Inception (with implanted spoilers)

^

just a flavor of the mind-warping dream imagery you'll be missing out on by going to see the non-milklid-containing Inception. SAY NO TO NEUTERED DREAM MOVIES!

Vote with with your wallet!

Should I burn it, or throw it?

if you burn it, it will move to Miami to form one third of the foundation for a superwallet

went down from a perfect "100" to "77" in Metacritic, mainly because time out (80) and New York Magazine (40).

the trailer looks meh, but if it's fun as Memento was, i'm ok with it.

First time I've actually out and out enjoyed a movie by Chris Nolan, though this is as arrogantly conceived as Memento. Just better.

Is it okay not to dislike Inception?

who refused to accept that a negative view of the movie could be motivated by anything other than a perverse contrarian impulse or a desire to drive up hits on their individual websites.

What might give anyone the idea that Armond White gives negative reviews just to drive up hits on the NY Press website?

grammar problems ahoy in Armond's take

yeah where's the subbing

lol <3 u armond tho u big buffoon

But Nolan never critiques this as Neveldine/taylor did in Gamer.

like Grand Theft Auto’s quasi-cinematic extension of noir and action-flick plots, Inception manipulates the digital audience’s delectation for relentless subterfuge.

what

i know, i know

It isn't so much that he hates so many movies, its the ones he holds up as examples of what is done right. I mean, Gamer? Really?

he is a man of the people

saw it last night at a preview and i liked it.

Gamer is one of the most aggressively unpleasant movies I've ever seen.

sitting through Gamer all i could think was how much academics could and would have a field day with it. awful stuff though.

That blog post Gukbe linked to is way too long but I like what it's saying. I can't stand these whiny fanboys who get pissed off when a critic shits on their latest crush, especially as they appear so dim that they equate a proper, opinionated critic like David Edelstein or Stephanie Zacharek with a contrarian dick like Armond.

and finally A Prequel Comic

Seeing it on Tuesday. Psyched!

I'm glad there's "relentless subterfuge." That sounds like there's a lot of subplot pile-up and "but I knew that you'd see my gun!" "But I knew you'd know I knew!" I love that kinda shit.

now that Slant has given it one and a half stars, I'm starting to think the early critical hype was bullshit. Still interesting that the divide between the positive and the negative seems to be so wide.

Oooh, I'm usually in agreement w/ N. Schager, so I'm actually a bit worried now. (Still, not gonna actually read it until after I see it.)

yeah, i've largely avoided actually reading these reviews (aside from skimming for gems from Armond), but i'm not so sure. thankfully i managed to temper my enthusiasm over past week so i'm not that bothered.

The capitalization in that Armond review is weird.

also, Slant writers have an annoying habit of sneaking spoilers into their reviews. xxp

this is gonna rule who cares what a bunch of writer nerds say

I like the idea that Armond just furiously types out something in about 15 minutes, bypasses the subs, and just hits 'publish post'

I am so not expecting the greatest thing ever or anything, I just want a reasonably good film. If I get that, great, and if it looks fantastic on IMAX, even better, and I have hopes for both.

what did n. schager think about gamer?

I haven't seen it yet but from the reviews I have a feeling it might become rappers' new favourite movie when they want to make "deep" references to the nature of reality, a la The Matrix. Counting down to the first lyric to reference it.

he gave that one and a half star as well, cozen.

xpost

I thought Gamer was awkward enough to provide enough material for a film, but as an enjoyable 90 minutes or so, it wasn't fulfilling. I kept secretly hoping that any of the premises would eventually go overboard and make the whole thing ridiculous, but it was almost too balanced, if that makes any sense.

michael c hall performing a dance routine with his mind controlled cronies at the end wasn't all that balanced tbh

Guess I'm firmly in the not-that-bad/not-that-good camp.

chew on this, Gamer fans

um

dude should write about britney

michael c hall performing a dance routine with his mind controlled cronies at the end wasn't all that balanced tbh

Yup, this was the only scene that really *pushed* at the boundaries, but for some reason, it wasn't off into the utterly ridiculous realm. Probably just me thinking that, though.

we ah doolee appointed dream thieves

I'm going to c/p a bit of that rant at random here:

an oppressive virtual reality, within which an ultra-macho protagonist has to fight his way out of a situation in which everything has been rigged against him. The working-out of this plot is entirely formulaic and as-expected, up to and including the requisite happy ending and triumph of the macho figure. However, the movie’s adherence to these genre norms is so perfunctory as almost to be sarcastic. The macho action protagonist, Kable, is played by action star Gerard Butler (best known for his starring role as Leonidas in 300). But in Gamer, Kable is sketched out so minimally that Butler can barely be bothered to go through the motions required for the part; he is so inexpressive as to make Clint Eastwood look like a wild overactor in comparison. (Or perhaps I should say, to make Jean-Claude Van Damme look like a miracle of thespian subtlety in comparison; except that we now know that Van Damme really is such a miracle). Gamer‘s adherence to genre norms, both in terms of the plot and in terms of the requisite displays of jiggling breasts, loud explosions, and hyped up macho insults (such as those that one crazed killer — who of course is black — addresses to the white Kable at one point), seem to be little more than a framework upon which Neveldine and Taylor are able to hang their delirious inventions. Or better, it is as if the film’s genre normativity (in terms of plot, character, gender, etc.) expresses and exposes the way that neoliberal ideology explicitly forecloses any possibility of social change. As the neoliberal mantra puts it, “There Is No Alternative”; any alteration of social arrangements is literally unthinkable. Gamer’s strict adherence to

yeah, I probably ruined my ability to have an opinion on the film by skimming a little bit of Shaviro's blog before viewing.

this is the DREAMSCAPE remake, yes?

http://wherethelongtailends.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/ds2.jpg

is this even on at IMAX in the UK?

gamer would have ruled if gerard butler played a stathamy bad-ass instead of a sulky family man

ok I'll bite, what was arrogant about Memento? (the only thing I've seen by him I could stand)

yeah I don't really understand how a movie can be "arrogant"

it's on at the real imaxes coz: bfi, manchester, etc.