You may have noticed I didn’t mention the music at all in my big Inception review post. By the end of it, I realized I had mentioned and applauded every aspect of the movie except one. But instead of saying how great Hans Zimmer’s score was, I figured I’d just let you listen and leave the YouTube embedding for another post — this one.
Click if you want to listen to a couple of more tracks. read more…
Christopher Nolan did it. He took a concept that’s been rolling around in his head for a decade, convinced a studio to give him $160 million to film it, and created the most original and spectacular blockbuster in, well, a decade. It really happened.
Think about the BIGGEST movies of the past 10 years. They are comic book adaptations, or television cartoon adaptations, or novel adaptations, or sequels to comic book adaptations, or rebooted franchises — you get the picture. The one obvious exception would be Avatar — the highest grossing movie ever. Unfortunately, while “original”, it was also one of the most derivative, predictable, and hollow movies you’ll ever see. But it sure was a 3D spectacle, I’ll give James Cameron that.
But I don’t want to even get into this argument. I really don’t. I just felt the need to address it before anyone challenges the claim in that first paragraph. Sorry, but Inception is THE most audacious blockbuster in years in ways other than just special effects and filming technology. But it’s not exactly a slouch with regards to the former, either.
I will keep this post as spoiler-free as possible, and probably make ANOTHER post about it later on, where I totally go off about everything within the film. And there’s certainly a lot to interpret here — including an ending that seems to have pissed off some and totally impressed others. I personally think it fits perfectly thematically. read more…
My anticipation has passed that small valley. Maybe because a few regular people I know on the internet have seen it and subsequently made a mess in their pants. Maybe because it’s been another 24 hours, and now it’s only 3 days away. Maybe because I found out that the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City is showing it. Maybe because I actually got some things done today and I’m not worrying about them.
In case, you don’t know what the Ziegfeld Theater looks like (I’m going to guess you don’t):
Click here if you want to see more pics.
I saw Blade Runner: The Final Cut there a few years ago and I always meant to make a post about it. Of course, I never actually did, but now I finally have another excuse to post a picture. Look how fucking sweet that is. Why watch Inception anywhere else?
I almost feel like I would need to wear a suit.
I don’t even know who to credit for the above pic. I saw it on GAF, but I’m 99.9% sure it didn’t originate there. And if you want the explanation: a “psychic” octopus predicted that Spain would win (among 7 other correct predictions).
So yeah, there was a lot of sex in Spain last night — especially in the soccer players’ hotel rooms and houses. Some of it even spilled out on camera. It must be nice to be the king of the sport the entire world plays, admittedly.
That final pretty much sucked, though. I guess I was rooting for Spain, but it’s not like I felt anything when they finally scored in extra time. The Dutch were playing ugly, rough football and the Spaniards were flopping all over the place. Who was I supposed to root for? Wait, did I say football? That probably happened because I’m regurgitating things I’ve read elsewhere. I was just glad it didn’t come to penalty kicks.
But I’m happy it’s done so we can get to the baseball equivalent of penalties: the Home Run Derby. Not like there’s anything else on.
I posted a Toy Story 3 mashup trailer that used the Inception trailer music. Now here’s The Dark Knight version.
I guess it’s time for me to speak a bit more about Inception, since this is the week. There are some people even seeing advance screenings tonight. Perhaps surprisingly, I think my hype is at its low ebb right now. There are tons of gushing reviews and posts on Twitter and endless TV spots, but I’m just nonplussed. Perhaps that would be the wrong word — let’s just say they haven’t augmented my hype. I knew months ago that I would want to see the movie, and I knew that the movie would be awesome. Only a flood of scathing reviews could have affected my anticipation.
So right now I’m kinda exhausted from looking forward to this movie for half a year. There has been nothing else for me to latch on to for any excitement. I thought about checking out Predators, but it’s still hard for me to imagine ADRIEN BRODY filling Arnold’s shoes, no matter how good of an actor he might be (although, I guess that’s part of the problem). But he did get pretty ripped for it, and from all reports, they went in a different direction since they knew no one could fill in the shoes of guys like Arnold, Jesse Ventura, and Carl Weathers. Nonetheless, I can’t be bothered to gather any friends for a trip to the theater to see it.
Oh, I could have checked out Toy Story 3, but there was no way I was doing that without female company. That actually almost happened, but when it fell apart, I wasn’t about to push it. It’s not like I was anxiously anticipating it, anyhow. At nine years old, I already felt too old for the original Toy Story when it was released. I was all about Mortal Kombat. So I am left with Inception. Left to make a half-dozen posts about it. Left to post retarded shit on Twitter about it. Left to ask my friends if they want to go a midnight showing.
Somehow I feel like I’ll keep my record of ZERO midnight showings intact. I guess that’s why I’m only somewhat nerdy. Oh wait, no, I’m only somewhat manly. Full nerd. Damn it.
At 9 PM EDT, LeBron James will announce which NBA city he has picked to rest his throne. It will be the most important television event since man walked on the moon. Your grandchildren will ask you where you were when King James made his decision. They’ll ask you just how lazy Stuart Scott’s eye was on that fateful day. They’ll wonder if Charles Barkley missed it because he just wanted a blowjob. It will be put in history books alongside the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the fall of Rome.
