Nolan elegantly probes world of dreams in “Inception”

“Star Trek” touted space as “the final frontier.” Christopher Nolan’s expansive, brain-bending ”Inception” makes a case for human dreams as the true unexplored, untapped realm. There’s an underbelly of reason there. The outer boundaries of dreams — even more than the blackness of space – could be unknowable, or just inconceivable. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a thief-for-hire who invades [...]

Review: “Brick” (2005)

How far can a movie coast on style? If Rian Johnson’s snaky-plotted, murky, hyperarticulate “Brick” is any indication, the answer is “far, very, very far.” There’s not one element left uncalibrated, from the score (equal parts “Chinatown” and “Casablanca”) to the colors (all gray-tinged) to the dialogue (make friends with words like “yegg” and “reef worm”). Shot for [...]

Top 10 actors/actresses of 2009

How many blog comments, I wonder, have inspired whole posts? I don’t have an answer to that question, but the ever-astute Encore Entertainment posed a difficult but interesting question: Who gave the best performances, the ones that would top my list of favorites for the year? Now that’s a thinker … but one that only lasted about six [...]

Review: “The Lookout” (2007)

Too often thrillers, in the hands of the wrong directors, make one of two mistakes. First, the pacing is too fast, the action too furious, which leaves the characters undeveloped and forces viewers to watch a series of things blow up. Or the pacing is too slow, the action too sporadic, which allows the characters to [...]

“(500) Days” an inventive, touching look at lost love

“Next time you look back, I think you should look again.” There are many memorable lines in “(500) Days of Summer,” Marc Webb’s attentive, carefully crafted ode to 20-something love lost, but none resonate this strongly. Call it “hindsight is 20/20″ for the 21st-century indie hipsters. What simple beauty there is in this observation, for who doesn’t see the past [...]

“Summer” begins July 31

Given all my puffed-up talk about chick flicks, I think it’s time to (whispering) come clean about something. I’m a sucker for a good indie romcom. And if said indie stars Zooey Deschanel or Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Well, the Big Giant Head himself couldn’t hold me back. Thus, it looks like July 31 will be my lucky day, since [...]