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Weekend Movie Forecast: Up in the Air or Brothers

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Up in the Air, which stars George Clooney as a man who loves his isolated lifestyle flying around America firing people, has been getting almost <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/upintheair">universal critical acclaim</a>. Immediately following a media screening earlier this week, one man observed, "It's a good movie, it's not a great movie." We usually hate the pedantic jaded chatter that bubbles out of a press screening, but this guy was pretty right. Up in the Air is not a great movie, but it doesn't try to be; it is merely a very good movie that succeeds in meeting its own modest parameters. It's also very funny.We'd follow Clooney into hell (we even saw Leatherheads), and this is a perfect role for him: a charming, worldly player who knows all the tricks for getting through airport security in record time. He loves the suspended non-reality of airports and traveling, but he finds his way of life suddenly threatened when his companyâwhich is hired by other companies to personally liquidate their staffsâdecides to bring him back home (to Omaha) and fire people via teleconferencing. To stay up in the air, where he's found romance with fellow frequent flier <a href="http://www.filmwad.com/vera-farmiga-joins-up-in-the-air--7175-p.html">Vera Farmiga</a>, he's got to convince his boss (Jason Bateman) and his pert protege (Anna Kendrick) that there's something just a tad callous about firing remotely. Nestled among the smart comedy and nuanced observations about traveling are some priceless reactions from workers as they're informed of their termination. (These include some choice cameos by actors such as Zach Galifianakis and <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0799777/">J.K. Simmons</a>, as well as some affecting performances by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/movies/29reitman.html">recently fired workers</a> in St. Louis and Detroit.) The firing scenes are treated with just the right touch of humor and empathy, and Up in the Air is nothing if not timely. Thank you, Hollywood, for releasing a solid picture with grown-ups as your target audience.

Gothamist

Irish director Jim Sheridan (In America), brings us his new domestic melodrama Brothers, a remake of the 2004 Danish film Brodre. The movie tells the story of the Cahill brothers (played by a newly emaciated Tobey Maguire, and a bearded Jake Gyllenhaal), the former is a Captain in Afghanistan, presumed dead, with the latter being a newly released, but still lovable ex-con who takes it upon himself to take over Maguire's household. Things get a little hairy when the Captain returns home to find his brother fits in a bit too well with his wife (Natalie Portman) and daughters.A.O. Scott from <a href="http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/movies/04brothers.html?ref=movies">the Times</a> says that Brothers "is in some ways less a movie about war than a movie that uses war as a scaffolding for domestic melodrama. It also follows the template of American movies about Iraq and Afghanistan in being resolutely somber and systematically apolitical: you can witness any kind of combat heroism or atrocity, and see unflinching portrayals of grief, trauma and healing. But you almost never hear an argument about the war itself, or glimpse the larger global and national context in which these intimate dramas take shape."Mr. Maguireâs performance is disciplined but also strained, as he tries to convey the anguish of a man whose personality has been thrown off balance by circumstances... And Brothers itself â a smart, well-meaning project â never quite pulls itself together. It has a vague, half-finished feeling, as if it had not figured out what it was trying to do. Which may amount to a kind of realism â an accurate reflection of where we are in Afghanistan."

Gothamist

Robert De Niro gives one more serious crack at dramatic acting, to mixed results, in Everybody's Fine. De Niro plays a widower who goes on a road trip in attempts to reconnect with his three estranged children played by Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, and the always interesting Sam Rockwell (we're not sure if we see the relation). Nathan Rabin of <a href="http://www.avclub.com/articles/everybodys-fine,35978/">The A.V. Club</a> leads the more negative response saying: "Everybody's Fine follows a dispiritingly predictable arc; De Niro visits his kids and learns that theyâre each living a lie. His son Sam Rockwell isnât the hotshot conductor De Niro imagines him to be, but rather a lowly percussionist. His high-powered businesswoman daughter Kate Beckinsale has a nuclear family that isnât anywhere near as perfect as De Niro had been led to believe. This dynamic is dull the first time around, and it grows even less interesting with each mild variation."In the filmâs most nauseating trope, De Niro initially sees each of his grown children as their adorable younger selves. Even more than the remake that it is, Everybody's Fine plays like a homogenized, Hallmark Channel version of About Schmidt, with all the rough edges shaved off."

