Inception quick review.

So...

Inception is one of the most difficult films to explain since, well, the last Leonardo DiCaprio movie, Shutter Island. Part heist film, part globe-trotting spy adventure, part tragic love story, with a heavy dose of The Matrix, it's a movie set in a near perpetual dream world (similar to the actual Matrix in The Matrix), but it's not a movie about dreams per se. Dreams are the back drop here, and the movie examines the way they effect us and the way we effect them. But director Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight) is more interested in focusing on the demons that haunt our subconscious than on the nature of dreams themselves.

DiCaprio plays Don Cobb, who leads a veritable "dream" team of corporate spies who break into very important people's heads to steal ideas when they are most vulnerable: during their sleep. The term inception refers to the concept of planting an idea into someone's head, like if, say, you want a CEO to think sell instead of buy. It's a nearly impossible feat, but DiCaprio takes the job anyway once he is given the chance to clear his name for a crime he didn't commit years earlier. Ellen Page plays the newest member of his team, and is thus saddled with all the scenes where the film attempts to explain, via Page, the technology that allows DiCaprio and his crew to perform these mind crimes. Most of the time the film is vague and nonsensical about how they do any of this, but the visuals are so incredible (M.C. Escher meets Stanley Kubrick) that you hardly care while waiting for the next scene.

Page is the the odd-man out, both in the course of the story and acting wise. The smug sarcasm she displayed in Juno (and every film since) is barely concealed here and with her dopey teenage looks she comes across as an amateur among professionals. Otherwise, Nolan does a great job populating the film with a mixture of familiar and not-so-recognizable faces who all gel together so flawlessly you almost have trouble deciding who you like watching more. DiCaprio, as always, makes a strong case and Joseph Gordon-Levitt (TV's Third Rock from the Sun) pulls out all the stops, perhaps none more so than during a gravity defying sequence in which he has to wrangle several sleeping bodies down an elevator shaft.

The beauty of Inception is that it isn't needlessly complicated. Though throughout the course of the story Nolan takes us further down the rabbit hole (dreams within dreams within dreams) he manages to find ways to keep everything clear for the viewer. Although one doesn't need to see Inception multiple times to "get" it, the movie is worth seeing again and again simply for the scope and beauty of it all. Nolan has created a near-perfect adventure movie for thinkers; a more nuanced and grounded version of The Matrix sans the oppressive machines.

Best viewed: the bigger the screen, the better.

Covert Affairs - Episode 2 - quick review

So...

I tuned in for the second episode of USA's new series Covert Affairs, following last week's better than average pilot. Sad to say this week's outing was a big, fat letdown. The story wasn't engaging and was downright boring at times, the ending was predictable, and Augie, the blind CIA agent, is quickly becoming one of my least favorite characters on TV. For one thing he's too smug and always has this knowing smile on his face like he's better than everyone. On the "it's ridiculous for a blind guy to be doing this" front, Augie teaches Annie (the new agent) how to fight up close and personal so that she doesn't get her butt kicked. Occasionally, the writers seem to remember that he can't see and on one occasion solve that problem by simply saying "I guessed" after he tells Annie she is doing a good job with her boxing lessons and she asks, "how would you know?"

There's also a new character introduced who adds nothing to the show's dynamic. Played by Sendhil Ramamurthy (Mohinder on Heroes) he literally drags every scene down he's in with a flat performance. Also, his character doesn't seem to have a strong enough role to keep him around, other than his orders to keep an eye on Annie in case her mysterious and possibly dangerous ex-lover shows up. Like there aren't a million other ways to do that without adding someone to the cast.

While the pilot offered a potentially worthy replacement to Alias, the follow-up seemed instead like a poor man's copy of the later show. Even Piper Perabo, who was admittedly less mundane this week, improved her acting only by mimicking Alias heroine Sydney Bristow's (Jennifer Garner's) facial expressions and mannerisms. Let's not forget that so far the mysterious and possibly dangerous ex-lover is a variation of the mysterious and possibly dangerous absent father that Sydney Bristow dealt with.

