A Twitter Trend I Can Get Behind.

Inception, Inception, Inception. It's the talk of the town, isn't it? I know I, for one, have been fangirling all over that thing for months. But, to be quite honest, I've quieted down a lot about it in recent weeks as it really approached. I've been excited for it, yes, but I was avoiding learning too much, theorizing too much, because I really like the experience of seeing a movie without truly knowing what you are going to get out of it. I had seen the basic trailers, but I avoided the spoilers, the plot details, pretty much all of it beyond the very basics everyone knew.

It paid off for me. I didn't even see the movie on opening day; I'd been thinking about a midnight screening, but had made plans to see it today and thought I might as well wait a couple extra days. I took my time, heard bits and pieces of the critiques, and just went into the movie without knowing precisely what I was getting.

I personally quite loved Inception. It was smart without being pretentious or much over my head, its cast was amazing, its technical side was stunning (that score! that cinematography! that EDITING!), and it was just an engrossing tale. Of course I applaud Christopher Nolan for his originality, but also for his dedication and his skill in bringing this fascinating tale to life. I thought the pace was tremendous as well, and like my favorite "long" movies, it didn't feel long in the least. I was thrilled to see more and more and more.

If I am to make a small comparison to The Dark Knight, however, I would say that the pace is better in Inception. I know there is some criticism about the ever-high tension of The Dark Knight, which I personally loved, and is still very much apparent in Inception. However, as Inception works in the layers that it does of the dream world, rather than through a straight time-line of different conflicts in The Dark Knight, the ever-heightened tension works better for Inception. That is really the only comparison I want to make between the two, because their handling is not so different despite their much different stories and tones in regards to the pacing of the films.

I want to watch Inception again, of course, before I really decide how much I liked it. I do know that I want the Academy to recognize it because it is brilliant and it is well-crafted and it is original. I know that many will argue that Christopher Nolan deserves his due because of the snub for The Dark Knight, but that's not why I want him to get recognized. I want him to get recognized because he has done consistently great work and this may not be his most critically-acclaimed film, but it is clearly one he poured himself into and is so very much his.

No matter if the Academy ends up acknowledging Nolan despite their snub of The Dark Knight and his work on it, they still snubbed a great modern film two years ago. Call me a fangirl all you want, but The Dark Knight is a freakin' fantastic movie and of all the Academy snubs in recent years, that is one of the most egregious, in my opinion.

But back to Inception. I really don't have a whole lot to say about it because though certain things stand out, every moment was as well-crafted as the last and the next. I did not see and points that made it weak. In its own concept, in its own world, it was done just right. Are there better movies, better tales both original and adapted? Sure, probably. But that does not take away from Inception's perfection in and of itself. I, personally, wouldn't change a thing about it. I wouldn't dare touch it.

I Am Excited For Blockbuster Season!

So I've been woefully negligent about seeing movies recently, but I've been wicked busy. I saw Alice in Wonderland, but that's about it for recent films. To make up for this, I'm going to write my anticipation list! Movies that I want to see this coming year and that might change, but things do that sometimes.

Currently in theatres:
Shutter Island
maybe Greenberg and The Runaways.

Shutter Island has been getting mixed reviews, but if I don't see it in theatres, I'll probably rent it because I still want to see it for myself. Greenberg has been getting pretty good reviews and I honestly think that Ben Stiller is a great actor. The Runaways has been getting a lot of attention and I'm interested in seeing Kristen Stewart in something that isn't a stupid vampire flick.

Coming soon:
How to Train Your Dragon

I've been hearing that, like Avatar, this one should be seen in 3D. I also think it looks adorable. Dreamworks isn't Pixar, but they do provide some excellently healthy competition for Pixar. Before Pixar made me cry, Dreamworks tugged at my heartstrings with The Prince of Egypt (remember back in the day when people still made mostly 2D movies with a little bit of CGI help?!) Dragon looks fantastically cute and fun. Animation isn't just for kids, yo. I will love animated movies well into my adulthood.



