Capsules: "Brothers" & "Up in the Air."

"Smug in the air."

My first theater-going experience of the new decade, year, whatever, was a little lousy. Lis, Mark, Jess and my self booked it to the movies to see George Clooney and Jason Reitman's latest. Ryan Bingham is a corporate downsizer, jet-setter and in the course of 109 minutes, wannabe life-changer. And ... I kinda hated a lot of it. It has this pessimism that lingers and the film never quite recovers from it. I hate their lives. It hate the sad sacking stories. I hated Jason Reitman's condescending, cocky decisions. I ... kinda hated it.

The others didn't mind the pessimism. And that's cool. But they read it differently from me, and perhaps less annoyed than myself.

It's not worth the Oscars. No matter how much Paramount pays.

The bad: Here's what I disliked.

- Reitman's inability to balance the mundane and the depressing with the light and confident. He's a cynical, lazy man's Cameron Crowe or Alexander Payne. Those guys have the craftsmanship and care to make folks laugh and cry in modern fables. Cutaways of Zach Galiafanakis holding a rifle because he was fired. I think that was supposed to be funny? Reitman hit it last time with "Juno." Clooney's great in everything he's ever been in, but his genial, kind demeanor is wrecked by poorly written smiles and often selfish motivations.

- Bad written. Shit.

- Nothing is certain. Rely on no one. Got it... baaaaawww!!!

- Weak camera. Just use a video camera for the wedding. Have a nice two-shot of Clooney and Farmiga instead of cutting like a crackhead.

- The line at the beginning where Bingham describes his life as liking all the things about travel that "we" hate? Just because you acknowledge it, doesn't mean a general audience member will like planes more. Good luck finding meaning Bingham.

- The folk music soundtrack. Crowe does it better. Rolfe Kent. Payne used him better.

The good: Here's what I liked.

- George Clooney.

- Everyone liked it more than me. So at least it made me happy to see it with good company. But that has little to do with the movie itself does it?

"I'm gonna kill you."

My last movie of the decade, year, whatever. Again.

Jim Sheridan goes low-rent in this three-act remake of a 2004 Danish film. Good brother (Tobey Maguire), bad brother (Jake Gyllenhaal) reunites. Good brother goes to Afghanistan and is presumed dead so bad brother becomes helpful (romantic?) to good brother's wife (awkwardly cast Natalie Portman). Good brother is alive, comes home, and scares the hell outta everyone with post-traumatic stress. One act was amazing.

War is hell: I saw this with Eric, and as much we hate admitting it, we were really bored with the first two acts. He started going glassed eyed at the TV quality decisions while I started remembering each lead's child star roles. But then ... the third act nails it.

Tobey Maguire is amazing/terrifying as Sam Cahill. Held captive, tortured and rattled in Afghanistan, Cahill comes back a wreck. But it's his domestic distress and inability to re-settle himself that makes for the most interesting meldorama.

Maguire's puppy-dog scream, with his ashen and skulled-out face make him on of the more engaging and sad film characters of the last year. Do we feel bad for him? Or is Cahill nuts? Either way, Maguire puts in an efforts, and almost saves the entire film with the last act. He brings him story, mooider, slower editing, less schmaltzy U2 music and patience that allows us to care about everyone's problems.