Up in the Air: Up in My Heart

There are ten films nominated for the Best Picture Oscar this year. Think about it: TEN. There are usually half that many nominated. The Academy will have a difficult decision to make this year; all ten of the films are (obviously) different, in terms of genre, style, and levels of "good"ness. Jason Reitman is finally nominated this year, for his modern dramedy Up in the Air. George Clooney stars as Ryan Bingham, a perpetually traveling expert at firing people. When an up and coming co-worker (Anna Kendrick) shakes things up by suggesting firing by teleconference, his world of airports, hotels, and airplanes is threatened. To try and salvage his way of life, he takes her on a trip to show her what it's really like. Along the way, Ryan forms a relationship with Alex, a fellow cross-continent trekker, and attempts to bond with his sisters. Ultimately, Ryan finds out the best ways to interact with those around him, and starts to find some small comforts in finding "home."

It's honestly an interesting film. It's partly a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the country's current economic situation, as well as our blasé sensibilities when it comes to travel. One of Ryan's primary goals in life is to accumulate 10 million miles traveled, in order to gain some vague sense of prestige, as well as his place as the seventh (and youngest) person to achieve this "honor." He makes several references to the fact that he's traveled more miles than it would take to get to the Moon, but treats it as a joke. That's a lot of miles, a lot of travel, and he gathers miles like philatelists gather stamps, or numismatics gather coins. It's a hobby which becomes a way of life; he doesn't mind his job, at all. He takes offense to Natalie's (Kendrick) idea to teleconference their contracted firings, because he doesn't want to be in one place for too long.

Jason Reitman knows how to direct a good movie. And he should, given that he's Ivan Reitman's kid, the mad genius behind Ghostbusters and Stripes. However, he's taken a different stylistic path, choosing to produce and direct quirky, character-driven dramas with plenty of comedy. His previous films, Juno and Thank You for Smoking are both at once hilarious and down to earth; based on pure character and dialogue, with understated camera work and set design. He takes care to showcase the performance of his actors, allowing his directing, the costumes, editing, and general mise-en-scéne enhance the characters rather than overshadow them. All too often a director will focus on style and forsake substance; there's no reason that you can't do both, and Reitman proves it yet again.

Clooney is brilliant as always; he's transitioning quite well into the "older" gentleman roles, accepting the fact that, as a non-Highlander human, he's going to get older. This isn't to say that he's "old," or grandpa-ish. He still projects strength and energy; however, he finds himself in a situation that he's so far withdrawn from that he barely knows how to think about it. He manages to flounder without struggling, which is no small feat.

Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick are powerful juxtapositions in their characters; Kendrick is young and inexperienced, yet bursting with ideas and a desire to make her mark. Farmiga is more experienced, both as an actress and in her character, but she's a great companion for Clooney's character. Ultimately, she's simultaneously more grounded and much more detached than even he, much to his disappointment.

Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Zach Galifinakis, Sam Elliott, and Danny McBride each have memorable cameos; Bateman as Clooney's boss, J.K. Simmons and Zach Galifinakis as employees that Clooney must fire as part of his job, Sam Elliott as an airline pilot, and McBride as Clooney's future brother-in-law. Although their roles are brief, they help expand and root Clooney's character, giving him someone to interact with. Luckily, he finds himself surrounded by capable co-stars, each playing off one another. Another interesting juxtaposition to the ida that his character is adrift, alone and surrounded by people.

Bottom line is I'd recommend seeing this film. I hope it wins some Oscars (I know it won some Golden Globes). I'll probably be buying it when it comes out on DVD. It's funny, it's sweet, it's sometimes sad, but it's ultimately fulfilling and enlightened. I give it four large caches of random hotel room keys out of five, or four cardboard couple cutouts out of five.

The Virgin Suicides: Surburban Life Is Just Awful

I watched this one awhile ago, but have been too busy, what with my day job and real life, etc., to actually write about it. So now, in the ultimate snackrifice, I will write about this film today, rather than watching all of the scintillating new television shows available to me tonight. Wait, there's nothing good on Tuesdays, and the Lady is busy, so... here you go. I mean, um. I really want to?

