Anna Kendrick and George Clooney in Up In The Air

Up In The Air
Starring: George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Melanie Lynskey
Director: Jason Reitman

As the recent Academy Awards proved, 2009 was a great year at the movies, and among all of the gems that dazzled us one of my favorite films was writer and director Jason Reitman’s Up In The Air.

Out of all the films last year, Up In The Air was one of the very few that immediately seemed like an Oscar contender. Directed by Juno’s Reitman and based on a novel by Walter Kirn, the film is a brilliant drama that has no problem making you laugh, while telling a compelling story rooted in one of the big discussions of the last year: the financial crises.

Starring George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, Up in the Air is set amid America’s economically troubled business world. Ryan works for a corporate firing squad, which sends their staff across the country to fire people at companies big and small. Racking up nearly five million frequent flyer miles, Ryan is a single guy, living out of a suitcase, and loving every minute of it, even as he makes his potentially awful job something he can take pride in.

As the company investigates a new system for firing people, namely a simple video conference setup which would eliminate the need to fly people across the country, Ryan’s life seems destined for change that will ruin what he considers an idyllic lifestyle.

Stuck with the inexperienced Natalie, played by Anna Kendrick, Ryan has to show the new girl the ins and outs of the job while he also tries to find time to meet with Alex, played by Vera Farmiga, the potential woman who could change his mind about relationships.

Compared to Juno or even Thank You For Smoking, Reitman’s touch is still very evident on the story, but it certainly veers in a different direction than his previous work. It’s a funny story, filled with brilliantly written characters, and wonderful asides, but the strength is the incredible drama that lives in Ryan’s sheltered personal life.

Clooney did a marvellous job of investing this character with a sad, lonely depth that is overshadowed only by his cool guy demeanour. That’s the mood that permeates the whole film, from the sterile confines of his tiny apartment, all the way to the airports and hotel rooms.

Screened at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, where I was lucky enough to see it, Up In The Air is a brilliant accomplishment for Jason Reitman. Touching, smart, funny and deftly directed, it’s by far one of my favorite films, not only of 2009, but also one of the best in the last few years. It seems unfortunate that the film failed to take the Oscar for Adapated Screenplay, which I think Reitman deserved, but it does not change the fact that this is still a very noteworthy film that is well worth checking out.

Capitalism: A Love Story
Director: Michael Moore

One of America’s more controversial directors, the one and only Michael Moore, is back again and this time he’s taking on the volatile topic of the financial crisis that shook the world in 2008.

Known for his slanted documentaries, which are obviously biased to his own point of view over any balanced frame of reference, Capitalism is a critical attack of the U.S. government’s bailout strategy, while also bashing the businesses that ended up consuming American tax payer dollars that ultimately did not end up going to their staff.

At the same time, Moore probes the impact the financial failure has on regular people’s lives across America, delving into their stories and comparing them to both events in America’s past, and even the fall of the Roman empire.

Over the years, I’ve been a fan of Moore’s filmmaking style, including Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11, but I have to admit that Capitalism is not the director’s best work. It is clever and engrossing, with heart and comedy throughout, but it’s also a big, ripe old mess thanks to Moore’s frequent voice-overs and interjections. This is finally the kind of film by Moore that feels angry and intense, but it also is hard to even call a documentary at all.

Capitalism: A Love Story is informative though, and sheds light on details most people may not realize about the financial collapse south of the border. It just needs to be taken for what it is, a capitalist commentary that is as much a product itself as anything Wal-Mart or McDonald’s sells.

Special features include a number of deleted and extended scenes, which are worth a look, and an impressive featurette that looks back at Jimmy Carter’s 1979 speech to Americans about the threat of “self-indulgence and consumption.”

Planet 51
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Seann William Scott
Director: Jorge Blanco

On a distant planet, a city of aliens is about to get a big surprise in the form of a goofy astronaut who has no idea what kind of mess he’s getting himself in to.

Landing his capsule, astronaut Chuck Baker, voiced by Dwayne Johnson, thought he was arriving on a barren planet, but once he stepped out he realized too late that he was not alone. Instead of finding a few rocks, Chuck has stepped into a picturesque 1950s-style world filled with weirdly familiar aliens, who also apparently speak English.

