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 Dark Knight

If you have seen this you will know what I'm talking about. If you have not seen it I highly suggest you see it at least twice. The first time you watch just let the ride happen. You may be totally emotionally exhausted by the end of this 2.5 hour epic. The second time you watch it do so for the nuances. Relish the smart script. Savor the more than Oscar-worthy performance of the late Heath Ledger. Get into the sub-plots and subtle messages. It is easy to miss them the first time through because there is so much happening so fast you need to see it twice, at least, to take the full measure of this movie in.

This is hands down the best comic-based action thriller movie out thus far. And it sets the bar very high. This is what big budget movies are supposed to look and feel like. This movie would still be great without Batman. If, instead of Batman, you plug in a very tough, very smart, cop or vigilante, or even a very rich crime solver, it would still work. That is because the movie is not about Batman. The movie is about the criminals. This is so brilliant it has evaded most the watching public.

Don't get me wrong, Christian Bale does a brilliant job as the Caped Crusader. I shows a full range of emotions and is more human than some of the other guys have been. He is truly heroic.

Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman reprise their roles in support of Bruce Wayne. Each is a very welcome, smart, and funny addition to the story. Maggie Gyllenhaal is also back and the love interest, but with a huge interesting twist.

Other welcome faces include Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman.

But the true star of this movie; the one who carries the entire story on his shoulders with delicious flare is Ledger's Joker. Nothing like Nicholson's over-the-top masterwork of 20 years ago. This Joker is much more real, much creepier, much more sinister, and much more macabre. His character study is so perfectly psychotic one might wonder who he used for inspiration.

Watch this movie with someone who can help you keep up with what's going on.

The Cider House Rules

Seven Nominations and two wins. I don't always agree with who gets an Oscar, and this is one of those cases. This movie deserves more. This movie is on my top-20 list.

Michael Caine carried this movie. With a cast of much younger, but no less talented, actors, his solid performance won Best Supporting Actor and wove their work together. His importance to this movie is similar to the fictional orphanage in the story.

Tobey Maquire (Pleasantville, Spiderman series, and Seabiscuit) is the main character and represents all the character evolution as he should. His work here shows a wider range than some of his other work, and he is totally believable.

The other main character in the story is Maquire's character's love interest. Charlize Theron (That Thing You Do, Sweet November, and In the Valley of Elah) plays one of her more loveable roles here. So many of her characters are off-the-charts rough around the edges to say the least.

Most of us did not grow up in an orphanage. This story will help us better appreciate what we had no many how bad we felt we had it. Watching this movie may motivate you to go out and adopt someone. Fair warning.

Another warning is in order. More than one abortion occurs during this movie. Not on screen mind you, but you know what happening when it happens. And a healthy debate ensues between the main male characters.

If you can handle that, you will should enjoy this well-written, well-acted, visual masterpiece.

Watch it with someone who loves children.

Batman Begins

With all the recent fuss over comic heroes on the big screen, I figure it's time to remind ourselves that this phenomenon is not new. Only 3 years ago Director Christopher Nolan brought his vision of a legendary character's somewhat humble beginnings.

Nolan does not have a lengthy resume, but it is, nonetheless very impressive with offbeat stories for us to sink our imaginations into. Memento. Insomnia. The Prestige. He is also the director who will bring "The Dark Knight" later this year. This tells you how

Christian Bale (Reign of Fire, The Prestige, and 3:10 to Yuma) is perfect as an emerging Batman, a role he will reprise for us in The Dark Knight. He is dark, brooding, understated, and feels like he has always been Bruce Wayne.

Michael Caine, the hardest working man in Hollywood for the last 50 years, does great homage to uber-cool butlers everywhere in his role as the always steady Alfred. Do you know Alred's last name? True Batman fans will. Caine is also in the upcoming Batman movie.

And what a super cast of supporting bad guys, weirdos, and Gotham regulars. Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Morgan Freeman, and Ken Watanabe. Take your pick. One or two alone would be worth the watch.

And what is a good Batman story without pretty girls? Katie Holmes fills that bill well enough.

If you enjoyed Tim Burton's versions of Batman, you should also enjoy this one. I know the Burton purists will boycott me for saying so, but this movie is every bit as entertaining as the previous. I grew up reading Batman comics, and watching the old campy black-and-white series on TV. This movie was very satisfying to me personally.

Watch this movie with your childhood firmly attached.

Secondhand Lions

Released in 2003, Second Hand Lions had almost no publicity, and was in theaters for only a couple months. This is a shame, and the same is on the viewing public. This is a very fun story, believe it or not, very well told.

And come on, look at the cast: Haley Joel Osment (Forrest Gump, Sixth Sense, and Pay it Forward to name a few good ones), Michael Caine (The Man Who Would be King, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Cider House Rules as if I could pick from all his work), and Robert Duvall (MASH, The Godfather series, and The Natural amongst his best work), bring huge amounts of talent to this story. And from the looks of it, they had way too much fun telling it too.

If that is not enough to coax you into a peek, please consider that Kyra Sedgwick and Josh Lucas lead a very strong supporting cast.

This is very much a story about another story. If you grew up with an older family member who loved telling stories which you were not sure to believe or not, this story will bring back a few memories. It may even lead you to rethink a few of your conclusions.

If you are from Texas, or know anything about folks who live there, you'll appreciate that this story is actually totally believable.

Watch it with someone who has a very good imagination.