Gothamist

For those who have recently plowed through the new Pevear / Volokhonsky translations of Tolstoy and still can't get enough of the Russian powerhouse, you might want to consider the new historical drama The Last Station. The film tells the story of Tolstoy's wife Countess Sofya (played by Oscar-bait Helen Mirren) as she comes to terms with her husband's new hippie beliefs as a Christian Anarchist (i.e. renouncement of noble title, vegetarianism, poverty, and, gasp, celibacy). In addition to dealing with Tolstoy's new shenanigans she must also ward off his trusted disciple Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), who wants to sign over all of the great author's works to the people of Russia rather than the family. Yikes!Ella Taylor, of <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-12-01/film/tolstoy-s-final-days-in-the-last-station/">The Village Voice</a>, says the film "threatens at first to be Tolstoy for Dummies as interpreted by Monty Python. Soon enough, though, this workmanlike adaptation of Jay Parini's novel about Tolstoy's last days, adapted and directed by Michael Hoffman, settles into a lushly scenic television drama, though with dialogue strangely located somewhere in the 1950s."What's more, [Tolstoy] fought a love-hate war with his bipolar wife, Sonya, and thank God for that, since it allows Helen Mirren, basically playing a cross between Ibsen drama queen Hedda Gabler and the little squirrel from A Doll's House, to waltz away with the movie."The movie is fine, but my heart only stopped for the actual footage at the end, with Tolstoy, encircled by Sonya and entourage, being shown to his deathbed after flying the coop to get a little peace."

Gothamist

Just when you thought it was over, Meg Ryan is back in a new romantic comedy (referred to as a "rom-com" in certain circles) called Serious Moonlight. Directed By Cheryl ("David") Hines, and written by the late Waitress scribe Adrienne Shelly, the film tells the story of high-powered Manhattan Lawyer Louise who, after discovering her husband's intentions of leaving her for a hotter, younger version of herself, ties him up in an attempt to talk through their marital difficulties (how topical). Things seem hopeless for them until a rogue gardener (played by Justin Long), ties both of them up, in order to use their house for a massive party. Sign us up!David Fear, of <a href="http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/film/81125/serious-moonlight-film-review">Time Out New York</a> says: "If youâve seen Hines as Larry Davidâs wife on Curb Your Enthusiasm, you know sheâs a deft comedian. Yet none of her natural wit is evident in the filmmaking (her key direction was apparently 'Shout even louder now'), and Hinesâs strict fidelity to her late friend Adrienne Shellyâs excessively theatrical script takes precedence over everything else."Serious Moonlight has neither enough bite nor enough heart to sustain it as a female-revenge-fantasy-cum-romantic-comedy; even its âshockingâ switcheroo and faux-edgy moments seem remarkably frivolous and flavorless."

Gothamist

You know a movie has GOT to be amazing when the studio doesn't do press screenings for it. Sony Pictures is so positive that Armored will blow your minds that they don't need any reviewers to tell you likewise. Going in to this, the audience has only the pumped up trailer, Matt Dillon, the poor-man's Johnny Depp (a.k.a. Skeet Ulrich), Morpheus from The Matrix, Leon from The Professional, and this synopsis: "A crew of officers at an armored transport security firm risk their lives when they embark on the ultimate heistâ¦.against their own company. Armed with a seemingly fool-proof plan, the men plan on making off with a fortune with harm to none. But when an unexpected witness interferes, the plan quickly unravels and all bets are off." Basically, just think of it as <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041268/">Criss Cross</a>, in color, on roids, and coked to the gills.

Gothamist

You know those cheap knock-offs of Disney films that they sell on DVD at supermarkets and bodegas when the official counterpart is just premiering in theaters? Well apparently they started doing that with Judd Apatow movies, but they release it theatrically and long after everyone's seen the original. The Strip, starring Dave Foley and bunch of guys from NCIS, follows five employees of a low-end electronics chain, Electri-City, as they go on a funny, yet heart-smart journey ââdiscovering themselves in the process and finding out what's important in life: namely, bromance.Lisa Schwarzbaum from <a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20323807,00.html"> Entertainment Weekly</a> gives the most glowing review of the film (a "C-") saying that: "The makers of this mediocre comedy about dorky guys who work in a cut-rate electronics store probably hoped that 40 Year-Old Virgin lightning would strike twice. It doesn't. Instead, what might have been a so-so TV sitcom misses its appropriate medium by compacting all the characters' generic gotta-grow-up problems into one disposable film."

