Up in the Air

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) lives out of a suitcase as he travels the road firing people for a living and loves every moment of it. Part and parcel of this kind of lifestyle is a loneliness that he cherishes. A man who truly touches no one and no one touches him. Then Alex (Vera Farmiga) enters his life and everything harkens back to that quote from Into the Wild. “Happiness only real when shared”

Rating: * * *

Quid Pro Quo

Isaac (Nick Stahl) has never walked since being in an accident that took his parents away from him. Now a NYC radio reporter he receives an anonymous tip about a subculture of people who want to be paralyzed. As he follows up on the lead he meets Fiona (Vera Farmiga), one of the wannabes. Soon nothing is as it seems and everything is quid pro quo.

Rating: * * +

Never Forever

The film begins with a funeral and its pall continues to weigh down on the proceedings. Sophie (Vera Farmiga) is a trophy wife who dotes on her husband, Andrew (David Lee McInnis). But her inability to get pregnant seems to have sucked the desire for living from him. So when the pregnancy clinic also fails her, Sophie in her desperation seeks out Jihah (Jung-woo Ha), a illegal South Korean immigrant, to "help" her. Sophie is dull and Jihah is bland. But as they touch something within them awakens...

Rating: * * *

The Double Bill

Infernal Affairs
Tony Leung is a police mole in the mafia. Andy Lau is a mafia mole in the police. Let the cat and mouse games begin. One of the tightest gangster flicks I have ever seen. Completely stripped of unnecessary melodrama. Even the love interests of the two characters are subtly portrayed. Just a few conversations here and there to get the message across. And Tony Leung rules!!! Every time I see him on screen he just blows. The man's acting is effortless.

Rating: * * *

The Departed
Why would someone like Martin Scorsese have to dig into the Asian pocket and adapt a film, I know not. Andy Lau's role is played by Matt Damon and Tony Leung's is taken over by (snicker snicker) Leanordo Di Caprio. In an attempt to give more background and depth to the characters, Scorsese has made the film more noisier without adding anything to it except of course the unnecessary love triangle. But I have to say that Jack Nicholson does get under your skin as the Mafioso don.

Rating: * *