Greetings readers!

I've finally recovered from the visually spectacular Avatar screening last week, only to behold yet another incredible sight this morning! I got to the Museum at about 7 to do my daily run, and I timed it just right to see the sunrise over the Boston skyline as I ran along Memorial Drive. It was spectacular. The sun gleaming off the Hancock Tower and the Prudential, the snow covered Charles River - amazing. I wish I had had my camera to take a couple of pictures, but alas, I like to run carrying as little as possible. Maybe I'll do it again next week, and this time bring my camera.

I'll get my quick movie news out of the way - saw Up in the Air and Invictus last week, and both were good.

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), is a corporate hatchet man who loves his life on the road but is forced to fight for his job when his company downsizes its travel budget. He is required to spend more time at home, just as he is on the cusp of a goal he's worked toward for years—reaching ten million frequent flyer miles—and just after he's met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams (Vera Farmiga).

There is tremendous buzz around this film, especially for the performances of George Clooney and Anna Kendrick. Jason Reitman is quickly becoming one of my favorite directors (even though I didn't particularly care for his last effort, Juno, I adored Thank You for Smoking), he has a knack for writing intelligent, realistic dialogue and characters that audiences can identify with. This was an extremely well made and put together film. I think that it has particular resonance now because of it's subject matter (people losing their jobs) and how people cope with the loss.

As for the performances, Clooney was as good as all the reviews have said, but I personally felt that he was just George Clooney being George Clooney, a wryly charming playboy who has women eating out of the palm of his hand. The real breakout in the film though is Anna Kendrick as Natalie, the young executive that Clooney takes under his wing. She's a relative newcomer to Hollywood (I hear she's in those Twilight films) and she announces herself as a force to be reckoned with. Her performance is remarkable, especially as she starts to show vulnerability and that she really may not be as tough as she thinks she is. Vera Farmiga completes the trifecta, although she is the least developed of the three leads in what turns out to be, IMHO, a mostly thankless role.

This movie is probably like porn for travel agents, with American Airlines and Hilton Hotels, and their respective loyalty programs being advertised like whoa. There is a great scene in the beginning of the movie where Ryan and Alex compare their elite traveler status within various airlines and hotel chains. I expect this movie to do quite well at the Oscars, easily scoring nominations for Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress (could be x2), Screenplay and Editing.
Grade: A

Also saw Invictus last weekend. Don't really have the energy or inclination to write a lot about it. It was good, and if I had to describe it in one sentence: Rugby cured all of South Africa's racial tensions in the mid 90's. Ok, so it's a little more complicated than that, but that's pretty much what I walked away thinking. Morgan Freeman is in the role he was born to play as Mandella, and Matt Damon gives a fantastic performance as rugby team captain. Can someone PLEASE give him an Oscar already? Clint has the uncanny ability to make films meander when they don't really need to, but I think that it works for him here. The last 25 minutes or so is the climactic ruby match, which is expertly shot and, even though we know (or can probably guess) the outcome, it's still pretty thrilling.
Grade: B+

I spent 5 days at the beginning of the month with the Marching Spartans at Walt Disney World in Orlando. It was a really great time (even though it rained the first 2 days we were there) but it was nice to be on vacation for a little while. The kids performed really well, and they had a great performance in the Magic Kingdom before the afternoon parade. I love seeing the parks all decorated for Christmas - here's what the train station looks like right when you enter the Magic Kingdom:


Pretty nice, huh? And the holiday edition of Illuminations was also pretty great: Disney sure does know how to put on a show! I had this great idea of trying to post pictures of myself at all of the countries in Epcot, and it worked for about half, then it got dark. Beth was grateful, because she was getting pretty annoyed at playing photographer.

And for a Christmas treat, my roommate sent me this video this morning, it's pretty outrageous.



Happy Holidays!