Of course, as with any earth-shattering event, the rumors have been swirling and changing every 12 hours or so. It always seemed like LeBron was leaning towards staying in Cleveland, but then that disappointing exit in the playoffs changed everyone’s perception, apparently. Chicago became a real possibility. New York was always talked about — and living in New York has magnified it 100x for me. Miami was thrown out there. Even New Jersey and Los Angeles (Clippers) were mentioned.
I spent most of the day today with a chubby because the rumors were pointing toward New York. I tried my best to remain pessimistic, but I couldn’t contain my excitement. LEBRON JAMES A KNICK. I would have to get my Knicks crap back out of the closet. Cleveland would go back to being the most depressing city this side of Detroit. Chicago would have to settle for rewatching games from the Jordan Era.
But now the internet is exploding over reports saying LeBron is joining Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in Miami. He already was inspiring this type of vitriol just by making such a big deal out of his decision:
It doesn’t matter where he opts to go. If he goes to Chicago, he’s a cocksucker. If he goes to Miami, he’s a goddamn cocksucker. Even if he goes back to Cleveland, he’s a goddamn cocksucker. He’s a self-aggrandizing sack of shit, and ESPN is a bunch of pussy-whipped enablers for giving him a free hour of airtime tomorrow night and inevitably using 55 minutes of it to let Stu Scott give him a rimjob.
So imagine how much people will hate him if he goes to Miami and forms an unbeatable Big Three? Here’s a taste:
Now, the Association looks like a joke, a place where three individuals have held seemingly everyone hostage. New York’s rebuilding is a sideshow. Prokhorov’s participation in Russia’s insidious spying mission in America is something to track tepidly. Who even cares what the Clippers do now? The whole league has been submarined by LeBron, whose hubris these last few weeks has been ugly and costly. Outside of Miami, who will be left rooting for LeBron, especially after his made-for-TV drama? An NBA diehard, I am so disillusioned. This doesn’t feel right or fun. This feels terrible.
I really recommend reading that entire rant, as it’s absolutely spot-on and demolishes LeBron much more effectively than calling him a cocksucker a half-dozen times.
As an objective observer, I really believe LeBron should stay in Cleveland and build his legacy there — but I’m not objective. I want him to come to the Knicks, even if he is a cocksucker.
There’s watching the Mets. There’s watching MLB Network. There’s reading about the Mets. There’s watching 4-hour-plus Yankees-Red Sox games. There’s reading up on fantasy advice. There’s managing three fantasy teams using that advice. There’s following and posting on Twitter during Mets games. There’s hitting F5 and posting in the MLB-GAF thread. There’s betting on the games and watching through 스포츠중계. Learn betting tricks at stoprapeinconflict.org. In short, being a hardcore, internet-addicted baseball fan has to take up more time than any “hobby” other than playing World of Warcraft.
Flip Flop Fly Ball, of course, made an awesome chart that graphically displays what I’m trying to say in words. I fucking love his site so much. I wish I could be so awesome.
(Click to embiggen)
Naturally, such a chart applies to any team, and would extend another month for a fan of a team which happens to make the World Series as we know people love watching and practicing sports, from baseball to golf which they can even practice at home now with a home golf simulator as well. And this chart doesn’t even count most of the things I mention in the first paragraph of this post. The fantasy team managing would overlap with work. Sleep would be hurt by West Coast trips. Other stuff would be “reading about baseball.” It’s really insane. And then when you count all the hours I put in practicing and playing baseball for most of my life, I’ve spent more time with baseball than married people have spent with their significant others.
Earlier today, an embargo on Inception reviews was lifted. What followed was a flood of gushing praise that caused gushing of another kind. With 10 days to go until the first midnight showings, it’s time for hype to hit critical mass.
I’m just going to pull the review quotes from Rotten Tomatoes:
A wildly entertaining and dazzling mind-trip not to be missed. Kubrick would have been proud.
Inception is an exhilarating cinematic experience that suggests there is still room, even in the blockbuster world, for big ideas and dangerous emotions, and that may be the single most thrilling thing about it.
A devilishly complicated, fiendishly enjoyable sci-fi voyage across a dreamscape that is thoroughly compelling.
a stunning achievement and the most completely entertaining film I’ve seen in years.
Inception is a masterpiece. Making a huge film with big ambitions, Christopher Nolan never missteps and manages to create a movie that, at times, feels like a miracle.
I’m getting the sense that this movie is going to be pretty good. And thus concludes one of the least substantial blog posts I’ve ever made.
Edit: /Film made a similar post, only with longer excerpts instead of short quotes pulled from RT. And they used the same header. Weird.
Two-hundred and thirty-four years ago, the American colonies gave the biggest, yet most eloquent, middle finger in history to the British Empire. Somehow now America and Britain are buddy-buddy, but on this day, we should remember how we got here. Some of the greatest statesmen of all-time came together to create an awesome, timeless document that most Americans barely even know anymore. Instead of setting off fireworks and eating the charcoal-burned flesh of dead animals, we should all take some time to read the Declaration of Independence.
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Bahaha. Fuck reading, just watch this instead:
TODAY, WE CELEBRATE OUR INDEPENDENCE DAY
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