Inception - Christopher Nolan - 2010

Inception was a film that I knew very little about when I went to see it opening day. It was a film whose marketing campaign was designed to keep you interested visually without revealing anything major about the plot. Personally I remember being a little mad that Christopher Nolan was following The Dark Knight with a new original film. However after seeing Inception the first time in theaters I quickly forgave him.

Inception was both original and somewhat formulaic. It was somewhat formulaic in the structure which was built around the heist man doing one last job, what was original was both it's setting (the mind of a dreamer) and it's execution.

The casting of the film was great and included both household names (Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Caine) and some talented little known actors (Tom Hardy).

Inception is an entertaining and multilayered action film that is easy to follow thanks to the simple goal of the protagonist (to see his kids again). It is a fun ride with an ending so memorable that you will forget all the small errors in it.

Exit Through The Gift Shop - Banksy - 2010

I have some ground to make up due to a nasty cold that took me out of commission for a few days.

I will start with Exit Through The Gift Shop a documentary that really took me by surprise. Exit Through The Gift Shop is an inside look at the growing world of street art shot from a French outsider who becomes a successful street artist in his own right.

The film feels more amateur than most other major documentaries and I mean that in a good way. The film is shot mostly by the main subject a frenchman named Thierry Guetta (aka Mr. Brainwash). The footage was meant just to be "home movie" type stuff that is until Banksy got his hands on it.

Exit Through The Gift Shop is a well made and entertaining documentary that really shines a light on the beauty that today's street artists create and will make you look at graffiti in a whole new way.

UHF - Jay Levey - 1989

UHF is by no means a classic example of a masterpiece, but that doesn't mean that the film isn't classic. It is an odd comedy with seemingly no real rhyme or reason for most of what's going on, but that doesn't matter. It is what it is.

UHF follows a man named George Newman (Weird Al Yankovic) who is put in charge of a failing local station. However, the station quickly becomes a hit thanks to the oddball programs that it airs including a show hosted by station janitor Stanley Spadowski (Michael Richards).

The film is so off the beaten path that I still find it fresh and enjoyable. Especially the odd programming that is put on the station such as Wheel Of Fish. I personally feel that the film is more relevant today due to the amount of odd game shows that plagued the airwaves for many years.

This is a must see for any Seinfeld fan because you get a look at Michael Richards using physical comedy perfectly in a pre-Seinfeld performance.

Many of you might hate the film as it is in fact pretty stupid. But for those of you able to just sit back and enjoy the film for what it is, you will find it to be a pleasant surprise.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - David Yates - 2011

Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a polar opposite to the first film in terms of pacing. It is a high energy film from the get go and never really drops in pace.

With that being said the film has as much heart as the previous Potter films. It is a sad action film with a high body count on both sides of the fight for good and evil.

The film is mostly made up of the final battle but is structured in a way where the plot take preeminence and the characters are able to develop in the middle of all hell breaking loose.

The sequences that I really loved about the film was the calm before the storm moments where the characters are all trying to prepare themselves for the eventual death and destruction that is sure to come. The fact that the characters are children that we have seen grow makes these moments far more profound.

Like Dobby in Part 1, Neville is a big surprise in the film and becomes a total badass by the end of the film.

Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a rush and is a perfect way to end the series. It manages to be both fun and depressing and is a film (and a series) that should not be missed.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 - David Yates - 20010

Today is a double dose since I didn't blog yesterday so to make up for it I will be recommending the final Two films that make up the last Harry Potter book. Personally I loved the whole series and strongly recommend watching the series as a whole. But rather than talk about all 8 films I will discuss the two films that make up the films conclusion (as spoiler free as possible).

The Deathly Hallows Part 1 is a departure from the rest of the Potter films. It is a darker and slower paced film than anything else before it. The 3 main characters Harry, Ron, and Hermione are out on their own in an extremely dangerous world with next to no clue as to who to trust.

The film was criticized for being too slow but personally I felt that the film was perfectly paced in that it matched the pace of the first part of the book, which does have some big set pieces including the beginning of the film which helps set up the danger that the three must face.

The relationship between the three leads is the centerpiece of the film and it is a relationship that is tested heavily. They are three teens trying to save the world from it's worst threat that it has ever faced. They are angry, sad, and desperately trying to cling onto whatever feeling of youth and love that they can.

