From where I sit, this ruling was a travesty, not only because it discarded the wishes of 7 million Californians who voted for it, but because much of the money to overturn it came from Hollywood elites who are completely out of touch with the heart and soul of America.

Honestly, watching the decision come down from the 9th Circuit was like watching Brad Pitt and Elton John stomp all ever everything that flyover country holds near and dear to its heart. I cite Pitt and John because Pitt gave at least $100,000 to “fight the proposition,” and in Jan. 2011, John played a benefit concert in Beverly Hills that raised $3,000,000 for the same cause.

Of course, these two were not alone. Steven Bing, long time Democrat Party donor and Hillary Clinton supporter, donated $500,000 to the cause, and according to Advocate magazine, Mary J. Blige and Melissa Etheridge were right there in the mix as well. Oh, and we can’t overlook old “Meathead,” Rob Reiner, who opposed Prop 8 when it was on the ballot in 2008 and who’s been “one of the biggest fundraisers behind the legal effort” to overturn it since.

Other prominent Hollywood leftists who are against Prop 8 (and who attended Elton John’s concert as well) were David Geffen, who gave at least $200,000 to defeat Prop 8, Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand, Norman Lear, Matthew Morrison, Jane Lynch, Adam Lambert, Marisa Tomei, Jason Mraz, J.J. Abrams, and “Milk” screenwriter Dustin Lance Black.

Moreover, through a website founded by Will Ferrell, another group of Hollywood personalities did their part to oppose Prop 8 via a video mocking Christians, who are staunch defenders of marriage, and Christ Himself. The Hollywood personalities in the video included Jack Black, Neil Patrick Harris, John C. Reilly, Andy Richter, Maya Rudolph and Margaret Cho.

And of course, what Hollywood v. the Heartland battle would be complete without Keith Olbermann inserting himself into the drama? Back when he still had a job at MSNBC, Olbermann did a PSA to tell everyone in flyover country that gays in California—whom he thoughtfully described as “these people”—just “want the same chance at permanence and happiness that is your option.”

The bottom line: Hollywood trumped the will of salt-of-the-earth Americans once more, and in so doing, reminded everyone of the great divide that exists between celebrities on the far left coast and those whom they count on to watch their movies, listen to their music, etc. Through their efforts, the will of a clear majority of California voters was overturned and marriage redefined in what, sadly, is not a Hollywood production but real life.

Some think her career is pure marketing and her fans believe she’s a real trend setter. There has always been a wide range of opinions about this woman, an entertainer who has enough monikers to be in the witness protection program. As her personal life has evolved through marriages, children and boyfriends, her songs are what are more familiar to people.

For the first time since she became famous, she got to be the star attraction at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. What aspect of her performance did people focus on? Her voice? Nope. What she wore? Not really. Her new song? Sure, a little. Her age? Bingo, report her to AARP, stat!

How dare she try to pull off that type of show as a woman who has experienced more than three decades on the planet? Perish the thought! She has some nerve being on that stage and lifting her leg up at the age of 53. Where are her Mom jeans with the elastic waist? How could she be in high-heeled, thigh high boots when she knows she should be in Easy Spirits? This is even more of an abomination than her performance in “Swept Away.”

Doesn’t she know that woman over 35, let alone 40 in this country, are considered older than Methuselah? You mean she has no clue that she should be referring to herself as “long in the tooth” “an old bag” and a “has-been.” Doesn’t she realize that she has to grow into her date of birth by talking about things she can’t do anymore? Where is her rheumatoid arthritis? COPD? High cholesterol? She should be punished for doing a jumping jack.

Just check the reaction to her performance on social media outlets if you think I am exaggerating.

It is amazing that in 2012, with the way racism and homophobia have been addressed – and rightfully so – that ageism rage against woman is on perpetual mute. Hello, media, I’m talking to you, too.

Let’s substitute Mick Jagger for Madonna at the same age doing the same moves. There would barely be a mention of his cumulative years. I remember when he was 53 and it was a blip, if that. Jagger is now approaching 70, and when he announces a new music project it’s applauded. Harrison Ford (69), George Clooney (51), Denzel Washington (56), Brad Pitt (48) are revered, immortalized and sought after for tons of opportunities without hesitation as to how their crow’s feet or beer bellies may look on the big screen. Regis Philbin got the “Millionaire” gig at almost 70.

TV executives would run over their Bishons before they would hand a new hosting gig to a talented woman in a similar age bracket. Please spare me that Meryl Streep or Helen Mirren still work. That’s because producers know these ladies can deliver no matter what crappy script they are handed. Betty White is getting a little attention now, and that’s because she is making fun of herself.

