Review: Inception Blu-Ray Triple Play

Ken Watanabe, Tom Hardy, Leonardo DiCaprio

I’m ashamed to say, i managed to miss Inception on it’s theatrical release. Having heard so much about it, I was eager to get my hands on the Blue-Ray. I’m really happy to report Inception lives up to the hype, and deserves all the praise it’s been getting.

Following on from his massive success of The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan takes on the tale of Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a master thief. But instead of stealing money, Cobb and his team steal ideas using a process know as ‘Extraction’. This involves entering the victim’s sub-conscience whilst they are asleep, and manipulating their dreams until they give up their secrets. This is all well and good until Cobb meets the highly influential billionaire, Saito (Ken Watanabe), who wants to hire him, not to steal an idea – Extraction, but to plant one – Inception.

Saito wants Cobb to place the idea into the head of Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), son and heir of his main business rival, that he should break up his father’s company when his sick old man kicks the bucket. Cobb’s team think it’s impossible, however, Cobb himself is convinced it’s hard, but not impossible. So when Saito offers to clear his name with the US authorities, who Cobb has been running from due to the small matter that they think he murdered his wife (Marion Cotillard), Cobb agrees to take the job.

Ariadne (Ellen Page) & Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio)

Cobb’s team consists of a planner, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), an newly acquired architect (Ellen Page) who designs the dream-scape, a forger (Tom Hardy), who can manipulate the subject by taking on other peoples appearance, and a chemist (Dileep Rao), who controls the process of putting the target under.

Inception has been described as an art-house movie posing as a Hollywood blockbuster, and i’d say that’s a fair description. This has been tried before with films such as Tom Cruise’s Vanilla Sky, but it’s never quite been pulled off until now. DiCaprio is superb and eminently watchable as the team leader, tormented by the loss of his wife, as is Page, as the team’s newcomer.

As with previous Nolan movies, Inception is visually stunning. As Cobb and Arthur take Ariadne (Page) through her first steps in sub-conscience design, the fx work is beautifully achieved, making things you know can’t exist seem real.

Inception - Stunning FX

The plot is brilliantly constructed, and just as with Memento, Nolan grants a large amount of intelligence to his audience, something that is missing from an awful lot of Hollywood studio movies these days. As Cobb delves through the layers of his subject’s mind, Nolan manages to walk the tightrope of delivering a complex plot without alienating the viewers.

The Inception Blu-Ray Triple Play includes the movie on Blu-Ray, DVD, and digital formats. The Blu-Ray disc comes with a whole host of extras, such as Extraction Mode, which shows how Christopher Nolan, Leonardo DiCaprio and the rest of the cast and crew designed and achieved the movies signature moments. A feature on dreams, where some of the most fascinating and cutting-edge dream research to-date on lucid dreaming, top scientists make the case that the dream world is not an altered state of consciousness, but a fully functional parallel reality. An animated comic which serves as a prequel to the film, a feature on the soundtrack, stills, and trailers. The Inception DVD includes 4 features on how various sequences were constructed and achieved.

Inception – Triple Play (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) is out 6th December 2010.

9/10 – A brilliant, intelligent, sub-conscience heist movie.

FAMILY GUY: IT’S A TRAP! UK TRAILER

Family Guy - It's A Trap!

I’m really so geekily excited for this coming out… Return to the Griffins’ version of that galaxy far, far away as their freakin’ sweet saga continues with “Family Guy: It’s A Trap!” – arriving exclusively on Blu-ray and DVD on 27th December from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. In the third installment of the hilarious Star Wars satire – following 2005’s “Family Guy: Blue Harvest” and last year’s “Family Guy: Something, Something, Something Dark Side“- the Griffins reprise their intergalactic roles in an outrageous retelling of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi.

In this spectacular and offensively uproarious final chapter, Luke Skywalker (Chris) and Princess Leia (Lois) must travel to Tatooine to free Han Solo (Peter) by infiltrating the wretched stronghold of Jabba the Hutt (Joe), the galaxy’s most loathsome and dreadful gangster. Once reunited, the Rebels team up with a tribe of Ewoks to combat the Imperial forces on the forest moon of Endor. Meanwhile the Emperor (Carter Pewterschmidt) and Darth Vader (Stewie) conspire to turn Luke to the dark side, and young Skywalker is determined to rekindle the spirit of the Jedi within his father. The Galactic Civil War has never been more outrageous, as the Rebel forces gather to attack the seemingly defenseless and incomplete second Death Star in the battle that will determine the fate of the galaxy.

