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.

An Education

What if someone offered you a shortcut to everything you ever wanted? What if your friends and family supported your abandonment of the original path in favor of the short cut? Could you say no?

In An Education, Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is the top student in her class with dreams of going to Oxford to study English. She adores the finer, sophisticated thing in life and has, by and large, been isolated from them. When she meets the older, worldly David, he not only offers her these things, but wins over her parents in the process.

The film is called An Education because Jenny learns a lot. She learns about life, love, people, expectations, morality, beauty, and how to put it all in perspective.

Overall, a solid, intriguing film. The script is simple yet very well constructed. The acting is understated, but sincere, giving the whole thing a realistic feel. Not a best picture contender in my opinion, but definitely one that will garner some attention.

Where the Wild Things Are

This movie is great to look at, but not to watch. The Wild Things and their world are very well done and shot nicely. Unfortunately that's the extent of the positive things I can say about this movie. It's not that it's that bad, it's just not that good. The acting is adequate. The biggest problem is the script. Nothing happens. Max runs away, finds the Wild Things, hangs out with them for awhile, the end. To get away with something like this, you have to have very strong character development, so that even though the plot is secondary, the audience is still engaged. Cool scenery was not enough to hold my attention.

I was bored.

Zombieland

Movies are rarely this much fun to watch. Zombieland works because it doesn't waste any time trying to explore where the zombies came from or how the main characters can save humanity or anything like that. It gathers a small band of quirky characters who have managed to survive after zombies have ravaged most of the U.S. or world. They refer to each other by city of origin/destination to keep from getting attached. The hero, Columbus, is anything but heroic and has survived through sheer boy scout like efficiency and dedication to safety. He meets the surprisingly carefree Tallahassee who is on a quest to find one last Twinkie while he can and encourages Columbus to enjoy the little things. The dialogue brings to mind Pulp Fiction as the characters chat about the mundane in the midst of this zombie apocalypse.

Zombieland is simple yet bold and provides plenty of original laughs.

Bright Star

The beauty of the English language is center stage in this period romance. I've never been particularly interested in poetry, but I have to say that this film will have me searching for the works of John Keats on Amazon. Even when I didn't have time to process what was being said, the words had a melodic quality to them. I sat through the entire closing credits, which I rarely do, to listen to the poetry reading that accompanied them.

I would ultimately call this film a mood piece. There isn't really much in the way of plot - girl likes boy, boy likes girl, but boy is just a poor poet. But it works as you completely buy in to the 19th century repressed longing they feel for each other. It is remarkable how their relationship is simultaneously chaste and sensual .

Abbie Cornish shines as the titular star and may very well find herself in the Best Actress race this year.

On the whole, the movie is good, but not great. A best picture nomination would only be a gift of the expansion to ten films in that category.