With the deluge of rain and freezing wind masquerading as a Springtime in fair Portland, I’ve been doing a lot of DVD watching. The Men Who Stare At Goats was a comedy I had been looking forward to. It was funny, though not as funny as I had hoped…the premise of the film being the time, money and development of psychic and intuitive powers being supported and developed by a branch of the army in an attempt to learn to destroy with the powers of the mind. I liked Clooney’s character a lot, as well as Jeff Bridges…the strange fact the director chose was getting Ewan MacGregor to narrate his tale as a journalist unfolding the story with an obviously pained American accent. Why not get an American to do that, or better yet, no narration at all?

Additionally, I just rented Up In The Air, a tale in which George Clooney’s job is flying around the nation and firing people, freelance. He feels at home on airplanes, in hotel rooms, removed, isolated and alone. He feels comforted in the knowledge that that he’s off to the next destination with no one to worry about but himself. Suddenly he meets the sexy, free-spirited and equally jet-set Alex, and the sparks truly fly. A visit home for his sister’s wedding brings out some surprising emotions and later, a twist.