George Clooney at the Toronto Film Festival for a screening of "Men Who Stare At Goats."
There are some Hollywood stars that can do no wrong, and George Clooney is one of them. It’s Oscar season and Mr. Clooney has two comedies that could be contenders in the derby for the little golden man. Clooney has been a popular A-List movie star for than a decade with an Oscar win for Best Supporting Actor with his work in Syrianna and being proclaimed as People’s “Sexiest Man Alive” twice.
On November 6, The Men Who Stare At Goats opens in theaters. It’s a comedy based on the book of the same name by Jon Ronson and is about a reporter (played by Ewan McGregor) who investigates members of the military using psychic powers. Grant Heslov, who co-wrote Goodnight, and Good Luck with Clooney, directs the film while Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges co-star along with Clooney and McGregor.
Up in the Air is the other comedy and it opens in limited-release on December 4, and opens wide on Christmas. Clooney plays Ryan Bingham, a business man whose job it is to terminate several employees of the companies that hire him to sunset careers. The film is also an adaptation of a book of the same title, written by Walter Kim. Jason Reitman directs the film and most likely sticks to the genre of thought-provoking and personal comedies, like his past works Juno and Thank You for Smoking.
A comedy hasn’t won the Best Picture category in the Oscars since Annie Hall but Clooney’s two soon-to-be-released films seem to be contenders with pedigree. Maybe George Clooney will be strutting up the Oscar red carpet next year with new arm candy in anticipation for his name to possibly be called up to the stage for his second Academy Award. Clooney is widely admired in Hollywood and the public can’t get enough of him. He seems to be one of the few real-deal movie stars, mixing the debonair mien of Cary Grant and the relatable persona of Paul Newman. Maybe it’s too early to tell if he’ll win an Oscar, but he just may be a contender.
