My Review of Shiva Baby (2020)

 

Written And Directed by Emma Seligman 

Debbie: "No funny business with Maya."

Danielle: "What is that supposed to mean?"

Debbie: "You know what it means."

Yesterday I reviewed Bottoms (2023), so I went back to see the previous collaboration between Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott and it's a more sobering affair of course.

In this film, Sennott played a college senior named Danielle. Danielle's got a whole sugar baby thing on the side with a man named Max (Danny Deferrari). In their first scene alone, Max's pretty scornful about Danielle and it's an ongoing theme throughout the movie.

Danielle's own mother, Debbie (Polly Draper) seemed to be constantly disapproving of her while her father, Joel (Fred Melamed) was nicer by comparison. Then there's the shiva itself at Aunt Sheila (Cilda Shaur).

Danielle was schooled about being on her best behaviour and then there's the presence of Maya (Molly Gordon). She's a former friend and an ex of sorts and she's rather antagonistic towards Danielle for most of the film. At times, she's too antagonistic, which made her difficult to like. 

Of course, there's more complications for Danielle with the presence of Max's career driven wife, Kim (Dianna Agron). I liked the fact that Kim was quick on the mark with both Max and Danielle. The move with trying to get Danielle to hold her baby was a good means of petty revenge. I also suspect that Kim's a bit used to Max's wandering eye as well.

The shiva itself went from one disaster to another and Danielle's breakdown felt inevitable. On the other hand, at least Danielle and Maya seemed to make some peace with one another, which was nice.

- Emma Seligman did a short movie in 2018 of the same name. The baby in question was called Rose.

- Rachel Sennott in real life isn't Jewish whereas Dianna Agron is. Obviously Danielle is Jewish but Kim isn't in the film.

- Shiva means seven but also is a period of mourning following a death in Jewish customs.

- Chronology: During the course of a day in a New York neighborhood.

Shiva Baby (2020) made a good debut from Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott. They're a great team and there's a great sense of quiet chaos that played out beautifully with Danielle's past and present catching up with her at an inopportune time.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of House Of The Dragon: "Unbowed And Unbent"

 

Written by Philippa Goslett

Directed by Nina Lopez-Corrado

Helaena (to Alicent): "You look away when you lie."

Okay, this might a very Greens centred episode but make no mistake that the Blacks also had plenty to do. Both sides were winning and losing respectively.

Focusing on Team Green first. Alicent spent most of the episode trying to get Helaena to have an abortion with the latter rightly refusing her mother. It also didn't help that Mysaria became privy to Helaena being in the family way. Alicent and Helaena trying to escape King's Landing also didn't pan out for them.

Then there's Ormund and Daeron. The former spent the episode proclaiming the latter as King (which got back to Rhaenyra). Ormund also didn't seem particularly pleased when Daeron beat him in that one game but he was more concerned with discrediting Rhaenyra to be too mad at Daeron.

Then there's the two brothers that Ormund hates. Yup, I'm talking about Aegon II and Aemond of course. The former's pity party came to an abrupt ending thanks to Larys dropping truth bombs and Tyland Lannister turning out to be alive after all. Also getting to kill certainly did a lot to boost Aegon's confidence. 

Aemond on the other hand wasn't enjoying the nightmares of Harrenhal but he's found an ally in Alys. I'm really fascinated by their relationship. Slightly icked by the fact that he might also see her as a mother figure of sorts. Either way, I'm intrigued.

Then there's Gwayne and Criston. I found it amusing that the latter being on an almighty suicide mission was enough to get Gwayne to walk away. Personally, I would've abandoned Criston ages ago but Gwayne had a lot more patience with him than deserved. Surely, Criston's not much longer for this whole.

As for Team Black, Rhaenyra still needs to get great Council in order and she's got to be clever about Ormund as well. That guy's running rings around her as of now. It would help if her and Daemon could be on the same page as well.

Daemon had his own problems this week. Gold Cloaks were getting slaughtered throughout the episode, including Ser Luthor Largent. We barely knew the guy and he died horribly. I might have also turned away when Daemon started eye gouging as well.

