Movie : Inception

No Spoiler Ahead.

Quote : 'Watching Inception is like striking a match and setting your brain on fire.'

I must say that this is a thoroughly enjoyable movie and actually made me go and read up on its own inception (heh). Written, directed and produced by Christopher Nolan ('Dark Knight'), development started ten years ago and he waited until he was ready for a big-scale movie and spent much time refining the whole project.

Yupp, you get superb quality when you don't do rushed-jobs :)

I was never a Leo Di Caprio fan, although I know his acting chops are excellent. I may just change my mind. The cast was perfectly cast (duh sentence), editing was superb I thought and there's none of those typical excesses in the script nor in the visual feasts.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Arthur 'The Point Man', my favourite character. He also has some of the coolest scenes. I have a soft heart for geeks like that :) Nice to see him in a sci-fi adventure movie.

These scenes were wayyyy toooo coooool! Smoothly executed.

Anyway, don't take anyone's word for it - go watch!

"Moving is Living"

"How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you're carrying a backpack. I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life... you start with the little things. The shelves, the drawers, the knickknacks, then you start adding larger stuff. Clothes, tabletop appliances, lamps, your TV... the backpack should be getting pretty heavy now. You go bigger. Your couch, your car, your home... I want you to stuff it all into that backpack. Now I want you to fill it with people. Start with casual acquaintances, friends of friends, folks around the office... and then you move into the people you trust with your most intimate secrets. Your brothers, your sisters, your children, your parents and finally your husband, your wife, your boyfriend, your girlfriend. You get them into that backpack, feel the weight of that bag. Make no mistake your relationships are the heaviest components in your life. All those negotiations and arguments and secrets, the compromises. The slower we move the faster we die. Make no mistake, moving is living. Some animals were meant to carry each other to live symbiotically over a lifetime. Star crossed lovers, monogamous swans. We are not swans. We are sharks."

One of my favourite scenes in the movie is when Ryan/George goes through the security check at the airport. Don't ask why.

:)

So, is moving really living?

Movie Marathon : January 2010

Last weekend I decided to treat myself to a DVD/movie marathon and watched these:

Post Grad, starring Alexis Bledel. Cute lightweight rom-com.

Up In The Air, starring George Clooney. My favourite in this batch. I like movies with background narratives.

The Men Who Stare At Goats, starring George Clooney, Ewan Mc Gregor, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Spacey. Clooney playing a loony character.

The Invention of Lying, starring Ricky Gervais and Jennifer Garner. This was silly funny with some genuinely funny moments.

The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock, Tim Mc Graw (yes, the country singer). Their son in the movie, SJ is soooo cute and funny! A close favourite.

Brothers, starring Toby McGuire, Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal. Very strong performances from these three young accomplished actors, a bit on heavy on the drama, plods slowly but surely.

All were thoroughly enjoyable, especially Up In The Air and The Blind Side. George Clooney is smooth as usual, and it was very refreshing to see Sandra Bullock in a strong, no-nonsense role.

Next, I am looking for/waiting for : Adam, Crazy Heart, Fantastic Mr Fox, Notes On A Scandal, Julie & Julia.

I'll try to watch a movie in the cineplex this week; nope, sorry no Avatar 3D for me, I'm not persuaded at all. Not yet maybe, as I try to keep an open mind. Tried to connect with the trailer sadly I cannot myself imagine sitting down and watching it for almost 3 hours.

Movie : My Life In Ruins

Watched this on DVD recently, which stars Nia Vardalos from My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

She plays Georgia, a professor of classical history forced to take up a job as a tour guide in Greece, with frustrating outcomes.

It's a light rom-com, nothing heavy and definitely not Oscar material. MLIR opened a few months back in the US to average reviews, and I read that for the UK release on October 2nd (this Friday) it's been retitled to Driving Aphrodite.

MLIR however can boast the accolade of being the first movie in decades to obtain the approval to shoot on location at the Parthenon at the Acropolis in Athens, amongst other ancient sites like the Temple of Apollo at Delphi and the ancient Olympic games site at Olympia.

I think the sights of the ancient sites (hey it rhymes!) are the highlight of this movie. Expect some old slapstick humour plus some genuinely funny moments.

Anyway, it's a short fun movie which doesn't over promise and under deliver. Nice for a light entertainment on a sunny Sunday afternoon.