Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Friday, April 1, 2011
Jane Eyre (2011) "Yes" Dario Marianelli feat. Jack Liebeck
Let the violin's notes flood over your soul. Hear the passion. Hear the beauty. Dario Marianelli scores again.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Don't Believe It, Please
Christopher Nolan's name is magic in film culture these days. His Batman series, Memento, and The Prestige have given him a reputation for thinking philosophically about life which only the TV series Lost can equal. But Inception has surpassed all. With an 86% rating on RottenTomatoes and four Oscars under its belt, Inception certainly has brought many dreams to life.
Nolan spent 8 years developing the idea for this story. It centers around extractor Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), who just wants to return to the States, but cannot due to false charges against him. When someone offers him the chance to return to his children, however, Cobb willingly thrusts himself into the impossible task of inception: planting an idea in someone's mind in the world of their dreams. Assembling a team of dreamers, Cobb has his work cut out for him.
For the first hour or so, Inception is a really decent action film. Viewers listen as Cobb explains the process of inception, of entering people's dreams, and all the other complex ideas wrapped up in Nolan's story idea. And the brilliancy of the concept promises great things.
At the midpoint of the film, however, the major failures in Nolan's script begins to show up. After an expository beginning, viewers want a real story, but all they get is a prolonged climax. Uninspired dialogue plagues the film throughout, and a rushed ending sequence leads Nolan into the serious error of violating his own rules in the last scene in order to appear thought-provoking.
The problems in the script might not have been quite so glaring, however, if Nolan had cast a decent actor as Cobb. Leonardo DiCaprio simply fails in the role. Taking himself far too seriously, DiCaprio gives the role absolutely no depth. Instead, he repeats the same look of pain which he fancies a martyr carries. DiCaprio fails to use the potential moral complexities of the character and tries to give us, once again, his ideal hero.
And DiCaprio's acting inabilities are even worse when compared to his excellent supporting cast. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays Cobb's right-hand man, and Ellen Page, who plays the young architect of the dreams, both understand the importance of silence and calmness to giving their roles life. But their characters are simply not given enough script-coverage to salvage the script's problems. Marion Cotillard plays Cobb's chilling wife well, if somewhat repetitively. But it is Cillian Murphy's role as Robert Fischer, a young and insecure billionaire, who steals what's left of the show.
Inception even fails on the visual level. Though the Nolan's concept could potentially produce the greatest visual film of all time, the Visual Directors content themselves with obviously-digital buildings in steel and glass. Funny thing is, dreams are typically colorful. And involve a lot more than business buildings. But the sets are just that: empty buildings with no animals or trees, color or vibrancy. And on the philosophical level, Inception provides a stark portrait of the modern mindset. At the end, only those who believe something false can achieve true happiness.
It's a pity that such a promising idea was squandered on a mediocre script and failing main actor. In the hands of a truly skillful writer, such as M. Night Shyamalan, this film could have done wonders. But in it's current form, the hype about Inception proves to be just that. It's not a dream, it's a deception.
Nolan spent 8 years developing the idea for this story. It centers around extractor Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), who just wants to return to the States, but cannot due to false charges against him. When someone offers him the chance to return to his children, however, Cobb willingly thrusts himself into the impossible task of inception: planting an idea in someone's mind in the world of their dreams. Assembling a team of dreamers, Cobb has his work cut out for him.
For the first hour or so, Inception is a really decent action film. Viewers listen as Cobb explains the process of inception, of entering people's dreams, and all the other complex ideas wrapped up in Nolan's story idea. And the brilliancy of the concept promises great things.
At the midpoint of the film, however, the major failures in Nolan's script begins to show up. After an expository beginning, viewers want a real story, but all they get is a prolonged climax. Uninspired dialogue plagues the film throughout, and a rushed ending sequence leads Nolan into the serious error of violating his own rules in the last scene in order to appear thought-provoking.
The problems in the script might not have been quite so glaring, however, if Nolan had cast a decent actor as Cobb. Leonardo DiCaprio simply fails in the role. Taking himself far too seriously, DiCaprio gives the role absolutely no depth. Instead, he repeats the same look of pain which he fancies a martyr carries. DiCaprio fails to use the potential moral complexities of the character and tries to give us, once again, his ideal hero.
And DiCaprio's acting inabilities are even worse when compared to his excellent supporting cast. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who plays Cobb's right-hand man, and Ellen Page, who plays the young architect of the dreams, both understand the importance of silence and calmness to giving their roles life. But their characters are simply not given enough script-coverage to salvage the script's problems. Marion Cotillard plays Cobb's chilling wife well, if somewhat repetitively. But it is Cillian Murphy's role as Robert Fischer, a young and insecure billionaire, who steals what's left of the show.
Inception even fails on the visual level. Though the Nolan's concept could potentially produce the greatest visual film of all time, the Visual Directors content themselves with obviously-digital buildings in steel and glass. Funny thing is, dreams are typically colorful. And involve a lot more than business buildings. But the sets are just that: empty buildings with no animals or trees, color or vibrancy. And on the philosophical level, Inception provides a stark portrait of the modern mindset. At the end, only those who believe something false can achieve true happiness.
It's a pity that such a promising idea was squandered on a mediocre script and failing main actor. In the hands of a truly skillful writer, such as M. Night Shyamalan, this film could have done wonders. But in it's current form, the hype about Inception proves to be just that. It's not a dream, it's a deception.
Monday, February 7, 2011
College Humor
Ok, for the record, I most emphatically do not like the musical Wicked for reasons I will not enumerate here. But this song is really funny once you hit college. Enough said.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
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