releasing this week: Up in the Air & The Book of Eli

Two movies going on general release this week that I think could be worth a watch. The first is Up in the Air and the second is The Book of Eli

Up in the Air comes to us from Jason Reitman, director of Juno and Thank You for Smoking, and is based on the novel of the same name by Walter Kirn.

I didn’t actually know this was based on a novel till I started writing this post however I have seen Reitman’s other works. Thank You for Smoking I thought was excellent. Maybe it’s another I should have put on the top films of the decade list. Juno I thought was ok, not amazing.

Now I have already seen Up in the Air so I can tell you it is worth a watch. I have read and heard a lot of very positive reviews, I wouldn’t go as far in my praise as some of them however I do think that quite a few people will love it. There were some brilliant poignant scenes but the story just didn’t quite resonate with me, it didn’t quite strike the right balance. It is however still a smart and solid drama with a hint, or perhaps it’s a streak, of romance though it. I would recommend seeing it… well for the female half of the population anyway.

Also in case you are not aware, George Clooney is heavily tipped for awards for this film… I don’t know if I see the Best Actor Oscar happening for him this year to be honest. I do think it’s a good performance and I think he’s very likely to get the Golden Globe for it but I haven’t seen enough of the other likely Oscar contenders to be sure. I hear that Colin Firth gives the performance of a lifetime in A Single Man and I’d like to think that Jeremy Renner has a good chance for his performance in The Hurt Locker. I’ll be seeing The Road so will have an idea of Viggo Mortensen’s chances then.

As for the second film, The Book of Eli, I haven’t heard much about it at all. Again it’s another film where I have been avoiding the trailer. It’s another post-apocalyptic story and as I’ve said a few times lately (since there seem to be a few out there atm) I love the ol’ post-apocalyptic dystopia story. It’s funny, you wait for ages then three come along all at once.

I get the impression from the trailer that this particular one is more just set in a post-apocalytic era, as opposed to being a study of a dystopia or even about the post-apocalytic era itself. The trailer pretty much pegs it as a straight action flick. Denzel Washington seems to be in full ass-kicking mode and Gary Oldman seems to be in full evil villain mode so it looks like it should be good fun. I don’t expect this will be a classic… indeed I fully expect we’ll see a good bit of chewing the scenery here… but so what? As long as I can have a bit of a laugh at it I’ll be happy.

click image to watch the trailer of The Book of Eli on apple.com/trailers

Up in the Air and The Book of Eli are in Irish cinemas from Friday 15th January.