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DVD of the Week: 'Moneyball.' Plus Win 'Killer Elite' BD/DVD Combo Pack and Massive Bond Set Announced

By: Stacie Hougland on January 10, 2012 at 5:21PM Comments (41)

Moneyball For non-sports-movie fans, you only need to add "statistics" to "baseball" and they'll run screaming for the exits. But take a smart script by Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian, a couple of empathetic performances by the leads, and the wise decision to keep the flow-chart stuff to a minimum, and it becomes as heartfelt as any baseball movie of recent memory.

Brad Pitt stars as Billy Beane, the Oakland Athletics GM who revamped his losing team in 2002 by using hard and fast statistics to measure ballplayers' value. Based on his findings, he and his Yale-grad assistant (Jonah Hill) put together a record-breaking team that didn't break the bank. You'd think this type of thing from the Social Network team might leave you cold--but in the end, it's a baseball movie, which means it still has soul. Whether it's got impassioned speeches about building fields and hitting one for the fences or quirky guys crunching numbers to create a unified and game-winning team, the passion and love for the game is all the same. Extras: Deleted scenes, blooper reel, behind-the-scenes look, featurettes on Billy Beane and "Playing the Game" (DVD/BD); the BD adds featurettes: "Drafting the Team," "Adapting Moneyball."

Killer Elite Entertaining enough action thriller stars a manly-man cast of Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert DeNiro who spend two hours globetrotting, engineering over-the-top escapes, blowing stuff up, snarling, giving each other a pounding and--well, being entertaining. It's fast-paced, has some great action sequences and while it may lack heart, who cares? Extras: Deleted scenes (DVD/BD).

Enter to Win! Want to win a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack? Tell us below what your favorite Jason Statham action movie is and why. We have five sets to give away to random winners, which will be chosen Jan. 17. Make sure you use a valid email or Fandango account so we can reach you. If selected, you'll have three days to respond. Let's get the comments going!

What's Your Number? Poor Anna Faris. When she's good, she's great--when she's stuck in terrible movies like this, she's still charming. Unfortunately she chose to go the Katharine Heigl route with this mainstream, rote, and plain lame rom-com about a marketing exec who thinks she might have missed Mr. Right along the way. Cue entrance of a bohunk neighbor (Chris Evans) and pratfalls ensue! Extras: Extended cut (yeah, you need this), deleted scenes, gag reel (DVD/BD).

Boardwalk Empire One of our rare departures into TV coverage announces this excellent, eight-time Emmy winning HBO series's first season on Blue-ray, DVD and digital download. In it, we're introduced to backroom sleazeball Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), who rules the crime-ridden Atlantic City in the pre-Depression era 1920s. Extras: Behind-the-scenes featurettes involving the massive set, the main characters, a look at the era, and cast/crew commentary (DVD/BD); the BD adds details on the production process and the area's real-life history.

Just Announced At the Consumer Electronics Convention this week, MGM announced the upcoming release of a box set of all 22 James Bond movies to celebrate the super-spy's 50 years, nine of them making their Blu-ray debut. The set will feature some 130 hours of extras. It's available now for preorder.

Comments (41)Leave a Comment

  • Jan 10th 2012 7:36PM

    linzmike  said...

    I love Jason Statham! My favorite...well favorites are the Transporter movies... Love him... Love the action. Crank is awesome too! He's nice to look at too!

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  • Jan 10th 2012 7:32PM

    Irongrimm  said...

    Normally I'd say Snatch, it is one of the best movies ever with Statham, but I think I'll go with Crank: High Voltage this time. It was just so fast paced and I like the Chev Chelios character and the style Statham gave to it. I liked that he used a lot more Cockney Rhyming Slang in it also, like when he referred to his "Strawberry Tart". Yeah.

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  • Jan 10th 2012 7:02PM

    starkeee  said...

    Italian Job here!

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  • Jan 10th 2012 6:53PM

    jtalada81  said...

    Expendables b/c it shows a different side of him

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  • Jan 10th 2012 6:48PM

    Vegeta1000  said...

    Transporter 2. I love it because it has lots of good action and main female antagonist is good looking.

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  • Jan 10th 2012 6:47PM

    GrammaWeWe  said...

    The first time I remember seeing him was in "Ghosts of Mars" and it's my favorite because it's from John Carpenter.

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  • Jan 10th 2012 6:33PM

    zucko717  said...

    The Expendables b/c it showed he has a softer side.

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  • Jan 10th 2012 6:08PM

    loveforlillie  said...

    I'd have to go with Snatch. Love that movie:)

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  • Jan 10th 2012 6:07PM

    gatormomx2  said...

    The Transporters because this movie really emphasizes Statham's action movie hero status and because he is just plain awesome.

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  • Jan 10th 2012 5:57PM

    615181680  said...

    The Expendables because it shows a different side of him!

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  • Jan 10th 2012 5:53PM

    JenLiggit  said...

    I really liked Killer Elite but I have to say I love his Crank movie are my favorite. Jason Stathem in my opinion is one of the best Actors in any action film. It doesn't hurt that he is so sexy.

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  • Jan 10th 2012 5:51PM

    bigjimbo316  said...

    My favorite Jason Statham action movie is The Transporter. I loved it because it was non-stop action and was way better then what I thought it would be when I had plans of 1st watching it. Definitely a great action flick from top to bottom.

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  • Jan 10th 2012 5:50PM

    sabronet  said...

    Death Race!

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  • Jan 10th 2012 5:50PM

    sabronet  said...

    Death Race!

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  • Jan 10th 2012 5:49PM

    1737268728  said...

    My favorite Jason movie is Snatch because it is a combo of action and comedy i love that movie

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  • Jan 10th 2012 5:45PM

    ambersaxby  said...

    The Italian Job because there were so many good actors and it left you on the edge of your seat!

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