There are, of course, a few interesting bits, like where Annie is learning spy techniques on the fly, such as how to pick certain kinds of locks. In the case of the locks, though, it almost feels like a last minute script addition and thus a missed opportunity to really flesh out this idea of what it would really be like to be a rookie CIA agent. It's as if the writers can't figure her character out yet. One minute she needs to be be shown how to open a door, the next she is the only one at the CIA who can see the truth about the case they are working on (never mind the fact that the audience realizes something is amiss even before she does).

Second episodes are usually where a series can either spread its wings and fly or collapse under the weight of its own concept. Covert Affairs seems to be a case of the later. I'll check out next week's offering, but if it's as lackluster as episode 2 I'll probably bail on this show.

Verdict: fading fast.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice quick review.

So...

According to the credits of The Sorcerer's Apprentice 6 different people worked on the movie's story. That doesn't include the countless other names associated with the script who didn't receive credit. This isn't untypical for a big Hollywood release, as often the film is rushed into production to meet a release date picked out before shooting even commences, not to mention all the talking heads, AKA creative executives, involved in the project who can't make up their minds about the direction of the screenplay - thus the necessity for several different writers. With a few talented ones, the mash-up of ideas, pages and story beats can come together flawlessly. With less talented scripters, however, the result can be quite messy. Such is the case with The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which feels like three competing scripts all patched together by a broken wand.

Oddly enough, the movie starts well, presenting itself as a breezy, FX laden fantasy about dueling magicians - one good, one evil - who are trying to find the last descendant of Merlin, a boy who offers the only hope of stopping the greatest Sorceress ever to have lived, Morgana la Fey (of King Arthur fame), who is fated to return and enslave the Earth under her dark spell. One magician wants to kill the boy, the other wants to train him. You can probably guess from the movie's title who gets to him first.

The first half of the film is solid. There's a couple forced jokes, mostly to unnecessarily lighten up Nicolas Cage's good magician, but the pacing is spot on and the characters are all likable, charming or deliciously evil, as called for. The sorcerers perform a few clever tricks that should wow the audience, including a nifty sword fight where the combatants are on opposite sides of the room, and there's also an ingenious way of trapping the spirits of various dark sorcerers. At times, the magic itself gets a bit too unfocused, to the point of "if they can do that, why can't they do this," but the director keeps things moving so that one hardly has time to reflect on it for long.

It's really the back half of the film, after the apprentice's actual training begins, that things start to unwind. One minute the young apprentice, played by Judd Apatow regular bit player Jay Baruchel, displays no skills, the next he is able to conjure a magic plasma ball in no time flat. I know he's the chosen one and all, but it would have been more believable had the film set up his abilities earlier on, especially since the first time we meet him he is only ten years old.

The acting also begins to go downhill from this point on, with Cage unsure whether to play the magician comically or seriously. His role is eventually just diminished, as if the director could no longer make up his mind if his character is a help or a hindrance to the story and just decided to cut most of his lines.

Baruchel, of course, meets up again with the dream girl he first met at ten and for some reason begins channelling a bad impression of Woody Allen. She's gorgeous and, in typical Hollywood fashion, falls for his goofy looks and nebbish behavior; her fate is as predictable as the direction a rabbit is pulled from a hat. It's a shame that after such a promising start the film decided to go with such a conventional third act.

The ending also feels rushed, as if everyone was looking at their watches and trying to jam in as much as possible. A little breathing room would have been welcome between all the magical frenzy. It got so bad that I couldn't tell if certain resolutions were left unclear on purpose (sequel?) or if it was just bad editing.

Judging by the quality of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, I wouldn't hold my breath for a part two.

Best viewed: free on TV, on a very slow family night.

Covert Affairs quick review.

So...

