The Prestige

OH, GOOD FOR YOU.

The Prestige in only the third act. At least that's what we're told by Michael Caine in his opening monologue. It's more a set of instructions for the film, we'll discover, but that's a later point. Every magic trick comes in three parts. One - the pledge: in which you give the audience something real to hold onto. Two - the turn: in which you take that something and turn into something impossible, the part where the magic lies. Three - the prestige: in which everything comes back to normal, and the audience (hopefully) cheers. Usually, magic is all about sleight of hand and misdirection. Christopher Nolan is great at that; recall the difficult but astonishing Memento. There's a pledge, a turn, and a prestige in that. But, here, in The Prestige, we live in the turn, while the pledge is revealed to us in flashbacks, and then the prestige isn't what the prestige is supposed to be, but rather something that cheats and gives an easy out. 

Still, though, the pledge and the turn make the film exciting and the thriller it should be. Don't be fooled - this film isn't strictly about magicians. It's a cat-and-mouse game about two men obsessed with one-upping each other and destroying both of themselves in the process. 

More after the cut--

Hereafter, and Others on DVD This Week

Weeks like this, for DVD releases, fascinate me. Three DVDs that match the spectrum of viewership - excellent, middling, and awful. The Fighter, Hereafter, and The Switch. The real question, however, is which is worth the twenty you'll have to shell out to pick one up. Or... the four or five you'll have to toss down to rent one from Blockbuster. Or get for free from Netflix. Or a buck at RedBox.  That in mind, the more important question, which is worth the time?

So, time and money in mind, let's take a look at each release.





In this corner, we have David O Russell's boxing autobiography The Fighter. I remember when the trailer hit the web, and people were immediately divided between love and hate for what Christian Bale's performance promised to be. It was an exercise in pure method gain (and weight loss?). Personally, and the Academy agreed, I found it to be intoxicating and brutal, with moments of hilarity that the actor hasn't had a chance to stretch in years. The performance is legend, and for my money, with the price of admission and certainly worth the time. For a full review, click here.

More after the cut --

Critics' Choice Awards are in!

And while it hasn't exactly been a frustrating year in terms of predicting the imminent Oscars, at least the 2010 canon has been up to snuff. Lots of great films, even though we had our fair share of crap. Here is a list of the major winners, with the tech winners linked below.

Those trophied after the cut --

Eddie Knows Best

In the history of the Academy Awards, the Best Editing category has been an indicator for the Best Picture winner. And what's the best indicator for our Editing nominees? The annual ACE Eddie Awards, honoring the best in the field of motion picture splicing.

Martin Scorsese once said that when editing two shots together, you have three shots to contend with. Both shots, plus the one in-between that no one sees. With that sort of mindset, you don't have to wonder why his editor Thelma Schoonmaker and he work so well together.

This year's Feature Film nominees, after the cut -