Sorry to say, my fears regarding Christopher Nolan's Inception came to pass. It's an enjoyable movie, yet I kept wanting to enjoy it more. It's a visually spectacular movie, but - as is often the case with Nolan - a somewhat cold and emotionally unengaging one. It's also overlong and unnecessarily complex. With its dream inside a dream inside a dream inside a dream plotline it felt like Nolan & co. had leapt to the messy threequel without properly exploring what was a fun premise to begin with. And most disappointing of all, certain inconsistencies of plot, unanswered threads, and a two dimensional supporting cast suggested that most hoary of cinematic cliches. While Nolan steered away from explicitly delivering this during the movie's final moments (a la Shyamalan) the film did - perhaps even more frustratingly - hint at it, as though the writers wanted this to be a twist that movie anoraks will debate endlessly for years to come. "Ah, but was his wife telling the truth? Was he actually...?"
But don't let all that put you off. Inception is definitely the best and most imaginative blockbuster of the summer thus far (though it has been a pretty dire summer) and it is a film you ought to see at the cinema. It proves, indisputably, that we don't need 3D to make our eyes pop out. Indeed, 3D would only have spoiled the tremendous sfx on show here, so kudos to Nolan for not jumping on that particular lame bandwagon.
On the Nolan-ometer, Inception falls below Memento, The Prestige and The Dark Knight. It's Batman Begins all over again: thoughtful, fun and spectacular in parts yet too long, too cold and flawed overall. Still, a better flick than many other contemporary film makers could dream of delivering. Just not as gripping as it might have been.
Jumat, 23 Juli 2010
Inception
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Kamis, 22 Juli 2010
Top Ten Movie Songs
No, not songs from the movies - songs about the movies. And no Celine Dion: guaranteed.
10. Belle & Sebastian - Like Dylan in the Movies
Stuart Murdoch's stalker anthem (one of many!) based around Dylan's famous promo film for Subterranean Homesick Blues. I'm not sure how the two connect, but when the end product sounds this good - who cares?
9. The Auteurs - Underground Movies
Another song I really don't have the first clue about lyrically... but as with most things Luke Haines touches, it has a welcoming seediness.
8. Murder By Death - Holy Lord, Shawshank Redemption Is Such A Good Movie
Murder By Death are great with the titles. This comes from the album Like The Exorcist, But More Breakdancing which also features tracks called: I'm Afraid Of Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, Intergalactic Menopause and Flamenco's Fuckin' Easy. All inspired titles which the songs in question rarely live up to... how could they?
7. Suzanne Vega (If You Were) In My Movie
Simply put: if you were in Suzanne Vega's movie, you'd get the girl.
6. Death Cab For Cutie - A Movie Script Ending
Death Cab For Cutie believe you can go home again.
5. Thea Gilmore - Movie Kisses
Here it is
The not-so-happy-ending
We've done our picket fence defending
We did Bogart and Bacall and now the spotlight's gone, and anyway
All those movie kisses just last too long
4. Everclear - Songs From An American Movie Part 1
There's something of the David Lynch about many Everclear songs. On the surface: white picket fences. Underneath: darkness.
3. The Long Blondes - Lust In The Movies
I know you think you're in the movies.
You're in the movies and you don't wanna know me.
Well I know all about fear and desire, and I know all about lust, etc.
Edie Sedgwick, Anna Karina, Arlene Dahl.
Edie Sedgwick, Anna Karina, Arlene Dahl.
I just want to be a sweetheart.
I always thought Kate was singing about Tolstoy's tragic heroine Anna Karenina along with cult actresses Edie Sedgwick and Arlene Dahl. I never quite understood why.
Turns out it's actually Danish actress Anna Karina. Well, I never.
2. The Drifters - Kissing In The Back Row Of The Movies
One of those things you dream about doing when you're young and single... then when the opportunity does finally arrive: "Get off me, woman - I want to watch the film!"
1. Okkervil River - Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe
Their best song, it's a lyrical blizzard and no mistaking, with some of the more interesting rhymes you'll hear this week.
Do you have a favourite movie song? Do tell.
Anyone who suggests My Heart Will Go On, Everything I Do (I Do It For You) or Take My Breath Away... don't let the door hit your arse on your way out.
Rabu, 21 Juli 2010
I Write Like...
There's an online oojamaflip I've discovered which purports to examine any writing you paste into it and tell you which famous author you write like. Obviously I was eager to play along...
Firstly I submitted Chapter 1 from my current in-progress novel...
Really?
I've never read any Doctorow, but I understand he's well-regarded. I wonder if Chapter 2 will bring the same assessment...
Oh.
I suppose I should take that as a compliment, but it's not really what I was aiming for. A little less mindbending, I think.
How about my previous novel, Imaginary Friends...?
Bwahahaha! So you're basically saying my writing is complex to the point of being impenetrable, right? Jeez... no wonder I can't get an agent.
Let's try a short story instead. How about From The Crack Of The Vinyl To The Hiss Of The Tape?
What? Gimme a break - that was hardly cyberpunk.
Let's try Shooting People Is Good...
You know, that's the first one I can see. I do sometimes go for a Palahniuk vibe on my short stories.
Let's try I Can Read You Like A Book, one of the most Palahniuk-influenced stories I've written...
Open the pod bay doors, Hal, I smell a rat.
Let's try something with no literary pretensions whatsoever. How about a radio ad script from my day job...?
David Foster Wallace
I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!
DFW is turning in his grave.
It's not complete bollocks though. When I fed in the opening chapter from Stephen King's Bag Of Bones, it identified him straight away. Likewise it was spot on Bram Stoker, Jonathan Swift and Arthur Conan Doyle. But a chunk of Nick Hornby's Juliet, Naked was tagged as Foster Wallace again (sorry Nick, you apparently write radio ads too) while it also confused Douglas Coupland with King, Joseph Heller with JD Salinger, Emily Bronte with Joyce and Dean Koontz with Dan Brown ('ouch!' for Koontz).
As for yesterday's blogpost about the wrong knickers...?
Quite.
Test your own writing and let me know who you write like.
This week's Thoughtballoons character is Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot, The Penguin - waugh! You can read my one-page story here. According to I Write Like, it's very HP Lovecraft...!
Selasa, 20 Juli 2010
The Wrong Knickers
Louise comes downstairs while I'm eating my tea.
"There's a pair of white knickers - from Primark! - in the washing you did over the weekend that AREN'T MINE."
"Well," I splutter, "they're not mine!"
I've never been accused of infidelity before, and though I don't believe Louise is seriously accusing me of it now, the very suggestion still makes me feel insanely guilty. I can feel myself blushing, stammering out possible explanations, getting all needlessly defensive... how the hell can I feel guilty about something I've not actually done? God help me if I'm ever up on an erroneous murder charge.
"But I didn't kill Tom Hanks!"
"You're going down, sunshine!"
Before I continue: a little history. I have never been unfaithful to anyone. I have however been cheated on twice - by two previous partners - so I know exactly how shitty it feels. As a result, no matter the circumstances, I wouldn't ever do that to another human being, particularly not someone I care about. Besides, I'd be rubbish at it. If an unfounded suggestion fills me with this much guilt, imagine what I'd be like if I was actually culpable?
The problem with any such accusation - even one made in jest - is that there's no way to answer it. If you deny it... well, that's exactly what you would do, isn't it? If you make a joke of it... oh, so you think it's funny, do you? The more defensive you get, the more guilty you seem. I really would make a hopeless criminal - but I'd be even worse as "an innocent man charged with a crime he didn't commit".
"But I wasn't anywhere near the building where Bono, Russell Brand and Chris Evans were killed in that suspicious explosion - I swear! The one-armed man did it!"
