“Alice in Wonderland”
a review by Darby O’Gill

It’s time to go back to Wonderland, and to do so you’ll need your Tim Burton 3-D glasses. This version of Alice in Wonderland is not so much a remake, as it is a continuation of the original classic tale. Of course, it’s also told through the eyes of visionary director Tim Burton, and marks his third remake or retelling if you will, of an already existing movie classic. I’m a huge Tim Burton fan, but I’m truly starting to miss the originality of his former moviemaking. It’s true that these remakes embody the essences of an original Burton film, but there is still this underlying familiarity of the original movies or stories on which the work is based. Which is a good thing for a remake to embody, but at this point I would really like to see Burton take me to a place I have never seen before. We don’t have many visionary directors that can do what he is capable of, and it seems like for the last few years we have been getting the “What if…” versions of Tim Burton films. For those of you that are not huge comic book nerds, “What if…” comics, are a Marvel Comics series that takes a classic storyline, like say… Spider-Man. The comics would raise the question, what if Peter Parker’s Uncle hadn’t died? Would he have learned that with great power, comes great responsibility? And that is exactly what we have here, “What if… Tim Burton directed Planet of the Apes?” Sadly, we all now know the answer to that question.

In this version of Alice in Wonderland, we follow a now nineteen year old Alice, who has forgotten all about her original adventures in Wonderland, and finds herself now facing even more grownup decisions than ever before, which could not be better timing, because the creatures of Wonderland (or Underland as they call it) are facing troubles of their own; and only Alice can save them. I think they did a really good job of putting a new spin on a classic tale, while still retaining some moments from the original story. The movie moves at a nice pace, and Tim Burton’s visuals are anything but boring. The special effects are quite amazing, and it managed to do for me what Avatar couldn’t, which was being able sell me on the movie’s world and characters. I was totally submerged in the world of Wonderland. I cared about the characters. I was interested in the story they were telling. And even though I was familiar with the story they were telling, they still managed to take me somewhere new, and give me an environment that was worth caring about. Okay, maybe I’m laying it on a little thick. The story wasn’t that amazing; but if anything, it just proves that James Cameron did not try hard enough to change his Dances with Wolves storyline in Avatar.

Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the Mad Hatter is well… Okay. Look, Johnny Depp is an amazing actor. I think we can all agree on that. But, it seems like when he plays these remake roles for Tim Burton, he tends to go too far. He almost over plays the role. I’m not saying it’s a bad performance by any means, but much like his portrayal of Willy Wonka being almost Michael Jackson-ish, it feels like sometimes less could be more. I feel that these characters already have such a larger than life persona attached to them that Depp is almost trying to harness that imagery by playing them as big as he possibly can, when the truth is playing them slightly smaller, might actually give you the same effect in the end. Anne Hathaway, surprisingly, gives a horrible performance as the White Queen. I’m not quite sure what happened there. I would have to imagine that it was the way Burton wanted the role to be portrayed, but I’m afraid it really didn’t work for me. I found it to be very distracting. I couldn’t keep myself from trying to figure out why she was acting that way. The best I could come up with is that the role of the White Queen most likely would have been the role that Burton’s former fiancé, Lisa Marie, would have played if they were still together. He was most likely directing Hathaway as such, which would possibly explain the uncomfortable nature of her performance in the film. Just a theory. On the better side of the coin, Little Britain’s Matt Lucas gives an amazing performance as both Tweetledee and Tweetledum. And what Tim Burton film would be complete without current fiancé, Helena Bonham Carter? Donning an abnormally large head, inspired by the books original illustrations, Carter plays the hot-tempered Red Queen.

Like I mention at the beginning of this review, Alice in Wonderland is a part of the new and ever growing trend that is 3-D movies. Now, I will admit that this new RealD 3-D system works so much better then those old red and blue glasses ever did. But, it’s still getting a little out of control, if you ask me. I enjoy watching these new 3-D films in the theatre, but once you watch the movie at home, I’m afraid it’s just not quite the same experience. The scenes in which the glasses just add depth are fine, but when things are constantly being pointed at you and there is sadly no 3-D there to enhance it, you truly notice just how lame those stunts make the movie look in the end. Also, the 3-D seems to have a hard time handling fast paced close-up action. Alice’s fall down the rabbit hole was very blurry; and because of the glasses, I felt like I might have missed some really nice moments on the way down. Over all, the movie does a great job of delivering a fun, entertaining, and somewhat curiouser and curiouser night at the movies.

Rating:

“The Crazies”
a review by Darby O’Gill

Welcome to Ogden Marsh, population 1,260, and dropping. I’ve got to tell you, this is one hell of a movie. It hasn’t even opened nationwide yet, and I’ve already seen it twice. It’s a remake of a 1973 George A. Romero film of the same name. I haven’t seen the original, but I’m now really looking forward to checking it out very soon. George A. Romero was an executive producer on this new version as well, which is always a good sign on a remake. The one thing I would however advise you to do before seeing The Crazies, is to not watch all the trailers for the movie before seeing it. The one that I have posted at the end of this review is safe, but this is truly the type of movie that the less you know going in, the better. The second time I went to see it, I brought Shady with me, who watched the trailer right before going, and he said it totally ruined it for him. Now this was months ago, so the trailer he watch was the first trailer they released, and they have since stopped showing it for just that reason. The new trailers are a little bit more vague, but it’s still better to just go see the movie with absolutely no spoilers.

Now, this is where I would normally tell you what the movie is about… But, how can I do that, when I just told you not to watch any of the film’s trailers? Okay, here’s what I feel I can tell you… This is not a zombie movie. Most people hear George A. Romero, and instantly think zombie, which they damn well should! However, this is not about zombies. In this movie, it’s more like a virus with zombie type symptoms. Unlike zombies, the infected in this movie don’t want to feed on human flesh, or hunt in hordes. No, it’s more like a creepy, calm, empty rage, which on film is way scarier than it sounds. Trust me. The Crazies takes place in a small Iowa town just outside Cedar Rapids, where Sheriff David Dutton, played by Timothy Olyphant, tries desperately to save his wife and town from a sudden virus, and at the same time a government quarantine. That kind of sums it up quite nicely, and spoiler free to boot.

I really liked this movie. You can even tell when you’re watching it, that the filmmakers, really knew what they wanted to do with this project. At no point does it try be something it’s not. It’s just a nice clear-cut story that is brilliantly directed by Breck Eisner, and is a perfect example of what I would consider an outstanding movie. Which is shocking because Eisner, son of Michael Eisner, also directed Sahara. What I think really does work for this movie, is that it has this “little movie that could” feel to it that definitely adds to its charm, much like one of my other absolute favorite movies, Feast. If you have not seen Feast yet, shame on you! More on that some other day, but for now back to the movie at hand. The Crazies really does do a wonderful job of mixing the suspense and tension in the film, into a fantastic horror cocktail. The scenes in the funeral parlor and car wash are just so good, truly classic horror movie moments. I can almost guarantee that I will be seeing this again in the theatre real soon. It’s just simply a fun ride. So, to all of you reading this right now, do yourselves a favor; buy a ticket, and take the ride. You’d be crazy not too.

Rating:

“Cop Out”
a review by Darby O’Gill

Now, I’m not going to make some cheesy pun about Cop Out being a cop out, that would be… Well, a cop out. Here’s the most confusing thing about Cop Out. No, it’s not the fact that Kevin Smith chose this to be the first film he would direct that he didn’t write. Although, that is rather odd and we’ll come back to that. No, the most confusing thing about Cop Out is that it’s about fifteen years too late to the party. What do I mean by that? Well, this is the sort of buddy cop comedy you would come to expect in 1996, but it’s 2010. I don’t know about you, but I would call that late to the party. Even in 1996, this would not have been considered a good movie by any means, but it might have been able to fly under the radar a little better at the time. Now it just sticks out like a sore thumb, and stands no chance of making it. Here is the confusing bit; I wouldn’t say this is a bad movie. I wouldn’t say it’s a good movie either. No, I wouldn’t really say I cared either way. The truly confusing thing is that when I left the theatre I knew it was bad, but the more I thought about it, the more funny moments I recalled. Overall, the movie is a train wreck, but there are some really funny scenes in the film, and part of me thinks that they might be worth seeing. I sort of think this is the type of movie that if I see it again, I might like it more the second time around. For right now, I’m on the fence. When it comes out on DVD, I’ll be sure to let you know if my opinion has changed, but until then you can find me over here on the fence.

In Cop Out, Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan play partners that have been suspended for their unorthodox police methods. Imagine that. And, when Willis realizes that being suspended means he won’t be able to pay for his daughter’s wedding, he decides to sell his rare baseball card to raise the money. You’ll never guess what happens next. That’s right! When the baseball card gets stolen, the suspended officers find themselves smack dab in the middle of New York’s biggest bust. Hellooooo, 1996!

Let’s get back to the mystery that is Kevin Smith directing this film. Let’s be honest, you don’t go see a Kevin Smith movie for the directing, you go see it for his writing. Now, I personally like Kevin Smith. Sure he’s had a few misses along the way, but overall I think he’s done a great job of staying true to his style of filmmaking… Until now of course. And, why is that? My guess would be, he wants to get into the game. And, who could blame him? With Peter Jackson going from Bad Taste to Oscar, and Jon Favreau finding his way to mainstream blockbusters, it’s only natural that Kevin would one day want to do the same. A studio like Warner Bros. is not going to just hand a project to someone like Silent Bob. No, their going to want to make sure that he is willing to play ball first. If I had to guess, I would say Cop Out wasn’t something Kevin asked to do, as much as it was assigned to him. A hazing if you will, to test the View Askew waters for Warner Bros. I’m really hoping that this is the case, and if so, I’m not going to rush to judgment just yet. I’m going to wait to see his next project before doing so, but until then we’ll just have to wait and see.

Rating:

“Valentine’s Day”
a review by Darby O’Gill

What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day, than with a review of Garry Marshall’s Valentine’s Day on Valentine’s Day? Okay, there is probably a better way to spend Valentine’s Day, but that’s all I have for you this year… So, get over it.

In Valentine’s Day, we follow the lives of several people, and the events that take place on what day? That’s right, Valentine’s Day! Do you see a pattern forming here? This movie also has an all-star cast the length of my arm. Now, when most movies have a cast of this size, it’s almost a sure thing that the movie is going to totally suck, but not so much in this case. Normally, one of the biggest problems of movies of this scale is the script. They almost always screw-up the pacing of the story by trying to make sure all the A-List actors are getting enough screen time. I’m happy to say this isn’t the case in Valentine’s Day. Amazingly, this script really flows well from one sub-story to the next, and it also works really well as a whole. That’s not to say this movie is perfect. This movie definitely has its flaws, the biggest being Queen Latifah’s acting. Wait, I’m sorry that’s not totally true. The worst performance came from dumb & dumber. I’m sorry, I mean Taylor & Taylor. Taylor Swift and Taylor Lautner give two of the worst performances I’ve seen in a movie to date. Ah, what a train wreck! Now, I haven’t seen the Twilight movies, so I don’t know if Lautner can normally act. But, working next to “Acting 101″ Swift, Lautner looked like he couldn’t act his way out of a wet paper bag. Surprisingly, Ashton Kutcher’s performance was bearable! I was expecting him to be over the top, and annoying, but he gave a nice subtle performance. Also playing a big part in this movie, is the city of Los Angeles. Shot on location on the streets of L.A., Valentine’s Day will become another one of those movies, that when friends come to visit you in from out of town. You’ll take them for a ride around L.A. and say, “This is where that one scene in Valentine’s Day was shot.” Now, I’m not saying this is a must see movie, but if your lady wants to go see it, there are worse movies you could sit through. Just be glad she doesn’t want to see Leap Year.

