Up in the Air is _____________
*
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
We've Moved. Please visit THEFILMEXPERIENCE.NET
Posts
Search This Blog
Film Experience Hoopla!
- "Inarguably the most exuberant, optimistic and quick-witted Oscar blogger on the Web"
-Vanity Fair - "Creative, hilarious, utterly addictive"
-Nicks Flick Picks - "the Film Experience is a pretty hip blog"
-NY Times - featured in Meet the Bloggers
-The Advocate - 10 Blogs For Serious Film Lovers
blogs.com - "If you're not familiar with Nathaniel, here's an analogy SAT-style.Nathaniel : cinephiles :: Angelina Jolie : starving children"
-Cinephilia
Followers
Series / Frequent Subjects
- "10|25|50|75|100 -Happy Anniversary!"
- "A History of..."
- "Beauty Break"
- "Best Pictures From the Outside In"
- "Breakfast With..."
- "Curio"
- "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"
- "Kissing"
- "Mad Men @ the Movies"
- "Modern Maestros"
- "Monday Monologue"
- "Posterized"
- "Reader Request"
- "Screen Bitchery"
- "Take Three"
- "Tuesday Top Ten"
- "Unsung Heroes"
- "Vanity Fair's Hollywood"
- "Yes, No, Maybe So?"
- Actressexuality
- Angelina Jolie
- Anne Hathaway
- Broadway
- Cate Blanchett
- Film Festivals
- Foreign Films
- Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal
- Julianne Moore
- Meryl Streep
- Michelle Pfeiffer
- Musicals
- Nicole Kidman
- Oscar Race 2010
- Pedro Almodóvar
- Queer Interest
- Superheroes
- Tilda Swinton
- Vampires
- Woody Allen
Blog Archive
-
▼
2009
(1393)
-
▼
December
(110)
- December. It's a Wrap
- Online Film Critics Society Snubs Avatar For Best ...
- Year in Review Pt 3: That's So Gay!
- Directors of the Decade: You Decide
- Year in Review Part 2: Burn the Negatives!
- Channing "Russell" Tatum
- Up in the Link
- Curio: Filmstrip Scarf
- Year in Review Pt 1: Baffling Comedy and Over Cook...
- Best Pictures... "Play it Again, Clint"
- The Ballots Are Coming! The Ballots Are Coming!
- What Did You See Over Christmas?
- Yes, No, Maybe So: Sex & the City & Iron Mans 2
- Link Flamingos
- Holiday R&R
- Prediction Surprises?
- Directors of the Decade: Joel and Ethan Coen
- A Christmas Equation (?)
- Hundreds of Screens: It's (Not) a Wonderful Life
- The Two Sandras
- Recycled Experience: Play Time (1967)
- Detroit, Chicago, Utah, Etcetera
- Which newish movie...?
- Curio: Alt Cross-Stich
- Pandora's Link
- Regarding Mo'Nique... What Nick Said
- Screen Queens: Best of the Gay Aughts
- Mélanie Manly Laurent
- Halfway House: Mercury Poisoning
- The Best Actress Five. Is Anyone Vulnerable?
- Brittany Murphy (RIP)
- Oscar Podcast 2.2, Golden Globe Nominations
- Linka Linka-Ma, GaGa Link La La
- Decade in Review: 2005 Top Ten
- Julianne Moore, Bird Woman
- Halfway House: Sell it to the Highest Bidder
- To Sing and Die in L.A.
- "It was difficult for me... with you."
- Cat Fights From Another Planet
- Having a Juliette Lewis Moment
- This is turning into a Friday tradition...
- Nine Thoughts I Had On... Nine
- Jennifer Jones and the Link Parade
- Directors of the Decade: David Gordon Green
- SAG Nominations
- The Two Ryans. The Sixty-Three Songs.
- The Age of Innocence
- Robots and Scientists and Planes (Oh My!)
- Another Year, another Jaw-Dropping Documentary
- Curio: Film Posters by Claudia Varosio
- Switcheroo!
- In The Garden, There Is A Girl
- As God Is My Witness.
