Moneyball** (2011) 9.5, 10, 9, 27

          Every once in a while, a story is chosen by God to hit you where you live and help you understand something with which you struggle. For me, Moneyball, though this was my second time watching it, hit a spot that I didn't know was sore and ready for hitting. I'll expound on that as I jump straight into wisdom. I gave this one a 10 for wisdom, which I feel the need to assure you is not common. I'll have to dig briefly into my own philosophy to explain. For quite a while, I have believed that God is intimately involved in the workings of the world. He plans things down to the minutiae. To my mind, he gives us two essential things. Using some language borrowed from a fake religion invented for fiction by Kurt Vonnegut, he gives us wampeters and korasses. A wampeter is some sort of goal or end which we are tasked to achieve and a korass is a group of people with whom we identify. God brings us into korasses to achieve the matter of his wampeters and gives us wampeters to pull together korasses. This philosophy plays out in a very interesting way in Moneyball.
          Brad Pitt plays a very real general manager from Major League Baseball named Billy Beane. Beane begins the film as the GM of the Oakland A's. His goal is to take the A's to a World Series championship. At the very beginning he has already come very close, but is limited by his budget. He simply cannot afford to pay the big names as much as it would require to win, or so it seems. He meets a young baseball exec with a degree from Yale in economics named Peter Brand, played expertly by Jonah Hill. Brand has an unpopular theory about how a team might take advantage of the rest of the league's consistent undervaluing of good players. Here we see a simple korass formed to go with the wampeter they both already have. 
          I would like to point out that if you haven't seen this, I'm going to tell almost all of it to illustrate my point so skip ahead or just watch it and come back
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          But not everyone is in. They have to deal with the world around them not in their select korass, but nonetheless tasked with them, like the owner and the manager and the fans. But they follow the things they have reason to believe in, as well as reevalutate their old ways of doing things and it begins to turn out right. Simultaneously and from early on, we are also made aware of Billy's young daughter. In the end, Billy is very successful but not ultimately successful. He is given a bigger and better chance to accomplish his goal of really changing the game of baseball and he has to choose between the clearest path for his wampeter and the clearest path for the advancement of his korasses, particularly his family and he chooses the korasses.
          A lot of people like me, romantics and idealists tend to push for the accomplishment of goals over the relationships that make up our life. We will sacrifice our closeness with the people we've grown close to for the pursuance of a dream. We are taught to, as a part of our idealism. In the musical, Les Miserables, I can remember the line that makes me cringe, the line that drives forward revolutions and movements all throughout history, "Our little lives don't count at all."
          But Lewis makes the perfect counterpoint in his sermon, The Weight of Glory, “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors." The point here is that we are given missions and we are given friends and I believe truly that the highest mission will always be our friends. For me, this means that all of my dreams, goals, passions, and "missions from God" must stop short of the point where they seem to insist that I sacrifice others on their altars. Whether I must simply leave them behind or kill them or snub them or exploit them, no end is worth using another person as the means.
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          That is it for wisdom, but I also gave it a 9.5 for wit. Here I'd like to begin by spinning a bit of prose praise for Aaron Sorkin. He's not solely responsible for this story or this screenplay but anyone who's seen The Social Network ought to be able to feel the similarities in style. The conversation is not dominated by big lines but feels free and witty without seeming produced. I can best compare him to Shakespeare, not the same caliber, but a very similar talent.
          I am always effusive about Brad Pitt, but he truly hits it right on the head here. His character can be extremely big and flamboyant, but when he's listening to his daughter sing, he melts in the sort of way that would make you melt even if the girl singing wasn't any good (but she is). There are few movie stars like Brad Pitt, that are able to allow a movie to hang around them effortlessly. Most actors who lead a cast look like the weight of the story is on their shoulders, but while this film is very squarely centered on Billy Beane, you almost forget he's there whenever he steps off-screen.
          This is the best Jonah Hill has ever been and I only hope we aren't still saying that in five years. It truly revealed actual acting ability under the comedy guise. He has chops not just the ability to make us laugh. By way of a quick hurrah for Philip Seymour Hoffmann (surprise, surprise), he's really good. He really makes me feel for him. Three others worth mentioning are the cameo by Spike Jonze, one of the funniest things I've seen recently, Kerris Dorsey as Beane's daughter, who both sings hauntingly and acts with depth for one so young, and Chris Pratt, who excites me and  makes me laugh.
          As far as wonder, I also opted for a 9.5. The music was good. I've let my opinion of that out. Beyond that I can think of nothing but the solid and lovely nature of the film as a whole. The director, Bennett Miller, who also directed Capote, does a subtle but impressive job of bringing it all together.
          Well, I'm about to get kicked out of the library. I hope you all enjoy this film if you haven't already and maybe even get something from my rambling philosophy. Enjoyez!

Interlude V: The Interlude

          I'd like to take a break here and talk a little about some of the things I've watched recently that haven't made it on here yet. For fall TV, I've got a couple outright winners so far and some on the cusp. The obvious, "everybody's-already-watching-these" shows for me are Modern Family and Parks and Rec. The best two new shows I've seen are Brooklyn Nine Nine and The Goldbergs.
          The former is the first cop comedy in recent memory. This is a show starring cop characters that is first and foremost a comedy. And it is funny. Andy Samberg is automatic comedy gold. If you didn't already know this, then you must have missed some of my favorite SNL ever. My next favorite is somewhat less known, but Chelsea Peretti is one of the funniest people out there. The whole thing is great and I wholeheartedly endorse it.
          The latter is a solid period (80's) family comedy that has a solid chance. Jeff Garlin is the dad, of which I wholly approve. Patton Oswalt is the narrator as well. It is definitely something I'll be watching.
          I also wholly endorse Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. This won't surprise many, but I'm really happy with the pilot. It absolutely reminds me of Firefly, which I finally watched recently. I didn't finish it, but I will. Joss Whedon continues to impress.
          I still haven't finished Breaking Bad, in case you're wondering, but I'm more excited still for the last season of Mad Men.
          I just started the third season of Eastbound and Down recently and I can't help but think it's one of the funniest shows out there and with a surprising amount of heart. It's got a lot of completely superfluous cursing, which I couldn't care less about, but I appreciate many who do. It can also be a little crude, but very often in the service of something higher.
          There are two Hulu exclusives that I'd like to comment on. The first and better is Moone Boy. This period (also 80's) family comedy is set in Ireland about a young boy with an imaginary friend, played by the hilarious Chris O'Dowd. It is probably my favorite TV format comedy of the year until Community comes back.
          Quick Draw is trying too hard to be Arrested Development in the Old West, but it kind of works. I've only seen the one episode, but I'm kind of excited.
           I've watched a number of movies recently that have fallen short or have left me unsure what to do with them. The first is Safety Not Guaranteed. This film has a lot going for it. First, the premise: "WANTED: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED." Then you add Aubrey Plaza and Mark Duplass and I'm pretty excited. Aubrey has been the light and joy of one of the funniest shows on TV now, Parks and Recreation. Mark Duplass is impressive wherever, though I got tired of his character on The League. The script is good, but there is something confusing towards the end that put me off. If anything I've said makes you excited, watch it. I probably will again, but not just yet.
          One movie I do not recommend is The Dictator. I'm probably behind on this but Sasha Baron Cohen just isn't that funny. I think a lot of the reason I loved Borat, which I really did, is the people who are unaware that there is a joke going on. Without that base level of trickery, there's not much going on.
          I think that's all for now. I promise to pick something good for the 50th post. Thank you to all who read this.