posted
I was able to attend an advanced screening for Christopher Nolan's new film last night, Inception.
I've seen the trailers for months now and I had really high hopes for this film, and it did not disappoint. The film was absolutely amazing.
The best part of this film is that it includes the audience. The idea of "inception" (placing an idea in someone's head so they think it is their own idea.) is presented throughout the film, and when the film ended I realized that the movie had done exactly that to me. The film placed an idea in my head and I came to the conclusion that the end was predictable and that I knew exactly what was going to happen. When the end of the film happened I realized the joke was on me.
Great filming, great story, and great acting. Very rarely does a film play with the mind of the audience.
I was able to watch it for free, but I think I will take my wife this weekend to show my support. It clocks in at two and a half hours so I don't mind paying the $11.75 ($8.50 with a coupon!) a movie now costs here in Vegas.
Posts: 1937 | Registered: Nov 2006
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quote:Originally posted by Synesthesia: Did it have scary parts?
It depends on what you define as scary. It is not a movie that tries to make you jump or one that is grotesque and disgusting. There are no strange monsters roaming around in the dream sequences.
I think the only thing that may be considered scary are the ideas presented in the movie. I wouldn't call them scary, perhaps eerie. There is no political, religious, or moral ideas presented in the film. I can't really say more without giving away some of the plot, and I really don't want to do that.
If you are asking so you know if it is safe for teenagers, I would say yes. There are 3 uses of "GD" but this is the only profanity.
I realize now why the trailers for the film did not include any plot or storyline elements. It would have ruined it.
I also have not seen such an amazing ending to a movie since the Sixth Sense. (Mind you it has nothing to do with the Sixth Sense in any way, I just really liked the ending. )
Leonardo Di Caprio has proven again that he can act. Ellen Page (of Juno fame) also does a bang up job.
Posts: 1937 | Registered: Nov 2006
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posted
I think DiCaprio proved it just fine in Blood Diamond and The Departed. I missed Shutter Island, as it didn't quite look like my type of movie, but this looks excellent and I look forward to seeing it.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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I am just happy that Leonardo Di Caprio did not fall into the trap of being known for a certain type of film. Comedy actors very easily fall into this, being known only as a comedy actor and not being able to overcome it. Michael Cera, Paul Rudd, Adam Sandler, Seth Rogan, Will Ferral, and Jonah Hill are a few of them. Jonah Hill is in a little bit of a more serious role in the movie Cyrus though I have not seen it yet. (I heard he is brilliant)
For the most part Di Caprio has made very good decisions on which movies to act in. You will not see him in a movie every single year, but when you do you can count on it being a movie worth seeing.
Posts: 1937 | Registered: Nov 2006
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posted
Even given the "relatively spoiler-free" tag I only read the first couple of lines see if you liked or didn't like it. Glad you loved it.
I'm way psyched for this movie. After a summer of mostly middling (Prince of Persia) to horrible (Airbender) movies I'm hoping this one will be the one to finally blow me away.
In Nolan we trust.
Posts: 132 | Registered: Feb 2009
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posted
Geraine, we don't get much character interaction in the trailers. Does Page hold her own with DiCaprio? Cause that's what I'm looking forward too most beside the special effects and more Joseph Gordan Levitt. Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
Ellen Page does hold her own with DeCaprio. She is great in the film. I can't really explain her role well, but she is the only one in the film that is allowed or able to fully understand DiCaprio, and help him confront his own inner demons. She is also a sort of a genius apprentice to DiCaprio.
She does a very good job at keeping that bit of uniqueness we saw in Juno while also playing a serious role. You can't help but love her in this film.
As for Joseph Gordon Levitt, he is the pointman. A really badass pointman. He's also the one that attempts (unsuccessfully) to reel DiCaprio in at times when things seem to be getting too dangerous. Oh, and that scene in the trailer with him fighting in a hotel hallway in zero gravity is epic.
Posts: 1937 | Registered: Nov 2006
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posted
OK, just got home from seeing it and here are my thoughts, again relatively spoiler free.
