One-Two Punch: Sherlock Holmes and Frog Princess

SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009)

Well, its time for the Christmas weekend (or Festivus, if you like) and that brings the last big blockbuster of the year. Here comes Sherlock Holmes, set to dominate the box office and... come in #2 to Avatar on opening weekend? What? Amazing the positive word of mouth that film's gotten.

Yet, despite the awesome spectacle that is Avatar, Sherlock Holmes may well be the better movie.

Its amazing this thing even got made, really. Guy Ritchie directing? Wha? Oh, sure, we all remember Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch fondly, but those movies were sooo ten years ago. What's this acclaimed director done since those two big debuts? RocknRolla and Revolver to name a couple, both financial and critical failures. Or how about Swept Away, a vehicle for his wife Madonna, one of the biggest bombs and most hated movies of the modern age? With those as his last three films, its amazing to think that Warner Brothers and five production companies would throw $120 Million at the man and say "Hey, hope you do better than Young Sherlock Holmes/ Great Mouse Detective."

But, hey, once in a while a Hollywood gamble pays off. Sometimes they get Nine (same opening weekend, $80 Million spent, $5 Million Return) and sometimes even a one-trick pony manages to pull off a blockbuster. Well, I guess I can't give Ritchie TOO much shit. I mean, he did make a very good movie this outing... though his one-trick still makes an appearance; super-slo-mo fight scenes? Oh yeah, they're in there. In fact, I'm sure they used the same building and spectators from Snatch. But, while the fights don't add anything to the picture, and could be excised and the film still be just as good, they are entertaining and add a certain flare to this new, rough and tumble Holmes. Ritchie's 'Dirty London' makes a perfect backdrop for Downey's take on the character.

In this particular outing, we find Holmes right in the thick of his career. We aren't forced to see some sort of coming of age or origin story, nor a tale about an aged Holmes coming back into his prime. If anything, this adds to the strength of the movie. Far too often have we been forced to watch the origin of already established characters. Cool as it is, I hope I never have to sit through Superman's origin ever again. Ever. Instead, Holmes is already established (which is good, with Downey being 40, believable) he's about to meet his greatest nemesis in Professor Moriarty, and he finds himself increasingly isolated from society by his rampant intellect. Richie took the far too often neglected path of giving us exactly what we like about a character shoved right in our faces. Delicious.

And Holmes is faced with two particular problems this time around, first off is his nemesis, Lord Blackwood, who has seemingly been captured, executed, and mysteriously revived from the dead. Blackwood seems to have some sort of mystical powers, creating death by fire and water, seemingly by the flick of his wrist. With this new, strange power, Blackwood manages to infiltrate and control the Illuminati-like group of London's finest for his own ends. Meanwhile, closer to home, Doctor Watson finally tires of Sherlock's eccentric behavior, and looks to marry and move out on his own, threatening the bromance. In the shadows, all the while, the shadowy Moriarty manipulates all the players to his own end.

What in the film doesn't work? For the particular, perhaps the more muscular version of the titular Holmes. For fans of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's intellectual hero, this might be too much liberty with the character. Also, there's some odd anachronism in the film, both in the language of the characters, and Blackwood's ultimate device.

And really... that's about it.

For those who can get past a new take on an old favorite, they'll find that Ritchie's take is very suitable. While Holmes' intellect now include martial arts, and comes with a certain degree of agoraphobia, if you have a look at the subtle motions, Holmes still uses his incredible intelligence in every scene, though you might not see it until everything is revealed at the end. In fact, a few saavy viewers may even guess what Blackwood's game is. Its an intelligent and fun script that doesn't disappoint, delivering comedy, action, and mystery to the end. And there's a drugged up Bulldog. Bonus.

Of course, what really pulls off the whole thing are the performances. Jude Law is a delightful straight man as Watson, Mark Strong's Lord Blackwood is perfectly diabolical, and of course Robert Downey Junior dominates the screen as Sherlock. We are living in his world right now, it seems. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, Iron Man, Good Night and Good Luck, Tropic Thunder, everything this guy is in right now is gold, pure and simple. In fact, I think I have a little bromance of my own going. RDJr, if you're out there and you need another guy for your entourage, look me up. I'd like to party with you.