- Alicent knew a lot about Mysaria's past and wasn't above using it as a bargaining chip. She also sold her pendant to get safe passage.

- Helaena seemed to confirm that she was expecting a boy. She also warned Jaehaera about poisonous plants.

- I like the potential couple of Baela and Addam. They're cute together. 

- Ormund told Daeron the story of Meria Martell. Of course it was to make a point that Daeron seemed to get.

- Alys summoning bats to attack intruders was a nice display of power. 

- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left off.

Unbowed And Unbent was a bit slow moving compared to the previous episode. Criston's speech didn't land the way it should've but it's a good episode for Team Green. Maybe their strongest one since the first season.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of My Adventures With Superman: "Party Animals"

 

Written by Serena Wu

Directed by Grace Liu

Princess Maru (to the audience): "You may call me Doctor Poison."

Is there a reason why two of the six episodes we've had so far this season have had Wonder Woman villains as the main threat? I'm not entirely complaining but it's an odd choice, yes? It's made even order with the lack of reference to Wonder Woman herself.

This time around, it was the Princess Maru, aka Dr. Poison herself that was the main threat. She appeared as Jimmy Olsen's date at a gala where Jimmy, Lois and Kara were nominated for awards. However due to a younger audience, Maru got a different modus operandi.

Instead of actually poisoning people with her purple gas, Maru ended up turning everyone into different animals. Why are we giving Maru the very thing that Circe is known for? It's another odd choice, though needless to say, Maru ended up becoming a victim of her own gas itself.

Then there's a look into Jimmy and Kara. They've spent the last few episodes making each other jealous and this episode brought that to the boil. Both finally admitted they had feelings for one another and both ended up being captured along with Lois and Clark.

The Lois and Clark scenes had the latter desperately trying to find a purpose now that he's no longer Superman. He couldn't and that led to a lot of frustration. Then that cliffhanger happened. It's almost too bad the trailer for the next episode spoiled who captured the team.

- Bizarro as an ice cream vendor was rather cute. He even a child a free ice cream and wanted to help Supergirl. 

- Both Vicki Vale and Silver St. Cloud returned as did Flip and her gang.

- Both Lois and Maru were turned into cats while Jimmy became a turtle and retained his hair.

- Chronology: Clark has lost his powers for a whole month.

Party Animals was a fun debut for Dr. Poison with some gala filled chaos. I'm glad they gave sorted out the Jimmy and Kara plotline. Now we just need Clark to get his powers back.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Bottoms (2023)

 

Written by Emma Seligman And Rachel Sennott

Directed by Emma Seligman 

Principal Meyers: "Could the ugly, untalented gays please report to the principal's office?"

This has been on my watchlist for a while and I regret not watching this during Pride Month. I did manage to catch up with it yesterday afternoon and I had such a good time with it.

Over the last few years, both Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri have emerged as great talents within Hollywood. They're well matched here as two lesbian outcasts named PJ and Josie respectively. I found it amusing that they're outcasts for not being talented rather than being lesbians. That's a nice modern update.

Anyways both women have respective crushes. PJ's besotted with secretly smart Brittany (Kaia Gerber) and Josie was in love with Isabel (Havana Rose Liu). Isabel also had an obnoxious football playing boyfriend named Jeff (Nicholas Galitzine). This movie made it immensely fun to hate Jeff.

He's a violent misogynist who regularly cheated on Isabel. Jeff even slept with Mrs. Callahan (Dagmara Domińczyk) - the mother of fellow lesbian outcast Hazel (Ruby Cruz). Jeff was also too comfortable with threatening to kill women he deemed unattractive and he had a toxic enabler in teammate Tim (Miles Fowler). Tim's a bit too eager to help the undeserving Jeff.

Anyways, the film had PJ, Josie and Hazel set up a Fight Club which pulled in both Brittany and Isabel and other girls. The group was overseen by apathetic history teacher Mr. G (Marshawn Lynch) and was going well until Tim publicly exposed a few truths that were always going to be revealed. I did laugh at everyone initially believing PJ and Josie's obvious lie about being in juvie.

