Inception

One of this year’s most anticipated film releases is Christopher Nolan’s Inception, director of Memento, and the new the Batman Series, i.e. Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
Inception like most of Nolan’s work, promised to be epic, with inventive action scenes, an engaging storyline, moving performances and twists galore; and on most part Nolan delivered this and more.
In the world of Inception, there is this device that enables people to share dreams with each other, this device is used by protagonist Dom Cobb played by Leonardo DiCaprio, as a way to infiltrate a target’s subconscious, stealing information from them, for paid clients. In all tense and purposes he is a thief, extracting information out of people’s dreams. The catalyst occurs when Cobb accepts the challenge of implementing the near impossible task of inception; the concept of planting an idea into someone’s subconscious as if it were their own. The target of the planned inception is Robert Fischer, (Cillian Murphy) heir to a massive empire. The plan is to plant the idea of destroying his father’s empire deep into his subconscious. And so like any other heist film, the leader, Cobb, assembles his team, including; Cobb’s trusty sidekick Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), dream architect Ariadne (Ellen Page), forger/ shape shifter Eames (Tom Hardy), chemist Yusuf (Dileep Rao), client Saito (Ken Watanabe) and tagalong Mal, (Marion Cotillard) Cobb’s wife. And so begins an intense adventure travelling far away from reality; deep, deep into the limbo of ‘subconscious-ness.’
All the performances are incredibly solid, and each actor has a great understanding of what they are doing/talking about, this confidence allows the trusting audience to suspend belief and be entrapped in this exciting new world.
The story is incredibly inventive and intellectual but at the same time it is really easy to understand and follow. Yes, the story is really intricate, there is layer upon layer of details and we could sit here all day debating about what happens in the film, but even though it is so in depth, the screenplay has been structured so well that the film is easy to follow. But because of this solid structure, and the pattern that the film builds throughout the crisis points, the story becomes slightly predictable. After the first viewing the story did not leave me with a satisfying feeling of surprise, none of the twists were really hidden, and compared to The Dark Knight, there wasn’t as much shock value evident. However on the second viewing I instantly fall in love. There is this moment after the beginning action, where Cobb say’s that he “hates trains,” and instantly I knew I was going to love picking up on all the subtext and knowledge hidden deep in the screenplay.
Naturally the action scenes are amazingly inventive; one particular scene of a gravity-free fight is incredibly impressive, and along with the amazing use of CGI and the beautiful cinematography, results in the film becoming a visual masterpiece.
This is a film that will always bring new levels of understanding to each viewing, and I definitely recommend seeing this film more than once. It really makes you question what we perceive as reality or instead what we perhaps may/should perceive as reality, and I will agree without a doubt that Inception is one hell of a dream ride.
Ps. To the 16 year old fools standing outside of the cinema that said Inception was boring, and that the only good scene was the gravity-free fight; EITHER grow a brain to be able to comprehend the sheer intricate awesomeness of the story OR die.

The Runaways

A Cherry Bomb explosion of 70’s rock 'n roll, indulged with neon lights, retro fashion, drugs, alcohol, sex and even masturbation; forms the extreme elements of The Runaways. Based upon the 70’s all girl rock band of the same name, the film explores the beginning dynamics between the band, focusing on favourites Joan Jett and Cherie Currie, played by Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning respectively. It features the very intense working relationship with their producer Kim Fowley played creepily well by Michael Shannon. We learn how they got signed to a record label, the intense fame that soon occurred afterwards and the eventual downfall and departure of lead singer Cherie Currie.
One of the films highlights was naturally the 70’s music featuring artists like Suzi Quatro, David Bowie, Sex Pistols and of course The Runaways.
The cinematography was effective in the way that it captured the 70's era and the look of the music video clips of the time. However once or twice some of the shots were annoyingly grainy due to the lack of lighting, and the focus on occasion seemed to be focused on the wrong actor.
Performances by Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning were naturally superb, more impressive was the fact that they actually sang really, really well. I felt Dakota Fanning however almost went borderline melodramatic in her performance on rare occasions, mainly during her fucked up drug moments, but we can perhaps account that to the fact that she would not have had such previous life experiences to work from. I will agree that both actresses embodied the portrayed characters, and their odd love relationship was very authentic on screen. Kirsten Stewart delved far away from the world of Twilight showcasing that she is still an amazingly capable indie actress.
Shannon's portrayal of music producer, Kim Fowley was another highlight of the film. His dialogue was memorable with his blunt, cruel, sexist way of bullying the band to perform better.

