A Dream inside a Movie or is it? Inception

Well, we inspired ourselves ourselves to watch Inception again (one of us even watched it on an International flights and fell asleep ! oh, yeah - of course we can't be sure if that was real or not).

What is reality, what is a dream, what is the Matrix? What time is dinner? Philosophy was never one of our better subjects in school yet we continue to enjoy science fiction thrillers which tear away at the fabric of reality like giant carpet scissors (how's that for a metaphor). Inception does this as well or better than any movie before in this particular subgenre of cinema. Watching Inception requires one to pay attention and we've definitely noticed things the second time around that we didn't catch the first time - although we can't really be sure - because we might have been asleep or in some alternative state of consciousness.

We liked Leonardo Di Caprio's performance in this show but the whole cast did a great job. We especially enjoyed Marion Cotillard's spooky breakout performance as Leonardo's virtual / dream wife, Mal (although we never did find out what that was short for). We certainly would have liked to see more of Michael Caine and a bit more of Tom Berenger. The special effects were fairly awesome throughout the film - although they didn't dominate they way they do in Tron Legacy. What did drive this movie was it's incredible pace and intricate plot layers. It took some real ingenuity to keep all those dream levels synchronized without losing the audience or easing up on the suspense - really quite masterful...

The other thing that really stands out from this movie is the soundtrack - Hans Zimmer created a truly memorable score, it really adds a lot to the ambiance of the film.

We will likely rate Inception as one of the best films of 2010 - and possible the front runner (when we do our first annual Raving Awards post early next year).

There is a Glitch in the Matrix, Our Dreams are not our own,
Tron is Alive - we're confused...

So, the real question is - is this all real? Is our world filled with shadow terrorists and super secret police chasing them across the Internet - is our top spinning? How many levels would we need to traverse to find the truth or is someone dropping one giant Inception on us making us believe their viral ideas - boy we love this show...

Yes, there are still many more parodies to watch inspired by Inception.

Copyright 2010, Raving Reviews

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Scrooged - Bill Murray's Christmas Carol

It's Christmas Eve, a good time to follow or start traditions. Tonight we're going to start a tradition of reviewing some form of a "Christmas Carol" every Christmas Eve (that can include TV versions, and offshoots like "It's a Wonderful Life") at least until we run out of variations to review.

This year we're going to start with our favorite version of Charles Dicken's classic tale - Scrooged. It's as close as we can get to the Goldman Sachs & Wall Street version that should be made - although we were thinking Senator Coburn (the sole member of the Let's kill healthcare for 9/11 first responders caucus) would make a great Scrooge as well.

Bill Murray was born for this role - it was in our humble opinion his best performance ever. Although Mr. Murry has gotten acclaim in a variety of roles over the past decade - none of those carried with them the enthusiasm and panache that characterized his classics like Scrooged and Groundhog Day.

Where were you in 1988? Some of us remember it well being the old timers that we are (not all of our reviewers are that aged of course). Seeing this film in the theater was a treat - we really didn't know what to expect and were very pleasantly surprised. Some of us have been watching this nearly every Christmas since. Why? well - we'd already seen the 1840's version of a Christmas Carol about 25 times (in 5 different versions) and this film had an astonishing ensemble cast, a hilarious yet touching script and a dynamic lead in Bill Murray - it's the tale adapted to our age. And twenty some years later things haven't changed that much - the satire on modern society is still sharp and more relevant than old Ebeneezer at the London exchange ever could be. The Me decade has of course morphed into the Me-first Century and we are trying our best to recreate the poverty and despair of Dicken's time - will enough good hearted people defeat the evil forces of Wall Street ? who knows...

The official trailer for Scrooged, circa 1988 - which now officially belongs in the realm of the ghost of Christmas Past

The story is the same - at its basic level - lost opportunities, lost love, lost values, and a life almost wasted - yet ready to be reprieved after a Christmas Eve Transformation. How did it turn out? Well, in this film the Scrooge character (Murray) is given his second chance before he got too old and he took it. We like to think that everyone will be given that type of chance when or if they need it and that everyone will have a chance to watch this movie as part of their holidays celebration and tradition.

