(“Dude, what’d he say?”  “I dunno, I think he wants you to stuff your wife in a backpack.”  “Why?”  “Because she’s too heavy.”)

Up in the Air is the kind of movie that sneaks up on you.  I reported the award nominations, I felt the buzz, but I could never figure how a film about a yuppie asswipe trying to rack up frequent flier miles could ever be more than a mild amusement — even if he was played by a handsome all-American with great hair and a voice that could charm the panties off a Jehova’s Witness.  Even forty minutes into the movie, the most complimentary description that came to mind was “slick.”  But sure enough, by the time the credits rolled, there I was with my panties around my ankles.  (so to speak)*

In Jason Reitman’s third feature as a director (after Thank You For Smoking, Juno), George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a corporate consultant who specializes in firing people and revels in the kind of single-serving lifestyle that makes Edward Norton’s Fight Club character pray for death.  The ladies in his life are Vera Farmiga (The Departed) — fellow traveler, kindred spirit, F buddy; Anna Kendrick (Twilight), the snot-nosed Cornell grad who wants to lower company costs by having Clooney do his firings via video chat (a proposal his boss Jason Bateman is seriously considering); and the two sisters he never sees, one of whom is about to marry Danny McBride (the horror).

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(That Zach Galifianakis would show up to my work and pour bleach in my boss’s coffee was always a dream of mine)

I posted the teaser a while back, and now here’s the full trailer for Up in the Air, from director Jason Reitman (Juno), starring George Clooney and Vera Farmiga.  Hey, am I the only one who constantly misreads her last name as “farm nigga”?  Wait, is that racist?  …I should just drop this, shouldn’t I. It also stars the ever delightful JK Simmons, and has at least a cameo from Zach Galifianakis. I like the director and the cast, but the trailer doesn’t do much to make the story seem interesting.

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Jason Reitman directs movies about every two years, which seems about right for staying relevant without overextending yourself.  This is the first clip from Up in the Air, his follow-up to Juno and Thank You for Smoking (the rare movie adaptation that’s actually better than the book). It’s based on a 2001 Walter Kirn novel about a guy on a personal quest to rack up a million frequent flyer miles.  In the clip, George Clooney and Vera Farmiga talk miles, upgrades, and the latest hotel trend — an atmosphere that is “faux-homey,” or “fauxmey.”  The term seems unnecessary as it relates to travel, but “faux-homey”? I think we’ve finally found the politically correct replacement for “wigger.” Used in a sentence: I went to Ben Lyons’ and Danny Masterson’s DJ show last night, and man can those fauxmeys spin!

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Okay, guys, super spoiler alert.  This is an awesome story, but it will totally ruin the ending of Orphan.  Luckily, we’re talking the Orphan here, not a movie I’d actually pay money to see.  Join me after the jump for the fun!

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