skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Up In The Air - 
out of 5
I am quickly becoming a Jason Reitman fan. Thank You For Smoking, Juno (if a bit too "quirky indie" at times but that's more due to Diablo Cody's writing), and now Up In The Air have all been movies I have quite enjoyed. I really like his writing style and was rather impressed with his direction and cinematography choices with cinematographer Eric Steelberg in Up In The Air.
George Clooney is Ryan Bingham, a man who is hired by companies to fire their employees so the spineless higher-ups don't have to do it themselves. Apparently this is done when a company has a big layoff, and in this American economic climate, this movie hits home all too closely. Clooney, in an Oscar-nominated lead actor role, knocks it out of the park as the charming and disconnected Ryan. He has become a man surrounded by emotions, good and bad, and the human condition but never lets it get too close to him, nor does he let his family, coworkers, or women anywhere inside.
I love how the movie explores Ryan's isolation in our constantly "connected" world and his relationships, whether it be work, romantic, or family. It is all very intriguing, as it is something I think Western culture is really starting to struggle with, if we are even allowing ourselves to be aware of it. Of course, my hope is that we can change this disconnect we all seem to be feeling and not starve our relationships so badly as all we've got is love and each other.
Okay back to the review, the movie really takes off (no pun intended) when Ryan meets Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga in an Oscar-nominated supporting role) who he starts a "friends with benefits"-type relationship with that leads to some captivating chemistry between Clooney and Farmiga. Ryan then meets his new coworker, Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick also in an Oscar-nominated supporting role), who is trying to "modernize" their profession from having to fly all over the country to fire people via skype-like technology.
These three actors all deserve their Oscar nominations, and the way they all intertwine in a scene after Natalie was dumped by her boyfriend is perfectly done. As the movie strides along, Ryan's whole "disconnected from the world" attitude continues to be challenged, and he really starts to question himself. Up In The Air could be a taken as a pretty strong metaphor for life for us all as we continue on in our shrinking world, the American economic crisis, and maybe some self reflection sometimes.
There is one scene near the end of the film when Natalie fires an older man that really hits you in the face as far as what it would feel like to give a good amount of your life (and youth) to a company just to have them throw you out on the street. It's not a slight on capitalism either, maybe more just how out of hand we have all let this get.
This was well directed, written, shot, scored, and acted. Jason Bateman, Amy Morton, Melanie Lynskey, and Danny McBride are all perfect in smaller supporting roles, and cameos from Sam Elliot, Zach Galifianakis, and J.K. Simmons are all a nice touch as well. While it's not perfect, Reitman is still getting his legs beneath him I believe, Up In The Air is funny, dramatic, and thought provoking. I'm glad it was nominated for Best Picture this year, and I would be happy to see it beat out Dances With Giant Smurfs In Space (AKA Avatar).
I will be buying Up In The Air as soon as I can. I highly recommend it. It comes out on DVD next week March 9th so check it out.
Public Enemies - 
out of 5
Let me start off by saying I like Michael Mann's directing and cinematography style, but all of his movies never really stick with me for some reason. And Public Enemies falls in that same category. There are some wonderfully executed scenes in this movie, but overall, it's just kind of average.
Johnny Depp continues to prove he is one of the best actors in movies today as John Dillinger, but Mann, Ronan Bennett, and Ann Biderman's script fell somewhat flat. Isn't a biopic supposed to tell us about a person/character? We really never learn much about Dillinger other than he liked to rob banks, but what was his motivation? his background? What made him tick? Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention, but I don't think we ever learn.
Maybe one of the best lines I've heard from a movie in a long time is an explanation to this. When Dillinger asks Billie Frechette (Marion Cotillard) to be "his girl" after they have just met, and she says she doesn't know him, he says, "I was raised on a farm in Moooresville, Indiana. My mama ran out on us when I was three, my daddy beat the hell out of me cause he didn't know no better way to raise me. I like baseball, movies, good clothes, fast cars, whiskey, and you... what else you need to know?" I really love the line that starts with "I like baseball..." but is this enough to excuse the movie for a bunch of cookie-cutter characters?
Christian Bale did a serviceable job as the man who hunted down Dillinger, Melvin Purvis, but his accent was sort of strange at parts of the movie, especially when he first comes on screen. After that, his presence is felt throughout the film, and I appreciated his part.
I began to struggle every time a new shootout would start up as the movie went, which seemed to last entirely too long. It seemed like overkill with how ridiculous the audio was. Mann loves gun shots it seems. That brings up another point, I don't know if the DVD transfer was bad, but the audio on this movie was terrible. The dialogue was very very quiet and then the shootouts were extremely loud.
Also, since Mann decided to shoot with digital cameras, it looked somewhat strange at times, not film and not quite television. It looked kind of like what British television shows look like if you've ever seen them.
So I'd say Public Enemies is worth the rental, but lower your expectations and be prepared for a pretty bad movie technical-wise and an average movie story-wise.
Adam - out of 5
Written and directed by Max Mayer, who only had one movie under his belt before this (1998's Better Living), has made an emotional and different take on a "romantic comedy/drama" with Adam. Adam (Hugh Dancy in an understated should-be-nominated-for-awards performance) is a mid-thirties man living with Asperger's Syndrome, which is a form of autism. The syndrome is defined by medterms.com as:
"Asperger syndrome is a pervasive developmental disorder that is characterized by an inability to understand how to interact socially. Typical features of the syndrome also may include clumsy and uncoordinated motor movements, social impairment with extreme egocentricity, limited interests and unusual preoccupations, repetitive routines or rituals, speech and language peculiarities, and non-verbal communication problems."