Remember, the ghosts are only scary if you're not willing to listen to what they have to say - Merry Christmas !

Well, this wasn't part of the movie - but we wanted to remember the Late Jim Varney in the Christmas Carol inspired ad...

Copyright 2010, Raving Reviews

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The Mission - my heart of Darkness Journey

Well, it wasn't a boat ride or anything - (editor speaking now) - I was in Argentina in 1987, one year after the making of the movie "The Mission." I traveled to where they filmed it - but I went by bus. It wasn't really that bad, in fact it was kind of a fun trip but there were jungles, rivers and natives - not to mention the fact that I had a lot of time to think about the nature of man and the meaning of life in between the movies they were showing on the bus (it was one of those luxury liner types of things).

Ok - I'll admit my journey was really nothing at all like the Heart of Darkness or even Apocalypse now, but I like making the comparison anyway. This movie is still powerful and for me it brings back a waterfall (pun intended) of memories from that trip. When I traveled to Argentina that year, I didn't know anything about the movie at all, let alone that it just been filmed there. I did however know about the Cataratas de Iguazu - the largest waterfalls on the planet (seen also in the James Bond extravaganza, Moonraker - you may remember Jaws going over the falls). On the way to the Falls you travel through a province called Misiones (the missions) if you're coming by way of Buenos Aires. This is where the spectacular red missions shown in the movie were filmed.

The journey was like a trip back through time (albeit on the 20th century bus as my time capsule) - but it also was a reminder how the past is always eroding. The vast tracks of rain forest were being logged before my eyes (truck after truck carrying the trees away) and the falls were about to change as well. When I was there the last stages of the largest hydroelectric dam in the world (being built in Paraguay) were nearly complete - so the Falls of today are much diminished.

Likewise, the film captured the end of two eras - first, the era of freedom for the indigenous peoples from that region and second the end of a noble social experiment attempted by Jesuits with those peoples in an attempt to keep them out of slavery and persecution. The story is a moral and ethical blueprint which is more or less timeless. In fact, Avatar used the same exact plotline - modified a bit and added a happy ending to it - something that's never yet happened on this planet. Does greed and injustice destroy people and civilizations across the ages ? yep, of course you knew that already and watching this film only reinforces the sad realization that we haven't quite evolved out of that type of behavior yet.

Although Robert De Niro was top-billed in this film, Jeremy Irons delivered what should have been an Academy Award Winning Performance and stole the show. Liam Neeson made an appearance, one of his first major roles but not one of his better roles. Robert De Niro gave a mixed performance - it seemed as though he had a hard time merging with the character. A stronger performance from him would have made this movie a true classic. The history was made personal in this film - mainly through the perspective of the Jesuits and Irons as they fought for both religious and political freedom in an oppressive age of kings. While much of the history of the conquest of Latin America was marred by tragedy, we witness through this movie a unique and remarkable vision of what the world could be - if only people cared enough to support it.

My journey into the jungle - to the missions and to the Falls was one of discovery and recognition of the loss and preservation of a past world - it was a journey of enlightenment, not darkness. Having been there I can testify to the beauty of the place, something that cannot be properly described in words or captured on film.

Don't expect a happy ending - but do expect a great story...

Copyright 2010, Raving Reviews

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Unstoppable is High Speed Rail

Well, since we live in Ohio we had to mention our new idiot Governor, John "the Fox" Kasich gave away $400 million dollars which would have finally given us intercity rail again (since it was shut down in the 1950's) - so this movie is the closest we're ever going to get to High Speed Rail in our State.

And this movie was based on a real incident which happened in Ohio and it was filmed in in Ohio as well. We were wondering if either Chris Pine or Denzel were from Ohio as well but we were too lazy to look it up. Anyway, one thing is for sure - Tony Scott isn't from Ohio and he tends to put Denzel in his best movies (although he's worked with Tom Cruise, Will Smith and others). Tony Scott's brother, Ridley Scott who is our all time favorite director (see our Blade Runner review) and he likes action films - this one while relatively uncomplicated is built for high speed suspense.