Both films have a character that takes you by surprise in them. In Part 1 that character is Dobby who creates some of the most memorable scenes in the film.

Deathly Hallows Part 1 is a great character drama that has you on edge the whole time. It is a film that sets up the dark nature of this once friendly world and is a perfect setup to the final film.

50/50 - Jonathan Levine - 2011

50/50 was one of my favorite films of 2011. It is a heartfelt and foul mouthed R rated comedy about a young man who finds out he has cancer and only has a 50% chance of survival.

Cancer and comedy aren't really two words that go together normally but for this film it works. That is because it is a film that is about the positive sides of life instead of focusing on the impending situation.

The script is expertly written by Will Reiser who the film is actually based on. The dialogue is snappy and the characters all develop naturally and come together in ways that don't seem forced.

The performances in the film are all quite good, especially the three leads Joseph Gordon Levitt, Seth Rogan and Anna Kendrick. They all have a believable chemistry on screen and create characters who are likable.

50/50 is a film I recommend for everyone, even though it has bad words it tugs at the heartstrings in a way that will affect anyone. Personally I saw it with my parents and younger sister and my mother was the one who ended up quoting the naughty language more than anyone.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters - Seth Gordon - 2007

The King Of Kong was a film that I honestly didn't think I would like at all. I had every expectation that a documentary on men trying to break classic arcade game records could be so fascinating. This is the mark of a great documentarian and a great storyteller.

What Seth Gordon was able to do with the documentary was create "good" little guys and "bad" guys who held a lot of power in the arcade world. This good guy bad guy play really made the film feel at times almost like a finely plotted narrative. The fact that it really happened makes you feel angry which really sucks you into the documentary.

The King Of Kong is a finely made documentary that is both surprisingly heartfelt and entertaining. It is a good into to both the world of documentary filmmaking and the world of video gaming.

The Hurt Locker - Kathryn Bigelow - 2008

With today being Memorial Day I think it's appropriate to recommend my favorite war film.

Kathryn Bigelow is a groundbreaking filmmaker and The Hurt Locker is her masterpiece in which she won the best director oscar, which made her the first woman to win best director. Bigelow is a primarily action oriented filmmaker who before The Hurt Locker was best known for the 80's classic Point Break. With that being said The Hurt Locker a completely different action film that Point Break in which Bigelow builds tension and suspense instead of adrenaline.

The film centers around three members of a bomb squad as they try to survive the remaining time of their tour. This proves to be extremely difficult as they don't know who could be a potential threat.

Bigelow does an excellent job creating tension as she sets up the rules and consequences of the world of the film in the very first scene. This knowledge really sinks in and we are constantly on edge for the rest of the film because of it.

Everything about this film works extremely well from the cinematography, the performances and the soundtrack. All of which can be traced back to the choices that Bigelow made, which prove that she is a director with a strong grasp on her craft.

Suicide Kings - Peter O'Fallon - 1997

If you're a fan of Christopher Walken than you will absolutely love Suicide Kings (if you're not a fan of his than you will probably dread this film), as it is a film that features an under-appreciated Walken performance. In fact I'm recommending this film solely on Walken's performance.

With that being said the film does have some other interesting things going for it. Personally I really love the idea behind the film in which a young man and his buddies kidnap a mafia boss and force him to use his connections to find his missing sister.

Walken plays the mob boss and is tied to a chair for about 95% of the film, which is what makes his performance all the more memorable. He is able to play mind games with his young kidnappers are subtle yet effective and his line deliveries always seem to be tiptoeing on the line between maniacal and hillarious.

Burn After Reading - The Coen Brothers - 2008

Burn After Reading is one of the least talked about Coen Brothers films, especially one of the least talked about recent film of theirs. This is unfortunate because personally I feel that Burn After Reading is one of their most entertaining films, no matter how pointless it may seem.

The plot of the film is simple enough to follow yet almost impossible to explain. It centers around some idiots who get their hands on some "spy shit". From there the film becomes a hilariously complex as none of the characters in the film seem to know how to react at all properly and have no reasoning in their thought process.

