6ix Passions

Film Review > Inception

It cannot be a fully honest review, being already a big fan of Christopher Nolan. Many say it’s the masterpiece of Nolan, but I think his lifetime masterpiece would always be Memento. But Inception is certainly a very good movie that you cannot stop thinking about (at least for a good week) as you leave the theater chair wondering if the last scene was in reality a dream, waiting for the top to fall.

I don’t know if it is true, but I heard that even Nolan was mix up at some moment writing the complex scenario of Inception.

One of the best article trying to answer all your questions and explain the different stages of dream (including the final one, the limbo) is coming from Cinema Blend: Inception Explain - Unraveling The Dream Withing The Dream. Some of the comments by the reader make also a lot of sense. Reading it, you simply want to watch again and again the movie. Much like I did with Memento.

One or two theories have caught my attention:

Does Cobb’s totem keep spinning at the end or is it about to fall off the table?
In the opening moments you get a glimpse of Leo’s hand. Specifically, he’s wearing his wedding ring. Now, if you follow the rest of the movie keeping an eye out for this you will notice that he only has the ring on when he’s in the dream world. At the end of the movie he isn’t wearing the ring.” If the ring only appears when he’s in a dream and he’s not wearing at the end of the film, that could be confirmation that in fact, the top does stop spinning after the credits and Cobb is at last in the real world.

If the top really does keep spinning at the end and Cobb’s reality really is a dream, then why didn’t it keep spinning when he tried it earlier in the film?
It’s still possible that the entire movie could be a dream because the totem may only work to ensure you’re not in someone else’s dream. “Think about it, YOU know your totem’s trick exactly so if you were in your own host dream then you could replicate it perfectly. It is only when you are in someone else’s dream that your totem does not behave in it’s trick form since that host cannot architect it so. This is why nobody knows the trick functionality of anyone else’s totem!”

You certainly need to see Inception, even if you are not a fan of Nolan. The complexity of the plot may lost you at time, but for the most part it is mostly straight forward. Maybe it was even too much straight forward for me. I’m still a big fan of the non-linear plot structure of Nolan like in his first film: Following. BTW Cobb, the Inception main character name played by Leonardo is certainly a tribute to one of the character with the same name played by Alex Haw in Following.

My Rating: 4/5

Inception Trailer on YouTube
Inception on Wikipedia
Inception Official Site

If you wish to see a very complex movie that you will spend hours figuring out the plot, then you need to see Primer. I challenge you to explain it in a single viewing. It is said to be impossible.

Film Review > Kick Ass

It took me a while before watching this movie. I didn’t understand all the good reviews and critics for this wannabe superhero movie. Now I do understand. Here are the list of my awards:

1. The best superhero movie ever made. Yep! It’s even surpassing Superman, X-Men and the Dark Knight if you ask me. Superhero films should never take themselves too seriously.
2. The best music score (not to be confused with the official music soundtrack) in a superhero movie. I’m telling you, It’s OUTSTANDING.
3. The best action movie using a 11 years old girl.
4. The best composed music score (The Corridor by John Murphy) in an action scene.
5. The best action scene in a superhero movie. Even the the lobby scene in The Matrix is no a match.

Interesting fact: The movie is based on the comic book of the same name, but the movie script and the comic were written at the same time, so the rights to the film version of the comic book were sold before the first issue was published.

Here’s another one: Brad Pitt has co-produced the movie. The film was independently financed. Vaughn initially went to Sony, but he rejected calls to tone down the violence. Other studios expressed interest but wanted to make the characters older. Vaughn believed enough in the project to raise the money himself.

And you need to see Chloe Moretz (Mindy - Hit-Girl) who did most of her own stunts, how she has been preparing herself for the action scenes.

Matthew Vaughn is preparing Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall for 2012. Can’t wait!

My Rating: 4.5/5

Kick Ass Trailer on YouTube
Kick Ass on Wikipedia
Kick Ass Official Site

Film Review > The Invention Of Lying

Ok this will not be really a film review as I’m still too much overwhelmed by this movie. I just have finished watching it at the moment and the only thing I can think of saying is WOW, just WOW, Zeeeeee f@#$ing WOW. I think this is the best fairy tale movie I’ve ever seen.

It’s been written, narrated, directed and produced by Rick Gervais from the hit TV series The Office and Extras.

I know the movie has received mixed reviews, and this is probably because some people cannot see the genius of something so deep, funny and touching in this alternate reality where everyone can only tell and think the truth. This movie is simply a “tour de force” if you ask me. Life in all its simplest and complex aspect is in there, but treated with such lightness that it makes this movie a perfect gem. Thank-you Rick for having created it.

My rating: 4/5

The Invention Of Lying Trailer on YouTube
The Invention Of Lying on Wikipedia
Official Site of The Invention Of Lying

Film Review > The Cove

What if every year, I told you that more than 23,000 dolphins were killed in Taiji, Japan. You would probably tell me: but why, nobody eat dolphins? Nobody, no. Without knowing (thinking it is whale meat), yes! Mostly everyone in Japan don’t know about this other then the ones in the city of Taiji and their well guarded secret.

While the dolphins are on their migratory passage in the month of September, the fishermen capture the dolphins and keep them captive in a cove with fishnets. In the morning, some dolphin trainers come to identified the best ones to be sold all over the world to oceanic museums and water parks. The rest of the dolphins, including young ones, are killed for their meat by local fishermen in a secret cove. When I say killed, you should read slaughtered.