Back in the early 90s (1993 to be obsessive), a young, hip upstart of a novelist debuted to the world with The Virgin Suicides. In 1999, the young, hip offspring of a well-respected and prolific Hollywood film director figured it would be a pretty nifty film to start off with. That crazy director was Sofia Coppola. Yes, the very same cousin of Nicolas Cage and Jason Schwartzman! It is truly amazing. Well, okay, the movie is decently well-directed, and word on the street is that she adapted the film into a passable screenplay. The film stars James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, and a bunch of other people whose names I can't remember. It's okay, thought. The characters are important in what they represent, and the actions that they take. Okay, fine, since you're all such sticklers, the film also stars A.J. Cook, Hanna R. Hall, Leslie Hayman, Chelse Swain, Danny DeVito in a memorable and extremely tiny role, a really young Hayden Christensen, Giovanni Ribisi as the narrator, Anthony DeSimone, Lee Kagan, Robert Schwartzman, Noah Shebib, and Jonathan Tucker. Whew. See? That's why I didn't want to get into it.

Set in early-1970s Grosse Pointe Michigan, the film is of particular resonance to me, because I've lived in Michigan for the last ten years or so. The 70s was an important time for the country in general, and the Detroit suburbs was a pretty interesting place at the time. The plot focuses on the Lisbon family, Ronald and Sara, and their five mysterious and deeply disturbed daughters. Kirsten Dunst is sort of the main daughter, Lux, and her sisters are Mary, Cecilia, Therese, and Bonnie. The story opens with the attempted suicide of Cecilia, the youngest girl. This only proves to increase the allure, mysterious draw, and legend of the girls to the various boys of the school and the neighborhood. It's through their eyes and thoughts (and the narration of one of them, grown up), that we experience the events. The Lisbon parents are slightly awkward and extremely overbearing, which causes some extreme lashing out by the girls.

Inexplicably, all of the girls end up committing suicide (hence the title). Cecilia is the first, succeeding after her failed first attempt, and by the end of the film, the other girls follow after, in decidedly suburban ways. Lux is the second-to-youngest, but by far the most rebellious, sexual, ambitious, and probably the craziest. As shown below, the neighborhood boys become obsessed with the girls, due to their unnatural beauty, the mystery inherent in their parents authoritarian rules and restrictions, and their eventual deaths. The story also features short scenes like interviews, where at least one of the boys, grown up, is still searching for answers, and still discussing them.

I'd like to read the book, and I've gotten into the habit of watching films first when I can, and then reading the book. I may have mentioned this before, but I figure, why be disappointed in the movie because it's not as good as the book? It's literally always the case. I might as well enjoy the film with no expectations, and then enjoy the book even more when it's so much better than the film. It's the most win-win situation ever, and I'll fight for that opinion! Yeah, that's what I thought, tough guy. Don't hit me!

James Woods and Kathleen Turner give stellar performances as the continually flustered and way-out-of-their leagues parents of five precocious and intense young daughters. Kirsten Dunst is pretty impressive as well, in an odd sort of way, even though I'm not generally a big fan of hers. Josh Hartnett is pretty hilarious in an extremely terrible wig, and a tiny little young Hayden Christensen cracks me up. Giovanni Ribisi is probably the second-best male in the film, next to the always engaging James Woods. Most of the girls, ironically, were relatively forgettable, in my opinion as a viewer.

I was mostly trying to figure out what was really so terrible about their lives, and why they felt their only real out was suicide. They were basically kept prisoner to a certain extent for a good deal of the film, but the parents were understandably distressed by their daughter's suicide, and probably didn't have good coping mechanisms back in the 1970s. Lux's behavior is far more extreme than I would assume rational, which I guess is the prerogative of a 14 year old girl. The boys' shared obsession with them is somewhat understandable, but only up until their collective deaths. Five sisters killing themselves almost simultaneously is worth a little closer look, but up until then? Yeah, sure, they were pretty, but come on. Pretty people are all over the place! I guess young teenage boys are more susceptible to that sort of thing. Also, they did see Lux having random sex on her roof with random people, which I guess would be pretty memorable.

In general, I found the film to be particularly disturbing, adequately directed, written well (though that's probably due to the source material more than anything else), and acted with a special sort of suburban subtlety that only increases the disturbing aspects of the story. I give it four Danny DeVito cameos out of five, or four utterly suburban teenage girl suicides out of five (they included hanging, asphyxiation by car exhaust in a garage, head in the oven, and pills). Fun for the whole family?

