At the cinema, on the internet

I feel compelled to write about inception, I can't not write about it. It is all anyone is talking about and it deserves that amount of attention. I saw it the other day and it had a great impression on me as it affected others. I was amazed because the themes of the film are so abstract yet that obscurity is not an obstacle for the "blockbuster" elements of the movie, it is perfectly accessible. Nolan does this by restraining the narrative: dealing with dreams and dream theory can get out of hand easily and dream theory itself is massive and complex but everything in the film is simplified and exposed. There are dreams within dreams within dreams and there is dream manipulation and relativity of time but the spectator is never lost. Also, the film doesn't focus on doubting reality either, there are key moments where reality is put into question but for the most part reality is clearly defined and the skepticism is not the central theme. The action within the movie was never gratuitous or redundant it seemed vital to the story, to the characters. However even without the action scenes, the film would have still been great due to the depth of the story. DiCaprio seems to be drawn to psychologically tormented characters in denial but hey it's working pretty well, the Departed, The Aviator, Shutter Island were all great films. Joseph Gordon Levitt stole the show with two of the best fight scenes ever. Inception is Christopher Nolan's first time writing by himself(he normally writes with his brother) and it shows in some parts where the dialogue is a little too heavy on exposition and the last scene was superfluous and a bit cheap but overall he has composed an airtight, brooding blockbuster.


The Social Network
I found the trailer for this little prospect today on a blog. The social network is David Fincher's biopic of Mark Zuckerburg and the creation of facebook. It looks surprisingly interesting but at the same time it seems weird to make a film out of it. Facebook is a very interesting subject from which many themes can be approached but the film seems to be more concerned with dramatizing Zuckerberg's ordeal. Also, the attempt at revamping creep(which everyone is sick of) works for the trailer and the whole idea of Facebook. I would like to see how Jesse Eisenberg approaches the role because I've never really found him funny yet he does have a certain charm like geek appeal(not unlike Michael Cera)

The Green Hornet
I've been looking forward to this trailer for a while just to see what Seth Rogen in a superhero movie would look like and it looks boring. I am intrigued that they have chosen to use a comic tone but then again it would be hard to go straight faced drama with Rogen although I think he could do it. Michel Gondry was the other reason I was excited about his movie. He represents the eccentric, do it yourself, creative type of filmmaking but the style of the movie looks very bland and generic. I will definitely see it but my expectations have been lowered greatly.



Yay for Christoph Waltz!

Flying with the sun

I just discovered that a company called Solar Impulse is experimenting with their planes by relying solely on solar energy and I'm deeply intrigued. Although their site doesn't concentrate on how the plane actually works it is a very exciting prospect. The first flight landed this morning after 26 hours of flight, the prototype is composed of 12000 photovoltaic(energy conversion) cells that are relayed onto 4 big electric motors.



This of course got the science fiction geek inside of me ecstatic and giddy. Admittedly everything is still in the experimental stage, but it's reassuring to know people are still endeavouring to break through and change the way we think about energy and new ideas. To think that in my lifetime, I might fly on Ryanair and it would be solar powered gives hope for the future. However, Solar impulse don't have the resources to take the project to that stage and the commercial plane would be hard to build (huge wingspan, tiny hull). I believe they are completing the vital foundation that could open up to commercial airlines.

When it comes to solar energy as a solution to the depletion of fossil fuels people tend to be very skeptical and I'm no different. The question is: is solar energy reliable? is it sustainable enough for a trans atlantic flight?
This bold project is starting to cast my doubts away. Plus, in a few days they will test the plane at night to evaluate its charging capacities.

Paris Film Festival: First Three days

This is my second year at this particular festival and I have to say it has expanded quite a bit since I last experienced it. Still at the huge MK2 Bibliotheques cinema, the festival has become more popular which has lead to more movies being available. Every year the festival highlights one country and it's cinematic exports, this year Japan will be in the spotlight. So on the first day I enjoyed some of Japan's best films, it is a very ecelectic selection and each film is preceeded by an introduction given by a specialist.

5 things I learned about Japan thanks to the Paris Film Festival:
1 If you kill a japanese person either accidentally or on purpose expect a swift and horrible revenge to come down on you.In "Pure Asia", a young girl is murdered by thugs on the street so her sister decides to go on a terrorist rampage on all those who let it happen. She tosses mustard gas into assembly halls and train stations.
In "Machine Girl", a young boy is murdered so his sister starts her vendetta by attaching a chain gun to her wrist and murders everyone involved. It seems that there is no police or judiciary system, people just sort it out themselves, which sounds badass until you cross Machine girl's path. So don't mess with japanese people, for the love of christ.
I will add more details of my education as the festival continues.

The competition itself is comprised of 8 films picked out 1500 films. After watching two, I couldn't help but be disappointed though. One was a Romanian prison movies which tackled some interesting subject on morality but it was lacking narrative direction, the whole movie happens in the last twenty minutes. It was still really good but it made me wonder about the quality of the other 1499 films So I hope the competition develops into something better, something really eye catching over the next few days.



5 reasons why the Paris Film Festival is more fun than Cannes:
1 You don't have to wade through a sea of cameramen, journalists and elbows to see a movie
2 Furthermore, anyone can enjoy the Premieres for a modest price. You don't have to be privileged to enter the actual cinema.
3 It's in Paris
4 There's a movie for everyone. The festival hosts a huge array of different films.
5 The Paris Festival will close with a huge Cinekaroake session. I still don't really know what that is but it sounds fun.

More to come...