Whiskey Rocks, Clooney Rocks

The adventure of Ernest Shackleton and his men was already one of the most wonderful events in history. There is a little movie about it, which is an utter delight.

Now the whole thing has gotten even more amazing. They have discovered two cases of whiskey that Shackleton and his crew accidentally left behind in Antarctica.

The 100-year-old bottles are encased in ice. They are going to cut them free. Someone, I pray, will sample the whiskey. Too awesome.

…George Clooney’s “Up in the Air” is not to be recommended for most audiences. On the other hand, it is one of the most heart-breaking movies I have ever seen.

“Make no mistake. We all die alone,” Ryan Bingham says. He is a monk of a frequent flier. (A lot of the time.)

In the end, he gets crushed. Then he strides on.

I didn’t think they knew how to make movies end this exquisitely. (Then again, “Juno” ended pretty well, too. Same director.)

“Up in the Air” also opens with an unbelievably fun song.

…Either there is a heaven up there, above the jet-trails, or, as Bingham puts it, “there is no point.”

“Tonight…most people will sleep. The stars will wheel forth from their daytime hiding places, crowning their neighborhood with lights…” So goes Bingham’s closing elegy on solitude.

In fact, there IS a heaven up there, where the angels make the stars wheel.

The way there is: to follow the solitary man who was crushed for our offenses and rose again from the dead.