Empire Records: Best Viewed on Rex Manning Day

Seriously, if you haven't seen Empire Records, where have you been for the last fifteen years? Ok, so fourteen years. Released in 1995, Empire Records was met with generally negative reviews, though most people I know absolutely adore it, and watch it annually. It features a smorgasbord of young actors, many of whom went on to bigger (or at least other) things. Featuring Anthony LaPaglia, Liv Tyler, Debi Mazar, Robin Tunney, Ethan Embry (credited Ethan Randall), and Renée Zelwegger, and Maxwell Caulfield, among others. Several of the actors are now on CSI: Miami, oddly enough, and Ethan Embry would star in another popular teen coming-of-age film in Can't Hardly Wait. There are also a few people you've probably never heard of, but that's totally ok. Also, there's lots of alternative music on the soundtrack, which used to be cool.

It's full of romance, angst, attempted suicide, robbery, existential quandaries, the pain of employment, the pain of unemployment, the inherent problems within the corporate system, drugs, drug addiction, the pressures of college, the fear of expression, the fear of rejection, parental issues, and also there is music. Oh, right, Rex Manning shows up, a washed up fictional pop star, whose fan-base is inexplicably old considering he was supposed to be popular in the 1980s, at most 14 years before this movie takes place. It's pretty inconceivable that all of his fans that arrive would be middle-aged, but it also may be an exaggeration of youth, imagining "older" people as older than they actually are. Plus, Rex Manning was pretty obnoxious, so maybe he perceives his fan-base as older than they really are, to really reflect his washed-up status of used-to-be-pop-star.

The plot is relatively simple, and takes place over the course of a single day. Empire Records is a well-liked and well-established independent record store, full of young characters of differing backgrounds and musical opinions. It's owned by Joe (LaPaglia), a hip manager that either used to be a drummer in a real band that never made it, or just really enjoys the drums. The characters represent the tortured artist, the vaguely literary rebel, the overly ambitious college-bound student, the angsty and suicidal goth-punk girl, the promiscuous girl, the punk, the shoplifter, and of course, Rex Manning. The livelihood of the store is threatened, when the employees find out that the owner wants to turn it into a popular music store chain, and they all deal with their interpersonal problems throughout the day. That night, they throw a big party to raise money to save the store, which is accomplished in a relatively easy and seemingly unimportant manner.

The actual plot seems to take a back seat to the relationships between the characters, how they interact with their environment, each other, the customers, and Rex Manning. Pretty much all of the main characters openly mock Rex Manning, except for Corey (Liv Tyler) who wants him to be her first sexual encounter, and Gina (Zellwegger) who actually ends up having sex with him (in the copy room). This is obviously a point of contention between the two characters. I still don't fully understand why Corey expects it to be a magical experience; she romanticized Rex from her girlhood as a celebrity, but she puts all of her hope and faith into this one encounter, though we never really understand what she plans on doing after that. She then unjustifiably freaks out on Gina for having sex with Rex (though the very idea of sex with Rex Manning on Rex Manning Day should be punishment enough) because she's stressed out due to unfair academic expectations set by her parents, as well as her addiction/dependence on speed to get enough studying done to get into Harvard (though she does receive an acceptance letter to Harvard during the course of the story). Also, a girl tries to commit suicide the previous day (or some undefined period of time before the day the film takes place), and shaves her head when she arrives to work. Also, a kid calling himself Warren Beatty shows up and tries to rob from the store, and then wants to work there, later bringing a gun to the store. Also, some other stuff happens?

Overall, the movie is extremely entertaining, if somewhat nonsensical. It follows some traditional dramatic patterns (as the Lady so graciously pointed out to me), or even Aristotle's definition of tragedy (plot, theme, character, dialogue, rhythm, spectacle), though it's fair to say that for the most part, all movies have these elements within them, simply twisted about for other means. Anyway, the point is, it's a pretty important film for Generation X. It deals with all the important issues of youth, yet all of their problems are resolved with money in the end (even though it allows them to remain independent, and away from the crushing oppression of a national chain corporation). I recommend checking out this film, especially if you were young and/or a teenager in the 90s.

I give it three out of five Rex Manning Days out of five, or three fake funerals for the bald-headed suicidal girl out of five.