This is not a blog about breasts.
UP IN THE AIR (theatrical, 2009)
In what is being dubbed "the movie of the moment", and next to AVATAR the most-hyped flick out there right now, I had my reservations in seeing UP IN THE AIR. I don't mind hype. I like when people get excited about movies, and sometimes there's a reason why a certain film just becomes transcendent both with critics and audiences... because the film actually good. I have seen the opposite for high-profile movies (A BEAUTIFUL MIND comes to... mind), where hype was just hype, but in this case the film backs it up.
UP IN THE AIR is rooted in a very tragic situation plaguing our country right now: a fucked economy putting good, hard-working people out of work. George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a dude who's entire life is flying around the country telling people their fired... because their companies are too pussy to do the dirty work. Clooney's character is an island of a man who embraces the lifestyle of always being on the road/air and never having a true place to call home, or a single meaningful relationship to speak of. When his way of life is threatened by an up and coming hot-shot in his company, while simultaneously meeting a female who might be his perfect fit, he begins to revaluate his existence.
Director Jason Reitman is three-for-three. I loved THANK YOU FOR SMOKING and JUNO. UP IN THE AIR rounds out a trio of wonderful films that all share fantastic scripts, powerful performances, and stylish directing. What I really like about Reitman is the dude is a kinetic director, with a definite style and confidence in his direction, but it never gets in the way of the stories. This is his most subdued effort of the three, and given the subject matter, I thought Reitman really nailed the tone visually. He's like a decaffeinated Edgar Wright.
As I mentioned above, the performances here are all great. Clooney shines as usual, Vera Farmiga stepped up to the plate as Clooney's love interest and foil (surprised because I HATED her in THE DEPARTED). I've never seen actress Anna Kendrick before this. My girlfriend tells me she's in the TWILIGHT abortions. Judging just by her performance in this, I would say I'll be interested in what she shows up in next. To top it all off, I got to see a handful of some of my favorite actors working today show up in minor roles throughout: J.K Simmons, Sam Elliott, Jason Bateman, Danny McBride and Zach Galifianakis. Awesome. Also be looking for a cameo by YOUNG M.C. ... I shit you not.
UP IN THE AIR is certainly one of the best films of the year. I was touched by the story, even holding back the tears in some of the scenes involving real people losing their jobs. I guess a lot of the film's power comes in the form of speaking to what our country is going through right now. I know people who lost their jobs over the past two years... people who are close to me and who are still out of work. UP IN THE AIR is a swan song of sorts to those people, and it's a heartbreaking and beautiful tune.
UP IN THE AIR: 9 out of 10
THE COVE (dvd, 2009)
Brutal and heart-wrenching. I learned about THE COVE months ago, but have been avoiding putting myself through the viewing experience. If you're unaware (and most people are), there is a lagoon on the coast of Japan in a town called Taijii where a horror against nature takes place unbeknownst to the major population. In a cove blocked off by cliffs and barbed wire fences, Taijii fisherman lure wild dolphins inland to be captured and sent across the world for captivity. Dolphin trade is a multi-billion dollar business. The unbelievable horror here is the thousands of dolphins that aren't selected for captivity are slaughtered, and their mercury-laden meat sold into the general population for unhealthy consumption. This film revolves around a man named Ric O' Barry, who used to train the dolphins on the show FLIPPER. He has since devoted his entire life to freeing dolphins from captivity. When Ric catches wind of Taijii's dirty secrets, he enlists a group of activists to infiltrate the cove and expose the horror to the world.
This is a documentary that pretty much had my jaw on the floor and my eyes filled with tears for its entire duration. Besides dolphins generally being lovable and awesome, the film really dives into the science behind the animals and poses theories that the species may be more intelligent than man, making the mass slaughters that much harder to stomach when you realize how self-aware these animals are. I loved the group of people who set up the operation to infiltrate the cove, and found myself on the edge of my seat at some of the stuff that went into the operation of exposing the dolphin killings. This is exactly what a documentary should be: engaging, emotional, educational and evocative. Not for the squeamish, but damn important for everyone to see.
NOTE: I have decided if I ever procreate, we're not going to Sea World.
THE COVE: 10 out of 10
THE BROTHERS BLOOM (Blu Ray, 2009)
I never want to see movies about con men or thieves who pull off heists for some reason. I can't tell you exactly why that is. What's even weirder is I usually end up being very fond of all of the movies in that genre. Loved the original Sinatra version of OCEAN'S 11, then Soderbergh's OCEAN'S ELEVEN, loved CONFIDENCE, obviously adored RESERVOIR DOGS and probably my favorite of all: BOTTLE ROCKET. Now we have THE BROTHERS BLOOM, and back when I saw the trailers I just immediately muttered "pass" as it played out (which I still think is limp compared to the film it was advertising). I'm happy to report I really enjoyed THE BROTHERS BLOOM, and really have nothing but good things to say about it.
Adrien Brody and the always-awesome Mark Ruffalo play Bloom and Stephen; two brothers who figured out at a very young age that conning people was their calling in life. Bloom (Brody) has grown weary of the life and wants out, and Stephen (Ruffalo) can't get enough of it and wants to pull one more big job with his bro before letting him go for good. Joined by their explosives expert Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi), the three target a lonely, eccentric millionaire played by Rachel Weisz, and quickly their con goes to shit as Bloom falls for their mark.
Director Rian Johnson arrived on the scene back in 2005 with BRICK. I did not see BRICK, but heard a lot of good things about it. His sophomore effort here is fantastic, and the film looks so damn polished and tight you would think the guy has been doing this for years. Talented. He also wrote the script which is very funny, full of twists and surprisingly touching. The cast is perfect and I completely fell in love with Rachel Weisz who while undeniably talented, has been in a lot of shit movies (SEE: THE MUMMY RETURNS, DEFINITELY MAYBE and CONSTANTINE... wait, don't). I thought Brody was great (who's also pretty hit and miss), and Ruffalo is the cherry on top. My only complaint is there's not enough Ruffalo here. I just felt his character needed a few more scenes to really round out his arc.
I can't wait to see this again. Will be purchasing soon.
THE BROTHERS BLOOM: 8 out of 10
EXTRACT (Blu Ray, 2009)
What the fuck happened to Mike Judge? I feel like a dick giving the guy shit because he's obviously talented and is responsible for one of the best comedies of all-time... OFFICE SPACE, but the dude has been asleep at the wheel ever since. I watched part of his last film, IDIOCRACY (2006), but just didn't find it funny. So while the man's been busy cracking away and finding continued success on television, his movie track record stinks. EXTRACT does nothing to change that.
Let me get this out of the way: I didn't hate this movie. In fact, it kept my attention for its duration which is more than I can say for the heaps of other shitty movies I subject myself to. My problem with EXTRACT is it just never reaches its potential as a comedy. While I didn't get annoyed enough to shut it off, and generally wanted to see how it would play out, I still was pretty disappointed at how much I WASN'T laughing during this movie.
EXTRACT is about Joel (Jason Bateman) who owns an extract factory mass-producing a product he invented in college. Besides driving a bitching BMW 7 series, he leads a fairly normal life where he goes home every day to his work-from-home wife (Kristen Wiig), and blows off steam with his barkeep buddy Dean (Ben Affleck). Joel is frustrated because his wife rarely fucks him, and he's looking to get bought-out by a huge company like General Mills so he can retire. One day there's an accident on the factory floor where an employee almost loses both of his nuts (we're told one is barely hanging on). The injured employee chooses to sue and bankrupt the company after a con-woman (Mila Kunis) shows up in town who wants to cash-in on his accident (unbeknownst to him or any one else of course). Meanwhile, Joel wants to fuck Mila Kunis' character and ends up hiring a male gigolo to fuck his own wife so he won't feel so bad about it.
So, a nice whacky setup which never really pays off. The main problem here is I don't really give a fuck about the character of Joel nor anyone else in the piece. On top of that... the proceedings just aren't as funny as they should be. The stuff that works best are Joel's interactions with Affleck's character and the male gigolo. The always-radical J.K. Simmons plays Joel's right-hand man at the plant and gets a few laughs by referring to all of the employees as "dinkus". Hands-down, the best idea in the movie and performance as well belongs to David Koechner (the annoying asshole who plays the sportscaster in RON BURGUNDY). Koechner plays Joel's neighbor (and we've all known this guy) who constantly ambushes him at the worst of times to talk about stupid shit... and he never shuts up. All of those scenes worked really well and had me chuckling at how spot-on the character was. Other than that, the movie just kind of slowly rolls forward before it sputters to a stop with nothing really interesting to show for.
Here's what the movie does right: the cast. Admittedly I would watch a feature length film where Jason Bateman eats a sandwich, so when he's the lead of a new comedy directed by the guy who gave us OFFICE SPACE, I'm peeping it regardless of what the word of mouth is. Bateman has a few genuine moments, but he's done way better. Besides Michael Bluth, we get J.K. Simmons, who could join Bateman in the sandwich-eating movie, and an almost unrecognizable Ben Affleck who manages to not stink anything up and actually has a few charming moments. Koechner is the ace in the hole though. He shines.
Sadly, I don't think we'll ever get another film from Judge on par with OFFICE SPACE. His debut was just too damn good. I think I will always hold out hope for it, and I honestly felt after seeing the trailers for EXTRACT that he might be back in form. Sadly, this concoction is missing more than just (FINISH SENTENCE WITH 'EXTRACT' PUN). Sigh.
EXTRACT: 5 out of 10
THE TEN (Netflix streaming, 2007)
The ensemble from THE STATE and WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER return for another film. You get Oliver Platt as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Winona Ryder fucks a ventriloquist dummy. It's gold. See it.
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