The Dark Knight Rises: A film review

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - The Dark Knight was a towering success, both financially and critically. After its release, it would become the second highest grossing film in the United States until Avatar came in a year and a half later and knocked it down to third. But what this started was something that was bigger than Batman. What happened was that Warner Brothers funded Christopher Nolan's dream project, Inception, which was also a massive hit, albeit not to the degree as The Dark Knight, but that's to be expected. This showed that the mainstream was no longer just a fan of Batman, but also becoming loyal followers of Nolan himself and his creative output. This adds a certain amount of pressure to the project, after all, Inception was almost as well received by fans as his Batman films. The Dark Knight Rises would have to be a movie to top all movies in order to please everyone.

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Contagion: A film review

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - I'm going to say right now that I'm not a germaphobe (not actually a word apparently). I don't believe in using anti-bacterial soaps on my hands, I certainly don't use that hand sanitizer liquid in the mall, and I only take medication when I'm sick enough that I need to take medication. I believe in my immune system as it's designed to take a bacterial beating in order to get stronger so I can fight off the bigger illnesses when they come around. So... when a film like Contagion comes around I can't help but think twice. And if I'm not a particularly paranoid fellow, I imagine that for those who are very conscious about bacteria and viruses, this film would be terrifying. While many classify this film as a thriller, I would say that it is a full out horror film for germaphobes.

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Midnight in Paris: A film review

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - In many films, cities serve as little more than the background to a story, or perhaps even worse, the city or locale is not even learned by the viewer. Cities like New York City, Los Angeles, London, and Paris are the types of cities that many of us have preconceived notions about, or if we have been to them, we forever have memories that are stirred up when we revisit those cities in film, photo, or discussion. Woody Allen's most recent film (and his 41st film at that) focuses in on Paris, a city that I adore and have visited probably at least eight times now. I had my own ideas about Paris from my travels there and admittedly was a little curious to see how a revered American director would highlight the city.

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Inception: A film review

- Burnaby, British Columbia - Inception is a Christopher Nolan film through and through. His movies tend to focus on aspects of human psychology, (ie. Memento and memory, Batman Begins and fear) and this one focuses on dreams. Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are agents for hire, who sneak into people's dreams to extract information by manipulating the dreamer into divulging secrets or revealing where the physical manifestations of the information lies.

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