4th & Short: 12/13/09

To illustrate just how thin the movie offerings were this week, one of the films that makes the short list this week was labeled as "disappointng" a mere 7 days ago.

3. Brothers

Last week I called Brothers "disappointing", and to some degree I still believe that, but it's not due to any of the actors or the story per se. It's due to my extremely high expectations from director Jim Sheridan(In America), and to be fair he makes this a better film than any other director could. Starring Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhall as a pair of brothers, one good the other a loser ex-con, roles get reversed somewhat when one is presumed dead in battle over in Afghanistan. Natalie Portman stars as the wife who falls for the surviving brother, forming a tense powder keg of a love triangle that's due to explode at any moment. Tobey Maguire gives the most haunting performance of his career.

2. Invictus

As far as Nelson Mandela biopics go, Clint Eastwood's rugby drama is probably the last one you'd expect to be successful. Morgan Freeman puts on an Oscar worthy performance as the embattled South African president, who aims to unite his country by rallying them around their national rugby team in the 1995 World Cupt. Matt Damon plays the team captain, who becomes Mandela's right hand man in this goal, and experiences a transformation of his own. An uplifting, heart warming story that the entire family can enjoy.

1. Up in the Air

Yesterday, while we were walking around DC, I noticed a huge billboard for Up in the Air draped over one side of the Verizon Center. All I could think was that I hope all of these people out here notice it and go see it. Jason Reitman's film, about a man who specializes in firing people for big corporations, is the sort of movie that will be remembered and studied for generations. George Clooney puts on the performance of a lifetime as Ryan Bingham, a man who has denied all lasting relationships in favor of a life of virtual solitude, living in airports and hotels so that he can avoid the daily pressures of home. But his world goes upside down when his own job is threatened, and a woman who just might be his perfect match suddenly finds a way into his heart. The must-see film of the Oscar season.

DVD Pick: World's Greatest Dad (2009)

Take the darkest, most disturbing comedy you've ever seen, amp it up by 10, throw it in a blender and that's what you can expect. Director Bob Goldthwait, who most will remember from the Police Academy movies, brings out one of Robin Williams' most screwed up performances yet, which is really saying something. He stars as Lance, father to what has to be the biggest douchebag of a son in history. Lance is no great shakes himself. He's an awful teacher. A wannabe teacher with a severe inferiority complex. When something terrible happens, Lance takes full advantage to milk his newfound celebrity for all it's worth. I've probably spoiled this movie on the site before, but I'm putting a halt to that now. There are things that happen in this film that, if you aren't expecting them, will hit you like a swift kick in the nuts. And then once that happens, Goldthwait takes those horrible events and makes them even worse. You might hate yourself for laughing at some of this stuff, but you WILL laugh. Next to The Hangover, this was the funniest film of the year by far.