15 questions for the movie Zombieland

15 Questions I have for Zombieland.

1. Do zombies eat because they are hungry, or do they just eat people for fun? They seem to be constantly eating all the time.

2. If they eat because they are hungry do they ever get full? They seem to always be hungry for people when the four main characters are around. They never say you know what I'm full and I don't feel like eating at the moment.

3. Why does it seem that they only eat people, why don't they eat other zombies? They have flesh and meat as far as I can tell.

4. What happened to the zombie plague that turned people into zombies?

5. Why don't the four main characters have the zombie plague?

6. How is the zombie plague passed to people?

7. What did the four main characters do to avoid the plague? I mean they must have done something right, like maybe they were real stiflers for washing their hands a lot.

8. How come the four main characters are so good at shooting guns? I mean they are all sharp shooters and they seem like normal people. Well maybe except for Tallahassee (character played by Woody Harrelson) . I don't think I would be near as good as them at shooting zombies.

9. Do they have unlimited gun-shells? It seems like they never run out of bullets.

10. Why do they shoot their guns in the air for no reason? I mean if it was me I would want to conserve my ammo.

11. Instead of traveling around the country, wouldn't you want to stock up on food and water and just lock yourself in a building?

12. Do gas stations still work in a post apocalyptic world? They are always driving around and I never see them stop for gas.

13. Why do the four main characters want to be loners so bad? When the different characters first meet they act like they don't want to be around other people. If it was me and I was living in a zombie world with few survivors I would stick around every human being I came across.

14. What is Tallahassee's background? He is so good at killing zombies it makes me wonder if he is like a former army ranger or something. There's got to be some explanation at why he is so good as shooting different weapons and never seems to be scared.

15. How long does the average zombie live? Like I said if you lock yourself in a building maybe the human population could outlive the zombies. I mean the zombies don't reproduce as far as I can tell, and humans can.

Top 5 most underrated and disappointing movies of 2009

Top 5 underrated and disappointing movies of 2009

Here is a list of movies I didn’t think got enough love in 2009, and movies I was really disappointed in.

Underrated

1. 500 Days of Summer

- This is getting good reviews from critics; it got Golden Globe nominations for screenplay and actor for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and might get an Oscar nomination for Original Screenplay, but it still isn’t getting enough attention. It should be talked about more for it’s ingenious screenplay and direction, and should be higher on people’s lists.

2. Taken

-This didn’t get bad reviews but it was kind of passed over as just your normal action flick. I think it’s more than that. They don’t give Liam Neeson enough credit for that role. He really makes you feel the anger and sadness he is going through in finding his daughter. So much that you don’t fault him in killing and torturing everyone that gets in his way.

3. Away We Go

-I haven’t heard many people talk about this movie and I thought it was the funniest comedy of the year. I don’t think I laughed any louder than when John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph visit the home of Maggie Gyllenhall and her husband, with their ultra hippie style. Also I though it had the best soundtrack of the year.

4. Monsters Vs. Aliens

-I feel like this movie has gotten lost in the Animation Movie shuffle. It’s not near as good as UP but still it’s a funny and fun movie to watch. I especially like all the scenes with Bob the Blob voiced by Seth Rogen.

5. Push

- I don’t think this movie got good reviews but I thought it was an interesting take on movies with people that have superhuman powers. It was kind of like a dark version of X-Men. I like the terminology they use for each other like pushers, bleeders, sniffs, watchers, and movers. I thought it had a very creative ending to it.

Disappointing

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

- Considering that this is one of my favorite books of the series I couldn’t believe how much they messed up this adaptation. They took out scenes that I loved in the book and they added scenes that made no sense. There were too many shots of that stupid cupboard, and they did the whole Harry and Ginny love story wrong.

Wolverine: X-Men Origins

- Wolverine is easily the best character out of the X-Men movies and is the reason those movies did so well. The story was not interesting and the action was not very good. They could, and should have done so much more with such a great character.

Knowing

- This looked like a cool sci-fi thriller with great action effects but slow pacing and a terrible ending ruined it. I don’t want to spoil the end for you but it doesn’t end well for planet Earth.

Watchmen

- It’s a nice idea for a story but goes on way too long. The violence is too disturbing and every time the big blue guy is on the screen I want to fall asleep.