As the military chases Chuck, suspecting that he is actually a vicious monster who can control people’s minds and intends to take over the world, Chuck befriends a group of local teens and tries to find a way off the planet before he’s stranded there for good.

Referencing a number of sci-fi films from the past few decades, Planet 51 is a funny, animated adventure set in a world that is rich and lively. The visuals are a total treat and while the story is fairly simplistic, this is the kind of film that is perfect for a Sunday afternoon with the kids.

Features are pretty standard and focus on the film’s production, a short DVD game, a brief music video, and a look at the film’s stars.

Precious
Starring: Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton, Lenny Kravitz
Director: Lee Daniels

Lastly this week, Precious debuts on DVD just a few days after it walked away with double Oscar gold for its gutsy and heart-rending portrayal of one teenager’s terrible life.

Directed by Lee Daniels and based on the novel Push by novelist Sapphire, the film is set in Harlem in 1987. Following Claireece “Precious’ Jones, played by Gabourey Sidibe, the story reveals this young sixteen-year-old girl’s terrible life taking care of her mother, played by Oscar-winner Mo’Nique, even as she’s pregnant with her father’s child. Seemingly abused at every turn in life, Precious is further challenged at school since she also can’t read or write.

But when the opportunity arises to change schools, and learn from a literacy teacher named Ms. Rain, played by Paula Patton, Precious may finally be given the chance to find some light, and love, in her life.

Ann Hornaday of the Washington Post wrote in her review: “[Precious] surely qualifies as the most painful, poetic and improbably beautiful film of the year.”

When I started this site it was primarily focused on Canadian music, and Canadian Music Week was the first event I was accredited to cover. That makes this year’s Canadian Music Fest just a notch more interesting for me. I don’t think the festival has changed vastly since those days, but my tastes have, and there’s a whole new crop of bands worth checking out.

Tonight, for the first night of the festival, I’m headed out to catch Jason Collett, Zeus, and Bahamas play Lee’s Palace. My only problem with this plan is that I tend to gravitate toward Lee’s Palace each year, and I’ve seen Collett perform there before. That said, he’s an amazing performer, and apparently the three acts will be playing together throughout the night.

I actually spent an hour looking through the list of bands performing tonight, and I really only found a few other I wanted to see, and they were spread across the city. My CMW plan has always been to stick to one venue because half the time, after you’ve wandered across the city, you never know when you aren’t going to make it into the next venue.

Stay tuned to The GATE’s Twitter feed for updates during the night.

Olivia Wilde in Tron Legacy

Set for release December 17, the long-awaited sequel was directed by Joseph Kosinski and stars Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn once again, plus Garrett Hedlund as his son, Sam Flynn, and Olivia Wilde, to name a few.

Stay tuned for more on the film as the release date creeps closer and closer.

Watch the trailer:
]]> http://www.thegate.ca/news/movies-dvds/06732/first-full-tron-legacy-trailer-debuts-online/feed/ 0 http://www.thegate.ca/blog/the-gate/music-cds/06729/video-classifieds-oh-canada/ http://www.thegate.ca/blog/the-gate/music-cds/06729/video-classifieds-oh-canada/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:18:54 +0000 W. Andrew Powell http://www.thegate.ca/?p=6729 Self Explanatory. ]]>
Hey, Canada, you actually need to check this out. I’m not normally a fan of Classified, but you have to watch his video for his song “Oh Canada” from the album Self Explanatory.

“I know where I’m from and I told ya before
North of America hard to ignore
Every time I go away I tell them for sure
I’m from Canada o-o-o Canada”

“Our national mascot’s a damn beaver
Oh Canada we love our beaver”

Fricken’ love it.

Video: “Oh Canada”
By Classified
Directed by Cazhmere

Robert Downey, Jr.

Arriving at the Kodak Theater, some of the presenters, nominees and stars on hand at the event included Mo’Nique, Tina Fey, Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Renner, Amanda Seyfried, Gerard Butler, and Christoph Waltz, just to name a few.

Gallery of red carpet photos:

All photos © A.M.P.A.S.

Anne Hathaway and Academy President Tom Sherak announce the 2010 nominees

Part of me has delayed this year because I don’t think predicting the winners for the most popular categories is going to be that hard. As critics have said though, we could very well be wrong, but it’s looking like an easy night, at least if your film is called The Hurt Locker.

