It's Called Inception...

And it's a great film, really a great film. Another example of an excellent sci fi film in a time where good quality sci fi films are increasingly rare. Nolan has been a favorite director of mine since Memento and I have enjoyed nearly all of his movies which have followed (with the exception of Insomnia) especially The Dark Knight and The Prestige. It's pure hyperbole to compare to the likes of Kubrick, Kurasawa, or even Spielberg but it's perfectly normal to place him in the ranks of one of the best modern filmmakers of this generation. Each film he has made has shown progressive improvement over his last and if Inception was to be the last film Nolan ever made then he could go to his retirement from film as his best film of his career.* Inception is that good, that suspenseful, and that engrossing that it demands to be seen by the masses and if anything, praised for being such a standout and (mostly) original film in a sea of sequels, remakes, reboots, and play-it-safe movies which take little creative risk.

Inception is a film based on rules. It's a film based on a series of rules and moments where your sense of belief is asked to be suspended. It's a film that despite being marketed on dreams, is not entirely dreamlike, but rather more cyberpunk-ish. There's no overly sexualized or stylized dreams here but rather normal looking ones which could be the backdrop for any contemporary movie. There's the rainy city, the snowy fortress complex, and the posh hotel. Only one early scene in Paris and one of the final destinations come across as crazy off the wall dream environments. There's nothing on the level of other dream movies like Paprika or even movies like the Matrix or Dark City but that's for a reason. In the world of Inception dreams are no longer the thing we do between sleep and awake states. Dreams are now open source and like computers, with the right tools can be hacked, accessed, and manipulated to where anything from a simple idea to seemingly years spent in your own personal heaven or hell can be implanted in your dream. Dominic Cobb played by Leonardo DeCaprio is a man who makes his living accessing dreams. He and his team of specialists who all have different roles to making sure dream hacking is successful, make their illegal living getting into people's minds and using their dreams against them to get information they need. This explains why the dreams seem so contemporary, they control the dreams. They need to navigate them as they would the real world, therefore explaining the reason dreams looks so familiar to our own world.

Inception is being labeled as a complicated movie, even to the point that it's to complicated or needlessly complex. I have to disagree, as I feel that the movie is very straightforward when it comes to plot. I'd go as far as to say that 90% of the movie is pure exposition. Setting up the world of Inception and the rules for entering the dreams, characters will often spend extended sequences of explaining how dreams function, how hacking dreams is done, and how time works differently in the dream world. Ellen Page's character in fact only seems to exist as the proxy to the audience. Much of her dialog is asking questions which fill in what the other characters do not. She asks the questions which the audience is most likely to ask during the course of the film. Normally this would be a horrible bore of a film but in Inception's case it works just fine. For one reason I can't go into without posing major plot spoilage and another for what many other films have done before: this isn't about the characters it's about the world the characters inhabit. It's about the dreams they enter and what those dreams unfold into.

That's not to say the characters are bad or the acting, in fact most of the acting is solid. The characters are very one dimensional and exist if only to serve a purpose for moving the dream and plot forward. The plot isn't built around them, it's vice versa. Tom Hardy plays the badass ass kicker of the team, Joseph Gorden Levitt plays Cobb's closest team member and badass in his own right. Ken Watanabe is Saito, a man who hires Cobb and his crew to complete a job and Ellen Page is the architect, the one who constructs the dreams and has the power to do anything from make new pathways to turning an entire city upside down. Other characters are Mal played by Marion Coutllard who has a very close relationship to Cobb and Cillain Murphy the man who's mind they have to hack into and who has arguably one of the most emotional scenes in the entire film.

The cinematography in this film is incredible. From sweeping snow vistas to an early scene in a teahouse/ pagoda where the elements start breaking in along with armed guards. The final world is the most breathtaking and I dearly wish I could spoil it and tell you, but all I can say is think world: apocalypse. Even the action scenes Nolan's usual weakness in films are improved here. A shootout/ car chase are done with such ferocity and quickness that I was literally completely engrossed in what was transpiring in front of me. A scene later on inspired by the Matrix which occurs alongside another scene which is seemingly inspired by On Her Majesty's Secret Service were even more engrossing. A movie about dreams suddenly breaks into a heist/ James Bond movie and does so seamlessly. Nolan is improving his action scenes and this gives me great hope for Batman 3 and future Superman projects.

