Film Review: Inception

Inception is a brilliantly complex movie that kept me interested the whole three hours in length. Leonardo is probably my favorite actor (although Joseph Gordon-Levitt was looking pretty hot in this movie as Leo's partner too). I was waiting in anticipation for several months for the release of Shutter Island, and although it wasn't a bad movie by any means, it didn't blow me away either. While the plot for Shutter Island was pretty good, Inception seems to have been better produced. I liked the combination of action and thriller in Inception. Thank god there wasn't a corny love triangle thing going on. I am so tired of those kind of movies. Therefore, all the unexpected gun action that took place was a pleasant alternative as odd as it sounds.

What I found most unique about this film is that every time the characters went into a dream, into a dream, into a dream, I felt my own mind layering the details and trying to sort out what was actually happening and what was just a dream. I find films that make you think throughout the entire film to be the most rewarding.

**Spoiler Alert**

My take on the ending is that Cobb, Leo's character, gets out of the dream in time and is actually reunited with his kids in the real world. I believe this because:
1. The look on his face when he woke up on the plane after barely escaping alive. He could hardly even believe it himself that he made it back.
2. What would have been the point of Cobb traveling through time and dreams in order to find Saito (the Japanese man who was going to clear his record so he could go home to his family) and bring him back to reality if he wasn't going to actually see his kids in real life?
3. Cobb never looked at his kids' faces when he was under because he didn't want to mistake his dream for reality like his wife did. At the end of the movie, his own father takes him to his kids and he and the audience see their faces for the first time, thus supporting my belief that he wasn't dreaming anymore.
4. I think that Director, Christopher Nolan, only made the ending ambiguous as a shock factor to get his audience members talking about the movie and speculating about whether Cobb did or did not escape the dreamworld. The outcome is up to each individual audience member's own interpretation, but I choose to be optimistic.

Lastly, I loved all of the casts' polished style of dress. Although the movie takes place in present-day, their clothing, which consists of business formal suits and ties, button-down shirts, dressy vests, and leather jackets coupled with their well-groomed, slicked back hair, had a flair of the bourgeois 30s or 40s.

Overall, Inception was an excellent film and I recommend it to those who enjoy a multi-layered storyline that forces you to pay attention in order to keep up.

My Film Rating: 9.5/10

Film Review: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

I recently saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a film based on the same titled book by Swedish Stieg Larsson. At first I was a little weary because I had to grab my glasses in order to be able to read the Swedish subtitles, but I quickly forgot that I was even reading when I became absorbed in the movie. It was honestly one of the best movies I have seen all year. I love the kind of movies that require you to think, or to at least be forced to pay close attention to details in order to be able to follow the unfolding of events taking place in the movie.

The central theme of the film is the unraveling of an unexplained disappearance of a young girl which leads to the chasing of a murder mystery. Meanwhile, the audience gets a preview of what the main female character, Lisbeth (the girl with the dragon tattoo), goes through on a daily basis—harsh abuse and degradation by males. Many of the issues throughout the novel involve the sexual abuse of women. Lisbeth is one of the most interesting female characters I have seen in a long time. Instead of being an unrealistically strong woman who can overpower men, she instead uses her brains and patience in order to seek (justified, in my opinion,) revenge against them. As weird as she seems, there is something about her that is likeable and keeps the audience rooting for her—perhaps it is sympathy for the unfortunate, undeserved beatings she endures, or maybe it is the glimpse of helplessness in her eyes that angers me even more for what is being done to her. Many of the scenes were very disturbing to watch, but at the same time, I think it’s important for people to realize that abuse is something that women all over the world still face on a daily basis. I later learned that the original Swedish title translates to "Men Who Hate Women." That would have been an appropriate title to keep because the film is filled with abuse towards women.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first in Stieg Larssson's trilogy followed by The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest. If the books are anything like the movie, then I am sure I will also like them. I recommend The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to anyone who enjoys mystery/thriller films and can handle some unsettling images. It is definitely meant for a mature audience.

My film rating: 4.5/5