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen

-Being a much-anticipated sequel to the very fun movie Transformers, it did not deliver. Is it possible to have too many action scenes and explosions? This movie answers with a definite yes. It went on way too long and didn’t have enough

Oscar Predictions

Best Picture- The Hurt Locker

Best Actor- Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart

Best Actress- Sandra Bullock for The Blindside

Best Supporting Actor- Christoph Waltz for Inglorious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress- Mo'Nique for Precious

Best Directing- Kathryn Bigalow for The Hurt Locker

Best Original Screenplay- Inglorious Basterds

Best Adapted Screenplay- Up in the Air

Best Cinematography- The Hurt Locker

Best Editing- The Hurt Locker

Best Art Direction- Avatar

Best Costume Design- The Young Victoria

Best Makeup- Star Trek

Best Original Score- Up

Best Original Song- The Weary Kind from Crazy Heart

Best Sound Mixing- Avatar

Best Sound Editing- Avatar

Best Visual Effects- Avatar

Best Animated Film- Up

Best Foreign Film- The White Ribbon

Best Documentary- The Cove

Episode 5- Classic Review, American Idol, DVD Review of Julie and Julia

Here is a link to the 4th episode of my podcast. In this episode I give a review of some classic movies: The Song of the Thin Man and The Great Ziegfried. I then talk about American Idol and the top 24. Then I end the podcast with a DVD review of the movie Julie and Julia.

http://oscargeekmoviecast.podOmatic.com/entry/2010-02-18T16_12_46-08_00

Top 10 Movies with a Romantic Plot

Top Ten Movies with a Romantic Plot

1. Life is Beautiful

- The first half of this movie has the most romantic plot of any movie that I’ve ever seen. Our main character tries so hard to sweep the girl off her feet that she can’t help but fall in love with him. The characters are so likeable and charming, and the way he gets her is so creative. I can’t explain it here but you must check this movie out and make sure you have a hankie handy.

2. Rocky

- This is an inspirational boxing movie but I also feel that the love story is done so well. They are both lonely and are looked down upon by the opposite sex. He’s a bum fighter and she’s a nerdy pet shop worker. They bring the best out of each other in the end. The first date and the scene where she goes to his apartment are great scenes that make you fall in love with these characters.

3. Braveheart

- Yes I know you are probably wondering why I have this on the list. It’s known more for being a bloody war movie, but it starts out as a great love story. The love between the two is so real and makes it all the more shocking when she is killed. He avenges her death and starts a revolution afterwards, which seals the deal for how strong their love was. I love it that at his death scene his wife comes to take him to the after life.

4. Princess Bride

- This is a fun fairy tale story revolved around the love of Wesley and Princess Buttercup. Wesley is a servant turned pirate turned rescuing hero. He is elegant and poetic and stops at nothing to rescue his love. In fact he comes back from the dead in order to rescue her from the evil prince. There’s nothing you can do to top that.

5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

- This movie starts out as a bad breakup in which Kate Winslet’s character erases the memory of her ex boyfriend played by Jim Carey. Carey decides to erase her from his memory but finds out through the process that he wants to hold on to the great times he had with her. It proves that you don’t know how much you love someone until they are taken away.

6. WALL E

- Who would have known that a movie about robots would be so romantic? WALL E is lonely and so falls head over wheels for EVE at first sight. Over the course of the movie she sees how much he’s done for her and in return falls in love. The dancing in space scene is so cute it makes you go ahhh.

7. Groundhogs Day

- I liked this movie so much because it’s about a guy living the same day everyday and at first uses this power for his own selfish gain. He tries to manipulate the girl he likes but gets turned down. Only when he decides to use this opportunity to make him a better person does he win the heart of the girl he loves.

8. The Goodbye Girl

- This is a classic tale of two people forced to live in the same apartment who don’t get along. Then as the movie goes along they fall in love with each other. The girl has a history of falling in love and then being left behind. Finally at the end she has found someone who will not say goodbye to her.

9. About a Boy

- Hugh Grant plays a self-absorbed guy who doesn’t want a serious relationship. He spends the first part of the movie lying and manipulating women to sleep with him. Then he meets Rachel Weiss and falls in love. Then for the first time he starts caring about other people. I’ve always felt that true love makes you want to be a better person.