Rating:

“The Wolfman”
a review by Darby O’Gill

Well, it’s only February and I think we already have a front runner for next year’s Death Coach Award. The Wolfman is a remake of the 1941, Lon Chaey Jr. original classic The Wolf Man, only this version will never be able to stand the test of time. Universal Studios keeps trying to remake their classic monster films with all the new technology of modern filmmaking, but they never seem to be able to get it quite right. I think their biggest mistake is trying to mix this grand Jayne Austin type of setting, with a classic horror story. They think it highlights the romantic undertones of the monster movie’s original classic story, but all it really does is set-up the movie for failure. I understand that these films are based on classic literature, but they’re also the original horror films, and should be treated as such. Just once, I would love to see how one of these classic monster movies would look if they had used a Friday the 13th approach to the filmmaking. I wouldn’t want them to be hokey. I just would like to see a monster movie try and be scary for once. You don’t have to lose the romance or Victorian setting, just focus more on the monster. The original movies were scary for their time. And in this day and age, it does take more to scare us, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try to make one of these classic tales scary. The studios should save their money, by not casting Oscar Award winning actors, or not overly focusing on the film’s cinematography, and just try to make a scary movie that will do its predecessor proud for once. I want to see someone like Rob Zombie remake one of these films. Hollywood can’t seem to wait to remake the modern classic horror films like A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, or the Friday the 13th franchisees, and those usually turnout to be really good remakes. But for some reason, when it comes to the true classics, it never seems to cross their minds to have someone like John Carpenter remake The Wolf Man. Why is that?

Okay, so I guess at this point you can tell I didn’t really enjoy The Wolfman. Actually, I hated it! This movie was so long winded, and pretentious, that it couldn’t even die right. I’m not kidding. There is a death scene in this movie that is so laughable, that if you do go to see this in the theatres, you’ll be truly surrounded by the audience’s laughter during the scene. The other thing that totally drove me crazy was waiting for the Wolfman to start playing basketball, or maybe even try to get a keg of beer. Look, I give the filmmakers credit for not making the Wolfman a giant wolf, and trying to keep the classic Lon Chaney Jr. man-wolf look, but the last time we, as film goers, saw this type of werewolf was when Michael J. Fox was in Teen Wolf. I realize that making this type of werewolf work in this day and age is hard, but that was their job on this film, making it work. And, if they couldn’t make it work, then they shouldn’t make the movie! At no point during this movie, should I be thinking about Michael J. Fox and his keg of beer, but I did. Quite a bit actually, and I’m sorry but that ruins the scariness of this movie right there. That’s not to say that they couldn’t have made it work. Rick Baker did an outstanding job on the make-up of the Wolfman, as always. But, they just didn’t utilize how scary they could make this movie. If the Wolfman had been jumping out of the shadows and mutilating people more, I might have found myself a little bit more immersed in this film. Instead, I just found myself waiting for a big choreographed prom dance at the end of the film. Do yourself a favor, and skip it. Rent Lon Chaney Jr.’s The Wolf Man. Or if you haven’t seen it, and that would be a huge crime, get An American Werewolf in London. Hell, I would even suggest watching one of my all-time favorites, Monster Squad before this one, because this version of the Wolfman definitely has no nards!

Rating:

“Frozen”
a review by Darby O’Gill

Well, if you’ve ever been skiing before, I’m sure these thoughts have passed through your mind at least once or twice. What if this ski lift got stuck? Would I be able to jump from this height? How long would I wait before trying to get down? All these questions and more are the subject matter of the movie Frozen. When three friends… Well, two best friends and a tag-along girlfriend hit the slopes of a New England ski resort, all seems to be fine until the mountain announces they will be closing early due to an incoming winter storm. Having spent most the day on the bunny slope to accommodate Dan’s girlfriend Parker, played by Emma Bell, the trio decide to end their day on an advanced trail, but have to bribe the ski lift operator to let them on the lift after he’s already announced the last run of the day. One slight misunderstanding later, the three find themselves stranded on the middle of the ski lift a fifty feet above the ground, and due to the mountain’s schedule, could possibly be stuck up there till next weekend, when the resort will be open again.

