Monday, July 19, 2010

Tom Wilkinson- he keeps popping up

Well, here it is... I was watching Michael Clayton (soon to be reviewed, but don't wait for me, do see it), and I realized that I had been thinking that Tom Wilkinson has been popping up very frequently in movies I've seen in the last decade or so, or it least seems like it. And he's very good indeed in each one of them.

According to his IMDB biography, he was born in 1948 and has been a popular character actor. He first became quite popular with The Full Monty. Well, I ask you, who wouldn't? Actually, I did like that movie, he was a real teddy bear. He was fun to watch and quite daring after all. It's tough to find one's dignity when one is on line for the dole.

Here are some of his movies:
1997: The Full Monty
1997: Smilla's Sense of Snow (never saw it, couldn't finish the book)
1997: Oscar & Lucinda (guess I should see it now)
1998: Rush Hour- Oh- Jackie Chan!
1998: Shakespeare In Love, Tom was great!
2000: The Patriot- to tell the truth, I was watching Heath
2002: The Importance of Being Earnest- very good in that
2003: The Girl With the Pearl Earring- the Vermeer Painting as a movie
2004: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind- Fabulous
Batman Begins- he plays Carmine- the bad guy, and gets all bat beat up!
The Ghost Writer- ok, I forgot to look up who he plays, but Eben Young is in that movie and Eben is absolutely wonderful. If you are a casting director, you should hire Eben.
And, after that, Tom Wilkinson.
Oh- and Tom was on the money in Michael Clayton. Scintillating performance. A must see.

Inception- A Film By Christopher Nolan

I need to give you a heads up- I love Christopher Nolan's work, at least the movies I've seen. There are a couple I need to get to. Mr. Nolan's first movie is Following and I haven't seen that nor have I seen The Prestige. I also need to see Insomnia, though I've seen bits and pieces of it. However, I think I've seen most everything else and I think he is just fabulous. Christopher Nolan is a director who also writes or co-writes most of his films. This includes:
Memento (based on a short story Memento Mori written by his brother Jonathan)
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
AND.......
Inception

Inception has just come out during summer blockbuster time. I'm not sure why. But I am very glad it did. Considering all the usual movies that are out this time of year, it is quite delightful to have a serious, thoughtful, challenging movie that is well written, well plotted, emotionally enriched and has tons of battle-play and explosions. Its cinematography is gorgeous, the camera work very cool.....

It's Oscar material.

And the acting was good. Leo DeCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (he's not the younger brother on Third Rock from the Sun anymore), Ellen Page (Juno), Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy (the bad doctor from Batman Begins), Tom Berenger, the gorgeous Marion Cotillard, Pete Postlethwaite, and the inimitable Michael Caine.

Hans Zimmer was in charge of original music. Note that during the film, certain songs are played- these are Edith Piaf, the songbird of the French. Cinematography was once more in the hands of Wally Phister who has worked with Christopher Nolan before and their partnership is very much appreciated.

It's July and suddenly, I can't wait for Oscar Season. I loved this movie. Let's hope it doesn't get lost in the sands of summer.