Inception (with implanted spoilers)

xxp, hmm. i don't ~think~ i'm being to hard on that aspect. a preposterous mistaken decision taken as a result of insanity just feels terribly arbitrary to be the core of the film. the similar thing was better used in shutter island because you felt like leo da vinci actually changed as a character having dealt with the fallout, but in this he just changes his address.

worried i'm Robert McKeeing this now, and maybe it was just retarded.

idiotic zimmerthon score all the way through

^OTM think u can count the score-less scenes on one hand

my problem with the film is that it didn't explore any dream symbolism whatsoever. it was so literal. too literal.

It was really wasn't a story about dreams-as-such though -- I forget where I stumbled across the quote this weekend but it was a psychiatrist noting that because dreams are so potentially all over the place that films that get closer to dream symbolism aren't going to be tautly plotted out thrillers. A friend of mine who went in wanting that kind of story about dreams really hated the film as a result.

yeah i hate this film. it's a boring action movie with a horrible snow shoot out. it makes no sense.

the anonymous "projections" really irritated me as well

at least color coordinate the players in a snow shoot out so i can actually give a fuck about what is going on

"A boring action movie with a horrible show shoot out!!!! A++++++"

CUTTY, KILX-TV

shouldve gone with red/blue lasers

my dreams have fucking lasers

u hired as architect for p2

actually not sure which position is in charge of lasers tbh

Might re-watch this on a decent screen (I was in the front row of a huge screen because I got there late). I normally feel that films go on too long, and can NEVER hear dialogue, but didn't really have a problem with either here (although I missed the Japanese guy's line about the airline).

Leo wasn't allowed to know the layout of the dream designs because his messed-up psyche could try and interfere, so presumably all the rest of the team are 100% well-adjusted and psychologically 'normal'? Wasn't too sure about this.
Another thing that struck me as odd was that when the team first got attacked when the heist started, Leo's assumption was that someone had trained Cillian Murphy in dream-protection or whatever. This hints that Leo's team are perhaps one of many doing this kind of dream shenanigans (attack and/or security), whereas before they seemed to be a one-off crack squad.

for anyone who's seen paprika, is this film live-action paprika because if so I may fork out the money to see it

well ive seen paprika and its a kind of spice and this is a movie about dreams

i did NOT like this at all.

aw cmon max

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn7U1KIGeuQ

when you think about it 'paprika' and 'inception' share some letters for example 'p' and maybe 'i'

paprika is way more imaginative and weird

"A boring action movie with a horrible show shoot out!!!! A++++++"

CUTTY, KILX-TV

"A...hoot...!"

I don't know why, but certain movies are not allowed to get away with not making sense. Even if they're Japanese and feature a perma-smiling red onion in ankle chains or whatever

I wonder what Jonah Hill would have been like in Inception

my problem with the film is that it didn't explore any dream symbolism whatsoever. it was so literal. too literal.

― cutty, Monday, July 19, 2010 12:39 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

^^

I don't think I like level-crossing sci-fi movies / tv anymore. I think calling attention to the varying levels of 'reality' within the movie itself makes it harder to accept that the 'top level' of the movie is real and not just, you know, a story that was written and filmed and acted by a bunch of writers/directors/actors.

Exactly. Suspending belief in a regular movie and believing the characters are real is more effectively dream-like.

I don't think this movie is supposed to reflect what actual dreams are like and more than most movies are supposed to reflect what actual life is like.

*any more

It's funny because Nolan kind of cops to that line of criticism with the 'Mr Charlie' (I think that's the name, I can't remember) bit in the 2nd level of the dream. That is, you shouldn't put the person you're trying to get to believe in your made up unreality in the frame of mind to start looking for flaws in that unreality.

The audience, at that point, starts to take on the role of the 'subconcious agents' (or whoever the dudes with guns are) in the film, and starts to look for flaws and shoot holes in em.

http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l5sgo28Oqw1qz7f9to1_500.jpg

sort of surprised there hasn't been a screencap of this with a "yo dawg we heard you like dreams" caption

Just got back from this, liked it a lot. Maybe more when I'm less exhausted. But I had to share the most memorable moment of the night - during the trailer for Devil, the entire audience groaned/booed/laughed when M. Night Shyamalan's name popped up on the screen. It was glorious.

That seems to have been a common reaction everywhere! Thank god.

