Inception-In which Cillian Murphy has a bag over his head, once again.

So I finally got around to seeing Inception yesterday, and let me say that it truly exceeded my expectations as a thriller and ultimately, a mindfuck.  Within the first 9 minutes, you are thrown into a crazy world in which you have no idea what's going on, and things aren't being explained.  You just have to observe (and drool over Joseph Gordon Levitt) and hope that everything illuminates itself accordingly.  It's basically your traditional heist movie (drugs, robbery, that sort of thing) but much more interesting and complex.  It's thought robbery, or more specifically, thought placement.

More important, there's no bond girls here, which is a major plus, for ladies watching it, and no gratuitous violence.  This is a cerebral action movie.  There's lots of anonymous shooting, but very limited blood and gore, and the deaths are of dream projections, not real people.  

As a side note, I am absolutely fascinated by Leonardo DiCaprio's transformation, as an actor and a person, from a scrawny teen heart throb to a round faced, goatee donning suspense/thriller actor of high quality.  Who knew?  I can never get enough of Joseph Gordon Levitt, so that was a major plus, and I love Ellen Page and her sassy, smart characters, not to mention Cillian Murphy, who seems to always have a bag over his head in Nolan's movies.  WIthout giving much of the plot away, the movie was definitely male dominated, and Page's character wasn't a particularly violent one, but she was the architect of the realities that the characters occupied, and in control of much of the action.  She was an emotional sensor, and was able to understand DiCaprio in ways that his coworkers couldn't, and helped him to deal with the death of his wife (Played by a fierce Marion Cotillard).  

This is an awesome movie when it comes to drama, suspense, and simply not knowing what the heck is happening, and it made me happy to see the leading ladies (Marion Cotillard including) in non-Bond girl style approaches.  While I give props to Angelina Jolie for consistently kicking ass in action movies everywhere (usually scantily clad, as well), I appreciate the depth and contemplativeness of these two female characters, and the lack of dumb sex scenes and excess cleavage.  Both of these actresses are beautiful, in a slightly untraditional way, and this film allowed them to be so without compromising the integrity or intensity of the plot.  I suppose it is the first action movie I've seen in which there is no dumb Romance element to it?  Way to go, Christopher Nolan.

  

Not to mention the perception of reality, and questioning the perception of perception.  That's deep right stuff for an action movie.  Either way, I definitely want to see it again, and not just for Gordon-Levitt.

Sex and the City 2, and why Carrie Bradshaw is Kinda of a B

In the spirit of girliness, novelty, and camerederie, I went with my dear friend to the only English language movie theater in Quebec to see "Sex in the City 2." I probably wouldn't have seen it, at least not in theaters, or ever, since my girly side has been pretty nonexistent for the last two or three years. But I thought, it could be good. Maybe I've changed, or because I haven't watched the series in three and a half years, but most of the characters are pretty self-centered, egotistical, and materialistic, and I found it pretty heinous. A part of me is disappointed in my immediate reaction-I remember sitting around the television every couple of nights, and parceling out a few episodes to watch with my roommates, and having a fabulous time with it. As a show bridging the late nineties and millenium, it was pivotal-for empowering women sexually, fiscally, and otherwise. But at the same time, it reinforced some of the traditional gender/career issues: Carrie Bradshaw has an elusive writing job, but how the heck does she buy all of that stuff? Where does the money come from? Once she's married Mr. Big, he just provides for her in a way that I find mostly disappointing, and she lives this high socialite existence that has no grounding in reality. (I guess the show never had points for reality, and I just soaked it up, like everyone else.) I love Samantha's boldness, but she never has any regard for anything but sexual gratification, at any cost, especially in this movie. I appreciate Charlotte's regard for institutions, family, and everything else, but she doesn't have a job, and she has full-time nanny help, and lives in Manhattan. My pity is decreasing rapidly. The only character with whom I have always liked, for all of her sometimes bitchiness, is Miranda. Because she is powerful, smart, and struggling to combine her career aspirations with having a personal life and a child. I have always appreciated her issues, even if she had a few seasons in which she was mean to Steve in just about every way.
I remember being slightly annoyed when watching the first movie, two years ago, but it didn't bother me enough to take note, I guess. But this time, watching the absolute decadence and disregard for consequences, made me practically ill. The premise of the movie is that Carrie is "happily" married, lives in a very posh apartment, and is still unhappy, and is very mean to Mr. Big, for him not wanting to live the high life all the time. She's basically a super bitch. Then poof! They go on an all-expense paid vacation to the United Arab Emirates, and bring the most fashionably dysfunctional clothing I have ever seen worn in the middle east, land of birkas and sheets. Between the disregard for Islamic culture, and the flagrant materialistic obsession, I was sorely disappointed. I no longer care if someone broke a five thousand dollar bag with a waiting list. I never did, and I maybe just realized it now.
To me, fashion is about finding pieces that don't have to be expensive or couture, and making them go together. It's great if you have the money to buy a few expensive pieces, but when everything you wear is about the label and the designer, I think you're just wasting your money. Individuality means more when you're not fitting into someone else's idea of what's cool, or having $800 pumps in the middle of the desert. I just wish someone had some sense of reality, money, or what's real. Singing karaoke in the middle of the UAE with tons of other women certainly isn't, nor is Liza Minelli officiating at a gay wedding. (Both events occur in the movie.)
I think what draws us in over and again is the dream-of buying anything, of being anything, and of looking amazing and fabulous all of the time. It's a great dream, but I'll settle for my cheap sunscreen and fifteen dollar sandals the next time I'm in the middle east. I'll leave the Bulgari jewelry in the store, and treat my friends with respect and kindness instead.

