Hollywood loves combo deals.  A recent favorite is the probing exposé of a relationship mixed with comedy.  ”Couples Retreat” follows this recipe, but there is only a fair amount of laughter added to offset watching long sessions of couples therapy.  Surprisingly, the script (written by stars Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau) captures a wide scope of realistic relationships, perhaps some of the best in comedy of this type.  However, the writing is also the film’s weakness as it plays like a rerun due to its devotion to the typical “relationship movie” formula.  You come to expect some master plan behind all the exercises that pull the couples apart (while subtly bringing them together), but the movie amounts to little more than just a string of events.

The married-with-kids couple whose relationship has become like a job (Vince Vaughn and Malin Akerman).  The high-school couple who has been together way too long (Jon Favreau and Kristin Davis).  The anal couple who is frustrated because everything doesn’t go according to their perfect plan (Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell).  The older man-younger woman couple that always manages to raise some eyebrows (Faizon Love and Kali Hawk).  Chances are, you know at least one of these couples.  ”Couples Retreat” dwells largely on the familiarity of its characters to propel the more serious side of the movie.  At the same time, it allows the strengths of the actors to provide some comic relief.  Vince Vaughn does a few trademark trite spiels; Jon Favreau gets plenty of moments to be curmudgeonly; Jason Bateman plays average Joe with a tinge of neurosis.

“Couples Retreat” doesn’t really succeed as a comedy, but it does manage to portray some very realistic relationships with very real problems.  As the directorial debut of Peter Billingsley (Ralphie from “A Christmas Story” – you know, the one they play all Christmas on TBS), it’s not such a bad place to start, but it definitely leaves something to be desired.  We’ve seen all the stars in this movie do better, and it isn’t too far out of line to request more.  But for what it’s worth, this will provide you some amusement yet fail to deliver the belly-laughs we have come to expect from actors like Vaughn, Favreau, and Bateman.  B- /

Mike Judge, writer/director of King of the Hill, has been in the business of making people laugh for a long time, and perhaps if his past works hadn’t been such comedic hits, his latest, Extract, wouldn’t have been such a let-down.

Extract tells the story of Joel Reynold (Jason Bateman), a man comfortable in his life as the owner of a successful Extract-production plant, in which he oversees a line of workers with very strong, but very stereotyped Redneck personalities.  After his marriage turns sex-less and attractive con-artist Cindy (Mila Kunis) takes a job at the plant, Joel allows his grubby bartender friend Dean (Ben Affleck) to hire a man to seduce his wife, clearing Joel’s conscience to go for Cindy.

One machinery accident and one lost testicle later, the floor manager, coerced by money-hungry Cindy, threatens to sue, which would put an end to the plant – the last positive thing left in Joel’s life.

Bateman’s acting is the same as it always is — funny, dry, and subtle.  But in this film, it seems his humor is a bit misplaced, as the other actors are over-the-top funny.  Bateman fans are used to his complacent attitude in most of his acting, but in this film — when the audience is watching Joel’s world crashing down around him – the subdued nature that fans find funny (and dare I say, attractive?) becomes nothing short of frustrating and unfitting for the scenes.

Affleck, who I ordinarily hate, is the perfect actor to play a degenerate bartender who keeps a box of pills including horse tranquilizers and a variety of recreational drugs — though he can’t tell the difference between them — under the counter, as well as the phone number for a gigolo programmed into his cell.  As out there as he is, his performance isn’t over-the-top.

I applaud Judge’s attempt to bring together a cast of very diverse actors, but he didn’t do it seamlessly.  Bateman’s acting is poorly matched with Mila Kunis’; I have trouble watching her in anything but That 70s Show and kept waiting for her to come out in bellbottoms and ridicule Fez.

Visually, the film is very bland.  Granted, the majority of it takes place in a flavored extract plant and the blandness matches Bateman’s subdued acting style.  But at times the dry acting and the dry scenery had me looking around and counting the seats in the theater — about 200, and less than a quarter of them full — until something funny but undeniably stupid happened on-screen again.

The plot is believable as a person’s boring — but not bad — life, but the ending is a bit too clean for me.  Certainly, there is an obvious choice for a “safe” ending in a storyline where a wife cheats and the couple separates.  Fine.  But when the husband pays a gigolo — who later carries on a relationship with his wife — to sleep with her, the safe, predictable ending probably should be tweaked a bit.  I wasn’t impressed with Judge’s choice for the ending.

