Gary Wolcott's "Mr. Movie" column has appeared in the Tri-City Herald since 1992. The Tri-City native now lives in Portland, Ore., and watches about 250 movies each year. This member of Portland's association of movie critics, Far From Hollywood, believes movies are made to be seen on theater screens and should be seen there and not on television screens. Have a question for Mr. Movie? Click on "Add Comment" below. Mr. Movie has joined Twitter. Follow him here.
In an industry cluttered with remakes, recycling of old plots and that is more addicted to effect-laden presentation than substance, Ivan Reitman is a breath of fresh smoke-free air.
In this case, it is a fresh breath Up in the Air. Smoke free for the unknowing is reference and reverence for Thank You for Smoking, the 2005 effort that put Reitman on the radar of fans of great writing, great acting and great films.
Working around themes introduced in his 2005 film, Reitman casts George Clooney as Ryan Bingham. Companies without the courage to lay off large groups of employees hire Binghams company to do the execution.
The irony in Reitmans film is that Bingham is going to be downsized by a rapidly changing corporate environment that says technology can do this better. His job according to 30-something rising star Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) can be done easier in front of computers with cameras and a two-way link.
Binghams spends 90 percent of the year on airplanes, in airports and motel rooms and loathes being at home. To demonstrate that Keeners premise doesnt work, he takes her on a road trip. Bingham also has a romance going with Vera Farmigas Alex Goran and they juggle schedules to meet up for non-committed romance.
Clooney and co-stars Farmiga and Kendrick give award-worthy performances and help sell a concept that is intelligent, fast and funny.
Reitman touches you in uncommon ways. Other than a few actors for plot purposes, the people his characters lay off are real and recently-axed. They share their pain and confusion with the camera. In brilliantly written scenes, Reitman dissects a pathetic, possession-addicted society and points out that there are simpler, easier ways to live and that we often follow the money and not our dreams.
Reitman gets Americas corporate culture. Dont let a premise that sounds as boring as a corporate board meeting keep you from catching what may be the years best movie.
Mr. Movie rating: 5 stars
Rated R for language and mature themes. It opened Wednesday, Dec. 23 at the Carmike 12 and at the Fairchild Cinemas 12.
5 stars to 4 1/2 stars: Must see on the big screen
4 stars to 3 1/2 stars: Good film, see it if it's your type of movie.
3 stars to 2 1/2 stars: Wait until it comes out on video.
2 stars to 1 star: Don't bother.
0 stars: Speaks for itself.
Young Adult re-teams director Jason Reitman with Juno writer Diablo Cody. They craft a semi-serious, semi-comic tale of a struggling, self-absorbed 30-something woman.
Charlize Theron is marvelous as Mavis, a woman on a quest to find truth, happiness and a personal and self-focused holy grail.
'Safe House' lots of camera movement for non-moving plot
The movie is Safe House . It is anything but safe.
Denzel Washington is Tobin Frost, a rogue agent the CIA has been hunting for years. He has a mysterious chip that a very violent group wants. They corner him and faced with certain death, Frost — who is in South Africa — turns himself in at the American Consulate.
Ryan Reynolds is Matt Weston. He’s a CIA rookie running the safe house. Nothing ever happens there. He spends every day alone with nothing to do. His safe his is where they take the captured Frost. The men chasing Frost seem to know he’s there. They raid the safe house, kill Frost’s elite guard forcing Weston and Frost go on the run.
LOS ANGELES - Last weekend I hosted a panel at the Santa Barbara Film Festival that featured five producers whose films were Oscar best picture nominees.
Early on in the derivative but fairly absorbing blur titled "Safe House," set in Cape Town, South Africa, Denzel Washington's Tobin Frost, a spy in from the cold, is brought to a Central Intelligence Agency safe house so that he can be asked a few questions about the super-secret intel he has in his possession. Wordlessly, Washington sits in a chair, as a supporting player (Robert Patrick) prepares for the waterboarding, and in one five-second progression Washington smiles, drops his head, lifts it back up - and his face has morphed into that of a man who has killed and will be killing again very soon.
Kudos to Battelle Film Club for bringing 'The Hedgehog'
The Hedgehog is a subtitled French film from 2009 that finally got released in the U.S. last year, and thanks to the Battelle Film Club , it will be seen in the Tri-Cities.
The story centers around Paloma, an 11-year old girl whose interests are philosophy and art.
No one in her family can relate. Her parents barely speak to each other much less to Paloma. The disconnected mom talks to plants, and the psychiatrist but can’t talk to her daughter. Dad is nowhere to be found.
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