The Friday Feeling - Movies out this week

Ah Friday how I love you so, you beautiful day that signifies the beginning of the weekend and ushers us gently into the welcome embrace of new cinematic material… Right that’s enough of that. This week sees the release of 2 very big movies, one of which must certainly knock Avatar of it’s perch atop the Irish box-office at long last.

The biggest and definitely the best release this week is Up In The Air. George Clooney stars as a man who tries to avoid emotional and personal entanglement, a man totally at ease with himself and his solitary lifestyle. All in all that sounds right up his alley. His character Ryan Bingham is a corporate downsizer, a people firer for hire, who breezes from city to city in a haze of corporate expense accounts and air-miles. Needing only his wheeled suitcase and a hotel room he is solely focused on attaining his life’s goal, gaining 10 million frequent flier miles. When work lumbers him with an eager new colleague and grounds his high-flying ways he is forced to re-examine his lifestyle and his priorities. Juno director Jason Reitman offers Cloonley ample support in the guise of Alex Farmiga, Anna Kendrick and Jason Bateman, but ultimately it’s all about George. And boy is he good. If this doesn’t lead the Oscar nominations next month then I give up. It’s just brilliant. Do yourself a favour and see it right now! (Anto’s review is here)

The other big release this week in the Hughes brothers post-apocalyptic (there’s a lot of that going around) thriller The Book Of Eli. Set in the near future, with America a barren wasteland, we find our hero, Eli.A man armed with a shotgun, samurai sword and exceptional cunning, Eli is your typical all-action hero guy. Finding himself in a ramshackle Californian outpost with a tyrannical leader, Eli makes friends with the leader’s stepdaughter Solara and learns of her dad’s plans for control. Escaping the madman’s clutches he and Solara must fight their way across the dangerous wastelands, travelling to the shattered ruins of San Francisco and on to a climactic showdown. The uber-cool Denzel Washington stars as Eli, with support from a suitably nutty Gary Oldman and the lovely Mila Kunis. The Hughes brothers are the guys behind Menace II Society, Dead Presidents and From Hell, and this is their first 8 years. So worth the wait? Well yes and no…it’s an enjoyable movie if you don’t read too much into it, but it’s never as good as it should be and the sepia-toned looks gets dreary after a while. Recommended for action fans but everyone else should see Up in the Air first.

Movie three is 44 Inch Chest, a movie from the guys who brought us Sexy Beast. The movie centres on Colin Diamond, a man who has recently discovered that his wife cheated on him with a young French waiter. Gathering together a gang of mates he kidnaps Loverboy and puts him on mock-trail. With the boys life hanging in the balance can Diamond deal with his crushing heartbreak, anger, and insanity before it’s too late. The latest in a long line of gritty, hard-hitting British movies this isn’t quite the calibre of Lock, Stock, Snatch or even Sexy Beast. It does get by on some pretty impressive performances from Ray Winstone, Ian McShane and Tom Wilkinson, but the script and direction never match their collective ability. Decent but unmemorable.

Also out is All About Steve, a rom-com with Sandra Bullock as a crazed stalker woman. Critics in the US slated the movie and I’ve absolutely no interest in watching it, but perhaps I’m missing out.