Up In The Air

UP IN THE AIR Co-writer Sheldon Turner to Make Directorial Debut with BY VIRTUE FALL

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: March 30th, 2010 at 11:55 pm

After racking up numerous awards with Jason Reitman (the bearded gent in the photo above) for their screenplay for Up in the Air, Sheldon Turner is now set to make his directorial debut with By Virtue Fall, which he also wrote.  According to Variety, the story “revolves around a man who is framed by his mentor and winds up in prison. Once released, he’s fixated on getting revenge on his former partner, who has flourished in his new life and tried to cleanse himself of the past.”  Here’s an idea if you’re planning to frame someone in order to send them to prison: make sure they don’t get out of prison.  People who are framed don’t learn to turn the other cheek in prison.  At least not in that sense of the phrase.

Speaking of making By Virtue Fall the first film he’ll direct, Turner said, “[Directing] is something that I’ve long held in high regard. I approach it cautiously and reverently. This script was the first I’ve written that made me feel like I had no choice but to embark on my directing career.”  The Hurt Locker producer Nicolas Chariter will finance and produce the thriller.

UP IN THE AIR Blu-ray Review

by Harrison Pierce    Posted: March 14th, 2010 at 6:45 am

At some point between sweeping December’s National Board of Review Awards and coming up empty handed at last week’s Oscars, the critically praised Up in the Air lost altitude as 2009′s most likely best picture winner. This may be owing to the fact that this smart, sophisticated comedy faced surprising last minute competition from the better-than-expected Avatar, which, in turn, thrust the overrated The Hurt Locker back into the spotlight (Locker being the easier film for Academy members to pit against Cameron’s – big budget vs. small, high-tech vs. low, Cameron vs. ex-Mrs. Cameron). Even the buzz about Clooney’s career best performance faded when Crazy Heart was bumped up from its 2010 release and Hollywood finally stopped taking “The Dude” for granted. I could speculate all day as to why this great movie didn’t quite land in Oscarville, but it’s better to celebrate its recent, smooth arrival on Blu-ray.  My review, after the jump:

THE HURT LOCKER Wins 6 BAFTA Awards Including Best Picture

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 21st, 2010 at 9:34 pm

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts added momentum to The Hurt Locker awards train tonight as they award the film Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Sound.  Hurt Locker‘s awards in the technical categories are particularly interesting because perhaps Academy-thinking that usually awards those categories to the big blockbuster movies, i.e. Avatar.  But perhaps BAFTA and Oscar voters on the same wavelength and despite the massive box office of Cameron’s tech demo, the Academy could recognize the impressive editing, sound, and achievement in other technical categories (although Avatar won the BAFTA for best visual effects and it’s a lock to win the Oscar in that category as well).

Other nice victories included Colin Firth for Best Actor (A Serious Man), Carey Mulligan for Best Actress (An Education), and my personal favorite: Outstanding British Debut to Duncan Jones for Moon.  He gave a very sweet acceptance speech and I’ve included video of it after the jump along with the full list of winners.

2010 WGA Winners: THE HURT LOCKER and UP IN THE AIR Take Home the Big Prizes

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: February 21st, 2010 at 9:29 am

At last night’s Writers Guild Awards, Jason Reitman (Up in the Air) and Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker) landed the top awards for Adapted Screenplay and Original Screenplay.  Generally, the winners of the  Writers Guild Awards go on to win Oscars, so I hope they’ve both prepared another speech.

Other winners last night were The Cove for Documentary Screenplay, Mad Men for drama series, 30 Rock for comedy series, Modern Family for new series, and Saturday Night Live and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tied for comedy/variety series.

Hit the jump for the full list of winners:

UP IN THE AIR DVD/Blu-ray Cover Art and Info

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: February 16th, 2010 at 7:49 am

Paramount Home Video has announced writer/director Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air will be hitting DVD and Blu-ray on March 9.  What’s great about the release is even though most studios love to frak us with the first release of a film on home video, the Blu-ray is loaded with deleted scenes and extras.  The only negative is the DVD only has part of the extras, while the Blu-ray has everything.

If you never saw Up in the Air, the film received six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Actor (George Clooney), Best Supporting Actress (Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick), Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.  The film has already won a Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay.  It’s one of my favorite films of the year and I can’t recommend it enough.  Hit the jump for a full listing of the extras:

2010 Oscar Nominations Announced; AVATAR and THE HURT LOCKER Lead with 9 Noms Each

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: February 2nd, 2010 at 6:29 am

Despite opening up the Best Picture race from five nominations to ten, this morning’s announcement of the 2010 Oscar nominations hardly had any surprises.  When the biggest shocker comes from the widely-unseen The Secret of Kells being nominated for Best Animated Feature, then the prediction system worked as it should.  That’s not to say that there’s nothing to be happy or disappointed about.  It’s just that with no surprises, that happiness or disappointment has probably been felt well in advance.  Personally, I’m jazzed that District 9 picked up a Best Picture nomination and I’m really bummed that Peter Capaldi wasn’t nominated for Best Supporting Actor for In the Loop.

