It's not really a week for going to the cinema. Ultimately there's little to entice anyone to the local multiplex, plus the weather taken a turn for Spring and there are Football, Cricket and Grand Prix on all weekend so I doubt attendance will be high. That said I'm already watched Channing Tatum in a thong and summer box office taster Limitless is my film of the week.
Limitless
Bradley Cooper (in a desperate attempt to prove himself as a leading man) takes a pill that utilises the 80% of his brain that he rarely uses. As a result he finds himself indebted to Robert De Niro. It's probably derivative, but it's getting positive reviews for this sort of thing and squeezed into the top of the US box office last week.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Country Strong
One of the major reasons why Gwynneth Paltrow now thinks she can have a music career is the positive reaction to this country singer redemption movie - apparently she's forgotten the critics just like this kind of movie but they don't buy records. By the way does anyone think she actually looks like an alcoholic in the trailer?
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Turtle's Tale: Sammy's Adventure
Belgian animation with country specific voice work (here in the UK we get John Hurt and Gemma Arterton, in the US you get Melanie Griffiths) that shows the destruction of the natural world over 60 years through the eyes of a well-travelled turtle. Doesn't sound stretching but the animation looks fine.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●●●○○○○○
Christian Brothers
First Bollywood movie in a few weeks, so it should get some punters in. It's a action comedy about a Christian patriarch who's sons are a continual disappointment.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
The Eagle
Kevin MacDonald's adaptation of the Rosemary Sutcliffe swords and sandals novel makes it to the screens after a 8 month delay (partly due to Neil Marshall's similarly themed Centurion). Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell bond during a trip to Scotland.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Faster
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson clearly wants a bit of Fast and Furious action with a 70's vibe in this revenge thriller. Somehow he persuades Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Berenger along for the ride, but ultimately this will probably miss it's marks.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Rewind
Irish drama about a recovered addict who's past comes back to haunt her in horrific and violent ways. An interesting concept that looks like it panders to genre conventions in the end.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Toast
Coming of Age, and coming out, story starring Freddie Highmore as a teen growing up in 1960's West Midlands. Oddly this was a TV movie (shown over Christmas) that's now getting a cinematic release, probably because Helena Bonham Carter plays his brassy step mother.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Wake Wood
The latest horror movie from the revamped Hammer studios takes the winning formulas of The Wicker Man and Don't Look Now, mashes they're central plots and obviously comes up with something that fails to stand up to it's influences.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Redemption
Brutal Western influenced by Leone, Eastwood and "Deadwood" with plenty of violence but little moral code. Populated by unknown actors doing they're best to justify your ticket price.
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●○○○○○○○○
And missed from last weeks rundown:
Between the Canals
Dublin set crime thriller that takes it's ideas from the East End gangster pics popularised by Guy Ritchie and transfers them to the banks of the Liffey (and other local waterways).
Runs like a Gay Excitometer: ●●●○○○○○○○
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Trade descriptions act (Out this week - 25/03/11)
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Inception
2010. Dir: Christopher Nolan. Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy and Ken Watanabe. ●●●●○
To misquote Zhuangzi (4th Century BC Chinese Philosopher) "Last night I dreamed I was a butterfly and now I'm now sure if that was Inception". Although given the nature of the films climax that pithy (and not terribly original) start veers awfully close to spoiler territory. Chris Nolan's 7th and most expensive movie to date is all about the nature of our existence and our understanding of how dreams interface with reality.
Or is it?
Nolan has created a universe where accessing and manipulating dreams is a commonplace business, which is both tolerated by the establishment whilst being technically illegal. The main purpose of the procedure is to steal ideas and concepts from within the brain of the subject - it would appear to be generally industrial secrets - although it was strangely originally developed to allow soldiers to practise beating the crap out of each other in their unconscious.
After Leonardo DiCaprio and his right hand man Joseph Gordon-Levitt botch a robbery from the id of Ken Watanabe's Saito, Ken hires them (partly to protect them) to go to the next level and implant an idea into Cillian Murphy's brain. This theoretical implanting process (it's never been done thoroughly successfully) is named Inception. Like in all heist movies we then go through the process of getting a team together with the architect (Page), forger (Hardy) and untitled chemist Dileep Rao joined our band of mercenaries.
During this process the movie goes through the most interesting set pieces, including the folding Parisian street we saw in the trailer and exploding cafe scenes, as this serves as training for Ellen Page the exposition fits nicely into the scenes without feeling too talky. We also get introduced to Marion Cotillard as DiCaprio's deceased wife who's place within his tortured mind may just lead to his downfall.
