up in the air

this film was receiving considerable attention before its release. jason reitman's previous two films, thank you for smoking, and juno (nominated for best picture) were both very well received. george clooney is always more than a solid lead these days (forget about the ancient 'batman & robin').

this film was very well done. it was well-acted, well shot, well directed, and had a solid story. every part of this film screams for an oscar, but i do not think it will win. what this movie lacks is uniqueness. i find in a few years i will think back to this film as a very good one, but not one that leaves a lasting impression of any sort, on me. for example, i recently watched 'paris, texas' which was just re-released on the criterion collection, and i find my thoughts continually drawn back to the film, even weeks later.

the story is a little cliche and on the predictable side, but the strong performances all around help mask it to a certain extent. danny mcbride is freaking hilarious in the limited amount of screen time he gets. he really steals the show. as with all of reitman's films, humour is its strong suit. there are many very funny parts in this film. reitman is a master of blending emotion and humour together.

this is a very solid film, one of the year's best. however, i find it does not invoke enough spark or originality to make it the best of the year.

fantastic mr. fox

i am both a huge wes anderson and roald dahl fan, so i was obviously excited to hear that anderson was adapting the dahl book 'the fantastic mr. fox' in the form of a stop animation film.

this film was brilliant. definitely one of the most memorable movies i've seen this year. everything about this movie works right. george clooney's deep instantly recognizable voice is perfect for mr. fox, and voice acting for the others parts are also spot on. Jason Schwartzman is particularly funny as the fox's 'different' son Ash.

the story is very funny. it has that great edge where it would be funny for kids, but it has a lot of adult humor in it as well. it was always amusing, never boring, and i was sad when the fun experience had to end. visually, the amount of fine detail always found in anderson movies is present here as well. also, not being a regular stop-animation director (such as Henry Selick) he presents a lot of camera shots and close-ups that stop animation movies generally avoid. this unique film style works perfectly though.

i cannot say enough about this movie. it's my favorite wes anderson film since 'rushmore.' it has countless laugh out loud moments, and it really makes you feel like you're in the world it presents throughout it. it was the first movie in quite some time where i went to watch it again within a week, and it was equally as funny the second time.