All that said, its a nearly flawless film to finish off the year. 2009 nine had a lot of disappointments on the screen, but Sherlock Holmes prevails. Elementary, dear reader.

PRINCESS AND THE FROG-

This one's a bit older now, and I just got out to see it. A shorter review then, as most of you who have any interest have already seen it.

The thing is, I really didn't have any interest in the story. Even just the trailers let me know that the story would be kind of bland, and the jokes weren't really going to work. Often, things like Kung-Fu Panda and How to Raise your Dragon, I can see the trailer, and get a few laughs, but it wasn't so with Princess and the Frog. But, I've often lamented the loss of Disney's hand-animation department, so I had to see it, just to give my support.

Its not bad. Not bad at all. But really, it isn't great either. Its a bit on the bland side, all around. There are a few really good laughs, to be sure. But those are too few and far between. I can only think of maybe two moments where the whole audience laughed, and most of the time, even the kids weren't making any sounds of glee. They weren't bored and screaming either, but there was certainly no laughter or dancing or 'YAAAY's to be heard as the heroes made their journey.

The one thing I will applaud is Shadow Man. I had a lot of fun with this villain. For one thing, he's voiced by Keith David, best known as Goliath from Gargoyles, or as that guy who got head from Jennifer Connelly in Requiem for a Dream. While his singing could use some work, his bad guy vocals were spot on, and I loved the look of his voodoo musical number and Papa Shango makeup. Add in some really creepy demon shadows to do his dirty work, and you've got the making of a really memorable Disney Villain. Its just too bad he's fighting such a forgettable heroic cast.

One thing I found interesting, though, is the way the princess, Disney's first black princess, to be more specific, found her happy ending. She gets help from white people.

There's all kinds of strange little social images that kept popping up in Princess and the Frog that I was surprised to see get included and then glossed over. The Princess, Tiana, and her mom work as seamstresses for a very wealthy white man. When their work is done at the end of the day, they go home to a little shack in the black neighborhood of town. There it is, right there, segregation and classism. Of course, that's never mentioned. Nor is it really mentioned why it is that Tiana's father worked so hard doing double shifts all of his life, and then served in the military, earning a Congressional Medal of Honor, only to die penniless and unfulfilled in his modest goal of opening a restaurant.

And then, of course, despite all of Tiana's hard work, which is a central focus of the movie, and despite all of her wishes, and despite her finding the man of her dreams, her equally simple goal of opening a restaurant and honoring her father would have been completely unfulfilled if it weren't for a big gob of money given to her by the same white family she'd been servicing since she was a little girl.

Hey, white family, how about giving Tiana some of that money to help her out, just for being a friend to your daughter? Or did she have to save her from a sham marriage to earn that pittance?

Ah well, the kids won't notice this for years, if ever. They might enjoy it. If nothing else, Charlotte, voiced by Jennifer Cody, is pretty effing hilarious, and the source of most of the laughs in the movie. While this kind of character can be annoying, she pulled off the debutante quite well.

Check it out for a cold afternoon's matinee. Its great to see Disney come back to hand animation, but they can do better.

External Linkage

My review for The Road is up: http://www.brutalashell.com/2009/12/film-review-the-road/

1st Annual Aristocrat Awards (AAA- Not Cars)

Well, its awards season. Golden Globes have already put their list out, and soon the Oscars will release theirs. So, I thought I'd share some of my faves from the year with you guys by presenting my own version of Hollywood's big night.

Not quite 100% complete, but gettin' there, here's the list of nominees for the Aristocrat Awards, 2009 edition.

You'll note that a few of the categories are pretty sparse. Well, in those categories, I didn't really think that there were a ton of exceptional happenings, or at least I haven't seen any movies with them. I hear Sandra Bullock was good in Blindside but, ya know, nothing has motivated me to see that movie. It looks totally bland and forgettable from every trailer, and even every positive review I've heard. It'll be on the $5 shelf by this time next year.