The movie of course would split the Fight Club until a plot to kill Jeff from a rival football team brought them back together. I'm not sure I would've bothered saving Jeff but I guess PJ and Josie are better than me in that regard. While PJ didn't get her desired love interest, Josie did and Hazel got her own luck during this particular plot. 

- Jeff was allergic to pineapple so that was the means the rival football team intended to kill him with. They also killed pets.

- I definitely think that Tim had a crush on Jeff. Brittany likes gay porn but is straight. PJ got to kiss Hazel.

- Standout music: King Princess's Pain.

- Chronology: Set in the 2020s at Rockbridge Falls High School.

Bottoms (2023) was a laugh riot from start to finish. Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri made a great pair of misfits and horrible as his character was, Nicholas Galitzine was genuinely funny in parts as the irredeemably stupid Jeff. Oh I had fun with this.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Following (1998)

 

Written And Directed by Christopher Nolan 

Bill: "When I started to follow people, specific people, when I selected a person to follow, that's when the trouble started."

There was a time when someone like Christopher Nolan made lower stakes film with a modest budget and more shockingly, something that was under 90 minutes. It was also his debut film but his familiar style was as present here as it's been throughout his whole career.

Focusing on an unemployed writer named Bill (Jeremy Theobald), this film delved into the consequences of following other people. Bill chose to follow random people in order to give him inspiration as a writer. Unfortunately he picked the wrong guy to follow.

The guy in question being a suited man named Cobb (Alex Haw). The latter knew what Bill was doing and deduced Bill's life a little too succinctly. Cobb also turned out to be a burglar and Bill quickly became his accomplice and protege. In fact, Bill made little effort to resist the idea at all.

Then there was The Blonde (Lucy Russell). She's the classic femme fatale that didn't have to do anything in order to get Bill's attention. Then again, Bill and Cobb stole from her apartment and she was involved with The Bald Guy (Dick Bradsell). He was involved in pornography and had no problem killing anyone who posed a threat to him.

Of course, the big twist here was that The Blonde and Cobb were involved with each other and were planning to frame Bill for the death of a woman that Cobb likely killed. Even when Bill worked out that he was being played, he still came afoul of Cobb and The Blonde.

Bill ended up being framed for The Blonde's death and Cobb got away with everything. Bill really should have avoided Cobb but he didn't and everything went to shit for the guy. Bill was a very foolish man.

- Jeremy Theobald has appeared in both Batman Begins and Tenet. I like that Nolan brought him back for those films. Theobald is also in Nolan's short film, Doodlebug.

- There's literally a Batman logo on one of the apartment doors. Almost as if Nolan was willing a future trilogy into existence.

- John Nolan also had a role in this film. He's Christopher's uncle.

- Chronology: 1990s London, filmed in black and white.

Following (1998) was a modest nonlinear debut (linear if you're watching the Criterion release). It's strong stuff, nice performances from both Jeremy Theobald and Alex Haw and the black and white helped evoke the intended mood.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of A Dirty Shame (2004)

Written And Directed by John Waters 

Ray-Ray: "Let's go sexing."

For the last few weeks, I've delved into the delightfully depraved mind of John Waters and now I'm at an end (of sorts) with that journey. I mean there's still some of his short movies to watch at a later date but in terms of feature films, here's where I depart.

Waters might have started with writing for characters in poor backgrounds and revelling in their filthy sides but he also proved that those in the suburbs can be just as filthy. The residents of Harford Road proved that in spades.

You've got a residence with two very divided groups. There was the Neuters, aka the most sex negative people you'd ever encounter in your life. Their most prominent being women such as Big Ethel (Suzanne Shepherd) and Marge (Mink Stole). Oh boy, did they hate sex or what?

On the other end of the scale, Ethel's daughter in law, Sylvia Stickles (Tracey Ullman) started off as a Neuter until a bump to the head brought out her inner sex addict. Sylvia had a nice put upon husband named Vaughn (Chris Isaak) and a big breasted daughter named Caprice (Selma Blair). The latter used to be known as Ursula Udders, a former exoric dancer and was now under house arrest.

