Up In the Air, The Warriors, Avatar

The fact that I'm actually working regular hours these past few weeks means my schedule has prevented me from my usual posting schedule, but since I know everybody (and by everybody I mean your mom) can't live without my thoughts here's a few quick hits:

Up In The Air

I really enjoyed the film (as I have Jason Reitman's previous work - Thank You for Smoking & Juno), and thought it did a nice job capturing the reality of travel, in particular the honesty that can emerge on the road between people who wouldn't otherwise associate. I also appreciate that the one point that the film looked like it was going to descend into cliche and cheap sentimentality it made a complete one-eighty (you'll know what I'm talking about when you see it) and took a turn that I thankfully didn't see coming.

I do want to address the fact George Clooney's character is secretly kind of screwed up (he lives his entire existence trying to avoid meaningful human contact and tries to convince others to do the same) but because of how Clooney portrays him we still like him and want to be his buddy. Some reviews have said that this is disingenuous and that it would be better if the chracter was less polished so we would truly see the depths of his 'depravity.' I don't buy this at all, by making him sympathetic the film leaves it up to the viewer to decide what they think about his world view. If anything, its even more interesting to see somebody who unapologically has chosen an atypical lifestyle and doesn't even seem to be that concerned about it.

The Warriors

My brothers and I rented this 1979 film from Walter Hill solely because Bill Simmons has been raving about it since we started reading his columns almost ten years ago. After watching it, well, I can't say I get the hype. Don't get me wrong the premise is fantastic. Somewhere in the future all the gangs in new york meet up in central park to hear a pitch from Cyrus (the leader of the city's largest gang) about teaming up to run the city (basically he's Stringer Bell from the Wire). He's then assassinated by a rival gang, who promptly blame it on a gang from Coney Island - the titular Warriors. The Warriors then have to fight their way back to Coney with all the other gangs (and cops) out to get them. Its a simple set up, and could have been a terrific gritty nihilistic action film. Unfortunately the film hasn't aged well, features a lot of walking, mediocre acting (at best) and surprisingly little violence. What fights there are end up feeling lackluster, and the whole enterprise has a lot less energy than it should. Its not unwatchable, just after all the hype I expected more than a passable seventies action film.

Avatar

I don't have anything new to add to what's already been written about the film. The plot is predictable, dialogue clunky, and characters one-dimensional. In terms of story content there is absolutely nothing new here. It's almost as if Cameron wanted to make sure there wasn't anything to distract us from the visuals - and he may have been right. The visuals are stunning, you have to see this in 3-D on the biggest screen possible to even have a chance of appreciating everything going on in the film. It's the first time I've seen a 3-D film where the technology felt like more than a gimmick and actually enhanced immersement into the film's world. The greatest compliment I can give to the whole thing is that the visuals kept me from carping on the film's aforementioned flaws (as well as kepping me from complaining about being stuck in the front row of an IMAX theater). Instead I just kept thinking about how cool and flawless most of the effects were, and how much I'd love to visit the environment Cameron created. That said I don't see how this could possibly sell on DVD. You sure wouldn't buy it to appreciate the story, and no television screen on earth could do it justice.