Back when Moneyball was first green lit it was posted as a Steven Soderbergh project, and why not? He's familiar with directing adapted works. He directed The Informant!, which was adapted from a book, which was based on true life, much the same as Moneyball is.
Then, Fincher left the project to direct the American adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Enter Bennett Miller, director of the critically acclaimed Capote. It's easy to tell that the executives over at Sony Pictures wanted this film in capable hands. It's why they trusted Aaron Sorkin to write the screenplay along with Steven Zaillian (who wrote Schindler's List and Gangs of New York).
Brad Pitt was soon hired on to play protagonist Billy Beane, a former player turned scout turned general manager of the Oakland A's. The film opens on the A's final game against the New York Yankees during the 2001 playoff elimination games. They lose. And soon after losing they lose their top three players: Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and Jason Isringhausen.
Beane hires analyst Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) to help him draft the replacements that will give the A's a winning season and instead of bringing in proven players, they pick from the MLB rejects to fill the empty slots. The most notable of the new additions is catcher turned first baseman Scott Hatteberg (Chriss Pratt playing against his type).
This is the set up for the whole film and the rest is a sort of play-by-play for the 2002 season. Conflict ensues when the A's manager, Art Howe (Philip Seymour Hoffman), refuses to play Hatteberg, instead putting in Carlos Pena.
The film is interspersed with flashbacks to Beane's younger days and his decision to join the New York Mets instead of going to college on scholarship. This all creates the development needed for audiences to connect to Beane, but he's the only character developed to any extent.
It's easy to see Aaron Sorkin's contribution to the script as he has the ability to write quick-witted dialogue between characters, spicing up the sometimes dragging storyline. My harshest criticism is against Jonah Hill, who despite trying to prove he's a versatile actor, amounts to the same character he usually plays, but with a constant scowl and apparent issues with his ego.
Moneyball - 4/5
Prior to its release, I had only heard good things about Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive. It had gone to the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for the Palme d'Or while Refn won the award for Best Director.
The months between Cannes and its September release date served only to increase my interest in this neo-noir action thriller based on James Sallis' novel of the same name. Preview screenings produced produced ever more praising reviews and I knew I had to see this film.
Its release this past weekend didn't turn up any great box office returns (its total revenue so far is approximately $11 million), but history has proven time and again that box office returns and a film's qualitative properties are, more often than not, inversely proportional.
The film stars Ryan Gosling as a no-named protagonist, credited simply as "Driver." Driver is a Hollywood stuntman who makes money on the side by hiring out his driving abilities to crooks in need of a wheel man.
The progression of the story brings him into contact with his neighbor Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her son Benicio. The two quickly grow close but are kept apart by the return of Irene's husband Standard (Oscar Isaac), who was just released from prison.
Driver's life is made all the more difficult by mobsters Bernie (Albert Brooks) & Nino (Ron Perlman) and the supremely poor business ventures of friend and confidant Shannon (Bryan Cranston). There is also a blink-or-you'll-miss-her performance from Mad Men's Christina Hendricks.
The film contains elements from any number of sources and could easily be placed in any era of film history dating back to the mid-1940s. Present are the noir-like deceptions, the classic action sequences (thankfully not edited by a child with ADHD), and incredible performances (most notably from Gosling and Brooks).
The second half of the film also contains elements from a less known source: playwright and America's most knowledgeable chronicler of motels Sam Shepard. The film's latter half is heavy on the theme of loss and has a more on the road feel than the first 50 minutes. It also ends on a scene that is very much like the ending to Wim Wenders' Paris, Texas (which was written by Shepard).
It's usually around this time of year that audiences start seeing the films that will make up this year's awards contenders. With an award from Cannes already on its mantle, Drive will certainly be on the prowl for more (specifically in the acting, writing and directing categories).
Drive - 5/5
I've always been a fan of Steven Soderbergh. He never makes any one film the same as his last. He is a stylistic chameleon and I never know what to expect when going into the theater.
