george clooney

Ever since Clint Eastwood brought a soul of regret to the old retired gunslinger in Unforgiven, it’s become the “in-thing” to portray characters later on in questionable careers feeling regret and the impossibility of redemption as they look back at their own lives.

There's an irony in Rafe ranting about the need for an intelligence-based rating system in an episode that gets its title from his confusion over episode numbers last week. Still, it's a way of rating movies that's worth a consideration.

Initially, Up in the Air carried no appeal for me. Despite high praise from just about everyone I know in the movie community, the movie looked like standard Oscar fodder, with an unimpressive ad campaign.

It's an episode so long we couldn't possibly cram it into our traditional hourlong format (a technical malfunction with the timer notwithstanding). Inside you'll hear reviews of Sherlock Holmes, Up in the Air, and Family Guy: Something, Something, Something Darkside, as well as the finish of James Cameron month with Strange Days and True Lies.

How much of The Men Who Stare at Goats is real is up for debate. The movie wisely opens with the statement that more of it is based in truth than many of us would believe.