Christopher Nolan's "Dreamscape"

It never fails. In most cases, anyway. Any non-Coen brothers film that gets rave reviews, and I go in and end up not liking it, and I'm afraid that's true with the instant case as well. But don't get me wrong, I was as eager as everyone else to see it, and had some flop sweat for Warner Bros. and all the other studios involved, but look at it this way. Nolan's the 400 pound bear in the woods, directorially, and after The Dark Knight and even The Prestige to a lesser extent, what does he get to direct next? Well, this... I mean, ANYTHING HE WANTS.
Which is what I get for reading a review in advance. One of the majors said that Inception is basically a heist picture. And, of course, that's what I kept thinking all through it. Phooey. In addition to Dreamscape, I couldn't help but recall eXistenZ and the video game equipment used in that. To be fair, though, it is a lot less creepy in Inception. And, well, SPOILERS, I couldn't help but notice that the Japanese businessman thought all this stuff was cool enough that he PERSONALLY wanted to get involved. In the dreams as well!
That's how cool dream invasion will be when the technology comes. Hopefully, it won't. And furthermore it is the gambit that the film places its hopes on: if dreams really can be invaded by intruders, and people's minds potentially irreversibly messed up in the process. Me myself, I don't usually have very solid dream architecture. Mine is mostly a patchwork quilt of buildings and places real and unreal, and I wander from scene to scene with little thought of where I've been, etc. As for the illusion of time in dreams, well, if the rules about that really are as solid as they are in the movie, even Freud could've probably figured them out. As for the whole idea getting implanted in the first place... oh, I guess I can't question that. It is pretty blasphemous to want to unincorporate these days. As for me, if I ever got an idea planted into a dream of mine from an outside source, I doubt if it would cause lasting psychological damage, but what do I know? After all, I am a bit biased about my own mental state.
So Nolan does a fine job juggling all the elements: DiCaprio's psychoses (I haven't even mentioned the actors yet, did I?), dream rules, the heist pic, the Christoper Nolan Players (Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, etc.).. and as with Batman Begins, he manages to revive an 80s actor's career; in this case, The Substitute himself, Tom Berenger. I personally would've gone with Peter Jason or Tom Atkins or maybe even Mitch Ryan, but that's just me. Might as well shoot the works for $200 million, right? And I know I'm gonna catch some heat for confessing this, but I think I have a thing for that Ellen Page. Glad she's got a feature other than Juno under her belt. But really, I guess she's not wanting for work. Just saw the name Ariadne in a Mexican soap opera, so it's not as exotic as I thought after all. Oh yeah, just had another thought: seeing as how the Japanese businessman became the team's ally, does it mean Lukas Haas gets to come back? And replace Ellen Page? Hell no! But I just thought I'd pose the question anyway.
So, let's wrap this mother up. Might end up getting this on DVD, if only at the pawn shop. Some have compared this to The Matrix, which is apt, but to really get into the psychology of it, I go back to 2003's The Runaway Jury, where... MORE SPOILERS ... it turns out the jury tamperers did it for PERSONAL reasons! And the usual seize the day, live like we're dying crap that we're inundated with from all sides now. Even Tickle Me Elmo. Thanks, international cadre of corporations that control everything! Death is a good thing after all!

See also: Until The End of the World

***
-so sayeth The Movie Hooligan

Auteur Watch - Agnieszka Holland

Sorry, I got distracted there for a sec. This thing on Yahoo! caught my eye, and I thought about reading it. It was a list of the top 5 sci-fi movies of all time. But my shrink has warned me about that, about just leaping onto every other list out there on the web as though one's life depended on it. No, I'll just trust my intuition on that one, I guess. Well, I'm a lot like Sarah Palin, and I celebrate my ignorance openly, mostly because it's mine and mine alone, the only gift one ever really gives the world, when one gets right down to it... But back to the task at hand. Holland!! And I've actually seen some of her work, all you haters out there. You know who you are! But clearly, looking at her résumé, the 90s were her breakout decade. Maybe not her favourite, but when she took to the world cinema stage with a vengeance. First with Europa Europa, then Olivier, Olivier, and people of course started to typecast her, wondering how quickly she was going to go Hollywood Hollywood. Hah! Just thought of that one. Of course, with The Secret Garden, she sorta did. Boy, those were the days for somebody. Caroline Thompson was at the top of her craft then. But she's still doing quite well, of course, even if she faltered ever so slightly. We actually watched the garden way back when! Oh, the veritable Dark Ages, with ungodly videotapes. Must be a sign of my growing short-sightedness that whenever I see a film of someone using a videotape, I think whuh? What's that?
Anyway, back to Aggie. Actually, things sorta went downhill after Secret Garden, but work was more or less steady. She was thanked by Ed Harris for Pollock, and Ed apparently returned the favor in 2006 with Copying Beethoven. And then, Gasp! TV work! But I guess The Wire and Cold Case are a cut above. Cold Case, they always use pop songs to underline the action, right? I remember one with a Phil Collins song, "Long Way to Go"... something like that. Yeah, that's Bruckheimer for you. Is it just me, or does everything have about 10,000 producers these days? Boy, that must drive creative people crazy, having to deal with producers' notes and thoughts more so than ever before. But, as with a couple other directors I've profiled lo these many months, their brief flirtation with the tube makes them return to the silver screen with a vengeance. In Aggie's case, she's got Hidden and Janosik on the front burner, so cheers to you! Oscar still loves the Holocaust! Oh, but look @ that. People already badmouthing Janosik. It's Kasia's fault, damn it!

That's a Spicy Box-Office'a!

Sorry, just had to go for it. And so far, the image isn't an apt metaphor. Salt debuting at #2? In the face of Inception? Guts-y! Yes, A.Jo reunites with Bone Collector director Phillip Noyce... try saying THAT 10 times fast! For this tale of... whatever. Espionage. Wanted 1.5, basically. This is the kind of movie that people like Angelina announce their retirement on. But unlike Liam Neeson or Anthony Hopkins, she's got some last-minute items to finish up on, like... oh, just CLEOPATRA, for God's sake! I guess Jolie's bio-pic is already taken or something.
The other debut this week is Ramona and Beezus. Based on the 1988 TV series of the same name, sort of, Beverly Cleary is now all the rage in cinematic literary circles. What, are Judy Blume and Erma Bombeck chopped liver? Will Spike Jonze ever adapt Where the Sidewalk Ends for the silver screen? I can't take it anymore, I gotta run.

Auteur Watch - Amy Heckerling

Awww. Ain't she a cutie? Doesn't get any better than that, stylistically. It was the 80s, man, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High will probably be the one she's remembered for. To a lesser extent, Clueless. Certainly not Loser. Yes, the 80s were truly Heckerling's decade as she enjoyed success after inexplicable success. Her movies are just fun, damn it! Some might call it mindless fun, but fun nevertheless.
But then, as the 90s began and the specter of political correctness and multicultural diversity began to rear their ugly heads, she hit corporate paydirt with the genesis of the Look Who's Talking series. Then, apparently, it was time for a semi-retirement from the biz until Clueless hit! Go figure. Well, we could all use a break now and again. How and or why she got tangled up in that Roxbury debacle I'll never know... I know, it's a hidden gem, right? Most things with Will Ferrell are... except maybe Kicking & Screaming; don't those two words sum up his whole career?
Oh, surely the 2000s aren't her favorite decade. Further and further into obscurity, punished for crimes against women by the new female brass at the studios. I Could Never Be Your Woman was too little, too late. But you'll always be my director, babe. Here's hoping Vamps piggybacks on this whole neo-vampire craze and doesn't leave the taste of garlic in your mouth!!!

Inconceivable!

But every once in a while, with just the right ad campaign, a small independent feature can make a big impact on the week's box office. And no, I'm not talking about Legendary Pictures' Observe and Report, although it is legendary in its own right. No, it's Inception, the big debut this week. I mean, let's face it! Who cares about The Sorcerer's Apprentice? Not even Jay Baruchel, the film's Percy Jackson, if you will. This is his 3rd film this year, what does he care.

