1636 - Moneyball

So first off, I'm not a sports guy.  I don't hate sports, but outside of the odd football and baseball game when I was younger, I don't think I've ever really sat through an entire game.  It's just not my thing.  I enjoy playing sports.  I like watching them live.  Something about the sport on television however does absolutely nothing for me.  So there's that.
That being said, this was a really enjoying and, hell, riveting film.  Pitt is enjoyable, and I'm by no means the first to say this, but he really feels like a Robert Redford here.  He's wonderfully charming here, as is Jonah Hill.  In a lesser film he would just be the lovable sidekick, but he really brings his own here.  I hate to say it but I really don't know what Phillip Seymour Hoffman is going here.  Feels like a bit of a waste of a good actor - I assume it's cause he and Miller really liked working together on Capote.  Nothing wrong with that.  It's not really an actor's film though, mostly just in that there's no real show piece scenes.  It's just a really compelling story, which is enough in and of itself.  It's no surprise to see Sorkin's name on this, he's a man who really enjoys the behind the scenes of anything, and here it's the background of baseball and trying to figure out a winning formula. 
This is the kind of film that's really worth checking out, but once finished you don't really feel like you'll need to revisit.  It's more about the outcome, this one.  It's actually a great matinee film, I think.  Not to downplay it at all.  One lovely little surprise was the musical number featuring Kerris Dorsey - I even bought it off of iTunes. 
I'm late to this film so I'm sure that everyone who was going to see it has, but I think it's going to be something we see pop it's head back up around award times.  If you're even remotely interested in baseball, or like to see the inner workings of things you might want to check this out.

1437 - The Social Network

I love this poster. In fact, I'm a big fan of their entire marking campaign for this film. I think that the entire world at this point more or less knows about Facebook. It's a site designed to bring people together, but what this film about is how people are torn apart. They don't shove the irony into your face, but it's right there. The performances are riveting in their simplicity. I've loved Eisenberg in everything I've seen him in, and he's great here - not knowing anything about Zuckerberg he felt like a person and not a characature. Justin Timberlake is equally wonder and I really enjoyed everytime he came on scene. The script, by Sorkin, is fantastic. Sorkin is one of our great writers working today. But the biggest surprise to me is the restraight that directed David Fincher shows. FIncher is often a flashier director and he's got a lot of tricks in his bag, but here he just tells the story, and it's elegant in it's simplicity.
I'm really looking forward to re-visiting this film. It's a gem. Some have said that it's the Citizen Kane of our time, and we'll see if time treats it that way, but at the very least it's a damn fine film. Whether you love or loathe Facebook, this film is well worth your attention. It's not just about a website. It's about a culture. It's about us.