The thing about the dolphin meat is that it is very dangerous for the human health because of its high dose of mercury. It contains 2000 ppm, while the safe ratio by the Japanese standard is 0.4 ppm. So it is considered very dangerous to eat dolphin meat. Note: all this is also because of us - by burning fuel, our industrial world has released all that mercury in the air and ocean, than by consequence, in all the food chain.

So there is no reason for this dolphins slaughter to continue.

And you can help:

• First by watching the documentary. It is sad that the only model today to finance a film and propagate its message is by theater projection, DVD rental and purchase. I would suggest that every documentaries of value should be available free to be seen on the Internet where people can give what they want in donation after seeing it and then buy the DVD.
• By signing the petition on Facebook
• By educating yourself even more about the issue
• And by talking to everyone you know about this documentary, inviting them to see it.

You have no reason to stay blindfold. And please remember: all social changes come from the passion and involvement of individuals, not government.

This documentary is a must see.

Rating: 4.5/5

Official site of The Cove (including trailer)
Information about the movie The Cove
The Cove on Wikipedia
The Cove Review on YouToube

Film Review > Alien - The Best Sci-Fi Thriller Ever Done

Roger Ebert

“One of the great strengths of “Alien” is its pacing. It takes its time. It waits. It allows silences…”

I’ve seen Alien for the first time at the TV without any commercial pauses. I was probably around 13-14 years old at the time. To this date, it is still the best sci-fi thriller movie I ever seen. I remember of being so scared by moment that I surprised myself being curl on my bed, biting my blanket.

These days that kind of film doesn’t exist anymore. The more experience actors are replaced by teenagers hunting down zombies with their shotgun. The wait, the silence are replaced with none stop action scenes. The intelligent dialogues by stupid lines once and then.

Do yourself a favor and watch, for a second time, probably the best film Ridley Scott has ever done (apart from Blade Runner).

Film Review > District 9

It’s been a long time since my last film reviews. It is not because I don’t see any, I’m counting at least 45 movies. It is mostly because I put pressure on myself to write something about each of them other than simply add a still frame and my rating. OK, enough drama, here’s my review of District 9:

After having watched District 9 last Saturday, I told myself: “This is one of the best Sci-Fi movie I’ve seen in a very very long time”. Actually this is the third best science fiction movie I’ve seen since Alien and Blade Runner. The scenario is truly original and the direction by Neill Blomkamp, where part of the movie is presented in a mockumentary style incorporating presenting fictional interviews, news footage, and video from surveillance cameras, is amazing. District 9 who is presented by Peter Jackson, scores 8.5 on 10 at IMDB with near 75 000 individual votes.

It is interesting to know that the story is inspired from real historical event and from a short film called Alive in Joburg that Neill did in 2005.

From Wikipedia:

The story, adapted from Alive in Joburg, a 2005 short film directed by Blomkamp and produced by Copley, deals with the issues of xenophobia and social segregation. The title and premise of District 9 were inspired by historical events that took place in South Africa during the apartheid in a residential area of Cape Town named District Six. The film was produced for $30 million and shot on location in Chiawelo, Soweto.

My Rating: 4.5/5 (a must see for any sci-fi fan)

District 9 Promo site
District 9 Official site
District 9 Trailer on YouTube
Alive in Joburg Short Movie on YouTube

Film Review > Star Trek 2009

J. J. Abrams is producing (and directing) hit (Alias, Lost, Star Trek) or miss (Fringe, Mission Impossible 3) series and movies. His latest production, the new refreshed Star Trek is certainly a hit. The cast is outstanding in their individual roles, specially Zachary Quinto (Heroes) in Spoke, and Karl Urban in Dr. McCoy. The scenario is good and every action scenes are great without being to exaggerated (except for maybe one when Kirk was around 10 years old). Everything look to be in place for the next two sequels.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Star Trek 2009 Movie Official Site
Star Trek 2009 Movie Trailer, Trailer 2, Trailer 3 on YouTube

Film Review > A Complete History of My Sexual Failures

I saw allot of films, some documentaries and few TV series in the past month, or two, or even four considering my last film review dates of September 4th. I’m so back schedule on all the reviews I should do that I find the task to be too big to begin with. Worse is, and I know, more I wait, bigger the task is. In fact, as I keep track of the films I see by taking a snapshot of one of scene that I think best represents the movie, I can even say that I am 25 movies and six TV series behind.

Maybe because this documentary has been recommended by a friend of mine, Johann, who has decided to move to Sweden and write a blog to stay in touch with his old pals of the Canadian north (thanks for it as his posts are always interesting) that I decided to brake the silence on my none-reviews.

Wikipedia describe the film as:

Filmmaker Chris Waitt sets out on a quest to find out why all of his romantic relationships have ended in complete failure. Tracking down every one of his former lovers, he finds a general resentment, stemming from his constant unreliability. He then sets out to test different approaches that will prepare him for true love, and a lasting relationship.

On my side I will probably resume the documentary like this:

A documentary about an independent filmmaker who is a total looser (and probably don’t exactly know/why he is one) who wish to understand why all the ladies he has been hooked up in the past have found him a total fuck-up lunatic looser.

The documentary is so bold of non-sense that you can’t even believe the guy is such a looser. At the same time is so stupid in his documentary that you believed some of it as being true.

All to say I had a good laugh from start to finish, even a bit of empathy at the end of the film and must admire the effort of doing a movie about his failures, but this is certainly not one of the best documentary I’ve seen or I will remember in the past year (sorry to disagree with Johann on this)

My Rating: 2.5/5

A Complete History of My Sexual Failures Official Website
A Complete History of My Sexual Failures on YouTube
Chris Waitt MySpace page as seen in the documentary (please notice that he still only has 24 friends after all this time!)