Up In The Air sits itself comfortably in my list of favourite films of the last year, it’s been showered with awards gaining eight Broadcast Film Critics Association, six Golden Globe nominations , three Screen Actors Guild nominations, six BAFTA nominations and six Academy Award nominations including Best Supporting Actress nominations for both Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick. Check out my interview with the both of them below.

From Jason Reitman, the Oscar nominated director of ‘Juno,’ comes ‘Up in the Air,’ the timely odyssey of Ryan Bingham (Oscar winner George Clooney), a corporate downsizer and consummate modern business traveller who, after years of staying happily airborne, suddenly finds himself ready to make a real connection. Ryan has long been contented with his unencumbered lifestyle lived out across America in airports, hotels and rental cars. He can carry all he needs in one wheel-away case; he’s a pampered, elite member of every travel loyalty program in existence; and he’s close to attaining his lifetime goal of 10 million frequent flier miles– and yet…Ryan has nothing real to hold onto.

When he falls for a simpatico fellow traveler (Vera Farmiga), Ryan’s boss (Jason Bateman), inspired by a young, upstart efficiency expert (Anna Kendrick), threatens to permanently call him in from the road. Faced with the prospect, at once terrifying and exhilarating, of being grounded, Ryan begins to contemplate what it might actually mean to have a home.

The script has been nominated for nearly every award going, how did you assess your character when you first read them?

Vera Farmiga: I didn’t have the luxury of reading the script and knowing what happens in the end so I had some preconceived ideas. It was challenging to play a woman who is very much like a man and often it was a fine line to tread, to have the softness and yet be forceful unapologetically and make demands you usually see men make in scripts, I really like the male perspective on heartbreak which I hadn’t read much of before.

Your character is a bit more explained, what made her appealing?

Anna Kendrick: Well first off it’s a rare thing that you have this girl who’s so intelligent and complicated and her character does not revolve around a romantic storyline, that was fascinating in itself for me, it just doesn’t happen, you don’t read scripts like that. In real life I’m usually pretty timid so I guess I’m excited to play someone who tells people off and to tell off George Clooney was pretty awesome (laughs).

One of my favourite scenes in the film is when you go to pieces in the airport after you get the message from your boyfriend, how did you prepare for that?

Anna Kendrick: I don’t actually remember what was in the script other than she just starts crying, I knew that some of the scenes are in some ways really heart breaking and there’s a desire to play it that way but I knew it was supposed to be funny, but that it couldn’t be funny for me . It was a long day of trying different noises (laughs), it was kinda of brutal because all day I was so upset, Jason would demonstrate sometimes because he knew I was running out of juice. We had to get something that was not funny to me but hopefully to other people.

What was it like shooting in actual public places like the airports?

Anna Kendrick: At times it was a little uncomfortable, when I had that little wobbly it was in a hotel lobby that we sort of shut down, there weren’t that many looky loo’s but there was still this space and even though the people were extras and apart of the film, you don’t know them so it was sort of embarrassing, I think on that particular day it was less about the people and more about the space.

Vera Farmiga: For me it most often controlled or closed sets, for me what I found most interesting was the fanaticism for George Clooney, that was overwhelming, it was so odd, for me no one ever knows who I am, they probably think I’m a producer, but watching George just opening a door and seeing a standing ovation that goes blocks and blocks from him just peaking his head out. He’s so gallant and gracious with it, I didn’t find it very difficult though working in public places, I think its more difficult for the crew than the actors.

Your character has her views on love and life challenged in this film, how did you find that? Especially with someone like George Clooney trying to bring you over to the lone wolf side of things.

Anna Kendrick: My character had very specific ideas with what she wants and what she expects, I don’t have many of them same ideas, I know that there are things in life I want that I won’t get and refuse to except just yet, but her views on love are not my views on love.

You’ve gone from playing a small role in Twilight to play a big role in this, how did you feel when you got this role?

Anna Kendrick: I was shocked beyond belief, I thought Jason hated me, my audition was very strange, I think Jason was trying to sike me out by not showing any enthusiasm, but when I got the job I was so shocked, I thought he’s just like that, he’s gonna be a tyrant on set, but he’s very very nice, I was very surprised, thrilled beyond words. I didn’t really really think George was doing it, I thought that would be too good to be true, for a script to be this good and working with George Clooney I just thought it was rumoured.

Sorry for the delay with this interview, I’ve been having laptop issues! Here’s part 1 of my interview with Jason Reitman director of Up In The Air (and Juno), which is one of the front runners to bring home a heap of Oscars this year.

The Film is based on a book, I haven’t read the book myself but how does the book differ?

Jason Reitman: It does slightly, the book is about a man who fires people for a living and obsessively collects air miles, but if I had directed the book exactly as it was, Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga wouldn’t be in it, because their characters are not in the book. The way I use source material is I see it as a tool box, there’s a story I wanna tell and I’m looking for the right words, so I’ll read a book or read an article and suddenly it will be the language I’ve been looking for, it will say something I’ve been meaning to say, or ask something I’ve been meaning to ask and at that point it becomes a tool box of ideas that I sometimes follow literally but sometimes I don’t. In this case I took a main character that I liked his occupation and I liked his life philosophy so I built the plot around that.