Anyways, Sylvia's sudden love of sex put her in the cross hairs of Ray-Ray Perkins (Johnny Knoxville). He's a sex guru of sorts and along with the rest of the sex addicted residents, Ray-Ray needed Sylvia in order to complete an orgasm on a rather grandiose level.

The rest of the movie became long battle between the Neuters and the sex addicted to see which group would seize control of the town. Naturally, it got ridiculous in certain parts, but only one group could ultimately win. It wasn't a surprise which one did.

- This was John Waters last feature film. His other credits included a child reading of Pink Flamingos and a short movie.

- Various fetishes were looked into. This included adult babies, bears and cubs, dirt eating and sploshing to name a few. Ricki Lake and David Hasselhoff had cameos.

- Standout music: David Raksin Orchestra's Sylvia.

- Chronology: Harford Road was set in Baltimore.

A Dirty Shame is anything but sexy and not all of the jokes land as they should've done. For the most part, there's some fun to be had among the utter depravity that's on display.  It's not John Waters on all cylinders but it's decent enough.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Tenet (2020)

 

Written And Directed by Christopher Nolan 

Neil: "What the hell happened here?"

The Protagonist: "Hasn't happened yet."

Ah, this movie. Not gonna lie, it's one of the weakest things that Christopher Nolan has ever made and came out during a time that his working relationship with Warner Brothers came to a rather bitter ending. 

On top of that, it's also one of Nolan's mind bending films that doesn't quite hit the mark. Memento and Inception it's not. It's also one of those time where Nolan might have let his indulgent side out too much. I'm also gonna say something that Film Bros will hate my guts for saying but it could've benefitted from being at least an hour shorter.

Despite a brilliant cast, I just don't vibe with this movie as much as I wanted to. There are two major pluses and they are of course John David Washington and Robert Pattinson. I could watch those two play off each other all day. I just wish this had been a better movie for that.

John's literally The Protagonist of the movie. That's actually his character's name - the Protagonist, a CIA operative and on paper, it's a role that he excelled at. Unfortunately he's caught in this largely dull and confusing story where he's a part of Tenet. They're an organisation that seek out objects that move backwards in time.

When he's given scenes with Pattinson's charming but mysterious agent Neil, they're the highlight of the whole movie. Even when it appeared that Neil wasn't 100% trustworthy and even with the painfully obvious reveal of Neil being recruited by The Protagonist. Those two actors really need to appear in something else together.

On the other end of the scale, the Russian Oligarch stuff was boring as fuck and much as I like Kenneth Brannagh, I found Andrei Sator to be a dreadfully dull villain. Then there's Elizabeth Debicki as Kat. Imagine her character from The Night Manager and that's what you get here. And no, that's not a compliment. She's horrendously written in this movie from start to finish. I'd even say she's the worst written character in the entire movie itself.

- Other actors who popped up included Himesh Patel, Michael Caine, Martin Donovan, Fiona Dourif and Aaron Taylor-Johnson in a slew of fairly okay supporting roles.

- Once Upon A Time In The West was an inspiration for the film and Nolan watching spy films when writing this one.

- Standout music: Travis Scott's The Plan.

- Chronology: Took place in the likes of Kyiv, Oslo, Italy, Tallinn, Vietnam and London.

I gotta be honest, Tenet was definitely Christopher Nolan at his self indulgent worst. It's a movie desperate to be seen as being more clever than it is. In reality, it's a middle of the road spy story with a dull antagonist and a half baked side love story of sorts. On the plus side, the chemistry between John David Washington and Robert Pattinson did a lot of the heavy lifting for this film.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Insomnia (2002)

 

Written by Hillary Seitz

Directed by Christopher Nolan 

Will: "You don't get it do you, Finch? You're my job. You're what I'm paid to do. You're about as mysterious to me as a blocked toilet is to a fucking plumber. Reasons for doing what you did? Who gives a fuck?"

Delving into an earlier timeline, remember during the pre Batman days when Christopher Nolan was somewhat more small scale in his storytelling? Those were genuinely interesting times.

This movie for example was a straightforward enough cat and mouse detective drama with two top tier performances from both Al Pacino and Robin Williams. Of course, both men are on opposite sides of the law.