Anyway, from my own tastes, here's the current list:

Best Picture (Drama or exceptional Genre):
Star Trek
Hurt Locker
District 9
Inglorious Basterds
Precious
The Road
Up in the Air

Best Director:
James Cameron- Avatar
Cohen Bros.- Serious Man
Tarantino- Inglorious Basterds

Best Actor
George Clooney- Up in the Air
Michael Stulbarg- A Serious Man
Viggo Mortensen- The Road
RDJr- Sherlock Holmes
Sam Rockwell- Moon

Best Actress
Gabourey Sibide- Precious

Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz- Inglorious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress
Vera Farmiga- Up in the Air
Mo'Nique- Precious

Best Comedy:
A Serious Man
The Hangover


Best Animated:
Up
Coraline

Best of Horror:
Paranormal Activity
Zombieland
House of the Devil
Drag me to Hell
Thirst

Best Screenplay:
District 9
Sherlock Holmes
Inglorious Basterds

Check back tomorrow, also, for my review of this weekend's Sherlock Holmes.

Avatar

James Cameron, after a 12 year absence, has returned. He has proved, once and for all, that White Guys are the coolest thing in all the universe... EVER.

Let's look back:

Forbidden Kindgom (Ancient China)- A modern day white kid mysteriously appears in ancient China, and is found and trained by Jackie Chan and Jet Li, Li playing the legendary Monkey King, the most bad-assed martial arts thing ever. Yet, in a matter of weeks the white kid has surpassed the kung-fu of Chan and Li's lifetimes, and gone on to destroy an ancient evil. White guys are better than the Chinese at their own Wu Tang.

Last of the Mohicans- 1826- Daniel Day Lewis is brought in to the Mohican Tribe during their tumultuous final days, where he learns to love their ways. Ultimately, he outshines and outlives every one else in the tribe, proving that he is the most talented and worthy, and that white guys make the BEST Mohicans.

Glory-1862- Matthew Broderick leads the first platoon of Black soldiers through the Civil War, the fightin' 54th. Despite an all-star cast of amazing black actors, the movie feels it needs to focus on Broderick, who is the core of the group's survival. Most of the movie's pathos is focused on him being a social outcast for leading the black soldiers, portrayed as perhaps the only thing worse than BEING a black soldier. An important movie, this shows that not only do white guys make better black guys AND better soldiers, they also make more important actors.

Dances with Wolves- 1863- Taking a page from DDL, Mohican Master, Kevin Costner infiltrates a tribe of Lakota Indians, learns their ways, shows his wisdom, and then goes on to lead them against the encroaching White man, and to their survival. Again, white is the new red.

Last Samurai- 1876- Tom Cruise travels to Japan where he is the first white guy to ever make the Emperor cry, and he fights off an army of chain gun wielding Japanese who have turned against his friends, the samurai. Cruise survives and is dubbed 'the last samurai' solely because he is white. Many Japanese on both sides of that battle were wiped out. Cruise then goes on to master Bushido, the Five Elemental Rings, and later will create Cancer... just so he can cure it later in his spare time.

Lawrence of Arabia- 1935- Despite getting raped in the butt by an enemy General, Peter O'Toole leads the united armies of Arabia, crushing the Arian invaders in a way no Arab ever could. His presence in the desert also brings about the longest period of peace and unity the modern Arab world has known. He goes home and takes the white away, and fundamentalist governments start cropping up everywhere.

8 Mile- 1995- Eminem out-raps black people at their own game. Also, bangs pre-death Brittany Murphy in a steel mill. Hot.

Avatar- 2134- After over 100 years of silence, white people come back with a vengeance! They find a new group of people in a shade they've never seen before... Blue!... and seek to learn their ways. One soldier does, and in doing so, within months he has become one of the greatest Na'vi that has ever lived, bangs the chief's daughter, leads a war, defies death, and is generally the most bad-assed thing to ever come to the planet.

WHITE PEOPLE RULE!

Okay, Avatar is nothing new for story. It, like so many others, has a very similar story idea. Where did it come from? I dunno. But it goes like this: Someone from 'Us' (you know he's the good guy because he's from 'Us') finds a group of Outsiders, joins them and learns their ways, and then when danger strikes he teaches them our ways, and fights beside them, usually against the home he left behind.

In this case, Jake Sulley, played by Sam Worthington, is the legendary white guy. His brother is dead, and the military needs to use his genetic code to continue an experiment of his brother's. A paraplegic ex-marine, Jake jumps at the chance to do something big with his life.

