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In Reply to: RE: Inception Reviews posted by barryb on August 12, 2010 at 13:09:03
Granted, some of the production values reeked of cliche Hollywood action tedium. But the film's climax was brilliant--when it is finally explained that DiCrapio had gone into his wife's subconscious, manifest in the film as the image of a dollhouse, where she had hidden away something very precious, and how Dicrapio replaced it with the idea that reality isn't real...this I found to be a very powerful, haunting narrative. The visuals supporting it were intense, imaginative and innovative. But amidst all the action and explosions they may have failed to have the impact that they should. Still, when the conclusion came and you see the children's faces, it was very powerful.The film definitely had problems and gimmicks--more serious problems than the action sequences, like holes that shortchanged the viewer. But the overall narrative was clever and paid off in a way that makes me give props to Nolan. He's put together four films in a row that command repeat viewing, and that makes him the best working director in Hollywood right now, in my book.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
Edits: 08/12/10Follow Ups:
Memento was decent, though wildly over-rated. The tools in Hollywood could be and were predicted to give the script the statue.
Dark Knight was a disaster and Ledger was wildly miscast. It was shameful that the studio made extra bucks off his death and crappy performance.
I agree with you on Ledger's perf in "Knight." He was a ponderous Joker, without the necessary flamboyant personality to make the character thrive. His was a wispy-ish presence in a film that needed a monster. Will Farrell would have been a better choice. At least he's funny. The movie itself was a typically overblown, beautifully manufactured Hollybland bore. But IMHO, the real disaster was "The Vomitorium of Dr. Parnassus." Can you imagine having to save that mess, after the star died mid-production. And I think Gillium's a real talent, albeit one who rarely reaches his potential. I know I have an extreme opinion, so no offense intended.
Dark Knight was more ambitious as a morality study. I thought the central character was not Wayne/Batman or Joker but actually Dent/Twoface, the district attorney. You saw how he really didn't have the spine to do what was needed to fight crime--though it appeared he did at first--and ended up becoming a criminal himself because of it.
Ledger's performance worked for me. He was more like Jeff Goldblum's "Fly" than Jack Nicholson's Joker clown. His goal of turning lawful citizens into criminals and murderers was interesting, making him a force of evil on a different level than your average action villain, and setting up the morality study to be quite deep, I thought. Ledger was brilliant. Bale and Eckhart were great too. The weak link was Gyllenhaal, but since she was killed it didn't really matter.
Prestige was Nolan's masterpiece. I've posted on it a lot and most people don't agree with my take. Another one that puts me at odds is that I didn't like Memento. I thought the story was boring and the nonlinear time was a cheap device to make an uninteresting movie seem more interesting on first viewing. Unlike Batman Begins, Prestige, TDK or Inception, there was no narrative or idea in Memento that grabbed me at all or made me want to watch it again.
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We must be the change we wish to see in the world. -Gandhi
...Ledger was wildly miscast. It was shameful that the studio made extra bucks off his death and crappy performance.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that one.
IMHO, Ledger was perfectly cast and brilliant.
Dean.
reelsmith's axiom : Its going to be used equipment when I sell it, so it may as well be used equipment when I buy it
The idea that Ledger was miscast is very odd to me. I will say that I don't like Nolan's ability to handle action scenes. I find them very overdone and confusing. I thought the scenes with Arthur getting the rest of the gang into the elevator and figuring out how to drop them in zero gravity much better than the gun fights which seemed out of place and off kilter in Inception.
I say he was miscast because I felt he was too young a man for the part. He lacked the gravitas necessary for what he was trying to pull off. Most liked his performance, where I saw it was trying too hard and not terribly creative, original or extreme. It seemed like a guy desperately trying to be creative and not really succeeding. Nothing about it rang true for me.
Nicholson may have been a clown (and it's apples and oranges with what they tried for and was called for in the film), but Nicholson was enjoyable, entertaining and consistent with who he is as a person. Ledger was basically a nice boy trying hard to be extreme and dangerous. It played like a bad joke to me. Not quite acting class bad, but in no way would I ever say it was a top performance even worthy of a nomination.
Opinions vary. Obviously, I'm in the minority.
Thought he played it perfectly. You liked Nicholson's performance because it was closer to his real life? Ledger was too nice a guy in real life? That's one thing acting is about, overcoming yourself while believably projecting another.
ed////432&%*125
"I'd like to own a squadron of tanks"
Some may prefer a more "goofball" Joker ala Cesar Romero or Nicholson, but Ledger's brooding, psychotic take on the character fits better with Nolan's vision for The Dark Knight.
BTW, Alpha//69er... You might need to hone your syntax a bit.
When I read "ed////432&%*125" I had the overwhelming urge to pour a pitcher of iced tea over my head (no lemon)... Was that the intended effect?
SF
BTW, I've got no control over syntax. That comes from CYSOPS
"I'd like to own a squadron of tanks"
Edits: 08/14/10
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