The Importance of Inception

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The importance of the movie Inception may be overlooked by most people, but during a year of commercial and critical flops, Christopher Nolan's latest outing may be more important to the state of film than you realize.

The year of 2010 has been inundated with movies based on existing properties, a trend that has become more and more popular over the past decade.  Revivals of 80's properties, sequels, graphic novel/comic book and video game adaptations rule the box office and seem to be the only safe bets with studios these days.  Movies like The A-Team, Predators, The Last Airbender, Prince of Persia, Twilight, Toy Story 3, Clash of the Titans and Iron Man 2 just to name a few.

Studios feel safe with these movies because they know that there is an audience out there willing to spend money to see these films. This is based on our past attachments to the original properties.  Now I am not against film adaptations or sequels, some of the top classics like The Godfather Part 2, Aliens and Terminator 2 all fall into that category. But something needs to be said about the current state of fear the studios are in when it comes to taking a chance with a fresh new property.

The fact that many of the adapted movies listed above were critical and box office flops, like the Last Airbender, hopefully will lessen the confidence studios have in these types of films.  Did you know that they are currently making movie versions of Monopoly, Battleship and even Rock-em Sock-em Robots? That’s how crazy this is getting.

Inception however is based on nothing but Chris Nolan's own original ideas and boy is it ever a joy to watch unfold on screen.  He delves deep into our minds, exploring our dreams in a visual masterpiece that needs to be seen to be believed. And it also happens to be killing at the box office.  Now granted after The Dark Knight and the prospect of Batman 3, Nolan was given an unlimited budget and freedom to make whatever he wanted, but I think we are all better off because of it.

Studios and moviegoers need to open themselves up to new works.  Inception proves that all you need is one great idea and someone willing to take a risk to create something amazing.  Movies are art, and if all art were as a safe as the current trend in movies, we would be living in a boring world.  So go out and check out independent movies at the Broadway Theatre and the Roxy, you might be pleasantly surprised at what you find. Oh and of course go see Inception tonight if you haven't yet, I plan on seeing it again.

How do you guys feel about the current state of movies and what did you think of Inception? Do you agree or disagree with me? Id love to hear your thoughts.

 

 

Heavy Rain Pt 2 - Mother Natures Revenge

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Rain, rain, rain.  Unless you have been living under a rock this summer you probably have noticed we have had a ridiculous amount of rain across the province.  In fact even if you were under that rock you would probably be in a small lake by now.

And its not as though its just a light drizzle either.  We have been hit with down pours, high winds, hail and even an F3 tornado outside of Regina this past Friday.  Yorkton had so much rain that over 70% of all houses have been flooded and this was the same down in Maple Creek earlier this spring.  In fact I don't know if we have gone longer than 3 days without a rain of some sort.

With all the flooding, tornado's, wind and hail, some areas of the province have been qualified for disaster relief.  Many farmers in certain areas are not going to be able to make ends meet this year with no source of income, not to mention all the residents who will have extensive damage to their homes.  In fact SGI estimates $50 million in damages so far across the province.  There is some relief however as the government is kicking in some money for these families.

If you have flooding in your basement, head to the City of Saskatoon website HERE to see if you are eligible for finical assistance. 

In addition there will be a Flood Relief Concert on Monday July 19th at the Third Ave United Church featuring some great talent.  The playbill consists of Andrea Menard, Jay Semko, Eileen Laverty, Jeff Straker, Codie Prevost, Carrie Catherine and Stephen Maguire.  Tickets are available at PICATIC.com or McNally Robinson.
For more information about this concert click HERE.

This is a great way to lend a helping hand to your neighbor, friends, family or even complete stranger who live across this great province.  In times of need we are known internationally for our generosity, so lets be sure we live up to that name!

Ps. On a lighter note, how about that Rider Game?! Wow!