Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal star with opposite personalities in "Brothers." (Flickr/Alessandra Ogeda)

Jake Gyllenhaal has been in serious movies– let’s get that out right from the beginning. “Donnie Darko” and “Jarhead” showed the actor in disturbing and man-on-the-edge-type roles, and let’s not forget he was Oscar-nominated for “Brokeback Mountain.” But for some reason in Hollywood, if you’re just a little too pretty or have a private life that’s just a little too public, your actual talent can sometimes be overlooked, even by extremely observant movie bloggers. But in the current release “Brothers” when we were expecting Tobey Maguire or Natalie Portman to steal the show, Gyllenhaal rose to the top with the best performance to show for the trio.

It’s a heart-wrenching and at-times scary, real story of marriage and family, and not every moviegoer will enjoy “Brothers.” But it’s the real life performances that all of its actors give that make it a solid movie, and also what will certainly lead to multiple Oscar nominations next week. Gyllenhaal and Maguire star as brothers Tommy and Sam, respectively; Tommy is the classic screw-up, released from jail at the start of the story, while Sam is an honorable military man, dedicated to his wife Grace (Portman) and two young daughters.

Zoe Saldana plays Neytiri in "Avatar," but she is never portrayed in the human form. (Flickr/k-ideas)

When James Cameron set out to make “Avatar,” we wonder if he really thought he might ever be able to break his own record. Since 1997, “Titanic” has reigned supreme as the highest grossing movie in the U.S. (fast forward to 1:00 to see how we may have to eat our words from five months ago). At $600 million in box office sales, it seemed like no other film would be able to touch it. When Health Ledger passed away in 2008, “The Dark Knight” became incredibly hyped, and with its tremendous box office success, it appeared that it might…just…finally…surpass… “Titanic”… But no. It stopped short at $533 million. And then came “Avatar.”

Around the world, “Avatar” has already earned $1.8 billion (yes, we said BILLION). To give you some perspective on that, the GDP of Bhutan was $3.8 billion in 2008, and that’s a 15,000 square mile country with a population of 700,000 people living and working every day. And sales for “Avatar” haven’t shown signs of slowing down yet; it’s still at number one, and it’s only been in theaters for six weeks. At this point the question isn’t really if “Avatar” will surpass “Titanic.” The question is when, and by how much money.

So…you’ve seen it already, right? We know this is a movie review and all, but we’re six weeks behind the eight ball, so we’re pretty sure everyone knows just about everything about this crazy-hyped, excessive-earning flick. But for those still living under a rock, we’ll catch you up to speed.

Anna Kendrick stars opposite George Clooney as Natalie Kenner. (Flickr/twilight foxdie)

Every year around Christmas, Oscar-type movies begin to be released in theaters. Sure, there’s always the occasional “Moulin Rouge!” (released June 1, 2001) or “Crash” (released May 6, 2005)– the flicks released in spring or summer that everyone forgets about until they’re nominated for a long list of Oscars come January. And this year, with an anticipated 10 films to be nominated for best picture, there are bound to be a few of those surprises. But when George Clooney releases a movie around this time of year, you can bet on a sure thing: “Up in the Air” will most definitely be nominated for a slew of Academy Awards.

It’s not your typical Clooney movie of the past five years; Oscar lovelies like “Good Night, and Good Luck” (2005), “Syriana” (2005) and “Michael Clayton” (2007) all have a distinct tension built-in, where our main characters are often escaping for their lives. “Up in the Air,” although centered around the very depressing topic of unemployment, is a light film on the surface, filled with funny quips and beautiful people flirting with each other. But of course, with any really Oscar-worthy movie, there’s a deeper meaning there, and a special quality to the characters that makes you reflect on your own life.

Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a well-dressed, well-travelled businessman, whose profession is firing people all over the country– his firm does the work that ordinary bosses don’t want to do. He may be based in Omaha, in a desolate, junior one-bedroom apartment, but his real home is in fancy hotels and in business class on the friendly skies. He travels more than 300 days out of the year, and as a self-described fanatic of airline and hotel miles, he loves every minute of it. But his very existence is threatened when young Natalie Keener (portrayed by relative-newcomer Anna Kendrick) arrives on the scene; her innovate idea of teleconference firings could save the company millions of dollars by keeping employees like Ryan regularly grounded in Omaha. Bossman Craig Gregory (Jason Bateman) likes the idea, but is willing to let Ryan take Natalie out on the road (or in this case, the skies) to show her the traditional way of face-to-face firings before he commits to an overarching, company-changing decision. As their business trip goes on, these two seemingly opposite personalities learn from each other, and begin to take a look inside their own hearts to understand exactly how they’ve gotten to this place in life.

And so, “Up in the Air” turns into a story about self-examination. What face do you show to the world, and how does it differ from who you truly are on the inside? Do you really have a passion for your career, or is it just something you’re damn good at? And most importantly, what are you running from? Every character in “Up in the Air” seems to be running from something– a life that could get boring if you stay at home, the idea of being single– or married– but mainly just from reality. And facing reality can often be the most difficult challenge in a world filled with luxury hotels and fat paychecks.

Vera Farmiga (“The Departed”) gives a dynamite performance as Alex Goran, Ryan’s female counterpart in the world of jet-setting, and Zach Galifianakis (“The Hangover”) is easy to relate to as regular man Steve, soon-to-be Ryan’s brother-in-law. Kendrick gives the most surprising performance though; at just 24-years-old and better known as Jessica in the teen-beloved “Twilight Saga,” an Oscar-worthy performance from her was one of the last things we expected. But “Up in the Air” is sure to be nominated for more than just its acting; based on a 2001 novel of the same name and with a perfectly-composed score and a soundtrack that matches the film’s tone, adapted screenplay and music nominations would be well-deserved.

But perhaps the best part of the movie (other than the fact that Farmiga is Ukrainian and from New Jersey– shout-out to my Grandma) is Ryan’s self-realization that sometimes you’re not really running from anything at all. Or, sometimes running is okay, because it’s the momentum that defines who you are, and there doesn’t have to be anything wrong with that. Some people know what they want, and others only think they do. But in the end, it doesn’t matter what your boss, or your sister, or your young colleague tells you you should want; all that matters is actually taking a look inside; you might realize you’re already quite happy with what’s there.

And for all this, we’re happy with “Up in the Air,” stereotypical of Clooney or not.