but also because it will no longer be paradise, so even if we live, it will feel as if we have been banished.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: On a personal note of interest only to me and those of you who went to high school with me, there is a girl from our high school class in this film, who did not go to the reunion we recently had. Despite her absence from the reunion, I now know that she lives in New York and works for Vanity Fair. Ask me about her.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/search/crude/trailers

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The Stoning of Soraya M.

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: When an Iranian man’s wife refuses to divorce him, because he’s not offering her enough money to put food on the table for their daughters, he mounts a plot to get rid of her so that he can marry the 14 year old girl of his dreams.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Shohreh Aghdashloo, Mozhan Marno, James Caviezel, Navid Negahban, Ali Pourtash, Davis Diaan, Parviz Sayya, Vachik Mangassarian

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. (In case you didn’t already gather that from the title.) This is a powerful and disturbing movie, based on a true story. All of you should be strong enough of heart and mind to see this gut-wrenching film about the inhumanities being procured against women around the world, but I know that some of you aren’t. Yes, that is a challenge. I double-dog dare you to see this amazing film.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: It’s not too big on the comic relief. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the whole stoning a girl to death thing?

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: : If it doesn’t, you have the heart of a Jihadist, and you should sign yourself up to the Terror Watch List immediately.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: It's showcasing at the L.A. Film Festival this weekend, and since that's run by the same organization as the Independent Spirit Awards, it's safe to say it's on its way. The only concern I have for this film, is that it's a little too good to get a Spirit Award nomination, and far too much about stoning a woman to death, for any of the voters to actually sit through it... wimps!

Q: How is the Acting?

A: You'll find out that Shohreh Aghdashloo’s first nomination (for House of Sand and Fog) wasn’t just a fluke. She is an Oscar caliber actress. And it's fun to see Jim Caviezel playing a French-Muslim as his follow up to Jesus, although I wasn’t sold on his efforts to sound French.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: It all takes place in a tiny little, picturesque Iranian town, built into a mountain, so it’s very beautiful to look at in all its claustrophobia. But at times the lighting goes from a fairly dark scene to an extremely bright scene, and my pupils literally had difficulty adapting and refocusing on the image… Something to consider for all you cinematographers out there.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: With a story this powerful, a screenwriter doesn’t have to do much outside of not mess it up. Which, thankfully, Cyrus and Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh didn't.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: The Iranians and the Muslims are not going to like how they’re portrayed in this film. But it’s a true story, so maybe instead of being offended, they should take part in re-educating the branches of their religion and culture that give men all the rights and women none. Also, when you see how government is run at the small town level in Iran, it sheds a lot of light on how their recent Presidential election could've gotten so messed up.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/search/the%20stoning%20of%20soraya%20m/trailers

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