I wish I had a nickel for every time someone mentioned how old Jennifer Grey was when she appeared on “Dancing with the Stars.” When Susan Lucci wrote her autobiography last year every interviewer wanted to focus on her age and why she didn’t mention hot flashes in her book.

The realm of politics is no better. Hillary Clinton’s age is highlighted constantly as to how she would be too old if she were to to run for President, yet John McCain was how old and could barely communicate – I rest my case (this has nothing to do with who I would vote for).

This cuts across, race, income bracket and political persuasions. I thought liberal Democrats were suppose to be so open, so unwilling to judge. Ha! I have never seen so much judgment since my last family gathering. As for conservative Republicans, don’t be so full of yourselves. You’re just as bad. This isn’t a bi-partisan problem. This is a life problem.

We need to stop taking someone’s age and putting them in categories based on physical and emotional expectations. Everyone has different experiences, lifestyles, choices and genetics.

These judgments are printed and said out loud, and then they seep into people’s minds and become embedded in society. It halts opportunities and, let’s be realistic, at the rate we’re all going, our work years are increasing and we need to be open to all age brackets of people working and not just the twenty something crowd. There is no true price for good experience, no matter what the profession.

Similar to the opinions of Madonna on a more miniscule level, you will either like or dislike this article depending on what your mindset is. However, if I can get you to take a moment to think about your daughter, niece, mother or grandmother and think about the injustices, then I have communicated effectively. “Like a Prayer,” I hope things at the very least change for our girls who growing up now.

Speaking of Jim, he was kind of enough to provide the review of “Moneyball” below. You can find more of Jim’s reviews, as well as his weekly podcast, over at The Film Thugs, as well as older episodes of HomeVideodrome. -Hunter

There are sports movies that aren’t really about sports. Some are pretty heavy-handed about it, like “Remember the Titans” (racism is bad), others are more subtle, like “Million Dollar Baby” (redemption), and others cast the sport in a very small supporting role, like “Brian’s Song” (the power of a friendship, and no, I’m not crying, the room is just dusty and I have allergies!).

“Moneyball” falls in the middle category. On the surface it is about the struggling Oakland A’s trying to compete against teams with much higher budgets. If taken just as that, it’s a solid underdog sports film. However, if that’s all you get from it, you are missing a fantastic and innovative movie.

Beyond the simple underdog angle, this is the story of a man who challenged the very foundations of one of the pillars of America itself. Baseball doesn’t cotton to change. The idea of doing something new or different in baseball is… well, it’s easier to change the U.S. Constitution. To give you an idea, the designated hitter (being able to substitute a person to hit in place of the pitcher without removing the pitcher from the game) was introduced in 1973, and there are still people who view it as cheating. Basically, you don’t mess with baseball.

So when Oakland manager Billy Beane decides to go against 100 years of baseball tradition by ignoring the instincts of scouts in favor of a statistical approach… well, he would have been viewed more favorably had he killed someone on field during a game.

What makes the film so engaging is that it focuses on the drama of two outsiders who have the audacity to state that instead of signing players based on how nice their swing looks or how fluid their pitching motion is, that things like on base percentage, the ability to draw walks, or a low ERA might be a better barometer of potential.

Add to this innovative editing as well as striking visual and sound design, and you have a solid and surprising film that is more reminiscent of “The Social Network” than any sports film.

Not only are the story and style outstanding, but also the performances are fantastic. Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman deliver the type of solid performance you have come to expect, and Jonah Hill gives by far the best performance of his career and shows that there is a lot more to him than his light comedy resume would lead you to believe.

It might sound like a dry film meant just for baseball fans, but I cannot stress enough how much more it is. This is a movie about what people can do if they just step back from the expected norms and stay true to their beliefs. Even if you don’t care for baseball that much, there is a lot going on here for you to enjoy.
- Jim Dirkes

Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Amazon Instant

Other Noteworthy Releases

Boardwalk Empire – The Complete First Season: I’m a fan of the gangster genre, and I’m too cheap to pay for cable packages that have thousands of channels I’ll never watch, so I’ve been chomping at the bit to catch up with this show, which sports an impressive pedigree of talent in front of, and behind the camera. As Jim noted on the podcast this week, Scorsese had to make a lot of movies before he won the Oscar, yet he directs one episode of television and walks home with an Emmy.

