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NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW is Up In The Air this year! Genre Films Rule!
Hey folks, Harry here -- I like UP IN THE AIR. But if you went to theaters this year and came away thinking it was the single greatest work of cinema in 2009 - I'd have to call you fucking nuts. I like UP IN THE AIR, but frankly - I didn't like or want to particularly spend time with the characters. They're pretty much universally petty people that are so self-centered and uncool that I just wanted to slap them and tell them JOIN HUMANITY! Which is pretty much the point of a lot of the film, but about halfway through - I just wanted to slap them all. For me, I vastly prefer Clooney in MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS this year. But - whatever - it feels like a NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW winner. An early leader in the awards race that will eventually be over-shadowed by the greater works of 2009. At least, that's my hope. What do you think?
UP IN THE AIR
NAMED 2009 BEST FILM OF THE YEAR BY THE
NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW
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2010 Gala to be held on Tuesday, January 12th with
Meredith Vieira as Mistress of Ceremonies
New York, NY – December 3rd, 2009 – The National Board of Review named Up In The Air the 2009 Best Film of the Year. Directed by Jason Reitman, Up In The Air is the timely odyssey of Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizer and consummate modern business traveler who, after years of staying happily airborne, suddenly finds himself ready to make a real connection. The film will be released in select theaters on December 4th by Paramount Pictures.
Below is a full list of the awards given by the National Board of Review:
Best Film: UP IN THE AIR
Best Director: CLINT EASTWOOD, Invictus
Best Actor(s):
GEORGE CLOONEY, Up In The Air
MORGAN FREEMAN, Invictus
Best Actress: CAREY MULLIGAN, An Education
Best Supporting Actor: WOODY HARRELSON, The Messenger
Best Supporting Actress: ANNA KENDRICK, Up In The Air
Best Foreign Language Film: A PROPHET
Best Documentary: THE COVE
Best Animated Feature: UP
Best Ensemble Cast: IT’S COMPLICATED
Breakthrough Performance by an Actor: JEREMY RENNER, The Hurt Locker
Breakthrough Performance by an Actress: GABOUREY SIDIBE, Precious
Spotlight Award for Best Directorial Debut:
DUNCAN JONES, Moon
OREN MOVERMAN, The Messenger
MARC WEBB, (500) Days of Summer
Best Original Screenplay: JOEL AND ETHAN COEN, A Serious Man
Best Adapted Screenplay: JASON REITMAN and SHELDON TURNER, Up In The Air
Special Filmmaking Achievement Award: WES ANDERSON, The Fantastic Mr. Fox
William K. Everson Film History Award: JEAN PICKER FIRSTENBERG
NBR Freedom of Expression:
BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY
INVICTUS
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSEBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS
Ten Best Films
(in alphabetical order)
AN EDUCATION
(500) DAYS OF SUMMER
THE HURT LOCKER
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
INVICTUS
THE MESSENGER
A SERIOUS MAN
STAR TREK
UP
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
Five Best Foreign-Language Films
(in alphabetical order)
THE MAID
REVANCHE
SONG OF SPARROWS
THREE MONKEYS
THE WHITE RIBBON
Five Best Documentaries
(in alphabetical order)
BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY
CRUDE
FOOD, INC.
GOOD HAIR
THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS
Top Ten Independent Films:
(in alphabetical order)
AMREEKA
DISTRICT 9
GOODBYE SOLO
HUMPDAY
IN THE LOOP
JULIA
ME AND ORSON WELLES
MOON
SUGAR
TWO LOVERS
“The NBR is very proud to announce its honorees for 2009 – a year in which filmmakers’ voices and visions were innovative, exciting and eclectic. We are thrilled to honor Jason Reitman’s bittersweet and poignant film, Up In The Air, with wonderfully strong performances, writing and direction,” said NBR President Annie Schulhof. “The NBR is looking forward to this year’s gala at Cipriani 42nd Street with Meredith Vieira joining us as the evening’s MC.”
This year the NBR screened over 300 films – 181 narratives, 79 documentaries, 46 foreign language films and 11 animated films. The NBR, founded on January 25th, 1909, was originally founded as an anti-censorship organization and continues to honor excellence and freedom of expression in filmmaking today. The 108 members include knowledgeable film enthusiasts, academics, filmmakers and students from the NY metropolitan area. Many of the student members are past recipients of the NBR student grant program which enables students and young filmmakers to finish their projects and exhibit their work.
The 2010 NBR Gala will be held on January 12th at Cipriani’s 42nd St. in New York City. Meredith Vieira will serve as the Mistress of Ceremonies. Once again, the accounting firm of Lutz & Carr tabulated the actual ballots.
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THE NBR
For more than a century, the National Board of Review has been committed to freedom of expression in the cinema. Originally established to fight government censorship of motion pictures, the NBR has championed many films of significant social impact. The NBR continues that commitment today with its annual William K. Everson Award for film history, so named for the signature film historian and educator of modern times, a long-time NBR member, as well as its annual freedom of expression award. The NBR also celebrates the filmmakers of tomorrow with student philanthropy, which supports young filmmakers with financial aid that enables honorees to complete projects and exhibit them at various film festivals. For more information please visit http://www.nbrmp.org/
HISTORY
The National Board of Review was founded in 1909 in New York City, just
thirteen years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George McClennan's revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses Christmas Eve 1908 on the grounds that the new medium supposedly degraded the morals of the community. To assert their constitutional freedom of expression, theater owners, led by Marcus Loew, and film distributors (Edison Biograph, Pathe, and Gaumont), joined John Collier of The People's Institute at Cooper Union to establish a National Review Committee, an anti-censorship group, that endorsed films of merit and encouraged the new "art of the people." In 1919 the organization first selected its "10 best movies of the year." The NBR later published a magazine called Films in Review, which was the first publication devoted to critical discussion of film, counting among its contributors Harold Robbins, Dore Schary, Stephen Sondheim, Alfred Hitchcock, and Tennessee Williams. During the era of the Hollywood blacklist (when others were silent), Films in Review vigorously opposed film censorship. Movies released between 1920 and 1950 carried the legend "Passed by the National Board of Review."
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Proves the NBR is irrelevant, he says. I say his Terminator Salvation review does the same for him.
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Hoping Avatar will change this.
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Has everyone gone completely insane? Why does that crap film strike such a chord with Americans? It would never ever end up in any European Top10 countdown (except some crappy British ITV crapdown maybe).
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Yeah, but you guys go apeshit over some lame Dr. Who Christmas special.
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...its a tell. He's naming AVATAR the best movie of the year ...no matter what. Nothing will compare to it. He might concede that other movies have their good points, but, he'll give it all to AVATAR on account of some supposed "history of film" perspective. All of the internet critics are doing this; they're going to like AVATAR no matter what. They've already made up their minds. If the movie is in fact mediocre, they'll use the excuse of how 3-D and motion capture was used. That's its "the future of cinema" so, it didn't need to be a great movie. Then they'll post exhaustive lists of examples of movies that follow this dynamic. Harry, Beaks, Moriarty (Drew McWeeny), etc. They're all nestled out a place for this movie. The excuses will be grand. You've been warned. Good night, and good luck.
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I liked both of Reitmann's first two films, and Clooney can turn out some really good roles. I wouldn't say I had "high" expectations for this movie, but I expected to at least want to see it. But the TV spots are just... awful. generate no interest whatsoever. and I truly try not to judge movies by their trailers; but the plot synopsis for "Up in the Air" sounds really boring and forgettable on paper, and the tv spots do nothing to make me think it comes across any better on screen.
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You do know that Mamma Mia is the highest grossing movie of all-time in the UK, right? And you think America is full of idiots...
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It's good to see (500) Days of Summer get recognition, as well as Hurt Locker and Moon, all great films.
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Is an independent feature?
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To George Cloondawg, just doing his thing? Over some fucking unknown, Shart Copley or whatever? Who made that fucking movie, and fuck made it more believable then anything in Up In The Air.
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no thought went into many of these movies. they were purely FX reels. DOnt get me wrong, i like shit that goes BOOM, but believe it or not its still possible to have good stories and interesting characters. unforunately, audiences (foreign especially) proved this year that no one cares about those things any more. they just want to see shit blow up big. i like Trek and thought it was fun, but i can see why some would hate it and it is pretty dumb. every blockbuster out this year sucked asshole: Terminator, Transformers, Wolverine, GI Joe, 2012, just to name a few. and they all had the same thing in common: big effects, no story or characters. Looks like Avatar will be more of the same mindlessness with pretty effects. Only DISTRICT 9 was great. there were a few funny comedies, but nothing like last year. just a really depressing year.
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I liked Star Trek, but... that's a weird inclusion.
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He does like five movies a year. None of which aren't very good.
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At this point I have two films that I feel there's no way AVATAR will leap over. But we'll see, I see AVATAR next Thursday.
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I fear you're right. All anyone talks about is how great the effects look. Is that it anymore? We want things to look pretty, story be damned? We've been here before, of course. I'll readily admit I was blinded to the crappiness of Phantom Menace because I wanted it to be good. Everyone did.
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If you don't immediately label Avatar the best film of the year and quite possibly the decade. I know Up is probably one of your two movies you don't think it will leap over, the other probably Where the Wild Things Are, and I'm telling you based on everything you've ever written if I were a gambling man I'd bet the savings on you proclaiming Avatar classic five minutes in.
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I don't care about it and haven't seen it but you could see this coming from a billion miles away right? Reitman is getting his Hollywood reach-around before the public gets bored (wait..they already are). Just give the Breakthrough noms the real award. They all make much more sense than this other shit. Still gotta see The Messanger. I have high hopes.
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Word.
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If so, it's the first fucking independent movie to break on 3,000 screens.
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And Mr.Fox was a wet turd
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The inspirational sports flick looks like an iffy for me personally, and I bet it'll be like last years Frost/Nixon. A movie people admire, but few go to see.
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the ending was stupid. you could tell they had just written themselves into a hole and had nowhere to go.
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THat line in the INvictus trailer seals it for me. when Damon says " he wants us to win the world cup" with such seriousness i laugh my ass off. fucking awful. its not like he asked him to scale a cliff and take out a machine gun nest. no, he just asked him to win a fucking game, which is his job anyway. pass.
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I think it's some spy thriller or sci fi movie.
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TopHat speaks truth. Just look to that story of the YouTube filmmaker getting a development deal with Sam Raimi.
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That got a good distribution deal. Happens all the time. Paranormal Activity, hello!
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its a movie that was financed entirely by a company outside of the major studio system, so its independent. it just so happens that it got $30 million worth of financing from that non-major studio, and then a 3,000+ screen distribution deal when said studio sold the distribution rights to Sony. it just goes to show how loose the term "independent" really can be. great flick though.
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He should have the "The man's fucking nuts!" attitude as he says "he wants us to win the world cup." Cue the record scratch. Laugh track's up.
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it was produced by peter jackson's production company wingnut films and qed films, neither of which is a major studio. although that would have taken 30 seconds to look up, so i understand why you didnt have time
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I doubt Ebert will call Avatar the best movie of the year. He acts like he hates it.
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I have no idea what I'll think of AVATAR. Thus far I have loved all of James Cameron's films - I'd say of the theatrical releases ABYSS was weakest, until the director's cut, which makes THE ABYSS nearly my favorite of Cameron's work. But with his director's cut of that - I suppose my least favorite Cameron film that I otherwise love... would have to be TRUE LIES. Before you bring up PIRANHA 2, that film was taken from him. And was not ever a JAMES CAMERON movie. But with TERMINATOR, ALIENS, ABYSS, T2, TRUE LIES, TITANIC.... The man has been pretty fucking consistently awesome. That said - I think it'll probably do battle with UP for 3rd, if it blows my mind... but just the fact that I have to see it Thursday in a room of serious folks, instead of Saturday & Sunday with the best audience ever... sigh. I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it anyway.
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Is one of the top two best movies of the year.
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I wanna know why my old name was blocked. I can't seem to get any answers as to why D.Vader was blocked. I don't think I was banned, since all my old posts are around. I just couldn't log in anymore. What gives?
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Not that I'm trying to bribe you, and not that you give a rat's ass about 20$ anyway. I guess I'm the only one looking forward to Nine, Lovely Bones and A Single Man as the year's holdouts.
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Yes, the summer movies were all pretty godawful -- I actually skipped most of the obvious crap like WOLVERINE, GI JOE, and TRANSFORMERS 2 (slogged through TERMINATOR, tho) But there's been some good stuff around the edges. Right now my own list shapes up like this:
20. THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS
19. THE ROAD
18. WATCHMEN
17. BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL NEW ORLEANS
16. THE INFORMANT!
15. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
14. PUBLIC ENEMIES
13. THE FANTASTIC MR. FOX
12. DUPLICITY
11. THE DAMNED UNITED
10. UP
9. (500)DAYS OF SUMMER
8. STAR TREK
7. DRAG ME TO HELL
6. DISTRICT 9
5. CORALINE
4. THE HURT LOCKER
3. A SERIOUS MAN
2. MOON, and...
1. IN THE LOOP.
Biggest disappointment for me, sadly, was WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. Still have high hopes for UP IN THE AIR, LOVELY BONES, IMAGINARIUM OF DR. PARNASSUS, and, of course AVATAR. -
Half the crap they play on IFC is big studio anymore it seems. They sub-license and co-distribute. . .even in the golden age of indies-- Clerks, Pulp Fiction, Crying Game--all made under parent mega-company Disney's watchful eye.
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IN THE LOOP will have a LEBOWSKI-like following in a few years. A seriously funny, very quotable film.
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Dec 03, 2009 5:24:00 PM CST
What, Harry didn't spooge all over NBR noming Star Trek?
by glory_fades_immaxfischer
Snowballs in hell my friends..snowballs in hell
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to full thrust! Both Jason Reitman films that I've seen have been overblown by hype and, I think, would have had a greater impact if I hadn't heard anything about them going in. Was Thank You For Smoking a good movie? Maybe, but it never really struck that chord with me where I was "Man, I have got to see this movie again" and Juno was overhyped from day one. It had its good qualities but it sure as shit wasn't the second coming of the teen comedy.
I want to see Up in the Air but I want to read/hear/see as little about it as possible before I do. Maybe it is a great movie. But I'm not gonna decide that before I go and see it.
Anybody else feel it's a little pretentious to give out an end of the year award before the end of the year? It's December fuckin' third! -
Best Feature:
(500) Days of Summer (2009)
Amreeka (2009)
The Last Station (2009)
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire (2009)
Sin Nombre (2009)
Best Foreign Film:
An Education (2009)
Everlasting Moments (2008)
Mother (2009)
The Maid (2009)
Un prophète (2009)
Best Documentary:
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)
Food, Inc. (2008)
More Than a Game (2008)
October Country (2009)
Which Way Home (2009)
Best First Feature:
Crazy Heart (2009)
Easier with Practice (2009)
The Messenger (2009/I)
Paranormal Activity (2007)
A Single Man (2009)
Hey Paranormal Activity got a nod for something. Flame away, assholes! -
Dec 03, 2009 5:44:05 PM CST
My top 3 movies so far: Up, Inglourious Basterds, & District 9
by soylentmean
Those are the three films I saw this year that are going to get heavy rotation at my house. Everything else, not so much. Although Where the Wild Things Are is sitting pretty at #4.
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a list of movies considered the best, that i have actually seen about half of!
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Those are my favorite films so far. With Moon as a runner-up. I'm not really a big fan of this list. I love Clint Eastwood, but I doubt he deserves Best Director for Invictus, that shit looks cookie-cutter. And Up in the Air looks alright, not too hyped for it since Juno really bummed me out.
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they both look quite entertaining. Also I think it's pretty lame that Star Trek made the list. If they screened Avatar to these assholes that shit would be bumped off for sure.
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It's getting ignored in the foreign categories. It looks epic. Can't wait to see it. Did Woo shit the bed?
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Dec 2009: "FUCKING AMAZING! RAPED MY EYEBALLS! BEST MOVIE EVER!" May 2010, when it hits DVD: "Bored the fuck out of me."
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i like Pixar movies, and Up was ok, but Coraline blew it away. great movie.
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best use of "lubricated horse cock" ever in a film
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Moon was spectacular and fascinating, and yet got NO Indie Spirit awards noms. I don't get it.
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Why do you guys keep bringing up what Harry will think of Avatar? Why do you care? For a bunch of people who obviously hate the film already, it is rather strange you need to come here and post comments about it all the time.
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you all know the academy is looking for a way to make up for the dark knight flub of last year, expanding the noms to 10 films was a start...nominating star trek as best picture is the next
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...Coraline? That film beats Mr. Fox into the ground so hard you can see it in China. Coraline was definately one of hte best films of the year, in my opinion.
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1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Public Enemies
3. The Hurt Locker
4. District 9
Worst film was JJ's Star Trekwars. Naturally. -
Dec 03, 2009 7:23:50 PM CST
Tiger Woods played more than 18 holes. Whiz! Bang!
by stereotypical evil archer
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was good actually. My third favorite Trek film.
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that movie was ugly. Oh, and it was fuckin' boring. If you have a movie filled with Tommy Guns and it's still boring, well then that's a failure son.
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And Public Enemies was overrated. Everyone was creaming their pants over it, but me, I just fell asleep.
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...when the 'before the Oscars' awards start handing out nominations, and around 90% of the movies nominated haven't even been released yet. While it's good to get recognition for truly good movies, something just smells smug about a review board that starts handing out awards to movies that have either been released only a matter of days before the nominations or haven't been released at all. Are we, as the audience, not good enough to see these movies yet? Are we not elite? Should be feel less of a person for not being granted special privileges to see these movies the same time as these voters? Oye...maybe not.
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Looks like porn for people who think there is nothing funnier then The Daily Colbert Onion Post.
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Harry just said so. Boo Hoo! That means I won't get to see AVATAR until the following week! I only hate that because it'll be impossible to avoid the 1001 reviews of the film before I see it and I won't be able to go in blank.
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Mary and Max then Battle For Terra. Can't believe I decided to skip that in theaters.
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I saw the 15 min preview, and all the trailers released. I don't know what other Earth Shattering things can come from that movie. I haven't really been surprised at a movie. Hell, everyone and their mom know Leonard Nimoy was in Trek before he did.
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was a surprising movie.
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My fave's that I've seen so far. Have yet to see The Road or Basterds
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What's it like having no taste in film?
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The one with the violet eyes? Sigh.
(I watched 5 mins. of The Happening but it was worth it) -
Dec 03, 2009 10:27:36 PM CST
Harry likes Up In The Air, except for the characters?
by a_banned_apart
That's akin to saying you like "2012" except for the CGI.
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hurt locker close 2nd
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With Drag Me To Hell. Pinnacles of filmmaking everywhere. The 'movie-movie' things and the formidable classics. And they're all in the field of GENRE FILM. Visual compositions you'd see in Peter Greenway are in a grindhouse quasi-John Carpenter WWII flick with lots of Hitler and Nazi killing. Classic traits of '50s greats are on fricking KIDDIE CGI ANIMATED FLICKS. Some of the most profound dissertations on the shit of our times are found in a MOVIE ABOUT ALIENS. Political economy and capitalism gets unravelled in ENTERTAINING MOCKUMENTARIES. The career highlights of indie auteurs are CHILDREN'S BOOK ADAPTATIONS. And the Iraq War gets cinematically done right AS AN ACTION FILM. 'Paradigm-shift', much ? I think so. Lars Von Trier's next film is a disaster flick. Seriously, I think we're seeing a major turn of 'smarts' away from bullshit art film course. Fitting, in how it shall make blowhards like Goddard irrelevant. As they of course fucking SHOULD be. Hate their shit.This is of course in the face of the anti-life equation that is the fricking Twilight franchise. People should really get rid of the rejects who latch onto it like barnacles on ships. They have ways of messing with the future of mankind.
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Mother fucker. Will Smith as Avatar.
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Best movie of the last couple years.
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just feels so artificial. And I know Adventureland will be a far superior film that'll receive no award buzz.
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Well, moreso than usual
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and 500 is a better film, too.
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(500) Days of Summer has good style but some real emotion, not some indie popsters pretending to show what real emotion is AND having a wild thing monologue about how their fucking teeth is missing or how the sun disappears or James Gandolfini doing a vocal performance that is basically Tony Sproano. Again. And let's not forget the numerous endless musical montages of some pop-rock song while the kid and the wild things frolic. Pretty yes. Also stupid. And overrated.
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Don't be slacking now!
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we'll finally know. But sorry JC, I can't see your outer world epic beating District 9 as the best bad-ass ball-grabbing action movie of the year.
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or however you spell it. i cant be bothered. go sing more Cotton commercials, you hipster skank.
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No worries. There's a backlash forming against that brunette non-acting tarsier...
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I had to look it up. Spooky-ass lookin' creature (the tarsier as well).
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JGL was in (500) Days of Summer. Which essentially is just a sequel to Annie Hall. Because Zooey probably wasn't acting in that movie, I bet she's that sort of bitch in real life. I bet there is some guy she was banging right up until the point she met that indie hipster rocker, then BAM, she dropped him faster than Jessica Seinfeld left her fiancé to bang Jerry the rest of her life.
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Just saw it earlier tonight. Thought it was very, very funny. Haven't heard too much about it lately and it isn't going to get any recognition, but has anyone else seen it? I thought it was great...
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I was girding my loins for that stand-up freak out, but I had no idea Williams was going to do another Dad movie. Tell us about it SuperMother!
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Dec 04, 2009 2:09:11 AM CST
Another list another few moves I have no desire to see
by lockesbrokenleg
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Now I didnt see the Messenger, and I heard Harrelson was pretty good, but Waltz Hans Landa is going to go int he pantheon of great movie characters. It's a fucking staggering piece of acting and if he doesn't win the Oscar outright then frankly we just just stop giving out awards altogether.
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he looks like he's going to steal every scene in that film and looks entertaining as hell. I doubt it though.
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alright, taking note
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"See folks, we can be down to Eartha nd populist and unpretentious too." I fucking hate that about Hollywood, when it feels the need to use it's awards shows to shamelessly pander to the populous. I remember when The Dark Knight failed to get an Oscar nom and everyone said it was Hollywood just not being into big blockbuster films. That they didn't mention that it also happened to be a more layered, honest, and emotionally intense film than any other released that year is a total misrepresentation of the argument for it's nomination.
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The backlash from the number 2 movie of all time and one of the best reviewed movies of 2008 getting ignored in favor of Miramax's latest Kate Winslet Nazi movie forced them to open up the best picture nominations to 10 films. Star Trek has a good chance of getting a nom considering it got better reviews than 99% of the movies released this year, and did very well.
Yes, there is a world outside of the internet echo chamber. They loved Trek. Hopefully the sequel doesn't follow Transfomers and Spider-Man in having a inferior sequel. -
You see... The characters are so realistically portrayed, that I found myself judging and disliking all of them - MIND YOU - Everyone is acting their asses of and doing a great job of it. Its just the type of people they are, the actions they take, the way they live their lives. I just found counter to everything I love about life. I had a similar reaction to the similarly wonderful movies like LONE STAR and GOODFELLAS. I just don't want to be locked in a room with those characters, I appreciate the work, think they masterfully move their story along, I just didn't care for them personally.
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If the clips are any indication, nobody is getting any nominations for the acting. Cameron SUCKS at directing people, and writing. Very Lucas-like in that.
Unless they go full retard like they did when Golden Compass won Special Effects over Transformers and Juno won best screenplay *vomit, Avatar won't be up for anything but a stack of technical awards. -
of course Europeans love shitty movies, too.
But as I've mentioned before: I cannot for the love of God comprehend how anyone would seriously call Star Trek a good movie. I can understand how you might find it entertaining, yes. But Transformers, 2012, etc are all to some degree entertaining. Yet nobody would call them good movies. How come Star Trek makes that list for Americans?
Btw: Yes, the Mama Mia phenomenon is a huge embarrasment for the UK. But at least it can be explained: there are a lot of frustrated overweight mid-40s chicks who seem to have enough time to take their fat chick friends to go and see that shit over and over again. It's basically Twilight for soccer moms and hopeless cases. -
Believe it or not, some people go to the movies to be entertained. Some people think an entertaining movie is a good movie, because that is why they went to the movies.
I get your point, but I think a lot of people put too much stock in pretentious storytelling or message films. They CAN be powerful, but it is usually more up to the individual audience member. One person's powerful moment is another's moment of boredom and drivel.
Entertainment tends to cut through all that. And sometimes that makes it a good movie. No? K. -
AGAIN?!?? Chrissakes! KATHRYN BIGELOW, people!!!! Wake up!! Just because the guy's 79 and still making movies doesn't mean we have to blow him annually! So angry...
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Dec 04, 2009 11:31:24 AM CST
Pretty sanctimonious reason for not liking Up in the Air
by wheresmybourbon
"Its just the type of people they are, the actions they take, the way they live their lives. I just found counter to everything I love about life."
"I didn't like or want to particularly spend time with the characters. They're pretty much universally petty people that are so self-centered and uncool that I just wanted to slap them and tell them JOIN HUMANITY!"
Isn't that what makes these characters interesting? Isn't that the whole point of the film? (Without spoiling anything, I believe at least two of the three central characters are revealed to in fact have hearts and considerations beyond their "universally petty, self-centered" demeanor.)
Love your site and reviews, Harry, but my God, what a self-righteous criticism to make. "I didn't dig the movie because I'm so much better than these people!" Maybe someone should name a street after you.
Also, do you really prefer Clooney's performance in something as tepid as Men Who Stare at Goats to his fantastic, even self-effacing work in Up in the Air (I would compare the performance in some ways to Mickey Rourke's in The Wrestler). Everyone has their opinions, but let's get fucking real here: saying that is like saying Mickey Rourke was better in Spun than he was in The Wretler. -
and i'll call you ignorant. cause up in the air is the fucking ZEITGEIST movie of 2009. its exactly the kind of movie that needed to be put out at this time. and clooney delivers a star performance that hardly anyone else around is capable of anymore. between this and his other two flicks the man OWNED cinema this year. props are very much deserved.
MY TOP 10 OF 2009 (so far):
1. Up In The Air
2. Fantastic Mr. Fox
3. The Brothers Bloom
4. A Serious Man
5. Up
6. The Hurt Locker
7. Inglourious Basterds
8. In The Loop
9. Black Dynamite
10. Adventureland
Haven't seen Lovely Bones (which is my guess for Harry's best of the year right now), Invictus, Dr. Parnassus, Nine, White Ribbon, A Prophet, Harry Brown, Broken Embraces, Avatar, Sherlock Holmes and about 10 other movies I think MIGHT have a shot at my list, so, grain of salt you guys. -
So yeah, there's that.
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Appreciate the clarification. I clearly misinterpreted the earlier statement. One of those making an ass of myself moments. (It's happened before and will no doubt happen again...and again...and again...)
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I really think it's time for him to hang up his keyboard. 4th paragraph...WARNING/SPOILER: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091202/REVIEWS/912029999
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I just don't give a shit about what he says anymore. He says he loved TPM, but he slammed AOTC for the exact same things.
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Dec 04, 2009 5:18:12 PM CST
Palmer you don't think there's any emotional truth in Star Trek
by tall_boy66
See: opening 11 minutes. Also: you fail.
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Just saw THE MESSENGER tonight. Harrelson, while not the protagonist, indisputably has a lead role in the film. This has been happening more and more in recent years that Supporting Actor awards are given to second male leads (whereas, had the role been female, it would've been a Best Actress nomination without a doubt). In the case of COLLATERAL and TRAINING DAY, it was actually the first leads (the protagonists) who received Supporting Actor noms. It's ridiculous, and it's unfair to the those actors toiling away, giving brilliant performances in small roles, who actually deserve the accolades.
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Agreed, the first 11 minutes of Trek were the best thing about the movie and had me hooked - but "emotional truth"? If you're 12 years old and think "fail" is a cool expression maybe.
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How the fuck could STAR TREK possibly have a more "inferior" sequel, unless they fired the current staff and replaced them all with porn actors (arguably an improvement) and JayJayAbrams snorted an even large pile of coke than usual and "envisioned" that the Klingons were all ten-foot-tall thundercats with blue skin.
Seriously...if you think that FPOS STAR TREK was Oscar worthy, get set for the biggest disappointment since you cooed, "Ooh goody...they're making GI JOE into a Major Motion Picture!"
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