September 22, 2011 | 12:20 pm

Two Jews on Film give competing ‘bagel’ ratings to ‘Moneyball’ [VIDEO]

Posted by Joan Alperin-Schwartz (video by Joan and John Schwartz)

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Brad Pitt in 'Moneyball'

First thing I must say is…I basically know nothing about sports. I do watch the Super Bowl but only for the commercials. That said, I absolutely loved ‘Money Ball’. Which goes to prove, that you don’t have to be a baseball fan, to think that this film, written by Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaillan and directed by Bennett Miller, is absolutely wonderful.

Brad Pitt portrays real life Baseball legend, Billy Beanne. I’m sure there are many people out there that have no idea who Mr. Beanne is…I being one of them. But I do now. Beanne, once a promising baseball player, is the General Manager of the Oakland A’s. But not just any General Manager.

When ‘Moneyball’ begins Brad Pitt says…‘There are rich teams…There are poor teams…Then there is us’.

The year is 2002. The Oakland A’s has a payroll of 40 million dollars…while the Yankees’s payroll is $126 million. More money buys better players. Billy Beanne has to find a competitive advantage when it comes to assembling a winning team.

He doesn’t have alot of cash…but what he does have is…Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) a Harvard graduate with a degree in economics. So what the hell does Peter know about baseball?. Turns out plenty. Brand used statiscal data to analyze the value of a baseball player. He was able to see what the Scouts couldn’t…What a player did last year, was not what he’d do the following year. Sound boring? Trust me…It’s not.

Story continues after the jump.

Billy Beanne changed the face of baseball. He went against tradition and turned Baseball on its ear.

Billy and Peter’s relationship is the heart of this film and Brad and Jonah are fantastic together. Sorkin and Zaillan’s brilliant dialogue gives ‘Moneyball’ (based on Michael Lewis’s book) its humanity…Making it a movie for sports lovers as well as non sports lovers.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman is almost unrecognizable as the Oakland A’s Manager, Art Howe. He totally transforms himself. You think you’re watching an old man instead of an actor in his 40’s. That’s how good he is.

Jonah Hill gives a beautiful, subtle performance and for the first time, I really enjoyed watching him.

As for Brad Pitt, well when Oscar nominations come around, I know his name will be the first one called. That’s how excellent his work is in this film.

I gave ‘Moneyball’ five bagels out of five with everything on them. As for the other half of ‘Two Jews On Film’, John, well he had a very different opinion. Luckily I get to write the reviews and therefore, I have the last word. If you’d like to know his bagel score, check out our video.

‘Moneyball’ opens in theaters Friday September 23, 2011. Do not miss this gem.

September 15, 2011 | 11:22 am

Two Jews on Film: ‘Drive’ review

Posted by Joan Alperin-Schwartz (video by Joan and John Schwartz)

Ryan Gosling is ‘Driver’. He drives…fast…very fast…If you’re a burglar, he’s your go-to guy. Just make sure you get the job done in five minutes. Because that’s all you got…One minute late, Driver is gone.

Now, driving a get-a-way car is Driver’s night job. His day job is slightly more glamorous. Driver is a stunt driver for movies…That is, when he’s not working as a mechanic, for Shannon (Bryan Cranston) who just happens to be the Driver’s agent and manager as well.

Shannon is a man with a dream. He wants to fund a stock car for Driver to race on the professional circut. Enter…Bernie (Albert Brooks) a former movie producer, who is now a full blown crook tied to the mob. Yes they are still around…Anyway, after seeing Driver in action at the speedway, Bernie insists that his childhood friend and business partner, Nino (Ron Pearlman) join them in this venture. Shannon has no choice, but to agree. He’s not very fond of Nino. Afterall, a while back the dude fractured Shannon’s pelvis.

Meanwhile, when he’s not driving, Driver spends alot of time with his neighbor, Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her young son. Driver likes Irene alot. We know this because he looks deep into her eyes, while cheesy music plays in the background. But before they can sail off into the sunset together, Irene’s husband, Standard (Oscar Isaac) is released from prison. Bummer…

Now it turns out, Standard owes these two nasty guys (who coincidentally happen to be Bernie and Nino) alot of money and if he doesn’t pay it back, Irene and her son might meet a very bad fate.

Story continues after the jump.

The Driver of course, will do anything to protect Irene and her son…So he agrees to help Standard get the money he owes.

I won’t tell you what how or what happens next. Wouldn’t want to spoil this over the top, excessively violent, borderline cartoonish film, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn (The Pusher) Nicolas is a Danish dude, who I think wants very badly to be the next Quentin Tarrantino. Unfortunately I don’t see that happening…Not with this film, anyway.

I don’t have a problem with violence, but when you hear bones crack, again and again and again as Driver pulvarizes some poor guy’s face…Well, I wasn’t the only one in the audience laughing.

John and I once again agree…(Now I’m really starting to worry)...Check out our video to see how many bagels we gave this film.

‘Drive’ opens in theaters Friday, September 16, 2011. Wait for the dvd.

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September 9, 2011 | 9:23 pm

Two Jews on Film: ‘Contagion’ Review

Posted By Joan Alperin Schwartz (Video by Joan and John Schwartz)

'Contagion' opens in theaters Friday September 9, 2011.

An international traveler reaches into the snack bowl at an airport bar before passing her credit card to a waiter. A business meeting begins with a round of handshakes. A man coughs on a crowded bus.

One contact. One instant. And a lethal virus is transmitted.

Great premise. Great beginning. but unfortunately, that’s not enough to make a great film.

‘Contagion’ directed by Steven Soderbergh and written by Scott Z Burns (The Informant) succeeds in showing us how fast a virus can spread. It also makes you think that becoming an agoraphobic isn’t such a bad idea.

Beth Emhoff (Gwyneth Paltrow) returns to Minneapolis from a business trip in Hong Kong. Two days later, she’s dead in the ER and the doctors tell her shocked and grieving husband (Matt Damon) that they have no idea why.

Soon other people start to exhibit the same mysterious symptoms: hacking coughs and fever, followed by seizures, brain hemorrhage (ouch) and ultimately…death. Not a pretty way to go.

Quickly this nasty virus spreads….Chicago, London, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong, China, and Los Angeles. The number of cases quickly multiply…one case becomes four, then sixteen, then hundreds, thousands, and finally millions.

A global pandemic explodes. Okay, sounds exciting, right? Not so much.

Story continues after the jump.

It doesn’t take long for ‘Contagion’ to get bogged down in scientific mumbo jumbo, government conspiracy theories…thanks to blogger Jude Law, and the obligatory B story line of Matt Damon finding out his dead wife cheated on him and his daughter pissed off that she can’t lock lips with her dorky boyfriend.

I love pandemic movies and I was really expecting to love this one. Unfortunately, I found my mind wandering…thinking about Kate Winslett’s excellent ‘American’ accent. Miss Winslett plays Dr. Erin Mears, a CDC employee sent out into the field by her collegue Dr. Cheever (Laurence Fishburne) to try and stop the virus from spreading. Fat chance of that happening.

The rest of the cast, including Marion Cotillard (Dr. Leonora Orantes)aren’t really given alot to do…except to look concerned and then look very, very concerned, as the death count rises.

John and I actually come pretty close in our bagel rating. Check out our video to see how many bagels we gave ‘Contagion’.

The film opens in theaters Friday September 9, 2011.

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