‘Moneyball’ DVD a home run 1

By Bruce Kirkland ,QMI Agency

Moneyball is making the money, at least modestly. It is making even more of an impact in awards season. Expect a clutch of Oscar nominations on Jan. 24, including a run at best picture.
Brad Pitt has generated some of his best reviews ever playing the lead character, so a best actor nom is guaranteed. The film, its screenwriters, actor-producer Pitt and the surprising Jonah Hill (as best supporting actor) are already all going for Golden Globes on Sunday.
The real shocker, of course, is that an acclaimed film could be fashioned from Michael Lewis' 2003 non-fiction book about baseball economics and how Billy Beane tried to revolutionize the sport. But here it is again. Moneyball just made its DVD and Blu-ray debut this week in a splendid release that can only help the Oscar campaign.
Beane -- whom Pitt plays as a moody, scruffy, beleaguered fellow willing to take risks to run his team on a low budget -- is the longtime general manager and minority owner of the Oakland Athletics. The word "moneyball" refers to Beane's sabermetrics approach to evaluating players and finding rough gems that other teams overlook or undervalue. That approach grew out of his relationship with a statistical analyst named Paul DePodesta, whom Hill plays under as Peter Brand (DePodesta declined to be named). The film chronicles Oakland's 2002 season with flashbacks to Beane's own career as a can't-miss New York Mets prospect who flamed out.
Director Bennett Miller (of Capote fame) takes the reality and turns it into a believable myth. The trick is deeply humanizing the characters. Miller works the material into a David vs. Goliath saga. The collaboration of director, writers and actors is a miracle in conjuring the tones and illuminating situations that help make Moneyball so compelling. Canadian composer Mychael Danna's music provides bittersweet underscoring. Moneyball is an art film about a mainstream sport, albeit one with arcane traditions.
There are three options in the home entertainment market. One is a single-disc DVD with strong extras, including an extensive making-of doc and interviews with Beane. There is also a basic one-disc Blu-ray that adds even more extras that explain how the filmmakers "drafted" their convincing baseball team of actors and athletes. The deluxe option is a two-disc combo pack which offers the DVD and Blu-ray versions together.
Miller deliberately does not answer all our questions about Beane's contribution. "There is some controversial nature to this subject matter," director Miller says. "What did he actually do? What could he be credited with? What matters? What is true and what is not true? The film is not ultimately about taking sides and saying: 'He's right, they're wrong.' "
The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption
Hulking Canadian actor Victor Webster, from Calgary, is the third man to play Mathayus, the Akkadian mercenary in this spin-off from the Mummy franchise. Webster is the clearly worst actor but also the funniest one. In fact, everything about The Scorpion King 3: Battle for Redemption is meant to be amusing. This sword-and-sandals epic is played for cheap laughs.
With its obvious low budget, cheesy special effects and mugging by co-stars Billy Zane, Ron Perlman and Bostin Christopher, Roel Reine's offering makes no attempt to be taken seriously. I found it nearly unwatchable but, taken the right way, you might see it as a romp, something silly that could become a cult favourite.
The two-disc combo pack I have for review combines DVD, Blu-ray and digital copy. There are plenty of extras, including a making-of doc that shows how Reine's low-tech filmmaking ensured this direct-to-DVD flick would remain out of theatres.