Poster for Up In The Air (from Wikipedia)
Although the film will not arrive in theaters until Christmas Day, Up In The Air was shown to a sold-out crowd at the Tivoli Theatre in St. Louis, Missouri, on Saturday, November 14. The special screening was the marquee event of the St. Louis International Film Festival.
The movie, shot in St. Louis during spring 2009 and starring George Clooney, tells the story of a corporate downsizing expert (Clooney) whose love of life on the road is challenged when he meets the seeming woman of his dreams (Vera Farmiga) just as he's on the cusp of realizing an achievement he's obsessed about: accumulating 10 million frequent-flyer miles.
The film also features Twilight’s Anna Kendrick and Justin Bateman in supporting roles.
The film’s director, Jason Reitman (Juno and Thank You For Smoking), attended the St. Louis screening and offered that the city was an ideal place to shoot because it was not a "usual suspect" movie location. He opined:
There isn't a lot of shooting that happens here and because of that it's a very original city to put on film. There's a lot of locations I felt had never been shot before. Of course, for people from St. Louis they're going to recognize places like the Cheshire Inn and some of the neighborhoods."
Anyone familiar with The Cheshire Lodge and Inn should, indeed, recognize the quirky St. Louis landmark accommodation. (See the slideshow below and judge for yourself if it deserves the "quirky" label.) With the help of some fake snow last April, the lodge appears in the movie as a snow-covered Wisconsin chalet-style hotel.
Up In The Air includes footage from 80 different sets at 50 locations throughout the St. Louis area, including Concourse D of Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark, Hilton St. Louis Airport, Affton High School and Mansion House Apartments.
Presently, Up In The Air has a Rotten Tomatoes 100% “Fresh” rating (based on 20 reviews), and it will likely be a serious contender in this year's awards competitions.
Don’t miss the Cheshire Lodge artwork in the ninth image. It's an original, that's for sure! Some of the photographers' comments are "priceless," too. Enjoy!
Comments
Pretty much any movie with Clooney in it will be popular.
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