Movies from last weekend

Last weekend I went to see "Moneyball" in the theater. Now, usually I have a weakness for inspiration sports movies that I can't explain. I don't like watching sports and overly inspirational things annoy me, but things like "Miracle" and "Remember the Titans" bring me to tears. So, I went in expecting another great movie. I have to say, it was just okay. The overall story was interested but there were parts that dragged. Brad Pitt is starting to look quite old (could all those kids finally be wearing on him?) but he did a good job in the role. I thought the best was Jonah Hill as the "moneyball" number-crunching whiz. I don't want to ruin the movie for anyone, but the ending wasn't inspirational at all. Minnesota Twins fans will like the ending though. And you will leave the theater with "The Show" by Lenka stuck in your head.

I rented "Country Strong." I guess I can't really explain this either. I love music, but I hate country. I would listen to classical over country any day of the week. And I don't like Gwyneth Paltrow. But I love Leighton Meester, who plays Blair on Gossip Girl, so I had to rent it. The male lead is played by Garrett Hedlund (a MN boy, woohoo!). Hedlund was decent and had a good singing voice. However, he didn't have anything on Tim McGraw, who played Paltrow's husband. In both this and "The Blind Side," McGraw does amazing acting that's full of emotion. I'm super impressed, as singers turned actors are not usually that good. Back to the actual movie; it looked at least like I was in for a good love story. However, the movie starts out with the Hedlund's character hooking up with Gwyneth, who's married, in rehab and has a whole other mess of problems. Both characters are initially mean to Meester's naive character. Overall, the plot was fairly predictable. And I fast forwarded through all the long singing scenes, as it was just too much country music for me. I'd say wait to see it until it reaches cable, you're not missing out on anything special if you miss seeing it all together. I'll probably forget about this movie as soon as I'm done writing this post.