Jake is swifted off to a planet called Pandora to help a huge industrial/para-military group to move all of the native Na'Vi off of the largest mineral deposit on the planet. He does this by taking control of an Avatar, biological constructs that look like the Na'Vi, but are controlled by the human mind, a perfect synch of mind and body.

Jake finds himself invited amongst the Na'vi, being the first Soldier or Warrior that has approached them. In time, he will need to submit his findings to the powers that be so they might launch a full assault on the Na'vi. But, Sam has fallen in love with these beautiful people.

All of the places are set for a gigantic battle, and which side will Jake choose?... well, if you've seen any of the other movies I mentioned, you already know the answer, really. And make no mistake, had this Uber-white guy not showed up to help, the Na'Vi would have totally been blown away by the army of not-as-cool-as-Jake white guys.

One interesting thing about Avatar is that, for all of these things moving around and setting up this huge battle... there's surprisingly little action in the movie. In this 2 and a half hour movie, there's maybe 30 minutes of real punching and gunfire. Of course, that's probably for the better. What action IS there is really solid, and Cameron's goal of making an immersive, believable alien landscape is only helped by the investigations made into the flora and fauna, and the many explorations of the culture of the Na'Vi.

While all of the film is solid, all good, I don't know that its necessarily exceptional. Yet, I would recommend that everyone go see Avatar, for the sheer spectacle of it. After all, as much as James Cameron would love to convince everyone that complete immersion in an alien landscape was his goal, ultimately Avatar is all about the spectacle. But, oh, that part is so well done.

First off, special effects work is top-notch. Weta totally outdid themselves on creature creation, Mo-Cap animation, ship design, and just making an incredibly lush and detailed CG world, that blends well with practical effects. I'm still not completely sold on how much GC is needed, especially for the Na'Vi. These 10-foot tall blue kitty-people are some of the best CG done to date, yet they still look a bit cartoony. Good as they are, and detailed as they are, you sit one next to a real human actor, and it is obvious to all but the near-sighted that they are an illusion, not part of the real-world image. One has to wonder if forced-perspective and blue make-up might not have been more convincing. Still, these aliens do showcase the technology in the way they were supposed to, and some great physical performances from Zoe Saldana, amongst others, make them the most believable artificial creations created yet.

Little side-note here, anyone else just floored by how quickly WETA has come in the FX department? They're the big-dogs of Hollywood now, and its amazing to think where they came from. Their first movie, FIRST!, was The Frighteners back in 1996. They went from that, which looked ok, but is really terribly dated by this point, to Lord of the Rings. No real mid-point, in fact, Peter Jackon talks on the Frighteners DVD about moving on to Lord of the Rings. What a jump! That's like the Wright Brothers building the first airplane, followed by the first orbital satellite, its just such a leap. Frighteners, LotR, King Kong, District 9, and then this, the largest digital showcase of all time. Crazy. But I digress...

Beyond just the good CG and general effects work, there's the 3-D aspect. For this, if nothing else, you need to see Avatar in the theater. At home, on the Blu Ray, there will be a 3-D option. And it will require those red and blue glasses, and it will discolor the picture and look all crappy. If you haven't seen what a theater can do in 3-D these days, you need to go experience it. The new stereoscopic images pop out at you, it really does seem like you're a part of the movie, and there's no red/blue discoloration, its a perfect image, its in your face, and while I know Hollywood is going to beat it to death in the next few years, for now it feels really fresh and fun. And the movie was filmed with this in mind and layered for it appropriately; computer monitors pop up displays for the images, creatures leap off the screen, landscapes have true depth... its a great addition in the hands of a storied craftsman like Cameron, and it'll never be the same at home. If you miss it on the big screen, you've essentially missed Avatar all together.

Ok, so here's a few Spoilery nit-picks, so if you don't want the surprise to be ruined, then just make do with this: Long, but fun, movie romp, flawed but overall excellent, and you do yourself a disservice by not going to the movies to check it out.

Okay, so for the rest of you, here's something that took me out of the movie right away: Unobtanium. That's the name of the mineral the military group is after. Unobtanium. What the Hell? I realize that there are some chemists who have tried to use this term seriously in the past to describe 'X' compounds that are yet to be discovered, but once Futurama used it, I just lost the ability to take the term seriously. Maybe Professor Farnsworth can replace Giovanni Ribisi in the director's cut.