The script is wonderfully fresh and is a wonderfully acted film. George Clooney, Bradd Pitt, Frances McDormand, and John Malkovitch all give stand out performances as completely irrational and dumb people. Another great (yet small) performance was given by J.K. Simmons who actually provides some of the biggest laughs in the film.

Burn After Reading is not a film for everyone, it is a film that some will turn away from because it seems too stupid, which is true only on the surface. But if you allow yourself to be entertained you will love the film.

The Blair Witch Project - Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez - 1999

The Blair Witch Project wasn't the first film in the "found footage" genre but it was certainly the most important one. It was the first independent film that a lot of today's film students (myself included) had access to and really helped prove that you could create a hit film with very little resources as long as you have creativity.

Like I said earlier, the film is in the "found footage" sub-genre which at the time of it's release was practically unheard of. When this was combined with a fantastic marketing campaign (see above) it made for a huge hit and an important piece of pop culture. Financially speaking what the film was able to make over 245 million dollars worldwide on a 60 thousand dollar budget. What that did was open up the floodgates for a lot of small independent films to get wider releases.

With that being said the film itself really stood up to the hype. It was a chillingly believable tale about three teens getting lost in the Maryland woods while shooting a documentary. They begin to loose their cool, especially when a series of unexplained events test the three young filmmakers.

The film originally had some fan backlash because it wasn't as traditionally as graphic or as lets say loud as most other horror films. But personally I think that the film's realism is what made it so scarier than anything that could have been added to the film to give it more "traditional

scares.

The Blair Witch Project is one of the most important films of the late nineties and is a real treat if you are looking for a different kind of scare.

Warrior - Gavin O'Connor - 2011

Warrior was a film that I thought about for a long time after I saw it. It's a sports film that focusses heavily on what it means to be family and the scars that the past can leave. It hits these notes so well that the actual "sports" moments felt weak in comparison, which was my only real gripe with the film.

The performances of the three main characters is what really drives the film. Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton play two brothers who must confront their family's dark past when they both enter the same mixed martial arts tournament. With them is their alcoholic father played by Nick Nolte.

Nolte's performance is really something special here and is what you will find yourself thinking about once the film is finished. He is a broken pathetic yet surprisingly sympathetic man who really demands your attention in every scene that he is in.

Warrior is not a perfect film by any means but it has some really interesting things going for it along with deep characters and emotional suspense at the core.

Cape Fear - J. Lee Thompson - 1962

So yesterday I was scrambling around getting ready to shoot a short film and then I was too busy actually shooting to recommend a film so today is another double feature to make up for it.

The first film I am recommending today is the 1962 classic thriller Cape Fear. I feel that this version (the original) is overlooked by many people due to the fact that Scorsese remade the film several years later which is a shame because I feel that the first film is leaps and bounds better than the remake.

The major difference between these films is the subtlety that the director used. Subtlety may not seem that important but in this particular narrative, subtlety is everything. The story follows a lawyer (Gregory Peck) who, along with his family, is being stalked by a man he helped put in jail (Robert Mitchum). What is important in the film is the way that the man stalks the family, in that he does it in ways that on the surface aren't illegal. He simply just starts appearing wherever they are. Robert Mitchum is hauntingly calm in his maniacal plan to torture the family, something that was missing from Robert De Niro's portrayal of the same role.

Something that I also really enjoyed about the film was that we actually got to see the action in it. The camera hardly moves during fight scenes and the cutting isn't too quick to where we can't see anything (something that occurs far too much in today's films). Thompson relied on his character development to create tension so he didn't have to do any "tricks" to make us feel more during these scenes, instead he slowly built to them and allowed us to watch them.

Rear Window - Alfred Hitchcock - 1954

I'm starting production on a short film tomorrow so I thought I would recommend a film with a similar setup (A man looking out the window of a house that he cannot leave). Rear Window is one of Hitchcock's most well known films and that is for good reason. It is a thrilling film that is set within the confines of a single room.

The unique setting of the film gives the film a unique feel as well as gives the audience a great opportunity to side with the protagonist as we have to see the outside world through the main character's P.O.V.

The world outside "our" room is just as important as what is going inside the room as each of the windows and characters that we witness help represent the internal thoughts and feelings that our main character is having.

Rear Window is a unique and fun thriller that is both thought provoking and entertaining.