ThotLog

Well it's cloudy today, so I went walking and actually missed the bright, hot, and opressive sun. Gnats. They fly in swarms at head level above sidewalks. And even as you try to pass them they follow. Why do they fucking follow?! Seriously, I can't deal with it. I hate bugs.

Movie Review: Inception

This movie is not quite as complicated as many seem to think. It is however convoluted. A lot of this isn't meritorious, and is instead a result of storytelling that throws concepts out left and right without explaining much. Lots of mumbled dialogue makes processing what's going on a little slower than it should be as well.

It's actually quite straightforward. It's a long movie though, perhaps longer than it really needed to be. It has a weakness, and that was in the idea of these totems. It's a weakness because so much seems to revolve around the main character's totem, a top. In some early scenes he spins it and then picks it back up while it's still spinning, clearly not needing to know whether or not it would fall, yet later on we are taunted with the idea that whether or not it falls is what's important. Through dialogue we are told that no one else can touch your totem, but no reason why, and nor does that rule come into any sort of importance during the film.

The movie is about dream sharing, if you could not tell from the trailers. But it's not a shared space you inhabit, it's a single person's dream. The movie seems to indicate that the main character's dream is the one everyone goes into, yet no reason why it's his head is ever given, and yet there are good reasons to NOT use his head.

The movie tends to make up a few things as it goes along. Normally wouldn't be a flaw except before it does this, it sets up clear sets of rules and concepts that don't seem entirely consistent the more the story evolves. Sorry for the vagueness, but I don't want to spoil anything in particular. I could actually point out more stuff, but just go see it instead.

Movie Review: Salt

Despite the trailers and the 'who is Salt' campaign, this isn't much of a mindbender, nor are there really any big twists or mysteries. There might be a moment or two where the viewer isn't quite sure about the main character's intentions, but those moments pass quickly enough.

I liked it a lot. It was sort of like a female American Bond movie. Well, more like the Craig Bonds, maybe not so much of a resemblance to the older Bond movies. There is actually one twist near the end that caught me a little off guard, but the movie cheated by having this guy mutter to himself "what are you doing, Salt?" when if he is who he is revealed to be, he would know exactly what she was doing. Not a fan of cheating to fool the audience.