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You haven't seen The Prestige? Watch that one before giving up.

(Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 4:15 PM)

Agreed, watch The Prestige!

(Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 4:39 PM)

The fact you got so little from INCEPTION is a real shame but I totally respect you fella for knowing your own mind and not being afraid to tell it like it is.

Look forward to discussing this further in the near future. I know you won't go out of your way to watch THE PRESTIGE so once your anger has subsided let me know and I'll post it up to you.

(Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 5:19 PM)

Congrats for this review. Finally someone sees Christopher Nolan and his movies for what they really are: empty, boring stuff and story lines that go nowhere.
And the picture quality isn't terrific either.
THE PRESTIGE, folks, ist the worst of all. Pretentious, boring, convoluted, with no subject matter, no nothing, it's just a lousy attempt at trying to write a "clever" clockwork like screenplay.
Let all be known. Christopher Nolan has no message, no theme, no subject matter, he has no stories to tell and he cannot write drama. He is just a director.

(Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 5:58 PM)

Despite essentially being made out of parts of other films I thought Inception was pretty good. I don't understand the animosity in the review.

(Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 6:08 PM)

Interesting, I rather liked inception. Although I wasn't 100% convinced about DiCaprio's character motivation. But I could overlook that to enjoy the film and the fine acting overall. I think you could be onto something regarding the ending though.

(Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 7:38 PM)

Whilst I'd go higher than a 4/10, I too had a number of misgivings with Inception. For starters the crux of the plot is about, essentially, a corporate takeover - hardly the kind of thing to set the pulse racing and, more to the point, hardly the kind of thing to care about either. As a result, the film boils down to nothing more than its central idea and so splits into two areas: firstly, the exposition of all the rules relating to 'invading' others' dreams; and secondly, the demonstration of these rules within various action set pieces. Which is all well and good as it does demonstrate plenty of imagination - and of the kind that rarely plays in major Hollywood projects as so many commentators have mentioned in reviewing the film. However, I was somewhat let down as the initial trailers seemed to promise so much more: seeing those images of Paris bending upon itself, say, or various characters floating in space whilst tied together created a lot of potential. Yet seeing them within the narrative I kept thinking that the film could have been further out-there. I don't quite know what I expected exactly - ie, what that initial promise would reveal - but I do feel it was something more than what the final product delivered.

Oh, and the final shot felt like cheap "get the audience back for another viewing at the cinema" ploy more than anything else.

(Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 7:47 PM)

I think Nolan is a brilliant filmmaker and one of the revelations of this last decade, with The Prestige and his Batman films being his crowning achievements. Even the Insomnia remake, my least favorite of his, had its moments of visual beauty.

Inception however does spend way too much time setting up the rules and explaining every single detail to its audience as opposed to letting them figure it out on their own. 55% of the dialogue consists of someone spoon feeding the other person about what exactly is going on, even knowing they are experts on the field and have been training about this assignment for months.

Otherwise, I thought the film was outstanding in pretty much everything else and I was overjoyed at how a film like this got universal acclaim and box office results, especially with Dances With Smurfs becoming the biggest hit of 2009.

(Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 8:00 PM)

I agree with you, I didn't like "Inception" either.

I watched it thrice and it got worse with each viewing. The exposition in the first hour is excruciatingly awful, especially when you already know what's going on. The script is nothing short of a 100% awful, it's the visuals that kind of save the film and those visuals are the main reason this movie is so damn popular. You can say the same about every Michael Bay-flic.

I really hated Leonardo DiCaprio's character. I don't know if it was the acting or the way he was written, though after we find out the despicable twist, probably the latter. He played a similar character in "Shutter Island", but I liked him a lot better there. The remaining cast did a serviceable job with what they had to do, though I still don't know why the hell Ellen Page is still getting jobs in Hollywood. It's funny how the most fascinating character (the one Marion Cotillard plays) appears as a Nightmarish apparition and we only get to know her through flashbacks.