"Guilty as charged."
However, all that said, if I were to turn heartless cad-bastard overnight, I certainly wouldn't be running around with someone who wears white Primark knickers! Give me some credit! It'd be Anne Summers or Agent Provocateur all the way! And the same goes for if I were to take a sudden turn to transvestism. Stockings and suspenders, darling. Only the best.
Likewise, I think I'd be a bit more careful than to cast my strumpet's nether garments into the weekly wash. And even if I were that stupid, I certainly wouldn't take them out of the wash and hang them on the clothes horse to dry! What am I, a complete idiot?
Fortunately, Louise appears to have answered that question for herself. Or perhaps she's secretly relishing the idea that some other unlucky chump might be about to take me off her hands. As to the mystery knickers, they remain just that. Perhaps they've been left by a malicious prankster out to sow disharmony in Meltham Towers. Or perhaps Louise is so embarrassed by finding such unflattering knicks in the bottom of her drawer, she's blanked out all memory of ever having purchased them. Or perhaps one of our neighbours is sneaking into our house and depositing their tighty-whiteys in our laundry basket because they're too idle to do their own washing? Rest assured, we will get to the bottom of this...
Senin, 19 Juli 2010
The Post-Birthday World
I always enjoy it when someone takes a genre premise and writes a serious literary novel around it, so Lionel Shriver's Post-Birthday World has been on my hit list for a while now. I was a fan of Shriver already from her last two books, Double Fault and We Need To Talk About Kevin , so I knew exactly what to expect - and this didn't let me down.
PBW follows children's book illustrator Irina McGovern as she's faced with a life-changing decision - whether to kiss a man other than her long term partner Lawrence. The man in question is snooker player Ramsey Acton, a volatile, sexed-up bad boy: the complete opposite of Lawrence. In the moment of that decision, Irina's story diverges into two alternate realities: one where she goes for it and pursues the affair, another where she plays it safe and lives with her regret. Neither turns out the way you'd imagine, though both lead ultimately to the same conclusion.
If the premise sounds a little chick-lit or Sliding Doors, then chances are that's exactly how it'd have turned out from a lesser author. Thankfully Shriver brings weight and depth to the storytelling and shines an uncomfortably bright light on modern romantic relationships that should make even the most secure of readers question the decisions they've made in such matters. As Shriver herself points out in the afterword, "I'm as fascinated with the contrast between going to the supermarket with one man versus another as I am in the difference our selection of partners makes to our careers". What happens to Irina in these split realities proves there's no such thing as a black and white / right and wrong decision in matters of the heart. Whatever you choose, things will go wrong... and right... and wrong again. And there's no such thing as a perfect partner either.
Like David Nicholls' One Day, Shriver's excellent novel traces a path through contemporary history, from the death of Diana to 9/11, using such events to highlight the opinions and attitudes of the central characters and draw parallels between their concurrent storylines. It also mixes real people with fictional - most notably snooker players like Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry who clash with Ramsey in his quest to win the World Championship. (I'm never sure how novelists square such usage against the "all characters are fictional" disclaimer that appears in the front of the book.)
The only problem I had with Double Fault was that sometimes Shriver took the tennis metaphors to a corny extreme that distracted from the story. Here though the snooker forms an amusing and well-researched back drop, though the author does keep self-consciously apologising to American readers who probably won't know the sport from tiddly-winks.
Minggu, 18 Juli 2010
30 Songs - Day 11
Day 11 - A Song From Your Favourite Band
Ah, but my favourite band when?
This week?
This year?
This millennium?
...of the 90s?
...of the 80s?
...of the 70s?
...of the 60s?
...of the 50s?
Or... of all time?