Al Pacino took on the role of hardened Will Dormer. The death of a young woman named Kay Connell (Crystal Lowe) had Will and his partner Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) being paired with Ellie Burr (Hillary Swank) in order to solve the case.

On the other hand, there's Walter Finch as played by Robin Williams. He's a writer of detective fiction and was more than happy to assist Dormer in cracking the case. He's also a killer, an expert at mind games and knew enough about Dormer to be a serious threat to the man.

For the most part, Dormer was a good man but he suffered from insomnia and that impaired his judgement at times. Dormer was also responsible for the death of his partner and bent the law to make sure that a paedophile was sent down. Finch had no problem trying to use these things to control Dormer. They only worked for a bit.

In fact, the closer that William got to Ellie, the more he was able to be honest with her about the things he had done. This however did put Ellie in danger and there was a tense stand off at a lake house between Dormer and Finch. It ended in a rather brutal way for both men that felt thematically satisfying either way.

- There's some strong supporting performances from Maura Tierney, Nicky Katt and Jonathan Jackson.

- This is the only film that Christopher Nolan has directed by not written or co-written. 

- Standout music: Coldplay's Sparks and Ivy's One More Last Kiss.

- Chronology: Dormer and Eckhart were from Los Angeles but this story took place in Nightmute, Alaska.

Insomnia (2002) reminded me of Nolan's earliest and more low key of movies. There's a part of me that would like to see him go back to that type of storytelling again, at least for one future movie. Getting back to this one, both Al Pacino and Robin Williams are just on mighty form here.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Cecil B. Demented (2000)

 

Written And Directed by John Waters 

Cecil: "I'm Cecil B. Demented, and you're in my movie. Do not look into the lens and ruin the shot or you will be shot."

Heading into the 2000s, was it the right time to make a film deeply critical of Hollywood? Maybe it was a case of being a little ahead of it's time. That's happened with certain directors before.

Let's take an actress named Honey Whitlock (Melanie Griffith). She's an A List actress but she's not very liked and one of her first scenes involved her humiliating her put upon publicist, Libby (Ricki Lake). She's also not a fan of Baltimore either.

Being in Baltimore for work however put her in the cross hairs of rebel filmmaker Cecil B. Demented (Stephen Dorf) and his band of misfits. Those involved actors like Cherish (Alicia Witt) and Lyle (Adrian Grenier), art director Lewis (Larry Giliard Jr), make up artist Raven (Maggie Gyllenhaal), hairstylist Rodney (Jack Noseworthy), driver Petie (Mike Shannon), costume designer Fidget (Eric M. Barry), sound artist Chardonnay (Zenzele Uzoma), cinematographer Pam (Erika Lynn Rupli) and producer Dinah (Harriet Dodge).

That's a lot of characters to keep up with for this particular band of terrorist filmmakers. Honey's not particularly thrilled with helping them but it's not long before their rebellious spirit started to rub off on her and she became a bit too willing to go along with Cecil's increasing demands.

This included disrupting a screening of the directors cut of Patch Adams, public filming, endangering the general public but on the plus side, Cecil and the gang did manage to do humanity by sabotaging an ill advised sequel to Forest Gump and a very public final act at a drive in theatre. I'll give Cecil his due, he certainly knew how to go out in a blaze of glory while Honey Whitlock might have given herself a defining career performance.

- Honey had an ex-husband played by Eric Roberts. He had problem blasting her on Roseanne Barr's show. John Waters and Mink Stole had minor roles.

- We got to see some of Cherish's pornographic past on the big screen. One of her moments involved a gerbil. I can't imagine who that was referring to.

- Standout music: Substance D's Everyday and Liberace's Ciao!

- Chronology: Baltimore of course in 2000.

Cecil B. Demented did take a bite out of so many trends in Hollywood that are rather relevant to today. I wasn't sure about this one at first but I found myself  pretty taken with this movie.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of The Rules Of Attraction (2002)

 

Written And Directed by Roger Avary

Sean: "I didn't know where I was going, some place unoccupied I hoped, at first I thought there were things about her I would never forget, But in the end all I could think about was-..."