Inception is a great film, it's probably one of the best summer films one could ask for and one of the better sci fi films to come out recently. Is it flawless? No. Have ideas been done before? Yes they have. However this film takes those established ideas and gives them a new twist. This is just as much a sci fi flick as it is a heist flick, a spy flick, a falling out of love flick, and a redemption flick. I wish I could go into detail even more than I did, but to that would deprive the viewer of experiencing the plot for themselves. Go watch it and go talk about it with your friends afterwards. Like it or hate it. Consider it great or pretentious, there is no doubt in my mind that this film will be talked years from now and will be looked back at as fondly as the Matrix and Blade Runner currently are. Just like the world where dreams exist, there is much more beneath the layers, just don't get too lost in them.

Or do get lost, it's a world and film worth getting lost in.

*Batman 3 is still in the plans. Nolan isn't done yet.

"This is a game reserve and we're the game"

I saw Predators a few days ago. I would be lying if I said that I went in with fairly high expectations. I would be lying if I said that I didn't walk out a little disappointed. I would be lying if I said that I didn't have a blast watching it .

Predators was always a weird project to me since it was first announced. It wasn't quite a sequel to Predator 2 and it wasn't quite a reboot of the entire franchise. It existed as Nimrod Antel's and Robert Rodriguez's need to make a sequel to the original Predator and pretend that the AvP abominations and Predator 2 which had a "too old for this shit" Danny Glover do what Arnold could not, kill a Predator. While you struggle to wrap your head around that logic know that Predators has no xenomorphs, no limp and unlikable young actors running around the movie, and no group of space marines to kick ass with their "state of the bad-ass art" weapons. Just a motley assortment of deadly men and women, who quickly realize that they are just a bunch of animals waiting to get hunted and slaughtered. They are the goat from Jurassic Park and the big bad T-Rex is just as menacing plus two. Usually one predator is enough to take on an entire well-armed platoon of special forces soldiers, on this planet there are three of them, and they want human skulls and spines, fresh from their human prey.

Predators is very much like the original Predator. A group of deadly men (and women) each specializing in a different way of delivering death with an assortment of fire arms and blades straight out of Call of Duty. They soon realize that something is awry and that they are not on their own planet. Soon they are running for their lives as predator dogs begin to attack and the predator themselves make themselves known and begin ripping spines and stabbing people from behind invisible cloaking devices. The humans keep running, someone who has their own motives makes themselves known and a mano-e-mano fight ensues near the conclusion. If all this sounds familiar to you you're not alone, the plot is very similar to the original and in this case rather as come off as a display of plagiarism, but as a homage to the original. The original worked as a sci fi variation on the classic Most Dangerous Game. That feeling of being pursued, being hunted, hiding from the hunter is present here. It was the strongest aspect of the original and it translates very well here.

Each of the actors plays their part well. Adrian Brody doesn't attempt to channel Arnold or out bad-ass anyone, but rather takes a familiar trope from action movies and makes it his own. He is a man of few words, but from his weathered looks and small tidbits he reveals about his past shows that he can hold his own in a fight. he's the silent bad-ass and he plays it well. This is a movie filled with many silent-but-deadly bad-asses from a Yakuza enforcer to a Russian special ops soldier and nearly none of them are a wasted opportunity. They may get taken down, but they won't go down like a horror movie trope, they cause some damage along the way and don't make it easy for the predators to do their job. The most vocal ones are played by Alice Braga and Topher Grace. Braga playing a black ops sniper who proves to be just as tough and perceptive as the guys, without relying on sex appeal or being a helpless female who is little more than eye candy. Grace plays a sniveling, conniving disgraced psychologist who comes across as pitiful as he is scrawny compared to the rest of the cast.

