Inception

It's been a long time since I saw a movie in the theater, and left feeling as though my life were changed, as though my mind was folded inside out, leaving me awestruck and joyfully alone in my little personal world on the rainy coast. To put it simply, it's been a long time since a movie as good as Inception has come out in the theater.

Only Christopher Nolan, who brought us some of my other favorite movies, like Momento, The Dark Knight and Batman Begins, could think up the plot for Inception. Set in present-day, it is possible to create the world in which you dream. In addition, you can enter the dreams of others... find out their secrets, their personal information. Dominic (Leonardo Dicaprio) is hired to perform Inception on Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), who's father controls an empire that will soon overpower and put out of business the man who has hired Dominic. And so it begins; the plan of a century. Dominic and his team must set the idea in Robert's mind to destroy his father's work. It must be his own idea because it is his own dream, you see.

Along the lines of The Matrix, this movie will blow your mind beyond belief and like me, you may even leave the theater with some teary eyes, contemplating whether or not you are living in reality or a dream as you walk to your car. But above a good plot, Inception has everything that makes a good movie. Employing a fast pace, character development, romance, and some of the most innovative special effects since Neo dodged bullets and that helicopter crashed into the face of a sixty-story-high building, it's nearly impossible to take your eyes off the screen.

"Inception"

Story: 9.9

Acting: 9.7

Special Effects: 9.5

Cinematography: 9.8

Conclusion: 9.73

Obviously, I really enjoyed this movie, however, remember that how much I enjoyed the movie personally does not affect the above grade. Read some critic reviews and I am sure you will find that they are saying the same things.

The Fringe: A+

American History X

(In the movie-trailer narrator's deep, manly voice) In a world so full of hate, violence, and utter chaos, when and how will anything good come from it?

I knew I was going to like American History X (Or just X) because half of the people I know have seen it and told me it was worth watching. What I didn't know was that it was going to change my life, employing one of the most straightforward and from-the-heart stories in movie history. Also, depending on how you look at it, one of the most tragic.

Derek Vinyard (Edward Norton), a devoted Neo-Nazi born and raised in Venice Beach, is arrested and earns himself a great deal of prison time after a most violent double murder of two black men. But the damage Derek had done in his life was far beyond the lives he took. Filled with prejudice and senseless, unfathomable hatred, he inadvertently begins bringing his family down into his mess with him. Being fatherless, his kid brother, Danny (Edward Furlong), looks up to him when he has no other role model in his life. While Derek is in the slammer, two things happen; Danny sinks deeper and deeper into his brother's way of life, and Derek slowly and steadily crawls out of it.

By the time Derek gets out of jail, he has turned around his life, and his feelings about other people, a full one hundred-eight degrees. He no longer has hate in his heart. However, being a sort of ring leader, and wielding the highest prestige level in his realm of fellow jew and black-haters, his friends obviously are quite shocked at this turn of events. Think they are going to welcome him back with much respects paid, expecting him to be proud that they have expanded their network, but Derek simply 'wants out', and his respect level goes from one hundred and twenty percent to zero pretty quickly. But is it too late to be the proper role model for Danny? Will his beloved younger brother see a way out too?

X is by no means a clean movie. It definitely deserved the R rating, as it contains graphic depictions of sex, rape and extremely violent/racist crimes. I call this a 'party foul', when you put on a movie like The Passion of Christ when a bunch of friends come to hang out and have a good time. It's not the kind of movie you want to watch over and over again, but it's definitely a must-see if you can get through the nearly unbearable violence. I'm not even sure if I could bring myself to watch it again right now, to be honest.

But the story is really a beautiful thing. It's probably the best depiction of a heart change in any movie I've seen. I don't think I've ever cried so hard because of a movie... Although, the fact that I watched it alone might be a contributor.

The script is pretty clever too, that is, the way the story unfolds. I'm not one ounce racist, and never have been, but during/after the movie, I just wanted to be that much closer to God. Give up something like hatred, and let love flood into your life, and believe me, there will be enough of it to get you over the border.

"American History X"

Story: 9

Acting: 7.8

Cinematography: 9.3

Special effects: NGF

Conclusion: 8.7

The Fringe: A

Avatar: The Last Airbender

I went into the theater late Saturday night expecting a lot more than I should have. I was looking forward to a good show because for one, Avatar was written, directed and produced by my favorite filmmaker, M. Night Shyamalan. Secondly, the special effects in the trailer blew me away. But during the movie, I realized that sometimes, even the most excellent filmmakers do things for money, and also that special effects, no matter how impressive they are, never make up for terrible acting.

I don't mean to say that I didn't enjoy the movie. It was just more comic relief, like going to see Eclipse. I've watched a couple of the cartoons, and so I know that it is mostly aimed towards kids. Specifically kids under 12 (even though all my friends watch it). A lot of kids stories appeal greatly to me, but unfortunately, Avatar did not fall into the box of fondly reminisced children's stories. The plot seemed to weak and cliché to me... There are 'benders', people who can control different elements -- that is, the four elements. But then, there's these ancient guys called 'Airbenders'. They're all dead, except for this boy, Aang, who finds out he was meant to be an 'Avatar', someone who can control all four elements. Sound like something you've already seen yet?

I can see kids really enjoying it who've seen all the cartoons, but there really wasn't much in this movie to be appreciated by adults or older teens. It lacked good actors (or perhaps good script?) and character development. And the truth is, the reason comic book and cartoon-based movies are tweaked so much from the original story, is that either the writers have to abandon a story that is not appealing to a wide audience, or they can't convert the story in the original series to film without making the movie too fast-paced and cheesy. Unfortunately, Avatar didn't dodge either of those. Sorry M. Night, how about another movie like Signs or The Sixth Sense? Those were the days.

"Avatar: The Last Airbender"

Story: 6

Acting: 4

Special effects: 9.5

Cinematography: 7

Conclusion: 6.63

The Fringe:

C-