In 1989 he released his film sex, lies & videotape to the audiences at the Sundance Film Festival and is the main name credited with the "make your own" indie film movement. Since then his career has been full of hits (Schizopolis, Traffic) and misses (The Informant!, The Good German), but even the misses have artistic merit.
He's also able to coax incredible performances out of his actors (I direct you to Matt Damon in The Informant!). His latest, Contagion, sees an ensemble of great performances and has the makings to be listed in his top five films.
The film is set in present day when a viral outbreak escalates into a global pandemic. We open on "Day 2" of contraction when Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns home from a business trip to Hong Kong. Along the way we see her touch doorknobs, glasses and an array of various common items.
Infection soon spreads and the Center for Disease Control is soon put on the case headed up by Dr. Ellis Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) and Dr. Erin Mears (Kate Winslet). It is these doctors' efforts to find a vaccine that makes up the main plot of the film.
There are three big subplots that help round out the story. The first involves Beth's husband Mitch (Matt Damon) and his daughter fighting to stay infection-free in their small Minnesota town.
The second focuses on conspiracy blogger Alan Krumwiede (Jude Law) and his efforts the alert the public to the government's intentional lack of information.
The third follows World Health Organization doctor Leonora Orantes (Marion Cotillard) as she travels to Hong Kong to try and pin down just where the virus originated.
The most well-developed of these subplots is Mitch Emhoffs, which is effective because it provides a personal look at what a man from Mid-America is doing to keep his daughter safe.
As interesting as Alan Krumwiede's story is, there are a few plot holes that puncture the subplot's foundation. We never really know what his ultimate goal is, other than to raise dust.
And Dr. Leonora Orantes' story has so little screen time that it's amazing how well-developed it turned out to be. The only problem here is that we aren't given much closure.
As an overall product, Contagion manages to keep its main focus intact despite the many stories going on. Its greatest achievement is its continuous momentum. There is never a dull moment, thanks due, in large part, to the film's score by Cliff Martinez, who has scored many of Soderbergh's past films.
Contagion - 4/5
There are certain expectations when it comes to creature feature horror films. The first is that it should be a bloody affair. The second is that no punches should be pulled. Shark Night 3D is not bloody and pulls every punch it can.
Riding the proverbial wave created by 2010's Piranha 3D, Shark Night 3D is just plain awful. The writing is some of the worst I've ever seen (and I've seen Troll 2) and there are plot holes galore. There is just absolutely no coherency in this film.
The film follows a simple premise: shark attacks in a salt water lake. The story is also quite simple: seven friends are staying at one of their lake houses on an isolated island when the shark attacks start happening. It all boils down to the simple story base man vs. nature.
This film, however, implies that nature isn't good enough to get the job done and adds in the man vs. man element. The writers must have thought this was an elegant twist on the simple creature feature structure. I can picture them saying, "Jaws was nothing like this." And that's true because Jaws actually made sense. And wasn't total crap.
There aren't very many recognizable faces in the cast, other than "American Idol" runner-up Katerhine McPhee and indie horror vet Joel David Moore. Even so, who cares, really? They're poorly written and poorly played. This movie sucks all around.
My biggest issue is the complete lack of care for what a shark can, and can't, do. What sharks can do: swim fast, smell blood from miles away and lunge straight up out of the water. What sharks can't do: swim faster than speed boats, eat a boat's motor without harm and jump out of water at an angle (such as a dolphin does) to rip a man off a wave runner.
Now, I know what you're saying, "It's movie physics, Kevin. Stop being so picky." I get movie physics and in most cases I will defend them because they create a more enjoyable cinema-going experience. But, what we have here is not a case of movie physics. It's a case of bullshit writing.
Without doubt Shark Night 3D is the worst movie of summer and the worst movie of the year.
Shark Night 3D - 0/5
Brad Pitt was soon hired on to play protagonist Billy Beane, a former player turned scout turned general manager of the Oakland A's. The film opens on the A's final game against the New York Yankees during the 2001 playoff elimination games. They lose. And soon after losing they lose their top three players: Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and Jason Isringhausen.
