Moneyball trailer, next sports film to win Oscar gold?

I love sports films.  In 2009 we got The Blind Side.  In 2010 we got The Fighter.  Both of those films went on to win Oscar gold.  Well this year, it's Moneyball vying for Oscar nominations.  The movie stars Brad Pitt as the General Manager of the Oaklands Athletics baseball team.  He is setting out to change the way players are recruited into a system that has not changed in over a hundred years.  Check out Pitt and Jonah Hill in the trailer below, then read my thoughts.

Looks good right?  Critics and movie goers alike, enjoy sports themed films.  Baseball related films do especially well (remember Field of Dreams).  I like the tone and pacing from what I can tell in the trailer.  Pitt will be a nice fit for the role.  I like Philip Seymour Hoffman as the A's manager, Art Howe too. 

Get Him to the Greek review

Forgetting Sarah Marshall was released a few years ago and was OK. There was really only one stand out role in that film... Aldous Snow played by Rusell Brand. Brand was so funny, so memorable, he made the movie. Now comes Get Him to the Greek, a spin-off. Let's dive right in.

What I liked about the movie:
The Jokes
Last year, around this time, a little movie called The Hangover was released. It re-established my faith in comedies. 'Hangover' succeeded by having jokes with four guys just talking; not just physical comedy. 'Greek' achieves the same thing. Brand and Jonah Hill deliver their lines with such timing, you can't help but laugh. It's no surprise the movie doesn't totally depend on fall over funny gags. The movie was produced by Judd Apatow, who seems to be a part of every successful comedy of the past 4 years.



There is one shtick that didn't work for me at all. The threesome, that's all I need to say haha. I don't want to give anything away so I'll just tell you this; it felt forced, out of place and was done simply to be funny, not add anything to the story.

The Settings
There are a lot of "road trip" type movies I'm a fan of, this is one of them. The duo of Hill and Brand travel from London to New York, to Las Vegas to Los Angeles. And each setting adds something to the story. In other words, they are all necessary. There are a lot of movies where they visit a particular city just to give the audience something they recognize (Jumper).

The Music
I have not purchased a CD in YEARS. You may think I download illegally if I haven't bought a CD in so long, but I really don't. The noise the studios release as music every year is horrible these days. To hear all the original material written for Brand's character was great. Some were really funny. It was reminiscent of another Apatow production, Walk Hard. Creative writing and perfect delivery made the songs great.


What I didn't like about the movie:
The Pacing
This was a minor negative for me, but still worth mentioning. The transition scenes from one city to the next were a bit off. They were slow and had tons of dialogue (serious, not funny dialogue). Some of these transitions were too long and some were just a tad bit too short. The most memorable one was when the two friends discuss Aldous Snow's relationship with his father, it felt off. But again, a minor defect in the movie.


Overall the movie is a winner. It deserves the accolades it's receiving. Also worth mentioning is P. Diddy who's role as a studio exec is fantastic. Diddy has really grown as an actor and I like that he's trying comedy. The movie is not The Hangover, it's not. What it is though, is a funny movie. It's one of the better road trip films, one of the better music related films, and some of Jonah Hill's best work. Russell Brand is great in the movie and I see his career only getting bigger as this movie hits DVD and later cable. Funny stuff.

Quickie: Megamind trailer and poster

The cast is awesome: Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey and Jonah Hill... this trailer is great too. Enjoy...

Quickie: Jonah Hill's Cyrus trailer, from Sundance, great!

Hahahaha, this looks great. Jonah Hill official selection into Sundance, called Cyrus. John C. Reilly finally finds a women he can talk to you, maybe even fall in love with, that woman is Marisa Tomei. Only thing she HASN'T told Reilly is that she has an adult son named Cyrus, played by Jonah Hill. Comedy ensues when Reilly and Hill go at it. Yes, it is reminiscent of Step Brothers, but has an interesting enough story to make it different. Watch it for yourself and tell us what you think!

How To Train Your Dragon Teaser Trailer

Dreamworks has done it again. The teaser trailer to How to Train Your Dragon is online, and it looks good. There's no dialogue, but visually it looks stunning. Check out the trailer and tell us what you think. The movie stars the voice talents of: Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Gerard Butler and Craig Ferguson. The movie is set for release March of 2010.

Will Ferrell replacing Robert Downey Jr. in Oobermind

Remember a few months ago we reported that Robert Downey Jr. was cast in Oobermind? The Dreamworks Animation project about superheros? Well Variety is reporting that Downey Jr. has dropped out of the project and Will Ferrell is in. No reason was given for the switch but I'm sure scheduling the now busy Downey Jr. wasn't easy. Also added to the cast are Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. Tina Fey is still in the movie which is set to be released in the Fall of 2010.

The story is about Oobermind who is just too good as a superhero. He defeats his nemesis, played by Pitt, and is bored with life. So he creates another villain to keep him busy, played by Hill. We told you already, this movie sounds an awful lot like Mystery Men. Oobermind will be produced by Ben Still, just as Mystery Men was... no coincidence. We'll keep you posted!

Quickie: "Machete" Casting News

2007's "Grindhouse," which had two separate features films directed by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino respectively, had faux movie trailers in between the real two features. One of the trailers was for an action picture called "Machete," starring Danny Trejo (Con Air) as a machete-wielding Mexican ex-Federale bent on revenge after being double-crossed by a corrupt state senator named McLaughlin.

Well Robert Rodriguez is now bringing this entertaining little trailer to life in the form of a full-length feature.

Bloody Disgusting has posted some very interesting casting news recently.
Aside from the obvious Danny Trejo being cast as "Machete," they are reporting that Michelle Rodriguez (Fast & Furious) is set to play the character "Luz," Jonah Hill (Superbad) will play "Julio," and the Robert DeNiro will play "Senator McLaughlin."

Hmmm... I can see Michelle Rodriguez cast in this movie. That makes sense.
And Robert DeNiro being cast, while totally awesome, isn't much of a shocker either. Tarantino and DeNiro have strong ties leading back to "Jackie Brown," and seeing how Tarantino and Rodriguez are very close friends, this one is very possible.

The surprise here is Jonah Hill. This news, if true, leads me to believe that the film will probably have the same underlying comedy cheesiness of the original trailer.

Any thoughts?