Needless to say Scorsese has been doing this long enough that you are pretty much guaranteed a technically outstanding film.  Dicaprio is great, the supporting cast is great, the setting and story are intriguing, but the haunting atmosphere portrayed here is the real star and is probably even more important to the movie as a whole than the fantastic acting and directing.  While I have a feeling that the story itself is going to be somewhat divisive, I personally loved it and definitely feel the need to give it a second watch. 

If you're up for watching two fantastic actors at the top of their game set against a fairly compelling story, you could certianly do a lot worse than this.  Denzel Washington does an admirable job and delivers some very cool action scenes, but Gary Oldman as usual is absolutely amazing and completely steals the show... the guy is a freakin chameleon and seeing him return to villainy is fantastic and now I really feel the need to rewatch Leon.  The fact that he has zero Oscar nominations is just criminal.  Also, despite it's post apocalyptic setting, the film is absolutely gorgeously shot and takes a downplayed and understated approach most of the time, which ultimately serve to strengthen the film.

So I was looking over my past several entries and realized I never actually got around to posting my thoughts on Sherlock Holmes.  It was generally entertaining, but didn't completely live up to my expectations.  The first hour or so is absolutely perfect... right up until Rachel McAdams pops up, and while I will never complain about having her around as eye candy... that is really all she is.  Her character is completely irrelevant to the larger plot and her scenes serve as speed bumps to the momentum the film has.  Aside from that minor inconvenience the rest of the film is generally exactly what I had hoped for.  Downey as always is fantastic, and perhaps more surprisingly Jude Law is a perfect Watson.  Watching those two actors portray the relationship between Holmes and Watson is easily the highlight of the film.  I really wish they had not tapped Mark Strong as Blackwood, because he would have been a fantastic Moriarty... seriously that guy never gives a bad performance and I would have liked to see him stick around to match wits with Downey in future installments.  While ultimately it wasn't exactly what I had hoped for it hits far more frequently than it misses, and while Holmes isn't nearly as fun to watch as Tony Stark he's still a pretty great character.

Jason Reitman extends his flawless track record for films (and awesome title sequences).  Up in the Air is absolutely fantastic and contains the perfect mix of humor and drama.  I'm not exactly sure where Clooney's Oscar buzz for this performance is coming from, because it really isn't like he hasn't played this character before (not a bad thing), the leading ladies however are what truly make the film shine.  Vera Farmiga is completely amazing as the female answer to Clooney's jetsetter and definitely deserves the praise she has received, and Anna Kendrick (and yes I think she's gorgeous, I know I'm really branching out here) is fantastic as the wunderkind who may not have thought through the complete implications of her plans for change.  Watching Clooney show her the ropes of firing people for a living is at times both comical and poignant, and seeing these characters interact and ultimately change one another for the better is what this film is all about.  Regardless of how well you can handle isolation and being alone, there is something to be gleaned from human interaction that can not be replaced.

I'm still desperately attempting to cull the top ten from an extensive list of albums I've enjoyed this year, but instead of making you wait I figured I'd kick things off with the other forms of entertainment that aren't nearly as contested starting with my favorite movie of the year, which I'm sure will come as no surprise to anyone, and conveniently coincides with its DVD release... to me it is simply a perfect movie, though Up definitely comes in a close second.