Available on Blu-ray and DVD

Killer Elite: Even though I’m always happy to get action flicks starring rugged-looking dudes like Jason Statham and Clive Owen (Robert De Niro isn’t really a selling point these days), “Killer Elite” didn’t grab me while it was in the theater. Seems like one I’ll catch up with whenever it rolls around for availability on the ol’ Netflix Instant queue.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Amazon Instant

There Be Dragons: Roland Joffe hasn’t done much since “The Mission”, and what little he has done in the meantime hasn’t been exactly been up to scratch (I was shocked to his name attached to a cheap Saw cash-in like “Captivity”). “There Be Dragons” looks to be more in the vein of his earlier historical epics, dealing with heavy subjects such as the Spanish Civil War and Saint Josemaria Escriva.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Amazon Instant

Higher Ground: Vera Farmiga’s directorial debut, in which she also stars as a woman living in a strict-yet-warm religious community.  This one flew under the radar in 2011, but people I trust who saw it said they really enjoyed it.

Available on Blu-ray/DVD combo and Amazon Instant

1911: Jackie Chan takes on an unorthodox role for him in this Chinese historical epic about the revolt against the Qing Dynasty.  Period epics have been a staple of Chinese cinema since people there started making movies, yet it feels like they’re getting bigger, and becoming more frequent.

Available on Blu-ray and DVD

The Scorpion King 3: Billy Zane, Ron Perlman, AND Kimbo Slice?! I’ll admit, it’s tempting.

Available on Blu-ray, DVD, and Amazon Instant

Never Been Kissed: A supposedly-ugly Drew Barrymore goes undercover at a high school and attracts one of her teachers in a premise that would be kinda creepy if it happened in real life.

Available on Blu-ray

Shallow Hal: Remember when Jack Black could still star in movies?

Available on Blu-ray

Legally Blonde: I’ll proudly admit that if this comes on TV… I’ll watch it. I’m not ashamed! Okay, maybe just a bit. This was back when Reese Witherspoon was poised to be the next “America’s sweetheart,” since people had thankfully grown tired of Julia Roberts.  It didn’t pan out. But the idea of the movie star is rapidly becoming irrelevant, and it seems Hollywood currently lacks a sweetheart (despite the limp bids by Katherine Heigl). Today, America’s sweetheart is branding.

Available on Blu-ray

Just Married: In case you haven’t noticed, we’re getting rom-coms shotgunned at us this week. “Just Married” is the sort of disposable fluff we’ve come to expect from Shawn Levy, but this one getting a re-release has me thinking about the decline and tragic sudden death of Brittany Murphy. Hollywood chews up the ladies and spits them out; some of them survive, others aren’t so lucky.

Available on Blu-ray

When Harry Met Sally: If you hit up one romantic comedy on Blu-ray this week, you don’t need me to tell you that this is the best of the lot. We discussed in this week’s podcast how Nora Ephron’s script does a good job giving “the male perspective,” never devolving into the “am I right ladies??” humor that plagues sitcoms today.

Available on Blu-ray

Film Socialisme: Jean-Luc Godard’s latest fit of intellectual wankery. On the one hand, I respect that Godard never stopped being a film critic after he started making movies. But as his career progressed, he slowly disappeared up his own ass, as the films he made became boring and often unwatchable (I angrily stormed out of a screening of the wretched “Tout Va Bien!” starring Hanoi Jane during a film course in college). This one is apparently about how movies and art in general can be anything to anyone, or something. I don’t think I’ll ever bother to find out. The trailer is the whole movie crammed into a minute, so that’s kinda neat and stupid at the same time.

Available on Blu-ray and DVD

“Tree of Life” grossed a pretty pathetic $13 million, “Happy Feet Two” grossed an abysmal $60 million, and “Moneyball” grossed only an okay $75 million. But in this market, where the concept of the movie star is all but dead, Brad Pitt was named the “top money-making star of the year.”

Number two was George Clooney who released two films this year that probably won’t gross $90 million combined.

Bosses at Quigley Publishing Company have asked theatre owners and film buyers to vote for their top 10 box office generators and this year exhibitors credited Pitt with bringing in more traffic than any other celebrity due to his acting and/or vocal appearances in Moneyball, The Tree of Life, and Happy Feet Two.

Coming in at number two was Pitt’s pal George Clooney for both The Ides of March and The Descendants, and last year’s winner, Johnny Depp, fell to third with The Rum Diary, Rango and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, Robert Downey, Jr., Meryl Streep and Ben Stiller, also placed on the list and in that order.

As if Hollywood didn’t already have plenty to be depressed about.