Frozen is like Open Water on a ski lift. It’s that little movie that will most likely get great word of mouth, and hopefully get seen by a lot of people. Let’s start that great word of mouth here. I was really excited to see writer/director Adam Green’s new movie. I enjoyed his last venture, Hatchet, but I’m even a bigger fan of Adams because he features my favorite shop in the whole world, Newbury Comics, in his films. Newbury Comic is a music/comic/toy shop in Massachusetts. I have been a loyal customer since high school, and highly recommend shopping at one if you ever get the chance. Okay, I’m getting a little off topic here. The other thing I really enjoyed about Frozen, was its ability to take place in one location for the entire film. Shawn Ashmore, Emma Bell, and Kevin Zegers give outstanding performances, and I think the audience will find it easy to relate to their characters. But, I think the thing I loved the most, is that Adam Green gave a shout-out to Wachusett Mountain in the film, which is the mountain that I skied on growing up in New England. I’m just glad I didn’t have to ski there this year after seeing this movie. I really hope this movie does well. I think that its little movies like this that make movie making exciting. It may not be the best movie of the year, but it is truly the first must see movie of 2010 in my book. In a nutshell, go see it. Don’t see it in a nutshell, see it in a theatre. You know what I mean. Go see it.

Rating:

Best Motion Picture – Drama

District 9

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Sharlto Copley – District 9

Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Diane Kruger – Inglourious Basterds

Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

Best Motion Picture – Comedy

The Hangover

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy

Meryl Streep – It’s Complicated

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy

Jason Bateman – Extract

Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy

Rashida Jones – I Love You Man

Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy

Zach Galifianakis – The Hangover

Best Director – Motion Picture

Peter Jackson – The Lovely Bones

Best Animated Feature Film

Coraline

Best Original Screenplay

Pirate Radio/The Boat That Rocked – Richard Curtis

Best Adapted Screenplay

Watchmen – David Hayter & Alex Tse

Best Original Score

Sherlock Holmes – Hans Zimmer & Lorne Balfe

Best Original Song

“Stu’s Song” by Ed Helms – The Hangover

Best Art Direction

Watchmen – Helen Jarvis, James Steuart & Francois Audouy

Best Cinematography

Where the Wild Things Are – Lance Acord

Best Costume Design

Pirate Radio/The Boat That Rocked – Joanna Johnston

Best Visual Effects

Where the Wild Things Are

Best Television Series – Drama

Burn Notice

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama

Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama

Hugh Laurie – House M.D.

Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Television Series – Drama

Olivia Williams – Dollhouse

Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Television Series – Drama

Enver Gjokaj – Dollhouse

Best Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Television Series – Drama

Burn Notice

Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar, Bruce Campbell, & Sharon Gless

Best Writing for a Television Series – Drama

Dollhouse

Best Television Series – Comedy

The Big Bang Theory

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy

Julia Louis-Dreyfus – The New Adventures of Old Christine

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Comedy

Larry David – Curb Your Enthusiasm

Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Television Series – Comedy

Paula Marshall – Gary Unmarried

Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Television Series – Comedy

Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory

Best Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Television Series – Comedy

The Big Bang Theory

Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Keley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, & Kunal Nayyar

Best Writing for a Television Series – Comedy

The Big Bang Theory

Best Animated Television Series

The Venture Bros.

Best Movie Poster

Terminator: Salvation

Best Movie Trailer

Where the Wild Things Are

Best Comic Book Series

Blackest Night – Geoff Johns

Death Coach Award

The Fourth Kind

(This award is given each year to the worst movie of the year. It’s the movie that the studios should have put on the Death Coach rather than in theaters.)

King of the Leprechauns Award

David Tennant

For his outstanding run as the 10th Doctor in the Doctor Who series. His song has ended far too soon, but he will always be my Doctor.

(This award is the Banshee’s equivalent to a Man/Woman of the Year Award or Lifetime Achievement Award)

