Bar Stool Review of UP IN THE AIR

Ramblings: Up In The Air Is Down To Earth

Final Proof: 3 1/2 Shots

You know how you get drunk in airport bars? It's not as old-school as train stations and less depressing than bus stations because the people you meet are more varied. For example you got your business people and it's hard not to look on them with a little envy as they skirt lines with VIP cards and sit down before you in seats better than yours to get comped drinks. They're the ones paying sky high prices in the bar because they're saving the receipts that're all gonna be reimbursed by their companies. But they pay for it in other ways like the families they leave behind to suck jet fumes, and smiles as cold and conditioned as the air they recycle when they're flying. Airport bars are designed to make you feel at home even when you know you're not and they're polished and professional but often full to the rim with humanity: talkative help cleaning the floors who address you like they know you, happy couples high on the idea of traveling together and those looking on with only one dry eye because they were once sitting in Business and now they're on Economy and even if they realize they're better off in some ways, they still need that next drink they can't afford but are ordering anyway. Airport bars are cool because of the contrast between the shallow depth of the decor and your closest strangers making it real. Up In The Air is kinda like that.

You want a metaphor? Up In The Air is the story of a man who's happy as hell drinking imported beer and thinks champagne is for wussies. Then he gets a taste of what he thinks is champagne and loves it. Until he finds out it wasn't champagne at all and so he wants to get a bottle for real but no one's there to give it to him and in the end he has to go back to beer.

i'm a big Jason Reitman fan. i thought Thank You For Smoking was cool as hell and even if i thought Juno was a tad overrated, i was with him all the way on that one. UITA didn't disappoint. It's funny and tender in all the right ways because it steers around the storm clouds of romantic-comedy and the turbulence of forced happy endings.

Another cool thing about UITA was how Reitman dealt with the subject of unemployment. In Ryan's (played masterfully by George Clooney) own words: "I work for [a] company that lends me out to pussies like Steve's boss who don't have the balls to sack their own employees." So yeah, Reitman coulda just chosen to use that as kinda a backdrop for the story but he chose to move it into the forefront by hiring real unemployed people who'd been laid off to recreate the moment they were fired. Very cool and very meaningful and a great idea because those 25 people add a lot of depth to the movie.

The normal actors do a decent job. George Clooney (Ryan Bingham) gives his character a lot of character and Vera Farmiga is believable as jet setter, Alex Goran. Anna Kendrick is getting a lot of attention for her role as young exec Natalie Keener and the girl is golden. It's nice to see her in a role that's more of a stretch than Kristen Stewart's high school friend in Twilight, and man can Anna stretch.

Basically, if you're tempted to see this, you pro'lly should. Up In The Air is a trip.

Before we get to the talent, here's a song from the soundtrack. i like it because, if you listen to the words, it makes sense for us drinkers: Sad Brad Smith - Help Yourself

Buzz Kills (Watch Out for Spoilers)

Sex: 2 shots

There's only one partially nude scene, and that's of Vera Farmiga's body double who's got a nice butt. i knew right away it was a body double, ask Brandi Alexandra, because they never showed Vera's face during the naked part. That's a tell tail sign right there. The UITA Trivia Section on IMDB has Vera saying she doesn't mind being naked in a movie but that she'd recently given birth and "the breast milk running down would have been inappropriate".

So anyway, here's some shots of Vera Farmiga (36) i didn't already exposé in my Orphan review.

Anna Kendrick (24) was super cute in her role of Natalie Keener, especially in the party scene when she lets her hair down, literally, and rocks out. i also already exposéd her in my Twilight: New Moon review so here are some different shots of her.

It's getting harder and harder to exposé Melanie Lynskey (32, who plays Ryan's sister Julie Bingham) after doin' her twice already, once for The Informant and another time for Away We Go. Still, i dug deep and found these:

There were also a slew of those fleeting beauties who flit across the screen in the blink of a wink. Here are those Silken Butterflies i hope to see lots more of...

First up, Adrienne Lamping who plays Tammy, one of Julie Bingham's Bridesmaids.

There's also Meagan Flynn (29) who plays a flight attendant (and wouldn't we all like to, at least once).

And it would be a mortal sin not to mention Erin McGrane, who is adorable as Ryan's neighbor / ex-love interest. If UITA lacks credibility, part of it is that in real life George Clooney would do everything in his power to win back this young lady's heart.

There's also Lanette Fugit (39), another flight attendant, though tragically uncredited.

To wrap this bad boy up, here are some shots of George Clooney (48) for those who prefer fuselage to hangar.

Drink: 2½ Shots

i should probably go a little higher here as there were enough drink references, but i've limited it to 2½ because booze didn't play a key role in the film.

When Ryan (George Clooney) and Alex (Vera Farmiga) meet in the hotel bar, he's drinking a gin & tonic and she's got a martini.

Natalie (Anna Kendrick) gets drunk with Ryan and Alex after her boyfriend dumps her by text message. They drink martinis, scotch & sodas, and then there's more drinking at the Tech party they crash. Hats off to Anna Kendrick who plays drunk with a believable amount of understatement.

The next morning, Natalie apologized for getting carried away, which i liked because i've had to do the same kinda post-binge groveling more than once.

There's also beer from mugs at the rehearsal dinner for Ryan's sister Julie's wedding.

When Ryan's sad, he drinks minibar bottles of Southern Comfort that he keeps in his own fridge in his apartment.