Hot Tub Time Machine

I'm a little torn on this one. I blame Sandra Bullock and her recent comments about comedic roles for women (i.e. they don't exist except in rom coms) and I see all these funny looking raunchy comedies and really notice how they're all men. I'll get to this in another post though. Hot Tub Time Machine looks like it could be ridiculously funny in a Hangover kind of way. So maybe I'll see it, maybe I'll rent it, maybe I'll skip it. I like comedies though!



Clash of the Titans

TITANS WILL CLASH may be a stupid tagline, but Liam Neeson! Sam Worthington! And isn't Ralph Fiennes in it too? I also love action films. Here's to hoping it is fun action and not boring, a la Matrix Revolutions.



Date Night

I didn't really give this movie the time of day but the more I see the trailers, the more I think, "y'know... this could be genuinely hilarious." It IS Tina Fey and Steve Carrel and they are funny people. I'm going to wait on the reviews to make my choice.



Kick-Ass

Now this movie... I am REALLY psyched for. As I've been promoting it to people with my enthusiasm, it looks like the movie Watchmen should have been. An adult comic book adaptation with a real look at superheroes in the real world. Not to mention with some bitchin' action sequences and Nicolas Cage as a Batman-esque character named Big Daddy (since BioShock came before Kick-Ass the comic, I wonder if it's a direct reference) BUT WITH A SHOTGUN. I LOVE SHOTGUNS. (I know; this is weird. Blame Mass Effect.) Just go watch the trailers and you can see how awesome this movie looks for yourself.



Iron Man 2

...uh... DUH I AM EXCITED. I loved Iron Man. The sequel, even if it isn't as good as the original, it still has Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark. So we're golden.



Robin Hood

Torn as I may be as to whether this Gladiator-esque adaptation (both directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russel Crowe, I also totally got this Gladiator-esque vibe of the warrior-hero being turned into a badass outlaw fighting the corrupt system from the trailer) will be any good, I still want to see it. It IS Robin Hood. And I liked Gladiator.



Shrek Forever After, Sex and the City 2, and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time

All three movies I will probably see. The last one is the only one I really feel strongly inclined to see. The other two, I liked the preview films (although Shrek the Third not as much), so I'll go see 'em. It'll be summer. I'll drive-in like crazy.



Toy Story 3

Um... okay, so The Prince of Egypt might have been the first movie I remember crying during, but Toy Story 2 came out a year later and did the same damage to me. Goddammit, Jessie's song makes me cry to this day. It's freakin' Pixar! And Toy Story! If it isn't good, I'll be shocked and upset. But chances are it will be. The real question is: will it be as good or better than the first two?



Despicable Me

Remember what I said about animated films being awesome? Well, this one looks adorably clever. And I want to see it. So there.



Inception

Probably the most high brow of the many films I'm excited for this spring/summer, Inception features a fantastic team-up of TDK's Christopher Nolan and everything's Leonardo DiCaprio. Not to mention that supporting cast... JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT. Ken Watanabe! Ellen Page! MARION COTILLARD! Michael Caine! CILLIAN MURPHY! This movie will be great. If it isn't, again, I'll be very sad.


Beyond those, into the summer, I'm also vaguely interested in The Sorcerer's Apprentice (it'll probably suck though), Salt (it could go either way), Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (I actually haven't seen the original, but hilariously, Gordon Gekko is based off of a Bard grad), The Last Airbender, and The A-Team (which looks like it has a bitchin' cast... SHARLTO COPLEY... OH WAIT SHARLTO COPLEY OKAY THIS FILM IS ON MUST SEE LIST NOW... Sharlto Copley is my favourite, if you didn't know yet).

Also, I am vowing to see Memento while I'm on spring break.

Vampire Diaries returns tomorrow!