“Avatar”
a review by Darby O’Gill

Okay, so I finally got around to seeing Avatar. Ah, well… It was definitely… I think… You know what? Let’s come back to that. Avatar is the story of human beings doing what they do best, taking what they want. It’s the year 2154 and groups of people from Earth have traveled to the distant planet of Pandora to harvest a rare mineral called Unobtanium. Don’t worry. We’ll come back to that too. The only thing standing in the way of our obtaining the Unobtanium (God, even I want to punch me in the face.) is the natives of Pandora, called the Na’vi. They’re basically giant blue cat-monkeys. Sorry if anyone thinks that’s racist. I don’t want to aggravate you’re Pandora Blues Syndrome. We’ll get back to that as well. So, before the conflict started getting out of hand, the humans tried to negotiate with the Na’vi, by using Avatars. An Avatar is a bioengineered life form that is a mix of Na’vi DNA and the human controller’s DNA. It’s like virtual reality, but you’re not in a simulated computer system. Instead, your consciousness is uploaded into the Avatar body in the real world. When Jake Sully, a paraplegic war veteran, played by Sam Worthington, who’s twin brother is killed, the opportunity presents itself for Jake to step into his shoes… Well, metaphorically. Jake’s brother was set to work on the Avatar program, and since his DNA make-up matches that of his twin brother’s, Jake is able to operate his brother’s Avatar. Once in the Avatar program, Jake is met with the promise of getting his real legs back, if he would be willing to spy on the Na’vi for Colonel Miles Quaritch, played by Stephen Lang, and provide him with some inside information from behind the enemy lines. However, once on the inside, Jake finds himself questioning his loyalties, and will soon need to choose a side.

Well, okay. I guess I’ve got a few things to get back to here. First, it took James Cameron twelve years to make this movie, and I really find it hard to believe that in twelve years he couldn’t come up with something better than Unobtanium. I mean what the fuck! Are you kidding me?! You could have called it Shitanium, and even that would have been better than Unobtanium. James Cameron you’re better than that. I do have one request though James. Please do not pull a George Lucas, and make a new Terminator series that claims the Terminator’s exoskeleton is actually made of Unobtanium. That would be even more unforgivable than Titanic, which brings us to our next callback point, the Pandora Blues Syndrome. People are claiming to find themselves dealing with depression symptoms after seeing the film, because Pandora is not a real place. I’m not even going to touch that. Let’s move on.

I didn’t really care for this movie. Let me clarify, I didn’t find myself getting emerged in this world at all. When you see a movie like this, like Jurassic Park or Harry Potter, I think it’s really important to care about the world the film is trying to sell you on. At no point during Avatar, did I find myself immersed or excited to be experiencing this world, and in 3-D no less. Don’t get me wrong, the world of Pandora in Avatar is well imagined, but there’s just something missing that I can’t put my finger on. Once again, I have to point out that this movie took twelve years to make! In this day and age, I think we are just not as easily impressed with ground breaking effects these days. In the last decade, we’ve seen so many amazing leaps in special effects, and it’s hard to see what took twelve years to achieve in this film. It’s the kind of thing where you really need to see the behind the scenes footage to fully appreciate what they’ve done.

With that said, let’s talk about the story. Did you ever see Dances with Wolves? Great! So, we’ve talked about the story. I’m not kidding; this is Dances with Wolves in space. I understand that every story has been told before, but come on! It’s really hard to enjoy a movie when you don’t care about the world you are in, and you know every twist and turn of the story, because you’ve heard it before. Avatar is so not the best picture of the year! I can’t believe it won the Golden Globe for Best Picture Drama. It shouldn’t even be in that category. It’s more of an animated film than anything else. I would say 80% of it is CGI generated. With all that said, I think it’s an okay movie. At no point did I want to stop watching it, I just wished I could have enjoyed it more.

Rating:

“Julie & Julia”
a review by Darby O’Gill

I know, not the type of movie you would expect to find here, but I’m all about breaking the mold. Truth be told, I was home over the holidays and my mother made me watch it. Also, my grandmother was a huge Julia Child fan, and I grew up watching her show with my gram in my younger years, so I was a little interested to see Meryl Streep’s portrayal of her. But, that’s not to say I wouldn’t be more than happy to give any film a fair chance. I do also realize that this is another Amy Adams’ movie, and if you read my Leap Year review, you all know how I feel about her. It’s not that much of a problem in this film, because she’s not really the lead; she kind of shares that title with Streep. Although, just for the record, it is still more Amy Adams than I would like. Enough of this tomfoolery, let’s get to the review.

