Inception

courtesy of http://jatufilmrev.wordpress.com

I first saw a trailer for Christopher Nolan’s latest one year ago.  From the moment that I saw the trailer (which, admittedly, didn’t show much of anything), I knew that I just had to see this movie.  I eagerly awaited for the year to pass so that I could see it, and knew that I was going to view it on the day that it opened.

While I am a huge fan of Nolan’s work (I’ve been hooked ever since 2000′s Guy Pearce fronted Memento), I would hesitate to call myself a “fanboy/fangirl” of his.  Nolan’s track record speaks for itself.

Inception stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Cobb, a deeply troubled and complex man who is a corporate spy with the job of gathering/”extracting” (or stealing, if you will) information from the subconscious of powerful people.  He is [self] proclaimed as being the best at what he does.  However, Cobb does not work alone.

He has a partner named Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who is in charge of searching the background of the people whose subconscious Cobb will enter.  If there is a security risk, Arthur knows about it and together, he and Cobb battle to get their goods.

Where the story begins is in the middle of a job that Cobb is doing on a very powerful businessman named Saito (Ken Watanabe).  Saito is so impressed with Cobb that he ropes him into doing a big, nearly impossible job called, (you may have guessed it) inception.

What inception is, is to plant an idea into the subconscious mind of someone and have them believe that they came to the idea naturally.  Who Saito wants Cobb to “incept” is the son of a very powerful business tycoon who is soon to have an untouchable monopoly, named Fischer (Cillian Murphy).  In the natural progression of things, there is a lot of arguing back and forth over whether it can be done and the risks involved.

Naturally, they agree to it.

Cobb then formulates a very powerful team of “inceptors” and they hatch a plan for how to make the scheme work, successfully.  There is a lot of emotional extortion involved, as well as some devious three-part, lucid dream scheming.  No stone is left unturned.

Inception is a beautifully choreographed film of epic proportions.  The dream world is breathtaking, and at times you’re not really sure if the world you’re in actually exists.  It is a visually stunning mix of real stunts and real moving sets seamlessly blended with CGI-effects.  In fact, the CGI is so impeccable, that you never feel as though you’re in some cartoony space.

It takes a while to get into the characterization of the people – presumably because the filmmakers first want the viewers to get accustomed to the world of dreams.  The pacing is such that one never feels rushed or forced into grasping concepts and motivations, and is very deliberate.  Ultimately, you find yourself vested in every character, and wanting the job to succeed.

Christopher Nolan orchestrates a beautiful and virtually flawless script that does very well to depict the world of lucid dreams.  In fact, Nolan’s script and visuals work so well that the entire audience was captivated into silence for the full 148 minute run-time.  It is definitely a must-see, groundbreaking film that will be talked about for a very long time.

The Book of Eli

courtesy of www.overone.biz

Yesterday, I decided to have a “Tom Waits double feature”.    The first movie of the two was the Hughes Brothers’ The Book of Eli.  I remember first seeing the trailer at my viewing of Zombieland, and thinking, “this just looks like ‘I Am Legend’ but with more people.” Boy was I off.

Denzel Washington stars as Eli, a lone wanderer going to an undisclosed location (“West.”) in post-apocalyptic California.  Along the way, he has the occasional fight, kills a cat, eats it, feeds a bit to a mouse, and listens to his iPod.  He’s gruff, he’s tough.  He’s a loner.

While on his path, he comes to a post-apocalyptic town that resembles a town from a western, except where there would be a saloon, you see a faded “J. Crew” (there’s product placement all over this sucker).  While in town, he visits the local electrician (Tom Waits) to get his battery pack re-charged (can’t listen to that iPod without it!).  While waiting for the charging to be complete, he wanders over to the bar for some liquid refreshment – water (“that’s the good stuff”).

You see, in post-apocalyptic California (possibly the world), it’s extremely dry, hasn’t rained in decades, the water is scarce and there’s no soap.  This is the driving force behind the insanity of so many.  Though, I guess I’d be pretty loony myself, if I had to be dehydrated and stinky all the time… but, I digress.

So Eli walks into a bar, asks for some water; bartender says, “it’ll cost ya!”  And boy, does it!  It turns out, J. Crew town is run by a man named Carnegie (Gary Oldman).  He’s old, loves his books, and is searching for the right one (the bible) that’ll give him world domination.  It just so happens that Eli is the one who is in possession of that book (the bible).

There’s a large bar fight, Carnegie attempts to recruit Eli, Eli declines and wanders off to continue his mission.  Oh, also along the way, a young woman named Solara (Mila Kunis) decides that she wants to tag along with him.  You see, she and her mother, Claudia (Jennifer Beals) are Carnegie’s “kept” women, and Eli can provide safety and get her out of that mess.

There are more hijinks – Solara gets knocked around and nearly raped, Eli saves her; Solara and Eli run into some cannibals, a fight breaks out; Carnegie’s men track Eli, Solara gets in the middle of it.  Carnegie gets Eli’s book (the bible); Eli and Solara come to their destination.

Ending is left open for a sequel (The Book of Eli 2: The Wrath of Solara).

It was a choppy, poorly written mess with a single agenda: propagate Christianity.  You see, the new world is without religion, and is full of people who can’t read.  The only ones who are literate are the ones who hung around from the old world.  All along the way, Eli prays (before meals, after kills, before bed, upon waking, etc etc etc) and Solara wants to know what the deal is.  Eli also gives a lovely little speech about being so engrossed in protecting the bible, that he forgets to act like a Christian.

Carnegie wants the bible because he knows that people “need something to follow” and will come all over for the words that are “in that book!”.  Therefore, if he has possession of the book, he’s pretty much guaranteed world domination.  He’ll run a number of towns, open a few churches, et voila!

I give Denzel, Gary, Tom, and even Jennifer credit.  They tried hard to put powerhouse performances behind their poorly written characters.  Mila Kunis, well… she was there.  In the end, the film wasn’t terribly engaging and felt much too preachy.  The characters weren’t properly characterized and were as desolate as the backdrop in which they lived.

District 9

Courtesy of thecia.com

District 9 is the newest sci-fi movie to hit theatres thus far.  It is about a population of aliens that get stranded on Earth – specifically in Johannesburg, S. Africa, and the government agency that deals with them.

Although this film is a sci-fi suspense/thriller about aliens invading Earth, the manner in which it’s written is almost believable, and you wouldn’t think it so much of a stretch – at least, not from a humanistic perspective.

MNU (Multi National United), a government agency put into action to handle the alien situation sends one of its best agents (and by best, I mean naive), Wikus Van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley) to handle the increasingly hostile situation between the citizens of Johannesburg – who want the aliens gone, and the citizens of District 9.  MNU’s plan is to ship the District 9 aliens off to a secluded camp-like area called District 10 – just outside of Nigeria.  Upon going into District 9 (with his camera crew and militia) to serve the aliens eviction notices, Wikus runs into trouble (naturally).

The film is shot in mockumentary style where we meet Wikus as he is preparing for his alien-eviction adventure and the people around him.  We watch as MNU schemes and plots its way through experimentation and arms confiscation; the citizens of Johannesburg exploit their new found alien neighbors; and the members of MNU attempt to explain and justify wrongs done by the corporation.  In the midst of all this, we meet the aliens – in particular, a father (Christopher Johnson) and his son who merely want to leave Earth and go back home.

This film was a good mish-mash of drama, action, comedy, sci-fi, and suspense all rolled into one.  Naturally, the film had its flaws, but it was well-scripted and well-acted, so it’s easy to forgive its flaws.  A good popcorn film, for sure.

Not for the weak-stomached who can’t handle people being blown up.

‘Inglourious Basterds’

Courtesy of iwatchstuff.com

This was a great film weekend for me, in that I got to see three extremely different movies.  The first being Tarantino’s newest installment into his collection, Inglourious Basterds [sic].

This (much like all of his films) is very much a Tarantino film.  I feel that that should be something that is known first and foremost.  Therefore, if you don’t like Tarantino, you probably won’t like this movie.

‘Inglourious Basterds’ is set in 1940′s Nazis-invaded France.  In addition to the film telling you that it is in France, the setting itself is very French.  The film opens with “Chapter One” (much like how ‘Kill Bill’ was done in chapters, ‘Basterds’ is as well) and a shot of the beautiful French countryside.

It is here that we immediately meet Perrier LaPadite (Denis Menochet) and his three lovely daughters.  It is also here that we realize that, unlike most American-made films set in different countries, the characters aren’t going to be speaking English (I don’t know about you, but I think that Mr. Tarantino deserves a “bravo!” for that, alone.) – therefore, if you don’t like to read subtitles, don’t see this film.