10. Love Story

- Yes this is a sappy, sad love story but it really works. It’s another case of two conflicting personalities that come together and fall in love. I love the two main characters and their chemistry together. It’s funny, it’s sad, and it will live forever in your heart once you see it.

I'm now on itunes

You can now listen to my podcast on itunes. In itunes type in Oscar Geek Movie Cast and it should take you right to my podcast. You can click the subscribe button and every new episode of my podcast will be downloaded to your itunes. Also I would really appreciate it if you give me a rating and a review in itunes. Hopefully it will be good, haha.

podcast Episode 3

Here is the 3rd episode of my podcast. In this episode I discuss some movie news of the last week then talk about some of my favorite shows like American Idol, Lost, Castle, The Office, Community, and Parks and Recreation.


http://oscargeekmoviecast.podOmatic.com/entry/2010-02-15T15_33_10-08_00

Episode 2- Movie news, The Hangover, Top Ten most anticipated movies of 2010

Here is a link to Episode 2 of my podcast. In this podcast I go over some movie news from a week ago, then do a DVD review of the movie The Hangover, then end it with a top ten list of my most anticipated movies of 2010.

2010-02-13T14_33_36-08_00.mp3

Movie Review- An Education

An Education

When I walked out of this movie I had some mixed feelings. The first half of the movie was very funny and the characters were very interesting and fun to watch. The story flowed very well and I was having one of the best movie experiences of the year. Then about half way through the movie it turned into something different. I didn’t get the choices of the characters, the story seemed bogged down with lots of conflict, I didn’t buy the relationship between the two main characters, and I left the movie a little disappointed. Now that I’ve had a day to think about it I’ve come to the conclusion that the movie was better than my original reaction. I was disappointed because the movie wasn’t what I was expecting it to be. I thought it was suppose to be a romantic drama, but I realize now that it was much more than that.

The movie stars Carey Mulligan as Jenny, a 16-year-old girl living in England in 1961. She goes to an all girls’ school studying hard to make it into Oxford. She is driven by her strict, and very easily flustered father played incredibly by Alfred Molina. Her father wants nothing less than the best education for his daughter. So he makes her study hard, pays for language tutors, and forces her to play the cello in order to get her into one of the best colleges in the country. One could say he probably pushes a little too hard, and lets no room for Jenny to have any fun. Then steps in David played very charmingly by Peter Sarsgaard. He’s an older man, 30 years old, who is wealthy, drives a nice car, has class, and seems to have fun all the time and never works.

Jenny becomes fascinated by David and joins him and his friends to concerts, clubs, auctions, and trips to Oxford and Paris. Her father of course doesn’t approve at first but David is so charming that he can talk him into letting Jenny do whatever she wants. As the movie goes on one gets the feeling that there is something shady about David. He never talks about work yet him and his friends seem very wealthy with lots of pricy possessions, and to top it all he’s dating a 16-year-old girl. Jenny has to decide does she want to study English at Oxford for what she perceives will make for a boring life, or does she want to quit school and marry David and live a life full of fun and adventure.

Like I said before the movie really isn’t about the romantic relationship between her and David. I know the trailers and posters seem to just feature Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgaard looking romantically at each other, but really it’s a little misleading. It’s really about a young girl trying to make grown up decisions that she really isn’t ready for or doesn’t fully understand. She sees her life as being very boring. She sees her future as being very boring and her only way out it through David. So she ends up making hasty and foolish decisions, like normal 16 year olds do, and learns from them the hard way.

One can’t blame her for her perspective though. Her parents do seem to live a boring life. Her mom is a housewife and spends all her time cleaning the house and cooking dinner. Her dad works all day to provide for the family and seems to have no fun at all. Her female English teacher seems very plain and spends all her time grading papers. Yes growing up can seem kind of boring to a teenager, being loaded with responsibility can do that to a person. She learns in the end though that as you grow up your perspective on life changes. You might not do all the fun things you did when you were younger, but it doesn’t mean your life is boring. In fact for most, working hard and providing for a family brings more meaning to your life, which is more important than just having fun. If only we could all understand this sooner in our life.