But the race between Avatar and The Hurt Locker remains close.  Each film picked up nine nominations and so there’s no clear favorite to win the award.  Right now, Hurt Locker would seem to have a slight edge with its victories from both the Producers Guild and the Directors Guild.  But Avatar‘s box office numbers contribute to its status as does the mainstream acclaim for the film.

Hit the jump to check out the full list of nominees.  The winners will be announced at the 82nd Academy Awards on Sunday, March 7th at 8pm EST on ABC.

BAFTA Nominees Announced; AVATAR, THE HURT LOCKER, and AN EDUCATION Lead with 8 Nominations

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: January 21st, 2010 at 8:11 am

The Brits certainly like our flicks with Avatar and The Hurt Locker scoring eight nominations each from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).  However, they didn’t overlook one of their own accomplished films with An Education also grabbing eight nominations.  But what’s really impressive about the BAFTA nominations isn’t where they’ll most likely overlap with the Oscar nominations, but where they’re going to diverge.  District 9 has seven nominations and matches Avatar in every category except Best Picture and Best Director (but it also has a Best Screenplay nomination, while Avatar does not).  I am a little surprised that in their Best Supporting Actor category, they overlooked Peter Capaldi for In the Loop, but you have to love a country where Andy Serkis can get nominated for Best Actor (that’s not meant ironically; it truly is great–we should’ve nominated him in 2002 for Best Supporting Actor for The Two Towers).

Hit the jump for the full list of nominees.  Winners will be announced on February 21st.

A Close Look at the Opening Titles of UP IN THE AIR and the Press Tour Experience

by Keith Demko    Posted: January 7th, 2010 at 2:46 pm

Among the many eye-catching aspects of Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air, the opening titles are a definite highlight, sucking you right into the story from the start. And now you can watch a featurette introducing Shadowplay, the company that made them come to life on screen.

Some of the interesting things (or at least I found them so) you’ll find in the featurette is that the company has done the opening titles for all three of Reitman’s major feature films, Thank You for Smoking, Juno, and now Up in the Air, and it’s great to hear the designer talk about the different challenges of all three. All that’s missing is any input from the great Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, whose rendition of “This Land Is Your Land” just makes the titles really sing.

Reitman also put together Lost in the Air, where he took pictures from his lengthy press tour and compiled them into nice photo montage.  You can check out both featurettes after the jump.

Matt’s Top Performers, Director, Quotes, and Kills of 2009

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 30th, 2009 at 6:38 pm

The joy of list-making continues today as I’m running down who I thought gave the best performances of the year plus what I thought were the best quotes and kills of 2009.  Please keep in mind that regarding the performances, I haven’t seen a few key films that could have very well changed the winners and runners-up: Crazy Heart (Best Actor), The Last Station and Bright Star (Best Actress), and a few others.  If you think there was someone who clearly should’ve won or been nominated, shout out in the comments section and I’ll let you know whether I saw the film or not.

With this disclaimer out of the way, I present to you my picks for the best performers, directors, quotes, and kills of 2009.  Hit the jump to check them all out.

Weekend Box Office – AVATAR Edges Out SHERLOCK HOLMES On the Biggest Christmas Weekend Ever!

by Nicole Pedersen    Posted: December 27th, 2009 at 11:07 am

The biggest movie of all time (in scope if not yet in grosses) has now led to the biggest weekend of all time at the box office. James Cameron’s 3D Avatar pulled ahead of Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes on Saturday, claiming a second weekend at number one with an estimated $75 million from its 3,456 theatres. But there were plenty of good tidings to go around. With estimated ticket sales topping $278 million all-told, the last weekend in December turned out to be both the biggest Christmas on record and the biggest weekend of all time, surpassing that fabled frame of July 18, 2008 when The Dark Knight ruled.

	Title	Weekend	Total
1	Avatar	$75,000,000	$212.2
2	Sherlock Holmes	$65,380,000	$65.4
3	Alvin & the Chipmunks 2	$50,200,000	$77.1
4	It’s Complicated	$22,100,000	$22.1
5	Up in the Air	$11,755,000	$24.5
6	The Blind Side	$11,300,000	$184.3
7	The Princess & the Frog	$8,683,000	$63.3
8	Nine	$5,500,000	$5.9
9	Did You Hear About the Morgans?	$5,000,000	$15.5
10	Invictus	$4,390,000	$23.3

Golden Globe Nominations Announced, UP IN THE AIR Leads with Six Noms

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 15th, 2009 at 10:15 am

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced their nominees for the 67th Annual Golden Globes and before I comment on the nominees, I first have to explain something about the Globes.  The Globes are not really an indiciator of the Oscars.  Critics lists and awards from various guilds are far better predictors because the Globes are ultimately bought and paid for by the studios.  The Oscars are as well to some extent, but the Globes are just ridiculous.  However, it doesn’t mean they’re not a lot of fun and that they’ll take chances Oscar won’t.

