Here’s a photo gallery of Activision CEO Bobby Kotick portraying Oakland A’s co-owner Stephen Schott in Moneyball. Obviously I was dazzled by his performance. It’s not like I see EA CEO John Riccitiello or Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot starring in any movies. Only Kotick has enough charm and star-power to run a videogame mega-publisher and go toe-to-toe with Brad Pitt.
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As for the movie itself, I enjoyed it but was mildly disappointed. I loved the book Moneyball. I also went to a lot of A’s games between 2000 and 2002. While I understand that the movie is a dramatization, some of the liberties and omissions were annoying. For example, in the movie the A’s signed Jeremy Giambi prior to the 2002 season as a cheap replacement for his more talented brother Jason Giambi. In reality, Jeremy Giambi was on the team since 2000. The movie barely mentions Eric Chavez and Miguel Tejada. Both were at the height of their powers and big reason why the A’s were so successful. Hell, Tejada was the American League MVP the year the movie took place!
Anyway, that’s straying too far from the point. Moneyball shows that Bobby Kotick clearly has a future in Hollywood playing rich and powerful antagonists.
I need to see this movie. It seems made for me.
I greatly prefer the book. The movie plays into the misconception that Moneyball is about OBP. It's not. It's about finding the facets of the game that are undervalued.
Is it available on iBooks?Sent from my iPhone 4
Of course it is!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/moneyball/id38821…
I actually just got this book through the borrowing option on Kindle. Looking forward to reading it, but I still would like to see the movie afterwards.
Forgot to mention the pitching too. Zito, Mulder, and Hudson were also top pitchers back then. This isn't mentioned in the movie at all.
I would love nothing more than for Kocklick to go "Hollywood" and leave the games industry behind. Let's make this happen. Somebody call his agent and tell them Kocklick belongs on screen, not behind a desk at Activision.
As a former A's fan in the 80's and early 90's, (before the Florida Marlins were established) I wanted to see this movie, but knowing that Kocklick is in it makes me hesitant to watch. Also, I am always the first person to tell people: “The book is better than the movie.”
-M
I'm meh on this movie.