Up In The Air

Last night, the family and I shrugged off a free Matt Mays show, a not-free-but-likely-awesome Sadies show, and dinner with Royalty (pfft, merely an Archduke, and an ugly one at that) in order to give our babysitters a break, and have a night to ourselves.

And George Clooney.

So this much-hyped Up In The Air movie: I liked it. I liked how it avoided the typical rom-com arc (although I called it). I liked the jokes. I "liked" the crushing montages of fired employee reactions. I liked how accurately it portrayed life on the road (in my brief experience, but y'know, minus all the sexual escapades), and the awkwardness of business casual industry functions. I found it hard to believe that such a career termination service could actually exist, and even more unlikely that the Keener character's plan could be taken seriously, and I found the dialogue to be a little too "written" in parts - but hey, it's a movie. More than anything though, I liked that it made me think, and far more than I expected for what is essentially a standard romantic comedy.

And what to think about: how would my life look without support from all of my friends and family? How much unnecessary baggage am I carrying in my life? What are my priorities? What would I do if I were fired tomorrow? How did George Clooney's teeth get so white? How did Young MC get so fat?

And so on. Most people probably have these kinds of inner discussions on their own, without prompting from pop culture. Not me, apparently. In short: I liked it. Classify under surprisingly poignant fluff.

Next up: House Of The Devil. How will the two compare? Which will have more gratuitous bum shots? Which will have the quirkier soundtrack? Which will feature more devil worship?

We'll see, I guess.