« The End of Cap and Trade | Home | Michael Moore Vs. Obama on Afghanistan »
“Up in the Air” Rave
By Kyle | November 30, 2009
Big Hollywood has a rave for “Up in the Air,” which I’m seeing tomorrow and am looking forward to. (The movie is based on a book by Walter Kirn, whose latest book “Lost in the Meritocracy” was excellent.) This is the killer week for New York movie critics: tomorrow I’m seeing “Invictus” at 10 am, “The Lovely Bones” at 2 pm and “Up in the Air” at 6:30 pm. Wednesday I’m seeing “Crazy Heart” and Heath Ledger’s last movie, Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.” Thursday and Friday bring Robert Downey in “Sherlock Holmes” and Daniel Day-Lewis in the musical based on Fellini’s “8 1/2,” “Nine.” I sure wish I could have seen some interesting movies back in September, when I suffered through “Whiteout,” “Love Happens” and a dozen other hideous wastes of celluloid.
November 30th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
I’d like to go out and make a semi-bold production: I think “Invictus” will be the disappointment of the Awards season.
It just feels like Oscar bait to me. A good example of this is “Cinderella Man”.
It’s Ron Howard, Russell Crowe, set in the Depression, inspirational story, another wacky Crowe accent…just seemed desperate for Oscar gold to me.
This one has Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, directed by Clint Eastwood, starring Matt Damon with a South African accent, desperate to be inspirational (lines in the trailer like “This is our destiny!” gives me goosebumps of the bad kind)…it just seems a little too easy to me.
I could easily be wrong, though.
November 30th, 2009 at 5:49 pm
I don’t think you are, Robert.
A lot of folks would look at Kyle’s schedule and think, “What, you call that a job?” Not me, though. Sheer torture, which is why we need Kyle and Lou.
November 30th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
I’m suspicious of Invictus myself. I’ve seen a lot of sports-trump-racism movies in the past five years. Also I think Eastwood is overrated in general. He’s a solid director, not a visionary.
November 30th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
I saw my first tv ad for Invictus last night, my first thought was I’d seen that story before, I doubt I go see it even if the reviews are solid. Sherlock, Up in the Air, and Avatar are the movies that have piqued my interest so far.
November 30th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
I saw the Invictus trailer and my thoughts echoed many of those above - been there done that. But Clint’s recent comments on America’s current race obsession piqued my interest - maybe this could be something a bit different.