Don’t get me wrong — I laughed a lot in this movie.  At times, it was because something was so stupid that I couldn’t help it.  Often, it was because I appreciated Bateman’s dry humor, and his collaboration with Affleck.  But the woman sitting three rows behind me chomping on popcorn throughout the movie (don’t people usually finish it by the end of the previews?) and laughing like a hyena must have been watching something else.

The movie is strong in the beginning, but as it continues and the story gets more and more convoluted, it just becomes too much.  The acting doesn’t mesh well and the shots are too “safe” and boring.

At the end, Judge tries to bring Extract full circle and give it the same cookie-cutter feel that the beginning of the movie implies it will have.  But the film loses that opportunity sometime around the time the gigolo is paid, and it just isn’t believable.

Extract

Extract [DVD]

Extract [Blu-ray]

Director: Mike Judge
Writer: Mike Judge

Starring: Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Ben Afflek

If ever there was a director who always managed to grab my attention with his work it would most certainly be Mike Judge. I find the work of Mike Judge to be very satirical of the world around us. Mike Judge who’s other work includes “Beavis & Butthead: Do America, Office Space, and Idiocracy” now brings us a comedy about an Extract factory.

Jason Bateman plays the owner of the factory which he built from the ground up. Jason’s character is very proud of what he has accomplished but along the lines trouble is brewing. Mila Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) plays a cunning little thief who wants to do what she can to rob people blind. This is where the entire plot comes in to play.

A silly mistake at the factory leaves one of the top employees seriously injured. Mila Kunis hears of the accident in the paper and immediately attempts to shack up with the man who sustained the injury, her idea is to get the man to sue the company and become rich as a result.

The lawyer that gets involved with the lawsuit is beautifully played by Gene Simmons of the band KISS. Simmons portrays a real bad ass lawyer with attitude which leads to some remarkably hilarious scenes.

Like the previous works of Mike Judge this movie fell victim to a lack of proper attention from the movie going public. I however wish to recommend that people give this comedy the opportunity it truly deserves.

While fans of Mike Judge may be quick to write this one off being that it is not quite caliber of Office Space and maybe not quite the social statement film that Idiocracy was, in my opinion this movie still holds strong and should be appreciated for the fun and the laughs that it provides.

My Rating: 70%
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Couples Retreat

Couples Retreat [Blu-ray]

Director: Peter Billingsley
Writers: Jon Favreau
Vince Vaughn

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Kristen Bell

Couple Retreat is the kind of movie that could drive a person to the point of suicide. On the surface it seems like a potentially great idea for a movie right? That being said how could you go wrong when you fill the movie with some top names in the movie right? Well what probably seemed like a no brainer for the people behind Couples Retreat soon became a nightmare for those who had to witness it.

Couples Retreat is the story of four couples who are convinced into going on a relationship building retreat. It appeared to be a trip to paradise for the couples until they found out that they actually had to follow a specific guideline in order to be able to stay at this specific retreat. This is the point in the movie where supposedly the fun and excitement begins, although I truly never did find any of either.

There is a scene at the start of the movie where Vince Vaughn and his wife are at a home renovation store with their children, the little boy looks up at his parents with disgusted eyes and says “You guys this is sooooo boring” and here I was thinking to myself that this kid is right. It goes without saying though that this little kid then goes on to have the only two funny moments in the entire movie. I hate to say it but a kid who likely was paid very little money was more comical then the overpriced celebrity actors/actresses that graced the screen in Couples Retreat.

I know that many people have been to see this movie already, and I am sure some will even tell me that they found it to be a good movie also, unfortunately I do not share their ability to enjoy mindless movie babble. It also completely disgusted me at the obvious product advertising that can be found in Couple Retreat. I mean who sits there spending several minutes of screen time rambling on about Applebees? Well I guess Vince Vaughn does and it is sad to say that a once otherwise amusing actor has been reduced to this type of big screen trash. Couples Retreat honestly would not have even made a good made for TV movie. This movie is not quite the worst one I have seen all year but it sure as hell managed to come in a close race for the title. I recommend staying clear of this snooze fest, even if you guys out there are trying to impress your girl.