Julie & Julia mainly takes place in 2002, and tells the story of Julie Powell, played by Amy Adams, who has just moved to New York with her husband, played by Chris Messina, and finds herself looking for an escape from her day job job at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation’s call center. She decides to start a blog, but she isn’t quite sure what to blog about, until she comes up with the idea of cooking every recipe in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook, and giving herself a year in which to do it. The other part of this story takes place in 1949, when Julia Child, played by Meryl Streep, and her husband Paul, played by Stanley Tucci, have just moved to Paris for Paul’s job at the American Embassy. Julia is looking for something to fill her time while Paul’s at work, and starts her cooking career. She finds it hard however to learn from the French cookbooks, and realizes that there are no American French cookbook. Therefore, she decides to publish her own cookbook where the French recipes would be a little easier for American cooks to follow.

Okay, let’s cut to the chase. I wasn’t a big fan of this movie. The one thing I did find impressive, other than Meryl Streep’s performance, was writer/director Nora Ephron’s ability to intertwine Julie Powell’s novel Julie & Julia with Julia Child and Alex Prud’humme’s My Life in France. By finding the parallels in these two women’s lives, and making the movie just as much about Julia Child’s life, as it is about Julie’s blog challenge, was this film’s saving grace. Well, that and Meryl Streep’s amazing performance. She really embodied the essences of Julia Child in this movie. It’s probably not much of a shock, that I would have enjoyed this movie 100% more, if it was just a story about Julia Child, and skipped all the Amy Adams stuff. I think the movie is better than most would suspect, but in the end it’s just not that satisfying, and leaves you just plain hungry… literally.

Rating:

“Up In the Air”
a review by Darby O’Gill

I think the best way to sum up my feelings about Up In the Air, is just that… up in the air. I know a lot of people are going over the moon for this film, but I’m not as in love with it. Don’t get me wrong, I think the movie is fantastic, but I just don’t think it’s as groundbreaking as people are making it out to be. The writing, directing, and performances in Up In the Air are all top notch. I just feel there have been other, all be it smaller, films that have handled the subject matter better. It’s not their fault they couldn’t land George Clooney to star, and the son of Ghostbusters to direct. Now, I’m not hating on Jason Reitman. In fact, I thought Juno was great! And, I think he’s proved himself to be an extremely talented director with this film, and I look forward to his next.

In Up In the Air, Ryan Bingham, played by George Clooney, is in the business of letting people go. Ryan travels from city to city and fires hundreds of people a day. What a wonderfully uplifting theme for a movie in these times when unemployment is at an all-time high. I guess the studio just really wanted to release a movie that people could relate to. As you would imagine, Ryan is quite the frequent flyer, and is very close to reaching his ultimate goal of ten million frequent flyer miles. But before he can, his company is about to do some budget cuts of their own. Why fly all over the country, when you can just iChat or Skype with the client from the home office? But before the changes can take effect, Ryan gets one last trip as he takes a young protégé, played by Anna Kendrick, on the road for some old school hands on training. At its heart, Up In the Air is about a man coming to terms with his life, and also the fact that we may not always end up with the life we planned for. It is a really well written script, which is equally matched by Jason Reitman’s amazing directing style.

George Clooney gives an outstanding performance, but its just Clooney being classic brilliant Clooney. You could easily intercut Ryan Bingham with Danny Ocean and not miss a beat. I’m not saying Clooney phoned it in. I’m just saying that this character is the same sort of soft spoken intelligent man that we come to expect to see Clooney play. Truth be told, I wouldn’t want anyone else to play a role like this, but I really can’t see this as the best performance of his career. Which brings me back to my first point, this movie is all over the award shows this year, and I just honestly don’t think it’s one of the best movies of the year. It might be in my top ten, but definitely not in my top five for this year. Up In the Air really reminds me of this great movie that came out back in 2000, called Diamond Men. I know, you’ve never heard of it. And, that is a crime. But, if you are one of the millions of people that loved Up In the Air, and think it disserves to win best picture, do yourself a favor and watch Diamond Men. You might also want to checkout one of my all time favorite movies, Spring Forward; which also has some of the same undertones as Up In the Air, and is quite a fantastic movie of it’s own. Look, Up In the Air is a great movie, and I will gladly add it to my DVD library. But, best movie of the year? Maybe not. Don’t get me wrong, I highly recommend seeing Up In the Air, it’s everything a movie should be, and you’ll be very glad that you saw it.

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