This issue, movies on DVD are coming by air and by sea.

Up in the Air

(Now Available, R)

"Who the (blank) are you?!" That's a question you would get asked a lot if you were Ryan Bingham (George Clooney). He specializes in traveling the country to fire employees when bosses don't want to themselves. Ryan's technique is notable because he puts a positive spin on the situation. He's fond of the phrase, "Everyone who ever changed the world or built an empire sat where you're sitting right now." Given his successful sideline as a motivational speaker, it only makes sense that Ryan would pitch this to the newly unemployed.

Given the constant travel and almost no contact with people in a positive frame of mind, Ryan is understandably isolated. He likes it this way, or so he tells himself.

The only thing that Ryan seems to truly care about is reaching 10 million frequent flyer miles. They're not to go anywhere, really.

"The point," he explains, "is the miles."

While on his journeys he meets a like-minded woman named Alex (Vera Farmiga, "The Departed"). They bond over wanting nothing serious and thus begins a casual relationship built around figuring out when they're next scheduled to be at the same airport.

Things change for Ryan when his firm hires a young woman on the go. Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick) plans to revolutionize firing people by having the firm's employees stay home. The solution is to perform layoffs via video conferencing. Ryan is disgusted, telling his boss (Jason Bateman) that, "There's a dignity to the way I do it." Surprisingly this line doesn't come off as a cynical joke. Ryan truly means it and from what we've seen we can't help but agree.

His boss decides that Ryan has a point and, due to Natalie's inexperience, the two are sent on a training run across the country. Ryan's going to show Natalie what firing people is really all about.

Co-written and directed by Jason Reitman ("Thank You For Smoking"), "Up in the Air" is funnier than its subject matter would suggest and sadder than its trailer would lead you to believe. The role of Ryan Bingham is tailor-made for Clooney, but he's far from coasting here. He gives one of his finest performances as a man who's never truly connected with anyone and is just now figuring out how lonely that isolation really is.

What is interesting about the performance and the film as a whole is how we see that Ryan is not only unable to commit to a romantic relationship, he has no real friendships, and even his family feels like strangers. It's hard to imagine any actor but Clooney making such a character relatable, let alone likeable.

Kendrick meanwhile gives a breakout performance as a young woman who, like so many in their twenties, is obsessed with the idea of living on a timeline. "I'm 23 years old, I'm supposed to be driving a Range Rover by now." In one of the best scenes in any movie of 2009, Natalie, Ryan, and Alex discuss life and the idea of timelines.

Reitman has fashioned a movie that is as timely as it is good. It's so timely, in fact, that many of the people we see getting fired are not actors. They were people who recently lost their jobs and were given the chance on camera to either re-create their on-the-spot reaction or to say what they wish they would have said to the person letting them go.

There are moments in "Up in the Air" that I related to and others that reminded me of the struggles of people close to me. Any movie that can do that and still entertain is pretty special.

Believe everything you've heard, this is one of the best movies of 2009. Not to be missed. 10/10.

Pirate Radio

(Avail 4/13, R)

In 1966 rock music could not be heard on "legitimate" British radio. But in the golden age of rock'n'roll, passionate music fans took to the seas to broadcast the Kinks, the Who, and the Rolling Stones. "Pirate Radio" is the story of one such boat.

We are introduced to the crew through the eyes of young Carl (Tom Sturridge). For some reason his mother thought sending him to a ship peopled with fun-loving DJs with virtually no morals or responsibility will put Carl on the straight and narrow path he's been veering from.

The head of this crew is an American known as The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman). His crew includes DJs Dave (Nick Frost, "Hot Fuzz"), Bob (Ralph Brown, "Withnail and I"), Angus (Rhys Darby, "Flight of the Conchords"), and Simon (Chris O'Dowd), among others. Carl's godfather Quentin (Bill Nighy, "Love Actually") seems to be the closest thing the ship has to a voice of reason, and Carl believes that Quentin may in fact be his father.

Carl and the crew have an awful lot of fun rocking "all day and all of the night" but the good times are in danger due to bitter rock-hating government man, Alistair Dormandy (Kenneth Branagh).

Sadly, the fun these characters are having rarely spreads to the audience. Writer-director Richard Curtis, who so wonderfully balanced several characters and storylines with "Love Actually," just never gets into a real rhythm with "Pirate Radio." The performances, save an overly villainous Kenneth Branagh, are uniformly good. Hoffman makes the Count a more fascinating character than the script seems to allow. The real standout here is O'Dowd, playing almost the polar opposite of his "IT Crowd" character. Also, late in the film there is an appearance by Emma Thompson as Carl's mother and as a rule, everything's better with Emma Thompson.

Still, "Pirate Radio" just doesn't capture the spirit of the legendary music of the mid-sixties or of these characters who love it so much. It's a shame because Curtis knows how to be great. He just isn't here. 5/10.