The aged veteran versus the punky upstart, a timeless plot but it works

There is something to be said for uncomplicated plots - sometimes we just want to go to the theater and be transported to another state of mind - to the vicarious experience. This tends to work better at a physical level - where adrenaline starts pumping as we become part of the story without having to think too hard about the philosophical implications. In Unstoppable, the freight train is without a doubt the main character - we don't get too deep with the other characters - they are ordinary folks placed in an extraordinary situation. We'd like to think we would react the same way they do (at least the folks who are trying to rescue the town, not the morons who sent the train off without the brakes turned on).

The two stars represent action of today versus action of the last twenty years. Denzel Washington has wowed us since Glory (well, we like him on St. Elsewhere too, but the action films is where he really shines) and Chris Pine made quite the splash last year with the new J.J. Abrams version of Star Trek. Placing these two stars together as the crusty veteran and cocky punk was a good casting move. The rest of the cast was relatively unimportant and in some cases downright distracting (especially the scenes with Denzel's daughters working at Hooters). It's almost as if someone said - hey there's zero sex appeal in this movie so they threw in gratuitous scenes of Hooters girls (at least they were in the bar and not trying to stop the train, although that would have made for an interesting twist).

Saturday Night Live did an excellent spoof of the Trailer -
the Denzel impression is awesome...

Unstoppable is pretty easy to figure out - we sort of knew how it would end before it started - but in a movie like this, it really doesn't matter as long as you enjoy the ride - which we did.


Copyright 2010, Raving Reviews

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Tron Legacy - Digital DoubleTake

We went to see Tron Legacy 3D yesterday - we were both amazed and disappointed at the same time - overall our impression was favorable but this movie certainly squandered an opportunity to become a classic.

First things first - you'll note at the beginning of the film that some of it is in 2D and some of it is 3D. We're not sure why this happened, but we're guessing that it partly had to do with Jeff Bridges animated alter-ego, Clu as well as a strategy change after Avatar's box office results last year. The film would have been better had it been filmed entirely in 3D - perhaps they'll have a chance to change that later.

The story is not a revisioning - but an actual sequel - 28 years in the making. In that time the vast majority of the personal computer, internet and mobile technology revolutions happened - so comparisons to the original film are hard to make given our hindsight. The plot seemed terribly thin throughout the movie and the actors had a hard time making the most of it. We never quite understood the references to the first Tron because quite frankly we forgot most of it and the effort to faithfully connect the two films may have been a wasted effort for most of us.

The special effects however were quite extraordinary. Not since Blade Runner have we run across a film that looked this interesting - if only it had sounded half as interesting it would have been an instant classic.

Jeff Bridges gets animated in Tron Legacy - Too bad
his acting was less animated

We like Jeff Bridges, a lot. But we were a bit confused about his performance in Tron Legacy. At times he seemed as though he were phoning it in while practicing his new John Wayne trumping western character for the soon to be release True Grit. The fact that he was playing two characters, one a computer animated version of his younger self, points to a future in Hollywood where no actor will ever grow old again and some actors may come back from beyond. That's both cool and creepy at the same time. In this film the animation was close, but still not 100% lifelike - we watched Against All Odds (from 1984) last night to make comparisons and the virtual Jeff didn't quite match the real one.

The rest of the cast was adequate, but just. It was great to see Bruce Boxleitner again - in anything - but Flynn's son was kind of boring and the cyber babes while undeniably hot were somewhat two dimensional even when they were 3D. Michael Sheen made an odd and flashy appearance which seemed reminiscent of a mix between the Matrix and David Bowie - his attempt at breathing life into the plot was ultimately unsuccessful.

We still enjoyed the movie for the sheer visual, visceral experience of it - the characters were an afterthought - the story relatively unimportant. Those who make movies ought to have some vision... (the folks who made the original Tron did to some extent but that didn't carry over this time).

We vote that the screenwriters for this Tron be "DeRezzed"

Copyright 2010, Raving Reviews

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The West Wing – Season One Review

First off, let me introduce myself. I’m Mike, the new (and at the moment only) guest blogger here at Ye Olde Raving Reviews! I’ll be giving you my sage wisdom and advice from time to time (which is quite naturally to be respected with the utmost respect, if not total admiration) so keep your eyes peeled for more of me!

