Inception - Chris Nolan + Leo DiCaprio = best movie of the summer?

[karmakramer]

 

edit2: i also am a little bothered by all the Matrix comparisons. first of all the Matrix was an over stylized fucking fashion fest compared to Inception. Every major character in the Matrix was decked out in sunglasses, leather dusters, knee high boots. Just the most snazzy late 90s action movie fashions. I Didn't get the same offending vibe from Inception. Yeah they wore nice suits, but it was a lot less distracting than watching Lawrence Fishburne looking like a gay goth club patron.

 

You need to read what I am saying. I'm talking about concept, not style. The Matrix and Inception are very different, as they should be...

[karmakramer]

yeah the only reason i'm bringing matrix and children of men back into the discussion is because i thought Inception was leagues better than both. (and i want to continue defending inception cause ima fan boy)

 

lol, Im not comparing them, I'm saying the camerawork in Children of Men would have benefitted the dream sequences cause it would have given a better feeling of personal perspective, instead of Bourne/DarkKnight.

 

The Inception world basically reminded me too much of Nolan's previous films when each unique dream from each unique dreamer, should have had its own unique feeling/atmosphere. Adding some creepy undertones (Lynch/Kubrick) would have also added a lot to it.

[Alcofribas]

I saw a lot of similarities to Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine in terms of the imagery, hyper realism.

 

such as?

[Guest acknowledgeandproceed]

this thread is filled with far too many people who (for some reason) didn't seem to "get it" or are disappointed because they expected the most amazing film ever, apparently.

 

IMO:

• it totally justified the 2h30m runtime, w/ barely any filler
  
• it had a perfect amount of head fuck factor, but i still walked out of the theater with a firm grasp on what happened (a/k/a not like Lost).
  
• I thought the acting was good
  
• the score was great
  
• it was action-packed, but not action overload (a/k/a gender-neutral)
  

 

lol so we are suppose to have your expectations?

 

I liked the story and acting, but I think the dreams were handled in a too literal way (basically the trailer showed everything you needed to see in terms of surreal dream sequences/action). Lets face it, the dream element was just a means to create a new matrix film basically, because the worlds the dreams took place in, and the action that took place in those dreams weren't very dream feeling. Nolan could have played around with many elements to create a kind of eternal sunshine thriller, which would have been a lot more interesting, but instead of characters traveling through an actual mind melting maze, we got a slow elevator, city streets, and a snowy mountain. seems pretty unimaginative. Oh and the Sim City Cobb and Mal created... you're a god and you create an empty urban city to live in for 50 years... interesting

 

I may sound overly critical, but I simply see too many half attempts for such a cool idea. Cause I did enjoy the plot and I was watching intensely throughout... Basically the biggest component to why I am disappointed, is they set it up as an action packed dream world (aka the matrix) but (aside from a few scenes) the action just felt flat. Give me Children Of Men action camerawork with more interesting sets/dream worlds, and I could see this film as a masterpiece. Also some variation in who the bad guys were in the dreams. You'd think if your creating a security system for your mind, you'd make it more confusing/complicated for the perpetrators than call of duty bad guys running at you with pistols. I'm still thinking about the story and some of the striking cinematography and I definitely want to see it again soon.

 

 

Children of Men = Personal Top 5

 

Inception = Best movie of the summer 2010.

 

Leo Dicarpio = "Take off your panties and tie them into a knot in two minutes that takes me one minute to untie."

 

"You're gonna have to do better than that."

 

"Okay, now we're talking."

[Guest Enter a new display name]

I just re-watched the movie. Now I understand it all, everything is clear.

 

Did the first scenes in the snowbase remind anybody of Metal Gear Solid, though?

[vamos scorcho]

i have decided this movie was pretty awesome. actually, after thinking about it all day. pretty fun stuff, and very creative. very stupid at times, but to properly enjoy it, it's best to overlook that lack of logic and see it as it comes.

 

cool stuff, definitely the best of summer 2010 so far, for me

 

though it is the only one i've seen - hollywood mainstream blockbusters are totally fucking dead to me, personally

 

will check out predators though, maybe

 

probably not

[Guest blicero]

Did the first scenes in the snowbase remind anybody of Metal Gear Solid, though?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZUmTdeaoiQ

[TwiddleBot]

Good film. Pretty much thought that the final shot through the window was a giveaway.

 

Although it was visually matrix+sunshine esque, thematically reminds me a lot of eXistenZ.

[Guest blicero]

Good film. Pretty much thought that the final shot through the window was a giveaway.

 

what shot is this? wasn't the final shot of the totem spinning? (which i found to be quite clever, btw)

[TwiddleBot]

Good film. Pretty much thought that the final shot through the window was a giveaway.

 

what shot is this? wasn't the final shot of the totem spinning? (which i found to be quite clever, btw)

 

 

 

Well when comparing this film to eXistenZ it wasn't just the whole idea of plugging in together. eXistenZ used visual motifs that showed up through the different layers of alternate realities.. and the layers are pulled back but we never know how far it goes.

 

One thing I thought was cool about this film was that it dealt with memories repeatedly coming up and playing out over and over again. His wife constantly repeats the same few lines over and over for example..

 

It's not just that the children haven't aged a day. In the final scene the camera looks through the window and he sees the exact same image/motif he had seen of his children throughout the film, sitting in the grass, looking away from the camera (or sitting in the same position together in other random places, just as if they were yet another projection. This time he abandons the totem and allows things to play out differently instead of waiting for them to walk away, or him looking away when they turn to see him.

 

We never really see how he makes his way out of limbo. He just wakes up. It's a purposeful omission IMO. It makes the ending deliciously ambiguous.

 

[TwiddleBot]

Another take on it.. I'm inclined to agree with the gist of this.. he makes some very astute observations of things I noticed that I never fully clicked on at first. Will have to watch again!

 

http://chud.com/articles/articles/24477/1/NEVER-WAKE-UP-THE-MEANING-AND-SECRET-OF-INCEPTION/Page1.html

[Guest iamabe]

Another take on it.. I'm inclined to agree with the gist of this.. he makes some very astute observations of things I noticed that I never fully clicked on at first. Will have to watch again!

 

http://chud.com/articles/articles/24477/1/NEVER-WAKE-UP-THE-MEANING-AND-SECRET-OF-INCEPTION/Page1.html

 

That was a great read Twiddlebot. This theory places Inception in the same league with movies like Adaptation that are as much about the process of filmmaking/writing as they are about the product, the film itself. It's an especially convincing theory because it doesn't seem invented. He points out a lot of proof. The fact that the each person in the dream-squad (dream team?) has an equivalent job on a movie set is amazing. He's totally right about Eames as the Actor and Fischer as the audience.

 

The idea that Mal could represent the difficulty a filmmaker has in inserting his own interests into a movie world without comprimising the focus of the movie is super interesting. And when you think about it, she is sort of the main antagonist in Inception; she's the equivalent of either a tangent that pulls the director off course, or a manifestation of writer's block.

 

Pretty awesome read.

[Guest Yegg]

Did the first scenes in the snowbase remind anybody of Metal Gear Solid, though?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZUmTdeaoiQ

 

 

Made me think of Golden Eye.

[Atop]

The fucking score is blowing my mind right now....

 

some great stand alone music....

 

Hans is the mans!

[Guest Benedict Cumberbatch]

and johnny fucking marr

[Guest Gary C]

Another take on it.. I'm inclined to agree with the gist of this.. he makes some very astute observations of things I noticed that I never fully clicked on at first. Will have to watch again!

 

http://chud.com/articles/articles/24477/1/NEVER-WAKE-UP-THE-MEANING-AND-SECRET-OF-INCEPTION/Page1.html

 

Really enjoyed. That's the sort of metaphysical explanation I was looking for.

 

Must rewatch Synecdoche.

[Guest Benedict Cumberbatch]

Another take on it.. I'm inclined to agree with the gist of this.. he makes some very astute observations of things I noticed that I never fully clicked on at first. Will have to watch again!

 

http://chud.com/articles/articles/24477/1/NEVER-WAKE-UP-THE-MEANING-AND-SECRET-OF-INCEPTION/Page1.html

 

the stuff about it all being a dream rings true but the stuff about filmmaking is pretty lame.

 

the moments he highlight in "reality" do stand out as very odd, michael cains line especially. and the point about the totem not being his very interesting.

[Guest Gary C]

Yeah, I too had wondered why he had Mal's totem if he had originally said that you should never touch another persons. I guess to him she was dead, but overall it does make the use of totems moot.

 

Thinking back again, that scene in which he runs through the alleyway is definitely a dream. I thought that at the time, but told myself at that point it was reality.

So that every scene is a dream makes sense. And the use of Fischer as Cobb's audience also makes sense. He uses the Fischer storyline to reach his own catharsis, like we, and maybe Nolan, use Cobb for our own.

[Atop]

need to see again immediately!

 

 

edit: and Cobb being a character from Nolan's first film is symbolic of Nolan finally realizing his own dreams of becoming a great director....kind of cheesy but makes sense to me

[TwiddleBot]

I take it people aren't using using spoilers anymore because by this point most of us have seen the film lol.

 

Yeah, especially the scene with his wife on the building on the ledge on the other side of the street.. which is really open to interpretation.. he treats her during that sequence as if he can still somehow get out to her which of course is impossible.

 

I have read one really good argument to the contrary.. that is, the wedding ring only appears on his fingers in the 'dream' sequences. Although I could equally argue that it seems once his wife 'dies' in a dream, she doesn't come back, and she had already 'died' earlier in that particular dream.

 

Anyway I think the film can probably be read both ways.. need to see again as well!

[awepittance]

I saw a lot of similarities to Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine in terms of the imagery, hyper realism.

 

such as?

 

visually , the parts in inception with the paradoxical staircase, the city folding over itself reminded me heavily of a Gondry style of surrealist imagery like in Eternal Sunshine where the cars fall from the sky or he tries walking down the street and it keeps looping.

[Guest Gary C]

Incidentally, I've taken my rating down from 10 to 9 after a few days retrospect.

 

I was kind of over-awed by it at first. Probably a little shell-shocked, indoctrinated. It's good. The best, most mentally tickling, big-budget action film you'll ever seen. But it does have some of the same problems as The Dark Knight in my eyes.

Although in the Dark Knight I knew a definite point when the film get too long, Two Face in the back of the car, I still think Inception is a little too long.

 

And I have considered that the dreams aren't quite dream-like enough. Like some people have stated there's no morphing objects or incredibly oddity. It's very much more like The Matrix world than a dream.

 

Still though, it's great. Probably just behind The Prestige, but a step ahead of The Dark Knight.

 

Also, I've heard rumours today that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is 'considering' The Riddler.

 

Sources came from a screening company, as I'm sure they all do. Makes sense though. I can see JGL doing an original take on it, I'd like to see the Riddler as more of a diabolical, mentally deranged, perhaps physically disabled, mastermind. Someone who can match Batman in a fight just doesn't make sense. And Nolan likes to work with his actors a couple of times.

[oscillik]

I saw a lot of similarities to Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine in terms of the imagery, hyper realism.

 

such as?

 

visually , the parts in inception with the paradoxical staircase, the city folding over itself reminded me heavily of a Gondry style of surrealist imagery like in Eternal Sunshine where the cars fall from the sky or he tries walking down the street and it keeps looping.

definite agreement.

 

not to mention the fact that both films deal with being inside ones head, and deals with memories inside the head (yes, inception has memories)

[Guest iamabe]

I saw a lot of similarities to Michel Gondry's Eternal Sunshine in terms of the imagery, hyper realism.

 

such as?

 

visually , the parts in inception with the paradoxical staircase, the city folding over itself reminded me heavily of a Gondry style of surrealist imagery like in Eternal Sunshine where the cars fall from the sky or he tries walking down the street and it keeps looping.

 

I also liked the scene where Ellen Fucking Page faces two mirrors together from out of nowhere and breaks them, which forms a huge corridor. neato

 

those were great bits but gondry is much more inventive and playful with his ideas than anything in inception. the science of sleep alone...

 

synecdoche NY is such an intense freaking movie.

[Guest Gary C]

I've thought about Synecdoche more than Inception since watching it actually.

 

Synecdoche is such a good film, really. And unlike Inception it's not clean. It's a big confusing dirty clusterfuck of narrative and layered meaning.

It's by far more emotionally driven than Inception too. I think I stifled a tear in Inception, but that was probably because the cinematic experience was so intense.

I watched Synecdoche at home and I had gut-wrenching pangs. Really great.

 

Anyone who liked Inception should watch Synecdoche.