I know a lot of people had called it Dances with Wolves in space just off the trailer alone, but I was prepared to ignore that, and enjoy the film on its own merits. But, man, when the Na'Vi come riding in on space-horses, wielding space-spears, and yelling "yi yi yi yi yip-yiiiaa"... just about lost me again. This movies isn't just LIKE Dances with Wolves, it IS Dances with Wolves... with space Indians. Luckily, I regained my composure, due to the sheer awesomeness of the spinning glowing flying lizards.

Cameron, like so many other film legends, we've studied all your old tricks so much, your moves have just become predictable.

"What was that thing that attacked us?"

"Its a... big effing dragon or something. My Grandpa rode one."

"No shit?"
"Yep, only 5 people EVER have. Everyone respects those that do."

*Male Na'Vi walk by and disrespect Jake*

"Aww, I wish I could ride one."

Man, do you think he'll end up riding one and uniting all the tribes?

And speaking of really, really projected story points, how about Jake ultimately getting his brain transferred into the Avatar permanently? Now, I for one thought that the idea of a living biological computer making up Pandora was pretty awesome. The idea that the native race could plug their brains into the animals to make them more docile, or plug into the plants to hear downloaded memories from their ancestors was very cool, and very good sci-fi. But why would that ever work with Jake's human body? The Na'Vi and all the other creatures of Pandora have evolved together over billions of years; humans lack their specialized pony-tail plug, so how do the plants read us? It seems like this was an add-on to the otherwise good idea as a way of getting around the blaring question, "If his control pod is owned by the military, why don't they just unplug him? Or might it run out of batteries?" Bit convenient?

3-D is pretty cool and all, but some of the shots made to utilize it are just ridiculous. Giovanni putting a golf ball right at us into the cup... twice. Gotta roll my eyes at that one. It reminds me of Lonely Island's The Bu, and their send-up of lame and obvious 3-D work in film.

Lets get back to this giant red dragon-thing. Ya know, the one Jake beats on and rides to unite the tribes? How lame is it to not see that battle at all. I know, I know the movie was getting on by then, and you really just needed to stop delaying the big battle anymore. But seriously, they keep talking about how awesome the big red dragon is, and Jake decides he has to capture it because no one has in 3 generations... and then he just does off-screen somewhere. Was it really that easy? Seems like if you can just jump on its back and ride off, that other natives would have done so, or maybe one of their elders would have clued them in.

Wait, I'm sorry, Jake is white, of course its easier for him.

Okay, okay, I'm done gripin' about it for now. These are things that bugged me, but obviously they don't really stand out to a majority of the film-going world, and they certainly don't make Avatar a bad movie. It's made in Cameron's traditional style, with great visuals and bold direction, but with plotting a dialogue that's full of jokes that are just a little too cute, and a lot of action-movie contrivances.

But, that doesn't stop the film from being visually spectacular and a lot of fun to check out. I don't know if it'll hold up 30 years from now as a sci-fi benchmark; so much of it relies on FX, and the story is obviously only average, but for the next few years, it'll be the sci-fi film to beat for most audiences.

50 Movies for 50 States Part 4, Pennsylvania

So, its been a while since I continued this feature. Need to get back to writing my screenplay before another workday pops up and ruins all my time for writing. You know, the important thing.

If only I weren't so addicted to things like rent and food.

Anyway, the Union just wasn't looking strong enough with only 3 states, so here's a fourth. In recap: Kansas- The Wizard of Oz, New Jersey- Toxic Avenger, Deleware- Fight Club.

Okay, so as before, a look at a couple of Runners-Up before announcing the winner.

First off, Groundhog's Day. After a couple of off turns (re: What about Bob?), Bill Murray returns to form with this movie set in snowy, small-town Pennsylvania. The whole town is in arms to see Punxsutawney Pete, the Groudhog that 'predicts' the weather. Murray is there to cover the event for his news station, and feels trapped by his lackluster life. This becomes literal as he becomes trapped in an endless time-loop, reliving the same banal day over and over again until he learns to 'get it right', appreciating all the little folk around him.

In a way, Groundhog's day is a typical 'Scrooge' story, where a miser, only concerned with his own success, learns the value of human life through supernatural interference. What we're treated to, though, is a comedy where Bill Murray at first revels in, and then is horrified by, the repetition of each day, and the way that he abuses his knowledge of its events.

While the supernatural element is one of this movie's great strengths, it actually ended up knocking it out of the running. Its still a portrait, though absurd, of Pennsylvanian life, and the story requires the state for its setting, I just couldn't pick if over these other two stories of pain and triumph in Penn State.

Next Runner-Up, Slap Shot.

Now, I honestly have a real deep knowledge of this film like I do the others, but I had to put it up here based on strength of reputation.

Slap Shot is a Paul Newman film that is kind of reminiscent of the Bad News Bears. You know the story, washed up coach with major league talents inherits team of losers. Together they reveal each other's hidden talents and overcome their weaknesses and go on to defeat a superior, but ultimately soulless champion-level team. Except, this one is a little different. And this one's Hockey, not Baseball.

Two things make Slap Shot stand out from a Mighty Ducks or a Major League. Firstly, its set during the recession of the 70's and uses actual Pennsylvania crises as the basis for its stories. In this case, the team is about to be disbanded because of the closing of many area wood mills, and so the nearby towns are falling apart.

Secondly, this movie isn't so much about a bunch of lovable losers getting their stuff together as it is about the power of lying.

Throughout the entire picture, Paul Newman struggles to find ways to get his team to play, to fight, to work together. He can't find anything in the truth to get them to play, so he finds stories that will. There's a buyer for the team, there are NHL scouts in the audience; couple that with the team's near homicidal play style and they find themselves the match of almost any team in their league. Almost.

Not really in the running, but worth mentioning that all of Romero's original 'Of the Dead' films were in Pennsylvania.

Ultimately, though, had to lean towards the film with not only cultural reflection, but impact. And none from Pennsylvania have more than that Philly wonder himself, Rocky.

Despite its lackluster sequels, if you haven't watched Rocky lately, you need to go back and see it again. When people tend to think back on it now, they think of Rocky as a ridiculously long franchise of films, sucking the merit out of the Sports genre. Really this is unfair, all of the Rocky movies are ok. 2-5 are not bad, but nothing spectacular, with 4 being one of the great guilty pleasures of the 80's, basically an 80 minute music video about the Cold War. Seriously, its 5 minutes of Apollo dying, 5 minutes of Dolph Lundgren and Bridgette Neilsen looking better than they ever would again in their freakish Hollywood lives, and 70 minutes of training montage. The sixth film, Rocky Balboa, is a heartfelt, if overlong, nostalgia piece.

Bastardized by Hollywood, you can't ignore how quality a film the first Rocky is. People forget, too, that this film won 3 Academy Awards, including best picture in 1976, was the highest grossing picture of '76, and was written by Sylvester Stallone himself.

Stallone plays his greatest role here. Rambo was a good character (at least for one film) and, of course, who can forget Demolition Man and Judge Dredd... but Rocky was his first and best starring role. And why not? He was a low class slob from Philly with high aspirations. He was in a porn. And so, this role of mook, of small mob enforcer, a man trapped in ignorance and poverty, with dreams of being a prize fighter.

What makes Rocky work is its feeling of authenticity and empathy. Stallone put a lot of himself, a lot of the common man, into his character. Due to its tiny budget, a lot of family members and other small film producers gathered together to help create the film. A lot of effort, and a lot of love went into its creation, and it shows. There's also a well-crafted, inspiring love story that helps bolster the climactic battle at the end.

Beyond that, Rocky has a lot of civic pride for the city of Philadelphia. Now, that might seem odd, since the movie does focus on crime, poverty, mob bosses, and abuse within the city. But at no point does it try to denigrate the city. Rather, it shows that despite the hardship of the city, and the horrible way urban life can treat people, you can still find love and happiness, and achieve your goals.

For a long time, Rocky inspired Philly to greatness, unified them, and turned the eye of the country onto the city through its iconic images of the titular character jogging across its landmarks. It may be a little dodgy now... again... but there was a time when a movie could work wonders, even on so large a community.

Up in the Air, Early Review

I had the pleasure tonight of attending an early screening of Up in the Air, the new film from Jason Reitman, director of Juno and Thank you for Smoking, and starring George Clooney.

