I caught a few films of note recently (two in the theatre, no less). Martin Scorsese’s The Departed is absolutely great. I’d love to see it a second time. Everyone puts in an amazing performance. I’m a huge fan of his work, and this is among his best. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and (“Marky”) Mark Wahlberg. Snatches of the dialog will be running through your head long after its over, especially those between Wahlberg and Alex Baldwin.
Christopher Nolan rocks. I don’t think I’ve seen a film by him that I didn’t like. I saw The Prestige yesterday, and it’s good stuff. It is a film with a big reveal ending, so go see it before some dunce spoils it for you. It stars Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Cain, and Scarlett Johansson. It features some fine acting and an intricate plot. It’s a very suspenseful film.
On the small screen, I caught The Island, a sci-fi/action flick with Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson that’s great despite the fact that it was directed by Michael Bay, who has made a career of directing big-budget crap. This is big budget, too, but–amid all the over-the-top chase scenes and things blowing up–it also has a compelling story. I’m a sucker for dystopian sci-fi flicks in general (Bladerunner and Gattaca being two of my all-time favorites). So I would be predisposed to like this film, but I think I would have liked it anyway.
There’s been some controversy about The Island‘s allegedly liberal borrowings from other films. I caught some obvious echos to previous films myself, though I haven’t seen (or don’t think I’ve seen) The Clonus Horror, whose makers are suing for copyright infringement. I’d have to see that one to make a real comparison, though I tend to think that borrowing is part and parcel of artistic creating in general.