Moving on to our topic of interest (and the title of this post naturally) “The West Wing”…. Well, let’s just say I have a few things to say on the matter. Most people probably wouldn’t find the prospect of a political television series based in the “West Wing” of the White House to be of very much, if any interest… however after watching the first season of the show; I have to say that they ought to change their minds.

The cast of the West Wing

The pilot starts off quickly, with various members of the White House senior staff being informed of the President being involved in a fascinating bicycle accident which ends up with him running into a tree, and stumbling again as he attempts to stand up. Then it goes to show how the staff cleans up nicely with some damage control to make sure the President isn’t too embarrassed, which includes a large series of political jargon, and fast walking in the hallowed halls of the White House.

The season continues with a series of intertwining plots about the senior White House press reporter wooing the Press Secretary, the Deputy Communications Officer accidently sleeping with a prostitute, the President’s daughter becoming girlfriend to his “bodyman” who happens to be African American, causing some of the crazier right wing groups to threaten them, and a test of the President’s grit when he learns of an attack that killed several Americans in the Middle East.

Most—no every episode is taken from a politically slanted left view. In fact, I would go as far to say that this show is the dream of many liberals in the US, a strong compassionate liberal leadership that doesn’t cave on issues easily, and in most cases strikes back hard (which quite frankly isn’t something the current liberal administration is very good at doing) at their opponents.

Of course, the show wouldn’t be complete without its consistent flow of sarcastic remarks and jokes to lighten the mood a bit. There are a few different situations in which the reactions of the staff to genuinely serious situations make you want to laugh out loud. Two examples of this are shown below.

Who knew maps were such a serious issue?

Not only does the combination of brilliant acting (and sometimes not so brilliant, but still quite good) and settings work out well, but the writing is fantastic. Aaron Sorkin, the creator and chief writer for the West Wing brings out the dialogue in such a way that it feels as if you’re there, and that this is really what’s going on in the White House now. It also gives the average viewer a somewhat clearer view of politics, turning people who usually spit at the word politics into raving political nuts who can’t wait for the next season.

Even if you aren’t a political person, this is a show definitely worth giving a try (and possibly even six or seven more tries). And for those who enjoy parodies, check this spoof of West Wing's Season 1 from Mad TV.

The West Wing Cast was always on the Move...

My task to turn you all into West Wing loving fanboys and girls is now c—er… I mean have a good day folks… and tune in to wherever the West Wing is on the air! (or get the DVDs).

Guest Reviewer - Michael J.


Copyright 2010, Raving Reviews

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Inspired by Inception

We've been dreaming about doing a review on Inception since last Summer, but somehow we can never quite finish writing it no matter how long it takes - it seems as though we're going in slow motion.

Besides that we still haven't figured out what's really about - but in the meantime we're going to bring you several interesting Viral Vids from the Internet from others inspired by Inception. The first candidate comes from the college crowd - a sort of frat boys comedy ensemble called atomic:

Please don't do this at home or your dorm...

We loved spoofed trailers - in fact we may be doing some ourselves next year - in the meantime, we'll take some lessons from these folks who've done it pretty well.

The following one is our favorite - Dora the Explorer's Inception. This kid, who was also in the Karate Kid spoof, is likely to be a big star...

Who knew Dora was Deep and So Edgy...

And for the most juvenile of all - and this is R-rate folks - an Inception Trailer called Contraception. We're guessing the guys who made this one have not been studying much at school...

If Only Bristol Palin had starred in this one

We've seen far fewer examples of parodies of the rest of the movie - we're guessing because like us, most folks still don't understand it - but hey - the effects are great !

Copyright 2010, Raving Reviews

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Karate Kid - Then & Now

Bullies are the same everywhere aren't they and lord knows, they never change. Plots often don't change much either but sometimes that's a good thing as with the Classic Karate Kid and this year's remake. We watched the 1984 original recently and compared it to this years slick and star-studded version of the age old tale - student learn from master - both kick ass."

"Everything is Kung Fu." How true those words are, except that the Classic Karate Kid didn't use Kung Fu but "Open Hand" Karate from Okinawa. Watching both of these movies you'll notice how much of the original story is kept with slightly new twists - somehow this homage makes them both more rather than less interesting.