The film follows the life of Ryan, an agent who excels at two things: talking to people and traveling. He lives a life of solitude and personal enjoyment as he does his job, firing people on behalf of corporations and essentially running damage control. On the side, he is a motivational speaker and book writer, encouraging people to find freedom by leaving behind their homes, their possessions, even their personal relationship that keep them tied down to one area.

Ryan's life is turned upside down by a series of concurrent events, a new romance, a marriage in his family, but mostly by a most ironic threat to his own job from within his company. In the midst of the economic recession, his company should be thriving, but they are seeking to find ways to cut costs, such as the cost of travel. A young recruit to the company has proposed that all terminations be done online from the central office via video servers. If this plan is implemented, Ryan is grounded. He and the new recruit travel together testing his very personal method of termination against the cold efficiency of computer termination.

At the same time, Ryan's ideas of relationships and a lifetime of constant motion are challenged by the more traditional values of the young recruit, his new found doubts presenting more of a threat to his jet-set lifestyle, even, than the encroaching technology.

If you've seen Juno and Thank You for Smoking, you kind of know what to expect. No, this doesn't have the more slapstick or peppy dialog driven laughs of Juno, but it still has the mix of drama and humor. Up in the Air is much closer to Thank You, in its tone, its examination of the corporate world, and the way in which it challenges the views of its main character. This time, the film focuses more on love and adventure and how the two seem mutually exclusive; it questions whether settling is the end of life, as Ryan suspects, or its true beginning.

The humor here is dry, but spot on. There are a lot of great gags, many of them dialog or situationally based, but you get a few well-timed masturbation jokes in there as well, just for spice.

Of course, Reitman is no slouch when it comes to drama, either, and Up in the Air shows packs a very real emotional punch. There is a real sense of loneliness about all the characters, a longing that comes across in every moment from the screen.

Up in the Air's real strength is in its cast. None of the humor, nor the drama, would work if it weren't so convincingly delivered by the quartet that make the main cast. George Clooney continues to show why he's Hollywood's most trusted and prolific leading man. His character is intelligent, charming, and charismatic in a way only Clooney could pull off. His delivery is typical of most of his characters, but it works for his character, always believable . Even as he continues to age, Clooney's characters continue to be smart and dignified, unlike those of, say, John Travolta or so many other older leading men who have sold out to family fare with no gravitas.

Jason Bateman plays a role more serious than usual, his role as Clooney's young hot-shot boss giving him little chance to crack jokes. However, he plays the yuppy well.

Nothing would have worked were it not for the strength of the leading ladies, neither of whom was I very familiar with before Up in the Air. Young Anna Kendrick plays Natalie, the girl who would threaten Clooney. Before this, I only knew her from the unfortunate Twilight series, so its fantastic to see her get to test her acting chops. Well, I say its fantastic only because she delivers so well. She remains cute and funny through most scenes, but collapses under pressure in a very real-to-life manner.

The real gem is the smaller but important role of Alex, played by Vera Farmiga. Vera has not gotten a lot of recognition for her roles, but she's been in a lot of great movies in the past, The Departed, Boy in the Striped Pajamas, and others. If this doesn't garner her some notoriety... well, it'll be typical, but a shame. Her verisimilitude is second to none, even as a spectator in Clooney's scenes, Vera never falters, never breaks. At 35, Vera also brings a sex appeal to her role as leading lady that is rare in a lot of films now. It seems Hollywood only accepts sexy leading ladies ages 18-25 anymore, but Vera is a bold exception. Her one nude scene literally made the male portion of my audience gasp with delight. You could practically hear the girlfriends punching them in unison a second later.

So, generally you know what to expect, dry wit, good drama, fantastic performances (thumbs up, also, to JK Simmons who continues to deliver fantastic supporting characters). If you like intelligent humor (think West Wing) you'll really get into this.

My one personal problem with Up in the Air is this: despite being very good at telling us its moral message, this is a message we've heard over and over again. In other words, you must submit to normal goals about relationships and family in order to be happy.

Clooney's character begins as a perfectly happy, if a little self-centered, traveler. Inevitably, his notions about this are challenged, and he must confront his loneliness and lack of solidarity, the usual. The problem with this being that at the beginning of the film, Clooney is happy. When he questions this happiness, he becomes distraught. But, it seems that Clooney isn't really lonely, so much as he is told he is lonely and acts accordingly. But, by the end of it, and though it goes against the messages of the film, I felt that had Clooney just stayed in isolation, he would have been happier.