Of course, I say spoiler free but to me there are no spoilers because I saw it coming from a mile away.
Many of the reviews I have seen talk about how original, unique and surprising this film is. I guess none of these people have ever heard of Phillip K. Dick. If someone had told me that this film was based on a recently discovered, never before published Dick story, I would have believed it. I have seen this kind of story in his novels and film adaptations many times before.
So I wasn't surprised by anything in the film, does that mean it was bad? No, it was still a pretty darn good film. The best part for me was Ellen Page. She has quickly become one of my favorite actresses. There are a couple of scenes where she confronts Leo with an incredibly calm, yet intense demeanor that really made the scenes for me.
So in conclusion, by all means go see this movie. Just remember that if you are really well versed in the SciFi classics, you probably wont be as surprised by it as the average movie goer.
Posts: 891 | Registered: Feb 2010
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posted
I think they're talking about it in relation to film.
Cant really think about any good Dream invasion movies--Paprika was alright, though. Only PKD related movie i've seen is Blade Runner--which is awesome.
Posts: 1407 | Registered: Oct 2008
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quote:Some sort of horror thriller from the looks of things. Something along the lines of 1408.
Not really no. I can't say much because it IS a mystery thriller that I don't want to ruin. There are certain elements that it borrows from the horror genre but I really wouldn't describe it as a horror film. It doesn't need to be seen on a big screen but if you like DiCaprio I'd recommend it when it comes out on DVD.
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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quote:I think they're talking about it in relation to film.
I suspect they're talking about it as film critics, who watch lots of films but do not read lots of science fiction.
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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quote:I think they're talking about it in relation to film.
I suspect they're talking about it as film critics, who watch lots of films but do not read lots of science fiction.
I've seen two movies that have very similar elements. One is based on a PKD story, the other is not. Don't want to mention them for fear of "spoiling" it.
Posts: 891 | Registered: Feb 2010
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quote:Some sort of horror thriller from the looks of things. Something along the lines of 1408.
Not really no. I can't say much because it IS a mystery thriller that I don't want to ruin. There are certain elements that it borrows from the horror genre but I really wouldn't describe it as a horror film. It doesn't need to be seen on a big screen but if you like DiCaprio I'd recommend it when it comes out on DVD.
Thanks, I'll probably rent it when I get a chance. Hopefully it'll continue what I think is a good streak of DiCaprio movies.
Posts: 21898 | Registered: Nov 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Lyrhawn: I think DiCaprio proved it just fine in Blood Diamond and The Departed. I missed Shutter Island, as it didn't quite look like my type of movie, but this looks excellent and I look forward to seeing it.
I was unsure of him until I saw The Beach, the guy is just great at what he does. Im gonna go see Inception today.
Update: Well Im a bit worried about Christopher Nolan's mental stability if he can randomly think that up, but I have no concerns as to wether or not his career will be influential and lasting after such a stand-alone production.
posted
Thought this was a really fantastic film. Really entertaining, and really creative. Nolan is officially my favorite director at this point, and DiCaprio is pretty much my favorite actor. I'm looking forward to seeing it again.
Posts: 326 | Registered: Apr 2005
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SPOILERS FOR BOTH INCEPTION AND SHUTTER ISLAND
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Okay, just saw this and... well, first of all, overall it was a good movie. A better sequel to the Matrix than the Matrix sequels were. I'm a little confused as to why they went deeper into Cobb's subconscious when they went further into Fischer's.
The main thing I walked away with, though, is how similar this movie is to Shutter Island. DiCaprio is haunted by his wife who is responsible for him losing his children and is trapped in a fantasy world from which there is no escape (or which he chooses not to escape from). If DiCaprio wasn't the main character each time I wouldn't have noticed, but it's really weird for him to make the same movie twice in a row.
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posted
Offhandedly I can think of a couple of really great movies where DiCaprio goes nanners. The Beach, The Aviator, Shutter Island and now Inception.