Last night, USA premiered it's big new summer show entitled "Covert Affairs." It's about a pretty young CIA trainee, played by Piper Perabo, who is suddenly thrust into the spy limelight before her training is officially complete. Chaos and close-calls ensue.

Perabo, who is perhaps most famous for playing the "new dancer" in "Coyote Ugly," is mundane, but watchable in the role, a sort of Sydney Bristow-lite. Her character is surprisingly flirtatious, a reversal on the James Bond stereotype. Though unlike Bond, she is written to be tougher than she looks, the typical female hottie who kicks butt despite her perfect figure. Still, there are a few scenes where she displays the appropriate wide-eyed wonder and fear to sell the idea of a rookie agent under fire for the first time. It's also nice that the writers allow her to make some critical mistakes early on that a more seasoned agent would clearly avoid.

A few other characters round out an interesting cast. There's the married CIA Director who may or may not be cheating on his wife, who happens to also be the trainee's boss. There's also Anne Dudek (formerly "cutthroat bitch" on House), who portrays the trainee's sister, and takes what should be the least interesting part of the show (that of the person who has nothing to do but set the trainee up on dates) and manages to turn the role into the show's heart. I can't say the same for a character called Augie, a blind CIA agent who is quickly partnered with the trainee. Though he carries around a piece of technology that allows him to navigate his surroundings easily enough (a little too easily), and his office computer comes with a handy braille keypad, it's still as preposterous as the idea of a blind secret agent sounds, and at times, in fact, downright laughable, like when he manages to pick up all the hot chicks when he goes out because, as a blind man, he doesn't judge them based on their looks. Please...

Still, despite it's shortcomings, the pilot offers a satisfying escape for an hour, mixing sexual interplay with espionage and intrigue as the trainee out fights and out thinks various bad guys in an effort to track down a missing Russian assassin. Though there are a few predictable beats along the way, the story mostly zigs when you expect it to zag. In a summer of reruns and reality, it's quite refreshing.

Verdict: Not exactly appointment TV yet, but worth checking out during a slow summer TV season.

Haven quick review.

So...

You know a show has problems when actor Eric Balfour (pictured above) is the best thing about it. You see, based on his track record (Hawaii, Conviction) Balfour is known as something of a pilot killer in the TV industry, and judging by the look of his new show, that trend seems destined to continue. Only this time, surprisingly, Balfour is not the one to blame.

This week, SyFy premiered "Haven," about a pretty young FBI agent (of course) who is sent to catch a fugitive headed to a small coastal Maine town called Haven, only to discover some of the town residents possess superpowers. Sounds like an interesting concept. Too bad the show goes nowhere with it.

Word is that all the town residents actually have super-abilities, but the pilot fails to inform us of this. It also fails to give us a purpose for the show to continue, as it basically ends, spoiler alert, with the main character (the cute FBI chick) taking some vacation time to stay in Haven. She does this because she stumbled upon a picture of a woman who looks just like her, though taken some fifty years in the past, and she wants to investigate this mysterious photo since she knows so little about her own past. I suppose we can assume that the FBI girl will also get caught up in various town supernatural events, but since the pilot fails to make that clear it's only a guess.

There's actually a similar show on SyFy right now called Eureka, about a town inhabited by people who are all geniuses that invent various cool gadgets, which often get the town's sheriff into trouble. On paper Haven basically takes that concept and swaps the super-smart with the super-powered, only in the later's case it's a whole lot more boring.

While Eureka has it's moments of charm and spunk, Haven plods along with bad dialogue and listless storylines. For example, the fugitive plot is muddled by a mediocre thread about a boyfriend out to kill his girl for a very small sum of money, which, when you think about it, doesn't make sense given the time and effort he put into their relationship. There's also the start of a love triangle between the federal agent, the town's deputy and the laconic drifter played by Eric Balfour (the aforementioned pilot killer). While the deputy and the FBI agent (actress Emily Rose) sputter together, the few scenes between Balfour and Rose offer just about the only source of spark in this otherwise dreary place.

