Golden Globe nominations, because of their comedy/drama split, are always a mixed bag. Despite the fact that some excellent movies have come out in the last year, it's been more miss than hit, so we're going to try to pare it down to an essential viewing/incredibly biased predictions. Here we go:

Film

Drama

Black Swan, The Fighter

INCEPTION

DIRECTOR: CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

Starring: Leonardo Dicaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine

Acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan directs an international cast in this sci-fi actioner that travels around the globe and into the world of dreams. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is the best there is at extraction: stealing valuable secrets inside the subconscious during the mind’s vulnerable dream state. His skill has made him a coveted player in industrial espionage but also has made him a fugitive and cost him dearly. Now he may get a second chance if he can do the impossible: inception, planting an idea rather than stealing one. If they succeed, Cobb and his team could pull off the perfect crime. But no planning or expertise can prepare them for a dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy only Cobb could have seen coming.

GENRE: ACTION/SCI-FI
FORMAT: DVD & BLU-RAY
RUNTIME: 130 MINS
RATED: PG-13

There aren't many new movies at the multiplex this weekend, which is just as well as I can't imagine exactly what could slow Inception down. Consensus seems to be that it's a stunning visual masterwork possibly lacking in the corresponding emotional majesty. If you can't get a ticket to whatever showing you attempt, you could do worse than The Sorcerer's Apprentice, which is frothy summer fun at its best and merely shallow at its worst.

Cyrus, a comedy about a recently divorced man (John C. Reilly) who is stymied in his relationship with a new woman (Marisa Tomei) by her creepy relationship with her adult son (Jonah Hill), has also made it to Ottawa, specifically at the World Exchange Centre.

Over at the Bytowne, it's another Stieg Larsson ruled weekend, with The Girl Who Played with Fire sharing billing with Exit Through the Gift Shop, a documentary about a man who tried to make a documentary about Banksy only to end to with the camera turned on him when he decided to try his hand at graffiti art himself. 

Are you a fan of Jackson Rathbone?

Who?

If you've seen any advertising for this summer's Christopher Nolan/Leonardo DiCaprio thriller Inception, you can be forgiven for wondering what this movie is about it. In fact, both Nolan and DiCaprio have been incredibly tight-lipped about things like, oh, the general plot or even the characters that appear in the movie. Shocking, then, when Warner Brothers released this plot description:

Acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan directs an international cast in an original sci-fi actioner that travels around the globe and into the intimate and infinite world of dreams. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible—inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming. This summer, your mind is the scene of the crime.

And then Ellen Page does something, I guess. Gets implanted, maybe? Or maybe she's a thing that Cobb loved and lost. Whatever, DiCaprio plays a character, that character has a job and a plan. Good start.

Sweet, sweet movies, what have you on offer this weekend?

A few releases that have been kicking around elsewhere have landed here this weekend, like Adam, in which darling Hugh Dancy plays a young man with Asperger's negotiating a romantic relationship with Rose Byrne. Two horror movies, both of which were not screened for critics, are also opening this weekend: The Final Destination and Halloween II. I saw the first FD movie and none of the sequels, and, well, I don't always have the stomach for horror. I watch a lot of stuff and almost never look away, but I just don't do Rob Zombie. 

Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock is also out. As if the August release weren't a bad enough sign, the reviews have been poor as well. David Edelstein took issue with the adaptation and the casting.  Oh, well. I can accept that Lee's not suited to every genre, and Demetri Martin can remain on my TV and lap top screen.

April is away on vacation, which is why we didn't have our usual "Weekend Viewing" blog feature on Friday.  I was going to write it up in her absence, but I figured why bother?  Given the near universally positive reviews District 9 received from critics, there really wasn't any question what all of us were going to see this weekend, right?  I mean, it was District 9 or nothing.

Well, now that we have all seen it, I can't help but ask... am I the only one who found it ploddingly pessimistic, nihilistic, and... um... what is the word for depicting a general disgust for mankind?

District 9 is about three years too late.  Despite the economic downturn, the election of Obama changed the cultural mood from despair to hope.  There is a reason Star Trek was the only hit this summer!  People want to feel optimism for mankind, not watch a depiction of just how ugly mankind can be.

Could it be? Are there movies worth seeing playing again in Ottawa? Saints be praised!

The Hurt Locker is playing in Ottawa! I repeat, critically-acclaimed, award-winning, best-damn-Iraq-war-movie-yet The Hurt Locker is finally here!  Consider the question of what to do this rainy Friday night resolved. You're spending it with Jeremy Renner and Kathryn Bigelow. You're welcome! The plot revolves around an expolsives ordinance disposal unit, and, uh, yeah. That's what you're getting.

The Brothers Bloom, Rian Johnson's sophmore feature, is finally here as well.  We dig our Rian Johnson at (Cult)ure, so we'll be checking this one out even if the critical reception has been less than warm. It's an one last heist movie, but it involves Rachel Weisz as a recluse that collects hobbies and the only good part of Babel, Rinko Kikuchi.

500 Days of Summer is one of the movies I have been looking forward to this season. It's unlikely to be a blockbuster, but it's got Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and that's enough to get my butt in the seat every time. It's Marc Webb's feature debut. He comes from the world of music videos, which makes him unknown to me. I'm very glad to read that he and I share a movie philosophy:

Every movie, in some way or another, is a coming-of-age story.  

So true. Movies follow an arc, and that arc should change its characters. It doesn't have the change them for the better, make them more mature or responsible. Sometimes it only shows them harsh, ugly sides of life, making them a little tougher or cynical.  We go see movies with big explosions and crazy premises, but we only connect to the stories. They're the vital centerpiece. 

If there's one thing Michael Bay should know, it's blowing people away. Also, blowing things up. Imagine how explosively upset he must have been when he sat down at his computer to type a grammatically confused email to Paramount re: their sucky publicity campaign for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. While his complaint about the trailer might make him seem like a man after my own heart (because seriously, what was stopping them?), this line is my favourite:

"Over the years Jerry Bruckheimer mentored me on event movies - he had a mantra - 'A studio that does not make it an event, will it into an event, thinks the audience will just show up, will always be bitten in the ass.'" 

Only Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay would have a mantra that is easily three times longer than it needs to be and misses the point.

I'm mid-season five in my rewatching of the entire Star Trek: the Next Generation series. I viewed the show fairly often as a youngster, but there are still a massive number of episodes I haven't seen.

The other day I came across one of these never before seen gems. It was called "The Perfect Mate", and I was astonished to see it featured an extremely sexy guest star performance from Famke Janssen!

Yes, long before Jean Grey and Professor Xavier were sharing the big screen together, Janssen and Stewart were rocking the small screen on TNG. It's an excellent episode and its premise rests solely on Jansen's ability to play the "perfect" woman. Needless to say, she does a wonderful job. (Apparently the producers thought so too. When the TNG spin-off Deep Space Nine was in development, her character was meant to return as a main cast member. When Janssen turned down the role to work in movies, the character Jadzia Dax was recreated to replace her.)

All of which makes me wonder, why is there not more geek love out there for Janssen? I mean check out this resume: Star Trek, X-Men and James Bond!!!! What more could you want from an actress?

I'm sure boatloads of you will go see Up, this weekend's big movie, as people just love their Pixar. I've got nothing against Pixar, but it's just not for me. If you feel the same way,  Anvil! The Story of Anvil, a strange rock doc that feels like Spinal Tap except that it's true, opens this weekend at the Mayfair. Tomorrow night will be your last chance to catch Nightwatching at the Bytowne, the story of how Rembrandt wove clues to the dasteredly deeds of a militia/gentleman's club into one of his famous works. But forget all that because I'm going to see Drag Me to Hell, Sam Raimi's return to horror, which has already scored a truly impressive 82 on Metacritic, and yet is somehow only rated 14A.

Aw, yeah, that's right: 'til the 18th. May 2-4, whoo!

So, I forgot what the big movie opening this weekend is and was sort of at a loss as to what to recommend for you. Then I read Kevin's last post. I can't in good conscience recommend that you go see Angels & Demons, so let's do a little counter-programming, shall we?

If you're one of the approximately 38 people who haven't already seen Star Trek, that should be first on your list. It's got hot guys, short skirts, and fun. Sure, it would be nice if J.J. lightened up on the solar flares. Otherwise, fun, fun, fun. I might even go out on a limb and call it exhilarating. Might. 

Given that I thought The Da Vinci Code was one of the worst movies I have ever seen, I find myself taking perverse pleasure in the way the marketing campaign for the prequel, Angels & Demons, is dancing around the uncomfortable fact that it is a sequel to a very terrible film.

The critic quotes they have used to promote the new film thus far specifically mention that it is "much better than The Da Vinci Code in every way!"

Heh. Well sure, my last dump was better than The Da Vinci Code in every way.

By downloading movies you are stealing from the hardworking artists of Hollywood, and more importantly you are single-handedly destroying the movie business. The art form that you love so much and that has enriched your life in so many ways is being utterly destroyed by YOU!!!!

I mean, everyone knows that the work print of X-Men Origins: Wolverine that was leaked onto the internet last month is the reason the film had such an miserable time at the box office last weekend. What did it make? $10 million? $20 million?

See what you have done you evil, evil pirates? You are nothing but common thieves! Why don't you just steal an old lady's purse while you are at it? YOU have RUINED Hollywood!

Or, Wolverine Counter Programming.

Since you're probably planning to see X-Men: Origins: Wolverine (ooo, the double colon!), all I  can really do here is recommend that you read this article in Slate and remind yourselves that Wolverine is the most badass Canadian ever created. 

Oh shit. I'm getting that tingly feeling.

You know the one, where you start to get really excited, the way you used to get excited back when you were a teenager and everything was still new and wondrous. It's that magical sense that takes over your body and tells you, "Don't worry, everything is going to be alright. This is going to rock. You are going to feel the way you want to feel."

I didn't get that feeling as we approached The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and despite my best intentions, I didn't get it for I Want to Believe. At this point, I've seen way too many Matrix Reloaded's and Lost season 3's to allow myself that sort of unadulterated anticipatory excitement anymore.

Every Wednesday (Cult)ure shares with you one of the internet's best webcomics.

Joseph Dunn sees a lot of movies. A lot of crappy movies. Then he makes webcomics about the experience. They are usually hilarious, and a must read for fans of mainstream Hollywood cinema and genre films.

There's a new Terminator: Salvation trailer making the rounds, which gives away slightly more plot than we've seen in the past and even cooler robots, explosions, and motorcycle chases. I don't care what Christian Bale does at this point: this thing looks awesome, and he can't take that away from me.