Tag: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Categories
Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Premium Rush – These Are Mad Cyclists!

I can’t quite pinpoint why I am not too hot about this generally positively reviewed movie.  Maybe I just don’t like to see Chinese getting beaten by a White guy throughout the movie.  Or the stereotype of Chinese again being the ones running illegal gambling joints and involved in all sorts of mafia related activities.  Maybe I just don’t feel right to see glorified mad cyclists risking their lives and the lives of others for something they enjoy doing.  I then ask myself: There are mad motorists in the movies too so why not mad cyclists?  I don’t know.  I have nothing against cyclists as I was one back in UK.  Here in Singapore, I have seen mad cyclists going against the direction of traffic (just like this movie), cutting through lanes in town during rush hours (just like this movie), and even diving into a slip road leading to a highway.  When the bad cop in the movie said to Joseph Gordon-Levitt the mad cyclist, “This whole city hates you”.  I wanted to leap up and cheer.  Momentarily, that zero is my hero.

Cynthia picked Premium Rush because she wanted to see Robin in action.  TK couldn’t remember who Joseph Gordon-Levitt was.  The Dark Knight Rises?  Inception?  (500) Days of Summer?  I like Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer.  From the acting performance point of view, Joseph did a great job in Premium Rush.  The bike stuns he performed are jaw dropping.  There is close to no romance in this movie.  The entire movie is about a couple of cyclists rushing packages from one end of town to another.  Timeline is altered backward and forward very much like How I Met Your Mother.  This keeps the plot interesting throughout the movie.  The bad cop – the only villain played by Michael Shannon – is pretty hilarious to watch, albeit borderline psychotically scary.  Some scenes are totally unnecessary (like the mobs towards the end) and the entire story from beginning to the end, to me, is rather pointless.  A bad cop has killed someone and that’s OK, no hard feeling.  He needs the money badly to pay off his debt so he has decided to steal from a woman.  A woman needs to transfer a vast amount of cash from point A to point B via an underground bank.  A few cyclists who are caught in the middle of all these strange activities.  Having said that, the story is rather original, told in a rather unusual way.  I can understand why some would enjoy watching Premium Rush.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Inception – Into Subconscious and Dream Whereby Logic Supposes To Dissolve

The idea is tantalizing.  Imagine being able to architect your dream, bring others into your dream or trespass into others’ dreams, and if you wish to retain certain fond memories of the past, lock them up inside your head and visit them as often as you like.  On the surface, “Inception” appears to be a movie with an original idea that is rarely seen since the days of “The Matrix”.  If writer, producer, and director Christopher Nolan was to release the film 10 years ago – when the script was first completed – some may find the resemblances to “The Matrix” hard to ignore.  Fortunately, it is 2010.

The beauty of “Inception” is the writer’s ability to create a fantasy world with a set of rules driven by logic.  Some of these rules are intriguing.  For those who watch “Inception” the first time, no doubt it would be a memorable journey.  You could be too busy absorbing new ideas without pondering upon those illogical moments.  While in “The Matrix”, we may relegate the unanswerable questions to a Higher Being (philosophically speaking), the same cannot be said for “Inception” – for it is men who invent the dream machine.  At times I wonder: Is it a good idea to build logic into dream and subconscious in the first place?

I have heard a lot of praises for Leonardo DiCaprio’s performance in “Inception”.  I would say other actors and actresses such as Marion Cotillard and Ellen Page are equally brilliant.  This film is loaded with stars, and special effects.  It is a solid two and a half hours of entertainment.  And you would probably walk out of the theater with more questions than answers, while thoroughly entertained of course.

Categories
Movie Reviews Romance

What Not To Love About (500) Days Of Summer?

I like!

8 hours before the show started, on a slow and lovely Friday, our movie-partner-in-crime sent me a text message saying that he could not make it, for he remembered there was a birthday party to attend.  Panic!  On the 11th floor!  Who was going to take over that one single movie ticket?  Cynthia and I do not have that many mutual single friends and I am not sure if my single friends are comfortable hanging out with the two of us.

To cut a long story short, I really wanted to bring one of my friends out, for she is still trying to heal her broken heart.  Friend support is important in this particular circumstance, I always preach that.  And I prayed and prayed – before and during the show – that she would not break down and cry.  I mean, it is a romance film and I had no idea which direction it would go.  Fortunately, she seemed OK.  I guess hope sells.  Obama won the election with hope; the Nobel price committee may have awarded Obama based on hope; Dan Brown’s new novel ends with hope; I have been telling my friend not to give up on hope.  Thank God “(500) Days of Summer” agrees with me.

“(500) Days of Summer” is a story about a boy meets a girl.  The narration goes back and fro on a particular day through the 500 days Tom Hanson (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel) have been together.  A story told from the man’s perspective, but with a twist – at least to me – that there is a role reversal between Tom and Summer.  Hence, I reckon this movie is one that both sexes can relate.  If the narration was to follow the timeline, it would have been quite a depressing show to watch.  Because it is not, there is a good mix and happiness and sadness all told in a lighthearted manner.  It is one very entertaining show that makes the audience giggled all the time.  Cynthia thinks that the main actor has a pair of caring eyes that melts hearts.  I think that dude has a very nice smile (those eyes can surely smile!).  And I find the main actress’s acting a joy to watch, especially those moments that are without words.

This film does not seem to watch like a typical Hollywood production.  I think I may even get a BluRay recording for this show.  Now if there is a sequel …