Despicable Tedium
I finally saw Inception. After seeing it, I can definitely state that I would much rather have seen Despicable Me for a third time. Of course, Hollywood produces mountains of immoral garbage, but even many Hollywood films that aspire not to be immoral garbage tend to be dreary or self-indulgent. Maybe the people who know how to make fun movies and don't want to make immoral movies are now making cartoons.
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Maybe the people who know how to make fun movies and don’t want to make immoral movies are now making cartoons.
This seems to be the case for Pixar.
I'd have seen Inception, but I can't stand Leonardo.
One of the most entertaining movies in the past seven years, and I say this as a person who keeps up with Swedish, Italian, French, Japanese, German, and Korean releases, so I think I have seen enough
For most others movies, I agree that Hollywood either takes itself too seriously or ends up disgusting, but Inception was amazing. Absolutely amazing.
Christopher Nolan is one of the best directors of our time. Everything he has made is amazing. I saw Memento many years ago, and I loved it. I saw Insomnia later, and I found it entertaining. I was blown away by The Prestige. I thought the Dark Knight was a good combination of a standard action movie and a well constructed thriller. And with Inception, he outdid himself again.
It's like Nolan is one of those magicians in the Prestige - just when you think you know his tricks, he has others left.
The man isn't even 40 yet, and his best works seem to be still ahead of him. People like Rainier Werner Fassbinder and Andrei Tarkosvksky die relatively young, thus leaving us without what would have been an entire life's work, while still producing a great range of work. Since Nolan is not living as unhealthily as those two did, we can be sure there's a whole lot left from where that came.
Apart from some worthwhile Hollywood films (i.e. a rarity): most American movies have had a stagnating effect on this country's maturity cycle for a long time.
The state of our 'adulthood' has changed into a kind of 'kid adult' culture due to profound media influences in general. It's quite embarrassing to witness it all.
So the man behind the abominable Dark Knight is also responsible for Inception? I'll make sure to avoid it.
Prateek:
You're so right. Christopher Nolan, a Brit, is a remarkable director, possessed of astonishing sophistication as well as range and vision. His overarching theme -- life as a mortal dual -- can be seen in all his work. Long may he run.
What's a "mortal dual"?
I think he was referring to the duality of people in Nolan's movies.
The magicians in the Prestige lived dual lives, with a well maintained public face and behaviour taken to an extreme, while conspiring to do things through their persona. The amnesiac in Memento was divided between the man in the present and the man in the past whose actions he can not remember. The cop in Insomnia was a white knight who himself did wrongful corrupt things in the name of greater good. And then Inception was about a man in dream and a man in life.
I suppose Nolan has good talent as a director, but I think Tom Piatak nails him when he calls him self-indulgent. I realized after seeing one of his earlier pictures, Following, that he employs the trick of fooling with time (and concealing this trick) because a straight mystery narrative is beyond him. I've not seen this latest one, but I did see Despicable Me and thought it was not bad. Of course, I had my six-year-old with me. It was not up to Pixar quality, the best of which have been Cars and Wall-E.
Anyone who wants to see a brilliant film should put TUNES OF GLORY in his Netflix queue. Stuart Reid recently recommended this Alec Guiness, John Mills gem to me.
Join Tom Piatak and me in Charleston for the Randolph Club and we can argue about movies in person.
Chris,
I agree that "Despicable Me" was not up to Pixar quality, but few movies today are, and I thought it was still good fun. I was especially delighted to see someone other than Pixar making good cartoons. I also agree with you about "Wall-E" and "Cars," both of which were great, though my own personal favorite is "Cars." And, finally, I agree that anyone reading this should join us in Charleston for the Randolph Club.
Chris and Tom,
In my new role as a far-more involved grandpa, I've done a lot of catching up with feature-length cartoons, enough to be beginning to be persuaded that the U.S. cinema isn't in quite as bad shape as I'd thought. Pixar seems to be hosting the spirit of Frank Capra and keeping it vital.
Despicable Me, which I saw in a theater, yet, is, of course, A Christmas Carol minus the ghosts. The addiction of all of these to speed is a bit tiresome, but then we have the better Japanese cartoon features to repair to. My granddaughter's current favorites are, indeed, Japanese--Ponyo, Kiki's Delivery Service, and the less attractive-to-me Mulan. Perhaps these appeal to her because each has a girl protagonist who saves the day (in fact, her male counterpart and, in Ponyo, the world). I suppose hidebound traditionalists would grumble about the environmentalism of Ponyo, the entirely benign witchcraft in Kiki, and the cross-dressing in Mulan (the heroine takes the place of her aged, infirm father in the forces recruited to combat invading Mongols in medieval China). Frances has honored grandpa's request to see Cars and then Ratatouille (I thought the latter rather thin gruel) without protest but says I should see Wall-E myself. I'll let you know what I think.
Ray,
Yes, "Ratatouille" is probably the weakest of the Pixar movies. But you should definitely see "Wall-E."
Ray, Tom, your brains are getting soft and your standards are collapsing.
Tom,
Probably so. But some good cheer is always welcome in this vale of tears, and that can be found in the cartoons I mention.
Dr. Fleming,
My standards for animation are, I admit, mushy. Still, I suspect these animated features tower in quality over the ruck of their live-action contemporaries. The American feature film seems as moribund to me as the American novel, and both have always been overrated by Americans.
Edgardus at #4: Recently, I was watching a DVD of old, short, WWII era films. Most of the films were concerned with the war. Some of them were of stage entertainment for the troops, and these included some of the the big name stars. Of course, none of that entertainment was raunchy, or as silly as it can be nowadays, but I was amazed at just how puerile and vapid it really was. It was tedious to watch. The sad part is that I had seen these sorts of old films before without ever realising how empty and childish they were.
Yes, it has been going on for a long time. Even though good movies and music were being made back then, and even though most of the stars had a lot more class (at least on camera), American popular culture was already hopeless by the 1930's, probably earlier, and likely was already doomed to degenerate even if the cultural Marxists hadn't taken it over.