- Golden Globe Nominees
- Decade in Review: 2004 Top Ten
- NYFCC... Everybody Hurts
- BFCA Goes Wild For Nine, Basterds and Avatar
- Fresh Coat
- Screen Queens: Indie Romance
- Los Angeles Critics Spread the Wealth
- Boston Enters The Hurt Locker
- Foolish Golden Globe Predictions
- Samson & Delilah Wins Big in Australia
- A Single Man's Lovely Bones
- Linkables
- Oscar Podcast 2.1, Awards Preamble
- No title
- A Brief Conversation About AVATAR
- Say What? That's Not Goode
- Biggest Wow Moment of 2003
- Sound Off December 11
- Monster Movies
- Directors of the Decade: Gus Van Sant
- Come Back to Me...Or Not.
- Halfway House: Beauty Strangely Drawn to Beast
- Hundreds of Screens: Me and Orson Welles
- Complete the Sentence
- Curio: Finger Puppet Edition
- 16 inches! How long does a man's hose have to be?
- "Sometimes shook up old ladies get cut!"
- Two Ladies.
- The Most Romantic Exchange of All the Aughts
- Decade in Review: 2003 Top Ten
- DC Flies Clooney Skies
- Category Straddlers
- Monologue - Femme Fatale.
- British Indies Are Moonstruck
- The Best Auteur-Made Experimental Improvised Indep...
- Halfway House: Robin Coming Back to the Hood
- Film Bitch Awards 2009
- Screen Queens: Julia and Rupert
- Blurry Mementos
- Link Pit(t)
- Got Something Cinematic To Say?
- Brothers and Brødre
- Directors of the Decade: Andrew Stanton
- 7 Word Review: The Lovely Bones
- NBR Still Crazy For Clint & Clooney
- First and Last: Dream.
- Birthday Suit, The Finale
-
▼
December
(110)
65 comments:
getting acclaim but seems like it has a terribly obvious, well-worn narrative arc. Really, the cynical businessman is going to learn life lessons about the cost of self-isolation? We've certainly never seen that before; sign me up.
Ah well, maybe it'll be worth it for Kendrick.
...future Best Picture winner.
a great movie but not the best picture of the year.
on my "To Do" list, I swear.
overrated and a bit conventional, but Clooney, Farmiga and Kandrick are fantastic. Hope the movie will not win Best Picture and though King George is sexy and glamorous and sensitive, Colin Firth in A Single Man is far better in a truly challenging role.
the best made obvious Oscar bait in a while.
A topic I and many would rather be brought up after Christmas since we can actually have seen it by then unlike people that happen to be within reasonable distance of the 15 screens it's currently being played on. [/bitter rant]
...good not great.
...a film that falls apart narratively in the end a little bit.
...really well-acted.
...a film with an amazing score.
...nowhere even close to my area. We're still waiting for Precious.
getting very soon a very strong backlash, with "overrated" shouting and these things.
I see a new Sideways, no matter how great it is (like Sideways was great).
Who will be the first major critic to label it overrated?
What did Manohla think about it?
A film that I hope to see this week or the next.
...a whole bunch of cold snowy weather that makes me wish I were in Miami.
This is the kind of movie that I can salivate only by thinking of Ed Gonzalez's review.
...yet another movie that gains nothing from waiting until December to release. Farmiga and Kendrick could have established themselves in the race back in October; how can they hope to get traction now?
out of topic: glad you finally watched Sin Nombre...it's still one of my faves of the year. the train sequences are stunning.
i will be keeping my eye on fukunaga. he's tackling Jane Eyre next.
-jason
very very good. I was so lucky to see it opening weekend. It was a packed house and the whole audience was into it the whole way. No real weak spots. I can see it winning best picture.
...absolutely fantastic...really had no expectations when seeing it and was completely blown away. and i disagree with those who find it "conventional"...i did NOT see that ending coming. a terrific film with career-best performances from Clooney, Farmiga, and Kendrick.
1) ...a movie that I liked, but that upset me in its treatment of Vera Farmiga's character. I won't discuss it here, though, because it seems like there are a lot of people posting/reading who haven't seen it yet.