Sabtu, 17 Juli 2010
INCEPTION (2010)
MyRating: YYYYY + A CROWNDirector & Writer: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action throughout
Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) is an extractor, a professional thief who has a very rare skill in stealing secret information from people's dreams. But he is so lost in his missions as he has to pay a big cost that caused him not be able to come home to his family he loved. When a tourist rich businessman, Saito (Watanabe), offers Cobb a mission to infiltrate into the dream of his rival young businessman, Robert Fischer (Murphy) with an exchange for Cobb to get his old life back, Cobb accepts the mission. But this time, the mission is not to steal something from other people's dream, but he has to implant an idea into the target's unconcious mind, and made it as if the idea comes from the target himself. It is called the Inception.
To execute his mission, Cobb gathers a team of experts for this dangerous job, that consists of Arthur (Gordon-Levitt), his long time espionage partner, Ariadne (Page), a young architect who is very talented in creating settings and spaces in dreams, Eames (Hardy), a forger who is the master of disguise, and Yusuf (Rao), a chemist. Together with Saito, they start their heist mission into the target's dream. But they find out that the target is somehow guarded by lots of killer bodyguards in his dream, and they soon turn to become the target themselves. To add the complication, Cobb's past memories of his beautiful wife, Mal (Cottilard), keeps infiltrate into his dream that may jeopardize their mission and shatter Cobb's dream forever.
Once in every few years, usually there will be a movie that is so amazingly and amusingly made that will leave me breathless while watching it. The movie could be so unpredictably and creatively written that makes me wish that I was the writer. And Inception is one of those movies, that comes only once in every few years. And for this, I have to bow my head for Christopher Nolan, who has written such a brilliant, original and wonderful story. This is absolutely a piece of a genius. And Nolan is the genius. The story is captivating, but complex in a clever way, that if you lose your focus for a few seconds, especially in the first half, you may possibly lost in the labyrinth and will not really understand what is happening. You might altogether lost in the dream.
The plot was very well written, so even though the story may complicate your mind and challenge you to think hard, it will slowly guide you and leave your mouth open when you start to realize the logic and the linkage between the plots. The idea of a dream inside a dream (inside a dream of a dream) and the rules of how to survive the dreams was amazing and clever. Actually, Nolan's brilliant ideas struck me again and again throughout the movie. And he likes to tell us in such a way that bends our minds.
Nolan's direction was also superb, adding to his already sophisticated short resume of his high critically acclaimed movies, such as Memento (2000), Insomnia (2002), Batman Begins (2005), The Prestige (2006) and The Dark Knight (2008). The cinematography of this movie was beautiful. The bending world that turned upside down was one interesting scene, after years of stagnation of new and original ideas in Hollywood. The special effects were awesome. And the actions were solid, with quite a lot of actions with well paced tension. The most memorable one will be the scene where Joseph Gordon-Levitt fighting the enemies in a spinning corridor, while running and flying with anti-gravity. That scene was just breathtaking and I believe it has set another iconic action moment in the movie history. You will soon see it becomes a parody elsewhere. The story also has a touching part, when telling the love story between Cobb and his wife. It gave the heart and emotions to the movie. And every explanation that you get in explaining the reasons, will surprise you.
Now, regarding the cast. It was a stellar ensemble of casts. All the actors were doing a very good job. Leonardo DiCaprio was again in his another great role. Not because I like him (which I do), but his acting was just simply excited and solid to watch. And he is so good in choosing the roles that fits him, in his right timing, and this role was one of it. The other actors were also in good forms, especially Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page and Marion Cottilard, who gave strong performances. Almost all of the casts shine in their roles in this rock solid movie.
To give a perfect closing to the extraordinary journey through the story, this movie gave us a perfect ending. It will make you gasp. Indeed the whole theater, where I watched this movie, did gasp when seeing the very final scene. I think it was a brilliant ending for a brilliant story. Again, one of the best ending in the movie history, that will become a subject of debate for years to come. This movie is a great achievement and a MASTERPIECE. Thanks to Nolan. And it surely will become a classic. I was totally blown away by what I've seen. What a great ride! What a satisfaction! What a movie! (MJ)
