Inception (2010)

Director Christopher Nolan is probably just as famous for Memento as he is for his Batman films. In between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises we get a treat with a film that returns to the style of Memento. A film that can be watched several times before fully grasping everything that is going on.

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio [fresh off of an different psychological film: Shutter Island], Ellen Page [Juno], Marion Cotillard [La Vie en Rose and Nine], and Joseph Gordon-Levitt [(500) Days of Summer and The Lookout]. The concept of the film is all about existing in a dream space. Basically the idea that people can enter and share dreams, then inside dreams they can enter dreams. The dream within a dream theory is pretty powerful, and is fully explained over the course of this film. At almost two and a half hours it is a commitment, and I highly suggest that is be watched in a single sitting.

So did I like this or The Social Network better? That gets into a gray area, because they both get the illusive 10/10 for completely different reasons. This is the type of film I could watch again and again. Social Net. is a film that I found myself lost in on first watch, which doesn't necessarily translate into a great second viewing. Nor do I feel that I must pick, since I gave them both 10's. I fully expect The Social Network to win the Oscar, I don't think an action film like this has a chance. If you asked me which I would rather have in my personal collection and would like to go to the theater to watch with you right now... I'd say Inception.

Vote: 10/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1375666/

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Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948)

One of the last two films on the AFI Laughs left to watch. One of the films I reserved until the end to watch with my wife. Given the number of films I watch there are many I watch on my own, but since this was an old Cary Grant film we had never heard of we expected it to be pretty good.

Turns out this was RKO's biggest blockbuster, and a very popular film in the 1940's. Which is amazing, because I hated it. No really it was hard to watch because the characters annoyed me so much.

Cary Grant plays "Mr. Blandings," a short tempered father of a middle class family, with a wife and two daughters. He works for an advertising agency in New York and lives in a cramped home. Myrna Loy plays "Mrs. Blandings," the wife who is completely non-supportive of her husband and allows her ex-boyfriend from college "Bill" [played by Melvyn Douglas] to hang around. The family buys a dump, and eventually end up building a new house. No one in the family gets along, and the comedy is overshadowed by the bad attitudes throughout the film.

Maybe it was because I saved it, expecting it to be good. Maybe it just wasn't good. I found this to be incredibly over-rated, and was inspired to make a list of the 50 most over-rated films after watching this one.

Vote: 3/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040613/

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Knight and Day (2010)

I saw this over Christmas with my family, a film I expected to find average at best. I remember it getting bad reviews and was hesitant to even watch it in the first place. I'm very happy I gave this one a shot.

Tom Cruise may have a strange personal life, but I don't know him personally so I try not to be partial when watching his films. It can be hard, but to be honest I can't think of a film he has done lately that I didn't film at least somewhat good. Collateral, War of the Worlds, Tropic Thunder.. all pretty good. So Valkyrie and Lions for Lambs weren't great but it is still a pretty good record lately. Cameron Diaz on the other hand has had some pretty bad performances lately. Bad enough that when it is not just animation voice work I'm very hesitant to give it a shot.

So the film is an Action/Comedy. Cruise plays a secret agent that Diaz gets tangled up with. Much like the movie Killers but with better acting, supporting cast, and plot line [notice I didn't call this a Romantic Comedy].

The action scenes are over the top, but the director almost acknowledges this, plays with it, and makes it fun. Instead of a serious action, we understand this is completely unrealistic and that is ok. Do you question plausibility in a Will Ferrell movie? Probably not. Do you question plausibility in a Nicolas Cage? I do. That is why this movie was different.

Get out the popcorn and enjoy!

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1013743/

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Joan Rivers - A Piece of Work (2010)

By far the most interesting documentary I've seen this year. I don't necessarily think that I'm saying that in a good way. After seeing it I bother understand why it is not on the short list for the documentary and why it is so popular.

First off, I knew very little about Joan Rivers before watching this. For those of my generation, think of her as Kathy Griffin's predecessor. You know, the annoying redhead from a couple Seinfeld episodes? Anyways, Rivers is a comedian that thinks she is an actress. She lives a lifestyle all of her own, and this documentary follows her around for a year exposing you to her schedule.


The film is in many ways, sad, pitiful, frustrating, and mainly unbelievable. Not because it was fake, but because it was all too real. Rivers looks like a monster without her make-up, an opening sequence that almost hard to watch. It is one of those films that you can't really put your finger on. Did I like it? It is wrong to like it? In many ways it was little more than a long episode of 60 minutes, obviously there was no real message, but it was a fun watch.

I suggest checking it out.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568150/

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Dinner at Eight (1933)

#85 on the AFI 100 Laughs, this is one of the last three films I have left on this list. A very old talkie making fun of the upper class, or at least that is what I took from it. This one was very hard to follow the comedy, the jokes referenced a way of talking and subject matter that was so dated that I found little to no humor in it.

The film is all based around a housewife of a man in the shipping business. Unbeknownst to his wife, the business is failing, someone she is inviting to the dinner is trying to corner him out. We get to view all of the subplots involving just about everyone at the party. I found none of them to be really interesting, or funny for that matter.

Another confusing "Laughs" entry with a dated film that has all but lost it's humor over time.

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0023948/

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The Lottery (2010)

One of the 15 documentaries to make the short list of the Oscar nominations. In direct competition with the higher profile Waiting for 'Superman' this is probably one of the underdogs in the race. Starring Cory Booker who is the current mayor of Newark, NJ and starring in the Oscar nominated Street Fight which documented one of his mayor races. I'm a huge fan of Street Fight enough to give it a 10/10, so it was nice to see he is actually mayor now.

The big flaw of the film is that it is very heavily one sided, enough that if it was sold as an advertisement for charter schools you wouldn't doubt it. It portray charter schools as the absolute solution, and don't get me wrong they really look like a good idea. But this isn't dolphin killing, there is another side. They didn't interview anyone from the public school side. The only time we encountered these people we were told they were hired by Acorn, thugs, or painted them in a really bad light in a heated debate with uneducated responses.

I have mixed feelings about this film because it does actually show a solution to a big problem. The most interesting thing said in the whole thing is that parents are very forward thinking about everything except education. We want new medicine, new electronics, new everything, yet we want our kids to go to school just like we did. The same hours, the same curriculum, the same learning techniques. Why is this? It is a very good point and something I will take away from this film. I'm glad I watched it, but I also really like documentaries, I really don't see how this will pull out a nomination.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1515935/

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A Christmas Carol: Scrooge (1951)

One of many adaptations of the Dickens novel, and a necessary watch after subjecting myself to the awful Disney 3D animated version. Originally titled "Scrooge" in the UK, and on the imdb list way back in 2001, I've been saving this one for 6 months to watch in season.

It was a good idea to watch it so closely to a bad version to fully appreciate it. First off it is amazing how two films with almost identical storylines, even scripts, could be so much different. Full of emotion, and only in black-and-white this film proves to me that acting trumps effects any day. We all know the story of the ghosts visiting scrooge, so it is futile to discuss that in this post.

This is regarded as the best film adaptation to date, and if you can get past the black-and-white it is the one to watch with the family.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044008/

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