> great title sequence – as usual in Jason Reitman movies (and as usual by Shadowplay)! "it was just like unreal how hard it was to get this footage." says director Jason Reitman. But it was worth every effort!> Clooney's voice sounds great as usual. I'd buy the audio book of him reading all volumes of the Warren Report or the New York phone book
> Vocabulary: VARIETY always manages to sum up a movie in ONE sentence: "a slickly engaging piece of lightweight existentialism highlighted by winning turns from George Clooney and Vera Farmiga."
Also, we learn from that article the word "Thesp". First one would think that someone slipped on the keyboard. But a look at the keys next to T H E S P does not help: RGWAO does not make more sense, does it?
But luckily, we have Google, pardon: various online search engines! AND Wikipedia.
There we read that Thesp is a term used extensively by Variety as a substitute for actor and a reference to Thespis tha atnic greek actor. Live and learn!
> it is an unexpected punch in the stomach to see the sequence of the non professional actors in the montage of employees reacting to Clooneys "transition councelling". This brings all of a sudden a depth and intensity to the movie that is unexpected.
> UP IN THE AIR seems a little undecided: the beginning, with the quick cuts showing the coolness of Clooney doing his thing and his whitty off-commentary, has the rhythm and tone of THANK YOU FOR SMOKING – and the audience is clearly mistaken by that and is lost, when all of a sudden the montage of the "real peope" comes up. Sitting in the cinema one can hear the audience pausing.
The GERMAN audience has special reason to pause: not only because they simply make up the calculation Jason Reitman = Juno = Makes funny movies and expect to see a comedy. BUT, the German trailer for UP IN THE AIR has a complete different tone compared to the original trailer.
The original trailer has a sad, calm independent musical soundtrack and a sample of Clooneys speech from his motivation seminar ("How much does your life weigh?") combined with shots from the movie, showing Clooney alone, empty airports etc. So you know that on some level, UP IN THE AIR is a thoughtful reflection on solitude in modern business world, the meaning of family and relationships etc.
The German trailer focuses completely on the THANK YOU FOR SMOKING kind of tone of the film: funny music, fast cuts, whitty talk and really makes you think, you are about to see a comedy.
> With Ryan Bingham Clooney adds another variation to his collection of cool professionals without illusions, only focusing on their work, avoiding any relations that might interfere with their commitment to work who’s principles and concepts are shaken by an encounter with a person and who are undergoing a transformation change through a journey and the connected experience – and ending up different persons: MICHAEL CLAYTON and MILES MASSEY in the Coen-Brothers INTOLERABLE CRUELTY.
> interesting: in an interview with the Austrian newspapert "The Standard" Jason Reitman is asked what he added to the novel for the script. Reitman says: both femal characters, Alex und Natalie; the wedding; the motivation „bag speech“; the paper figures of Clooney’s sister and her fiance and the fact that the firing business is supposed to be transformed to online.
Well done, Jason!
