After The Dark Knight became one of the top summer movies of all time, and one of my personal favorites, everyone’s focus went to Christopher Nolan and what he would do next. The man has certainly developed his own style and Inception, his latest, just cements his position as the most interesting director working today. Here is a director that can make a smart, powerful and entertaining summer blockbuster without making the audience feel like they’re being led by the hand through the whole story, which is a rare thing.
Inception is all about the mind and the dreams therein. Leo DiCaprio plays a man whose speciality is to infiltrate people’s minds and extract whatever vital information that’s there, in this case the head of an energy corporation, a man plagued by the death of his father and their torturous relationship that they had; Leo and his other partners’s are trying to plant an idea into his mind so that he will dissolve his company, in so making their rival the only true power in the energy business. This isn’t easy and involves going into his mind and trying to influence him while fighting off his own mental defenses, portrayed as goons with guns.
It’s intelligent and very, very interesting and for all it’s clever, thought-provoking ideas it still manages to have plenty of action and some brilliant set-pieces, including a scene where a train rolls down the middle of a road without any tracks and the money-maker, where a whole city folds itself in half. I was a little disappointed that Nolan went the shaky-cam route with this rather than his steady camerawork of the Batman films. I prefer to see what’s going on in a scene without the editing going past so fast that you can barely tell what’s going on; it’s a modern cinema thing and the sooner they kill it the better movies will be. Despite the shaky-cam these scenes are amazing and just goes to show that CGI has come to such a level that it no longer looks like CGI: it looks real, and when you can imagine whatever you want and have it appear on-screen straight from memory, that is incredible.
Every member of the cast is excellent in this film with DiCaprio professionally keeping it rock solid as the lead. He’s an actor who can really deliver a movie single-handed and even though he’s just a part of an ensemble cast he is the standout.
It is the best movie of the summer so go see it then try to remember your dreams that night.

In the timeframe of a little over a month I’ve went from having no Apple products to having an ipod touch, an macbook pro, an ipod shuffle and my shiny new iPhone 3GS. I am officially skint, but is it all worth it? Damn right it is.
It started with the macbook pro:

I wanted a new laptop so I could get back into my writing and since then…I kind of have, but this is the best laptop (or macbook, although I believe it is still considered a laptop) I have ever owned. From the brushed aluminium casing, which feels totally solid and looks gorgeous compared to that slightly iffy white plastic macbooks, to the little details like the battery indicator on the side and the lit-up keyboard; I’m writing this right now in total darkness and I can see perfectly because of this beauty of a keyboard so, in a way, the macbook is saving me money. The battery indicator is very cool because even if it’s not on you can always find out how much battery is left by pressing the button whereupon several lights will come up showing you how much you’ve got left. It’s these sorts of little details that make a good product great.

I bought this out of the Apple store and I have to say one thing: I have a new favourite store. The staff are extra friendly and will help you with anything that you might need, answer any question you may have and even set up your iPhone in-store. They also set up classes and things like that in case you need hep with your new computer, which is great although I do believe it costs money. And, again, there is little details that make it great: when I was buying it I was aked if I wanted my reciept printed or e-mailed, which is very forward-thinking so now I have a permanent reciept in my inbox that I can print off whenever I need it which is handy for someone like myself who loses things on a semi-regular basis.

The box for the Macbook Pro 13-Inch

The box it came in was surprisingly small; Apple now use as little packaging as possible and what they do use they make eco-friendly. More forward-thinking from Apple.

The gym bag-style thing they put it in

After buying and loving the Macbook Pro 13-incher my friend from the workplace decided to sell his ipod touch first generation so I bought it because it was a good deal. I didn’t really use it but what it made me do was want an iPhone which I have just had for a week and I might just write a separate post for, at which point I probably will have the Apple logo tattooed to my butt.
And I also bought an ipod shuffle, the reasoning being that I would use it in the gym except I’ve been incredibly lazy so I’ve not been since I bought it. The sound seems pretty good from an mp3 player that is smaller than my pinky but I can’t really say how it is during intense gym sessions but I may not even use it since I got the iPhone, which is lighter than I expected. I will see.
Anyway, I’m now skint on the way up to Christmas after buying all this for myself and I still have many presents to purchase. Oh dear, maybe I’ll ask Steve Jobs for a job.