Casting for both of these films was excellent - Mr. Miyagi's character was certainly the high point of Pat Morita's career and Jackie Chan as the revisioned maintenance man/sensei was a master-stroke. Jackie Chan has got chops for more than his kung fu opponents - he is also a truly gifted actor and has not yet been given a real opportunity to showcase that side of his talent (action hero and comedian yes, dramatic lead, no). And you couldn't find two skinnier, less likely karate stars than the adolescent Ralph Macchio or prepubescent Jaden Smith - superstar in training. Both movies revolve almost totally around the teacher - student bonding with minimal interface from love interests and the constant presence of overprotective mothers.

Sanding Deck, Kick-Ass Dragon

And the bad guys in these shows - they're great! They're total jerks but lovable and completely rehabilitated once taken away from the influence of their evil Karate coaches - because like Mr. Miyagi say - "they no bad students, only bad teachers." Don't we know it - years of coaching soccer taught us that first hand. Yes, there can be mercy on the field in the ring - we are not animals are we - are you not entertained ! Oh, sorry about that mixed metaphor - anyway there's nothing quite as satisfying as skinny guys beating the crap at of Arnold wannabes (no offense Arnold, we know you're old and political now but once you were feared and admired by your enemies - the girlie men).

The New Karate Kid Proves that Nerds even get beat up in China or that a Chinese nerd is not so nerdy if he knows Kung Fu or that short people can really fight or that China has much better location shots than East LA - actually we don't think it proves anything, but it looks great.

The suspense - the fights - the personal triumph - the catching of flies with Chopsticks - the cute rich girls that can't get enough of the penniless, skinny nerds... Karate Kid the original and Karate Kid 2010 were separated by oceans of time and the Pacific and yet the story remained as entertaining as the match-winning Crane kick. Both films earn our much coveted "No-Yawn" awards.

Oh, and perhaps our survey of the Karate Kid's impact on popular culture across generations wouldn't be complete with a parody - the following one created by Electric Spoofaloo...

Pilates, Karate - it's sounds close enough...

Copyright 2010, Raving Reviews

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SyFy Channel - Wy ?

First it was Caprica, next came Stargate Universe - the two anchors of the season canceled in mid-season. Then SyFy renews Haven and picks up Merlin and seems to be going forward with Sanctuary.

It seems as though SyFy is morphing into SyFantaSy which may help to explain how any of its programming could coexist with professional wrestling. We were worried when they changed the name of the channel a few years back - as if programming science fiction was too narrow or too embarrassing to embrace - now they've gone and done this.

Admittedly, neither show was that great, but at least they were both real science fiction shows and we watched diligently hoping somehow they'd improve. But perhaps the writing staffs of the SyFy channel shows have been watching too much wrestling or worse yet Harry Potter movies and the exposure proved damaging to their cognitive and creative abilities.

Caprica Season 1.5 Preview

We know Caprica was stupid - but it was OUR kind of stupid ok? Can we make a series based on Inception, please? Anything - just no more Harry Potter, Sexy Vampires or Wrestling !!!


Copyright 2010, Raving Reviews

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Public Domain Movies

It's been awhile since our last post, we promise not to let it happen again. Today we wanted to talk to you briefly about the emerging sources of public domain movies that are beginning to crop up around the Internet.

Quite Frankly, this is something we'd always hoped would happen - to make available thousands of films and documentaries available without purchase through web. More important perhaps is the historical significance of these resources and the ability for all sorts of filmmakers to have access to these types of resources while making their own films.

You can find these movies at that the following locations:

• Openflix
• The Internet Archive
• and of course you can find many on YouTube as well
  

This combined with sites like Hulu is beginning to change the way we view the Internet and of course so many people are using Video on Demand that Comcast is now charging folks extra to use Netflix online.

We came across two remarkable examples (documentaries related to WW2) - The Memphis Belle (The Internet Archive) and The Secret Life of Adolf Hitler (Openflix - http://www.youtube.com/user/openflix) as well as old commercials, newsreels and silent films.

The Memphis Belle

BTW - we will review the 1990 movie named after and inspired by this documentary sometime soon - it's kind of hokey but we love it anyway.

Copyright 2010, Raving Reviews

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