Not many A-Listers do that many crazy roles, but then again DiCaprio doesnt take any filler roles just to keep up his career like the rest of them do.
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quote:Originally posted by Raymond Arnold: SPOILERS FOR BOTH INCEPTION AND SHUTTER ISLAND
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Okay, just saw this and... well, first of all, overall it was a good movie. A better sequel to the Matrix than the Matrix sequels were. I'm a little confused as to why they went deeper into Cobb's subconscious when they went further into Fischer's.
The main thing I walked away with, though, is how similar this movie is to Shutter Island. DiCaprio is haunted by his wife who is responsible for him losing his children and is trapped in a fantasy world from which there is no escape (or which he chooses not to escape from). If DiCaprio wasn't the main character each time I wouldn't have noticed, but it's really weird for him to make the same movie twice in a row.
Actually I'm pretty impressed with the fact that, despite the similarities you point out, his character was actually quite a bit different in Inception. The man is a great actor.
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posted
He doesn't take filler roles, but taking almost the exact same plot (and frankly the characters don't stand out from each other too much in my mind either) is a really weird choice.
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Are you kidding? That's how they get Oscars! Play an insane person, get an award.
I was refering to the regularity of his crazy roles, no other purely dramatic (as to exclude the likes of Robin Williams and Zach Giliafinakis) actor has been this succesful making these kinds of choices.
Posts: 2302 | Registered: Aug 2008
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posted
Wow! I saw it this afternoon, and I loved it. Sure, I could guess the ending, though I love that they left it somewhat vague. I loved the characters and the actors and the issues everyone was coping with. And I loved the effects. Let's not forget those.
Page was every bit as good as I'd hoped she be. But Gordon-Levitt surprised me by being sexy. Sure, he's been adorable in plenty of movies before, but he was downright manly here. I could get used to that. Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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posted
So far, my buddy and I have come up with eight different explanations as to what's actually going on. I don't think I've ever watched a movie that made me want to talk about it so much!
Posts: 2283 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Just got back from it and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was definitely intense. I (and I hope this doesn't count as a spoiler) loved the way that with each scene you could ask yourself, "How did we get here?" Not that they didn't make sense or were out of context, but it gave the movie an interesting feeling overall. Very different than most I've seen.
Posts: 2827 | Registered: Jul 2005
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posted
I have to say that i was really impressed with this movie. I think the last time i was wowed like this was seeing the matrix for the first time. Much better actors in inception though. Totally called the ending.
Posts: 467 | Registered: Nov 2005
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You don't think it was possible for us to call that his wife's totem would be shown spinning? Yea it wiggled right before the cut so as to be ambiguous as to the truth of his state of mind. But from the moment he mentioned that an idea was like a seed of doubt that would grow and make you question your reality i knew they were going to end the movie in a way that would make you go "so is it/he real?" Once he spun the totem i said to the person next to me (it was a friend not some random movie go-er) "i bet it'll keep spinning."
I wasn't making a claim that before i walked into the theater i called "i bet he will spin a thing called a totem that when not in reality doesnt fall down, and when the movie ends it doesnt fall over thereby forcing you to question the reality of the moment." Although i think many of us went in with the assumption that the ending would be "it was never real" or at least the vast majority of people i have spoken to said this was their idea or the "bet" on what would happen.
It wasn't something like shutter island (which admittedly having the preview say "And an ending that will leave you speechless" or something to that effect does not help you take the movie at face value) where you could go "yea, hes one of the criminally insane people who thinks he's investigating the institution" But it was a fairly predictable ending for the plot that we were given.
Posts: 467 | Registered: Nov 2005
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quote:I'm a little confused at you guys saying you called a completely ambiguous ending.
Well, I did for two reasons. It was just a guess, really, but turned out to be accurate.
SPOILER
One reason was that this was a film where nothing on the screen could be absolutely trusted to be actually happening within the story. When everything you see could just turn out to be a dream, and that's because it's a core premise of the entire film, well, it's a big possibility, no?