...totally on my schedule for tomorrow afternoon, I swear.
a movie I'm looking forward to seeing this weekend!
oddly getting a lot of acclaim in the US. I thought it was good, not great. Lovely to see strong female performances, while I never tire of seeing Clooney does his hang dog/Michael Clayton shtick.
Not quite sure where all the hoopla is coming form though?
...a bit of a fast fade, I'm afraid. Six weeks on, I remember little about it apart from the fact that I quite enjoyed it -- and that Vera Farmiga gives hands-down the most impressive performance in it.
... okay, funny at times.
... not as great as a lot of people are saying.
... being hyped up partially because it's directed by the same guy who did "Juno."
... going to get nominated for Best picture.
... not going to win.
... the first film I watched Vera Farmiga and enjoyed her performance.
... not a showcase of Clooney's best work.
... a let down if you expect greatness from newcomber Anna Kendricks.
Overrated,has George Clooney playing himself and A Twilighter who should not be getting awards and nods like the NBR over more deserved performances (cough,cough Mo'nique,Julianne Moore)
a love child of Billy Wilder and Frank Capra, beautifully paced with a sadness and humor infused that captivated the viewer. It is a film only a master behind the camera could muster up. I have such high hopes for Jason Reitman.
based on a forgettable book that i threw away 8 years ago.
...about to get spoiled for me if I keep reading this?
Agree with James. I would stake my life on it.
...the film that shows us how good Reitman really is.
I just wanna say that (and maybe it's not the place, or whatever) I find unacceptable for a critic to say a movie is "overrated". A film critic should review a movie regardless of its impact on people or media or the exposure it gets. They should watch it without considering the actors and director's and writer's previous work, for all they are watching is that movie, not everything that preceded it.
So a movie can be good, or bad or whatever, but you can't recommend it based on what everyone else is saying. I know it happens a lot, but it shouldn't. People (and critics) should be more objective.
...going to make Reitman a record holder.
(I haven't seen it yet)
enjoyable, but overrated, albeit less overrated than Precious.
...actually deserving of the best picture oscar it's going to win. My favorite film so far this year, though that could change with more reflection/viewings.
I LOVED Vera Farmiga's character. The ending made me want to watch the whole film again (and I will at some point). I agree that she was best in show even though Clooney gave the best performance of his life.
To those who think it's not going to win... what exactly do you think will beat it? Precious? The Hurt Locker? Avatar? Nine? I'm not feeling it.
Though it won't win many oscars, it will easily earn the most globe noms in the drama category and will most likely bag that award. And it's already clinched the first two critics' awards. I see it in remaining in the driver's seat all season.
For my globe predictions and analysis, see here. My blog was dead for a long time, but now it lives!
lifted by some great theoretical ideas, but fails to make them convincing in their execution
Vera Farmiga is giving a performance that is probably not showy enough for Oscar but is still one of her, and the year's best.
Agree with trent though...very problematic!! (and not just cause I'm in love with her all the time)
Gonna steal way too many awards from the Hurt Locker. Damn them for not releasing it later. It's CLEARLY the Best Picture. EVERY other movie, outside maybe Up, has had its detractors come around fast and furious (i.e. Nine, The Lovely Bones, Avatar, Amelia, etc.).
Come on Bigelow!!!!
...the next movie I'm going to see in the theater, if all goes according to plan.
every film critics and blogger orgasm of the year
...not yet open in my area. =(
pretentious...
...not the movie I'm waiting for Nathaniel to review. I'm dying to read about the movie with "B+?" next to it on the sidebar...
fabulous.
I saw it at Telluride and was really entertained and moved by the ending, which I thought was perfect. It's not in my top five so far this year, but seeing it again (which I plan on doing soon) may change that... in any event, I'd be happy to see it win Best Picture (although I kind of doubt that that will happen) because it's not what they typically go for, and I definitely having nothing but respect for everybody involved.
... going to be the best Best Picture winner of this decade.
...is most likely this year's best picture winner.
i wasn't quite getting the prerelease praise. since the reviews and awards have been trickling in, i can definitely see UP IN THE AIR as the winner.
but what else will it win, besides best adapted screenplay and maybe best director?
pure american (intelligent) positivism.
