Inception

Originally uploaded by there'snotime

For me, there are few things like the experience of a good movie in the theatre, it’s one of the reasons it’s my desire to make films for audiences. A great film is hard enough to do, but if you as a filmmaker can make a great film and suck the audience into its world to the point that the theatre comes under the films control – well there’s nothing like experiencing that. To this day I still remember what it was like when I first watched Jurassic Park and felt that dinosaurs were real, sat in Seabiscuit and realized audience members around me were cheering for a horse onscreen, and I know that the collective gasp and gleeful astoundment that came with the credits of Inception will stay with me as well.

I can’t tell you much about the actual plot of Inception, both because it’s so beautifully complicated I wouldn’t know how to begin, and because the film deserves to be watched for the first time with the freshest eyes you can, so that you too can be completely caught in the wonder. By saying the film is beautifully complicated does not mean it does not make sense, this is a film that is the complex, exquisite brainchild of master craftsman Christopher Nolan.

I do not throw the word auteur around much as I believe film is a collaborative process and auteur limits the results to one man’s contribution, but upon seeing this film I believe Christopher Nolan deserves the title of auteur. Inception could not be made without him completely involved in every aspect of the film – it reeks of an auteur’s hand.

With every film Christopher Nolan seems to be getting better. Even though the man makes giant films that make money hand over fist, I would in no way call him a commercial director, and I mean that as a compliment. Nolan makes films that achieve worldwide attention, steal the top stop at the box office, and gain critical recognition, yet they are by no means simple. Christopher Nolan has mastered the art of being able to tell a worthy, intricate tale in a compelling and entertaining way, getting the best performances possible out of his actors, and trusting the audience to come into his world instead of making his films fit into theirs. This is a balsy approach in a filmmaking era where tentpole films are generally more flash than substance and the audience leaves happy, but rarely thinking about what they actually watched for anything more than the adrenaline that it pumped through them. This is the reason it’s my desperate dream to have Christopher Nolan as a directing mentor – there could be no better hands to sit under and study.

Inception is worthy of all the critical praise it has received and I hope that it continues to surmass more critical and audience praise as it continues down it’s theatrical journey. I for one and excited to see what the visuals will look like on the IMAX screen, as they are already astoundingly visual on the standard screen. I can’t wait to go down the rabbit hole again and begin dreaming with Christopher Nolan one more time.

Director & Writer: Christopher Nolan
Cobb: Leonardo DiCaprio
Arthur: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Ariadne: Ellen Page
Eames: Tom Hardy
Saito: Ken Wantanabe
Yusuf: DiLeep Rao
Robert Fischer Jr.: Cillian Murphy
Browning: Tom Berenger
Mal: Marion Cotillad
Maurice Fischer: Pete Postlethwaite
Miles: Michael Caine
Mash: Lukas Haas

Cobb: You're asking me for Inception. I hope you do understand the gravity of that request.

Public Enemies

like the movies.
Originally uploaded by Ryanwiz

John Dillinger was good at what he did – robbing banks – and he had fun doing it. Unfortunately for him the still new FBI was hot on his tail, as was the crime syndicates who were upset as his exploits were pushing through laws that made their illicit activities even more illegal than they already were. Still, Dillinger did what he loved to do, live fast, play hard and spoil the girl of his dreams.

Michael Mann is a great director. However, Public Enemies is more proof that he needs to give up his love of digital cinema and get back to film. This movie looked bad. You could see the video in almost every shot; it was flat, dull, and every time the camera moved too quickly you could see very flaw in the frame. It seriously looked like it was shot on a much less expensive budget, with a consumer camera. It drove me nuts.

I also have to say that while I love Michael Mann, Christian Bale, Johnny Depp and everyone involved with this film I am really not a big fan of it. Public Enemies is entertaining but not a movie you need to see twice. It almost feels as though the film had too broad a focus and therefore did not actually delve into the characters or issues the way it appeared they tried to delve into those issues. No character was fully developed and nothing was fully explained – that’s kind of an issue when you are dealing with a historical even most of the audience didn’t live through. Dillinger’s history and motivations never became clear to me, and I was confused about his life; the last time I had this unexplained feeling in a movie was watching Man On The Moon.

Director: Michael Mann
Writers: Ronan Bennett, Michael Mann & Ann Biderman
Pete: David Wenham
John Dillinger: Johnny Depp
Homer: Stephen Dorf
Melvin Purvis: Christian Bale
J Edgar Hoover: Billy Crudup
Billie: Marion Cotillard

Melvin Purvis: What keeps you up nights, Mr. Dillinger?
John Dillinger: Coffee.