Up in the Air

Jason Reitman is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors. He's made just three movies, but is now batting a thousand. Up in the Air is well written and flawlessly acted. The story is inspiring, though it is a little predictable which hurts it. I thoroughly enjoyed it, but it would not get my vote for best picture this year which I mention as it is considered one of the front-runners.

Avatar

Unlike anything you've ever seen, Avatar is visually stunning from beginning to end. The story is solid, but nothing groundbreaking. My brother pointed out that it is strikingly similar to Dances with Wolves (though it's probably even more like The Last Samurai).

I watched the 3-D version, but actually think I would have preferred the 2-D version simply because the novelty of the 3-D quickly wore off and I got tired of the darned glasses.

I hate to completely dismiss it because it was really cool, but there's a reason most critics I've seen have left it out of their top ten movies of the year - it's basically like watching a 3-hour video game trailer.

Precious

Give Mo'Nique the Oscar.

While Precious is not the downer it appears to be on the surface, there are some very dark elements. We follow Precious through her life where all odds are stacked against her while she dreams frivolously of beautiful things both she and you as the viewer know are never going to happen.

It's powerful stuff and realistically presented. The antagonist is her demon of a mother played by Mo'Nique. At the end (don't worry, not a spoiler) as she is explaining her life to a social worker, Mo'Nique absolutely steals the entire show and leaves you numb with horror and grief. But, again, don't worry - Precious is the light.