Movie Reviews: Moneyball & Bill Cunningham New York

This weekend has been full of movies around our house and to be honest, it's been kind of perfect.

I was desperate for a sushi and movie night, so after work on Friday Cory and I headed to one of the local sushi joints before heading out to see Moneyball. I know not all my readers are huge sports fans, but I was actually really excited to hear that Moneyball was being produced into a feature film as I read the book (written by Michael Lewis, the same guy who wrote The Blind Side) when it was first published while I was in college.

 Essentially, Billy Beane, a baseball hopeful in the early 90s, is the General Manager of the failing Oakland A's in the early 2000s. Long story short, desperate to make a change, Bean brings on a staffer to turn baseball into a mathematical science. Now, you definitely know I am not a math person--but this intrigued me so that I finished the full text in nearly 3 days. That's pretty fast for an English major enrolled in college full time (to put it mildly... we have a lot of reading for homework).

The film had been given rave reviews from the New York Times (that never seems to give any film rave reviews), so I was eager to see it! I thought Brad Pitt did an exceptional job as Billy Beane, but felt as if the screenwriter/producer didn't use Pitt's acting abilities to their fullest. Beane is/was a complex man when he was actively playing Major League Baseball and still today as part of the A's organization. While they did leave a lot of room for the audience to make their own conclusions, there was more Pitt could've done if given the appropriate agency. I truly believe most of my opinion is rooted in reading the book first. If you're even close to being a sports fan or if you have a mate who is, I would see the movie. It's charming and witty in all the right ways.

This evening Cory was reading his Sunday issue of the New York Times and instantly grabbed the Wii remote to click on Netflix. Without really understanding what he was doing, he immediately turned to a documentary that I had wanted to see a few months ago, but had completely forgotten about. (I love when that happens!)

Bill Cunningham New York is a fabulous documentary that follows photographer extrordinaire Bill Cunningham. If you're a Sunday reader of the Times, Cunnhingham compiles a collection of recent photographs of various trends and statements he sees flooding the New York streets. He often notices trends and styles much before the Anna Wintours of the world are aware. I mean, that's incredible!

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For all you fashion bloggers, fashion lovers, or New York enthusiasts, go forward to thee Netflix account and instantly stream this film. It's perfect, quirky, and absolutely wonderful. As I was watching this adorable gentleman photograph lovely fashions it made me excited to get dressed in the morning! Wonderful inspiration for the season to come, that's for sure!

What have you been watching? :)

xo, Liz