I really liked this movie and I recommend it to anybody who likes a smartly written, sophisticated movie. It was surprisingly very funny and had a lot of witty dialogue. It slows down in the latter half of the movie but not enough to ruin it. Carey Mulligan, Alfred Molina, and Peter Sarsgaard all gave some of the best performances of the year. Mulligan is worthy of all the award praise that she has been getting. She has a great comedic ability and handles all the frustration a teenager would have, in the situations given, very convincingly. The movie made me think about my own life, and the choices I’ve made. My life isn’t always fun, but it is full of meaning. Is yours?

Grade: B

Rated PG-13- Some scenes involving sexual content but nothing explicit, some sexual dialogue.

Podcast Episode 1

I've successfully created the first episode of my new podcast: oscargeekmoviepodcast. If you click on the link below or paste it into your browser it should take you right to my podcast where you can listen to my episode. In my first episode I give an introduction of my self, then give a rundown on all the Oscar nominees. I appreciate it if you listen to it and give me a comment on what you thought.

http://oscargeekmoviecast.podOmatic.com/entry/2010-02-09T14_15_16-08_00

DVD Review- The Hangover

The Hangover is another entry in the long list of "stupid comedies". When I use the term "stupid comedies" I am referring to those comedies that purposely don't deal with logic, realistic characters, realistic situations, or realistic choices. Being a stupid comedy doesn't mean it has to be a bad movie, I quite enjoy these kinds of comedies (Dumb and Dumber, Austin Powers, Waynes World, Anchorman, etc.). It all comes down to two things: did I laugh a lot, and did I have fun while watching it.

If you don't know what The Hangover is about let me give you a quick synopsis. Doug (Justin Bartha) is getting married and goes to Las Vegas for his bachelor party with his 2 friends Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), and his new brother in law Alan (Zach Galifianakis). After taking a shot of alcohol we cut to a scene where Phil, Stu, and Alan wake up with a hangover. They can't remember what happened the night before, and they can't find Doug. So for the whole movie they are searching for Doug and are trying to figure out what crazy antics they got into the night before.

In one of the first scenes of the movie Zach Galifianakis is shown hugging Justin Bartha. When the camera pans back we see that Zach is naked from behind. At this point I knew exactly what kind of movie I was getting into. I knew when reviewing this movie I wasn't going to waste my time using terms like unrealistic and stupid, because that's what the movie wants to be. I knew I had to just not think too much about what's going on and just sit back, relax, and try to enjoy it.

This movie gave me some chuckles here and there but as a whole I didn't find it that funny. I thought the whole idea was kind of funny, and I was never bored, but it was ruined for me with all the foul and vulgar language, and male nudity. I'm not a fan of comedies filled with so many F-words (and there was quite a lot in this movie), and other vulgar language. If you're going have that then the movie has to be really, really funny for me to like it. If they made this movie PG-13 I probably would give it a positive review. The three leads did fine but none had a real breakout role. The best role went to Ken Jeong as Mr. Chow, a Korean mobster they find naked in the trunk of Doug's car. He stole every scene he was in.

So if you don't mind a movie with lots of swear words, drugs, vulgarity, and male nudity you might like this movie. The movie became the highest grossing comedy of all time, and won the Golden Globe for Best Comedy, so there is evidently a lot of people who find the movie very funny. I must admit I watched the movie alone which is probably not the best way to view it. If you do watch it I would advise you to watch it with a group of friends. For some reason watching a stupid comedy is much funnier when other people are laughing at it too. Then after the movie you can quote some of the funny lines and make the movie sound funnier than it actually was.

Grade: D

Rated R- Lots of foul language, drug use (mostly scenes of getting really drunk), male nudity (Zach Galifianakis from behind, and Ken Jeong full frontal), brief female nudity (Heather Graham is breast feeding a baby), and some scenes of violence (the three main characters get beat up multiple times resulting in bloody mouths and bruises).

Most Anticipated Movies of 2010

Most Anticipated Movies of 2010

1. Toy Story 3

- Toy Story 1 and 2 are my favorite Pixar movies so far and that’s saying a lot. Pixar is on a role with Oscar winners like Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up. I love Pixar movies and coming out with another sequel to this great series has me very excited.

