Anyways, I've seen a lot of movies since last week! I watched The Lovely Bones on my flight out to Utah and I actually enjoyed it, the film got a lot of mixed reception but I enjoyed it. I watched It's Complicated the other day which turned out to be quite funny at times, mostly attributed to the hilarious cast. I watched A Serious Man this morning as well which I very much enjoyed, more on that one later this weekend.
Here it goes though, my tentative top 10 films of 2009
1. Up in the Air
2. The Hurt Locker
3. A Serious Man
4. Inglourious Basterds
5. An Education
6. The Damned United
7. Up
8. Moon
9. Avatar
10. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
I still need to see the new Colin Firth movie, A Single Man, which I think I'll enjoy mostly due to the sets and costuming though. I also need to see Crazy Heart as well which I think is the only movie that stands a chance at breaking it's way into my top 10.
Here's my picks for the oscars as well
Best Actor- Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
Best Supporting Actor- Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
Best Actress- Carey Mulligan in An Education
Best Supporting Actress- Mo’Nique in Precious
Best Picture- Up in the Air
Best Director- Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
Best Original Screenplay- A Serious Man by Joel and Ethan Coen
Best Adapted Screenplay- Up in the Air by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
Best Animated Feature- Up
Lastly, my review of Up in the Air.
5/5
Without a doubt my favorite film of 2009. The heart and sole of this film resides in the screenplay. The screenplay is so wonderfully written, I realize that it's loosely based off of a book even without reading the book, I can tell that Jason Reitman has added his own personal touch to this film.
Ryan Bingham played by George Clooney, is a man who flies across the country laying people off. He's alone in this world and likes his routine. Everything in his life is done in an orderly manner until Natalie Keener, played by Anna Kendricks, develops a new method to laying off people. This sets Bingham into a life of awkward feeling, it's out of his norm. I very much enjoyed this. It's how my life works, a series of methods and branching out isn't easy. When people tell me out to live a little, it's easy. I know that it isn't, Ryan knows this as well. Also, I will be honest and say another reason that I loved this movie was that Ryan was from Wisconsin. While he claims to be from the sky, his hometown is in a small town in northern Wisconsin. I'm proud of my home state and I'm glad this admirable fiction character is from there as well.
Ryan encounters a girl, Alex Goran played by Vera Farmiga. She's much similar to him in that her life revolves around the country and having no connections but the different in similarities in her and Ryan's life are what make them fall in love. There's a scene with Ryan and Alex where they go to a party and are dancing. I couldn't help but just think of how Ryan was feeling at this time. On the inside he feels out of place and awkward but he doesn't show it, I still realize it though.
Bingham's life revolves around firing people, well the proper term is laid off. There's a scene where Ryan lays off an employee played by J.K. Simmons. Simmons' character talks about what will happen to his kids now that he won't be able to provide for them anymore since he's going from a good paying job to a $250 a week unemployment check. I couldn't help but just feel a personal connection to this. My dad is an electrical engineer which while is a great paying career tends to have a lot of layoffs. If companies need to save money, they simply let go of an employee and increase the work load of the others. I remember days seeing my dad coming home and box in hand and immediately knowing what had happened. These people that Ryan Bingham lays off, they're real. They are today's corporate America. The anguish that these people feel for not being able to take care of the people they care about, it's authentic. I'm one of those people that somebody cared for. Whenever my dad was laid off, I would tell him that he'd find something soon. It was a matter of weeks for some and sometimes many months for others. If it happened to him today, I don't think I could honestly tell him that. Ironically, my dad's job now is to design and install robots that automatically palletize boxes so that companies can lay off their employees that do it. I hope the best for these people that have lost their jobs in this time and hope for the best that the recession will soon be over.
This film has my highest recommendation out of any film of 2009 and the decade. Jason Reitman has definitely proven himself to be a great director and screenwriter after this film. Clooney's performance is Oscar worthy and in any normal year I believe he would win if it weren't for the incredibly tough competition he has. This movie has a very good chance at winning Best Adapted Screenplay though and Best Picture and I hope it wins both. This is a must see for anybody who likes movies and is somewhat intelligent.
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