I saw this movie only once and it was a few years after it's initial release. It wasn't a movie that particularly impressed me but I decided to go back to it recently. I can't say that time has altered my view on it.

Based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name, you've got well college students. None of whom are particularly likable but this movie did something of a deep dive on these particular characters.

Going in for LGBT representation first, there's Paul Denton (Ian Somerhalder). He's a bisexual guy caught up in a love triangle with fellow students Lauren Hynde (Shannyn Sossamon) and Sean Bateman (James Van Der Beek). Yes, that last is related to who you'd expect him to be related to.

It's a rather toxic triangle to watch unfold with all three characters being frustrating to watch and none of them on the same page as one another. Paul pined for Sean. Sean pined for Lauren but had no problem sleeping with Kelly (Kate Bosworth). Lauren also pined for her ex boyfriend Victor (Kip Pardue).

There's a whole segment in the movie that nearly delved into Victor's European exploits that were moderately entertaining enough to watch. Victor also had sex with Lara (Jessica Biel) and there's also a purple letter subplot involving Sean to boot.

It's a film where none of the three got what they truly wanted. Sean didn't get Lauren and left. Paul didn't get Sean but reflected on things with Lauren. Lauren didn't get back together with Victor.

- Casper Van Dien was cast as Patrick Bateman but his scene was ultimately cut from the film.

- There's some good support roles from Faye Dunaway, Swoosie Kurtz, Eric Stoltz and Fred Savage to name a few. Lot of recognisable people appear in this one.

- Standout music: James Van Der Beek's version of Anna Begins and George Michael's Faith.

- Chronology: Set at Camden College in New Hampshire.

The Rules Of Attraction was more of a frustrating than fun experience. Thr performances are fine and there's some interesting character bits but it didn't really come together that well as a film.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Pecker (1998)

 

Written And Directed by John Waters 

Pecker: "I love you Shelley! I love you more than Kodak!"

I'll admit that 1990s era John Waters might be his most interesting time. There's a clear attempt to be a little mainstream while also keeping with the shock value that his earlier works have done.

There's also more of a conscious effort to have a sympathetic main character and Pecker (Edward Furlong) might be his most likable to date. Pecker's genuinely a nice kid with a hobby and talent for taking photos.

Pecker's got a family he adored - parents Jimmy (Mark Joy) and Joyce (Mary Kay Place), sisters Tina (Martha Plimpton) and Little Chrissy (Lauren Hulsey) and his grandmother (Jean Schertler). The latter had a talking Virgin Mary statue and Pecker's family and girlfriend, Shelley (Christina Ricci) were incredibly supporting of his photography. They were also subjects too.

Anyways Pecker quickly caught the attention of New York art dealer Rorey Wheeler (Lili Taylor) and pretty much became an overnight success. On the downside, it made Pecker a tad unpopular in his own town and his family a victim of burglary to boot.

There's a look into Pecker taking apart the elitism of the art work during the second half of the movie as well as getting back into the favour of his home town. It's a funny turn of events with Pecker this movie by proclaiming his own aspirations to make a movie himself.

- There's cameos and voice roles for John Waters, Mink Stole and Mary Vivian Pearce respectively. Tobey Maguire was originally considered for Pecker but turned it down.

- Apparently Christina Ricci wasn't a fan of either Baltimore or laundromats. Shelley ran a laundromat obsessively.

- Standout music: Paul Evans's Happy-Go-Lucky Me.

- Chronology: 1990s Baltimore as well as a brief trip to New York.

Pecker (1998) does have a certain charm to it. It's not John Waters best effort but neither would it be his worst. I think Edward Furlong did a good job in making the character as likable as he could've done.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Inception (2010)

 

Written And Directed by Christopher Nolan 

Cobb: "I need to get home. That's all I care about right now."

Ariadne: "Why can't you go home?"

Cobb: "Because they think I killed her."

One of my favourite films from the 2010s and one of the best movies from Christopher Nolan himself. Released between his two billion dollar movies from a certain trilogy, Nolan was cooking something truly extraordinary here.