2. Iron Man 2

- Iron Man was my favorite movie of 2008. So naturally I’m really excited to see the sequel. Robert Downy Jr. is really on a role the last two years, I think mostly due to the success of the first film. The trailer looks good, especially Mickey Rourke as the Russian bad guy. I just hope they don’t mess this up like other superheroes sequels (Spiderman 2 & 3, X-Men 3, and The Dark Knight).

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

- Even though I was very disappointed with Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince I look forward to every Harry Potter movie. Since this is only half a movie I’m kind of afraid it’s going to feel incomplete until the last one comes out. Still the book is great and they have a chance of making one of the best of the series.

4. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

- Looks like a real fun movie. I thought the trailer was a lot of fun to watch; it looks like it should have some good action, some good special effects, and probably some humor in between. It won’t be a best picture contender but I’m sure it will get a lot of viewers.

5. Clash of the Titans

- Just like Prince of Persia it looks like a good action adventure movie. The trailer looked great, with some cool looking monsters to boot.

6. The A-Team

- I’ve never seen an episode of the T.V show but it has my two favorite acting performances of last year: Liam Neeson and Sharlto Copley. I’m such a big fan of Liam Neeson that any movie he is in has my attention.

7. The Last Airbender

- I know M. Night Shyamalon is on a bad streak at the moment but he’s made some really good movies with Signs and The Sixth Sense so I still have hope for him. I thought the trailer looked pretty cool and I have a feeling there will be some good action and special effects scenes in the movie.

8. Shrek Forever After

- Now these movies aren’t as good as the great Pixar movies that come out every year but they are a lot of fun to watch. I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with this one especially now that Shrek and Fiona have children. Shrek, Donkey, Puss and Boots, Ginger Bread Man, and Pinocchio really put a smile on my face. They can make 10 of these and I’m totally on board.

9. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

- The Chronicles of Narnia books are good stories, I don’t think they make the best movies necessarily, but they are solid. I haven’t read this book yet but I’m a fan of the series so I’m interested in what this will turn out to be.

10. The Other Guys

- This movie stars Will Ferell and Mark Wahlberg as cops steeping onto the big times. Whenever you have a comedy staring Will Ferell I’m always on board. It also is Directed and Written by Adam McKay who wrote and directed

Movie Review- The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker

Every year we get a couple of Iraq war movies and they always turn out to be flops. The Hurt Locker doesn’t star big names but is getting the best reviews of the year. This movie doesn’t display the usual anti-American sentiment. It doesn’t treat our soldiers as evil (unlike Avatar), or as stupid, and drunk hoodlums. It shows the psychological effects on soldiers who know any day could be their last. This provides for some good drama as most war movies do. Although I thought it was well directed and well acted, there wasn’t enough there for me to call it a good movie.

The movie stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, and Brian Geraghty as officers William, JT, and Owen. They are a bomb squad in Iraq who are called on to disable road bombs. If you have watched any news on the Iraq war you will probably know, there are a lot of road bombs out there. William is the bomb specialist in the group that has to get up and close to these bombs and disable them. JT and Owen watch his back and assist him in these missions. William is also the new guy in the group and immediately sets himself as a risk taker. JT on the other hand is cautious and plays everything by the book. This will bring William and JT at odds with each other throughout the movie. Owen agrees with JT and seems so nervous on missions that he is about to have a mental breakdown at any moment.

The movie is filled with several bomb disabling missions and then JT and William arguing back and forth about the missions. JT thinks Williams’s inability to listen to him and follow his commands is putting all their lives in danger. He likes to follow his own instincts and doesn’t seem to work with the team. I think most people would have to agree with JT it does seem like he is putting himself in danger over and over again instead of doing what is safe. Why does William act this way? William has such a determination to disable the bombs that it seems that he will die before giving up. Does he have nothing to live for? That doesn’t seem to be the case; he has a family waiting for him back home. It seems that he enjoys risking his life day in and day out more than going back to the safety of his home. I don’t understand why this is, and it’s one of the problems that bothered me throughout this movie.