My Rating: 4%

Der Film Mr. Magoriums Wunderladen ist wohl der schönste Film seit Ewigkeiten, hat alle meine Erwartungen übertroffen und ist eigentlich fast perfekt. Für Kinder und Erwachsene, die noch ein Stückchen Kind in sich haben, wird dieser Film genau das Richtige sein.

Zur Story möchte ich nicht viel sagen, da sie eigentlich von Anfang an klar vorausschaubar ist.  Aber bei so einem Film geht es auch nicht darum, was am Ende passiert, sondern um den Weg, der zum Ziel führt. Ähnlich wie der Disney-Klassiker Marry Poppins führt uns der Film in eine Welt in der Alles möglich ist, solange man nur an sich selbst glaubt. Insofern ist der Film sogar pädagogisch wertvoll!

Die Schauspieler sind allererste Sahne. Natalie Portman ist sowieso eine Klasse für sich, Dustin Hoffman, der in der Rolle des Mr. Magorium sichtbar gut aufgelegt ist, man merkt richtig dass er Spaß an der Rolle hatte.  Selbst Jason Bateman, der eine Rolle spielt die Anfangs unsympathisch sein soll, vermag es seinen Charakter liebevoll zu spielen. Großes Lob an ihn, den ich bisher nur in weniger sympathischen Rollen gesehen habe.

Insgesamt gibt es also alles, was man für einen schönen Film braucht: Den Außenseiter, der nur einen Freund sucht, einen schrulligen liebenswerten alten Mann, ein Mädchen auf der Suche nach ihrem Lebensinhalt und den Mann, der vergessen hat, wie es ist, ein Kind zu sein. Dazu noch einen lebendigen Spielzeugladen und fertig ist die perfekte Mischung.

Optisch und Musikalisch kann der Film ebenfalls absolut überzeugen. Das klingt alles so gut, dass man sich fragen muss, wo ist denn hier der Haken? Es gibt Keinen

TV-Tipp: Der Film “Mr. Magoriums Wunderladen” läuft am 20. und 21. November auf Sky Comedy.

Vince Vaughn is zo ongeveer de koning van de hap-slik-weg komedies. Met Couples Retreat heeft hij er weer één bijgeschreven op zijn, op dit vlak, toch al imposante cv. Jammer genoeg is het ook in dit geval weer een dertien in een dozijn film die eigenlijk nooit grappig wil worden.

In Couples Retreat draait het om de relaties van vier stellen. Aangezien één koppel niet meer weet of het nog wel met elkaar door wil, besluiten ze dit uit te zoeken tijdens een luxe vakantie met optionele relatietraining. Eis is echter wel dat ook de andere drie stellen meegaan naar dit luxe vakantieoord. Daar aangekomen blijkt de relatietraining echter helemaal niet zo vrijblijvend en worden de therapiesessies al snel een pijnlijke aangelegenheid.

Couples Retreat begint nochtans best aardig. De introductie van de personages en de eerste momenten op het tropische eiland met de therapeutische sessies zijn zowaar behoorlijk vermakelijk en beloven een leuk avondje. Dat wordt echter al snel om zeep geholpen. De bijpersonages die in de film met enige regelmaat opduiken om de film wat extra op te leuken falen namelijk stuk voor stuk. Jean Reno is totaal niet leuk als de goeroe die het programma voor de stellen opstelt en het dieptepunt van de film is de rol van Carlos Ponce als de yoga leraar. De scéne waarin hij yoga les geeft behoort zelfs tot de flauwste die ik in jaren zag.

Het maakt van Couples Reatreat  een wegkijkfilm die eigenlijk constant balanceert tussen wel aardig en oerflauw. De acteurs zullen het ongetwijfeld goed naar hun zin hebben gehad met deze goedbetaalde vakantie maar een bioscoopbezoek zou ik er zeker niet aan wijden. Of Vince Vaughn en zijn vorige films moeten natuurlijk tot je favorieten behoren. Dan zit je met Couples Retreat ongetwijfeld ook weer op rozen.

The UK version of a poster promoting the movie ” Couples Retreat” has come under fire for removing the black couple.

