The perspective the ‘Super 8′ poster presents is fantastic. I saw ‘Super 8′ today (opening day!) and it was worth it. It’s hard to forget the film is directed by J.J. Abrams thanks to his love for lens flares. The strongest aspect of the film was the talented young cast, who portray a group of enthusiastic filmmakers – “that was mint!” – and provide some refreshing humor for the summer blockbuster season.
There’s also a fantastic hand-drawn poster circulating that is really nice.
View the fan-made poster »
The fourth season of Friday Night Lights ended its season four run on NBC this past Friday, calling for a mandatory blog post! The show has been one of my favorites since its first season aired in 2006. Set in the fictional, football-obsessed small town of Dillon, Texas, Friday Night Lights is a show with a combination of stunning realism and heart. Friday Night Lights is ultimately neither about football nor Texas — both of which have undoubtedly discouraged viewers from watching — but about its characters.
Coach and Tami Taylor are one of the best portrayals of marriage on television, ever, and I am thrilled that Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton finally received Emmy noms for their portrayals. All the original characters have been amazing — Matt, Tim, Smash, Julie, Lyla, Landry, etc. The transition of television characters graduating high school is always a tough feat, but FNL pulled off the transition very well despite a 13-episode season. Most notable is Vince, who has finally found an opportunity to escape his troubled environment for a brighter future. I especially also like Luke but wished we could have seen more development. I do miss JD McCoy and even his father, because they were great characters in season three. I look forward to seeing these characters even further developed in the show’s fifth and final season, which will air on DirecTV in the winter first, as it did this past season. I will forever be grateful to DirecTV for saving FNL from ending at season three and guaranteeing a solid ending to the series.
From the soundtrack to the background scenery (only fitting that FNL was filmed in Texas itself), Friday Night Lights is a beautiful piece of television history, its inspiring and touching stories far outweighing any shortcomings. (Although, I, too, like to pretend a certain season two storyline ever occurred.) I can’t resist sharing some great commentary on the season four finale at Time and NY Mag blogs.
If you have never watched Friday Night Lights, here’s your chance: ABC Family is airing the series from the beginning, starting in September. ABC Family is a good fit for the show, especially with its recent success, and here’s hoping it’ll create a greater fanbase for the show.
I’ve been a fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt for quite some time, so naturally I would have gone out to see the recently-released Inception for that sole reason. However, Inception sounded promising from the start. Considering Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (2008) and Memento (2000) are among the most memorable films I have seen, I was intrigued that he would be directing Inception.
Add the excellent cast, and there was really a slim chance of Inception ever failing. Leonardo DiCaprio is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors of the last decade, and with 22 films listed as in development on IMDb, he has a lengthy career ahead of him as well. DiCaprio not only has the star power to gain publicity for the film, but also has the talent to play its central character. Aside from DiCaprio and Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page and Marion Cotillard are fantastic in their roles, and though less important, I enjoyed Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine’s performances as well.
Inception is certainly fast-paced. It hardly felt like the 2 hours and 28 minutes that it lasts. It is an action-packed thriller with stunning visual effects, a deeply tortured main character, and a depth in story that unravels little by little. It is every bit worthy of being this summer’s hit blockbuster. I know, in several of the reviews I have read, there is criticism about the unoriginality or mechanical nature of Nolan’s conception of dreams. But Inception‘s greatest strength is its exploration of reality, not dreams. From the very beginning, and until the very end, you are forced to question: how much is real? From this perspective, the film fully succeeded.
A memorable quote from the film: “Dreams feel real while we’re in them. It’s only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange.”
On a side note, I really like the posters for Inception.
View the posters for Inception »