The majority of the film then takes place in Murphy's dreams (yes that's dreams within dreams within dreams) as the team delve further into the recesses of his mind to place the macguffin of an idea.
As a heist movie Inception works very well. The team compliment and re-inforce each other strengths. The fuzzy action sequences are, at least, an improvement on The Dark Knight and nicely paced even if the stakes never seem as high as they ought to be - if you get killed you go to limbo where your brain works at an incredible rate possibly atrophying the faculties before your physical form wakes up... or something. In fact the film as a whole nips along at a fantastic pace ebbing and flowing in a way that seems both natural and easily carries you along with it.
The cast do good jobs with little to work with. I especially liked Ellen Page for her straightforward delivery of some of the more unlikely lines of dialogue and Tom Hardy for his slightly fey Britishness. Leo is unfortunately coasting on his far more complex performance in Shutter Island where the character had much of the same issues on his mind. Cotillard is icily beautiful as always and I couldn't help wondering what she'd be like as a pure femme fatale in a modern noir that really exploited her passion and poise. The fringe of the movie also holds some nice cameos for Michael Caine, Pete Postlethwaite and Tom Berenger.
The production design is crisp and precise, the way you would expect within the dream world, all tailored suits and new furnishings. The stand-out technical performance goes to Hans Zimmer for his delicious action score, it pounds it's way through the movie as both heart and soul and is an album I have no reticence in recommending.
I am slightly disappointed by the film as it introduces some interesting concepts but then drops them. We are in a world where people become addicted to dreams but this is barely touched upon as is the inevitable psychological effect of spending so much time hopping from dream to dream. There is also a strange lack of surrealism in these dreams, apart from a misplaced train and the ultra-cool hotel fight (which is horrifically justified as being natural consequence of dreams on another layer as opposed to being part of the way dreams are) there is little that doesn't take place in any major blockbuster. The act of Inception itself - snow covered bunker, hospital bed, safe contents - is a nice touch but it's not enough. It hardly seems fair to say that the subconscious of the victim will fight off attacks from a group like this but only allow them guys with guns as a means of defence.
There has also been plenty of Internet chat about whether the final scene is still within a dream and indeed whether the entire film takes place within DiCaprios head. In answer to that whilst the final shot is pleasingly ambiguous and the Mombasa chase sequence seemingly unlikely in reality (tapered alleyways and fortuitous arrivals et al) I find myself caring less and less about the issue as time passes. After all if Nolan doesn't really care about the effect of dreaming on his characters (see my comments above) then why should I?
Overall I would say Inception is a roaring heist movie that will keep you entertained and gripped throughout it's run time, but don't be fooled by the early reviews or solid marketing strategy this is not as clever as it thinks it is.
Monday, 31 May 2010
Tom Berenger
Happy Birthday to
Tom Berenger
61 today
In spite of the sterling work that Tom has done both prior to and since Platoon it's very hard to imagine him in any other role than his tyranical Sgt. Barnes, battling with Willem Dafoe over Charlie Sheen's soul. Saying that next up is Christopher Nolan's Inception which certainly looks like it'll be worth the wait.
Thursday, 14 January 2010
20 for 2010 - Inception
No countdown for 2010 could be complete without my number 5 choice Inception.
Christopher Nolan's twisty looking sci-fi thriller is primed to be a major contender in the '10 summer market. Not linked to a comic book franchise, save that of the auteurial connection to the Dark Knight, it's rumoured to have a budget north of $250m. This will make profitability extremely hard to achieve, although the fan boy anticipation is pretty high, and James Cameron's proved just this month that you don't need a tentpole title to make some cash.
The story, which is being kept very guarded, involves hacking into peoples dreams and stealing intellectual property. This metaphysical angle to the heist movie at least explains the gravity defying action, and folding cities we've been witnessing in the trailers. Nolan has also hinted in interviews that the themes of madness and lost love, as well as the thriller elements are indicative of how persoanl the project is. This is his small movie between Batman films - only it's not small. In fact he's proud to admit it's his biggest challenge to date.
Nolan has assembled a top notch cast with Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page leading the pack. This is also a good hint that either this script is fantastic, or there's enough goodwill towards Nolan based on his previous projects that Hollywood elite will sign up to anything with his name on it. Let's face it, whether this turns out to be masterpiece or a very expensive turkey, it's got must-see written all over it.
Don't forget to join in the competition to win chocolates with my countdown. Click on the Minstrels in the top right.