The couple, actors Love and Hawk, are present in the US version (albeit all the way in the back..against a dark background)

However in the UK version they are nowhere to be seen…

In response to the public outcry, a spokesman for Universal stated that the poster intended “to simplify the poster to actors who are most [recognizable] in international markets.”

The studio has since issued a statement of apology and regretted any offense it may have caused. [Yahoo]

This weekend the popular kids show Yo Gabba Gabba opened up their new on-stage show with some serious star power. Celebrity parents came out in full force to see “There’s A Party In My City” live this weekend in Los Angeles.

Christina Aguilera partied with her son Max on day one along with Jason Bateman, Dennis Quaid, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Sarah Silverman and Busy Philipps.

Snoop Dogg not only brought his kiddies, but performed on stage during day two, where Travis Barker and Taylor Hanson enjoyed the show with their families. Other celebrities in attendance were Monet Mazur, Biz Markie, Jon Heder Amber Valletta and actress Poppy Montgomery.

If you missed the show in LA, there are still a bunch of shows left!

The 3 shows in NYC next weekend are sold out, but the 2 cities below still have tickets.

• Dallas, TX @ Dr. Pepper Arena Saturday, Nov. 28, 2009 11AM, 3PM
• Chicago, IL @ Rosemont Theatre Saturday, December 5, 2009 11AM, 3PM

Dopo il recente successo negli Stati Uniti, uscirà in Italia il 4 dicembre L’Isola delle Coppie (Couples Retreat).
Distribuito da Universal Pictures, la commedia con Vince Vaughn racconta la storia di quattro coppie in vacanza su un’isola di vacanza: mentre una è lì per rimettere in piedi il matrimonio in crisi, le altre tre intendono solo divertirsi. Ma, a quanto pare, la terapia di coppia organizzata dal villaggio turistico tocca a tutti!

Diretto da Peter Billingsley, il film ha un cast d’eccezione: Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Kristin Davis, Jean Reno, John Michael Higgins.

…

A selection of Michael’s striking Galapagos photographs, which he shot for IWC as part of the watchmaker’s support for the Charles Darwin Foundation, went on view on Wednesday at Milk Studios. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, actors Eric Dane and Jason Bateman were among the stars who came out to admire Michael’s work.

…

From left: Benoit de Clerck, Jason Bateman, Federick Martel, and Michael Muller. Photo courtesy IWC.

..

Michael, of course, is in training for his big Mt. Kilimanjaro climb with Summit on the Summit in January. I saw him last night at Stockland Martel’s dinner party at Beechwood in Venice. Part of his training includes shaving his calorie intake to just 500 a day for a prescribed period of time. 500 calories a day! Michael and his fellow climbers—who include actress Jessica Biel—are taking this trip very seriously. If you haven’t had a chance to contribute to Summit on the Summit, which is raising awareness of the global water crisis, please visit summitonthesummit.com.

…

..

Un film del 2009, regia di Ricky Gervais, con Ricky Gervais / Jennifer Garner / Jonah Hill / Jason Bateman. Prodotto da ()

Commedia

In un mondo in cui non esiste il concetto di menzogna un uomo sfortunato di nome Mark improvvisamente scopre le bugie e decide di sfruttare la capacità di mentire per migliorare la sua condizione. Ma ben presto la situazione inzia a sfuggirgli di mano e le cose si complicano quando Mark proverà a mentire alla donna che ama.

O novo filme do diretor Jason Reitman (Juno e Obrigado por Fumar), Amor sem Escalas (Up in the Air) ganhou o seu segundo e engraçado trailer. George Clooney protagoniza o filme e é o grande destaque do vídeo, além de outras excelentes piadas: Veja o trailer abaixo:

Vídeo do usuário moviegoodsposters do youtube

O filme é uma adaptação do livro do escritor Walter Kim, autor também de outro livro que foi adaptado para o cinema, Impulsividade de 2005. Na história Goerge Clooney é Ryan Bingham, um Conselheiro de Transições de Carreira, seu trabalho consiste em demitir pessoas. Ryan voa de uma cidade para outra, para usar seu talento em diversas empresas.

Não perco esse filme, Reitman é um excelente diretor, com uma visão diferente dos outros chatos diretores de Hollywood. Sobre o autor Walter Kim, não conheço seus livros, mas assisti Impulsividade e gostei muito.