—–

“Two” welcomes Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Pink, Hank Azaria and Sofia Vergara to the celebrated cast, while Elijah Wood and Robin Williams return (and Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman float on).

Tap-dancing penguin Mumble (Wood) is back and is now a group leader in his community. He is also a new father to cutie penguin Erik (Ava Acres), who is desperately trying to fit in by following his father’s footsteps but is stumbling along the way.

Once an outsider for his dancing, Mumble discovers quickly that coaching Erik to unleash his own talents isn’t easy, nor is being a parent a snap. Mumble’s mate Gloria (a singing showcase for Pink) encourages him to give their little guy some time before pressuring him to find himself.

After Mumble’s terrible pep talk, Erik decides that he’s miserable enough to run away from home with two of his buddies, which seems very rushed considering it’s still the beginning of the film. Also, Erik appears to be a young boy, not a teenager, so the fact that he ran away seems a bit unusual as well.

Erik and his friends run into Ramon (a scene-stealing Williams) who takes them to his community where they all meet the high and mighty Sven (Azaria), a Swedish puffin that’s disguised himself as a “flying penguin.” Erik begins to look up to Sven as a father figure, while Mumble burns with jealousy. Mumble upsets his son even more by telling him “he will never be able to fly.”

Ramon continues his search for the perfect mate when love hits him in the face and he falls for the beautiful Carmen (Vergara). Of course Carmen resists Ramon at first and their back and forth relationship is a fun subplot in the film, one that I wanted to see more of.

As if the dispute between father and son isn’t enough, more tension erupts when climate change pushes a gigantic iceberg towards the neighborhood of penguins, trapping them in with some elephant seals and humans.

Will the Krill (Pitt) and Bill the Krill (Damon), a smart and thankful addition to the sequel, end up turning their subplot into a hilarious focal point of the film. The goofy duo embark on an idiotic adventure to prove that they are better than the rest of the bottom of the food chain and test what it’s like to be a predator. Sounds dumb, but it is downright genius and a save to the overall plot of the film.

Will and Bill the Krills stealing the show in ‘Happy Feet Two’

Pitt and Damon steal the show or at least seem to be having more fun than everyone else. Lucky for them, their storyline doesn’t lose steam like Mumble and Erik’s.

The original film doubles as a musical, as does “Two,” with an energetic performance of Queen and David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” featuring the entire cast of characters during the movie’s climax. For part “Two,” Pink sings the original song “Bridge of Light,” a tune which could garner a Best Song nomination come Oscar time.

Overall, “Happy Feet Two” is still an appropriate family friendly movie, but it lacks the energetic and charming storyline of the original.

The week we have one of the best movies of the year coming to Blu-ray, Terrence Malick’s ‘The Tree of Life.’ I was hoping for a Criterion release of this, but I’ll take what I can get (rumor has it a longer cut is on the way). The only special feature to speak of is a making-of that features appreciations of Malick’s work from great filmmakers like David Fincher and Christopher Nolan, which should be worth checking out for that alone. Seeing ‘Tree of Life’ on the big screen was damn near a religious experience, I have a hard time imagining that it has the same effect at home, depending on the set-up you’re watching it on.

‘Tree of Life’ divided audiences; I went to see it twice in the theater, and both times I saw a handful of people walk out, usually during the bit with the dinosaurs. Friends who went to the theater to watch it reported seeing the same thing. Malick has become far less conventional as a filmmaker as his career has progressed, getting more and more abstract with each film. In ‘Life,’ it appears the man has almost abandoned narrative altogether, making for a film that is far less accessible than, say, ‘Badlands.’ Also, having names like Brad Pitt and Sean Penn on the poster may given some people the wrong idea as to what sort of a movie ‘Tree of Life’ is instead of having a cast simply made up of unknowns.

Regardless, it’s audacious filmmaking that hits on massive themes and deals with small, everyday events on the most enormous scale imaginable. The story of the movie has a small coming-of-age tale at its heart, but it places the theme of personal loss in the context of the very miracle of life itself. It’s a film that tugs out deep emotions in the most gentle manner possible, never resorting to cheaply manipulating the audience. If you connect with it, it’s a film that will haunt you long after you see it.

Many critics praised ‘Tree of Life’ with a big asterisk, citing the film’s Christian worldview as a major sticking point, as though Malick is somehow obligated to set aside his Episcopalian beliefs in order to please the intelligentsia. Malick fills ‘Life’ with a tone of complete sincerity that seems like a bold artistic choice in today’s world of cynical, detached hipster irony. If you missed ‘Tree of Life,’ do yourself a favor and check it out now that it’s available, because to me, it is one of the truly great films of 2011.