I read that you wrote the role with George Clooney in mind.

Jason Reitman: Yeah, I wrote the role with him in mind and also Vera and Anna in mind as well. It’s easier for me to write, when I know who I’m writing it for, that’s often how I identify with the character. I had met Vera before and seeing many of her films I knew that there were things she was able to do that no other actress was capable of doing, she’s able to walk that very fine line of being aggressive but feminine at the same time, that was the reason I was able to write her character the way I did. When I saw Anna in Rocket Science I knew the sparkly brilliance of her mind and how fast she is, because of that I was able to write her character the way I did. If your gonna make a movie about a guy who fires people for a living, but you still want him to be likeable, that actor better be charming (laughs). I don’t think there’s a more charming actor alive than George Clooney, I was very lucky he said yes.

What would have happened if he never accepted?

Jason Reitman: It’s funny you know I had been writing this for 6 years, I told his agent I’m a week or month away from finishing this screenplay but in the middle of that I’m going to Italy on vacation with my wife, so he said if your gonna go to Italy you might as well just go and see him, I said that sounds like an awful idea, I don’t want to see him if he hates my screenplay, he says no no go and see him, he’d love to see you, so I said I’ll send him the screenplay and if he enjoys it I’ll certainly drop by, so I get to Italy and I call up his agent and say did he like it? He says go see him, so we drive there and one of the first things he asks me is what are you working on these days? I said there’s a screenplay called Up In The Air, he says OH I got that, I’ve got to find that, I’ve got to read that.  So for 2 days my wife and I stayed at his home and I was just trying to prove I was a man to George Clooney, I played Basketball with him, which I havn’t played since 8^th Grade, I never drink, I tried drinking with George Clooney, finally at the end of the 2^nd day he disappeared for a while and out of nowhere he came into our room and said I just read it, it’s great, I’m in and those words were one of the greatest moments in my career.

One of the fun things about the film was how it balances the darkness of getting fired, to the happiness of these people finding new jobs. The cherry on top was the song at the end of the credits, how did that come about?

Jason Reitman: That was a bit of dumb luck, after Juno I had gotten used to teenagers sending me songs, with the idea of them appearing in my films. I had been speaking at a college in St. Louis where we had been shooting and a man in his mid 50s came to me with the song, that was unusual. So he handed me a cassette tape,  first of all I had to find a place to listen to it, eventually we found a car with a cassette deck and I was really ready for something ridiculous but instead came in this voice which is in the credits, he introduced himself, explained how he had lost his job after a decade or so and was now in the middle of his life trying to figure out his purpose in life, he then started to sing the song, it’s not the greatest song ever written but it’s an authentic song. I guess my feeling was we’re in one of the worst recessions on record in America, but we really have no experience with who these people are, they just are seen as numbers and percentages but here was a guy who sang very authentically about how he felt about it, I thought what could be a better tribute than to end the movie with this song. I knew half way through listening to it, this is gonna be in the credits.

Up In The Air is in cinemas January 15th

I recently caught up with Clive Owen, (Closer, Sin City, Inside Man, Children Of Men) who gives an Oscar worthy performance in The Boys Will Are Back, one of the most honest depictions of family life and grief I’ve seen in film. Check out the synopsis and my interview below.

Based on the acclaimed memoir by Simon Carr, The Boys are Back in Town, Academy Award® nominee Scott Hicks (Shine) directs Miramax Films’ THE BOYS ARE BACK, inspired by the poignant, comic and uplifting true story of a man who must suddenly raise his two sons alone. After the untimely passing of his second wife, the ill-prepared Joe (Clive Owen) is confronted with the daily challenges of parenthood, while coping not only with his own loss but also with his young son Artie’s expressions of grief. They soon are joined by Harry, Joe’s teenage son from his first marriage, who brings his own personal “baggage” into the mix.

Your performance in this is great, it seems to me this is the most emotional part you’ve ever played, was that what attracted you to the part?

Clive Owen: It was a very beautiful script, I was taken when I read the script. I thought it was unusual in it’s delicacy and intelligence in exploring these relationships, it wasn’t obvious or overly sentimental, it was very delicate and precise. I found it terribly moving. I’m a father myself and parenting is a huge part of my life, when reading the script and getting to the part when he has to tell his boys their mother might not be around for much longer I found it deeply upsetting, just the whole idea of that conversation, then there was this beautiful exploration of both grief and parenting from a guys perspective, it was never heavy or sentimental it was just beautifully written.

When your a doing a film like this, that does have so much emotion and such a journey, there is a chance it will become sentimental or gloopy, I think to the films credit it never felt like that for me, was it hard to keep away from that?

Clive Owen: Scott Hicks and I, the first time we met we were both adamant that we didn’t want to make that kind of film. Personally from my point of view I’ve seen lot’s of family movies, where the family is in this lovely warm bubble and even when things get tough, it stays lovely and sweet, family’s aren’t like that, it’s much more volatile than that, this was a script and project that dealt with it more realistically.