Gothamist

Also opening this week is the independent cat-and-mouse thriller Across the Hall, based on the festival favorite short film of the same name. The film follows Terry (Danny Pino) as he follows his wife (Brittany Murphy) to a seedy hotel where she is meeting a man other than himself. Terry manages to somehow get a gun and holes himself up in the room across the hall. Before he goes to tear it up however, he calls his BFF Julian (Mike Vogel), just to keep him on the up-and-up. Julian tells him to hold tight and he's on his way over. Cue noirish thrill. Ernest Hardy from <a href="http://www.laweekly.com/2009-12-03/film-tv/movie-reviews-armored-brothers-everybody-39-s-fine/">LA Weekly </a> says: "The third act is wonderfully tense, although many of the flashback-heavy plot twists are predictable. The bigger problem is that the first act is full of such plodding line readings (everyone seems to have been directed to speak with maddeningly pregnant pauses) and mannered performances â remember when Brittany Murphy was a delightfully natural screen presence? â that the effect is to distance viewers from whatâs happening onscreen."Merkin tries too hard for stylistic flourishes (as the hyper set-designed, claustrophobically seedy hotel underscores) and winds up almost sinking the noir-ish tale heâs telling."

Gothamist

For those still full of fangst even after seeing New Moon and getting caught up on True Blood comes a raunchier, less teen-friendly vampire film to sink your teeth into (sorry), Transylmania. In what looks to be Van Wilder, in Romania, with vampires, the movie follows a group of college students studying abroad who face the perils of alcohol-poisoning, STD's, and the undead. If that doesn't sum up this spoof-horror film, then the tag line should take care of it: "Euro-trashed! Euro-smashed! Euro-slashed!"

Gothamist

Paa tells the story of Auro (played by Amitabh Bachchan), an intelligent and witty 13 year old who suffers from a progeria-like syndrome that ages him five times faster than normal. The film concentrates of Auro's relationship with his hot-shot politician father (played by Amitabh's real life son, Abhishek Bachchan) and the things the two teach each other. Although the sensitive subject matter has been explored before (ahem, Jack), Paa's main concern is in father-son relationships, and in this case the way those roles reverse. The movie is Hindi, which is more reassuring than if it were American (ahem, Jack, ahem), but has been met with mixed reviews. Rachel Saltz from <a href="http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/12/04/movies/04paa.html?ref=movies">The Times</a> says: "[Director] Mr. Balakrishnan focuses on fathers and sons, and on the great project that is India, itself simultaneously young and ancient. Abhishek Bachchan keeps the movie anchored, bringing his own bright cool to this heroic hero. A barely recognizable Amitabh â with a veiny, bulbous pate; rotting teeth; and slope-shouldered gait â seems to be enjoying himself, even if his Auro is more holy fool than 12-year-old. Itâs stunt acting and frequently more creepy than moving, but it also gives Paa itâs weird Iâm-my-own-grandpa charge."

Gothamist

This weekend at the <a href="http://www.ifccenter.com/films/time-bandits/">IFC Center</a> is Terry Gilliam's fantasy classic Time Bandits. If the visuals aren't enough to draw you in, how about John Cleese as Robin Hood? No? What about Sean Connery as Agamemnon? How about materialistic parents exploding on the big screen?

Gothamist

Before Tomorrow is the third and final installment of a trilogy that began with the ancient Inuit folk tale The Fast Runner and continued with The Journals of Knud Rasmussen which was set in the 20's. This film is also a period drama, taking place in 1840 and following an Inuit grandmother and grandson as white men first begin to encroach upon Inuit territory. After returning from a trip to hunt, the two find their entire community dead of smallpox. Grandmother and grandson must gather the will to survive knowing that they are now totally alone.Stephen Holden from <a href="http://movies.nytimes.com/2009/12/02/movies/02before.html?ref=movies">The Times</a> says it "succumbs to ethnographic sentimentality in its idyllic depiction of the same world threatened by evil from outside... Before Tomorrow is frustratingly sketchy partly because it is not finally a survival tale but a mystical evocation of the power of Inuit mythology, and how the passing down of ancient wisdom can sustain the human spirit in the direst circumstances. But the unanswered questions still nag."

Gothamist

"But here's my advice to the rest of you: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can't buy backbone. Don't let them forget it." This weekend <a href="http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Market/NewYork/NewYork_Frameset.htm">Sunshine at Midnight</a> will be showing Wes Anderson's classic Rushmore. Take in all its color and wide-angle glory on the big screen.

Gothamist

This Saturday <a href="http://www.bam.org/view.aspx?pid=40">BAMcinematek</a> is continuing its Liv Ullmann series with Ingmar Bergman's Cries and Whispers. At the 2 p.m. showing there will be a Q & A with the actress moderated by film critic Melissa Anderson. The film is an expressionistic chamber drama that examines the lives and relationships of three sisters in turn-of-the-century Sweden. One of the sisters is dying of cancer when the other two arrive to watch over her. Throughout the film their own tortured pasts and repressed feelings towards one another slowly come to the surface; the amazing acting and striking, blood-red interiors should make it a well-warrented trip to the movies.

Gothamist

Weekend Movie Forecast: <em>Up in the Air</em> or <em>Brothers</em>