Available on Blu-ray/DVD combo

On the opposite end of the spectrum, we go from one of the best movies of the year to one of the worst.  The idea of a studio doing a monster-budget Green Lantern movie seemed absurd to me from the beginning, given that the property is one that resides in DC Comic’s second tier. However, as Marvel was able to elevate Iron Man from a second- to first-tier character in their roster with their wildly successful Robert Downey, Jr. film series, it seemed Warner Bros. and DC were looking to follow suit. It didn’t work.

‘Green Lantern’ represents a master class in what not to do when attempting to bring a superhero to mainstream audience.  Great superhero films like ‘Superman: The Movie,’ ‘Spider-Man,’ and ‘Batman Begins’ do a great job of establishing a comic-book mythology by showing it to us. Bad superhero films, like ‘Green Lantern,’ info-dump you before the opening credits even have a chance to roll, with a British actor doing an austere voice over. Whenever this happens, it’s almost always means the movie you’re about sit through won’t be great because that technique epitomizes lazy storytelling. With Green Lantern, it’s all downhill from there.

It’s nice to see your superhero go through some kind of struggle to become the hero they are, be it via overcoming some sort of trauma or personal tragedy (‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Batman’) or through a serious trial by fire that changes the hero’s outlook on life (‘Iron Man’). Like any good character, they need an arc that comes about through a struggle. In ‘Green Lantern,’ our hero, Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), has his powers handed to him by a dying alien, but we never get the idea that the powers bestowed upon him are the life-altering force they clearly should be apart from what we see on the surface.

The movie tries to sell us the idea that Hal’s big struggle is overcoming his “fear,” but this never comes through in Reynolds’ performance, who plays the same wisecracking douchebag he’s played in every other comic book movie he’s been in.  Other characters in the film constantly tell the audience that Hal is full of fear, and at some point, he just kind of overcomes it when he needs to beat the bad guy. Big deal. A good film wouldn’t feel the need to constantly remind us of this, because it would be evident in the character and the storytelling, but it’s not with this one, and therefore we are meant to accept this element because the film flat out tells us we should.

‘Green Lantern’ suffers from a laundry list of other problems that I covered in my review when it came out, problems that I doubt the extended cut on the Blu-ray can remedy. The film is also available in a 3D edition which, sadly, doesn’t compensate for the 2D writing and characterization (yeah, that was too easy, but if the movie’s gonna be cheap, then so will I).  Apparently, a sequel is happening; I hope for the sake of diehard fans that the new Lantern learns from the mistakes made here.

Also, fun fact: this movie was almost a wacky comedy starring Jack Black.  Yep, that almost happened.

Available on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray, and DVD

Other Noteworthy Releases

Horrible Bosses: Even when I think the film he’s in is completely horrible, I find Jason Bateman to be an extremely enjoyable presence.

Available on Blu-ray and DVD

Zookeeper: If Happy Madison productions have taught me anything, it’s that Adam Sandler is very, very good to his friends.  If only his friends were funny.

Available on Blu-ray and DVD

Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead: Joe Cross’s chronicle of his juicefast transformation has gotten a lot of positive buzz, be sure to check out Big Hollywood assistant editor Christian Toto’s review.

Available on DVD

The Four Feathers: Zoltan Korda’s 1939 Technicolor epic about British soldiers in Africa, based on the novel by A. E. W. Mason.  Available from Criterion.

Available on Blu-ray and DVD

The Bad Seed: The classic evil-kid movie comes to Blu-ray.

Available on Blu-ray

The Family Man: Just watch It’s a Wonderful Life again instead.

Available on Blu-ray/DVD combo

Maniac Cop: This entertaining eighties slasher flick was written by Larry Cohen and features performances from two B-movie heroes with awesome chins: Bruce Campbell and Robert Z’Dar.

Available on Blu-ray

Jet Li Blu-ray Collection: This three pack of excellent Jet Li films includes The Legend (also known as The Legend of Fong Sai-yuk), Fist of Legend, and Tai Chi Master.

Available on Blu-ray

This post originally appeared over at Parcbench

This weekend’s predictions and projected revenue results go as follows:

1. Real Steel ($26 million) – The sci-fi action is its big sell, but the film’s focus on its father and son relationship will help fuel word of mouth. The flick will easily venture past openings posted by Contagion and other recent original IPs.

