INCEPTION- Page 2

[dave1606]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 11:15pm

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100714/REVIEWS/100719997

Need some positive reviews. A masterpiece. Even if you don't fully enjoy the film you can't fault Nolan for A creating a wholly original film not based on another movie, book, or play, and B, not releasing it in 3D!

[strummergirl]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 11:28pm

"Joseph Gordon-Levitt. We are not used to seeing him in this type of roll and he was amazing."

Good to know he is getting positive buzz but I have seen far too many movies with him to box him in as a certain type. DiCaprio's another story.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 11:44pm

I agree, but he gets the most action scenes in the movie and I have never seen him like that before. Boy is a brilliant actor. That's for sure!

[Q]

Posted: 7/16/10 at 11:49pm

Being one of the 7 or 8 worldwide who thought THE DARK KNIGHT was an overblown masturbatory fantasy that ultimately added up to nothing - unless you were a stoned teenage boy - I doubt I'll get past Mr. Nolan's ego.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 12:13am

Hey, I don't think Mr. Nolan is the second coming. I loved TDK, I say that as a non-pot smoking woman, but I will not say that it should have won Best Picture or anything like that. Top of the line of the genre, for sure. Back to Nolan, liked The Following, respect Memento (but not my cup of tea) and Batman Begins (though I thought the twist was a bit ridiculous and it has become my least favorite of the his major films), liked The Prestige, and thought Insomnia was a respectable US remake. With the Batman films, I guess we can give him props for actually looking into the comics, unlike Tim Burton, but he does owe quite a lot to Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, and Frank Miller for the universe he created in the films. I will also say much of his philosophies in the Batman movies are quite explicit and not really that complex. So I will be surprised if I find myself confused like I am being told. The new trailers out seem way more expository than the previous ones.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 8:22am

I saw it last night and thought it was a fantastic, smart, summer blockbuster. Visually stunning, great, original story and some amazing action scenes. I don't quite think it's best picture material...but I really did enjoy myself.
***************SPOILER ALERT*********************************

The one problem I had with the movie is Nolan breaks the rules he sets up for his universe. This was especially evident..and annoying...at the end of the film. In the framing scene that we see at the begining and end of the movie...Cobb should have been old! Unless I'm missing something...he was in limbo longer than Saito. So why was Saito an old man but Cobb still young? Did they just not wanna put Leo in the old man makeup?

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 9:21am

****SPOILER*****

Erik - good point. All though, Saito "died" and Cobb did not, so I don't if that would have caused the time shift difference.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 9:25am

Continued spoilers alert so I don't get yelled at...

Spider...I know Saito "died" but that didn't seem to matter the first time Cobb and his wife went to limbo. It shows them growing old there. There's that scene where he says "we did grow old together you just don't remember." And it shows them aged. But come to think of it that doesn't make any sense either because then they are young again on the train tracks.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 9:30am

***SPOILER CONTINUE****

No, they're old. When Cobb explains their story at the end, it shows them holding hands on the tracks as old people. It only shows them young when he explains it earlier because he didn't want Ellen Paige's character to know how long they were down there.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 9:33am

Oh ok so at least that makes sense. But it still shows they aged in limbo the first go around so Cobb should have been old at the end.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 12:28pm

SPOILERS THROUGHOUT

I thought it was great but to call it a masterpiece is a bit of a hyperbole. It's really good if a bit slow at times and way too long. And it's hardly the mindF*CK people are making it out to be. See MULHOLLAND DR for a true dream mindF*CK.
Marion Cotillard is an acting goddess, she's just simply captivating, the camera loves her and she does wonderful things with her eyes that go beyond what most actresses her age can do. Her character is wonderful, haunting in every way, and deliciously evil.
I thought Ellen Page was great, and not being a fan of Leonardo DiCaprio at all, I thought he did a great job carrying the film. Definitely an enjoyable and good Hollywood movie, the effects were amazing.

[americanboy99]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 3:53pm

This is really just an incredible film. One of the best I've ever seen. It will be a tragedy if this film is forgotten come Oscar time. Nolan's work here is genius. Excellent acting from everyone involved. I hope to see DiCaprio and Cotillard score Oscar nominations for their work. Nolan's best decision for the film was casting Cotillard. The film wouldn't work without her; she's spectacular. Ellen Page is great, and the under-used Joseph Gordon-Levitt is quite good as well.

Leagues better than "The Dark Knight." Slightly better than "Avatar."

A towering achievement.

[bethnor]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 9:12pm

fun, but i can see why it some ppl are calling it overrated.

imho, it's actually hurt by nolan's grounding in reality. one thing's for sure--everyone in that movie has really, really, boring dreams, as their dreams bear a suspicious likeness with reality. there's almost nothing dream-like or fantastical about the worlds created in their subconsciousness, which should be part of the fun of playing in a dreamland. cobb and his wife fashion a dream-world together, but it looks exactly the cityscape from TDK (is that how anyone really dreams how they would live for eternity? in chicago?) dreams are usually quite abstract, but here are shockingly (and therefore disappointingly) literal--the shores of your subconsciousness is literally a seashore. you literally keep your deepest secrets in a bank vault. *yawn*.

there was a likening to the matrix, but think back to the matrix. whether you loved it or hated it (and its sequels), the visual of the machines plucking humans grown in the fields was one that stuck with you. there's nothing like that here.

worth watching again for the story elements, but definitely there could have been more done with this, imho.

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 9:58pm

But, it's not really "their" dreams that we are seeing. The architect (the guy in the beginning and Ellen Paige) create this realistic dream so the person thinks they are still in the real world.