This is going to be quick and dirty, so here goes, and don’t come crying to me on Monday if I’m wrong… (I’ll try to swing back by this article tomorrow and provide a few explanations about my choices.)

Follow The GATE on Twitter as I live tweet the Oscars, and check out our new Oscar page.

Motion picture of the year
Will Win: The Hurt Locker
Should Win: Avatar

Nominees:
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

Actor in a leading role
Will Win: Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
Should Win: Colin Firth – A Single Man

Nominees:
Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
George Clooney – Up in the Air
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Morgan Freeman – Invictus
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker

Actor in a supporting role
Will Win: Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

Nominees:
Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

Actress in a leading role
Will Win: Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Should Win: Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Nominees:
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia

Actress in a supporting role
Will Win: Mo’Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Nominees:
Penélope Cruz – Nine
Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air
Mo’Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Animated feature film of the year
Will Win: Up

Nominees:
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

Cinematography
Will Win: Avatar

Nominees:
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

Directing
Will Win: Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
Should Win: James Cameron – Avatar

Nominees:
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
James Cameron – Avatar
Lee Daniels – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

Documentary feature
Will Win: The Cove
Should Win: Food, Inc.

Nominees:
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home

Foreign language film of the year
Will Win: The White Ribbon – Germany

Nominees:
Ajami – Israel
El Secreto de Sus Ojos – Argentina
The Milk of Sorrow – Peru
Un Prophète – France
The White Ribbon – Germany

Visual effects
Will Win: Avatar

Nominees:
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

Adapted screenplay
Will Win: Up in the Air

Nominees:
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Up in the Air

Original screenplay
Will Win: The Hurt Locker
Should Win: Inglourious Basterds

Nominees:
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

That’s not such a bad thing though. Moore has a compelling style, and he makes great points. As a Canadian (well, a dual citizen who has grown up completely in Canada), his films are eye-opening because they look into nooks and crannies most of us don’t get to see very often.

Canadians know a fair bit about America; we live so close together that it’s only natural, but some of the facts in this movie are hard to come to grips with.

My problem with this film is just that Moore’s song and dance routine has maybe gotten a bit out of hand. The editing, the voice-overs, and the music feel a little obnoxious, rather than insightful. This is a serious topic that deserved a documentary, but Moore laid the sarcasm on a little thick.

I haven’t finished the film yet though, so we’ll see how the second half goes. I’ll have the full review in DVD Tuesday next week.

The Cheshire Cat from Disney's Alice In Wonderland

I thought I knew the answer. I even thought it was author Lewis Carroll’s original little homage to someone else, but apparently, if the Internet is to be believed, I’m wrong.

The answer I had always heard was, “Because Poe wrote on both,” as in Edgar Allen Poe who wrote “The Raven”.

According to WikiAnswers though, the riddle originally had no answer, it was just part of the other nonsense from the story. Somehow that disappoints me a little, but that’s probably because I love Poe.

Funny thing though. You hear something long enough and you slowly come to believe that it’s true.

We’re looking for your best work in the form of a single song, of any genre, that you think proves why you or your band should be famous. The catch, and there always is one, is simply that by submitting a track you are giving us the right to play your song on this website. In other words, we’re going to feature it, and in a year when you’re mega-famous we’re still going to have it streaming here for the world to hear.

Have your lawyers read the fine print below, and then send us your music. If we pick your track, we’ll be in touch to let you know the good news.

One more thing. If you or your band are set to play a music festival, especially in Toronto, we might feature your track in a special preview article leading up to the show. Again, we’re open to promoting great talent from anywhere, but we hold a special place in our hearts for bands playing North by Northeast (NXNE), Canadian Music Fest (part of CMW), or Juno Week.

The Rules:
* You can only upload MP3 and JPG files, which must be under 6 MB in size (each).
* All music must be submitted by a legal representative of the musician(s) and/or band only. For that reason you must provide a valid email address and a telephone number. Sorry, but it’s the only way we can be sure that Coldplay is really submitting their latest single.
* Along with a song, we need a photo, and a very short bio (one paragraph, max) so we have something interesting to say about you.
* Finally, aside from streaming our favorites, the best of the best may be featured in special podcasts throughout the year.

Visit the permanent music submission page at: www.thegate.ca/about/music-submission, or use the form below.

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