Finally, when Ryan hits the 10 million mile mark, the flight attendant (i'm pretty sure it's Meagan Flynn from above) gives him a glass of champagne.

Rock & Roll: 1 Shot

The soundtrack is pretty folky but not so bad even if it isn't rock.

What's also not rock is the cameo by Young MC at the tech party, singing his hit "Bust A Move".


Boring Technical Crap
Written by:

Walter Kim - Book

Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner - Screenplay

Directed by: Jason Reitman

Starring

Vera Farmiga - Alex Goran

Anna Kendrick - Natalie Keener

Melanie Lynskey - Julie Bingham

Adrienne Lamping - Tammy

Meagan Flynn - Flight Attendant

Erin McGrane - Dianne

Lanette Fugit - Flight Attendant

Kelly Bertha - Terminated Employee

George Clooney - Ryan Bingham

Bottom Line

See it, Up In The Air won't let you down.

Bar Stool Review of ORPHAN

From the juiced-box and the movie [Guitar Hero scene]: Cheap Trick - Surrender

And yeah, i know, for all my bragging about movies i get to see before y'all, this one has only just come out in Paris and it was released last summer in the Sates. Now you get why i boast on those rare occasions i get the shot.

Ramblings: M-Orphan Than A Barrel Of Monkeys
Final Proof: 2½ Shots 

You know how you drink with cool kids in their house? They've got these vapid parents and insipid siblings and porcelain knick-knacks that sit bored on the shelf. The music is monotonous and the second hand on the grandfather clock is too tired to budge. The air is dead, the light is dying, the dog is slow, the beer is flat, the gin is swill and the rum is runs of the mill. Still, there's the one kid who's quick as a Zippo, cute as a butt 'n' funny as hell. i mean, the kid's not so great you forget you feel like you're treading water in quicksand but at least you're entertained enough you don't need to drink yourself as unconscious as the wallpaper. Orphan is kinda like that.

i wasn't too terribly impressed by Orphan and i'm gonna blame it on Jaume Collet-Serra, the director. He sets the pace right at the very beginning with a dream sequence and i hate dream sequences. They're a quick cop out to get something exciting going without forcing consequences on anyone. This is just one cheap trick [hey! maybe that's why "Surrender" is in the movie!] Collet-Serra pulls from his bag of cheap tricks. Orphan is a lesson in horror movie directing clichés, from the close ups on the face to the tight shots on the backs so we have no idea what's happening in the room, from snatching back shower curtains to the loud blasts of music telling us when we should be startled. The suspense is efficient, but Jaume breaks no new ground here.

Not to mention the cascade of WTF? moments:

Ooh, i'm in the hospital and i have my I-Phone right here that i just got a call from Estonia on and they told me my daughter is a whackjob serial killer... What should i do? Call the police? No, call my husband, who's at home with the girl. He doesn't answer... Should i call the police now? No, i know, i'll wait until i get dressed and run out of the hospital and find my car in the parking lot and start driving home and then, when i'm speeding down an icy road in a snowstorm, that's when i'll call 911.

WTF!?

But Orphan wasn't a total buzz kill. There was Vera Farmiga doing a more than solid job as Little Orphan Baddie's new mom, Kate Coleman. There was Peter Sarsgaard holding up his end as best he could as Raggedy Brigandy's daddy (and i'd love it if one of y'all could tell me where i know this actor from---yes, i've checked imdb up, down and all over). But man of all mans, Isabelle Fuhrman impressed the hell out of me.

She filmed the part of Esther when she was freaking 11 years old and she owned the role, drove it around and took it to town. She absolutely absorbed all of the intricacies of the character. The part didn't require a lot of range but man, did she go deep. Remember Nathalie Portman in Léon: The Professional? Remember Kirsten Dunst in Interview With A Vampire? Carve it in the bar: We're gonna be hearing as much from Isabelle Fuhrman as we do about those other girls.

Vera Farmiga & Isabelle Fuhrman

Speaking of Isabelle, she's now 12 years old, which means she gets carded here. Nothing age inappropriate going on here.

Buzz Kills (Watch Out for Spoilers)

Sex: ½ Shot

Move along, nothing to see here---literally.

Here's the notes i jotted:

• A shot of boys in a tree house looking at a Playboy
• Vera sex scene from the waist up in a bra
• Cool erotic paintings [all over Esther's bedroom walls]

Here's a peek at what Vera Farmiga in a bra looks like...

There's also a silken butterfly, one of those beautiful visions that flit fleetingly across the screen. Lorry Ayers portrays a milf hitting on Esther's father in a playground...

Here's a little one for the ladies (and the undecided):

Drink: 1½ Shots



A quick thumb through my notes:

• Mother is a non-practicing alcoholic
• She doesn't want to go to AA [she quit alone]
• She stops herself from drinking wine [twice]
• Later we learn that she quit after passing out and her daughter fell into a pond [rescued by father]
• Beer at dinner for dad
• Father downs a bottle of wine by himself
• He gets way more [messed] up on one bottle than me

Rock & Roll: 0 Shots

On Guitar Hero we get the Cheap Trick above. The other song is "Re-education (Through Labor)" by Rise Against. Here it is for ya.

Boring Technical Crap

Written by: David Johnson (screenplay) and Alex Mace (story)

Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring

Isabelle Fuhrman - Esther

Vera Farmiga - Kate Coleman

Lorry Ayers - Joyce

Peter Sarsgaard - John Coleman

Bottom Line

See it, just so you can say you saw Isabelle Fuhrman back when...