This movie isn't perfect. There are lots of little things which kept this from being a perfect follow up to the original Predator. The Predators, as deadly and as familiar as they are, are kind of tame compared to past Predators. Even though I didn't particularly enjoy Predator 2, one of the best things about the movies was the inventive kills and tools used to take down human prey. You see none of that in here, besides one moment of gory Predator 1-esque kill, the methods to hunt down the humans are weak and each of their deaths are even weaker. Most often a stab to the abdomen or a shot to the back brings down their prey. I'm not saying that they should be elaborate "Saw" kills but they're the Predators damn it! Killing is their specialty! They should put a little more pizazz into it. Second, Laurence Fishburn's role in Predators is out of place and over as abruptly as it began. He exists in this movie for little more than 10 minutes and his role he plays to the plot has no effect on the movie and instead serves to slow down the pacing and just make an awkward point in the movie. His character tried to come across as Colonel Kutz from Apocalypse Now but in the end failed to accomplish anything.

Predators was a fun movie to watch and a worthy follow up to the original. It wasn't as good as the original and had some issues but overall it was everything I wanted it to be. Thrilling, action-packed, and filled with bad-asses running and fighting alien creatures in the jungle. Predators delivered this in spades and I hope to see more like this in the future.

I hope Ridley Scott's Alien prequel is this good as well. He's a good director but did you see Robin Hood? Yeesh!

The Summer of Awesome: Why a Select Few can Possibly Save my Summer Movies

The last post was a rant of my I think this summer for movies is horrible. However, this post is positive. It's happy, it's upbeat, and it's optimistic. It's the movies which will save the summer. The movies which will make the previous bad taste of movies to go away and save this summer from being the worst summer movie summer since 1997 (Batman and Robin and Water World came out that year).

This week marks the release of Predator a movie called well, Predators. If the title sounds familiar you wouldn't be wrong. it sounds similar to the first movie in the series Predator and similar to James Cameron's film Aliens. The plot sounds simple enough, some of the best soldiers and killers in the world are transported to a plane that the Predators (alien head hunters) use to hunt. Humans team up to kill Predators, get picked off one by one, and much action and gore ensures. A simple sounding plot, but really, does something in the Predator series need anything else? This is something that the Aliens vs Predators movie really dropped the ball on, making it seem more about the humans than the creatures themselves. Which is why I can't wait to see this. It seems to channel equal parts Aliens and original Predator, two action movies which I still hold high in regards. If this can come anywhere near the greatness of those two movies then I'll be very happy indeed.

July 16 marks the return of Christopher Nolan to the big screen with his latest film Inception. As much as I really don't like to say it, this man gets a free pass from me. Very few directors ever get this advantage from me but Nolan has more than proven himself time and time again. While most people will know him for his film The Dark Knight, his other films have proven themselves fantastic as well. It won't be until 2012 until we see Nolan's final Batman film in his trilogy but until then we get another original sci fi heist movie with some excellent actors (notice how I said actors, not stars. There is a difference) and a plot a tick above your normal summer movie. Color me excited, very excited.

Finally August 13th brings the last two movies I am anticipating, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and The Expendables. Pilgrim is being directed by Edgar Wright, reason enough to go see it as the man has not only put out two excellent movies Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, but arguably one of the best television shows off all time as well. I could write an entire essay on how much I adored Spaced but that's for another time. Pilgrim looks like a love letter to comic geeks and video game fanboys everywhere. The attention to detail and variety of in jokes just in the preview already bodes well for this movie. From the fight announcer from the Street Fighter Alpha Series, to the Mary Marvel T Shirt one of the main characters wears, to the crazy and kinetic fight scenes it's a super hero/video game movie that only Wright could make. Love story meets indie rock flick meets Speed Racer meets The King of Kong. It's a movie for the gaming generation, and I'll be there ticket in hand and hopefully smile on my face.

