Movie Review: Inception (2010)

First things first, I started my review of "Blind Side" the other day and meant to finish it today. But unfortunately, my mind cannot focus on any film except Inception. I went to see the film last night and it still blows my mind. *WARNING* This may be an incoherent rant / review but please stay with me.

Let's try to start from the top. I've been waiting for this film to come out ALL year. When I saw the trailer in IMAX a couple months ago, I was giddy with joy and started my wait patiently. So yesterday, we went to the movies and caught an early showing as I got out of work early. The only problem, in hindsight, was that we didn't go see it in IMAX.

Christopher Nolan is the writer, the producer, the director, and the genius behind Inception. It's really hard to explain the premise but it's a story of a world similar to ours with the only exception is that there is a machine/technique that can put individuals in someone's dream, when people are most vulnerable and extract information from that someone. The story focuses on going one step further and instead of extracting information, they want to create an idea in a form of a dream, inception. This is when the fun begins, in order to accomplish inception, you have to go inside a dream within a dream, within a dream. OK I know it sounds like I'm giving away a lot but trust me, in order to truly understand this, you need to watch the film and what I'm telling you is superficial.

Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) assembles a team, his right hand man, Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), the dream architect, Ariadne (Ellen Page), the thief/muscle/transformer, Eames (Tom Hardy), the potion mixer, Yusuf (Dileep Rao), and lastly the backer/boss, Saito (Ken Watanabe). Their target for inception is Robert Fischer, Jr.(Cillian Murphy). The levels of dreams and the depths of the subconscious is so intricate that it's the type of film that not only stimulates you visually but intellectually. I know it may sound Matrix-y but it's much better and still very different. It truly is mind blowing. It's a smart film that I found a smirk on my face when it was all said and done. I go to the movies a lot and I rarely will watch a film more than once (especially in the theater) and this is a movie that I want to see again, in the theater, in IMAX, full price.

Prior to Inception, I would have said that Christopher Nolan is a good director, who I've only see a few films, Memento, which was also another intellectually stimulating film, and the two Batman movies, which I really enjoyed. But with Inception, he has cemented himself into god-like status for me.

The all-star cast did a phenomenal job. As much as I'm not a huge DiCaprio fan, I do love his movies and I find him to be such a great actor. If (500) Days of Summer didn't win me over, Inception made me crave for more JGL. He, with DiCaprio, is another child actor, who has really rose into stardom and not with tabloids and partying but with their talent. Now who is this Tom Hardy? I have not heard of him before but he is easy on the eyes and definitely stole the scene on a couple of occasions. Cillian Murphy is great, as always, and Ellen Page delivered. Marion Cotillard, who plays Cobb's wife, also makes an appearance in this dream sequence. And lastly, Ken Watanabe was superb but my only complaint is that there were a few words that I didn't catch with his accent. Obviously that is not his fault as I am the worst in understanding English with thick accents but this did not occur often.

With the great writing, directing, and acting in this film, it truly had it all. It's not another blockbuster film with a weak storyline. This is something not to be missed and I think it would be thoroughly enjoyed because it is different and utterly amazing.

Trailer Talkback: Inception (2010)

The word "obsession" means the domination of one's thoughts and feelings by a persistent idea, image, or desire(cite). Well, the problem I have here is that I have an obsession with the Inception trailer. I first saw this new cut trailer at the Iron Man 2 showing last Friday in IMAX. I was absolutely blown away by the cinematography, the special effects, and the dreamy men involved in the film. Oh and did I mention this is written and directed by Christopher Nolan--you know, the man who did Memento and The Dark Knight.

The idea of Inception is quite interesting--stealing secrets in the dream world and how it's executed is aesthetically mind blowing. Though DiCaprio isn't my favorite actor, I will admit, he's great in these roles. And who else did I see in trailer? Michael Caine (our favorite Alfred--I know I'm lame), Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, Juno (I mean Ellen Page) and my all time favorite JGL. After this excited and nonsensical rambling, I think you can tell that I have absurdly high standards for this film when it comes out in July. I hope it meets all my expectations and more. Now, sit back and enjoy the trailer.

-Penny

What I Think of: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Double Feature)

In the past few days, I've watched two, count them two, Joseph Gordon-Levitt films and here's my review of them below.

It first started with Uncertainty, the 2009 drama directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel that reminds me a bit of Sliding Doors with less romance and more thrill. The film opens on the Brooklyn Bridge where Kate (Lynn Collins) and Bobby (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are trying to make a decision. They toss a coin to make up their decision and once the decision is made, Kate runs to downtown Manhattan, and Bobby runs towards Brooklyn. Here the story splits--one follows the "green" version with Bobby running to Brooklyn, and the other a "yellow" version with Kate in Chinatown. The use of green and yellow by the directors was for the purpose of following two versions of the movie and not confusing the two. It was a cute idea but perhaps it could have been a bit more subtle, give the audience a little credit. And I say this because the two versions are quite different. The green storyline is more dramatic and somber focusing on Kate's family; the yellow storyline is a thriller that focuses on a found cellphone by Bobby and people hunting them down trying to retrieve it.

There's one somewhat connecting thread to both stories but I won't give that away. I'm not sure if it's even that vital since in the end you really don't know what happens and what decisions are being made. And speaking of the end, I almost felt that nothing happened. Ok, wait, a lot happened but nothing progressed except time. It was an interesting story and the way it was done was unique but I don't know if the crux of the story was strong enough for me.


Now onto the second film of the double feature, I watched the 2005 high school crime drama Brick. I've been wanting to see this film for a while and finally watched it on Netflix's Instant Watch. This film was directed by Rian Johnson (you may remember my review of Brothers Bloom--same guy) and you can tell he was influenced by the detective novels/films of the 1930s and 40s. Johnson updated the locale to modern day California high school, the detective and criminals are high school students. JGL plays Brendan Frye, a somewhat geeky kid obsessed with solving the murder of his ex-girlfriend Emily Kostich(Emilie de Ravin). His sidekick The Brain (Matt O'Leary) helps him navigate into the "upper crust" elite crowd, the rich kids with drug habits, and their dealers. The story twists and turns and you learn a little bit about the case and Emily. And like a true noir film, the mystery is solved at the end and JGL explains how it all went down.

I'll say that when I first watched it, I came in with high expectations because I heard so many good things about the movie. And I hate to say it but I think my expectations may have been cast too high and not to say that I didn't like the film, I was expecting something that blew me away. And this didn't do it. I think one thing that may have put me off was the way they spoke. It was a bit hard for me to follow the 'old-timey' speak of hardboiled detectives. I think you get used to it but I found myself re-winding a bit. Also with the twist and turns and the nicknames, it was a bit hard to follow for me, perhaps I needed to brush up on my noir films before watching this. However, I was ever so grateful for the recap at the end. :) And I will say for the young cast of actors, they did a great job.

Recap of JGL: He has been picking some really interesting roles that showcases his range and I love that he goes in there and just does it. True professional; very crush worthy.

And here are the trailers for our entertainment: