This is easily the best movie i have seen this year. But I haven't seen that many movies this year, so that probably doesn't help you. In fact, I can't even recall any movies I saw this year. Did Lord of the Rings come out sometime recently? Probably not.

Anyway. I should also mention that this is the first movie in a long time that I have been really excited to see. I used to get a yearning feeling in my stomach when really good movies were still weeks away. That hasn't happened to me in a while. (Again, LOTR comes to mind. So does The Thin Red Line. And so do a number of other films that ended up SUCKING.)

All I will say about this film is that the acting is good, the cinematography is good, and the story is intriguing. Two magicians try to fuck each other up. but not in the way that Clive Barker's crapfest Lord of Illusions tried to do where the magicians battle each other with magic. this is grounded in reality and just shows two dickheads battling for the prestige (ha!) of being crowned king dickhead. It's fun to watch even if the ending is sorta obvious (i'll say no more than that).

Another fine aspect of the film is the use of that underrated genius Nikoli Tesla (played by none other than David Freakin Bowie. Laura kept telling me it was him and I refused to believe it.) I saw a documentary about Tesla and how he and Edison had a PR battle to win the hearts and minds of Americans. Each man was promoting his electrical system, claiming that the other's was unsafe. Seems that Tesla's really was safer, but Edison did shit like electrocuting a live elephant to 'prove' that Tesla's was not safe. Of course, Edison was also a good, clean American and Tesla had a dirty and untrustworthy accent, so Edison ended up winning in the end.

Why this tangent? Well, the Tesla v. Edison stuff is touched upon throughout the film as a parallel to the Hugh Jackman v. Christian Bale rivalry. They might have made the connections stronger, but as it stands it's a really cool way to tell 2 stories, even if it does rely on the audience knowing the historical battles between Edison & Tesla.

So, go see this fine film rather than stay at home to masturbate to the bra section of the Sears catalog. You sicko.