Most of his players from The Dark Knight trilogy factor into this film but it's Leonardo DiCaprio who was leading the events as Dom Cobb. Cobb was an extractor along with Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Their mission involved striking their targets subconscious to extract information. Needless to say there was going to be a fall out from that.

The fallout being the death of Cobb's wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard). She served both as a femme fatale and a guilty conscience of sorts for Cobb with some rather heated moments between both former spouses. There's some genuinely strong chemistry between Leonardo DiCaprio and Marion Cotillard throughout the movie.

Cobb however had a mission courtesy of Japanese businessman, Saito (Ken Watanabe). The mission involved extracting information from Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy) and for that Cobb needed a team.

This was where characters like Ariadne (Elliot Page), Eames (Tom Hardy), Yusuf (Dileep Rao) and Stephen Miles (Michael Caine) factored into things. All of them had certain skill sets that Cobb and Arthur needed for the mission.

It's a chaotic mission with various details into the complexity of the dream world, including limbo being outlined. There's a lot of mind bending sequences, a deep dive in Cobb's own family guilt as well as the use of a totem to see if the real world was still out there. 

- Various actors, including the likes of Kate Winslet, Emily Blunt and James Franco. Some of these actors also turned Nolan down for certain parts.

- Other actors included Lukas Haas, Peter Postlethwaite and Talulah Riley. The latter's role was rather amusing.

- Standout music: Édith Piaf's Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien.

- Chronology: Largely set in the dream world, but also in Lis Angeles.

Inception (2010) deserves the accolades bestowed upon it. It's a mind bending madness of delight with weighty themes and a series of exceptional performances. It's really one of the best things I've seen Leonardo DiCaprio in and I hope that one day he will work Christopher Nolan again.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Interstellar (2014)

 

Written by Jonathan Nolan And Christopher Nolan

Directed by Christopher Nolan 

Cooper: "We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars. Now we just look down, and worry about our place in the dirt."

Yes, I'm going backwards here, given the previous movie from this director that I reviewed. Christopher Nolan has explored many things but him tackling a space based story wasn't on my bingo card at the time.

Coming off a massively successful Batman trilogy, Nolan clearly had blockbusters on the brain and this one was lofty in its ambitious but at the same time, it felt quietly intimate. It's about a family man and he just happened to be played by Matthew McConaughey.

McConaughey took on the role of former NASA pilot turned farmer, Joseph "Coop" Cooper. Being a farmer wasn't something he seemed content with because the moment he had the opportunity to venture back into space, he certainly seized it with both hands.

Cooper being part of the Endurance meant leaving behind his children - Tom (Timothee Chalamet) and Murph (Mackenzie Foy). The latter didn't exactly take her father's departure particularly well but she would follow her father footsteps and surpass him in many ways.

As much as the film focused on Cooper and Amelia Brand (Anne Hathaway) off planet, there was an equal amount of focus placed on Murph. We got to see older versions of her, played by both Jessica Chastain and Ellen Burstyn respective and I gotta be honest, I found her a lot interesting to watch than her father. Saying that, there's no denying that Cooper's absence really did inspire the choices that Murph made with her life and their final reunion was beautifully bittersweet.

As per usual, there's a lot of supporting players from Nolan's collection of actors as well as some newer ones in the mix. Both John Lithgow and Casey are on good form as Cooper's father in law, Donald and the older version of Tom respectively. Matt Damon had a good supporting role as Dr Mann while Michael Caine popped up as Amelia's father, Professor John Brand.

- Other actors in sizeable roles included Wes Bentley, Topher Grace, David Gyasi and Josh Stewart to name a few.

- The method of space travel for the movie was based on Dr. Kip Thorne's work. He provided guidelines for the movie.

- Standout music: Dylan Thomas's Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.

- Chronology: This movie spanned several decades. Cooper reunited with Murph as she was dying of old age.

Interstellar (2014) might be one of the best movies from Christopher Nolan. It's a genuinely beautiful movie from start to finish with incredible performances all round from everyone involved. The last few minutes alone are breathtaking.

Rating: 9 out of 10