Good movies I saw over break that most people don't know about

One of the great things about break was that I had the opportunity to see some great art films that are had to have access to here in Rochester. Many people don't know these flicks, and all of them had issues of note (especially to jucispeakers). Here's what I saw and why they mattered:

A Single Man

This is the riveting and beautiful story directed by Tom Ford about being gay, being heartbroken, and being invisible in the 1960's. The story is basically a one-man Colin Firth show about the suffering he incurs after the sudden death of his partner (played in flashbacks by my personal favorite British hearthrob, Matthew Goode) It deals with some major issues in American conservative culture- how Colin Firth's character couldn't go to his partner's funeral, and the family didn't even tell him about it, as they didn't approve of their relationship. It's how being gay in America meant that you were invisible, that you lived in between the cracks, and that you had to defend your right to have valid relationships. The clincher in this comes with Julianne Moore, when she says that Colin Firth's boyfriend was just a minor dalliance, nothing loving and long lasting. This is the kind of the conflict that had to be dealt with- homosexual love is true and as valid as heterosexual love. We're still dealing with it today. Aside from absolutely stunning design elements, I thought it was a beautiful, albeit depressing movie, and I would recommend it to anyone who has affinities towards gay rights, Colin Firth, or the 1960's. (As as a side note, the movie also features the grown up Nicholas Hoult, the infamous boy from "About a Boy" as an amorous student.)

An Education

This is a really interesting movie as well, more for women's issues and education. A young girl's parents are very conservative, insisting that she only study and that she absolutely must go to Oxford. She isn't allowed to listen to music, or go to concerts, or have a life, until older man David takes an interest in her. David wooes her and her parents, and Jenny begins to think that her family obsession with Oxford is a little shallow and useless. Jenny falls head over heels for David and begins to slide in her studies, only to discover later that David was not all he was cracked up to be. At the end of the debacle, Jenny has to reevaluate her own desires, and decide whether she wants to be a wife or a scholar.

While occasionally a little racy, I did enjoy this film, and I thought it had lots of relevant woman's issues. After recently watching Julie and Julia, in which Paul Child was extremely supportive of Julia's endeavors, I had been curious to see how women in the 1950's and 60's were empowered or challenged. This movie gives both sides of this issue- Jenny is smart and hardworking, and is encouraged at school, however her parents deny her the possibility that cultural enrichment are useful in one's studies. When it seems that she might be marrying David, her parents say that she doesn't need to go to Oxford, which really upsets her. She doesn't understand why education was so valued when she could've just been married instead. At the end of it, she puts her own education first, above anything else, and learns more about her priorities than anything else.