The main problem I had with this film was the fact that Nolan ignored everything we know about dreams and the logic of dreams and created his own universe with its own set of rules, hence he had to explain everything about it, because it wasn't based in "reality".

A lot of the "dream-horror" flics released in the 80's such as Wes Craven's "Nightmare on Elm Street" and Bruce R. Cook's "Nightwish" have dealt with this subject matter a lot more efficiently.

(Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 8:13 PM)

I have my issues with Inception, but many of these can be dismissed on a second viewing, which going by your overly negative review, you won't be subjecting yourself to. Shame because as a unique concept for a summer blockbuster / thriller I think it's very intelligent and bold. As a blu-ray I had none of the issues you raised, although I can't say I'm viewing it on the same technical level as you. It (just about) made my top ten, but I will say it was far from the best of the year.

(Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 9:06 PM)

Your review pretty much confirmed my worries about what this film would be like. When I heard that Christopher Nolan was doing a movie about dreams, I immediately thought of something which would be gray, dull, and overly logical. They're inside dreams, and the best he can do is have men in suits with slicked back hair running with guns. Lyris even pointed out that he directs films in suits.

I'm sure he gave dreams the same treatment he gave the movie about the rich kid who parades around in a bat costume and tries to thwart the plans of a crazed clown. One more question, does it have the same kind of score as his last film? I.E. Does it have throughout the whole thing, an overbearing set of vibrations booming in the background trying to pass as music?

(Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 10:53 PM)

After watching Inception again recently, reading your review and giving it some more thought, I realized that I liked The Social Network and Shutter Island more than Inception, so I'm revising my Top 10 list, if you still mention it on your podcast and haven't recorded it yet.

1. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
2. Black Swan
3. The Social Network
4. Shutter Island
5. Inception
6. True Grit
7. Frozen
8. Iron Man 2
9. Machete
10. Piranha 3D

Honorable Mention:

1. Predators

I'm gonna agree with some commenters here in that The Prestige is my favorite Nolan film and underrated, to an extent, but if you don't like his other films, I don't know that you'll like it.
I do like Nolan, but I'm not in love with him like I am Steven Soderbergh or the Coen Bros or Paul Thomas Anderson or Darren Aronofsky, etc, etc.
Have you seen Following? Of all his films, I could see you enjoying that the most.

(Posted on Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 11:20 PM)

You know, I can't fault anyone for being honest... if you hate it, well, you hate it. I swear I'd have punched Lars von Trier with a bike chain wrapped around my fist after watching Dogville, and still feel that Uncle Ebert should be stripped of all credibility for saying anything even remotely positive about Werner Herzog's Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. These films are absolutely garbage, and I'll march to my grave saying it - alone, if need be.

I'm not taken with everything Nolan's done either, but clearly I think Inception works more than you did. I saw it as a round-about story of moral redemption and perseverance that strikes me as something akin to Casablanca, only with some convoluted excuses to shoehorn in some over the top dream-based set pieces... and somehow, nothing about that combination strikes me as a bad thing. Ridiculous? Perhaps. But I nominated Machete as my next-favorite 2010 film, so clearly that sort of thing doesn't bother me too much.

The ending is indeed a cheap shot, but one I think is far too overblown. In the context of the story we're watching unfold, DiCaprio has done the right thing, and (at least in the confines of his character) made amends for all of the wrong he had done that got him in trouble to start with. Who are we to care if it's "real" or not? For all we as the audience know, every bullet point of Inception's world isn't "real" to start with.

As for Nolan in general, I loved The Dark Knight and can't stand any part of Batman Begins. (I have a theory on that, but that's another discussion entirely.) I like Memento enough to recommend it to others, but haven't watched it more than once. Thought The Prestige was pretty godawful... much like you had to say about Inception, a technically stunning film that has absolutely nothing under the surface. I'd probably enjoy listening to a commentary about how Nolan made the "silent movie" motif sequence dramatically more than I would actually watching the narrative in it unfold. But again, that's just me.

