A Pleasant Surprise

I just watched a movie I had no desire to see.

Let me preface with the fact that I live in a baseball house. Not a "oh yeah, my kid plays Little League" house, a Baseball House. Husband played, Boy plays, Girl plays (baseball, not softball.) Husband is obsessed, Boy talks stats, Girl knows players by name (I know the names of some of the cute ones.) During baseball season, if you want to watch anything else, find another tv. I have seen every freaking baseball movie out there, and I really haven't enjoyed most of them. There's a lot of root for the underdog, slow motion action shots set to dramatic music crap that I just get so tired of. Except for "Major League." I'm sorry, you have no sense of humor if you do not appreciate the line, "Are you sayin' Jesus Christ can't hit a curveball?" I laugh when I say it, for crying out loud.

But the Husband and Boy wanted to watch "Moneyball," and guilted me into it with, "don't you want to be with us" crap, so there you go. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been caught dead watching a film about another down and out team being built on a shoestring budget, even if it did star Brad Pitt.

It was really freaking good.

It wasn't just building a team, it was playing with numbers and computers and playing with all the stats I don't really get, nor do I care to get. The idea was not to get one or two amazing players to carry the Oakland A's, but to actually build a team who could play together and get the needed numbers, and I, who tend not to stand out in a crowd, could appreciate that as much as anyone. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a phenomenal actor in everything he does, and the little girl who played Casey Beane was charming as can be, but I was thoroughly impressed with Jonah Hill's performance. So many of his characters have been over the top annoying, but his portrayal of Peter Brand is humble and intelligent, and really quite adorable.

I'm a little blown away by the Oscar nomination - it's a baseball movie, afterall. I do agree with the nomination of Jonah Hill for Best Supporting Actor.

And if Rooney Mara doesn't win Best Actress for "Girl With a Dragon Tattoo," I will lose all faith in humanity. Holy crap, people, did you see that? Really amazing movie, but I'll leave it to better writers than myself to tell you about it.

Ok, he is awfully cute, but he spends the whole movie spitting chew, which is beyond disgusting.