Chuck has continued to be AMAZING this season. I will be PISSED if/when Chuck isn't nominated for an Emmy for Best Comedy, Zachary Levi for Best Actor in a Comedy, and Adam Baldwin for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy (I'd also totally pull for Yvonne too).

Um. I'm out of stuff, aside from the women in comedy thing. I'll do that later.

Sequels, Threequels, Franchises, oh my!

Last night, as I was trying to sleep, a thought kept coming into my head. And that thought was no, not about Anton Yelchin or Alexander Skarsgard you fools, but about sequels and threequels.

Now, it has become a long-standing fear of fans of something quality that a mediocre or bad sequel will come of it. However, ever since 1972 and The Godfather, Part II, this fear has been ruled with some notable exceptions. However, there have been over the past several years, particularly in recent years with the heightened popularity of franchises, several examples of sequels that are considered to be nearly as good as, as good as, or better than the original film on which they are based. For example, there is the aforementioned Godfather, Part II; Empire Strikes Back; Terminator 2: Judgment Day; I-haven't-seen-it-but-have-been-led-to-believe-it-fits-here Aliens; Toy Story 2; Shrek 2; Spider-man 2; The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; The Dark Knight; X2. To name a few, that is.

Obviously, this is a totally non-scientific manner in which I am determining whatever the hell I am rambling on about.

Sequels have been proven to not simply be a marketing ploy for Disney to sell a bunch of Direct-to-VHS/DVD movies (although, in its defense, The Lion King 2 is actually quite enjoyable... moreso than most of its sequel counterparts via Disney). There are loads of bad sequels or sequels that incredibly disappoint.

But I remember seeing both Shrek the Third and Spider-man 3 and easily disliking the both of them. Shrek the Third had its moments and Spider-man 3 had James Franco being the only good thing about the entire movie, but overall, they were far cries from the first two movies. Even the unsteady X-Men franchise had a decent opening film, an improved second film, and then a blah third film. Other franchises start off with a strong first film and then settle into two mediocre sequels (Pirates of the Caribbean and The Matrix, for example).

Even Return of the Jedi and The Godfather, Part III, while both being good films in their own rights, are still mere shadows of the brilliance of their first two installments. The third Terminator movie was only mediocre. And while Lord of the Rings: Return of the King should disprove this theory that threequels nearly always never measure up, it's an unfair comparison, as all three Lord of the Rings films were made in a grouping, all principal photography done together during the same stretch of time, a nearly identical team of production and post-production for the three films, and the like. And the James Bond franchise also doesn't count in my book, like the Harry Potter franchise (although, it is my personal opinion that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is rather poor), because the two although in the same franchise, really seem to differ between the films. Which is one of my main beefs with the entire Harry Potter film franchise. Keeping the same cast does not unite films. Look at James Bond! You've got to settle on a unified, continuous plot, filming style, and set design. But, alas, this isn't the place for my Harry Potter film rants.

Besides that, however, when a franchise like James Bond has made as many films as it has, each "sequel" tends to differ based on its own natural merits and not on its relation to the past film(s). But, in this vein, yes, both From Russia with Love and Goldfinger are good "sequels."

While I have gotten over the understandable fear of sequels to good material, because there are so many excellent exceptions, many of which are some of my favourite films of all times, it is difficult for me to think of many threequels that have really stood up well. I suppose I could argue that Ocean's Thirteen was a good threequel, after the okay sequel of Ocean's Twelve, but it feels odd comparing Ocean's Eleven to The Godfather or Star Wars, even if it is a fun romp.

Mostly, I am hoping that Pixar might help eliminate my fear of threequels with Toy Story 3. Pixar hasn't disappointed yet, but the odds seem more against them than ever, in my opinion. Other people were pleasantly surprised by the quality of Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up, but Pixar has been making odd concepts into great films ever since Toy Story. And they made a brilliant sequel to one of those films. But a threequel? Pixar has earned my trust, but threequels haven't. I've met very few threequels I've really liked. I suppose Return of the Jedi and Ocean's Thirteen might be saving graces, but it's hard to get over Sofia Coppola's poor acting in The Godfather, Part III, or everything but James Franco in Spider-man 3.