As quickly as we are introduced to our surroundings and first characters, we are introduced the film’s villain – Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz).  Nicknamed “The Jew Hunter”, he works as a detective for the SS and terrorizes both Jews in hiding as well as the people who hide them.  But remember, this is a Tarantino film, so if you expect to outright hate Landa, you are mistaken.

When Col. Landa initially comes on screen, the dialogue begins in French for a good 15 -20 minutes (maybe?) and then effortlessly (and slyly) switches to English.  The audience may be under the impression that it is done to appease us, however it is nicely written into the script as a ploy put on by the very clever Col. Landa.

It is also in this chapter that we first meet the film’s main antagonist, Shosanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent) – a Jewish woman whose family is killed by Landa and his men.

Before I move on to the next chapter, I would like to time-out and discuss dialogue.  As a fan of Tarantino’s work, I don’t mind his very manic manner of speaking nor that it carries over into the way that his characters speak.  After all, whenever I’m watching one of his films, it gives me an opportunity to see what goes on in his head (I’m a psych major, what can I say?  I like that stuff).  This film, while dialogue heavy, is a very toned down and not anywhere near as manic as Tarantino’s typical dialogue.  I don’t know if it was because of the subject matter, the foreign languages, or the fact that doing it in chapters gave the film more focus – but, it is done quite well.

I also want to note that I have read countless reviews that have complained about this film being “advertised as action when it’s not”.  I would like to address that, as well.  I think of action in a number of ways – there are your “summer Hollywood blockbusters” which are chock full of explosions and are very loud; there are your horror/slasher movies which are chock full of teenagers running around and getting hacked to bits; and there are your films with a lot of verbal action.  To me, this was an action film, but the characters sparred verbally rather than physically.  You can’t build the kind of tension that this film did without well-written dialogue.  I don’t know about everyone else, but Landa’s speech about he being a hawk and the Jews being the rats, and the way he toyed with LaPadite was some of the best on-screen tension I’ve experienced in a while.

Moving right along to “Chapter 2″ which introduces us to “The Basterds” – a regime of angry Jewish (mostly American) soldiers who  are on a mission to kill Nazis and are led by Lieutenant Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt).  Lt. Raine is a southern, quick-tongued, witty man with a goal.  The Basterds at the forefront are Sgt. Donny Donowitz (“The Bear Jew” played by Eli Roth), Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz (Til Schweiger), and Private Omar Ulmer (Omar Doom).  Together, they strike fear into the Nazis – particularly “The Bear Jew” who is known for beating Nazis soldiers to death with a baseball bat.

If you’ll recall from the trailer, Lt. Raine wants “100 Nazis scalps” from each of his eight men.  Tarantino doesn’t spare us the opportunity to see the men collect the scalps.  I suppose most people saw this as gory – I wasn’t one of them.  But, if stuff like this bothers you – don’t see this film.

Chapter two gives you your usual Tarantino – dorky, “tough guy” characters that you love to watch and laugh at.  A highlight being after The Bear Jew bashes in a skull, and runs around screaming as if he just hit a home-run in an actual baseball stadium.

“Chapter three” reintroduces us to Shosanna years after her family’s demise.  She now owns and runs a movie theatre that she’s inherited from an aunt (I’ve read reviews that said it’s never explained how she comes to own the movie theatre, but I thought it was very obviously explained several times… oh well.) where she screens German propaganda films.  One night, while changing the marquee, a German soldier/hero named Frederick Zoller (Daniel Bruhl) becomes enamored with her and seeks her out everywhere she goes.  As a result of his fondness, she meets Joseph Goebbels (Sylvester Groth) and his French mistress/translator, Francesca Mondino (Julie Dreyfus) and they choose her theatre to do a private screening of their latest propaganda film (which also stars Zoller).

This chapter also puts Shosanna and Landa back together when he comes to meet with her in order to discuss the security measures that will be taken for the screening at  her theatre.  It is in this scene, again, that tension and suspense are built – this time, simply by having Landa order her a glass of milk to go with her strudel.

Chapters 3, 4, and 5 I won’t discuss at great depth, as they involve scheming and revenge getting at their finest.  You will simply have to see the film to find out what else happens.

This film was Tarantino at his finest, and possibly even his most focused.  This is easily one of his best films, in my opinion.  I would highly recommend it (except for… you know, if you fall into the above categories that I told to not see this film).