criticWIRE This Week: “Up In The Air” Leads December’s First Batch (UPDATED)
Jason Reitman’s “Up In The Air,” Jim Sheridan’s “Brothers,” Michael Hoffman’s “The Last Station,” Cheryl Hines’ “Serious Moonlight,” Kirk Jones’ “Everybody’s Fine” and Marie-Hélène Cousineau and Madeline Ivalu’s “Before Tomorrow” mark December 2009’s first five releases, an eclectic group that features some considerable Oscar contenders and an impressive bevy of star power. indieWIRE’s new criticWIRE, which features hundreds of grades for new and recent films from dozens of film critics and bloggers, took on all six films, with festival favorite “Air” firmly leading in terms of critical reaction.
More than 100 film critics and bloggers, so far, now have their own pages on the indieWIRE site. The new criticWIRE section includes RSS feeds and links for the individual writer’s blog, website and Twitter account, as well as grades for current films and direct links to reviews they’ve written. The list of critics and graded films will continue to grow, leading up to our annual indieWIRE Critics Poll later this month.
“Up In The Air” – adapted from Walter Kim’s memoir and starring George Clooney as a man hired by companies to fire their employees – averaged a “B+” grade from criticWIRE’s members, with grades ranging from two rare “A+”‘s to a lone “C”. In his indieWIRE review, Eric Kohn said the film is “populated by a handful of assured performances,” and is “first and foremost an actor’s movie.” “Gently witty,” he continues, “the movie takes some time to find a fully engaging groove, especially when you consider the ecstatic welcome it has received from the critical establishment.”
Check out the links below for further takes on “Up In The Air,” as well as the consensuses on “Brothers,” “The Last Station,” “Serious Moonlight,” “Before Tomorrow,” “Everybody’s Fine” and dozens of films that recently opened in theaters. Grades will continue to be added throughout the week, so check back.
iW Film Calendar & criticWIRE:
criticWIRE | Opening this week | Opening this month | All Films A – Z
criticWIRE: Films Opening This Week
Up In The Air (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B+
Before Tomorrow (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B+
The Last Station (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B
Brothers (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B
Everybody’s Fine (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: C
Serious Moonlight (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: C
criticWIRE: Films Currently In Theaters
La Danse (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: A-
Defamation (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B+
Fantastic Mr. Fox (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B+
The Sun (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B+
The Messenger (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B+
The Road (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B
That Evening Sun (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B
Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B
Red Cliff (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B
Broken Embraces (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B-
Precious (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B-
William Kunstler: Disturbing The Universe (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B-
Uncertainty (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B-
Me and Orson Welles (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: B-
Dare (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: C+
The Private Lives of Pippa Lee (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: C+
Pirate Radio (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: C
Mammoth (iW film page)
Average criticWIRE rating: C-