Além de Clooney, o elenco conta com Jason Bateman, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Chris Lowel, Danny McBride e Tamala Jones.

Amor sem Escalas estreia neste fim de semana nos EUA e no Brasil somente em 5 de fevereiro.

DVD Top 10.
Bestsellerliste der Woche
von Illuminati bis State of Play

Illuminati:
Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) entdeckt Beweise, dass die mächtigste Untergrundbewegung der Geschichte, ein uralter konspirativer Geheimbund, den man als ‘Die Illuminati’ kennt, wiederauferstanden ist. Kurz darauf wird er damit konfrontiert, dass die katholische Kirche, der zutiefst verhasste Erzfeind der Illuminaten, einer tödlichen, existenzvernichtenden Bedrohung ausgesetzt ist…

Nachts im Museum 2:
Seine Tage als Museumswärter sind passé: Larry Daley ist als Erfinder nutzloser Dinge erfolgreich, kehrt jedoch ins Museum zurück, als er erfährt, dass die seinerzeit zu Leben erwachten Ausstellungsstücke in den Keller des Smithsonian in New York verfrachtet werden sollen. Ruhe ist allerdings auch dort nicht angesagt, weil auch die mystische Tafel von Akhmenrah, die den Exponaten Leben einhaucht, versehentlich zum neuen Ausstellungsort transportiert wurde. Nun bricht dort das Chaos aus, und Larry muss für Ordnung sorgen…

Slumdog Millionär:
Glauben Sie an das Schicksal? Für Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) ist es der größte Tag seines bisherigen Lebens. Nur noch eine Frage trennt ihn vom 20 Millionen Rupien-Hauptgewinn in Indiens TV- Show ‘Wer wird Millionär?’

Der Womanizer:
Der Junggeselle Connor Mead (Matthew McConaughey) gehört zu den Typen, die drei Freundinnen den Laufpass geben. Gleichzeitig. Per Telefonkonferenz. Auf der Hochzeitsfeier seines Bruders hat er also nur ein Ziel: Er will die einzige Brautjungfer herumkriegen, die er bisher irgendwie übersehen hat. Doch der Geist seines verstorbenen Onkels Wayne (Michael Douglas) – der Connor beigebracht hat, die Frauen zu wechseln wie die Hemden – verfolgt ein ganz anderes Ziel…

Star Trek – Die Zukunft hat begonnen:
James T. Kirk ist ein rebellischer Hitzkopf im amerikanischen Niemandsland, der nie den Tod seines Vaters bei einem Angriff eines romulanischen Raumschiffs verkraftet hat. Nach einer seiner Prügeleien fordert ihn Captain Pike, einst ein Freund seines verstorbenen Vaters, auf, der Sternenflotte beizutreten. Dort macht sich Kirk zunächst keine Freunde, bis ihn eine Mission zwingt, endlich Verantwortung zu übernehmen: der Romulaner Nero bedroht Vulkan, den Heimatplaneten von Kirks späterem Weggefährten Spock…

Transformers 2:
Nachdem Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) die Welt mit Hilfe der gutmütigen Autobots vor den bösartigen Decepticons gerettet hat, freut er sich auf ein normales Leben. Als er aufs College geht, lässt er nicht nur Freundin Mikaela (Megan Fox) zurück…

X-Men Origins: Wolverine:
Hugh Jackman schlüpft wieder in die Rolle, die ihn zum Superstar machte: Wolverine – der Mann mit den unverkennbaren Stahlklingen, bemerkenswerten Selbstheilungskräften, ruppigem Charme und einer gehörigen Portion trockenem Humor. ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ erzählt die Vorgeschichte Logans mit Augenmerk auf seine mysteriöse Vergangenheit, seine komplexe Beziehung zu Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber) und das ominöse Weapon X-Programm. Der Zuschauer erfährt, wer Wolverine wirklich ist…

Duplicity:
CIA-Offizier Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts) und MI6-Agent Ray Koval (Clive Owen) standen früher im Geheimdienst ihrer Regierungen. Derzeit haben sie in die Privatwirtschaft gewechselt, um mit lukrativen Verträgen das meiste aus dem Kalten Krieg herauszuholen. Beide jagen jeweils für ihre Bosse Tully (Tom Wilkinson) und Garsik (Paul Giamatti) einem milliardenschweren Patent nach. Keiner ahnt, dass sie eine heimliche Affäre und eigene Pläne haben…

