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This Town Is A Lonely Town

By Robert Swartwood on July 22, 2010

Or so says Frank Sinatra, and I’m pretty sure he knows what he’s talking about.

But anyway, this past weekend I had the pleasure of seeing Inception. As I mentioned before, this was the only movie I was really anticipating this summer, and it was well worth it. I highly recommend seeing it and plan to see it again very soon. Truthfully, it’s not even worth attempting to describe the plot or what’s going on, and yes, the ending won’t sit right for some people, but I thought it was perfect. Christopher Nolan is, without a doubt, one of the best filmmakers working today. Leonardo DiCaprio was great as always, but my favorite cast member by far was Joseph Gordon-Levitt (you know, the kid from 3rd Rock From the Sun). I loved him in Brick, and I loved him in this movie, and I really hope he gets cast in the next Batman film, or at least another project of Nolan’s.

So if you saw Inception, you no doubt saw the trailer for The Town. Very few movies do I look forward to anymore, but this is now one of them. It’s Ben Affleck’s second film as a director, after the great Gone Baby Gone which did a wonderful job of capturing the spirit of Lehane’s novel (not to mention proving just what kind of bad ass Casey Affleck is). The difference this time around is Ben actually stars in the movie, but I’ll let that slide; Ben has proved himself a great actor when need be, and I certainly don’t see him giving a dry performance in one of his own directed films. (And hey, look, Don Draper’s in it too!)

The movie is based on the novel Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan which I’m reading now. It’s a book that’s been sitting on one of my bookshelves for years and which I’ve been meaning to read eventually. That’s how it is with a lot of books, sadly, but the fact that the movie is coming out soon, I wanted to read it as soon as possible, and so far, about a quarter of the way in, it’s great.

Also, thanks to everyone who entered the Best New Zombie Tales giveaway contest. Despite the high number of comments so far, I count only five eligible entries, which means there is still time to enter. Just make sure to include something zombie-ish in your comment.

Now if you haven’t seen the trailer yet, enjoy.

Posted in , | 3 Responses

  • http://www.sophieplayleblog.blogspot.com Sophie Playle

    I must say, I am not excited by the trailer of The Town (that was the first time I’ve seen it). Looks kinda boring. And it was one of those trailers that tells you the whole story. Now I don’t need to see the film.

    Also, the ending of Inception isn’t as clear-cut as it seems (as much as an ambiguous ending can be).

    INCEPTION SPOILER BELOW ————

    Cobb’s totem only lets him know if he is in his own dream or someone elses, because his mind knows how the top works. The film implied that if the top fell, he would be in reality. But this isn’t necessarily the case. He could still be in a dream, but if it fell, it would be his own dream. Did you notice how the children hadn’t aged…? I’m seeing this film again next week, but I have a pretty strong feeling about the ending.

    INCEPTION SPOILER ABOVE ————

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  • http://www.sophieplayleblog.blogspot.com Sophie Playle
  • Robert Swartwood

    See, the trailer does show you a lot and give you a good sense of what’s happening — these guys rob a bank, an FBI agent is after them, one of the guys falls in love with the victim — but that’s about it. I mean, reading the book, you know right away that the bad guy has a thing for the victim; it’s about his relationship with her and how he wants to stop being a thief. All that was translated well from the trailer, but it doesn’t show me at all how it actually ends, which is why I want to see (and read) it.

    Regarding INCEPTION … *** SPOILER *** Well, yeah, obviously he’s still dreaming, whether he’s in his dream or not. They make it seem like Saito is going to wake him up when he reaches for the gun, but obviously he doesn’t; the transition isn’t clear on what happens, but it’s clear that even though Cobb thinks he woke up and made it back home, he really didn’t, which was why they introduced the idea of the totem near the middle of the movie: for that final image of Cobb’s continuously spinning. How is that not clear-cut? *** SPOILER ***

    TEAM AMERICA rocks.

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