UP IN THE AIR

Director Jason Reitman's new film, "Up in the Air", is a very different movie for every single person who sees it. Lots of messages can be taken away from it as the film covers many issues. This keeps the brain thinking about the movie days after it is over, which is very hard for a movie to do these days. All of these messages make "Up in the Air" a treat to watch, but when they are all muddled together at the end it stops the film from being an outright masterpiece.

"Up in the Air" is about Ryan Bingham (George Clooney). Bingham fires people for a living, he goes to cities all around the U.S. to fire people because the real bosses of the company do not want to. This premise may seem a little funny, but when Ryan's job get jeopardized by a new co-worker at his firm, the audience sees what Ryan's life is really all about. Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), proposes to Ryan's company that firing people over the Internet with an iChat is far more helpful and saves a lot more money than flying all over the country to do it. When Ryan objects, his boss makes him take Natalie on the road with him to see what the job is like.

The film starts off with a very light tone to it, as Ryan shows Natalie the ropes about air travel, firing techniques, and crashing parties. When Ryan meets up with Alex (a female "road warrior" with the exact same job he has) though, his life gets a little more complicated after they sleep together. They keep in touch (literally and figuratively) and Ryan invites her to his sister's wedding. "Up in the Air" takes on a dramatic tone at this point when Ryan realizes how much he has missed his family, and any human connection for that matter. He describes his relationship with Alex as "casual", and still wants to remain in the "cocoon of self-banishment" that he has made for himself (he spent 322 days on "the road" last year). Ryan is a motivational speaker, and his message is to avoid commitment at all costs.

A film with this much story going on has to wander at some points, and it does. Reitman's screenplay (co-written by Sheldon Turner) does not know where to go towards the end. He knows exactly what he is doing in the funny first half of the film, but the entire storyline with the wedding seems forced in. There is no transition from firing people to the wedding, it just cuts to Wisconsin (where the wedding takes place). Reitman also does not seem to know which message to tell, or if he should tell one at all. "Up in the Air" could be a character study of Ryan, or a message about human connection, or commentary about the United States' economic climate. Reitman tries to put these all into one statement, but this results in a muddled and somewhat downer ending. The dialogue itself though is very well written and razor sharp though, making some conversations between Ryan and Natalie is marvel to watch.

The acting in "Up in the Air" is incredible. George Clooney plays Ryan to perfection. He plays him as condescending with no desire for human connection at all. When he falls in love though, he plays Ryan with a rare vulnerability and kindness that is hard to find in a Clooney performance. Kendrick is also fantastic as Natalie, whose naive approach to Ryan's job is not annoying, but rather nice and fun. Vera Farmiga, who plays Alex, is adequate, and J.K. Simmons is a major scene stealer in his five minutes on the screen. The cinematography is very well done, there is an off-putting shift to the hand-held style two-thirds of the way through for no apparent reason, but it is still well done. The editing of the film is perfect, the film is not too long and not too short, and is such a rarity in movies these days. The score is also well done, including the original song for the film, "Help Yourself", by Sad Brad Smith.

"Up in the Air" is a very well done film, and everything is there to make it a masterpiece. The only thing that stops it is the film's inability to fully commit to one storyline/theme/message. Some might find this the strong point of the movie, but because the film does not fully commit to one thing, it never fleshes out all the story lines enough. This provides almost no depth to any of the characters, especially Ryan, whose only depth comes from a beautiful scene in his old high school. This is one of the best movies of the year, just not the best of the year.

Verdict: GO SEE IT!

****/***** (4/5 stars)

AVATAR

It has been 12 years since James Cameron's "Titanic", and everyone has been waiting for what movie he will do next. His new film, "Avatar", is anything but "Titanic". It is actually a bigger, more expensive, and more special-effects driven than any movie he has done before, and that's saying something when compared to the other films he has done (The Terminator, T2, The Abyss).

"Avatar" is about a paraplegic marine named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who is sent to a far off moon called Pandora. On Pandora, the natives (called the Na'vi) are at war with the the humans. This is because the military have turned into mercenaries, and want to mine the planet for a precious substance that is more valuable than anything on earth (it is never specified why). An avatar is an organism that looks exactly like a Na'vi but is connected to the mind of a human and can be controlled by one (a lot like the Matrix). Jake hooks up to his avatar and tries to negotiate the relocation of the Na'vi because they are sitting on the richest deposit of the substance on Pandora. When the leader of the mercenaries, Col. Quaritch (Stephen Lang), gets impatient though and tries to kill the Na'vi for the substance, Sully has to choose which side to fight for.

"Avatar" is an absolute pleasure to watch. It has the best special effects ever put on screen, even better than "Star Trek". The motion capture technology used for filming the Na'vi and avatars is incredible, the faces of them are not blank like in so many movies before this, but are filled with emotion and, maybe, a soul. Neytiri, the Na'vi love interest for Jake, is a marvel to look at. She never looks fake or CGI throughout the entire film, every emotion can be seen on her face from hatred to love. The world of Pandora is just amazing to see, but it really comes alive at night. The ground glows when Jake's avatar puts his feet on the ground, trees glow in the dark, and some really disgusting creatures come out. Nothing ever looks fake, all the creatures, Na'vi, and spaceships look absolutely authentic.

Like all James Cameron films though, his script is somewhat lacking in character development and the film gets very preachy at times (aliens good, humans bad!). This little complaint is no match for the rest of the movie though. The 3D cinematography is a wonder to look at, as are the computer generated locations in the film (the cryo ship that Jake arrives to Pandora in, the base on Pandora, and the giant tree the Na'vi live in). James Horner's score is good, as it works in Native American-like chanting and singing, as well as a 1930's-sounding over-score. "Avatar" is a very long movie, running at 2 hours and 42 minutes. The only slow parts though are the action sequences toward the end of the film. The 30 minute long climax is too epic for its own good, and stretches believability beyond the breaking point.

You will not want to look away from the screen when watching "Avatar". You will be looking at the screen with an open mouth when seeing the awe-inspiring visuals, just make sure to wipe your drool away every once and a while.

Verdict: GO SEE IT!

****.5/ ***** (4.5/5 STARS)

ME AND ORSON WELLES

"I AM ORSON WELLES," shouts Christian McKay at the top of his voice to his stage crew. McKay (who plays Welles) is the man, he looks acts, and sounds just like him. He is a marvel to watch, hypnotic, and electrifying. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie is not.

"Me and Orson Welles" is about Richard Samuels (played by Zac Efron), a teenager who is cast in Welles' production of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar". While discovering the ins and outs of the stage, he becomes acquainted with Welles, the crew, and Sonya (Claire Danes), a pretty secretary. A romance ensues between Richard and Sonya while Welles is trying to put on "Caesar" in a very limited amount of time (a week).

The movie is fun to watch when Welles is on screen. McKay brings just the right amount of arrogance, genius, and kindness to Welles so the audience looks at him in disdain, but are also wowed by his knowledge. The main story is not about Welles though, it is about Richard and his affair with Sonya. The writers who adapted this from the book did not seem to know where they were going with it though. There is no clear path as to who the main characters are, why conflict arises, and why the audience should care. If a movie has no plot, it usually means the film is a character study. The writers did not know which character to study though, and this is why the film simply does not work.

Every time McKay is off the screen, "Me and Orson Welles" just gets bogged down by a boring sub-plot involving Richard and another girl named Gretta, or just a boring sub-plot involving Richard. Every scene without McKay seems way too long, and director Ricard Linklater seems to not know what to do without him. The film is not even two hours long, but the editor could have cut out 15 minutes of the movie anyway. The costumes, sets, and make-up are very well done though, all reflecting 1937 (the year the film takes place). The best technical aspect of the film is the score though, the big band sounding score really transports the film to 1937 more than anything else.

The film is enjoyable enough, McKay, good humor, and a very intricate look at how a play is created keep the film afloat. Until the last third of the film. Linklater and the writers tried to come up with a conflict to keep "Me and Orson Welles" going, but it makes the film sink like a stone. A love triangle ensues after Richard has fallen in love, and the climax is very, well, anti-climactic. The ending is such a downer, so sad, and so long, that it decreases any joy that was had during the first 2/3 of the film. The ending is the worst that can be done, it just puts the audience right back to where the film started, like nothing happened. See this film for McKay only, he is the perfect Orson Welles. His performance will hypnotize anyone who even glances at him, if only the rest of "Me and Orson Welles" was like that too.

Verdict: WAIT FOR VIDEO

**/***** (2/5 stars)

BROTHERS

In one of the previews for director Jim Sheridan's new film, "Brothers", Tobey Maguire's daughter blurts out to him, "You're just mad because mommy would rather sleep with Uncle Tommy than you!" This line might seem very laughable when read, but works well and is very dramatic when said on screen, this is a reason why "Brothers" works as a film.

The plot of the film is that U.S. Marine Capt. Sam Cahill (played marvelously by Magurie) is sent over to Afghanistan, presumed dead, and then his brother Tommy (Jake Gylenhaal) helps Sam's wife (Natalie Portman) and her two daughters cope. Then Sam comes back, and all hell breaks loose. Sam is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder after surviving some brutal torture and does not feel at home in his own town, or anywhere. The torture Sam goes through is very hard for the audience to buy, especially towards the end of his stay as a P.O.W. to al-Qaeda. When he comes back however, Maguire puts on his best performance to date.

Magurie literally puts fear into the heart of the audience, and every scene he is in there is a sense that he is just about to explode. When he does though, it is completely believable. There are no chuckling moments when he goes crazy, it is just an intense, real scene, and surprisingly sad as well. Maguire definitely deserves an Oscar nomination for best actor, he is so scary, sad, easy to relate to, and sympathetic that it is just heartbreaking.

The rest of the movie seems to fall flat though. Portman, who plays Grace (Magurie's wife), is very good, but seems miscast. It is a little hard to believe that a woman as small and petite as Portman can be the mother of two daughters. She pulls it off decently enough though, but her performance is nothing special. Gylenhaal (who plays Maguire's brother) is very believable. He plays the opposite of Maguire, he is not a Marine, but a low level ex-convict who is trying to get his life back on track. When he has to mature and take care of Grace though, he is up to the task and becomes a surprisingly good father-figure for his nieces. Portman's two daughters, Isabelle and Maggie, are both played very well. Bailee Madison, who plays Isabelle, is outstanding and a complete scene stealer. She is so intense and so mature in her role that she can take on anyone in the film. Sam Shepard is also good as Magurie and Gylenhaal's father, a recovering alcoholic.

The thing that really makes "Brothers" not as good as it could be is that everything is revealed. There is also almost no humor at all. In the last half of the film, when Maguire comes back, Portman is trying to figure out what happened to him over there to make him become a shell of his former self. The audience already knows everything, and just gets upset after a while when Maguire keeps refusing to spill his guts to her. There is no mystery at all in the film, it is told so literally that it is almost and insult to the audience. The lack of humor is also hard to take, with such an intense subject matter the film can come off over-bearing at times and seem hard to watch.

The directing is adequate enough, the cinematography is very well done (with some beautiful shots of evergreens in the snow), and the editing can use some work. The film is too long, mostly because the audience already knows everything, and would have worked better if it was unknown what happened to Maguire until the end. This would have been a more satisfying ending than the one in the film. Not enough actually happens in the ending, after being through this intense hour and 40 minutes, the audience deserves more than what is delivered. There are also too many characters with unfinished stories, including Gylenhaal, Shepard, Isabelle, and Maggie.

The films does work though, very well at times. The acting is tremendous and Maguire has never been better. This film is very intense though, you are sucked into the film, and it never lets you go.

Verdict: WAIT FOR VIDEO

***.5/***** (3.5/5 stars)

INVICTUS

Matt Damon's bleach-blond hair in "Invictus" is enough reason for anyone to go see this movie, but is it really worth the money? Director Clint Eastwood's new film about Nelson Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) trying to bond a nation by pushing the national rugby team to win the world cup is worthy, but very flawed.

The true story on which the film is based is nothing less than extraordinary, but "Invictus" fails to show the gravity of the game, or how important the rugby team actually is. Freeman is incredible, not for one minute is he Morgan Freeman, he is Mandela through and through. Damon is also very good as Francois Pienaar, the captain of the rugby team. Eastwood tries to focus on both of these characters, but this results in almost no depth for either one of them. Mandela has a very intriguing story about his wife and daughter, but nothing is ever really revealed. Pienaar has a back story that involves his relationship with his Mandela-hating parents and black maid, but nothing really materializes out of this story either. What happened between Mandela and his family? Why does his daughter hate him? Did Pienaar's parents change their ways? I do not know, and neither did the writers I guess.

Unlike "The Blind Side", this film is not a complete failure with an enduring story. It has heart, is well directed and well acted. Eastwood's directing is very well done (when is it not?) and the rugby scenes are just brutal. The slow motion at the end of the film is not cheesy at all during the final rugby match. It works quite well actually, and makes the anticipation for what happens next very high. The editing during these scenes is amazing, but the film's 134 minute run time is way too long. With no depth for either character, it is hard to sit through a movie this long and not have a wandering mind. The rugby matches make up for the slow pace though, and they are an absolute treat to watch.

The cinematography during the rugby matches is absolutely stunning, the sped up "Saving Private Ryan" style and the slow motion camera work makes it very difficult to look away from the screen. It is also well done during the rest of the film, with some great shots of South Africa from the slums to the mansions in the country. The score of the film is just brilliant. It includes very dramatic and tear-stirring stings mixed in with tribal chants and other great moments.

The film is technically very well done, but there seems to be a lot missing from it. "Invictus" just ends up being another sports movie, with some back story on the country's turmoil. This does not stop the film from being enjoyable though. "Invictus" is a feel-good movie, it will pick you up off your feet, and then set you back down again. The film will make you feel great, but nothing really happens with the characters in the film. Nothing gets resolved between Mandela and his country, or Pienaar and his family. The screenplay is lacking too much for this to be one of the best films of 2009. There is just no real story that goes through the film, it is just one rugby match after another. If that is what you are looking for though, this is the movie for you.

Verdict: WAIT FOR VIDEO

***/***** (3/5 stars)

NINJA ASSASSIN

The plot of "Ninja Assassin" is, well, who cares there's a whole lot of action! This martial arts flick is way more fun than it should be and rightfully so, there is only about 20 minutes without action and the action has an aquarium-full of blood in it.

"Ninja Assassin" stars pop singer/sensation Rain as Raizo, an orphan who grew up in a ninja/kung-fu community and was taught to be a ninja from when he was born. When the leader (or "father" as he likes to be called) kills Raizo's love after she tries to run away, Raizo leaves and is hunted by his fellow ninja friends. This somehow gets an attractive researcher and every government in the world involved in trying to find Raizo. The world powers think Raizo is behind assassinations around the world, but the people who are actually responsible for them are his old schoolmates from ninja school! Oh no! Sound confusing? Half of this summary is just guess work because almost no plot is actually revealed in the film.

Plot really does not mean much in a movie like this, and it is a nice change of pace. In winter when all the intense Oscar movies come out, it's good to have a fun flick to fall back on when none of the Oscar films are at the theater. The action in the film is just amazing, loads of CGI blood is splattered around the screen (and the walls) and Raizo's knife-attached-to-a-string-weapon-thing is the sickest weapon since the extendable claw in Jet Li's "Fearless". Although almost every action scene is in the dark, it is still hard to miss the Matrix-like slow-mo and bullet-time that plays throughout the movie, and did I mention the blood?

The acting is not that good, Naomie Harris (who plays the researcher) is adequate but Rain is just plain awful. He delivers his lines so poorly that many trigger laughs, but his action delivers awe, and this kind of makes up for his acting. The directing is okay, but once again, the action is incredible. People fly through the air, get cut in half, decapitated, disemboweled, and there (of course) is blood everywhere!