Critics seem to love this movie for its thrills and intensity. I on the other hand didn’t feel tensed or thrilled. Disabling a bomb over and over again isn’t really that interesting. It takes about 10 minutes to put on the big suit and walk over to the bomb, and then another 10 minutes to disable it. It’s actually quite boring to watch and there are about 5 scenes just like that, that take over most of the movie. I was never scared for the characters because I figured hey they can’t die they are the main actors and I still have an hour left of this movie. When not disabling bombs JT is constantly getting after William which gets annoying and in one awkward scene they are fighting for no reason. Other scenes just drag on and seem to have no point to them. What is the goal for these soldiers in this movie? It seems to me that it is just to survive their round in combat until they get to go back home. It just doesn’t seem like a good enough reason for me to care about this movie.

Grade- D

Rated R- Lots of cussing and violent images.

10 Films From the Future

Here is a scenario that I made up recently just for the fun of it. What if you had the chance to go back in time 60 years into the past and you can only bring 10 movies to show people how the movie industry has changed in the future. At least one movie has to be from the 60’s, one from the 70’s, one from the 80’s, one from the 90’s, and one from the 2000’s. What movies would you bring and why? Here is a list of the movies I would bring and why. I am also going to list them in the order that I would show them.

1. Planet of the Apes:

- I believe that the makeup and costuming in this movie was revolutionary for it’s time and would show people how it can be used to effect a movie.

2. Star Wars: A New Hope:

- This movie was groundbreaking for its special effects for it’s time. Not to mention great sound effects, makeup, costuming, musical score, and set designs. Plus this movie is very creative and would seem pretty wacky for people 60 years ago.

3. Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark:

- This shows what a great fantasy/adventure/action flick looks like in the 80’s. Great action shots of near escapes, it’s tense, and a little scary. Plus what’s better than seeing someone’s face melt off?

4. Jurassic Park:

- This movie took special effects to a whole new level in the 90’s with realistic looking dinosaurs.

5. Matrix Reloaded:

- This movie takes action to a whole new level with gravity defying stunts and great use of slow motion action shots. Fight scenes like Neo taking on 100’s of Agent Smiths, and the motorcycle chase scene would blow people’s minds.

6. Toy Story:

- This movie shows the future of animation and the advances of technology using computers to animate objects that now look 3D.

7. The Phantom of the Opera:

- This shows what a great musical will look like in the future. Use actors that can sing very well. Also great costumes, set designs, and imagery.

8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind:

- This movie is great in telling a very creative story in a non-linear fashion. The non-chronological order of telling the story I think actually enhances an already unique story line. Great use of science fiction and fantasy images, and in the end a great love story.

9. Avatar

- Another leap in advanced movie making technology. CGI blue aliens that are motioned captured by real people opens up a huge door of what we can do in the future.

10. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King:

- I would show this movie last because I think it caps what is best in movie making today. No other movie combines special effects; make up, costumes, sound effects, and cinematography, set design, use of miniatures, CGI, and musical score as good as this movie. It’s also one of the greatest epic/fantasy/adventure movies ever made.

Oscar Picks

Next Tuesday the Academy will reveal their nominations for picture, director, actor, actress, supporting actor, supporting actress, original screenplay, and adapted screenplay. These are my predictions of what will be nominated.

Best Picture

The Hurt Locker

Avatar

Inglorious Basterds

Up In the Air

Precious

An Education

Invictus

Up

Nine

Crazy Heart

I believe the top 5 will be The Hurt Locker, Avatar, Inglorious Basterds, Up In the Air, and Precious. If we only had five nominations these would be the five that would get nominated. So the bottom 5 is a little bit harder to predict, so I’m not a 100% confident. I’m sure there will be some surprises like there is every year.

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges

Morgan Freeman

George Clooney

Jeremy Renner

Colin Firth

Best Actress

Meryl Streep

Sandra Bullock

Gabourey Sidibe

Carey Mulligan

Helen Mirren

Best Director

Kathryn Bigalow

James Cameron

Quentin Tarantino

Jason Reitman

Lee Daniels

Best Supporting Actor

Cristoph Waltz

Stanely Tucci

Matt Damon

Christopher Plummer

Woody Harrelson

Best Supporting Actress

Mo’Nique

Vera Farmiga

Anna Kendrick

Marion Cotillard

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Movie Review- Up In the Air

Up In the Air Movie Review

I finally got around to seeing the soon to be Oscar nominated movie, Up In the Air today. A lot of critics are putting it on their lists for top movie of the year and I will have to agree with them. This is a very good movie. It’s funny and witty and has some good dramatic moments at the end that really hit you in the stomach. It’s one of those rare movies that is fun to watch and makes you think at the end.