“..fuck you, fuck authority - I want an orgasm! Now, growl! Moan! This ain't women's lib, kiddies - the is women's libido! I wanna see the scratch marks down their fucking backs! Now, do it again. Again. Like your boyfriend just fucked your sister in your parent's bed. LIKE YOU WANT A FUCKING ORGASM!”

And like Fowley’s metaphor of how to make good rock 'n roll music; this film is one fucking orgasm!

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

It seems you either hate the Twilight Saga or you love it. I come under the latter category, however I will admit that the films are far from any sort of masterpiece including Eclipse. Yes, maybe the plot development can seem tedious to some but the source material doesn’t really contain much action. The Eclipse novel however, written by Stephenie Meyer, contains the most plot points and action, enabling the movie to run at a steadier pace. New director to the Twilight Saga, David Slade starts to build the tension right from the opening scene and with Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, they have contained a strong amount of threat throughout the film. This vampire film may not be as intense as David Slade’s previous work directing 30 Days of Night, but what Eclipse lacks in blood and gore, it makes up in characterisation and a stronger sense of story.
The film pretty much picks up where we left off at New Moon; Bella played by Kristen Stewart is still human trying to convince her lover, Edward (Robert Pattinson) to change her into a vampire, while Edward is still adamant on marriage. Then there is third wheel Jacob (Taylor Lautner) who is still upset at Bella for choosing a vampire over his werewolf self. The crisis is evident from early on in the film when it comes to knowledge that there are uncontrollable newborn vampires killing freely in Seattle, threatening the safety of the Cullen’s hidden identities. The presence of old foe Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) is still at large, later she is unsurprisingly revealed as the leader of the Seattle newborns. Victoria is still strong on the revenge game, and the safety of Bella is the main task of the film yet again, this time she receives protection from both the Cullen Vampires and the Quileute Tribe Werewolves. However the main question the audience will be asking has nothing to do with Bella’s safety and everything to do with her decision: Love a Vampire or a Werewolf?
There are three flashbacks in this film, giving the audience an insight into the pasts of both the Cullen family and the Quileute Tribe. We learn about the origins of the Quileute tribe as well as the back-story of Jasper and Rosalie Cullen’s human life and how they became vampires. Two of these flashbacks are important to the outer (action) journey of plot and are literally mirrored in the story, while the third flashback and its reasoning is important to the inner journey for protagonist Bella, and gives us a hint of the crisis explored in Breaking Dawn.
The acting throughout the film was generally very good. The three leads were solid as usual and embodied each character perfectly. My favourite performance would perhaps have to be Bella’s Mother, Renee, played by Sarah Clarke, who has such a natural presence on film. There were some genuinely funny moments too, the sex talk being one of the more memorable. The film boasts more action scenes, as well as the most raunchiest scene of the saga yet.
Technically the film was good, the cinematography was great, as David Slade has a nice eye for what composes a shot well. There were however some focus pulls that I feel didn’t really work. The CGI was adequate while the colour of the film really helped to highlight the mood of particular scenes.
Anyone who is a fan of the novels, who also has a realistic view on how the source material changes when adapted to the screen, will definitely have fun with Eclipse. The film embodies the novel, sure the less important parts were left out, but they didn’t change anything, (ie. they didn’t do anything like the burning of The Burrow in Harry Potter 6.) If anything the film helped add to the essence of the story, as it was able to explore the Seattle newborn vampires and the Volturi story lines.
As a film it deserves 3 out of 5, but the fan inside of me has to give it an extra half because it truly embodied the novel.