The Prestige vs Insomnia

Blackbelt: Did you see The Prestige?

Cliff: Yes.

Blackbelt: Did you see it for any reason other than it stars Wolverine and Batman?

Cliff: No.

Blackbelt: Yeah, me either.

Cliff: Well, there’s Alfred too. It also stars Alfred.

Blackbelt: I feel a little bad about it.

Cliff: Why? There are worse reasons to see a movie. I saw Back to the Future 2 because of Pizza Hut.

Blackbelt: Well Christopher Nolan is such a good director, and he makes really interesting films. I should have wanted to see it because of that.

Cliff: Listen, he is a good director. And he does a smart job with The Prestige. Doesn’t everything look great?

Blackbelt: Sure. That field of lightbulbs was beautiful.

Cliff: And wasn’t the story intriguing?

Blackbelt: It was. Especially considering I hate magicians.

Cliff: Oh man. Fucking hate magicians.

Blackbelt: Have you ever watched Criss Angel?

Cliff: Hate that guy. He’s worse than David Blaine.

Blackbelt: No he’s not.

Cliff: Okay, he’s not, but only because, you know, how could he be. Like, who is, right? But still.

Blackbelt: Did you like The Illusionist?

Cliff: Didn’t see it.

Blackbelt: Well The Prestige is better. It’s what I kept hoping The Illusionist was going to be. I think The Prestige is one of those movies that will keep getting a little cooler as the years pass. Stuff like this is for guys what those costume dramas are for women.

Cliff: Yeah. I never complain when I have to see Vanity Fair or Stage Beauty or whatever, because there’s always something like this coming down the pike. You know, something that gives you a version of the past you wouldn’t mind living in. I mean, I don’t wanna give up owning three pairs of sneakers and twenty-four-hour internet, but if it meant getting to help Johnny Depp hunt down the Headless Horseman, well, maybe I could swing that for a day or two.

Blackbelt: To recap a bit: Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are buddies and rookie magicians, and one of them screws up a trick that hurts the other in a major way. And as they become better magicians, their rivalry becomes enormous and they start doling out some nasty revenge.

Cliff: Each assisted by Scarlett Johannsen’s cleavage.

Blackbelt: I kept forgetting she was in the movie. I think she lost a few scenes in the editing process.

Cliff: I know. It makes sense that everyone would be in love with her, but everyone falls in love with her off screen. I never would have guessed either of those guys were in love with her if they hadn’t said so.

Blackbelt: I was confused by a lot of it, but mostly in a good way.

Cliff: Well that’s what’s happening with the characters in the movie, so that’s a good thing. Can I just say how much I love the ultimate trick, and how much it screws with Wolverine’s head?

Blackbelt: His name was Robert.

Cliff: Really? Huh. Anyway, playing catch with yourself across the stage is a cool trick.

Blackbelt: I loved that. I think I liked it better than the audiences in the movie. I guess I’m just not clear on turn-of-the-century magic shows. I had the same problem with The Illusionist. I didn’t get from the start, in either movie, what the audience is expecting from these magicians. They seem alternately impressed by and bored with the simple stuff like interlocking rings and disappearing birds and so on. But then when they do something great like teleport or play catch with themselves across the stage, people really seem to like it, but just kind of politely.

Cliff: Yeah, what’s up with them? I guess I was expecting them to be floored by it. I’ve actually seen these guys as Wolverine and Batman, and I was pretty floored by the playing catch with themselves stuff. If I had never watched television or played a video game or even read a comic book, then a guy teleporting and catching a ball he threw across an empty stage a couple seconds earlier would be pretty amazing.

Blackbelt: I thought it rocked. It was the hardest trick for them to crack, and it’s the one I liked watching the most, so mission accomplished. I really do like this movie. The look of it is spot-on. I’m glad you mentioned Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow, because it does something similar; bringing fun, unlikely technology into the plot that is still possible for the era in question.

Cliff: Well, you’re pretty trusting. I’m not sure the lightbulbs in the ground thing is possible.

Blackbelt: I never really got past how cool the idea of everything was, versus how cool the actual execution of everything was. David Bowie is good as Tesla, but no matter how cool Tesla is, even Tesla’s not going to be as cool as David Bowie playing Tesla, right?

Cliff: But that’s the idea. Batman and Wolverine are just entertainers. They don’t actually have magical powers. But Tesla, they don’t know what the hell he is. For all they know, he is truly magical. So he’s gotta be played by someone with an actual aura of mystique. Now they can’t get Christopher Walken, cause that’s who they always get for roles like this, and they can’t go too campy with it, or it’s a distraction. So you get Bowie, who can actually act, and you cover him up as much as possible, and just let him rock the top-hats and light bulbs.

Blackbelt: Movies are great.

Cliff: I know. I frickin’ love movies.

Blackbelt: You know what I’m going to watch as soon as possible?  Insomnia.

Cliff: Nobody ever talks about that one.

Blackelt: I know, but it rocks. It’s Christopher Nolan’s most underrated movie, and it’s one that I really like as a movie, despite it having huge iconic stars. As a matter of fact, I would say I like it more than The Prestige, and for the opposite reasons.

Cliff: I think it’s kind of scary. I didn’t expect it to be scary at all, and I was freaked out by a lot of it. All the fog.

Blackbelt: Yeah, that chase over the logs. You know, the plot is fairly similar to The Prestige. The killer Robin Williams plays is like Batman. He’s not as showy as his rival, but he’s a bit smarter, and can play his rival’s weaknesses against him. And Pacino is like Wolverine, driving himself crazy trying to find an answer that is right there all along.

Cliff: And the whole thing started because of something simple that went way wrong.

Blackbelt: And Hilary Swank is in it, and she doesn’t get to do much. It’s practically the same movie, only I don’t feel any comic book guilt, because the only reason I like it is that it’s good.

Cliff: Yep. Thrillers all look so much alike, but Insomnia achieves that cold, damp, wintery thing right away, and sticks with it, so it’s got an identity.

Blackbelt: I can’t believe Robin Williams and Al Pacino are in a movie this quiet. I’d go so far as to call it low-key.

Cliff: You know who’s great in Insomnia? Maura Tierney.

Blackbelt: Oh man, I completely forgot she was in it. I’m watching that tomorrow.

Cliff: Insomnia: starring Mork and Tony Montana!

Blackbelt: Shut up.

The Prestige: B
Insomnia: A