Männersache:
Tagsüber arbeitet Paul (Mario Barth) in einer Berliner Zoohandlung und abends an seiner Karriere als Komiker. Zugegeben, seine Auftritte laufen mies… bis Paul anfängt, Witze über seinen besten Freund Hotte (Dieter Tappert) und dessen Freundin Susi (Anja Kling) zu reißen. Auf einmal läuft es auf der Bühne: Pauls Gags über Hottes Beziehungsgeschichten, nicht enden wollende Shopping-Orgien von Susi und den Pärchen Kaffeeklatsch bei den Schwiegereltern sind ein Renner…

State of Play – Stand der Dinge:
Ein junger aufstrebender Politiker und ein Washingtoner Enthüllungsreporter finden sich mitten im Epizentrum einer Reihe von Morden wieder, die nur scheinbar nichts miteinander zu tun haben. Der Kongressabgeordnete Stephen Collins (Ben Affleck) ist Hoffnung und Zukunft seiner Partei – ein aussichtsreicher und ehrenhafter Newcomer, unter anderem im Vorsitz des Komitees für Verteidigungsausgaben…

Weitere Informationen, auch Top 100 Liste, erhalten Sie hier

Previsto su estreno en Estados Unidos para el 4 de diciembre y en Argentina para el 4 de febrero (bajo el lamentable título de “Amor Sin Escalas”), la película Up In The Air aparece como una de las propuestas más interesantes de la temporada.

El director Jason Reitman ya se lució en sus dos anteriores films, Thank You For Smoking y Juno, por lo que las expectativas están más que justificadas. ¿Los protagonistas? George Clooney, Jason Bateman, Vera Farmiga y Anna Kendrick.

Las primeras críticas que recibió Up In The Air fueron sumamente positivas (100% en Rotten Tomatoes) y además el film cosechó aplausos en los festivales donde fue exhibido.

Los dejamos con el primer trailer que se dio a conocer hace algunas semanas…

Mike Judge, creator of Beavis & Butthead, King of the Hill and cult white collar cubicle worker movie Office Space, is back at the London Film Festival with his new film, Extract for the first time since Idiocracy graced the festival.  Having seen what happened to Idiocracy which was left on the shelf by the studio to rot, I decided not to miss out a second time and took myself off to see Extract.

Jason Bateman plays Joel, the owner of an food extract factory who is suffering from sexual frustration, disillusionment with his business and the staff that work there and unloads most of this on his best mate, Dean, played in unlikely fashion by Ben Affleck, who is back on his Kevin Smith slacker friend form.  Of all his ennui is brushed aside when sexy temp worker, Cindy (played by Mila Kunis) is recruited to work at the extract plant and seems to take an interest.  Little does Joel know about Cindy’s past or her present for that matter.

What I liked about Extract is that Joel is a likeable lead with whom it is a pleasure to spend an hour and a half.  Equally impressive was the way in which Judge draws his supporting characters in terms which mean that get enjoyment from them no matter how little we see of them on screen and get a sense of what they are really like - from Clifton Collins Jr.’s unfortunate gopher Step to the two old biddies on the production line and J.K. Simmons’ co-owner.  My particular favourite, however, is male gigolo, Brad who makes an appearance when Joel makes an ill-judged decision, a man who is so stupid it is painful but he does provide a hell of a lot of laughs.

Where the film falls down a bit is that the comedy is occasionally too broad and not all of the characters work, in particular Joel’s wife is so pathetic and annoying that you wonder why Joel would ever have gone for her.  However, the film has sufficient goodwill to get over these.

8/10

Please fasten your seat belt, put your seat and tray table into the upright position and prepare to enter air world. For most, traveling by plane is a hassle. You’ve got to pack up all your stuff, go through security and spend hours on a stuffy plane. On one trip, Walter Kirn came across a ‘new creature,’ a person who lives to fly. This chance encounter inspired Kirn to write Up In The Air.

The novel tells the story of Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), a corporate downsizer who considers himself a resident of the skies. He spends the majority of the year traveling the country firing people without remorse, just looking forward to getting closer to his goal of acquiring ten million frequent flier miles. Ryan thrives on his simplicity but when out of his comfort zone and off the road, he’s as complex and troubled as they come.

