Christopher Nolan's "Inception"

slashsfro

tejastech08 wrote:

slashsfro wrote:
Following is a great film and has sort of an indie feel to it. It's in black and white which adds to the charm. It was his first film and you can see the genesis of his other films.
Have you ever seen his short film Doodlebug? Pretty interesting. It has that trademark gritty feel that can be found in all of Nolan's films. When you watch a Nolan film, no matter how low the budget is, you know you're going to be watching a film with plenty of atmosphere.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x17wxm … shortfilms

Nope. Thanks for the link. It's strange that the only film of his I haven't seen is the Insomnia remake. I've seen the original though, a bit too moody for me.

Hey, the same guy who starred in Following is in this short too. That's pretty cool. Going back to Nolan for a minute, almost all of his films feature characters isolated from society in some way or another--emotionally and otherwise.

I agree. Memento is one of my all-time favorites and Prestige is widely respected as a great movie (8.4 on imdb) even if it isn't one I'd watch many times. And even though I don't love it, the story is amazing (as is Memento's and both Batman films) and he co-wrote all those, and I believe he is the writer for Inception as well.
I'll probably see this if it gets a couple good reviews.

I saw Prestige a second time a few months after the first viewing, and it wasn't as fun but you do get to try to understand the characters especially the Christian Bale character.

tejastech08

The great thing about the Prestige is the focus on obsession and what it leads people to do. In addition to this main theme, the production values are incredible (great acting, stunning cinematography, great period piece production design, etc.). A lot of people criticize Nolan's films for allegedly having a detached style, but I strongly disagree. I think they are very humanistic.

tejastech08

By the way, Slashfro, the Insomnia remake is good but not great. The way I look at it is that it was a stepping stone to Batman Begins. It was his first studio film with big name actors and a good sized budget. If you judge the film on its own, it is a good movie. If you compare it to 80% of the crap that has been put out by Hollywood over the last decade, it looks like a GREAT film. That is more of a commentary on how crappy Hollywood has become lately than a compliment to the film. But it is a good film. It's his least ambitious film, obviously. He did not write the script. It doesn't really feature any "mindfuck" moments like in Memento or The Prestige. But it does feature some Nolan trademarks: excellent atmosphere, excellent cinematography, and great acting.

slashsfro

tejastech08 wrote:

The great thing about the Prestige is the focus on obsession and what it leads people to do. In addition to this main theme, the production values are incredible (great acting, stunning cinematography, great period piece production design, etc.). A lot of people criticize Nolan's films for allegedly having a detached style, but I strongly disagree. I think they are very humanistic.

Yeah, it was like a strange game between Bale and Jackman playing who can top this.

Hidden Text:

I'm not sure what "detatched style" means, could you elaborate further? I think his films are darker than most but that's fine with me.

tejastech08

slashsfro wrote:

I'm not sure what "detatched style" means, could you elaborate further? I think his films are darker than most but that's fine with me.

Allegedly not emotional enough or whatever. The thing about it is that he focuses on things that are very relevant to human life. We all take our memories for granted and don't realize that memory is one of the keys to life. Without it, you might as well not have a life. Memento shows this in a very accurate way. The scientific community praised it for its accuracy in showing the effects of anterograde amnesia. What I got out of it is to just cherish the fact that I can even remember things at all. I'd rather remember the bad things in life than not be able to remember what I did 2 minutes ago. I think the film helps keep life in perspective.

tejastech08

Empire is describing the film as "The Matrix meets 007 on steroids" and "THE movie event of 2010."

http://www.empireonline.com/magazine/

A reporter at the L.A. Times who has seen 12 minutes of the film and read the script (which is otherwise under total lockdown in Hollywood) has said it's the only film of the summer that matters.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/herocom … tters.html

Both the HitFix and Deadline Hollywood have reported really strong reactions from people who have been lucky enough to see the film.

http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-11- … tory-3?m=g

Even Jerry Bruckheimer admitted he wishes his film The Sorcerer's Apprentice didn't come out at the same time as Inception. Around a week after making those comments, Disney moved the release date of Sorcerer's Apprentice to Wednesday, July 13th so it can have a head start before Inception comes out on Friday, July 16th. My guess is that the insider buzz surrounding Inception has made its way to Disney and Bruckheimer's ears. And I wouldn't be surprised if someone from their studio has already seen Inception to get an idea of the competition.

Here is the trailer that came out with Iron Man 2 in early May:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66TuSJo4dZM

Epic scale and amazing visuals. You will notice they are still concealing the plot. That's intentional. The same thing happened with the marketing for both TDK and The Prestige. Nolan doesn't like the studio to give the whole thing away during the trailer, but you get a good idea of the strong production values in this film. Here is the official plot synopsis from Warner Brothers:

Acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan directs an international cast in an original sci-fi actioner that travels around the globe and into the intimate and infinite world of dreams. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved.
Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption. One last job could give him his life back but only if he can accomplish the impossible: inception. Instead of the perfect heist, Cobb and his team of specialists have to pull off the reverse: their task is not to steal an idea but to plant one. If they succeed, it could be the perfect crime. But no amount of careful planning or expertise can prepare the team for the dangerous enemy that seems to predict their every move. An enemy that only Cobb could have seen coming. This summer, your mind is the scene of the crime.

Jett over at Batman-On-Film said that he would be attending a press screening in mid-June, which means we should start getting reviews from various bloggers and critics 2-3 weeks from now.

metallex78

Finally, I got around to seeing this film tonight. It was quite good, but not nearly as complex as I was expecting. Still, it was quite gripping and entertaining for such a long film.

The ending is open to interpretation though...

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SPOILER ALERT!!!!!
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So, did Leo go back to reality, or was he still dreaming at the end?
I think that seeing the top starting to wobble, when in the dreams it would spin perfectly, it meant that he was back to reality again. But there are people saying otherwise, and that he was still dreaming.

A Private Eye

I heard Michael Cain on the radio this morning and his interpretation was that Leo was back in the real world at the end. Mainly because he himself (Cain) features in the scene and throughout the film he only appears in Leo's real world and not the dream world.

tejastech08

A Private Eye wrote:

I heard Michael Cain on the radio this morning and his interpretation was that Leo was back in the real world at the end. Mainly because he himself (Cain) features in the scene and throughout the film he only appears in Leo's real world and not the dream world.

But what if Cain's character is performing inception on DiCaprio's character the entire time? Then the entire story comes into question. The rabbit hole runs deep on this one.

A Private Eye

I can't be bothered to even contemplate that, as far as I'm concerned he was awake. The End.

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