The Expendables is a movie which is always talked about but never realized until now. Come one, you know you've asked the questions before. Who can beat who in a fight, and wouldn't it be awesome if (blank) and (blank) teamed up? Once the result of speculation and wishful thinking is now a reality. The Expendables has every major action star worth mentioning* in one movie together blowing stuff up, kicking ass and taking names. Plot? Who cares? They could be going to bingo night as much as I care. You don't go to see this movie for plot, you go to see bad guys get hurt and tough guys save the day. This is the dumb summer flick on steroids. action which is gritty, violent, and just as chaotic. With real stunts and choreographed fight scenes it's a refreshing breath of air from the often CGI laden blockbusters and a return to the no holds bared action flicks of the 80's. Its almost kind of funny Scott Pilgrim and this come out on the same day. Two different action flicks come out at the same time. I will see both, and probably suffer a heart attack or testosterone overload as a result.

This is you mission movies: save the summer from creative bankruptcy and witless banality. You have until the end of August. Good luck. God speed.

*everyone except as Jean Claude Van-Damm

The Summer of Suck: Why I hate 2010 Movies

I make no hyperbole when I say that this summer has been one of the worst summers in recent memories for movies. I've been seeing movies for years and while the summer never matched up the serious more Oscar bait movies of the fall, I always had a good time in the theater during the hot summer months. I don't expect much from the summer popcorn flicks but to be throughly entertained and to have a quality movie presented to me in exchange for my $10. This summer has brought none of that. Instead giving me creatively bankrupt movies with all flash and little substance. I like the "turn you brain off" flick as much as the next person but when even Iron Man 2 turns out to be a boring, plodding movie you know somethings wrong. You know something's wrong when in my desperation for a good summer movie, I've retreated to re-watching older summer flicks and still enjoy myself more than seeing new material which in may cases feels like old material. Even the video games which usually are boring, cliche, and just plain bad are more entertaining and exciting than even the most exciting summer movie. The amount of movies I enjoyed this summer are nearly non existent and the number of movies I found decent at best can be counted on one hand.

As far back as the summers of 2007 and 2008 seem to accomplish this, in fact they almost seemed too good especially compared to now. 2007 had big titles such as Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest and Mission Impossible III with Transformers later on in the summer. While some people did not enjoy these as much as I did, they were still arguably more fun and exciting to watch then this summer's tepid selection. 2008 was even better. Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Dark Knight, Wall-E, Hellboy II, Tropic Thunder, and Speed Racer made it the best summer in a long while. Again, while the opinion on some of these movies varied, overall I had a blast watching them and in some cases re-watching them.

2009 was a let down compared to the explosive summer 2008 was and at first I was disappointed, but in retrospect the summer really wasn't all that bad. Whether it's because this summer is just so blatantly bad or I was expecting too much after the 2008 summer I'm not sure. Looking back there were a lot of movies which came out during the summer I enjoyed. Star Trek, District 9, Up, Public Enemies, Inglorious Basterds, Moon and The Hurt Locker were all movies I enjoyed very much and many of which were either nominated or rewarded for a variety of rewards at the end of the year. If anything could be taken away it's the amount of sci fi movies which came out, including Avatar later on in the year. For a sci fi fan such as myself it was great to see so many new movies pop up, especially since the last entertaining sci fi movie before 2009 was probably Sunshine. I think Transformers 2 didn't help matters and overshadowed the solid releases and destroyed my perception. Something similar almost happened with Indiana Jones 4 a year earlier. It's amazing how one monumentally bad movie can screw up your whole summer.

I've already cut my loses so far for the summer and after reading the future plans of many big film franchises ie: no more Bond films until further notice, a new Conan (did we really need one?), and Spider Man going back to high school doesn't exactly fill me with much hope either. Maybe I'm expecting too much, and maybe I'm being a little unfair to the movie industry, but I can't help but get more and more disappointed with the current state of movies as I get older. I don't want to hate them either. Movies are one of my main hobbies and I love watching them, dearly. Their power to move you, compel emotions, and entertain is one of greatest joys I had as a younger child and I still manage to maintain this feeling as and older adult. I don't want to hate Hollywood and I don't want to be so cynical on my favorite hobby but Hollywood is really pushing my buttons lately, and I don't mean it in a good way either.

Wait, they're splitting the last Twilight movie into two parts? Goodbye Hollywood. It's been nice knowing you. Maybe I'll see you again one day, when you're cleaned up. When you're a better person.

For now I have books and video games to keep me happy.