I was always more interested in the times when it was tougher in the film for instance when Artie has the tantrum in the car, I have been in situations like that with my children, I think kids pre 8 or 9 are kind of crazy and manic obsessive and they go into their funks and you have to try and get them out of it, as a parent I could really relate to that scene, I wanted it to be really hard for my character, because all parents will relate. If this was a big hollywood movie, with lot’s of producers caring what would be done, people would worry about the likeability of the character or why are they being so mean to each other, it’s not bad parenting in those situations and I was confident as a parent people would relate to it, they have been in those experiences, it’s not bad parenting, that’s just the up’s and down’s of bringing up children, it was something that was very well explored in the script and which I thought we should keep to as much as possible.

It’s rare that a film like this is from from a man’s point of view.

Clive Owen: Yeah, added to that it’s a memoir based on somebody’s life, those things happened, it’s not a nice idea for a film, it’s all drawn from real experience.

You have so many different types of roles in the films you pick, is that on purpose?

Clive Owen: I don’t set out, I think at the end of the day my career is made up of all my individual choices I’ve made, it is literally an instinctive response, I respond to the material, I read Shoot Em Up and laughed all the way through and thought I want to do that film, it’s crazy and I read this script and I’m interested in it for other reasons. I trained in the theatre, which is all about playing lots of different parts, I enjoy exploring different aspects of myself in the films and people have said to me this film is quite a departure, I never saw it as that but enough people have told me now, I’ve got to accept it.

I’m a parent and being a parent is a big part of my life so I recognised and felt I had similar experiences to a lot of things in the movie, so it felt reasonably familiar, I didn’t have the tragic loss but in terms of the up’s and down’s of parenting I felt I experienced a few of them, at the end of the day it’s all about responding to the material and wanting to work with the director that’s what dictates my decision.

The Boys Are Back is released in the UK January 22nd

Today’s been a real slow day for news, this is the best I’ve got! New poster for two possible Oscar contenders. Above is the new poster for Tom Ford’s overly stylish A Single Man which stars Colin Firth, Julianne Moore and Matthew Goode. A lot of critics have been heaping praise on this film, I myself watched it at the London Film Festival and wasn’t blown away by it. It was a bit too much style over substance for me, visually yes it was stunning, but for me it didn’t have the emotion to back it up, especially considering the story. It felt like I was watching an extended cigarette advert.

I can’t take anything away from Colin Firth though he was phenomenal and is deserving of all the praise he’s been getting. For a debut Tom Ford done brilliantly as well. The film is a very good film just not a great film in my eyes.

Fashion designer Tom Ford makes his directorial debut with this dramatic outing starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, and Matthew Goode. Ford and David Scearce adapted the story from a book by Christopher Isherwood, which tells the tragic tale of a professor’s loss of his longtime partner.

If you’ve read my blog you’ve probably  learnt of mydeep seated hatred for musicals, I really do hate them………alot!  This film looks like it could be an exception, Daniel Day Lewis is my favorite actor of the last 15 years, every performance I’ve seen him in he’s been amazing, the rest of the cast is chock full of talent, 6 Oscar winner in Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, and Sofia Loren.

Nine tells the story of Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis), a world famous film director as he confronts an epic mid-life crisis with both creative and personal problems. He must balance the many women of his life, including his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his film star muse (Nicole Kidman), his confidant and costume designer (Judi Dench), an American fashion journalist (Kate Hudson), the whore from his youth (Fergie) and his mother (Sophia Loren).

Crazy Heart has a nice Oscar Buzz about it, the cast is great – Jeff Bridges, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robert Duvall and Colin Farrell, add the fact that everyone no matter how old you are loves a story on redemption. The film is adapted from Thomas Cobb’s Book of the same name and  the film has been bumped up to a December release in the states to make sure that it is in contention for the Oscars in February. The trailer should be released the next few days. Check out the trailer below!

Bad Blake is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who’s had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can’t help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean, a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician. Bad also becomes the mentor to a contemporary country star, Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell), while simultaneously struggling in the rising young crooner’s shadow.

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin have been signed up to host the 82nd Academy Awards just days after the rival Golden Globes named Ricky Gervais as its host.”We think the team of Steve and Alec are the perfect pair of hosts for the Oscars,” said producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman. “Steve will bring the experience of having hosted the show in the past and Alec will be a completely fresh personality for this event.” Both Baldwin and Martin are starring in the same comedy this holiday season – It’s Complicated. Steve Martin presented the Oscars in 2003 and 2001, and received an Emmy nomination for the first of those appearances. Mr. Baldwin, a film and television actor, has never hosted the show, but he received an Oscar nomination as best supporting actor in 2004 for his role in “The Cooler.”

To be honest I don’t really like Alec Baldwin he seems like a bit of a douche, Steve Martin can be funny at times but he’s a bit over the hill for me. According to reports Robert Downey Jnr and Ben Stiller were offered the job but declined, I think they would have been a much better pairing. They need to get Stephen Colbert to host it!!!