Inception

Date: 22/07/10. Inception Day, need I say more.

I have watched a lot of movies in my lifetime. Some have been terrible, and others have led me to believe that they are the best creations on Earth. Inception, however, is the first film where I have burst out crying during the credits because it was so amazing. It's the first film I have watched that has been so original it is unbelievable. Mostly, it is the first film that has left me frozen, or stunned, for hours after watching it. I cannot even begin to try and describe how amazing this film is.

Okay, I'm not even going to try and explain the plot. Do me and yourself a favour and go and see the film. Then you try and explain what went on this movie within the logistics of a blog post. All I can tell you is that it's about dreams. Not the soppy types you see in movies starring Sandra Bullock.

You may be wondering why I started crying when the credits started rolling. I had been crying at all the sad bits towards the end, but when the film ended I just started crying uncontrolably. For the life of me, I can't say why this was, but it probably had something to do with the fact that this film blew my mind in a way that no other film ever has. There is so much going on in this film, but it's fair to say I got most of what was going on. Though I know I'll certainly be going back for a second watch. The thing I can't get over though is how clever and original this film is. We have become so used to a world of popcorn flicks which are dumbed down to the lowest common denominator, but Inception is smart, even though it is still easy to follow.

Christopher Nolan has truly outdone himself here. This is better than everything he has ever made. I still can't believe he, one man, did it all himself. I just wanna know what he puts in his porridge at the moment. Despite the many characters in this film, each actor performs to the best of their ability, with Leonardo DiCaprio supplying a fabulous lead and Joseph Gordon-Levitt being the stand out of the supporting cast.

This could have been a simple blockbuster, but no, it is so much more than that. My advice to you is: go and see this film. Pay close attention to everything, not that that should be hard. When you come out of the cinema, you will be left speechless, frozen, amazed...I couldn't even eat after seeing this and my stomach still hurts. It runs through it's long running time like you wouldn't believe. Trust me, you will learn more from this film then you have ever learnt from school.

The best thing about this movie is that it causes you to question the line between dreams and reality. Like right now, I could be dreaming, but I would never know. That's the beauty of this film. If it doesn't get Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, then someone is going to have to die. And to all you critics who gave it less than 8/10, you should be ashamed of yourselves. This is the best film to come out in years. And it has jumped straight up to be my favourite movie of all-time.

Inception restores faith in movies, with it's fabulous scenes and amazing originality. I still can't describe how amazing it is because I am in shock.

10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000/10

Crazy Heart

Date: 20/07/10. Just another day at school. With more homework than ever before.

Like The Blind Side, Crazy Heart is made worthwile thanks to an amazing performance from it's Oscar winning lead, in this case Jeff Bridges. Sandra Bullock lifted the drivel of The Blind Side and Jeff Bridges did exactly the same for Crazy Heart. Had Jeff Bridges not been so great in this movie, it would have fallen flat on it's face, literally.

Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) was once a prized country singer, but has faded into the world oof working so hard for money but never getting very far. He meets a young single mother journalist, Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who causes Blake to reassess what he wants to do with his life, while also inspiring him to reincarnate his career.

This movie is a hard one to describe. I can see why it is so critically acclaimed, but for the more mainstream audience this is extremely American because of it's country music themes and also is very flat in the way of story. No to say that is a bad thing, because right from the very start I could tell this was mainly an acting showcase for Jeff Bridges and maybe also Maggie Gyllenhaal, who delivers a fantastic Oscar nominated performance.

I admire it for it's beauty and slow pace which makes for quite an easy viewing. Also it's use of music which I guess will make country music fans smile. But, despite my best efforts, I became a little bored with it. Had it not been for Jeff Bridges who was captivating from start to finish, I may have been tempted to turn the movie off.

A perfect Oscar film, with a fantastic performance from Bridges, but unfortunately lacks the magic factor.

6/10

Valentine's Day

Date: 19/07/10. First. Day. Of. School. Need I say more?

It's really hard to believe, but in February, Valentine's Day was like my Inception. I admit, I didn't want to watch it as much as I want to watch Inception, but, you get the point, I was really excited about this one. Why? Because, you know, it has such a great cast. How is it possible that this movie could contain Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biel, Bradley Cooper (*sighs*), Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Emma Robert, Julia Roberts and Taylor Swift?! Usually, a cast like this would be the recipe for success. It's a shame they didn't warn me that each cast member came with lots of sugar, therefore making this the recipe for candy that is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too sweet, it's sickening.

The title pretty much says it all: this movie is about intertwining couples and singles in Los Angeles and what they do on Valentine's Day.

This movie is like every other romantic comedy. At this point in time, I think its almost impossible to even try and reinvent the genre because everything they do is so cliched. While watching this, I was thinking 'this has more twist and turns than a Christopher Nolan movie...shame I could see every twist coming.' Not that I would ever confuse this with a Christopher Nolan movie, that is a bit of an insult. There are so many stories, its hard to keep track of them all, and because of all the characters there is absolutely NO room for character development, which is one huge problem because every character is extremely stereotypical. The script is particularly unfunny, and you can tell this by the fact that the 'funny one-liners' which should be getting laughs actually come across as awkward silences.

If anything, I still enjoyed parts of this movie to a certain point. I still love Anne Hathaway even though she was bad in Alice in Wonderland and this film doesn't exactly do wonders for her career. The other members of the cast were still okay, mainly because you could tell that they new what they were doing in this film: not a lot. And I've always had a weakness for chick flicks.

Doesn't make Valentine's Day look like a fantastic day. I'm still recovering from the sugar overdose.

5/10