2. The Ides Of March ($12 million) – The major film critics may support them, but overall audience disenchantment is a long-established fact with these political message films. These productions have become so clichéd anyway, most viewers feel they can predict their entire plots; where’s the excitement in that? Add to this the lackluster box office results the genre has consistently pulled over the past few years, and the film will definitely struggle to find an audience. Look for, at best, only sub-par results here.

3. Dolphin Tale ($10 million) – This film now holds the cards and is playing with dealer’s money. Lion King 3D has shifted focus to its Blu-ray release, which gives Dolphin free reign to draw sizable family audiences. It could even overtake Ides Of March if audience ratings for that film really sink.

4. Moneyball ($9.2 million) – A break in the baseball playoff schedule will allow more of the film’s target audience to fuel the film’s Blind Side-like run. Because of this, look for Moneyball to stay close behind Dolphin Tale, picking up bigger numbers over the later weekend days.

5. Courageous ($6 million) – Historically, these Kendrick brothers’ films have solid legs at the box office, and Courageous will likely post an even better take than Fireproof did in its second week. Considering how the film was only produced for only 2 million dollars, you have to like those numbers.

All our best wishes go out to this weekend’s releases and you, the viewer.

—–

The film tells the true story of Billy Beane (Brad Pitt), the general manager of the Oakland Athletics who faced a dilemma after the 2001 season. His underdog baseball team lost some of its best players and had only a small payroll with which to replace them. Beane had to start over and build a new team without the financial resources of the New York Yankees or the Boston Red Sox, for example.

Pitt plays Beane as an optimistic and underestimated GM who knows how to make the most of a tough situation. Beane also knows how to negotiate good deals with his rival teams. In one well-done scene, Beane manipulates, cajoles, and connives other general managers so he can get the players that he wants at a cost he can afford.

Throughout the story, Beane is assisted by Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a nerdy baseball analyst who looks at the game differently than recruiters and baseball experts. Instead of building a team through players, Brand advocates building a team through wins. That means evaluating undervalued players more carefully and determining whether or not those players have the ability to get on base.

Getting on base is important; being able to demand a multi-million dollar salary is not.

There are a lot of important themes that run through this story of Beane assembling a team that Brand refers to as an “Island of Misfit Toys.” One of the most important aspects of the story is the creativity that Beane uses to build a quality team without paying enormous salaries for overpriced players. The underdog message in this story is clear but it’s never played for sentimental value. The story isn’t about an underdog beating the odds and squashing the big-timers; it’s about a GM who built a team through a unique method and fought for players that other teams wouldn’t think of drafting.

As a baseball fan, I was impressed by how intelligent “Moneyball” actually is about the sport. There are some sports movies that use the sports as a starting off point and never really involve the audience in getting to know the sport itself. “Moneyball” doesn’t do that. It shows players, managers and coaches doing what they do every day. Art Howe, the A’s manager, is played by Philip Seymour Hoffman with the gruffness and the intensity that could be expected from a coach who watches as his GM makes wild choices about the team.

“Moneyball” also uses flashbacks well to show Beane’s history as a failed player himself.  That experience helps Beane make certain decisions throughout the story as he defies the experts and helps create a strong team.

“Moneyball” is a well-written and incredibly smart story about overcoming the odds, baseball, and the idea that building a baseball team doesn’t require a massive payroll.

In an interview, Penn said of his supporting role in “Terence Malick’s “Tree of Life”:

I didn’t at all find on the screen the emotion of the script, which is the most magnificent one that I’ve ever read. A clearer and more conventional narrative would have helped the film without, in my opinion, lessening its beauty and its impact. Frankly, I’m still trying to figure out what I’m doing there and what I was supposed to add in that context! What’s more, Terry himself never managed to explain it to me clearly.

The quote can be found in the New Yorker, where writer Richard Brody attempts to defend Malick with what can only be described as nonsense: “Penn brings an acid yellow to the glass-and-metal grays of his scenes”.

Whatever.

As a fan of Malick’s “Badlands” and “The New World,” I was eager to see “Tree,” and did so in Hollywood at the ArcLight Theatre, which might be THE premiere place on the planet for upscale movie-lovers to ply their trade. After 139 confusing, frustrating minutes the credits finally rolled, the tension in the audience broke, and more than a few people broke out laughing — and not in a good way.