@CLOVER -- i get where you're coming from but none of us watch movies in a vacuum including critics so i think it's kind of disingenuous when people claim (not that many people claim it) that they do.
@CLEMENT -- NOOOOoooooooo. Don't encourage Hollywood to release everything at Christmas time! That's so bad for the movies. The Hurt Locker was such a relief during the summer. I'm so glad good movies sometimes open then.
@IAN -- interesting take. I want to hear more.
an excellent dramedy that's easily one of the years best films.
*...but not so much because of Mr. Clooney--who's fine in the film but hardly worthy of a 3rd Oscar nomination let alone win.
unsettling.
Nathaniel, I wasn't referring to you specifically, it's just that a lot of critics are content by saying that a movie is worse than expected, or better than expected, when, basically, this expectations should not be there in the first place.
Let's take a look at what happened last year. Everyone ended up hating Slumdog Millionaire, because of all the hype and awards, but let's say Slumdog had opened in 10 theaters in here and had had a poor box office run. Maybe it'd become a cult film and people would be saying it was underrated and it would have a lot more support. Maybe people would even be claiming it was Oscar material, and it should've been nominated for Best Picture. And maybe the people that would say that are the same that were bashing the film a year ago...
I don't know, it's something that doesn't relly have a solution, but I'd hate if it happens to Up in the Air this year.
... too slow to be released nationwide so I can go finally see it!
a solid film, if over-praised.
...hopefully enough of a romantic comedy that I can finally dupe my mom into seeing a potential Best Picture nominee with me.
::SPOILERS:::
Ok, well I have to start out with a disclaimer: I was really taken aback by the direction it went in over the last twenty minutes, mostly because I thought I had completely figured out what kind of movie it was going to be (i.e. former scumbag finds the right Farmiga, gets a Capra-esque ending etc.)
I loved that the movie ultimately didn't let him off the hook (hey, look at what you're missing out on...but first you have to pay your dues), and that was a really refreshing twist... in theory.
Somehow the transition didn't feel organic. I really had a "what? huh" moment for about two days after, just because I couldn't figure out why it didn't work onscreen. It just didn't feel like part of the same movie as everything else. And since it caught me so off guard I'm really looking forward to seeing it again so I can keep an eye out for how Reitman forecasts it, or where he stumbles in making a successful integration.
The one example I can think of right now is when Farmiga is giving her pep talk to Kendrick in the hotel lobby, and in retrospect when she tells her not to marry someone who makes less money, it's clear she's talking about her husband.
But other than that, the ending ultimately felt tagged-on the way it was executed (which is a shame, since it could've been awesome). Unfortunately I'm not one for deep analysis after one viewing, so it's definitely a gut feeling. And part of me is hoping that now that I know how everything turns out I'll be able to watch it from a new perspective and appreciate it more...but the first impression is pretty hard to shake at this point.
Oh, and the disclaimer was supposed to be: I can't really back up my arguments so well at this point/need more time to process (watch again)
highly overrated and does not deserve any Academy Awards.
...the best picture of 2009.
As I said - highly overrated but Farmiga was great (and only she was great). Clooney played yet another himself. :P And Kendrick... Well, she was OK but nothing special.
the big hollywood retelling of THE BUSINESS OF STRANGERS with Stockard Channing, Julia Stiles and Fred Weller. Ok, I jest, but remember that flick? I really liked that quirky little movie.
...a more "mature" film than Thank You For Smoking and Juno, but not as much fun as either. It's smart and solid and has great performances across the board, but (like An Education) was not as exciting to me as A Serious Man, A Single Man, Precious, The Hurt Locker, The Messenger, Star Trek, District 9, Where the Wild Things Are, Bright Star and Broken Embraces, to name a few (ten, to be exact).
a very Hollywood-like movie. It also shows that yes, Vera Farmiga's agent is not a total asshole.
Nathaniel, here you have Women Film Critics Circle Awards:
http://www.moviecitynews.com/awards/2010/critics_awards/wfcc.html
a great film that doesn't deserve the backlash it's going to receive.
Post a Comment