Adam's father, who helped him with everything in life, has died at the beginning of the movie, and the rest of the movie is Adam transitioning to life on his own for the most part. He does get some help from his father's friend, Harlan (Frankie Faison), but it's more in a "just when he really needs help" way. According to the syndrome, Aspies (as I have found they call themselves) have intense interests, and Adam is obsessed with space. Sometimes these interests affect him so badly he can't communicate.
But soon after Adam's father's death, a woman moves into Adam's building, Beth (Rose Byrne), that catches his interest. Beth takes an interest in Adam as well, and an unlikely friendship that leads to romance begins. I usually don't really like Rose Byrne, but I think she did a wonderful job coming across cute, graceful, and somewhat tormented due to her father's corporate legal problems.
The writing in this movie is funny, romantic, and heartwrenching all in one, and one of the best scenes in any "romantic comedy" I have ever seen includes Adam, Beth, and an astronaut suit. I can't say anymore without spoiling the scene.
From what I've read online, this film does a great job portraying someone with Asperger's syndrome without being exploitative. Some people on message boards and such have said it wasn't a good representation, but they seem to be in the minority. This syndrome is still being examined and studied, and I find it all very interesting. As much as we don't like to admit it, we are emotional beings, and someone who lacks the mental capabality to understand their own, much less someone else's emotions, is fascinating to me, and I think Max Mayer's Adam did a fantastic job at walking that line.
As the film plays out, Adam's syndrome effects his relationship with Beth in funny, sad, peaceful, angry, struggling, and blissful moments. Adam will definitely have your emotions all over the place if you empathize at all with the characters. This isn't exactly a tear jerker, but it's not exactly a touchy-feel good movie either. Go into it expecting to feel something though (unless you have no heart at all).
Definitely worth a rental. I doubt I'll be buying this, but I could see repeat viewings of Adam in my future.
Moon - out of 5
Another 2009 movie with a first time writer/director (co-written by Nathan Parker), Moon is an excellent debut by Duncan Jones, who happens to be David Bowie's son. It seems I've been struggling with modern sci-fi movies lately (District 9, the travesty that was the remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still, Transformers), but this one really hit me write in the face in a good way.
According to Jones, he wrote this specifically with Sam Rockwell in mind as the main character, Sam Bell. Sam is pretty much the only onscreen character as others are seen through video messages and such while GERTY, Sam's support robot voiced by Kevin Spacey, is his only on-moon company. Rockwell deserves a best actor nomination for his performance here in Moon. He explores every inch of the space he is given and hits almost every emotion humans have in the hour and thirty-seven minute running time.Sam is near the end of his three year contract working for LUNAR Industries on the moon alone (with GERTY) extracting HE-3, which has become the new energy source for the world's transportation. As he gets closer to the completion of his contract, some strange occurrences begin to happen to Sam, and he begins to probe GERTY for more information on his work and soon journey home. I can't go into much more detail without spoiling the movie but follow the movie closely as there is a lot of information thrown at you that's so subtle it may take repeat viewings (I watched the commentary and noticed plenty with their help).Don't go into this expecting ridiculous action and effects as this was made on a mere five million dollar budget (an award winning achievement in it's own right), but the in-camera effects, models, and slight use of CGI all blends amazingly. Some of the moon shots are just insanely well done even though it was so simply shot.While it's not perfect (first time writer/director, limited budget), this taps into something in our humanity that will have you questioning and pondering moral conflicts of our future. Go along with it, let your emotions flow with Sam's, get into his head. It's one of the best sci-fi movies I've seen in some time and is one of my favorite movies of 2009 at this point.I wish I could have seen it in the theater. Moon is definitely worth the rental, and I think I'll be buying it someday.
9 - out of 5
It was a good year for first time writer/directors to get their work out to the masses, but it seems that fact makes it that much harder to make a splash in the world of film-dom. Just like most things in life, the first attempt is going to have it's good, it's bad, and it's mediocre.
9 is Shane Acker taking his short film of the same name into a full length feature, and while he seems to have a wonderful grasp of cinematography and beautiful animation, the story falls a bit short. I do like that he fought for a PG-13 rating to not dumb down his vision because there aren't very many "adult animation films" it seems, but it felt like he could've fleshed out the plot a bit more.
The voice talents of Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, Martin Landau, Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, and Crispin Glover work quite well with their numbered "rag doll" characters. The dolls have somehow been given life by a scientist who, years ago, made the first "intelligent machine that can make lower forms of intelligent machines" that turn against humanity and eradicate them/us from the earth.
Maybe it's the whole "machines turned on us" plotline that bothers me because it has been done quite a few times now, and while I think it was an interesting idea to have these dolls trying to save a semblance of life, something about the movie didn't make it more than a one time viewing and move on.
I do think there's something very interesting about numbers, and I wonder what the significance of the nine dolls mean. I never really got interested enough to look deeper into it so maybe that's my own fault so maybe take that into mind if you do watch this.
As far as the ending, it really made me go "okay... [scratches head]" and then forget about the movie twenty minutes later. So I'd say it's worth a rental especially for the exquisite animation, but don't be surprised if you find the story lacking.