“Tree of Life” has its moments, but for the most part is a pretentious mess. For what seems like a half-hour, you witness Creation — from the Big Bang to dinosaurs to Brad Pitt — and then the narrative settles down into the story of a boy’s complicated relationships with his father (Pitt) in the idyllic rural ‘burbs of 1950’s America. The only problem is that this part of the movie is told in a way that’s obviously supposed to represent the jumbled way in which we all remember our childhoods. It’s all flashes and snips and bits and pieces, and after a while you just stop caring.

But the oddest parts of the film involve Penn, who plays one of the Pitt character’s grown sons (I was never sure which one). His scenes, which kind of bookend the film, simply don’t belong. In fact, the film would probably be better without his “acid yellow” because it would ease up on the confusion and pretension.  

One of the most difficult parts of being an actor has to be the trust they offer the director. Once the actual shoot is over, the actor has no control of what the director will do with all that footage. While the actor moves on to the next project the director spends months in a dark room editing together a performance — creating whatever they want. Unless the actor enjoys the unique and rare privilege of final cut approval, they’re forced to let go of the wheel for a year and then hold their breath during the cast and crew screening. That has to be terrifying.

Penn (who worked with Malick before on “The Thin Red Line”) obviously trusted the auteur and fell victim to whatever happened between script and final cut. And I don’t blame him for being frustrated with what finally ended up on screen. Penn’s an excellent director in his own right and therefore understands how the process works as well as anyone. I would’ve been horrified to see my performance relegated to that disjointed afterthought — and I don’t have two Oscars.

“Tree of Life” is a noble failure, however; an ambitious director pushing himself to create a feeling — and succeeding at times. The problem is that he’s unable to sustain that feeling over 139 minutes. Obviously Malick’s feeling his age (67) and The Big Questions feel more pressing then ever — questions about where we came from and, more importantly, where we go next. “Tree of Life” tries to give us the answers, or at the very least, hope, which is worth something. But that’s the stuff of a fascinating late night conversation, not a film — where themes require the vehicle of a story.

But I still love movies, and I still have hope that Hollywood is going to accidentally let slip though its paws at least a couple films this year that don’t insult my intelligence, that don’t hector me with pinko propaganda, and that don’t derive from some obscure comic book beloved by a cult of social misfit fanboys whose idea of a romantic evening is a hi-speed Internet connection, a two-liter bottle of Pepsi, and an old tube sock.  

And I love trailers too.  I hate commercials in front of movies, but there can never be too many trailers.  Each new trailer is like a bright new dawn or a just-poured pint of draft Dos Equis lager – full of hope and promise.  Sure, most of the time that hope and promise fades when Kevin James waddles on-screen to make a fart joke, but still….there are moments where something awesome blows your mind.  

Those rare, fleeting moments where a trailer teases you with the promise of a great story, an exciting adventure, a hilarious romp…where you think “Wow, that looks cool!”…where you just know that as funny as the jokes the trailer reveals are, the ones that await in the movie itself will be even funnier…they make sitting through the crap worth it.  That’s what makes me love trailers – trailers have the power to remind us that movies don’t have to suck.  

With that in mind, in descending order of how awful they look to me, let’s check out just some of the movies that are coming down the pike in the next few months….  

Final Destination 5  (Due August 12, 2011):  

This latest entry in this apparently never-ending series of gore-soaked exercises in armchair sadism raises an important question:  Why do we allow people who pay to see these movies to vote?  

I am not saying that the kind of brain-dead quarter-wits who would plop down $15 of dough that probably came from some government handout are responsible for this administration and the Democratic majority in the Senate, but I’m not not saying it.  For the sake of our nation, I propose an amendment to our Constitution that forever bars anyone buying a ticket to a Final Destination film from ever again exercising the right to vote.   

On the up side, the special effects look okay.  Pass.  

The Adventures of TinTin (Due December 23, 2011):  

Finally, Steven Spielberg has given in to the public clamor for a motion capture movie based on some Belgian comic strip that no one in any country that matters has ever heard of about a creepy-looking kid and his stupid dog.  

At the threshold, motion capture technology can’t yet bridge the uncanny valley and always tends to create there weird characters that cause you to spend the whole movie thinking “If that thing comes near me I’ll kill it with a rake.”   

So, instead of using the technology in a limited way to spice up live action with some strange being – like Gollum in Lord of the Rings – they make it the whole movie and it’s almost always a disaster.  You’ll notice how this post does not refer to the upcoming Polar Express 2: The Revenge.  

Second, comic book movies are awful enough, but a Belgian comic book?  Belgium is like France without the good parts.  Pass.  

