I don't know about you but I have to say this has been a so-so summer for movies. I'm so used to movies coming out every week that get you excited about, it's what we've come to expect from summer movies. Mind you that I have seen some good movies but not enough, that was until I saw Inception. This was a movie I've been waiting for since I heard it was to be Christopher Nolan's next film. Christopher Nolan is one of the best filmmakers out there, I've enjoyed all of his films and I know it's a short list but he's more than proved himself.
Inception is a story about dreams and a group who go into your dreams and extract your ideas while in the dream state. That is until they are asked to implant an idea into someones dream which is called inception. I'm purposely being vague about the story because I don't want to spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it yet.
The movie stars Leo DiCaprio as Cobb, the leader of the group and Joseph Gordon Levitt as Arthur his right hand man. It also has Ellen Page as Ariadne the architect, Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy as the intended target and Marion Cotillard as Mal.
The movie is an action adventure but with brains, it's a movie you need to pay attention to because if you don't you could get lost, mind you that might still happen even after the movie ends.
Leo gives one of the best performances I've seen because I think he brings a restraint to the character without going over the top which I think he's done in past performances.
Joseph Gordon Levitt is a tremendous talent one whom I've been watching for some time and he brings a subtlety and strength to his character and if rumors are to be believed I can't wait to see him as the Riddler in the next Batman movie.
Ellen Page showed me a freshness, a naivete of her character something she can definitely build on for future roles. I feel all the characters are strong in this incredible movie.
The set pieces in this film are amazing especially because most if not all are done without CGI, something Christopher Nolan tries to avoid with his movies. Watching the city fold onto itself was incredible and has you wondering how they did that.
The film has similarities to the Matrix but is quite different and is a film that will have to be seen more than once to answer questions as I'm sure you are going to have after watching this great film. My expectations for this film were surpassed and I'm looking forward to watching this film again. I could see this becoming a reality in the not to distant future which is both interesting and scary.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Overrated and underrated performances
Have you ever watched a movie and then read or heard about a certain performance being raved about and thought "Did they watch the same movie I did because they don't know what they're talking about." Well what I want to talk about is both performances I think were overrated and underrated or even missed completely.
I'll start out with overrated and let's start with the obvious Sandra Bullock, I mean, come on, anyone who believes she deserved the Oscar for this performance, we can agree to disagree because this was not the best performance. In fact I shouldn't even be discussing this because it shouldn't have even been nominated, that nomination should have went to Mélanie Laurent from Inglorious Basterds. Watching that scene where she's at the restaurant sharing desert with the man responsible for killing her family and seeing both the disgust and fear of being discovered by this man was incredible. It's performances like these that add to a movie and I didn't see any performances like this in The Blind Side, in fact I can honestly say Sandra's performance in this movie is one I seen by her in most of her movies. Her role in Crash even as small as it was, was a revelation because it was something I haven't seen from her and it felt honest and true.
Anna Kendrick is another one whom I thought was given way too much credit for her role in The Air Up There. She was good but I don't feel her performance deserved the praise it got nor the nomination she got. I don't feel that she added anything more to the movie, in fact I would have given her nomination to and this might surprise people, Mariah Carey. Mariah's Performance in Precious was subtle yet powerful and added to the movie and I can't say the same about Anna's performance which to me could have been played by anyone else. What make Mariah's performance so shocking is look who we're talking about Mariah Carey!
One performance that I don't think gets enough praise is Hilary Swank in Insomnia, it is subtle yet strong and without her performance I don't think the film would be nearly as good. Her hero worship of Al Pacino's character and the discovery of his duplicity and how she chooses to honor him because in the end he's just a man is great stuff.
Noah Taylor is another who wasn't given his just due in the movie Shine, unfortunately Geoffrey Rush gets all the credit because he won the Oscar but it's Noah who did all the hard work. It's watching Noah go from a promising prodigy and that dissent into madness that is incredible stuff.
Heath Ledger in Monster's Ball is another performance that stands out, although small it showed the promise of an up and coming actor at the time. You watch that performance of a young man trying to get the love and respect of his father and the unfortunate outcome, great actor, he's definitely missed.
I could go on about over and under appreciated performances and maybe I will some other time but maybe I given you something to think about for now.
I'll start out with overrated and let's start with the obvious Sandra Bullock, I mean, come on, anyone who believes she deserved the Oscar for this performance, we can agree to disagree because this was not the best performance. In fact I shouldn't even be discussing this because it shouldn't have even been nominated, that nomination should have went to Mélanie Laurent from Inglorious Basterds. Watching that scene where she's at the restaurant sharing desert with the man responsible for killing her family and seeing both the disgust and fear of being discovered by this man was incredible. It's performances like these that add to a movie and I didn't see any performances like this in The Blind Side, in fact I can honestly say Sandra's performance in this movie is one I seen by her in most of her movies. Her role in Crash even as small as it was, was a revelation because it was something I haven't seen from her and it felt honest and true.
Anna Kendrick is another one whom I thought was given way too much credit for her role in The Air Up There. She was good but I don't feel her performance deserved the praise it got nor the nomination she got. I don't feel that she added anything more to the movie, in fact I would have given her nomination to and this might surprise people, Mariah Carey. Mariah's Performance in Precious was subtle yet powerful and added to the movie and I can't say the same about Anna's performance which to me could have been played by anyone else. What make Mariah's performance so shocking is look who we're talking about Mariah Carey!
One performance that I don't think gets enough praise is Hilary Swank in Insomnia, it is subtle yet strong and without her performance I don't think the film would be nearly as good. Her hero worship of Al Pacino's character and the discovery of his duplicity and how she chooses to honor him because in the end he's just a man is great stuff.
Noah Taylor is another who wasn't given his just due in the movie Shine, unfortunately Geoffrey Rush gets all the credit because he won the Oscar but it's Noah who did all the hard work. It's watching Noah go from a promising prodigy and that dissent into madness that is incredible stuff.
Heath Ledger in Monster's Ball is another performance that stands out, although small it showed the promise of an up and coming actor at the time. You watch that performance of a young man trying to get the love and respect of his father and the unfortunate outcome, great actor, he's definitely missed.
I could go on about over and under appreciated performances and maybe I will some other time but maybe I given you something to think about for now.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
I love movies
Why is it that when you tell people you love movies, it always seems like it's a challenge. All of a sudden they question you about a certain movie, as if they're checking your validity, I mean no I didn't like Transformers, sorry. I love a good popcorn movie like anybody but sometimes I want more than just special effects and no plot. I loved the animated Transformers movie along with the old TV series and I guess that was what I expecting from that movie. This is just one example because I feel movies touch us all in different ways and just because we don't all agree on a certain movie doesn't take away from your experience and enjoyment of the movie.
Movies are to be enjoyed and experienced because to me there is nothing like escaping into a good movie. I love when the lights go down in the theater and that sense of excitement you get from the trailers and the main feature about to start, there's nothing like it especially if it's a movie you've been waiting to see. For me I love watching everything, it doesn't matter the genre or if it's an independent, an old classic or a foreign film, I just love the experience and discussing it afterward.
Movies are to be enjoyed and experienced because to me there is nothing like escaping into a good movie. I love when the lights go down in the theater and that sense of excitement you get from the trailers and the main feature about to start, there's nothing like it especially if it's a movie you've been waiting to see. For me I love watching everything, it doesn't matter the genre or if it's an independent, an old classic or a foreign film, I just love the experience and discussing it afterward.
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