Visually, sitting through Haven is like observing dull paint dry. The cinematography is drab and gray, as if the cameraman decided to turn out all the lights and then put a tarp over the camera itself. The locations all feel confined, in a cheap sort of way, rather than the claustrophobic look I'm sure the director intended. Stopping into Haven gave me the same sense I imagine you have when driving along an old highway and you encounter engine trouble, thereby forced to pull off the road and into the kind of run-down, one-star town where you just can't wait to get the car fixed and get the heck out of, never to come back to again. Thankfully, with Haven, I can just change the channel.

Verdict: Save yourself the trip.

Is Arizona a racist state?

So...

Arizona is my home state. It is also my home. I may have lived in Los Angeles for many years now, but Arizona will always be where my heart lies. Right now, it's mixed up in a whole heap of controversy because of it's enforcement of a certain law that states that police officers have the right to ask for identification of anyone suspected of committing crimes or being stopped for traffic violations. Notice how I said enforcement, not interpretation or even making up. You see, the law already exists, Arizona is simply carrying it out.

In doing so the police officers, Local and State Government officials, and policy makers in AZ are being labeled as racists. Asking for an ID is suddenly the equivalent of asking for papers in Nazi occupied France? Please, don't cops usually ask for ID when they pull people over? I don't know what state other critics of this law live in, but where I am they most certainly do. Now, if the police were to pull people over for no reason, then yes, that is a violation of the law, but I've seen that happen regardless of someones skin color. Heck, a cop in California (of the "we shall boycott Arizona" petition) once pulled me over because I had out of state plates at the time and they wanted to check me out because, apparently, some criminal had fled across the California border in a stolen car that matched my car's description. This was even though I had done nothing wrong driving-wise and didn't even have the same license plate as the wanted felon. I was happy to comply, because I was innocent and in my own way I was contributing to catching a supposed bad guy. If you have done nothing wrong or are not "up to no good," then you have nothing to worry about.

Arizona is a truly beautiful state, nothing short of a desert paradise with clean skies, lots of open space and friendly people. Phoenix is a big city, but it doesn't feel congested or enclosed the way LA does. And Scottsdale is a haven for resort town lifestyle. But underneath all that is a dangerous criminal element. Due to it's proximity to the Mexican border, there are concerns for human and drug trafficking. The police do an incredible job of keeping this element tucked away from public sight, something LA (who is so critical of Arizona's enforcement of the law) has been unable to do. Consequently, Phoenix/Scottsdale feels like a safer place to live. Maybe LA shouldn't worry so much about criticising other places, like Arizona, but should concentrate on their own troubles. Then again, all the noise they are making over this Arizona issue does detract from their problems, such as being broke. But at least in LA they have an understanding of the threat of illegal immigration. Other places, like Washington DC, which is located nowhere near the border, are planning to actually sue Arizona for enforcing the law. Talk about a waste of money. If you want to try changing the law or coming up with a political solution, fine, but suing? Can we really afford that right now, Washington? And President Obama has yet to come down to AZ and speak with our Reps and the police and see the border threat first-hand.

Supporting this law does not make someone a racist. It's simply the right thing to do. It's an attempt to control the influx of illegal (as in breaking the law) immigrants in order to better serve the people that are here legally. Maybe once we toughen up on enforcing the law and decrease the incoming illegal immigrant population, we can do something to properly accommodate all the aliens that are already here, to say nothing about the drugs and humans being smuggled over the state line. It's also the right thing to do for all the people that came here legally, paid their dues and sacrificed. What kind of message does it send if we wave aside with a wink and a smile the people that came here illegally, but still ask the people that are following the law to stick with it?

People say this is America, a nation of immigrants. And we can still be that country! But we have to be realistic. Being a nation of immigrants doesn't mean being a nation of illegal immigrants. What's more, we just can't afford it anymore.