Movie #304 - Inception

Inception
2010 - Rated R - 2 hr 28 min
Director: Christoper Nolan
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Marion Cotillard, Pete Postlethwaite, Michael Caine

This movie seems to be quite polarizing, at least in my opinion.  People either love it or hate it.  I happen to love it, mostly because I love a good "thinking" movie that sparks hours of debate when it's over.  Sure enough, everytime we watch this movie, the debate starts up all over again.  And every viewing also brings additional information to the table through new discoveries.

If you haven't seen it, I won't spoil anything for you.  Suffice it to say, Leonardo DiCaprio and friends know how to go into peoples' dreams and extract information.  The premise of this movie - the concept of inception - is a little harder than that.  With inception, the team must plant an idea seamlessly into someone's mind, making it seem as though it were there all along.  As DiCaprio's own past starts to catch up with him, Ellen Page tries to help him root out the truth and confront his guilt.  What happens to DiCaprio - and the end of the movie, in particular - is the subject of the debate.  Is it possible to lose track of reality when you jump through dreams for a living?  Makes sense to me.

Anyhow, I really love this one.  If you don't, I'd love to hear why not.  Plot too convuluted, overall movie too artsy, characters too flat... whatever.  I certainly wouldn't object to another debate on this one.

Movie #146 - The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight
Warner Bros Pictures
2008 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 32 min
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Cillian Murphy

If you haven't seen this movie yet.... oh man. Do you live in a cave? How are you reading this post? Honestly, I'm concerned about you. This is a MUST see. MUST. So get out of your cave and go find a rental store... oh wait a minute. You have the internet. Get a Netflix account and download the movie already, for crying out loud.  Watch it in your cave, I don't care. 

There. Much better now.  Now you understand. This movie, from beginning to end and all the way through the middle, is awesome.  Sure, Christian Bale's Batman voice is a little weird. And yeah, the Two-Face plot at the end feels like an afterthought.  But, my God, is Heath Ledger brilliant or what?  Some have said that we only love this movie so much because it was his *last* film (technically, that's not true... ahem, Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, but we're not on I yet.) But if he were still alive (oh....now I'm sad), I'd still think this movie and his performance were frickin' fabulous.

If you're not an action or comic-book-based movie fan, that's fine. You don't have to be to appreciate the artistry of this movie. The tone is perfect, the plotline engaging, and the performances top-notch.  I'm gushing, I know. But I give credit where it's due and - after watching all those 90's Batman movies last month - I'm really glad they decided to give this franchise a re-boot.  And while Heath Ledger will be sorely missed for a long, long time, I'm glad we got this parting gift from him.

Movie #58 - Batman Begins

Batman Begins
Warner Bros. Pictures

2005 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 20 min
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Ken Watanabe


I remember when this movie came out thinking, "Another Batman? Why?" But after watching those last four, I can see what the franchise needed a new start. In Batman Begins, the slate gets wiped clean and Christopher Nolan takes a stab at how Batman became the Batman. And some clever bits and pieces are added to deepen his character.

This movie takes the comic-ness out of the story and makes it more accessible. Batman isn't just one-half vigilante and one-half playboy. Instead, we get to see his relationship with his father, how deeply scarring it was to lose his parents, how his childhood friend can affect him, and how his training made him what he is. Plus, it's fun to watch Christian Bale train with ninjas, just sayin'.

Christian Bale may not be the best Batman, but he's great at the gritty, wounded hero thing. He could do without the Batman voice, as I'm sure most people would agree, but it's a small criticism in an otherwise entertaining movie.

I really enjoyed this movie when I first saw it in the theater and I still like it now. My only regret is that the sequel The Dark Knight is filed under D... or else I'd be happy to move onto it right away.

Movie #8 - 28 Days Later

28 Days Later
Fox Searchlight Pictures
2003 - Rated R - 1 hr 53 min
Director: Danny Boyle
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christoper Eclleston, Megan Burns, and Brendan Gleeson

I'm going to get through the numbered movies today, I swear! I would love to jump into the A's, so I can actually feel like I'm accomplishing something. Right now, it feels like eating an eternal appetizer... it's time for the salad course, people.

Anyway, I love this movie. I forgot how much. But I guess that's the point of this whole project - to rediscover great movies that I haven't given their due and to discover other classics that I've been missing out on. Of course, I have to deal with all the fodder in between, but for the most part, there's good ones on the wall.

I don't know if this is true or not, but I credit 28 Days Later with starting today's zombie craze. It brought the classic horror film character back into the main stream and scared the bejeezus out of people. Could a virus really make us run around screaming, biting each other? It's like home Jurassic Park convinced us all that DNA in ancient mosquitos could make us a dinosaur zoo. Cinema and loosely accurate science combine to start a craze.

So 28 Days Later, I discovered, also features Brendan Gleeson who I truly love in everything he does. Great guy. He does not disappoint in this, blending well into the cast of no-names and making this movie less-Hollywood and more-real-life in its feel. It was also kind of fun to see landmarks in London now that I've actually been there myself. It's a bit bleaker when it's abandoned, but I still felt more connected to the movie from having been there myself. You know what I mean?

So the main character, Jim, is one lucky bastard in this movie. Waking up during the day, wandering around aimlessly, and getting rescued by two people... only to cause one of them to get killed, like, the next day. He's not the world's best zombie fighter, but you do find yourself rooting for him. In fact, all the characters end up quite likable by the end of the film (except those creepy army guys, led by not Kevin McKidd who really looks just like him. Weird).

If you haven't seen this, I highly recommend it. 28 Days Later has blood and gore, sure, but it also has something to say about what's important after society goes mad and eats each other. Oh yeah, and it's suspenseful too, without being too horror-flicky.