Inception
Highly recommended by my tweet peeps, “Inception” stars Leonardo DiCaprio who plays Dom Cobb, the leader of a team of “dream invaders”, who are able to enter into people’s dreams and steal their secrets. But his one last job is to instead “start an idea” in a corporate dude’s mind, the process of which is called, “inception”.
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The movie really forces you to think almost the entire time, and director Christopher Nolan (“Dark Knight”, “The Prestige”) basically doesn't give you a moment to even look at the popcorn you're shoving into your mouth (although, as usual, some people where happily chatting away the entire time, the bastards).
Your mind needs to stay alert all the time, as you build the puzzle together with the characters. And that's a really satisfying thing when you watch a film.
Incidentally, it was only recently that I got really interested in matters of the subconscious and "dream surfing", so it was extra satisfying for me.
Of course, I cannot not mention the technical virtuosity displayed by Nolan. The scenes served up ARE really like our dreams; real, yet puzzling, and fantastical.
I mean, I can't tell you how many times I myself have gone from taking the bus to KL and ending up in Paris or LA in my dreams!
The actors did a fine job as well, although maybe they could have casted someone a tad more, um, mature than Ellen Page who plays one of Cobb’s team members.
The only gripe I have is with the script; there was too much explaining of the expository bits for comfort.
But overall, this is an instant classic, and the best movie I've seen this year. No doubt about it.
Predators
A bunch of people who are themselves “predator-like” are plonked on to an alien planet where they become the “hunted”. One of which, is an American mercenary played by Adrien Brody.
And that’s one of the problems, really; Adrien Brody is hardly believable as the bad ass military man. And the Batman voice is just plain ridiculous.
Maybe a Predator movie can never be good in my mind cos we've basically seen it all before and nothing could come close to the very first one that Arnie made a classic. But at least, give it a good shot lah.
The script, especially, is an absolute disgrace. There are plenty of chances to make it wittier and, um, better, but the filmmakers just couldn’t be bothered.
In one of the scenes, a character said: "There's a belief in my community that bla, bla, bla..." And the other one merely replied: "Yeah, whatever".
That's it? That's the best sarcastic/clever remark they could think of? Is this Hannah Montana?
The action scenes are equally unimaginative, with only one, which involved a samurai battle, sticking out in mind.
But really, the characters are just a bunch of clichés, and we basically know who's gonna die first in the first five minutes. Yeah, it is THAT predictable.
And oh, there's also a Laurence Fishburne cameo that will help you fall asleep in case you weren't already, one hour into the film.
But I guess “Predators” hit the mark as the “B” film that it is.
If “B”, is for “Bullshit”.
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