The movie stars George Clooney as Ryan, his job is to travel around the country and fire people personally and hopefully tries to help them move on with their lives. It’s an art form that Ryan has perfected over the years and he is really good at it. I will have to warn you not to watch this movie if you have just been fired, because the movie is littered with scenes of people getting fired. Most of the people react in an angry fashion and it’s almost comical in way they show these montages. Then there are people that react with a sadness and desperation that really makes you feel their pain. Ryan explains that he spends some 300 plus days traveling and a miserable 43 days at home. Through his travels he gives speeches at different hotels about putting your life in a backpack and feeling that weight. Your different attachments in life weigh you down. So he believes in having no attachments. His life is freer without being attached to other people so naturally he feels more at home up in the air and in hotel rooms. In fact the only thing he is attached to is his elite status as a frequent flyer which he flaunts as much as possible. His life is complete only when he reaches a certain number of flyer miles.

Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga play Natalie and Alex in the movie and their characters provide a challenge to Ryan’s way of life. Natalie is a young college graduate with big ideas that will change the way Ryan will do his job. Ryan is not happy about this and thus there is conflict between the two. Ryan’s boss, played by Jason Bateman, pairs Natalie with Ryan so that Ryan can show her the ropes. Their totally different personalities and philosophies on life clash and these provides for most of the funny and witty dialogue of the movie. Ryan is an older man who is calm and full of confidence in his job and in his life. Natalie on the other hand is young, naïve, and looks unsure of what to do most of the time. Alex is another business room that Ryan meets on the road and has a fling with. During the course of the movie they keep in contact and hook up as much as possible. Natalie seems to be just like Ryan in life only in female form. Ryan enjoys being with her so much is seems that he is reconsidering his whole theory on not being attached to other people. Is it possible that Natalie and Alex can change his whole outlook on life? That’s obviously where this movie is headed.

So what is this movie all about? It’s about life. Pretty simple but yet very complicated. There are two philosophies on life presented in this movie. There is Ryan who believes that relationships are the heaviest objects you can put in your backpack. Relationships weigh you down in life. There’s too much negotiations and compromise that you have to do. You can’t be truly happy with all these attachments with other people. As he likes to say, if you are not moving you are dieing. In a way we can see he is right. Relationships can be hard; you have to work hard at it. It’s a drag sometimes. The people you are the closest too end up hurting you the most. We’ve all felt this at sometime in our life. We see in Ryan’s life that he has no close relationships. He has no girlfriends, he has no plans to ever marry or have children, he has no close friends, he hardly has a relationship with his two sisters, he fires dozens of people daily and feels nothing for them, and he seems just fine with that. Natalie on the other hand can’t help but being attached to other people. She has fond dreams of being married someday and having children. In fact she believes her life is not complete without this. You also see this when she has to fire people. She can’t help but feel very bad for these people and can’t detach herself from the situation of seeing these peoples lives destroyed right in front of her.

So at the end of the movie you have to ask yourself, are attachments and relationships worth the effort. The answer I came to be is yes, they are. At the end of the day what keeps you going in life. Is it your possessions or is it the love of your family? For me nothing can compare to the love I get from my family and friends. It’s unmeasureable.. As they say you can replace your possessions but you can’t replace your loved ones. This philosophy is even more evident in this movie when you think about the people who are fired in this movie. They are devastated by this turn of events but they also realize that they couldn’t get through it if it wasn’t for their family. You can lose everything but as long as you have a family to go home to you can be happy, you can have hope for the future. Without these relationships you are alone and have no one to help you through the bad times. So I would think about your own life and be grateful for all the people in it.

Grade- B

Rated R- Lots of use of the F-word and other cuss words through out the movie, 2 seconds of nudity of Vera Farmiga, lots of sexual innuendo and vulgar talk between George Clooney and Vera Farmiga.