30 Minutes or Less (August 12, 2011):  

I’m a traditionalist and I like my comedies funny, which is why I’m not looking forward to this one.  Apparently inspired by the incident where some poor pizza guy was blown apart by a psycho who clipped a bomb to him to force him to rob a bank, this features the same general scenario with the addition of lots of people shouting, making funny faces, swearing and driving cars badly.  There’s your comedy gold; I’m eagerly awaiting to their hilarious spoof of the Rwanda genocide.   

A little of stars Jesse Eisenberg and Danny McBride goes a long way, light years in fact.  Aziz Ansari is there too and he’s kind of funny.  But this just looks agonizing.  Pass.  

Killer Elite (Due September 23, 2011):  

No.  No, it’s not a remake of the awesome, quirky 1975 Sam Peckinpah masterpiece The Killer Elite.  In that, James Caan, Robert Duvall, Burt Young and a bunch of other studs fought World War III all over the San Francisco Bay Area.  It kicked more ass than John Boehner could ever get in line.  

But this…what a waste.  I like Jason Stratham, I really do, but he’s becoming to playing invincible killing machines what Michael Cera is to playing quirky millennial smartasses.  This is the same karate-kicking, gun-wielding, unstoppable guy he’s been in every movie he’s ever made – it needs to end.  In fact, the whole invulnerable, unstoppable hero trope needs to end.  Move on!  There’s no suspense – super death dealer guy gets wronged, he seeks vengeance, he wins.  We’ve seen it a zillion times before, but I’m not seeing it again.  

And De Niro’s in it.  De Niro!  What, did he invest with Madoff or something?  You can practically see him mentally endorsing his paycheck as he goes through the motions in the explodey/shooty trailer.  And I usually like movies that are explodely and shooty.  Pass.  

Just for a taste of what could have been, here’s the kick-ass Suisun Bay mothball fleet climax of the original.  Savor:  

Real Steel (Due October 7, 2011):  

I can hear just the pitch that got this made: “Think Rocky meets Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, and best of all, we don’t have to pay Stallone or Mattel a dime!”  

Okay, so big robots box.  There’s that.  Oh, and there is a kid too, of course.  He’s wise beyond his years.  Didn’t see that coming.  And Hugh Jackman is a down on his luck boxer who needs to teach a robot to fight to save his relationship with his kid.  But the real question is, can he teach the robot to love?  

Kill me.  Pass.  

Immortals (Due November 11, 2011):  

I think I liked this CGI swords, sandals and screaming movie better when it was titled 300.  

Sure, it looks impressive, if you like watching CGI renderings in slow motion and digitally enhanced bloodletting.  But then the actors open their mouths and it’s all downhill from there.  If the best dialogue they could find is in the trailer, what aural torment awaits us in the theater?  I hope they think to include subtitles translating Cliché into English.    

And I’m exhausted by movies about unbeatable sword guys who literally mow down hundreds of faceless, nameless opponents without a receiving scratch, though they do break a sweat – all these guys seem to literally glisten.  It’s boring.  And it’s creepy.  Pass.  

Moneyball (Due September 23, 2011):  

Now, you need to understand that I detest spectator sports – particularly baseball – with a venom I usually reserve for liberal social programs, Red Lobster, and Rage Against the Machine.  Which is why the trailer for this film, the true story of an Oakland A’s manager who apparently radically changed the game, is so good.  I can’t wait to see it.  

Let’s look at why, because it illustrates what Hollywood can do to get people like me back into those stained, stinky seats.  The trailer introduces the conflict – an impoverished ball club on the rocks – and then hints at how it will be solved – by interesting characters coloring outside the lines.  Add the incomparable charisma of Brad Pitt, plus some solid dialogue and some fine technical work (the cinematography and direction look fantastic) and you have a movie that adults want to see.  The fact that the trailer is expertly cut to hint at the story and pique our interest without giving away the entire plot only helps.  

Now, I know from the sports fans who pester me with their yammering all the time that there is a lot more to this real-life story than what is on this trailer.  But the point is that I want to find out.  I want to know the story; I want the movie to take me into world that I know (and, frankly, care) nothing about and show me how it works.  That’s what makes a great movie – and a movie I will plop down my $30 to take my hot wife to see.  I’m there.  Go!  

So there it is – an enormous amount of crap, but maybe a few little nuggets of gold as well.  Remember that we get crap in large part because people pay to see crap.  Don’t see crap.  Instead, criticize, mock and disrespect crappy movies with a vengeance.  This is important – stupidity needs to be mocked or bad things happen, like Obamacare and Lady Gaga.  But good stuff – well, you need to support it.  

Happy movie-going!