[Q]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 10:42pm

edit - removing my post because I read Joe's thread on the main board Updated On: 7/17/10 at 10:42 PM

[jasonf]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 10:48pm

BIG SPOILERS AHEAD

I think some people here aren't looking deeply enough at the movie. Let me ask a question: do you think Cobb was dreaming or awake at the end? Let me further the question: do you think he was actually awake at any point in the movie at all? I'm not so sure he was for several reasons. I'm just curious what other think before I give my theories...

[strummergirl]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 10:49pm

"Leagues better than "The Dark Knight." Slightly better than "Avatar""

So in your opinion, Avatar>TDK?

CANNOT. PROJECT. But hey that's just my opinion.

Anyway to the Inception

**SPOILERS**

My theory on the age difference in limbo was that maybe since Cobb had previous experience eg mentioning how he and Mal did grow old together in their world and knew the intricacies.

Another question. How can Fisher not know the rules of dreams when his mind was so guarded eg the para-military fighting against them in his dreams and dreams within dreams?

Maybe I am missing something but how long was Cobb away again? His children are the same age (I thought initially the phone call voices represented them as older) and project the same images as seen again and again. Was Nolan just screwing with us or was the fact the children shared the same images symbolic of something more existential?

What were the issues with Lukas Haas as the original architect? That was one of the scenes I just could not hear the sound so well.

**END SPOILERS**

I thought the movie was very well done. Had some trouble understanding some of the dialogue with the sound and I thought some of the CGI effects at the beginning was had some issues with the details (when you see everything, including the tomatoes explode) but the stunts were fantastic and the zero gravity scenes that followed were fantastic.

I think this was a great ensemble piece. I do think DiCaprio did not often project the emotional torment and often when Ellen Page's character was cornering him on not being open to people like Arthur, he looked small. It was not like the role written lacked any bite (though the whole back and forth between Cobb and Mal seemed inconsistent and mercurial some of the time), I would not say his acting was standout. Cotillard was fantastic. Page was good but I think I loved Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon Levitt the most. They knew their roles, provided some fine comic relief, and had a good rapport with each other. Then again, I was always liked them as actors.

I do wish there was more exposition between Fisher and his father, and just Cillian Murphy's character in general.

I definitely think this and Toy Story 3 (the film I think is worthy but will be rewarded for its influence in the industry and the fact it has not been nominated for either Best Picture or Animated Feature as the category was not created until the after the second film) are definitely heavy contenders for the 10 Best Picture spots, if not shoo-ins. Perhaps it will be a strong year for films unlike last year but I will be interested in seeing 10 total films better.

bethnor, I actually saw a lot more things similar to Batman Begins than in The Dark Knight. The private jet, the large house on a mountain, etc looked completely out of that film. I don't see what is boring. Considering the budget for this film, I could understand if it went beyond just having a Nolan look or being simply lazy writing.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 10:50pm

"Maybe I am missing something but how long was Cobb away again? His children are the same age"

Which is exactly why I thought the ending was a dream. Were the kids wearing the same clothes in the last scene as they had been throughout the rest of the film?

[strummergirl]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 10:53pm

That's what I was thinking. Everything turned out so well. Then that last scene, it was a Tarkovsky-styled dream.

[bethnor]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 11:43pm

Let me ask a question: do you think Cobb was dreaming or awake at the end?

to me, this was not even relevant, and wasn't going to be something that added a layer to the film. given the nature of the material, nearly any plot point could "turn out to be a dream." so it's actually something to be handled with care, lest the audience feel cheated.

it's boring, strummergirl, because those are just locales from batman begins and TDK. do you remember your most vivid nightmare? i had one where i was laying on a couch, being casually eaten by a zombie. i couldn't wake up. when i finally did, the side of my body that was being nibbled upon was numb.

there's none of that vividness here.

not saying this was a bad film, by any stretch, just saying, that for a film about dreams, the visuals were strikingly unimaginative and the palate very bland. it's too "real," which served the dark knight, but detracts from something that should be wildly imaginative and abstract (which dreams are). gaiman did nickname morpheus "the prince of stories," after all.
Updated On: 7/17/10 at 11:43 PM

[spiderdj82]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 11:46pm

Again, it's not their dream we are seeing. It is being manipulated to look like the real world so the person doesn't realize they are dreaming. If it had zombies in it, the person would realize that something wasn't right. That was the point.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 11:48pm

I liked it, but didn't think it was nearly the masterpiece some people are making it out to be.

For my money, Toy Story 3 is still the best movie of the year.

[Q]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 11:48pm

In the midst of all the discussion about how true it is to its own conventions, is there any mention of what the point is to it all? Or is this just a nice carnival ride?

[bethnor]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 11:51pm

i perfectly understand what you are saying spider.

but part of the point is, you don't know you're in the dream. that's part of he point of dreaming, and why we don't wake up from vivid dreams which are starkly different from reality.

secondly, for the assault on the stronghold, fischer knew he was in a dream. so why did an assault on the deepest rescesses of a subconscious have to literally be an assault on a stronghold on a mountaintop in nepal which looked architecturally exactly like such a stronghold in batman begins?

cobb and his wife knew they were forging a world. why did it just have to be a city like any other in the US or the world?

why do the shores of your subconscious have to literally be a seashore?

i'm not saying there should be zombies and dragons running around, but all the dreamscapes are literally just sets lifted from any 007 film. that doesn't make it a bad movie, but it does justify (to me), why some critics don't think the movie lived up to its potential.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/17/10 at 11:52pm

The point was to put aside what we perceive as reality and focus on the truth that's in our minds at all time even when we're dreaming and it's the subconscious parts of our mind that actually dictates the eventual outcome in what we build our reality upon in the real world while all the time creating our own destiny as it should be but never can be since we limit our minds as to the perception of what we are dreaming, hence we can do nothing but watch our own fate turn into reality.

Duh.

Updated On: 7/17/10 at 11:52 PM