Acting was good, with a screenplay by Nick Hornby, and featured some really beautiful and interesting scenes, as well as some really funny ones.

Precious

I'll say the least about this movie, since most people have heard of it. It's a heartbreaking story about a young woman who is illiterate, whose mother is abusive, and whose father raped her multiple times. (She already has one of his children and is pregnant with another one). She gets kicked out of normal school for being pregnant, and has to go to an alternative school where the teacher takes an interest in her and helping her. Precious learns to read and begins to understand that she can't be with her mother anymore. She leaves home and looks for somewhere to live after she has the baby, and looks for a new life, away from the one she has known so well.

Obviously, this one is majorly sad, because it's never fun to watch abusive parents at work, at least not in my experience. Mo'nique, as her mother, is amazing and terrifying, and for me, it was great to see her in a real movie role, as she was in "The Moesha Show" as well as many movies that I'd never see, such as "Phat Girlz." (need I see more?) This movie completes our triple header of movies because it shows how one's persistence can overcome great strife, both personal and gendered. Precious is told that she is stupid and will never succeed or be loved, and she knows that's not true by the end of the movie. While it's the ultimate tearjerker, it's also a very good, harrowing movie that will certainly make you reevaluate your problems.

listening to: sara lov

UP and down. A movie contemplation!

Last night, I saw the new Pixar movie, UP! and I have to say that it was an interesting movie.  I don't know that it makes my Pixar top 5 (which are, in no order, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Toy Story, Wall-E, and Monsters Inc.) but it was a solidly interesting film.  In it, the main character, the grumpy old man Carl is mourning his deceased wife, who always wanted to live a life of adventure.  Yet, Carl feels that she died prematurely, before she was able to realize her dream of going to "Paradise Falls" in South America.  He feels that he needs to find Paradise Falls so that he can realize their shared dream, and complete her work.  Carl's quite unsavory for the first half of the movie, and snaps at Russell (the token pseudo boy scout) who miraculously ends up on his porch once he's lifted off with his balloons.  Aside from all the adventuring and 3-d graphics, there are some bigger issues that underpinned this film.

1) Carl is so caught up mourning Ellie (his wife) that he can't live in the moment, and he can't really communicate with other people effectively.  He is unable to accept her absence, and almost blames everyone else in the world for her death.  That's pretty heavy stuff for a children's film, and I honestly think it's very relevant.

2) Carl has regrets for Ellie's life, and constantly feels that they didn't live their life together to the fullest potential.  At a point in the film, he opens her childhood journal, where she had outlined the adventure to Paradise Falls, and "the stuff I'm going to do there."  He assumes that she never got to fill in the "stuff" part, since she never went there, but then discovers that she filled it with pictures of their life together.  She led her life with no regrets, and that her biggest adventure was really with Carl.  It didn't really matter that they didn't go to Paradise Falls- it was more that she had loads of smaller adventures with Carl.  When he realizes this, he's able to move on, and stop mourning her as much.  She writes in the book "Thanks for the adventure...Now go and find a new one!" 

3) When Carl and Russell finally get to Paradise Falls, they come upon a rare bird (that looks like a dinosaur) that an old explorer on the island is trying to capture.  Even though Carl idolized this explorer as a child, he realizes that this man will do anything to capture this bird, and isn't able to realize the importance of the bird's life or family.  Much like Wall-e, Pixar is able to subtly suggest an environmentalist agenda, i.e. being kind and helpful to all animals.  While Carl initially regrets that idea, Russell (the boy) is on a mission to help all animals, which reminds us to be caring and respectful to the wilderness and the animals there and here, in our own backyards.  

Overall, the film still has some odd plot holes.  (Like how come the dogs can talk?  How did Carl get all those balloons?  Why didn't he bring more on the journey?  How did they get to South America?  How come the adventurer guy is like 25 years older than Carl, and then they look the same age when they meet?)  But the messages of the film are still quite nice, as they usually are with Pixar films.

Currently listening to: the new Andrew Bird album.  Finally.