The Road

imdb link  Photos

Plot: After an apocalypse that destroys civilization and kills 99% of the people a man (Viggo Mortensen) and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) travel The Road looking for food and warmth. Along they way they meet bandits, cannibals, scavenge for food and crawl in the mud.

Review:.The best part is the steady enduring will to find survive that the man and the boy have as they tread down The Road. The visualization of the story on big screen create a heavy emotional burden -- worse than I felt reading the book. The art direction is of good quality, but the dead trees and barren landscapes got me down.

Smit-McPhee is a good child actor. Mortensen's performance is "one-note," and I don't understand why anyone would consider him for an Oscar.

The key question is whether this dreariness is worth it because something makes The Road worthwhile. After the film, you can't help but think about what I should do in those circumstances. Would I be one of the "good guys carrying the fire," or one of the other guys? My wife likes the theological aspects like what would we think about God if the world were as bad as this? Of course this bleak world is a metaphor for our own world -- Do we all plod through a bleak existence with no hope? What keeps us going?

Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron

Crew: directed by John Hillcoat; based on the book Cormac McCarthy

Rating: 2.5 flasks; plus 0.5 for its thoughtfulness minus 0.5 for its dreariness.


More: Most likely the darkest and dreariest movie I have seen in my life. If you can think of a darker one, leave me a comment.

Sherlock Holmes

imdb link  Photos

Plot: Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr) and Dr. Watson (Jude Law) chase and defeat a satanist, Lord Blackwell (Mark Strong), who is bent on taking over the British Empire and then the world. The movie's Sherlock is an action hero in addition to being a super-detective.  

Review: Sherlock Holmes is a fast-moving, chaotic movie that lacks strong characters and a strong story. We never learn what makes any of the characters tick especially the lady villian Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams). What did she and Holmes have going on? There is no chemistry between the main characters, especially between Holmes and Watson. There was not enough of Downey's great facial acting.

Holmes trademark is in-depth observations that show how he knew seemingly unexplainable things, and he did that in this movie. I found these explanations arbitrary and dumb -- like a Star Trek character explaining how warp drive works. This made Holmes even less human.

On the bright side the art direction is superb. It was interesting to see a re-imagining of the Holmes story. This was  far more fast paced than the BBC TV series.

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Jude Law, Rachel McAdams

Crew: directed by Guy Ritchie; based on the classic books by Arthur Conan Doyle

Rating: 2.0 flasks


More: The fact that this Holmes could fight as well as think made him more like Batman, and even less human.

.

Up in the Air

imdb link  Photos

Plot: This is a tragic satire about Ryan who lives his life avoiding commitment, avoiding empathy, and avoiding personal relationships. Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) spends 325 days a year flying around the country and the world, and is only comfortable when he is away from home. He gives inspirational talks about being unattached to possessions and people. His job is firing people. In the movie, he teaches young Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) his job, and he meets Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) who is seemingly as unattached and afraid of commitment as he is. 

Review: This movie is a high concept satire of modern living. It shows people superficially connected, but actually very alone. Because it is so high concept, the characters in the movie don't really make sense as people. There is no 35-40 year old woman with Alex Goran's life situation at all -- period. The Alex of the beginning of the movie giving the sad advice to Natalie is not the same Alex as we meet at the end of the movie.

Ryan goes to his niece's wedding, and seems to have a meaningful experience, but then what?

The film gets points for ambition. The greatest image is Ryan (Clooney) alone in the hotel window at high. The film is really saying that people need the people they carry in their"back packs," to make life meaningful even though Ryan doesn't get it. I called Ryan soul-less; my wife asked me what I meant by that. This movie is an exploration of soul-lessness.

Cast: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick

Crew: directed and co-written by Jason Reitman based on the novel by Walter Kim

Rating: 2.5 flasks


More: I have often said that no one makes a movie or book about what it is really like in the business world, and this is not it, but it does come close to addressing some of the issues of traveling a lot. Kim's novel is a lot more like the real business world. I might read it. 

.

Best Movies of 2009

1. The Hurt Locker - 4 flasks:  A gripping film that had me so wrapped up in the tension I was tired by the end.

2. Avatar - 4 flasks: A great time at the movies with epic sweep

3. Rachel Getting Married - 3.5 flasks: Great dialog, loved Anne Hatheway.

4. Sunshine Cleaning - 3.5 flasks: A serious comedy about a couple of girls trying to get by. Engaging.

5. Invention of Lying - 3.5 flasks: A fantasy satire with Ricky Gervais that starts funny, and  then digs deep into religion and philosophy.

6. Ponyo  - 3.25 flasks: Sincere, adorable, cute. If you can't handle cute, see Hurt Locker.

7. Duplicity - 3.0 flasks: Intelligent spy thriller with Clive Owen and Julia Roberts

8. Watchmen - 3.0 flasks: An intelligent comic book movie

9. The Proposal - 3.0 flasks: Best romantic comedy of the year; gotta love Sandra

10. Public Enemies - 3.0 flasks: Great work by Johnny Depp and director Michael Mann

Honorable mention - all 3.0 flasks:
The Surrogates, Julie & Julia, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Extract, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, This is It, and Star Trek.
.
That is my opinion. I suppose I will still see some officially 2009 Oscar films before Oscar night, but for the year 2009 that is how I see it.
.

Top Movies of the Aughties

The Top Ten Movies of the Aughties

1. The Hurt Locker - Gripping, nail-bitting, suspenseful movie about defusing bombs in Iraq

2. Wall*E - Wonderful, heart-warming, clever, fun-to-watch

3. Borat - Clever, very funny, memorable, and socially aware

4. Sideways - great dialog, great characters

5. Passion of the Christ - a religious experience; unlike any other movie

6. Bruce Almighty - Very funny, clever, with a serious message

7. Spiderman 3 - Top action adventure film; fun, and with something to say.

8. Munich - Gripping serious drama about revenge for the Olympic hostage taking

9. Dreamgirls - It's about the lives of the singers, the dream of being famous, and lots of songs

10. Revenge of the Sith - Capstone to a cinematic adventure that I've grown up with.


I think this list is nicely rounded out. I have Spiderman 3  - a blockbuster action movie; Wall*E which is animated; Borat which is a comedy; Dreamgirls which is a musical, and Munich +  Sideways which are serious movies.

I have records of my movie going for the last eight years, and there were twenty 4.0 rated flicks.  I give out about two 4.0's each year. Here are the others.

Doubt - great story, great performances

The Bank Job - like a heist movie should be done; fun-to-watch

Blood Diamond - One of the weakest here; very political; not that fun to watch; I must have been in a good mood to rate it so highly

The Weatherman - Original, thoughtful, funny

Million Dollar Baby - Really good, but too melodramatic for the top ten; probably over-rated at 4 flasks

Cold Mountain - Unmistakable charm

In America - Good serious movie

The Aviator - A poignant tale about a sad genius; really well made.

Matchpoint - Probably number 11, well acted, well made

Avatar - Loved it; may belong in the top ten, but its just too new for me to have perspective.