Inception (2010)

Twenty years ago Jane Wagner asked, through a character played by Lilly Tomlin, "What is reality anyway? Just a collective hunch." In this movie we return to that question. Is reality just an illusion?

Writer and Director Christopher Nolan may well be a cinematic genius. He is certainly one fine story teller. As many others have pointed out, this movie is a beautiful synthesis of new and old movie making. They are done so well together you almost forget the line exists between whats real and what CG. But that is, after all, the point of the movie.

Leonardo DeCaprio continues to impress me. I try very hard to not like him but every movie he does beats that impulse down with great gusto. The rest of the cast are very much in a supporting role here, but the names and their work are equally stunning.

Joseph Gorden-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Dileep Rao, and Cillian Murphy, all young guns with good resumes join as senior cast with huge names; Ken Watanabe, Tom Berenger, Marion Cotillard, Pete Postlethwaite, and Michael Caine.

No spoilers here, but from the get-go this movie keeps you guessing about which reality is which. You will have to draw your own conclusions.

Watch this movie with someone who has vivid dreams.

The Lookout

Little bit crime drama. Little bit thriller. Little bit comedy. Not sure what to call it, but it's fun to watch. You'd think, based on the story-telling advice of one of the main characters, that this story would be easy to predict. And, while you CAN see the train coming, and you know it's going to smack you, what you don't see coming is how the characters will react. That makes for some fun.

Joseph Gorden-Levitt plays a high school kid who suffers from head trauma. His memory loss and other troubles are shown all due reverence. But the effects on himself and others are often funny.

Jeff Daniels plays his roommate and best friend who also happens to be much older and blind.

The bad guys are played perfectly by Matthew Goode and Greg Dunham. These are nasty villains you will love to hate. The supporting cast is rounded out nicely by some fun performances with a few familiar faces.

The only plot problem I noticed was that the main character's memory problems are episodic rather than constant. Some things he must write down to remember. But the bad guy's name he remembers from the very first meeting. Odd.

I even liked the partial narration by the main character. To me it felt like it was used just right.

Watch this movie with someone who might think their dreams are not worthy of cultivation.

(500) Days of Summer

As the narrator points out early in the movie, this is not a love story. It is however a very clever tale of 20-something angst, self-absorption, and Relationship Theory 101. I'm guessing the people who liked Zach and Mira's porno and Away We Go will most likely like, or at least relate to, this movie also. To me, this is by far the best of the three. Perhaps it's a generational thing.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel make awkward chemistry, but that is the point. While they might have been very good for each other, there were not "right" for each other. No, that should not spoil things for you if you have not seen it yet.

My favorite character however was the supportive, beyond-her-years wise, younger sister. Chloe Moretz is great, as is her character.

Musically this movie is all over the place, and yet perfect at the same time. There are tributes to French, Swedish, and other European cinema stereotypes. There is out-of-sequence storytelling, and MTV editing. There are also some very smart split-screen scenes towards the end of the movie. These are my favorites actually.

Watch this movie with someone who will not be so put off by the negative beginning that they will miss best parts of the movie.

Killshot

This movie has many of the elements I like. The story begins before the opening credits run. There are characters to like and dislike. The music is good. The story is compelling, and the ending is satisfying (even if you do see it coming).

Mickey Rourke plays a jaded hit man. He is very easy to dislike. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays his over-amped protege. His character is so repulsive that I actually enjoyed hating him. Characters that draw that kind of emotion from an audience is good story-telling.

Diane Lane is still a fun actress to watch. She has the looks and the skills to hold at least half the audience. She plays first a witness and then the hunted prey here, and pulls it off well. Thomas Jane, yes The Punisher himself, plays her estranged husband who happens to also be a witness hunted by the two assassins. Witness protection is only a program in this movie, not an actual fact.

It is true that this project went through several changes before we got the current vision. I can't really picture any of the other duos pulling this off with such gusto however. Robert DiNiro and Quenton Tarantino? I don't think so. Viggo Mortenson and Justin Timberlake? Ew. Thank you Disney for selling the rights to this story.

Watch this movie with someone who will see another good performance from an aging Rourke and not the creepy guy who showed up at the Oscars in a white tux.