But the big movie nominee was a safe choice with Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air grabbing six nods followed by Rob Marshall’s Nine, which racked up five.  But looking through the nominees, there are some absolutely bizarre inclusions: Julia Roberts for Duplicity (this one makes sense when you remember that the HFPA are starfuckers), Matt Damon for Invictus, and “I See You” from Avatar as the Best Original Song, a tune hated by even those who love the movie .  Some of the snubs are also weird: No love for Up or Fantastic Mr. Fox for Best Musical/Comedy and no Best Song nomination for anything from The Princess and the Frog.

By the same token, I have to give it up for the Globes for nominating The Hangover as Best Musical/Comedy (I guess that FYC ad paid off) and Quentin Tarantino for Best Director for Inglourious Basterds.  It’s all pretty random but the Globes are an entertaining show with a looser atmosphere than the Oscars.  Hit the jump to check out the full list of nominees, including the ones for television (Glee led the pack with four nominations).

Southeastern Film Critics Awards Declare UP IN THE AIR as the Best Film of 2009

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 14th, 2009 at 5:00 pm

The Southeastern Film Critics Association (SEFCA) has chosen Up in the Air as their choice for the Best Picture of 2009.  I’ve twice applied for membership in SEFCA but because I’ve only been a professional film critic for three years instead of five and only ascended to the managing editor of a major movie website, I don’t get to participate.   That being said, I don’t take much offense to their choices and I’m happy that they’re helping to build the momentum towards Kathryn Bigelow becoming the first woman in history to win the Best Director Oscar.  However, I wouldn’t give a single award to (500) Days of Summer, which landed on the Association’s Top 10 list and got the award for Original Screenplay (which is the film’s most boring aspect).

Anyway, hit the jump to move past my bitterness and see the full list of winners.

The New York Film Critics Circle Opens Up THE HURT LOCKER as Best Film of 2009

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 14th, 2009 at 11:47 am

Is it too soon to say that The Hurt Locker is the film to beat in 2009?  After being named film of the year by the LAFCA and the BSFC, the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) has added another accolade to Kathryn Bigelow’s intense war drama.  Bigelow herself also took yet another win for Best Director, while Christoph Waltz and Mo’Nique each took home another accolade for Best Supporting Actor (Inglourious Basterds) and Best Supporting Actress (Precious), respectively.  George Clooney was named Best Actor for his performances in Up in the Air and Fantastic Mr. Fox, which is impressive considering the latter is only a vocal performance.  Speaking of Fox, the film pulled another surprise upset by taking Best Animated Film over Pixar’s Up following yesterday’s announcement that LAFCA chose Anderson’s stop-mo flick over Pete Docter’s delightful 3D adventure.

Hit the jump for the full list of winners.

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Names THE HURT LOCKER as Their Best Picture of the Year

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: December 13th, 2009 at 6:07 pm

The major critics groups are beginning to make their voices heard for what they think are the best films of 2009.  Today, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) named Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker as their top film of 2009, with Up in the Air as their runner-up.  Bigelow also won for Best Director and the film was runner-up for Best Cinematography.

Other big winners include Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart) for Best Actor, Yolande Moreau (Séraphine) for Best Actress, Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds) for Best Supporting Actor, and Mo’Nique (Precious) for Best Supporting Actress.  There was also an interesting upset in the animation category with Fantastic Mr. Fox being named the Best Animated Film and Up taking the runner-up category, and Carey Mulligan landing the runner-up victory for Best Actress.

Hit the jump for the full list of winners.

Weekend Box Office – $25 Million for Disney’s THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG

by Nicole Pedersen    Posted: December 13th, 2009 at 10:19 am

After two weeks of sold-out shows in New York and LA, Disney sent The Princess and the Frog out to multiplexes nationwide this weekend. It’s been over ten years since little girls had a new Disney Princess to coo over and weeks since an all-ages family film graced a movie marquee, which is why it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Princess replaced The Blind Side as the number one film domestically. What is a bit surprising, to me at least, is how average the estimated grosses for Disney’s much-hyped feature turned out to be.

	Title	Weekend	Total
1	Princess & the Frog	$25,000,000	$27.8
2	The Blind Side	$15,450,000	$150.2
3	Invictus	$9,085,000	$9
4	New Moon	$8,000,000	$267.3
5	A Christmas Carol	$6,871,000	$124.4
6	Brothers	$5,000,000	$17.4
7	2012	$4,400,000	$155.3
8	Old Dogs	$4,396,000	$39.9
9	Armored	$3,500,000	$11.7
10	Ninja Assassin	$2,710,000	$34.3

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