No Need to Hand Out Any Oscar Nominations

So, this year, they're nominating ten movies for Best Picture? Don't bother. The other nine don't have a chance. In the world of award justice, "Up In The Air" should be the only possible winner.

Several days later, this movie has stayed with me and stayed with me. In only the best possible ways. It's easily the best picture I've seen all year. Check me. It may be the best picture I've seen all decade. Check me again. "Up In The Air" just might be the best picture I've seen since "The Apartment."

Yes, folks, there I have said it.

You blog gremlins who have read me fervently over the past 32 months will remember that "The Apartment" is my absolute favorite movie of all time. Well, if you compare how the new George Clooney flick expertly blends the same romantic comedy and corporate intrigue that "The Apartment" so deftly did, you'll realize these two films are damn close in tone and subject matter. Writer-director Jason Reitman has followed up the wonderful "Juno" with this masterpiece and now I'm thinking we might finally have Billy Wilder's logical successor in our midst.

If you're not getting my point here, yes, I loved "Up In The Air."

George Clooney is rapidly and almost inexplicably becoming America's best actor and those of you who thought that honor belongs to Tom Hanks are in for the rudest of awakenings. Over the past few years, Clooney has learned to make wise and unpredictable acting choices while Hanks the bloated whale is busy stuffing his piehole at Liberal fund-raising buffet tables. Here, in Clooney's latest triumph, we see his most nuanced performance to date.

"Up In The Air" tells the story of Ryan Bingham, who works for a company whose sole function is to orchestrate mass corporate firings and/or downsizing. Ryan, whose biggest claim to fame is that he is closing in on tenllion frequent flyer miles with American Airlines, has an admittedly empty life. His main personal contact with people other than those he is shitcanning is with whatever chick he just picked up at the Admirals Club in whatever airport he just breezed through.

Enter Natalie Keener, a 23-year-old business school know-it-all, magnificently played by Anna Kendrick. She is going to redesign how Americans get fired. Instead of doing it in person, she devises a system where it happens globally. You get tele-fired via your computer screen. Downsizing turns into just another form of an X-Box game. Kendrick is so marvelous and adorable. In my next life, I want to be the same age and making out with her in a janitor's closet.

Despite the threats at work, Ryan suddenly finds himself falling for one of his road connections, played by Vera Farmiga. The push and pulls of Ryan's worlds is fascinating to watch. When you think you know what will happen next, you don't. The meticulous blend of corporate drama and romantic comedy never falters. Director Reitman doesn't ever fall off the highwire, as balance never wavers for a second. This is an almost certain nod for the Best Director Oscar. Clooney, Kendrick, and Farmiga should also clear the awards ceremony date as well.

Personally, the American Airlines tie-in and product placement registered high on my familiarity scale. I recognized several of the Admirals Club locales, although I'm apparently not as gifted in the pick-up department as Ryan Bingham. But, then again, I only have one million miles in my account.

At the end, loose ends are not tied up. Not everybody lives happily ever after. But, isn't life just like that? Another spot-on observation from a movie that will resonate with me for a long while. I'm already trying to figure out when I will see it again.

Dinner last night: Thai chicken pasta at the Cheesecake Factory.

Tomorrow: Greetings and salutations from the Big Apple.