The Dark Knight Rises – Trailer Dissection

With so many people rediscovering our teaser dissection for The Dark Knight Rises, I thought it only fair to provide a dissection of the full trailer, and give people something slightly more worth their time. It is Christmas after all. And as the only comment on the previous dissection was “This isn’t much of a dissection”, I am going to take this way too far and show every single shot from the trailer regardless of interest or sanity.

If you haven’t seen the trailer yet it is embedded below:

Now onto the dissection… Read more »

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Not at the Oscars – Christopher Nolan (Directing)

Alright, alright. Inception hasn’t exactly been ignored by the Oscars with its 8 nominations which include Best Screenplay and Best Film, but what about Best Director?

As a sci-fi action film Inception isn’t going to win Best Film and will be relegated to the technical categories. But how can such a richly and carefully shot feature be nominated for Best Art Direction AND Cinematography but not Best Director? It’s almost as if they think Nolan just watched while everyone else did the work for him.

I haven’t seen The Fighter so I’d let Inception take their slot in the directing category. Again, I’m not after a win, I just want good work to be recognised. Alright?

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Casting Couch #1

Welcome to the casting couch, have a seat. Don’t mind that, just move it to one side and pretend it wasn’t there. Now what part was it you wanted? Your hair looks nice.

Emma Stone/Mia Wasikowska for Spiderman
The Spiderman reboot has been getting more and more exciting with Marc Webb and then Andrew Garfield becoming attached. Now we might get Mia Wasikowska or even better Emma Stone as the female lead. This must happen.

Chloe Moretz is Emily the Strange
I’ve never read the comic Emily the Strange but this is Chloe Moretz we’re talking about. Of course it’s exciting.

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Since Nolan was given the power to guide Superman back to movie glory we haven’t heard much until now. Rumour has it he has a shortlist of five directors to helm the franchise. They are Zack Snyder, Duncan Jones, Matt Reeves, Tony Scott and Jonathan Liebesman. Any of the first three please!

In other news: There may well be a new 3D version of Day of the Triffids in the works. Can’t be any worse than the BBC’s attempt, apart from Izzard’s bits that is. He was great.

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Inception – Review

It will hardly come as a shock for me to say that I really enjoyed Inception. The only criticism that comes to mind was that the dialogue was a little… efficient. Take that Nolan!

What we have with this film is the very rare melding of a blockbuster action film with a thought-provoking high concept piece. The movie really does require you to be paying attention and think hard to follow the many layers of plot but certainly doesn’t skimp on the action set pieces. My favourite moments of action all involved Joseph Gordon-Levitt and a corridor of questionable stability, adrenaline flowed as freely as gravity as we were treated to a uniquely beautiful bit of fighting.

The presence of Gordon-Levitt, along with Ellen Page, shows that this really is more than just a blockbuster as the cast have been chosen on more factors than just box-office draw and it really pays off. Page serves as the audience for the film and without that aspect I’d have had no clue as to what was happening. While Inception is happy to lay down the rules of the film, it doesn’t necessarily wait for you to catch up before plowing on in. I love a film with no mercy.

In among the car chases, shoot outs, dream sharing and general confusion is the story of one man’s tragic love for his wife and the trouble that brings. DiCaprio is on top from as he forces the focus of Inception away from being about people doing a job and towards an internal struggle shown as much through his expressions as through the subconscious come to life. This probably makes little sense, but then you should really see the film yourself.

The powerful score adds to the careful plotting, skillful direction and engrossing acting to make a truly affecting film. I can’t wait to see it again. Never again will so much importance be put on one tiny object. Speaking of which, once you’ve read the film read this, it has made me rethink the entire film.

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Christopher Nolan is Wise

Ignoring for a moment Memento, The Dark Knight and Inception, (and the rather unflattering photo just above) Christopher Nolan is still a wonderful man. Why? Because he’s “not a huge fan of 3D.”

I will now let Nolan explain as i copy directly from the LA Times: “The truth is, I think it’s a misnomer to call it 3-D versus 2-D. The whole point of cinematic imagery is it’s three-dimensional. … You know, 95% of our depth cues come from occlusion, resolution, color and so forth, so the idea of calling a 2-D movie a ’2-D movie’ is a little misleading.”

Nolan goes on to explain that 3D films are less bright and that 2D films are by no means “flat”. I agree wholeheartedly and can’t think of any of my favourite films that I find lack depth in any of their frames. And as far as Nolan’s work goes Inception looks to have plenty of amazing imagery that looks amazing in 2D even on my laptop screen.

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