Adding to the fun, “Family Guy: It’s A Trap!” is loaded with hysterical cameo voice spots – including Patrick Stewart and Michael Dorn reprising their roles from “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Adam West (“Batman”) and Carrie Fisher (Star Wars Trilogy).

“The fan base for “Family Guy” and Star Wars, both enthusiastic, have embraced the first two hilarious spoofs,” said Mike Dunn, President, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. “Bringing the distinctive storylines together for the trilogy of parodies has been enormously successful and lends itself to create unique home entertainment releases.”

Find more at the official Facebook page

Win Meet The Parents: Little Fockers T-Shirts!

Win Meet The Parents: Little Fockers T-Shirts!

To celebrate the release of Meet The Parents: Little Fockers (at cinemas December 22, cert TBC) we are offering you the chance to win 1 of 10 Meet The Parents: Little Fockers t-shirts.

The test of wills between Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) and Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) escalates to new heights of comedy in the third installment of the blockbuster series—Little Fockers. Laura Dern, Jessica Alba and Harvey Keitel join the returning all-star cast for a new chapter of the worldwide hit franchise.

It has taken 10 years, two little Fockers with wife Pam (Polo) and countless hurdles for Greg to finally get “in” with his tightly wound father-in-law, Jack. After the cash-strapped dad takes a job moonlighting for a drug company, however, Jack’s suspicions about his favorite male nurse come roaring back.

When Greg and Pam’s entire clan—including Pam’s lovelorn ex, Kevin (Owen Wilson)—descends for the twins’ birthday party, Greg must prove to the skeptical Jack that he’s fully capable as the man of the house. But with all the misunderstandings, spying and covert missions, will Greg pass Jack’s final test and become the family’s next patriarch…or will the circle of trust be broken for good?

How to Win A Meet The Parents: Little Fockers T-Shirt!

1. Retweet this post using the Retweet button - 1 entry.

2. Leave a comment on this post, and tell us why you should win a Little Fockers t-shirt! - 1 entry.

Find out more at www.meettheparentsmovie.co.uk

The competition closes on 22nd December 2010 and is open to UK residents. There will be 10 winners picked from entries on geektown.co.uk and Twitter. By entering this competition, you are agreeing to the rules of this competition. Full rules can be read here.

© 2010 DW STUDIOS L. L. C. and Universal Studios

The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader Premiere with Sky Movies HD

The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader Premiere

It was a cold cold night in ye olde London town on Tuesday, and thanks to the lovely folk at Sky Movies HD we got our newest reporter, Hasan, to don a black tie, brave the cold, and take a stroll down the red carpet for ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader’ Premiere!

THE PREMIERE

As we walked up to Leicester Square, it seemed quiet for a Royal Premiere. It was a freezing cold night, which might explain the relatively small crowd for such a big event. At this point, the decorations were slightly obstructed.

The square was mainly sealed off from the public, with a small area for crowds to watch the stars arrive. We spotted Liam Neeson, Ben Barnes and the film’s director, Michael Apted greeting the crowds. Boy band ‘One Direction’ were in attendance, as well as X Factor winner Joe McElderry, who performed the track he wrote for the film, ‘Someone Wake Me Up’.

We eventually made our way to the ticket gates before Her Royal Highness’ arrival, as the doors had to be closed for her entrance. Once we were through the gates, the evening became enchanting. Going through the other side of the gates felt like going into Narnia through the wardrobe, particularly as the weather ensured that we wore thick winter coats. The decorations and lights were no longer obstructed. Standing on the red carpet amidst a mixture of artificial and real snow within a Narnian themed décor made me feel like I was 8 again.

The film was introduced by Michael Apted, who also introduced a number of the cast members. Will Poulter, who plays Eustace, has clearly sprouted since the film was shot.

VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER REVIEW

The film continues Lucy and Edmund Pevensie’s adventures in Narnia, for them a year after the events in ‘Prince Caspian’ but 3 years later in Narnia, where time moves more quickly. Prince Caspian is now King Caspian and is three years older (as his newly grown beard suggests).

From the film’s opening, it was clear that this was not going to be a faithful adaptation of the C.S. Lewis novel. The dialogue exchanged between the young leads is updated to sound less ‘English’, which is common for a Hollywood film that is expected to recoup a chunk of its cost from an American audience. This could have been subtly done. Instead, C.S. Lewis’s words are largely replaced by clumsy exchanges which are primarily used to bridge the incessant action scenes rather than to develop character. The action scenes are well choreographed and exhilarating.

Controversially, the chronology of events from the novel have been restructured to make King Caspian’s quest more supernatural and action oriented. The novel read like a Narnian take on the Sinbad or Odyssey story. The film felt like a Narnian take on the ‘Pirates Of The Carribean’ movies – character development is abandoned in favour of action and rapid fire editing. The cosiness inside the ship’s cabin is completely lost in Walden Media’s reinvention. In the book, Caspian searches for the seven missing lords of Narnia, an oath he has sworn to himself. In the film, Caspian needs to find the swords belonging to the seven lords and put them all together, which would destroy ‘the dark mist’ which has been plaguing parts of Narnia.

The Pevensie children and Caspian’s experience with the slave trade in the Lone Islands loses all of the novel’s political intrigue. In the novel, Caspian is ‘bought’ by a man who turns out to be one of the missing lords, Bern. The two men work together to overthrow the island’s corrupt Governor. In the film, Bern is a crazy old man imprisoned by the slave traders, and happens to have one of the mystical seven swords on him. The experience on the island is cut short with a skirmish and a quick escape. The sequence would have been much more intriguing had it stuck to the novel. Instead, 2 superfluous characters are introduced – a man and his daughter, whose mother was swallowed by the mist. These 2 characters do nothing to advance the narrative, and are perhaps the weakest addition to the story.

The film’s non stop action prevents most of the cast from giving memorable performances. Most of the cast, including Ben Barnes, spend most of the film running, screaming or fighting. Dialogue was often spoken quickly and theatrically and seemed incidental to the action scenes. I did however get choked up at an emotional exchange between Caspian and Edmund, which makes you wonder why so much of the source material’s human drama was taken out in the adaptation.

The standout character and actor in the film is Eustace, played by Will Poulter. His portrayal of Edmund and Lucy’s cousin differs from the book, where he starts off as a wicked bully who matures as a decent human being in Narnia, after a humbling experience. In the film, he is not so malicious as he is indifferent to everyone around him. In the few scenes he’s in, which are cut short when he turns into a dragon, Poulter demonstrates that he is a talented young actor. There is a great moment in the novel where Eustace tries to steal water onboard the ship and is publicly scolded for this. In the film, a highly dramatic moment turns into yet another action scene, where Eustace has a swashbuckling sword fight with Reepicheep, the talking mouse voice by Simon Pegg.

Sometimes there were so many effects on screen that it looked like an animated film, which took away from the otherwise beautiful cinematography. This was further undermined by the post-converted 3D, which does not have the same feel of Avatar, a film which was shot with advanced stereoscopic cameras.

Despite the radical changes to the novel and the incessant action scenes, it was still an enjoyable experience. 20^th Century Fox, who have taken over the franchise from Disney insisted that the film came in at under 2 hours. The film felt rushed at times and would have benefited from another 30 minutes of drama and character development. Perhaps a more substantial director’s cut will be released on DVD.

7/10 – Different to the novel but an enjoyable experience!

See More about the Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader on Sky!

The December episode of Sky Movies’ The Family Show is a Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader Special, in which host Craig Stevens will bring viewers all the action from the red carpet of the title’s World Premiere in London’s Leicester Square, as well as interviews with the cast and clips from the movie.  The Family Show Narnia Special airs on Sunday 12th December at 2.25pm on Sky Movies Family/HD.

Footage from last nights THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA Premiere

We’ll have a review of the premiere event and movie soon, but here’s some of the official footage from last night’s Royal Premiere of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER: