Inception

Inception is an event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events. This definition gives a hint as to what might be going on in this film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, that is if you can hang with this muddled plot which goes off in all directions at the same time.

DiCaprio is assisted in this caper by Ellen Page who floats through the mayhem and madness with a faint smile that changes into a worried look, then becomes that of a placid bystander. Not a lot of acting required for that role. She travels with DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe and Cilian Murphy as they play with mind control sequences as a form of corporate espionage. They invade the dreams of wealthy folks to dig up tightly guarded secrets. After absorbing that news you are on your own trying to translate the endless gun battles, chase sequences, explosive eruptions, buildings collapsing into the sea, people floating around the room and bouncing off the walls and ceilings while supposedly dreaming.

Every possible pyrotechnic mechanism is used to move the action along as the characters appear in six or more different locations, finally ending up landing at Los Angles Airport for the resolution of this two and a half hour contest to see whether the viewers are going to hang all the way through with this crowd or beat it to the nearest bar to try to sort out what it was that the writer/director Christopher Nolan had in mind.

The guest, a sophisticated film fan who accompanied this scribe, unscrambled himself out of his seat and wobbled out to the lobby with a sigh of relief. He searched his memory bank and shaking his head finally commented: “That Christopher Nolan is one sick dude.”

The best parts of the film according this duo were the sequences showing the rapidity with which the Japanese Bullet trains move.

Slogging through this piece it is easy to conclude that messin’ with dreams leads to a nightmare.

South of The Border

Oliver Stone's latest film, “South of the Border,” is an interesting survey of an emerging international trend that is taking place with our neighbors in the Southern Hemisphere. He begins his project as a road trip with a camera crew taping interviews of selected presidents. This effort paints an idealistic portrait of the "benovelent dictator," Hugo Chavez of Venezuela who receives an abundance of screen time leaving the viewer wondering if this is all there is to the documentary? Stone provides more information than we need to know about Chavez and his political manoevers and very little about the social and/or economic ills affecting that population. Finally he moves to other countries in that hemisphere where we see those presidents in conversation with Stone as they discuss their challenges and accomplishments.

Leaders interviewed are Néstor Kirchner- Argentina - who preceded his wife Christina as president; Evo Morales - Bolivia; Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva- Paraguay; Rafael Correa - Ecuador: and Raúl Castro - Cuba.

Several incidents give background information about the mounting disconnect these countries have with the USA. There is the revealing comment ex-president Kirchner had with George W. Bush who became irate when he wouldn't follow his financial advice on how to help his economy recover. Bush told him the way to improve financial problems was through war, not a Marshall Plan type aid program. Evo Morales recalled that his people rose up against the previous administration when they sold the water supply of Cochabamba to the Bechtel Group. This ornery corporation had that govenment pass a law forbidding poor people to collect rainwater! Mr. Correa spoke of encountering pressure from the United States to maintain a military base in Ecuador by agreeing to it only if the United States allowed Ecuador to establish one in Miami.

After wandering through this exercise, we realize most of the above had to take drastic steps to disengage from the USA and are quite pleased with how they function now. Nestor Kirchner reminded Stone that Simon Bolivar was the hero of South American who managed to save seven countries from the yoke of the Spanish king. His fellow compatriots see themselves now as "Bolivians" with their own governments, independent of others that would be inclined to tinker with their governmental functions and lifestyle. Kirchner also forsees a possible South American Union, similar to the one in Europe with a common economy, common currency and a common market. Rinse off the whitewash Stone has painted on Hugo Chavez and see if you think Kirchner's dream is a possiblity.