There are few things more annoying than listening to an 8-year-old make things up as he goes along for 90 minutes. Also, I don't care about the relationship problems of imaginary beasts in an imaginary forest (whether they are metaphorical or not). At least it all looked really pretty. C-
Up in the Air (2009)
A movie of our nation's time and place, even if it's most obviously exactly that, Up in the Air is good. Honest with its characters, it doesn't gift them easy redemption or eureka revelations, instead allowing them nuanced changes and growth. About 2/3 of the way through, the viewer might begin smelling some whiffs of formulaic rom-com contrivances, but directer Jason Reitman corrects the course for the final act. A-
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
I watched this on an airplane, alright? Shit was rank. About what I expected, even with director Guy Ritchie's energy. Why does every CGI fest set in 19th century (I think) Europe have identical and desaturated backdrops? Everything looks like a League of Extraordinary Gentleman video game — the blacks aren't really black, the whites are gray and not a red or yellow hue is to be seen. D