Angela's Dances

Ah, my seven followers. What would I do without ye? Welp, I'm making a half-way year's resolution to get back into the movie reviewing game! So why not start with Dancing at Lufthansa... I'm sorry, that's spelled Lughnasa. I don't feel so bad about getting that wrong, since I found out that Ballybeg is a MADE UP TOWN!!!! I feel strangely cheated. It's like finding out there wasn't actually a General Jack D. Ripper. Then again, Lughnasa's no Strangelove. Allow me to expand further upon this notion. And this will basically be the whole tone of the review should you choose to bail out now.
The time: 1936. The place: Ireland. And just like Scorsese was the right director for GoodFellas, director Pat O'Connor was more than perfect than this delightful tale of the land of Ire. And judging from his résumé, this just might be his GoodFellas. The January Man? Sweet November? Inventing the Abbotts? Not so much. Let me tell you something: this movie's so Irish, it hurts! It's more Irish than Red Sonja (1985) is Italian!
What else is in that list? The situation: four or five sisters live in a house together. The movie is narrated by the boy, Michael, and it's terribly reverential and nostalgic. 1936 must have been one hell of a time to be alive. You wouldn't know it from the movie by itself. But, as they say, if you remember 1936, you weren't really there, man! Something like that.. one of those years. Actually, it's a good segue into Michael Gambon's character, the brother of the Mundy sister clan. He's a minister returning from Africa, and I don't know how he was before, but he's returned lost in a haze of self-reflection. Or am I allowed to say that apparently, once he went black... you know.
If I may be so bold, Meryl Streep's always had a good career, but I think she might have been a little worried in the late 90s, with films like Music of the Heart and One True Thing. She's back in the audience's good graces now... I guess. The critics, anyway, and the Oscar voting block. Well, sometimes when one has a career like Meryl's, you gotta focus on your peeps. She does her usual fine work here, even though the material seems a bit beneath her.
Anyway, to make a long review short, the plot's not much to write home about, but I did like the cinematography and the music. And like the narrator has his memories, I remember a women comedy troupe on MTV doing a bit about this movie, and the general phenomenon in movies where either a) all women do in movies is dance, or b) dance is used as a surrogate for sex. Maybe both. Or maybe just a). Someone find that for me on YouTube, will ya?

***
-so sayeth The Movie Hooligan

Auteur Watch - Annette Haywood-Carter

Close enough for the image. Well, 'tis a rare director indeed who makes the transition from script supervisor to director, but apparently she did it. I don't know why; who needs less stress in their life and more flunkies and ass-kissers to do your bidding? All I know is somewhere I got my bootleg copy of The Foot Shooting Party, and I promise I will watch it someday. Does that make me a bad person? Damn. I thought so.

The PG's have it

I guess that image's semi-phallic enough. Yes, another Pixar clone reigns triumphant at the box office this week, taking the risks Pixar just can't afford to. It's called Despicable Me, and it's apparently not based on one of these new-fangled kid's books like Captain Underpants or some crazy thing like that. Me, myself, I think that Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig are too damn busy for their own good. Oh, I'm just too riled up to dwell upon it any further. The other debut this week is the new Predator movie, Predators. By my calculation, it's the 6th in the series... sorry, the fifth. I coulda sworn there was a Predator 3, or maybe one of the predators had to babysit a bunch of kids with Ice Cube or something. I'm waiting for Predator vs. Jason or Predator vs. Freddie. Or maybe that Saw douchebag can branch out and go up against Pinhead or something! Anything. As long as it's in IMAX, and NOT directed by David Slade.

Auteur Watch - Mary Harron

Awright! Now we've got some prestige. Not much TV work, but Harron's I Shot Andy Warhol first put her on the map. Sigh. A different era when Lili Taylor was a big star; now she seems a bit faded. Her career's not quite like her role in Factotum, but close enough. So Warhol was good, but American Psycho put many people on the map, none more so than Christian Bale. Apparently all those Disney musicals didn't take. I guess the 1990s are her favorite decade. We can include Psycho in there, since it was filmed in the 90s... probably, or at least just before the 2000s began. Frankly, I need to be a fan of anyone at Harron's age who makes a movie that hits the critics that hard. Her Bettie Page thing, not so much, but that's okay, too. Did it hurt her street cred as a woman director? With the relentless marching forward of internet porn, who knows anymore? So the 2000s were rife with TV/cable work, but the silver screen calls again, and her Sonnet for a Towncar, well, let's hope it does something. She's a savvy enough director to know not to make it like Phone Booth or the beginning of The Bone Collector.

