Hi foks!
At long last, it’s good to blog again.
You know, last Friday I went to see a film in VD Tormes with my wife and son, Christopher Nolan’s latest sci-fi thriller INCEPTION, featuring a rather convincing Leo Di Caprio in the main role. I mean, like a good wine he’s maturing little by little, though still I would like to see him in a comedy role to brand him a fine actor.
Don Cobb (Di Caprio) is a skillful thief, the best in the art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from within a person’s subconscious during their dreams, when the mind is most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted asset in the world of corporate espionage, but also a much wanted fugitive worldwide, which has cost him everything he loves, namely his family life. Eventually Cobb is offered a chance at redemption by energy tycoon Saito (Ken Watanabe). One final job could bring his life back as long as he can accomplish mission impossible: inception, which means this time his task is not to steal an idea but rather to plant a seemingly simple one on the mind of Saito’s would-be rival in the business, Robert Fisher (Cillian Murphy).
I will reveal no more in case you want to see the film (probably some of you many have done so already, haven’t you?). As the caption on the trailer further down below reads, the mind is the scene of the crime …
Now media hype (and you all know how much I hate this thing, remember Avatar?) says Inception is the film of the year (an exaggeration, I’d like to believe), Oscars’ hot favorite, blah blah blah. To me it’s just a very entertaining film, with a fine performance by Di Caprio, the haunting music by the always effective Hans Zimmer and an extremely complex and elaborate plot, with dreams within dreams that too often will make you doubt what is reality and what just a dream. And of course there’s a fast pace punctuated by lots of action and indeed plenty of brilliant visual effects (some amazing zero-gravity scenes!)
If there’s one aspect of the movie that I utterly hated was the stupid dubbing. I mean, why the heck did they bother to dub Ken Watanabe and Marion Cotilard’s voices into Spanish with a Japanese and French accent respectively? (a silly thing I’ve never quite understood) They insist on giving us dubbed versions, fine, I can handle it, but in this particular case, apart from making them sound ridiculous, it’s sometimes difficult to make out what they’re saying, especially Ken amidst the noise of action-packed scenes. Why don’t they try to reproduce, for example, Cillian Murphy’s “Irish” English accent, if you see what I mean? Ludicrous!
Running at nearly 2 and a half hours, in my humble opinion the film seems to drag a little at the end, which is often the case with these complicated plots that the directors refuse or simply don’t know how to close, though the final scene opens the gate for a sequel, you know what Hollywood is like: Ka-ching! And I guess the massive box-office success across the globe (the VD room was nearly packed) guarantees at least one.
Seen the film yourselves? Fancy giving an opinion? Give it a go, guys!
At long last, it’s good to blog again.
You know, last Friday I went to see a film in VD Tormes with my wife and son, Christopher Nolan’s latest sci-fi thriller INCEPTION, featuring a rather convincing Leo Di Caprio in the main role. I mean, like a good wine he’s maturing little by little, though still I would like to see him in a comedy role to brand him a fine actor.
Don Cobb (Di Caprio) is a skillful thief, the best in the art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from within a person’s subconscious during their dreams, when the mind is most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted asset in the world of corporate espionage, but also a much wanted fugitive worldwide, which has cost him everything he loves, namely his family life. Eventually Cobb is offered a chance at redemption by energy tycoon Saito (Ken Watanabe). One final job could bring his life back as long as he can accomplish mission impossible: inception, which means this time his task is not to steal an idea but rather to plant a seemingly simple one on the mind of Saito’s would-be rival in the business, Robert Fisher (Cillian Murphy).
I will reveal no more in case you want to see the film (probably some of you many have done so already, haven’t you?). As the caption on the trailer further down below reads, the mind is the scene of the crime …
Now media hype (and you all know how much I hate this thing, remember Avatar?) says Inception is the film of the year (an exaggeration, I’d like to believe), Oscars’ hot favorite, blah blah blah. To me it’s just a very entertaining film, with a fine performance by Di Caprio, the haunting music by the always effective Hans Zimmer and an extremely complex and elaborate plot, with dreams within dreams that too often will make you doubt what is reality and what just a dream. And of course there’s a fast pace punctuated by lots of action and indeed plenty of brilliant visual effects (some amazing zero-gravity scenes!)
If there’s one aspect of the movie that I utterly hated was the stupid dubbing. I mean, why the heck did they bother to dub Ken Watanabe and Marion Cotilard’s voices into Spanish with a Japanese and French accent respectively? (a silly thing I’ve never quite understood) They insist on giving us dubbed versions, fine, I can handle it, but in this particular case, apart from making them sound ridiculous, it’s sometimes difficult to make out what they’re saying, especially Ken amidst the noise of action-packed scenes. Why don’t they try to reproduce, for example, Cillian Murphy’s “Irish” English accent, if you see what I mean? Ludicrous!
Running at nearly 2 and a half hours, in my humble opinion the film seems to drag a little at the end, which is often the case with these complicated plots that the directors refuse or simply don’t know how to close, though the final scene opens the gate for a sequel, you know what Hollywood is like: Ka-ching! And I guess the massive box-office success across the globe (the VD room was nearly packed) guarantees at least one.
Seen the film yourselves? Fancy giving an opinion? Give it a go, guys!
Now, while searching for the corresponding YouTube trailer I accidentally came across another piece called Movie Night with Jonathan Paula reviewing his “10 for 10” films, the best ever made, though he points out that they are not necessarily his ten favourites and don’t represent “perfect or flawless” films. Well, I was curious, and so might be you, to know Jonathan’s choice (incidentally, in alphabetical order, from Air Force One, featuring harrison Ford - not Michelle Obama, ha ha! - to Batman's The Dark Knight). Surely there’s the inevitable Avatar and while I agree with some of the titles in his short-list, with others (forget Avatar), well, I’m not so sure … What do you think? Because you haven’t forgotten how to write in English … or have you? Hey, I’d love to read your comments, I really would.