"Ninja Assassin" will be more than adequate for any martial arts fan, and it is just a fun time. The bad does outweigh the good though, and every movie does need some kind of plot. This has none.

Verdict: WAIT FOR VIDEO

**.5/***** (2.5/5 stars)

BAD LIEUTENANT: PORT OF CALL- NEW ORLEANS

Detective Terrence McDonagh keeps seeing iguanas throughout "Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call- New Orleans", but no one else can. This is probably a side effect of his cocaine addiction, or heroine addiction, or it might be paranoia because he owes a bookie $5,000 and he roughed-up a rich client of his prostitute girlfriend who sent out 3 "enforcers" to rob McDonagh and kill him. This is the main plot of "Bad Lieutenant", and McDonagh (played amazingly by Nicolas Cage) has to solve his own web of problems while solving a murder case in post-Katrina New Orleans.

Cage plays the "Bad" Lieutenant perfectly. He is much more than bad though, because stealing drugs from the police medicine stores and getting on the right side of a drug-dealer to pay off some debts constitutes as much more than just "bad" behavior. Cage is on drugs the entire movie, he never sleeps, and never goes to his house (which does not appear in the film). In his finest performance since "The Weather Man", Cage proves to the world once again how talented of an actor he really is. In the beginning of the film, Cage and his partner (played by a crazed Val Kilmer) are investigating the remains of a flooded prison. They find some evidence that Kilmer wants to take back to "Duffy", one of their co-workers. Cage keeps the evidence instead (which are dirty pictures of Duffy's wife) and yells out "F**k Duffy okay, f**k Duffy!" It is clear from this point on that Cage is going to be a raving maniac, which he plays as funny and depressing at the same time. There is also a hilarious scene in which Cage visits a drug store to get his prescription pills (vikaden), when he waits too long, he explodes and jumps over the counter to get them. This is how Cage acts the entire movie.

The supporting cast is not nearly as strong as Cage is though. Eva Mendes plays Frankie (Cage's prostitute girlfriend) well, but her performance is nothing special. Cage's co-workers and parents are not bad either, but their performances pale in comparison to Cage. The only other very good performance is Xzibit, surprisingly enough, who plays a drug-dealer named Big Fate.

Werner Herzog directs the film moderately well, but it seems he just let Cage run wild instead of trying to do anything fancy (besides the acid-trip-like scene with some iguanas), which is not necessarily bad. He also lets the city of New Orleans become a character all on its own, with lots of shots of the city and many references to streets and gang turf as well. Herzog (who also directed "Rescue Dawn" and "Aguirre, the Wrath of God") does this to perfection, but it is the only perfect thing he does.

The screenplay by William M. Finkelstein is just incredible. He creates all these horrible problems that Cage brings on to himself, and weaves all the stories together in the last 30 minutes of the film to allow Cage to fix his mistakes. The screenplay does drag on at some points though (mostly at Cage's parent's house), but the ending really makes up for any lagginess in the first hour and a half. Finkelstein also masterfully intertwines Cage's plot to the murder investigation he is leading, and when they finally meet it ends with a bang. The cinematography is also very well-done, with lots of handheld and 3-4 minute takes, there is an added realism to the film which is needed because of all the crazy and improbable things that happen to Cage. Mark Isham's score is also very well done, with a head-bobbing theme and haunting strings that carry the movie at some parts. The film could have used a better editor though, the 2 hour run time is very long, especially when the audience watches Cage do drugs the entire time.

"Bad Lieutenant" is just fun to watch. Cage should easily get an Oscar nomination, as should Isham's score. The way the film goes from gritty crime-drama to an almost-comedy (the transition scene is when Cage visits a retirement home to inquire where a murder witness is) is just ingenious. Cage gives the performance of his career, it seems he was born to play Lieutenant Terrence McDonagh, and it's a treat to sit back and watch him.

Verdict: GO SEE IT!

****/***** (4/5 stars)