The Fangs Have It

Well, little to no surprise there. Has a Harry Potter movie debuted at #2 yet? Maybe the middle series. If I were Chris Columbus I might know it by heart... and get to make experimental films in the process. As Adam Sandler predicted, Twilight 3 mopped up all the excess blood for itself at the ol' box office this weekend. What he might not have predicted is The Last Airbender clocking in at #2! The critics SAVAGED that one... time for Lady in the Water 2, I'm guessing. We'll see what the audiences do to it next week. I mean, let's face it: Toy Story 3's great and all, but what have they done for us lately? Egg-zactly. Hence Airbender's triumph as national babysitter for a week. As for Grown Ups, well, don't worry, Adsy! You still got it! And I was thinking about it... a lot of critics have complained that Grown Ups has no plot, but the way I see it, at least he's being honest this go round. Plot, schmot. What's MORE insulting is pretending to actually HAVE a plot, like Mr. Deeds, a remake of a beloved classic... it is beloved, isn't it? It's Sandler's Fargo, I guess: lots of snow, Harve Presnell in the cast. Oh, he left us too soon. :( Anyway, the point is... I don't know! This is REALLY the era of REALLY Short Attention Spans. Instead of thinking and dressing like the tube, we're thinking and dressing like the comptroller... and somehow, that montage of 15 years worth of Adam Sandler movies, including of course the famous clip of Sandler blowing into his hands and making a fart noise from Billy Madison, doesn't quite play the same as, say, a résumé of George Stevens, but don't worry, Sandler, you're a friendly, happy-go-lucky enough kind of guy, and I'm sure you can find a couple more Sid Ganis types that can help you get that Oscar you so desperately crave. I suggest kissing up to Laura Ziskin and George Schlatter for starters. Hell, why not get Bruce while you're at it? I also want to point out that Rob Schneider plays a guy with supermodel-looking daughters. This must be a nod to his brother who works on "America's Next Top Model." They will single-handedly end the Morlock-Eloi curse by mating with these Eloi types, yes? I mean, they're clearly Morlocks. Morlock-esque, anyway, if not Ewoks.
But I guess I should pick on someone else for a while. I am, after all, an embittered O'Doyle type, and I do feel sorry for Peter Facinelli. Oh, it is so not 1999 anymore. He had his big chance to prove his acting chops with The Big Kahuna, and now he's the creepy doctor of the Twilight series. Won't be long before he's the new Mr. Belvedere, tee hee hee...
What was the other story this week? Oh, right, the ad campaign for Cyrus paid off, just not that well. It's been a while since we've seen a one-weeker in the Top 10, so why not this I say? After all, Jonah Hill's still got that Greek movie! Either way, he loses.

Short Reviews - June 2010

That's what I get for multi-tasking. Phooey. I can't do anything anymore. I was going to talk about something in the news, but I forget what it is right now. Well, another of Obama's chicks is going onto the bench, I see! I guess the Republicans will have to oppose him some other way, like through owning 95% of all the wealth... something like that. Meanwhile, have you seen that Katy Perry video for "California Gurls"? Is it just me, or is she not pandering enough? Certainly not compared to Lady GaGa in that Telephone video, that's for sure. Someone else do the hyperlinks for me, okay?


Jonah Hex - You know, one thing that Wild Wild West (1999) probably doesn't get accused of a lot is being prescient...

The Special Relationship - Between Michael Sheen and Peter Morgan? It's kinda scary, actually... there aren't too many actor-screenwriter relationships out there, though. They must be protected and nurtured, obviously. I thought Dennis Quaid was doing W.C. Fields for a second there! heh heh... By the way, Dennis. The 80s called, they want their constant flow of Dennis Quaid movies back!

Marmaduke - Now Owen's the Marley!

Sunshine State - A classic. I plan on watching it someday. I do like the part where the cute couple hold each other's noses to see who can hold their breath the longest. Gotta like that!

$#!t Year - I dunno... they might have to change the title if they want to advertise on TV or have trailers in the theater...

The Karate Kid (2010) - You're pushing your luck, Jaden!

The Betsy (1978) - Is this anything like The Baxter?

Sex and the City 2 - Well, if they don't have Sharbat Gula in this with ANY kind of cameo, what was the point, really?

A Dangerous Woman - I LOVE this kind of movie.

He Was a Quiet Man - Christian Slater does One Hour Photo?

One Hour Photo - Blondes don't necessarily have more fun.

The Dark Backward - Is this a cult movie yet?

The Pawnbroker - Is this like the last four?

Blades of Glory - Now I know where Lady GaGa got her look from!

Overnight - I'm too jealous to watch this.

Love Ranch - Taylor Hackford's a good director, but he can't direct his wife. Every director's got a blind spot. She should've studied Miranda Richardson in The Apostle!

Bell, Book & Candle - Well, it's still better than Practical Magic

Incident at Oglala - Good movie. No snark.