4th & Short: 12/6/09

It's Sunday morning, mere hours before the fantasy playoffs in my league are to be decided, so you'll have to excuse me if I keep things brief. I've got a roster to stare at until 12:58pm. If I lose, expect my columns to be decidedly darker and more hateful than ever. It's been a busy weekend, with 3 films already under my belt. One is far and away one of the best films of the year and obviously is about to be on this list. Brothers was disappointing, and Armored is...well, it's probably about what you expect. On to the show...

3. Fantastic Mr. Fox

Wes Anderson's stop-motion fable is an artistic achievement in every way imaginable. Based on Roald Dahl's 1970 children's book, George Clooney(having one helluva year) voices the cunning Mr. Fox as he tries to protect his family from three vicious industrialists. The characters' animated features mesh seamlessly with Anderson's quirky, unique sense of humor, providing an experience unlike any other film of it's type this year.

2. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

I'm gonna scream this til my throat crinkles up like old newspaper: GO SEE THIS MOVIE!! Nicolas Cage and Werner Herzog's madcap cop drama is unlike any police film you've ever seen and likely ever will. Cage plays a drugged out dirty cop, assigned to watch over New Orleans just days after Hurricane Katrina. Eva Mendes is his prostitute girlfriend who aids in his scheming, double dealing ways.

1. Up in the Air

When we look back on the career of George Clooney, his role as Ryan Bingham is going to stand out as the defining peformance of his career. Director Jason Reitman's follow-up to Juno, Up in the Air is a prescient tale of a guy without a home. He lives out of hotel rooms and airports. He fires people for a living, hired by big corporations that are too scared to do the deed themselves. It's a story for our time. Vera Farmiga plays a woman not unlike Bingham herself, and the two form a bond that just might force him to reevaluate his priorities. Funny, intelligent, and brutally insightful at times, Up in the Air I think takes the first big step in the Oscar race ahead of all others.

DVD Pick: Terminator Salvation (2009)

Fast forwarding into the apocalyptic future we've only seen glimpses of for the last 20 years, Salvation is a polarizing film for most people. For me, it's a tentative first step into what I hope will be a groundbreaking sci-fi trilogy. It feels too much like a setup film at times, and Christian Bale's John Connor isn't nearly the dominant presence he should be. However, director McG knows what makes a Terminator film click, and he sets the groundwork for what should be some pretty amazing sequels to come. The breakout here is Sam Worthington, playing a new Terminator with a secret that threatens everything they've fought for.