(Posted on Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 12:42 AM)

There's a lot I love about Inception, but it does strike me as being very emotionally hollow, and I absolutely agree about the lack of meaningful characterization. When I caught it theatrically, I noticed after a while that I couldn't remember the name of Ellen Page's character. When I rewatched it on Blu-ray, I made it a point to try to remember the names of the supporting characters, and I found myself drawing a blank on a lot of them (especially Page's) even while the movie was still running. Characterization rarely extends beyond Job Description, and the two chief emotional conflicts -- Cobb's grieving over Mal and Fischer's sour relationship with his father -- failed to connect. They're serviceable in nudging the plot along, but aside from the haunting reveal of what exactly happened to Mal, neither made an impact on me emotionally.

The Dark Knight...ack. Again, there's a lot I love about that movie as well, but I could live without the entire Hong Kong sequence, and the finale -- cell-phone-sonar-vision and the scary-yet-moral-convict-saves-the-day -- makes me cringe.

(Posted on Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 1:26 AM)

My wife and I went to see INCEPTION on the opening night. We were very excited.

But as it wore on we became sleepy and bored and felt everything about it was a bit monotone and dull. The visuals. The thunderous sound design and music. The non-characters. The length. The boring James Bond bit at the end with the ski-wear and explosions.

It's not enough to say 'it's very imaginative for a summer blockbuster', because that automatically sets the bar very low, so low that any amount of imagination is a bonus.

However, I will say give THE PRESTIGE a try - it's based on a Christopher Priest novel, and he's terrific, very imaginative - that survives the adaptation. Plus, it's a period piece, so there's less excuse for overt 'modernity'.

On a Christopher Priest note, anyone who thought INCEPTION was terribly original should immediately read Priest's 1978 novel 'A Dream Of Wessex'. It deals in dreams and multiple levels of dreaming, and is excellent, and has somewhat 'inspired' this film.

(Posted on Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 9:55 AM)

Waitasecond... I think I might have confused The Prestige with The Illusionist.

Yep, I think I did. So, disregard anything I said about that particular film.

(Posted on Thursday, January 6, 2011 at 4:04 PM)

Kentai, I'm with you on Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

A bag of shite.

It's not funny, witty or subversive IMO.

If it wasn't for the fact that Herzog 'directed' it, nobody would give two fucks and it would have slid away like that other Nic Cage shit-fest,(which is admittedly unintentionally funny), The Wicker Man.

I've heard it called intentionally bad, that it's part of the joke.
No, the joke is that Cage and Herzog took the money and ran, made a movie of Cage titting about then decided to release it for a laugh. The result being critics and hipster douchebags too afraid to call it what it is: Shit.

I mean, Herzog had to know what he was doing, right? God forbid you say two unkind words about Werner Herzog. Oh Werner, you're such a genius, with your sly little movie. How utterly hilarious and subversive it is. Get ta fuck!

An intentionally bad movie, is still a bad movie, kids.

(Posted on Friday, January 7, 2011 at 11:47 PM)

The backstage catfight between Herzog and the 1993 original's director Abel Ferrara was far more entertaining than anything in Bad Liutenant '09.

(Posted on Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 3:26 AM)

Listening to Abel Ferrara violently curse his way out of a stupor is more entertaining than ANYTHING I've ever seen in a film. Seriously, the guy's commentary for Driller Killer has him basically masturbating and talking about how he made the entire film just to be near this 17 year-old girl who'd never give him the time of day... and that's the low point of the track!

I just love Ferrara's mix of hobo charm and smack-fueled rage... why the hell hasn't anyone paid him to do a commentary for Nine Lives of a Wet Pussy?

(Posted on Monday, January 10, 2011 at 3:28 AM)

Bad Lieutenant POCNO is hilarious. It's a parody of cop films that has more fun with the genre than any other in years.

(Posted on Monday, January 10, 2011 at 5:38 PM)