Then when they introduced that the one thing which would let the viewer know whether it was reality or not, and it was something that could be shown in a very simple, short way, well, I thought to myself at the time, "We'll be seeing that again at the end of the film."
Usually someone, when predicting a movie, goes something like "I predict it is all a dream." and not "I predict that it will be ambiguous as to whether it was all a dream or not."
If you guys really predicted that the ending wouldn't say one way or another, I'm impressed. SPOILER Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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Usually someone, when predicting a movie, goes something like "I predict it is all a dream." and not "I predict that it will be ambiguous as to whether it was all a dream or not."
If you guys really predicted that the ending wouldn't say one way or another, I'm impressed. SPOILER
OK, so now that the spoilers are out there, I'll give one of my similarities. Before the movie got half way through I was expecting a Total Recall kind of story where we would never truly know if the whole thing was real or imaginary.
Posts: 891 | Registered: Feb 2010
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posted
I like how they left it open at the end. It will never get a sequel so we will never know for sure, but it was interesting anyways.
This movie would also make a really good TV series. You couldn't get the same actors to do it of course, but perhaps another group that worked in the same field.
Posts: 1937 | Registered: Nov 2006
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About half way through the movie, maybe earlier (it was when he said that his totem used to be his wife's) I knew that he had planted the idea that their world was fake in his wife's mind by corrupting her totem and subsequently knew that that the end would necessarily be ambiguous, as it was a corrupted totem. The "absolute" in his world was relative. That's my take on it anyways.
Huh. I didn't think it was Cobb still in the dream that was ambiguous. Him being trapped there was what I called.
What I found ambiguous was the question of which bits had ever been real. Did the movie start real and he never fully woke from Limbo the second time? Was none of it real because he never fully woke from Limbo the first time? Or was none of it real and it was all an attempt of Mal's to bring her husband back from Limbo after she escaped?
Then a buddy of mine posted a review that theorized that shared dreaming is part of the dream and it's just a normal guy in a dream dealing with the loss of his wife. But if the backstory is unreal, why stop there? Why not a single man with no children dreaming that he had and lost a family and is grieving for them in the dream?
My current theory is that Cobb is a dream. Mal was abandoned by her father as a child and blamed herself. As she got older, she gained an intellectual understanding that it wasn't her fault, but she never completely lost the guilt - she just locked it away. Her relationships with men failed due to her abandonment issues.
So one night she goes to sleep and dreams of the perfect man. One who would spend a lifetime with her and still want more. Eventually, she had to wake from the dream, but the man remained buried in her mind.
Mal is the architect and Cobb is the dreamer, but there is no reality for him to return to. The Mal that we see is her subconcious projection of her own guilt. Her backstory as a child stays vague because even in her subconcious she's buried it away.
Cobb will remian in her mind forever because there's nowhere else for him to go, and the catharsis of her life with him and his forgiveness of her abandonment may finally free her to go on and be happy.
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I thought of the aging of the children, but then figured that he was imagining his children the way they would be at their age. He couldn't imagine their faces but he could imagine the size and shape of their bodies. That would be easier for me at least.
Then again, why wouldn't he know what they looked like? Is the family against cameras?
Oh! I was able to go see another advanced screening last night, this time for Salt. It wasn't as good as Inception, but it was actually a very good spy thriller. If Jason Bourne and James Bond somehow conceived, their child would probably be something like Salt.
I"m not a big Angelina Jolie fan, but she did a very good job in the movie. The stunts were realistic, and you could actually believe they could happen. There were some meaningless elements in the movie that they didn't really have to include. The ending was satisfying but left me wanting more.
If you have already seen Inception and want to see a spy action thriller, it may be worth your time. The movie felt kind of rushed at only 90 minutes, but it is done to keep the adrenaline going. The action never stops.
Posts: 1937 | Registered: Nov 2006
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* * *I didn't understand the part about him using inception on his wife. What was his purpose in doing that?
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