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INCEPTION (Dir. Christopher Nolan)
Perhaps it’s a little brash, with such a small review blog as this, to so many movies full-marks. Then again, it’s brash to do it with even a well-established blog (see: Pitchfork giving Kanye West a 10), but what point is there in having a top rating if you’re only going to tip-toe around it? And what if the movie is worth full marks? Because I believe Inception is. I admit: I am, deep down, a diehard sci-fi fan, and Inception ticks all my boxes. So what if you don’t understand it? Does that make you enjoy it less? With other films, that may be the case, but I haven’t met anyone who’s watched this film and said they didn’t enjoy it (apart from the usual ‘wait, what? So they’re in whose dream now?’ comment). I admit, I’m a fan, and I love it.

Of course, Christopher Nolan’s greatest work (erm, so far) is not without its flaws, so I suppose rather than this review being a balance of good and bad, it instead needs to be a justification of its 10/10 rating. So we start with the flaws. Really, the only ‘big’ flaw for me is Inception’s Hollywood-ness; maybe I’m just being a stubborn hipster but some of the film’s best parts are hindered by its need to pander to the box office. This is true in some of the casting; Michael Caine is totally out of place, and quite how he’s Marion Cottilard’s father is as confusing a matter as the dreams themselves. A lot of overexplanation and generalization is involved to make sure the film is suitable for all IQs (or, well, most). While I don’t want to complain about the film’s confusing storyline and its attempts to explain itself – because they helped me as well as everyone else – it would be nice if they were a little more subtle.

But really, I’m just plucking at straws, because Inception is pretty much fully brilliant. I’m not too big a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio, but he holds the movie rather well as its protagonist, and around him Ellen Page and Tom Hardy do even better in supporting parts. Even Ken Watanabe does well. The only person I really have a problem with is Marion Cotillard, who I fear is fast becoming typecast as ‘the evil bitch’ after this film. Why does she have to be so goddamn evil in this? I know she’s the ‘baddie’, but Nolan takes it a little too far.

I won’t talk too much about the effects, cinematography and production, because they were all fantastic – from the different ‘feels’ of the different dream layers, the changing-gravity bit in the hotel and the superreal chase sequences. Inception is one of those films that takes a few watches for it to make sense, but not one of those films that takes a few watches for you to appreciate it. Because, dreams within dreams aside, Inception is simply a well-directed Hollywood sci-fi adrenalin rush.


★★★★★

SUBMARINE (Dir. Richard Ayoade)
Remember a few weeks ago I reviewed 500 Days of Summer, and I ripped into it, concluding that it was a 'glorified hipster wank'? Well, I think I just found a film made in the same vein of filmmaking, yet one that's enjoyable and really does touch you.

OK, forgive me some sentimentality and adoration with this film (it's not even a Wes Anderson film); I've just watched it and I was hooked. Slowly my evening turned from 'let's watch the start of Submarine then do some homework' to 'erm, wow... hold on, another ten minutes...' And why? Because Submarine is (ironically) immersive and beautiful. Pure contemporary filmmaking at its finest - from the custom-made font in the titles to the brilliant awkwardness of it all. It's the story of young love, and first love, from the perspective of the intelligent yet witless Oliver, a teenager caught up in the throes of teenagehood.

It's important to note that neither Oliver nor his girlfriend ever say 'I love you' to each other, and herein lies Submarine's genius, telling a love story without telling a complete love story - and by that I don't mean telling it backwards starring Zooey Deschanel. Submarine is effortlessly acted, or so we see in the few scenes the characters get a chance to show anything other than awkwardness; and its setting - a remote Welsh coastal village - is core to its message and its vintage atmosphere. There's even a touch of the classic French romantic film near the start, but unfortunately it doesn't last the course of the movie as the plot dips temporarily into that thoroughly British 'family issues' cliché I had hoped we'd shaken off in the 70s with Mike Leigh.

Nonetheless, the film endures to its sweet, almost-but-not-quite happy ending, leaving us with that little sliver of final footage missed out so we can come to our own assumptions. Ayoade, in his directorial debut,  leaves a lot unsaid, creating a beautiful lightness and subtlety to the film's quirks and tropes. Submarine is really nothing like 500 Days, and I feel almost stupid comparing the two, but I want to show this blog's hipster readership that if you want to tell a good story, you don't need Joseph Gordon-Levitt and dozens of sickening character quirks to do so. All you need is a charming script and a couple of bashful Welsh teenagers.

★★★★★

FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF (Dir. John Hughes)
I just couldn't resist reviewing this film, but I'm going to have to force some criticism out of my Bueller-loving mind just for the sake of this blog being a fair one. John Hughes, if you don't know him, was one of the greatest screenwriters of the 80s and 90s, defining popular film with movies like Home Alone, Beethoven (and assorted sequels) and Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Many of you will love those movies, but I'm not such a fan. What I am a fan of is one of Hughes' 80s films, and one he directed too - Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

It's a high school film, of course. It's got shitty 80s music, of course. The main character sings an impromptu Beatles song during a German culture parade in Chicago, of course. But Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a piece of filmmaking perfection - in the script, the acting (starring Matthew Broderick as Matthew Broderick and the gorgeous Mia Sara), the staging, the editing... in short, the direction. Everything about it was sufficiently Hughes-ist for the film to work as a whole. Bueller, the main character, narrates the film, often glancing at or talking to the camera during scenes, breaking the fourth wall and creating a fantastic relationship with the viewer.

The film isn't your usual high school comedy, mind, it's got a higher story to tell, but it doesn't shout it. On the surface, it's a fun comedy with all the verve and style of the 80s, but it's also about young love, coming of age, and taking responsibility for your own life. Sure, it has its flaws - notably the 'baddie', a ginger teacher trying to catch Bueller who gets bitten by dogs, beaten up, etc. "It's a little childish and juvenile, but then, so is high school.*" He makes for fun scenes, but it does undermine the more serious parts of the film.

In any case, give Ferris Bueller a go, and - if it's to your tastes - you're in for a treat.

★★★★★

CHILDREN OF MEN (Dir. Alfonso Cuarón)
Perhaps it's a bit biased of me to, for my second review, review my favourite film. Children of Men is one of the greatest pieces of sci-fi filmmaking ever made, it's incredible. Sure, the plot may be a little loose at times, and some of the dialogue is the usual sci-fi 'here's a long unrealistic speech to explain everything', but the cinematography... and the art direction... oh my.

Cuarón is one of today's greatest living directors, currently working on a film called Gravity, which looks set to be another sci-fi epic, but we may have to wait a while for its release. Previous works like Children of Men make me wonder why he was messing around with a Harry Potter film (#3, if you're wondering). Children of Men is powerful and intense, though it does have its releases of action of gunfire. The concept and portrayal of post-apocalyptic England is perfect, as is Clive Owen's performance as the disagreeable messiah-like antihero, Theo. The depth of the world Cuarón has created is the true beauty of Children of Men - especially shown in the amazing 12-minute handheld shot following Theo through the battleground of Bexhill. Unmissable.

 ★★★★★