Sometimes awful things have their own kind of beauty....

About a week ago I was having a conversation with one of my best friends (waddup Collin) about my love for The Departed and the Casino Royale. I explained to him that not only are the storylines great in these two movies but they are also visually stunning. His reply " Oh you like highly-stylized movies, huh?". Um Yes. That is what stylized means. Raw and gritty with a shaky camera are not usually choices filmmakers make for aesthetics but rather because of their lack of resources (there are of course exceptions like Rachel Getting Married, which had an invasive documentary type feel that I loved). Both Casino Royale and The Departed are action movies. However there is dramatic cinematic feast for the eyes, that comes from the fashion designer and first time director Tom Ford, called A Single Man. Though I wanted to see this film for months, it took the encouragement of a friend (Thanks Matt!) via his facebook to make me rent this movie. Let's just say I'm glad he did. It's one of those films that uses every possible metaphorical device to complete its arsenal of aesthetics. The story of a college professor in the 1960s, who, after the sudden death of his partner of sixteen years, has given up hope. The narrative is punctuated through the poignant use of music and color. The film is shot with gray,dull undertones but whenever happiness is on the horizon, the color shifts as if someone switched on the brightness dial on your television. It's as if when our protagonist George receives a breath of new life, we, the audience, do as well. Colin Firth is simply extraordinary in this role (which won him a BAFTA award and an Oscar nomination)  and has such subtlety in his grieving that it transcends both beautiful and grotesque and reaches the sublime. Julianne Moore plays George's best friend who has never fully accepted the fact that he's gay because she's still desperately in love with him and clinging to the life they could have had. Newcomer Nicholas Hoult does a wonderful job as one of George's students who believes that he has all the answers in life with none of the experience. He has the resilience of youth which I, and many of my peers, can identify with. The film left me with a rediscovered appreciation of art and what it means to take a story and bring it to life. I applaud Tom Ford and the cast and I think you will too.

we've waited so long for this...

Of course I saw Inception on opening day but I thought I would wait about a week before posting it on my blog to allow you snails to get to your theaters. By now you've either seen it or heard all the major hype. In terms of the hype, I think Inception seriously deserves it. Critics are harsh in saying that this film was incredibly overhyped, but what they are failing to realize is that it delivers in every way that it intended. The cinematic community has been ravaged by films that appear to be promising and then are epic failures (ahem The Last Airbender). Christopher Nolan has delivered a film that is the definition of what a summer blockbuster should be. It's intriguing, mind-bending, thought-provoking and has enough action to make you jump out of your seat (which I did because of the intense volume at the Union Square theater). I'm not one for hype. I don't think you should see a movie because it's been hyped all over the place (I'm talking about Avatar, James Cameron) but this is one of those films that makes your $13 proud. From the double meaning names (the architect's name is Ariadne) to making you question every dream you've ever had, this film has you thinking about it for days to come. The eye-candy composed of Marion Cottillard, Leonardo Dicaprio, Tom Hardy (yes please!), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (seconds, please!) and Michael Caine (yeah I said it) are strengthened due to their formidable acting within the film.  The emotional core is beautifully presented and Nolan does a great job at giving us just enough detail that we can follow what's going on but doesn't bombard us with how the contraption works and the physics behind everything. Whether you believe in one of the thrity Inception theories out there is irrelevant. Just go see it. I'm not going to spoil all the fun for you here.




And just for fun..my nemesis Dora the Explorer has seen inception too.

i just need to vent....

I am so upset. You really can't understand my ire. I feel like I've been bamboozled and slapped in the face. I watched The Last Airbender during a midnight screening for which I paid $20 for a ticket and stood in line for a half hour. All of that effort just saw M. Night Shyamalan could mind fuck me. I love the cartoon series Avatar. It has that perfect balance of child sensibility with important life lessons. It's not preaching and it's not trying to be something it isn't. Something so perfect was completely ruined by one of the most prominent American directors. First of all let's talk about how the film wasn't even in 3D. The action sequences weren't in 3D. Nothing! Nothing at all! Why would you advertise a film as such if you weren't going to deliver. Next up the racial divide. Why would all the Fire Nation (the bad guys of the saga) be of Middle Eastern/Indian descent? Where did that creative license stem from? I get it you didn't want to use all Asian actors but this would be the perfect opportunity to make all the nations very diverse and show how Utopian the Avatar world was prior to the Invasion. No you decided to make it even more racially awkward, especially with the three heroes all being white. Way to go! The third problem (and possible the most annoying) was that M. Night changed the pronunciation of the character names. Aang became Ahng, Iro became Iroh, and Sokka became Soca. I don't care if those are the proper pronunciations, the basis of this film is that these are characters we've come to love. Don't fuck around and change everything about them. Do you not understand how a franchise works? Also the notion of how bending works is skewed. In the cartoon, the fire nation didn't need fire to be present in order to bend. That's what separated them from the other benders. If you want to get really technical, in order to create fire all you need is air, something to burn and an ignitor. Suck on that! I want a refund of my money and my time. I went in with high hopes only to have them shattered. I pray they don't make another one because I can't stomach that kind of abuse. I usually don't dismiss movies completely but in this instance, I totally think I'm saving all of you from a heartbreaking waste of money. Even the NY Times agrees