Be Kind, Please Rewind

He’s Wrap Presenting. He’s the…

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Week of December 9, 2010

I’m dreaming of a racially integrated Christmas. First up…

Inception

Being a dream thief sounds kind of cool, so long as you’re not robbing the wet ones. 

Fortunately, the REM raiders in this mind-boggling movie don’t embezzle nocturnal emissions.

Experts at extracting ideas from sleeping subjects, Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are hired by a businessman to implant an idea in the mind of his competitor’s son (Cillian Murphy).

To perform this act of “inception”, Cobb must expand his dream team to include an architect (Ellen Page), a shifter (Tom Hardy), and a sedative specialist  (Dileep Rao).

Once in the target’s mind, the team delves through layers of his subconscious, only to be repeatedly sabotaged by the ghost of Cobb’s deceased wife (Marion Cotillard).

The most mold-breaking movie of the millennium, Inception is a smart, stylish, thriller that will leave you resonating with queries.

For example, why is someone telling you about their dream always so boring? 0

Shrek Forever After

The best part of living in a fairy tale is that if you can trick a troll into wearing its clothes backwards, the talking fish will revert back to your lost sense of courage.

In fact, every contract in a fable has a clause, and that’s exactly what Shrek (Mike Meyers) and Donkey (Eddie Murphy) are looking for in this fourth installment.

Fed up with family life, Shrek makes an imprudent pact with Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn), in which the trickster makes it so he never existed.

Trapped in a world ruled by Rumpelstiltskin, where Fiona (Cameron Diaz) leads a group of agitators, Shrek must share true love’s kiss by day’s end.   

Like its reference to It’s a Wonderful Life, Shrek 4 would be better off if it never existed: the story’s uninspired, the characters are tired, and the songs are lame.

Besides, any deal that doesn’t involve your first-born isn’t worth making.  0

***Slumber Jack***

Insomnia

When you have insomnia, you finally get the chance to finish listening to those tranquil noise CDs that you always fall asleep during.

Unfortunately, the restless detective in this thriller doesn’t have time to listen to humpback whales in the rain forest.

While under investigation for shooting his partner, LAPD detective Dormer (Al Pacino) travels to the land of the midnight sun to find the killer of a 17-year-old girl.

Partnered with a green officer (Hilary Swank), Dormer is drawn towards a local writer (Robin Williams), whose work was found near the body.

Meanwhile, Dormer cannot sleep – thanks to perpetual daylight and guilt over his partner’s death.

With strong performances and masterful direction at the hand of Inception creator Christopher Nolan, this melancholy and maddening remake of a Norwegian film is an intense and intelligent contribution to the thriller genre.

The cure for sleeplessness, mind you, is to mainline tryptophan.

He has Santa Hat Hair. He’s the…

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