Nebraska

Review by Bob Ignizio

Shot in dingy “indie” black and white (as opposed to silvery “classic Hollywood” black and white), Alexander Payne's NEBRASKA is a dramedy/road movie about an old man (Bruce Dern) trying to hold on to the last shreds of his dignity and independence while the son who barely knows him (Will Forte) aids and abets his old man on a foolish quest in the hopes of finding some sort of connection before it's too late. It's a premise that proves fertile ground for both laughs and pathos, and seems almost certain to collect a good number of awards season nominations (and very possibly some wins). The best part is that it manages to do all this without resorting to artificial sentimentality.

The Descendants

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

THE DESCENDANTS, okay, that's another live-action Marvel comic-book adaptation right? I think it's the one that teams up Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Fly Girl (or was it Fishnet-Woman in a DC Infinite-Universes crossover?) and Captain USA, and they were always fighting against Kang the Conqueror, Dong the Destroyer or Alliteration-o the Annihilator. Right?

No, that's Defenders, I know. Still hard to acclimatize to the fact that as the end of the year draws nigh we actually get some grownup movies in the theaters, for Oscar cred. Many seem to star George "never again do Batman" Clooney, and THE DESCENDANTS is one of this year's. It's one of those most ill-regarded of genres, the Male Weepie, a type of movie that even the great Leslie Nielsen ever got around to spoofing. Chicks on girls-nite-out can have their TERMS OF ENDEARMENT and BEACHES; we guys get to occasionally watch Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford or Clooney take a hiatus from the actioners to bear up under the travails of trying to save their farms/families/dying jock teammates.