Inception, Zombieland, Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, & Le Corbeau

Inception is Chris Nolan just sayin' "Try to follow this, and if you can't, well, at least you get to see a fight in a spinning hallway." I'm not sure what more I can add to what's been written about this. I loved it, want Joseph Gordon-Levitt to get more roles, want more Lukas Haas, and want there to be a sequel: "Inception 2: The Sleepquel". If you haven't seen it, go out and see it. I cannot recommend this highly enough. It's Nolan's best film, hands down. For those who have seen it already, check out this clean chart of the dream sequence, which I think is the clearest and most accurate version of it. I do think the people who are listed as in Limbo end up there by the end of the film. And if you haven't seen the video about the score, check it out here and read about Hans Zimmer's thoughts on it.

Zombieland is a romantic comedy. That happens to be a remarkably stupid romantic comedy. There are zombies to enjoy, and there are long stretches that work well, but the actual romance is bad, and everyone in the movie does very stupid things, almost constantly. And the big "secret"? Woo? Honestly, it was just another thing that was a good idea but the execution was a little short of successful. It was so close to being a great film, but sudden turns to the very stupid by previously very smart people lead to stuff that doesn't make any sense. Come on, the film is better than that. Or at least, I want it to be better than that.

Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired makes me feel bad for Roman Polanski. That makes me sick. He's a messed up dude who likes to rape young teenagers. Who also happens to be one of the most talented directors of all time. Director of one of the two movies that still freak me out in Repulsion (with The Shining being the other). Director of one of the best film noirs to come out after the 50s in Chinatown. Director of one of the best Holocaust movies ever in The Pianist. Director of one of the best Hitchcockian movies since Hitchcock's death in Frantic. Director of the best movie to ever deal with Satanism in Rosemary's Baby. Director of the best Polish film of all time in Knife in the Water. And raper of at least one drugged 13 year old girl. Who got off lightly and then skipped out on a horribly messed up sentence due to a judge who should've been dejudged. And this documentary makes me feel sorry for him. It's quite a good documentary, but then again, I'm a guy who has never been raped and who loves his movies. I may not be the best judge of Polanski.

Le Corbeau is Henri-Georges Clouzot doing a very brave thing: writing and directing a movie in Vichy France about the dangers of spying on one another and not being unified in the face of someone who wants to destroy someone for petty reasons. Actually, that comes out sounding less impressive than I meant it to be. It's sort of about someone who's going to take revenge for reporting people to the government for collaborating with the Nazis or the Vichy, and the film was financed by the Germans. The film itself isn't as good as Clouzot's later films like Quai des Orfvres, Wages of Fear, or Les Diaboliques.