Just got home and I'm taking a quick break to feed Billy, my dog. Earlier today I watched a screening of Jason Reitman's Up In The Air, a follow-up to Juno which screened at TIFF a couple years ago to rave reviews. I must say that I was left with a very positive impression of this film; Reitman has done it again.
The story centers around George Clooney who is a motivational speaker, employed by a company which serves to terminate employees for corporations around the country. He is paired up with a rookie played by talented newcomer Anna Kendrick (Twilight). They both learn some important life lessons from one another about the meaning of love as they travel across the country. Clooney meanwhile, gets involved with the always excellent Vera Farmiga and decides to take her along back home to his younger sister's wedding, where the story unravels. He is faced with the greatest challenge of his life - finding out what he really wants in life after being convinced he did not want love in his life. Clooney's performance is nothing short of amazing and I fully expect him to be in the running for Best Lead Actor come Oscar season. Reitman's script is full of sheer wit and the laughs just kept coming. Up In The Air opens November 13, 2009. Grade: A-
As an aside, Oscar winning filmmaker Michael Moore was sitting a row behind me at Elgin Theatre, enjoying Up In The Air with his wife. He was very friendly and kindly posed for a photograph. Moore is in town to present his latest work Capitalism: A Love Story tonight also at Elgin Theatre.
The story centers around George Clooney who is a motivational speaker, employed by a company which serves to terminate employees for corporations around the country. He is paired up with a rookie played by talented newcomer Anna Kendrick (Twilight). They both learn some important life lessons from one another about the meaning of love as they travel across the country. Clooney meanwhile, gets involved with the always excellent Vera Farmiga and decides to take her along back home to his younger sister's wedding, where the story unravels. He is faced with the greatest challenge of his life - finding out what he really wants in life after being convinced he did not want love in his life. Clooney's performance is nothing short of amazing and I fully expect him to be in the running for Best Lead Actor come Oscar season. Reitman's script is full of sheer wit and the laughs just kept coming. Up In The Air opens November 13, 2009. Grade: A-
As an aside, Oscar winning filmmaker Michael Moore was sitting a row behind me at Elgin Theatre, enjoying Up In The Air with his wife. He was very friendly and kindly posed for a photograph. Moore is in town to present his latest work Capitalism: A Love Story tonight also at Elgin Theatre.
Later in the day, I caught the debut screening The Joneses at the same venue. In attendance today were David Duchovny, Demi Moore and her partner Ashton Kutcher. The film is from relatively new director Derrick Borte. I happened to run into Ashton Kutcher on my way out of the rest room; he seemed a bit unapproachable. Actually, he is quite photo shy. Moore and Kutcher were seated a couple rows away from me and they munched happily on popcorn throughout the film. And if anyone wants to know the secret to Moore's amazing young looks, I'd say it appears to be the amount of water she drinks!
The film is about a group of Buzz Marketers managed by Moore. They situate themselves in an affluent neighbourhood with a mandate of turning locals onto products they are hired to promote. They do this under the guise of being a family. Although the film starts off entertainingly as a comedy, it seems to struggle in deciding whether it is in fact comedy or a drama. The tone of the second half of the film takes an unexpected twist I'd say, for the worse. The love story between Moore and Duchovny did not seem believable at all as they two had little on-screen chemistry. Moore is consistently strong and overall the acting was great. The main culprits were the poorly constructed plot and script. Not certain how this film will fare when and if it gets a wide release. Grade: C+
Here are some pics below I managed to get of Moore, Duchovny and up-and-comer Amber Heard.
The film is about a group of Buzz Marketers managed by Moore. They situate themselves in an affluent neighbourhood with a mandate of turning locals onto products they are hired to promote. They do this under the guise of being a family. Although the film starts off entertainingly as a comedy, it seems to struggle in deciding whether it is in fact comedy or a drama. The tone of the second half of the film takes an unexpected twist I'd say, for the worse. The love story between Moore and Duchovny did not seem believable at all as they two had little on-screen chemistry. Moore is consistently strong and overall the acting was great. The main culprits were the poorly constructed plot and script. Not certain how this film will fare when and if it gets a wide release. Grade: C+
Here are some pics below I managed to get of Moore, Duchovny and up-and-comer Amber Heard.
And on the way out of the screening, I couldn't resist getting a few snaps of Kutcher and Moore looking lovey-dovey:
xW
ooo...i was standing by the back doors too lol....everyone was so rushed and fans were all pushing lol
ReplyDeletei wonder if they will all stay a couple of days to sight see in Toronto lol
likely not :p
ReplyDelete