Playin' some baseball

Happy Wednesday. Here's a capsule review (I'm trying to write more concisely these days) about a movie I said I would tell you about...

Bennett Miller’s Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt, was an enjoyable look at what goes on behind the scenes in the world of baseball. I’m still not quite sure what was so radical about the “new way” Pitt’s Billy Beane character selected players, as he just seemed to think outside the box a little more often than his scouts and advisors did, but then I’m not a huge baseball expert. I did enjoy that it was a sports movie that was generous in its subtlety and light on simplistic moments of triumph. The skillful, effective balance of heart and smarts helped, too.

Next up, "The Tree of Life", which Netflix should deposit in my mailbox in the next day or so. That should be an interesting one to sum up in a capsule review!

Strange, fun diversion

I really should be working harder to catch all the Oscar-nominated films I haven't seen yet, in preparation for Sunday night's Academy Awards. I did catch "Rango" last night, though, via Netflix. The movie is up for a Best Animated Feature Oscar. Here's the quick little capsule review of the film that I just put up at Amazon...

Gore Verbinski’s Rango, featuring yet another quirky, endearing performance from Johnny Depp, is a funny, engaging good time. I enjoyed its skillful mix of surreal craziness and straightforward narrative, neither overpowering the other. Watch for all the great tributes to Hollywood films of years past (even one or two that starred Depp himself), as well as the most obvious one: The film’s plot, themes, and even its main antagonist are cleverly and playfully taken from the classic 70’s drama Chinatown, minus that film’s violence and weird familial relationships (so it’s okay for the kids). Cool animation and character design, too!

Next up, I'll tell you what I think of "Moneyball", up for a Best Picture Oscar (as well as a few others). Netflix promised me that one for Thursday!

A brief English lesson

No English dictionary has been able to adequately explain the subtle difference between the words complete and finished, at least in a way that is easy to understand.

Some people, in fact, say there is no real difference between complete and finished. However, we beg to differ, and to illustrate our point offer the following:

If you marry the right woman, you are complete.

If you marry the wrong woman, you are finished.

Oh, and if the right woman catches you with the wrong woman, you are completely finished!

All clear now?