There are those of us out there who prefer isolation, and don't mind having the ability to move through life unfettered. Its not a perfect lifestyle, but neither is marriage and kids. Its not for everyone, but it is for some people. This seemed to be conveyed by Up in the Air early on, but by the end of the film, it began to preach that if you didn't give up your personal freedom for the company of others, life can never be complete for you, a point I can't entirely agree with.

In fact, it seems to contradict an earlier scene, where Clooney fires a man, and finds that he had once dreamed of being a chef. Why did he stop pursuing his dream? Because he had kids and wanted a stable paycheck. But now, says Clooney, you should pursue your dream, because your kids can't admire a man who doesn't pursue his dreams. Doesn't that seem to encourage a life without personal bonds? A life in the pursuit of personal ambition? Enough talk is made of working 9 to 5 in crap jobs and being unhappy until you die, that it seems the attainment of goals is also a big part of the movie's message.

Regardless, its a fun feature that is well crafted, and obviously thought provoking. If you like smart comedy, check it out.

External Linkage

New issue of BthroughZ.com is out. Therein you'll find my new review for B-movie London Betty. Its not a horror flick, but a horror director was nice enough to send it our way.

Its a short issue this month, but always fun.

Of Balls and Men

MD Geist is on the TV right now. Its dubbed, but the dubbing crew didn't feel it necessary to subtitle any of the numerous expository texts at the beginning of the movie, so, no idea what's going on. Guts be flyin', and robots be blowin' up... but there's a wicked 80's soundtrack goin' on, and that's all that really matters.

Oh, and the main character just spoke. He sounds like an 18 year old kid doing a Barry White impersonation. Awesome.

This blog has been awfully sleepy lately. Black Friday crushed my soul. Apologies.

But this week, I finally saw something worth blogging about: Robin Williams' stand-up. Vegas was his last stop on his Weapons of Self-Destruction tour. Well, he was scheduled for Vegas like a year ago September, but emergency surgery postponed the act till now.

The good news is that the man is still funny after all these years. Worth noting, however, its a different kind of funny. His delivery is something a bit more like Lewis Black than old Robin Williams. The manic, hectic running about the stage has faded with Williams' coke problem. Now he's more political, but the jokes are a bit dated... its a really strange act in some ways. I never thought I'd hear Robin Williams say 'dude', as in "what the fuck, dude?" But he says it a lot. Dude?

But after a few, he's back on the body humor, comparing scrotums to turkey necks and getting a good laugh from the lowest common denominator.

Aw, hell, its good dirty fun. The man's far past his prime, but the show's still a lot of fun.

In other news, I was reminiscing about Planetnamek.com this evening. That DBZ fansite is long gone, but I do remember fondly how I wasted the hours away, obsessively absorbing the Dragonball universe, laughing at all the arguments about arbitrary power numbers... hell, Planet Namek is how I got my first writing gigs.

Well, little did I know that they've been making new Dragonball lately. Kinda.

In 2008, and never scheduled to release stateside, came a Dragonball reunion show, marking the 10 year anniversary of the show's completion. It takes place between DBZ and DBGT, and is pretty well put together, more on the comedy side than the faux drama of DBZ. Despite being a present for Japan only, the whole thing is on Youtube. Enjoy.

In addition, someone out there in the world heard my ideas for one of my dream projects. I love Dragonball Z, but its so long, and repetitive. The comic book its based on is very fast-paced. But the show, pacing itself to not outrace the comic, is loaded with filler fluff material.

I've often wanted to go back and edit out the filler to make the show worth rewatching, but now i don't have to.

Dragonball Kai is the original show, but sliced down so that the filler is gone. Its also getting the HD treatment, and is being converted to widescreen. Some new animation was made to replace scenes that weren't up to snuff.

The original 291 episode run is being converted down to 100 episodes, which sounds about perfect. No word on whether or not this 'director's cut' will still include Buu, but its a good idea regardless. If I ever buy a DBZ animated collection, it'll be the Kai version. Who's got 145 hours to watch the show? 50? more doable.

Dragonball, now with 66% less standing and screaming. Check out that opening sequence up there!

We gotta powa! Afterall...