Top 10 movies and television of the last decade

Best Movie

1. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003)

2. Once (2006)

3. Signs (2002)

4. Radio (2003)

5. The Last Samurai (2003)

6. Frequency (2000)

7. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

8. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

9. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone (2001)

Best Comedy

1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)

2. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006)

3. School of Rock (2003)

4. A Mighty Wind (2003)

5. About a Boy (2002)

6. Anchor Man (2004)

7. Shanghai Knights (2003)

8. Best in Show (2000)

9. Fever Pitch (2005)

10. Blades of Glory (2007)

Dodgeball (2004)

Best Comedy Performance

1. Jim Carrey-How the Grinch Stole Christmas

2. Jack Black- School of Rock

3. Will Ferrell- Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby

4. Johnny Depp- Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

5. Ben Stiller- Dodgeball

6. Will Ferrell- Anchor Man

7. Ellen Page- Juno

8. Robert Downey Jr.- Tropic Thunder

9. Kevin James- Hitch

10. Jon Heder- Napolean Dynamite

Favorite Male Acting Performances

1. Russell Crowe- A Beautiful Mind

2. Heath Ledger- The Dark Knight

3. Adrien Brody- The Pianist

4. Tim Robbins- Mystic River

5. Jim Carrey- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

6. Tom Cruise- The Last Samurai

7. Don Cheadle- Hotel Rwanda

8. Joaquin Phoenix- Gladiator

9. Paul Giamatti- Sideways

10. Will Smith- The Pusuit of Happyness

Favorite Female Acting Performances

1. Ellen Page- Juno

2. Hillary Swank- Million Dollar Baby

3. Julia Roberts- Erin Brokivich

4. Amy Adams- Junebug

5. Helen Mirren- The Queen

6. Charlize Theron- North Country

7. Sandra Bullock-Crash

8. Jennifer Connelly- A Beautiful Mind

9. Renee Zellweger- Cold Mountain

10. Jennifer Hudson- Dreamgirls

Worst Movies

1. Meet the Spartans

2. Nacho Libre

3. The Hulk

4. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

5. King Kong

6. American Dreamz

7. The Brothers Grimm

8. Street fighter: The Legend of Chun Li

9. Spider Man 2

10. Paul Blart: Mall Cop

Best Animation Movies

1. Toy Story 2

2. Monsters Inc.

3. Cars

4. WALL E

5. Over the Hedge

6. Kung Fu Panda

7. Ice Age

8. Shrek

9. Up

10. The Simpsons

Best Documentary

1. Murderball

2. Born into Brothels

3. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

4. March of the Penguins

5. Grizzly Man

6. Anvil: The Story of Anvil

7. Super Size Me

8. Deliver us from Evil

9. Man on Wire

10. Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

Best T.V Show

1. The Office

2. Lost

3. Castle

4. Boston Legal

5. The Gilmore Girls

6. Arrested Development

7. 30 Rock

8. Friends

9. Parks and Recreation

10. Monk

Best Reality Show

1. American Idol

2. Amazing Race

3. So You Think You Can Dance

4. American Chopper

5. Project Runway

Best T.V Performance

1. Nathan Fillion- Castle

2. Steve Carell- The Office

3. William Shatner- Boston Legal

4. Jason Bateman- Arrested Development

5. Lauren Graham- The Gilmore Girls

6. James Spader- Boston Legal

7. Tony Shalloub- Monk

8. Jon Krazinski- The Office

9. Josh Halloway- Lost

10. Tina Fey- 30 Rock

Best of 2009

Best of 2009

Best Movies

1. 500 Days of Summer

2. Taken

3. Away We Go

4. Up

5. Terminator: Salvation

6. Star Trek

7. Adventureland

8. Anvil: The Story of Anvil

9. The Blindside

10. 2012

Favorite Acting Performances

1. Liam Neeson- Taken

2. Sharlto Copley- District 9

3. Joseph Gordon Levitt- 500 Days of Summer

4. John Turturro- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

5. Sandra Bullock- The Blindside

6. John Krazinski- Away We Go

7. Tom Hollander- In the Loop

8. Jamie Foxx- The Soloist

9. Brad Pitt- Inglorious Basterds

10. Jackie Earle Haley- The Watchmen

Worst Movies

1. Street Fighter: The Rise of Chun Li

2. Paul Blart: Mall Cop

3. Duplicity

4. Wolverine: X-Men Origins

5. Year One