In conclusion, there really isn't much that can be got out of this roundabout ramble. My point is simply that the fear of sequels has been calmed a bit, despite the annoyance of clear box office bait that is a sequel to The Hangover, Sex and the City 2, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and so on and so forth. There are some great cinematic experiences that are sequels. However, few threequels have ever risen to any form of glory. I'm hoping Pixar disproves that and then Christopher Nolan makes an assist by making that third Batman movie and making it awesome.

At least in the meantime we've got Inception.

Twitter, Inception, And Tonight's Viewing Pleasure!

A) Check out my twitter for short tidbits that can't make it fully into blogposts. I know, I know, I refused to use twitter for the longest time, but it is cute. :D Plus, I feel less annoying updating that frequently over Facebook as I am expected to update my Twitter a zillion times.

B) I love how I have managed to make it into my personality as the go-to movie girl. If my friends have a movie related question to pose or something movie-esque to talk about, they go to me. I have gotten texts asking me what the title of a movie or the name of an actor is. They make me happy because I love talking about movies. Thanks to my darling friend Carley, who just alerted me to the new Christopher Nolan movie scheduled for next year, I checked out the Wikipedia page and got a brief glimpse.

Totally an Awesome Cast post, which she kindly enough pointed out. Leonardo DiCaprio is an amazing actor, for instance, but I admit that I am excited to see him work with a different visionary director than Martin Scorsese, which he certainly has a rapport with considering their extensive work together, but, again, it'll be nice to see him with someone like Christopher Nolan! Marion Cotillard has suddenly become a go-to actress for Awesome Casts, between Public Enemies (which, despite being rather mediocre of a movie, certainly has a good cast) and Nine (which I have become massively excited for), after her stunning Oscar-win last year (not to mention that she is beautiful). Ellen Page... well, we'll see. I honestly haven't seen her in too much aside from Juno (although, no lie, she was definitely good in Juno), but I am rather hesitant about Juno... I never liked all the major hype it got and, believe me, I am beyond sick of the "little Indie that could" stories. Unless we're talking legitimate, amazing indies like The Visitor. But onward! Cillian Murphy, I have to admit, I haven't seen much beyond the Nolan Batman series, but I loved him in the Batman movies, so I'm hoping for good stuff. And, of course, Ken Watanabe, always excellent. And, lastly, of course, Michael Caine. Because, in the stunning three Nolan films I've seen (yes, yes, I still need to watch Memento, don't harass me, I know), you gotta have Michael Caine.

Also, can we take a moment to absolutely love the premise? As quoted from Wikipedia: "Warner Bros describes Inception 'as a contemporary sci-fi actioner set within the architecture of the mind.'"

Now that sounds epic.

Oh snap. Hold the phone! I just went over to imdb.com and they told me that my dearly beloved Joseph Gordon-Levitt is also going to be in Inception! Hot damn, this really is an amazing cast. Not to mention that via imdb.com there is a suweet looking image of Nolan, DiCaprio, and Watanabe. They know this movie will be good. :D

C) Going out to the movies later. Unfortunately, there really isn't anything out just now that thrills me. Aside from Bruno, which just came out today. Which is one of the possible movies I will view. I will be sure to let you know how whatever movie I end up seeing today is. I need to get back on my game and view me some movies! That's what summer is for, isn't it? Gotta catch up on my work, here.


Oh and a PS: Let me express how glad I am that I Love You, Beth Cooper looks like it is tanking. Hayden Panetierre bores me. I really wish Claire on Heroes could die. Nooo instead, she's getting it on with ladies. Can the other lady have an Arthur Petrelli type power and steal her power so she can friggin DIE? /rant