thepts

Inception is one of those movies where 30% of the movie is spent explaining you the rules of the movie universe; we get to learn about "architects", "the kick", what happens if you die dreaming under deep sedation, levels of dreaming, self defense in case of people entering your dreams, and so on.

The main premise of Nolan's Dreaming is a set of "supernatural" assumptions of how the dreamworld works, much the same level of realism you'd find in the smarter superhero comics (like Neil Gaiman's Sandman). Nolan has set up rules of the Inception world for exactly the kind of movie he wanted to create. Much like the architects in the movie, he has given himself full power to shape the dynamics of this story.

I don't think you can talk about this movie without mentioning The Matrix. There are so many parallel aspects, even accidental ones (Architect, anyone?). You could say Inception is like a Matrix^2. The Matrix does, however, spend less viewing time explaining the main principle of the worlds, it has simpler and clearer principles, it has more quiet moments and a stronger arc. The Matrix also has some very strong, fascinating characters.

However, that said, what Inception definitely does better than The Matrix, is to pull off a better weaving of realism, "real" people and real drama. Nolan is so good at creating these solid, Godfather-like, photographic scenes.

The main similarity between Matrix and Inception, is how the open world lets the directors express themselves very freely. Because of this, both movies carry very personal signatures. And as such, they don't overlap; they are both good films in their own right.

Maybe from studying psychology, I didn't find Inceptions main rules of dreaming, "the subconscious" and so on, very appealing. I was a bit frustrated that so much viewing time was spent explaining these sci-fi dreaming rules. This "5 minutes for each hour" and "layers of dreaming where time was multiplied by each layer..", well. You get my point.

But still, despite these sets of silly rules, the movie really worked for me. It sucked me in, it pulled me for a ride through tons of different, wonderfully shot worlds, then yanked me back out again. I was on the edge of my seat and forgot time completely. And that's what happens when you have a quality director, one of our best of our time no doubt, playing by the rules he himself has made.

In conclusion: A movie that gives a strong "movie feeling". The fantastically woven multi-layered structure of it all, especially with the ending, is why I easily forgive the boyish premise of Nolan's Dreaming, and will come back to watch it again. 8/10

District 9 is a movie set in Johannesburg, South Africa. The well known plot of the stranded extra-terrestrials being on the receiving end of apartheid and hatred, starts off this science fiction with excellent originality - and develops from there.

The main premise is that the aliens' learned and scientists, have died off due to unknown reasons. This leaves mostly the "worker class" of the aliens, an aggressive, stupid, egoistical breed. The animal-like behavior of these "drones" seems the main driving force for the lack of tolerance between humans and aliens.

Now for a little bit of criticism: I think the premise of this conflict between humans and aliens, should be explained more thoroughly. We don't really get any proper explanation for why humanity falls into the Nazi / apartheid trap AGAIN.

First off, we know that a million sociologists, historians and activists would be standing in line to protest this familiar genocidal scenario.

Secondly, later in the movie, Wikus - the main character - in a pressured moment, claims he "always considered the 'prawns' to be intelligent", revealing some of the prejudice against the aliens. This prejudice seems unrealistic. The aliens have a spacecraft that has hovered over Johannesburg for 20 years, without external power. They have advanced weaponry. Obviously, they have potential for high intelligence.

Anyway, I just had to get that off my chest, due to how excellent the rest of the movie is. The thing is, basically, this movie delivers. And not where you expect it to. It starts off as a documentary, and without revealing too much, it morphs through many other genres during the film. Throughout, it captivated me. I wasn't bored at any point.

Like other people have mentioned, there are no known actors - excellent. I am fed up with familiar faces. The setting is completely new - excellent. I am also, like many others, fed up with action movies set in the US. (Producers should take notice: Movies that dare to challenge the Hollywood setting, often do well!)

This movie was all over an excellent cinema experience, it captivated me through it's originality and drive. The inspired story reminded me of the intellectual science fiction short stories from the early 1900s. Peter Jackson is a brilliant producer, and Neill Blomkamp is an excellent writer/director. This bodes well for the future.

This is probably one of the best Rambo-movies in terms of storytelling and filming quality.

I enjoyed this, no doubt, but you notice early on there is a lot of classic American action movie "formula" to it; building up the enemy as "the bad guy who deserves to die.. horribly", Christian people/Americans as the good guys, a hesitant "I don't want to fight" John Rambo, and finally, a cascade of effectful killings.

Some people here claim that there is a moral here, and that John Rambo is a guy with "strong moral values", that's more or less bullshit. This is a poor insight, to put it mildly, into the Burma conflict, and Rambo himself isn't really believable as the guy who is forced to be a killing machine against his own will. But as long as you accept these simple parts, it's OK.

The CGI is bad. Basically, you could spot the CGI in every shot. (simple particle effects when people "explode" - as they do a lot in this movie when bullets hit them. Also, wrong colour on the blood).

The movie is also very short. The running time says 87 minutes, but that includes almost 15 minutes of credits. I think this is a good thing for the movie. All in all, I was entertained throughout, I kept watching despite only intending to watch half of it. It was very cool to see the "hard mercenaries" realize that Rambo was more than "just a boatman". I think they could've made something more out of that!

Great action movie, but as a movie in general, pretty simple stuff. solid 7/10.