Kirn passed that complex story over to Jason Reitman who not only related to Ryan’s situation himself, but knew exactly what to do to adapt Kirn’s book to film. Along with actresses Vira Farmiga and Anna Kendrick, Kirn and Reitman give insight into the movie you’ll be eager to see once it lands in theaters in December.

Click here to read the interview.

Who let the wolves out? Wolf, wolf, wolf...

Though 80’s classics, I never could get into the Teen Wolf movies (soon to be an MTV show).  There was something unfulfilling about them, though they were ripe with fodder (<—a phrase not used often enough).

I was a big fan of both Michael J. Fox and Jason Bateman at the time of each respective release, so what went wrong?

I may have found the answer via Topless Robot’s Twitter feed.  Commenters on the nerd-centric blog pointed out a peculiar Coinkydink (or Coinkydonk – vote below) to site-founder, Rob Bricken, while he was on a tizzy about NBC’s Heroes driving him to drink. 

The facts are these (I sorely miss Pushing Daisies, which was created by Heroes’ only hero – Bryan Fuller):

• Teen Wolf was written by Meh Jeph Loeb.

A face only a motherfucker could punch.

• Teen Wolf Too was written by Tim Kring.

Probably overheard saying, "I have no idea what I'm doing."

While this makes little sense to those non-nerd-centric-minded out there, the reason why Heroes sucked sucks so bad (I try to pretend it isn’t on anymore), is that it was created by Tim Kring, the guy that wrote a sequel to a crap cash grab movie by Jeph Loeb, and Tim Kring brought Jeph Loeb on board to help oversee Heroes (for awhile).

(SIDENOTE: Loeb was fired last year, but it happened at the point Leo DiCaprio let go of the wood board Kate Winslet was floating on, if Heroes was the Titanic… basically, it occurred too late.)

So if you’re wondering… what am I bashing more – Teen Wolf one and Too, or Heroes?  My answer is this: I’m not finished. 

While Tim Kring might have went on to create Crossing Jordan and produce Providence (two moderately successful shows I would never watch),  he did work on Chicago Hope and Misfits of Science (two awesome shows I wish were on DVD).  And the first season of Heroes was great, which gains him some ground, but again, he did hire Loeb, so there that goes…

Now Jeph Loeb on the other hand:

• Wrote the wretched X-Man for Marvel Comics, which facilitated my disconnect with the X-Men Universe in paper-and-ink form (tubby Brett Ratner did the same in regard to the films)
• Produced the highly suspect, and in retrospect, pretty crappy, second season of Lost
• While producing and writing for Smallville, he introduced young Superman to Red Kryptonite, which is usually green; now writing again at Marvel, he introduced Red Hulk to battle green Hulk

In his (slight) defense, Loeb did write Arnie’s Commando, and he has been recognized positively for his comic writing (he’s received four Eisner’s and five Wizard Fan Awards).  But let me get to the nitty-gritty…

Christopher Walken performing Pokerface on Jonathan Ross (i kid you not):

Juno Auditions (Rainn Wilson you sexy motherducker, you):

Haz click en la magen para verla a detalle

Universal Pictures y Cine3 te regalan un pase doble para la cinta Sólo para Parejas, este 5 de noviembre en el Cinemex Patriotismo, a las 20:00 Hrs.. Se las podrán llevar las primeras veinte personas que, entre hoy o mañana, vengan a nuestras oficinas de 9:00 a 17:00 Hrs. y nos muestren una foto de pareja, no necesariamente de ustedes.

La dirección para recogerla es la siguiente:

• Temístocles 23 – 2
  Colonia Chapultepec Polanco
  Atrás del Hotel Nikko

Sujeto a existencias, así que es mejor que se apresuren.

Tra le nuvole (Up in the Air) è un film del 2009 diretto da Jason Reitman e co-sceneggiato dallo stesso Reitman con Sheldon Turner, basandosi sull’omonimo romanzo che Walter Kirn ha scritto nel 2001.

Leggi altre notizie su: | Commedia | Drammatico | Jason Reitman | Anna Kendrick | George Clooney | Jason Bateman