Up in the Air – Movie Trailer
Dec 22nd
Jason Reitman’s adaptation of the novel Up in the Air tells the story of Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), who makes his living personally handing out pink slips — he’s the top hatchet man at a company that other companies hire when they are downsizing. And since business is booming, his job keeps him on the go constantly. He flies all across the country, staying in a series of nice hotels. And although this itinerant lifestyle prevents him from having any kind of stable, regular life, this doesn’t bother him in the slightest — he’s thrilled to be a boy in a traveling bubble. During one particular layover, he strikes up a conversation with Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga), a fellow savvy traveler. They bond over the ins and outs of various airlines and hotels, and quickly fall into bed. By morning, they are figuring out when their schedules will allow them to meet up again, even though they both make it clear that there are no strings attached. When Ryan arrives back in the home office, he meets no-nonsense career-oriented twentysomething Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), a fast-rising up-and-comer who wants to change the company’s practices and save millions by having the staff fire people remotely via webcams. Furious at the thought of losing a lifestyle he’s grown quite comfortable with, he convinces his boss (Jason Bateman) to let him take Natalie on a few trips so that she can learn what it’s really like to fire someone. Melanie Lynskey, Danny McBride, and J.K. Simmons co-star in this Best Picture Academy Award nominee.
“Invictus” Unconquered
Dec 17th
Unconquered
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
INVICTUS tells the story of how Nelson Mandela united the country of South Africa after he became president by getting its citizens, both black and white, to be united in their support of the national rugby team, the Springboks, in the 1995 World Cup.
The Springboks were hated by the nation’s blacks as a symbol of apartheid, but the finals were to be held in South Africa, and if Mandela could succeed, the whole world would be watching the nation come together.
Clint Eastwood directed the film, Morgan Freeman plays Mandela, Matt Damon plays Francois Pienaar, the captain of the Springboks, and all three could easily be nominated for Academy Awards and even win, along with the film for Best Picture.
It is that good.
The film begins in 1990 when Mandela is released from prison after being behind bars for 27 years. Then when Mandela is elected president, he states that it is no time to celebrate petty revenge, but is a time to rebuild the nation with every brick available.
He is shown a newspaper headline that reads, “He can win an election, but can he run a country?” and Mandela tells his staff, “It’s a legitimate question.”
When Mandela realizes that the Rugby World Cup will be held in 1995 in South Africa, he decides to try to use that event and the national team to bring the country together and to overcome old hatred and prejudices.
So, he invites Pienaar, the Springboks captain, to tea and enlists his support, which won’t be easy, because the experts say that the Springboks have no better chance than to reach the quarterfinals.
Sure, it is a cliche to end a film on the Big Game, but in this case it works, and you don’t have to like rugby or even know the rules to be excited by the action. Eastwood includes enough shots of the scoreboard to let the audience know what is going on.
The title means “unconquered,” and it comes from an 1888 poem that Mandela memorized in prison to give him encouragement, and it ends with the famous lines, “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”
Mandela gives a copy to Captain Pienaar to use for the team’s inspiration.
INVICTUS and the film’s players are also unconquered.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Invictus – Movie Trailer
Dec 11th
Actor Morgan Freeman portrays anti-apartheid activist and former South African president Nelson Mandela in this Clint Eastwood-helmed political drama adapted from author John Carlin’s book The Human Factor: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed the World. Set just after the fall of apartheid and during Mandela’s first term in office, The Human Factor explores how the political prisoner-turned-president used the 1995 Rugby World Cup — which was hosted by South Africa — as a means of bringing blacks and whites together after decades of violence and mistrust. Matt Damon co-stars in the Warner Bros. production as rugby player Francois Pienaar.