Yes, I was pleased to hear how many have turned against him. Apologies if that was already addressed in here, was avoiding spoilers until I saw it.

didnt hate this, didnt love it. felt a bit like i did about the dark knight. lots of almost plot 'twists' or just strands to make it seem mroe complex being stacked on top of each other but it felt a bit tedious or gimmicky. the first half hour or so was a bit of a mess really, seemed to not know what it was doing or where it was heading. got better once we started to learn a bit more about dicaprios past and his own uses for/affects on the dreams but this film thinks its much cleverer than it really is. the arrogant thing i kinda get cos everyone is strutting around with such self importance - theres next to no humour in this film, kinda like the dark knight. overall though, i felt like it was a cool concept, with lots of potential for interesting, thought provoking stuff that might you know feel like a surrealistic dream, but instead what i got was a kinda shallow rendering of that, dressed up to appear as though its the most complex thing ever. can imagine fanboys geeking it up forever about what meant what and how other people just dont understand all the details but this just seems like a bit of a mess between big modern blockbuster form meets hifaulutin concept. and weirdest of all, it felt a bit dated.

nolan is really overrated as a stylist btw. barring memento perhaps, his films arent really all that distinct visually.

obv dicaprio is always going to look like a kind of boy-man but i found it weird how the other main stars in this looked so young too.

"dressed up to appear as though its the most complex thing ever"

basically this shit just wasnt coherent
and they kept piling up more and more on it just in case anyone noticed i think
im sure plenty people will think its all 'deep' though

"dressed up to appear as though its the most complex thing ever"

That was my instinctive reaction, too. I went to see this with my son (14) yesterday, at his insistence. He loved it, and expressed his determination to obtain the DVD so he can watch it again. I fell asleep at the beginning (I almost always do that in cinemas) so missed a bit, but by the end felt I had understood the fundamentals of what I had seen, while remaining confused by some of the different layers of dreams within dreams. But, although the visuals were pretty stunning, ultimately the basic premise, the characters, and the storyline, were all just not interesting to me.

Going to see the film with my son, I was reminded of my father taking me to see '2001: A Space Odyssey'. I remember finding '2001' confusing, but also truly fascinating (in fact I still like it, in particular for its slow pacing and quietness, whereas there was far too much ridiculously over the top noise and frenetic action in 'Inception' for me). But what is almost certainly significant is that I was completely fascinated by '2001', and my son seemed to have a similar response to 'Inception' (whereas I think I was disgusted by it at some very deep level, while enjoying it superficially). My conclusion is that I am growing bit by bit to hate the modern world, which is presumably a side effect of ageing. I wish I could remember if my father detested '2001'. I remember discussing it with him at length on the way home, but I don't remember what his opinion of it was.

My friend Dan North (a film academic) on Inception - http://as.exeter.ac.uk/it/av/digital/#off

i think if this came out in a period where there was more on offer in terms of big hollywood fare, or maybe a decade or so back, it would probably have been seen as a bit of a failure. cos its really just an awkard blend of blockbustery big dumb action fare and attempts to appeal to peoples more intellectual side, except that its just not very smart.

just cos a film academic likes a film doesnt mean their word is law. im almost inclined to trust film academic types less actually. cos their enjoyment/appreciation of a film doesnt necessarily depend on it being enjoyable/good.

If this came out a decade ago, it would have compared unfavorably with all the VR/recursive loop-closing films that were the zeitgeisty flavor. Matrix, Existenz, Dark City, "Harsh Realm", even The Thirteenth Floor all tackled more or less the same plot more stylishly.

Or at maybe they just modeled their noirish worlds on Myst like adventure games which were still selling back then vs. the open world twitch console shooter that influences Inception.

On the bright side, we were spared the obligatory climactic fistfight with protagonists punching WITH THEIR BRAINS!

Hahaha I totally put the wrong fucking link there! Clipboard fail!

http://drnorth.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/inception/

That's the real link!

is the name dom cobb a reference to anything?

I kind of assume so, but I dunno what.

it was so literal. too literal.

A banal espionage plot, lots of people running around with guns, and DiCaprio as usual barely convincing as an adult. Reminded me a lot of that forgotten J-Lo pic The Gift, only that one was at least boring in a stylized way. I guess it's provoking "discussion" among people who don't usually go to movies because, like The Celestine Prophecy and The Alchemist, the movie offers a taste of something Deep and Spiritual along with the usual thrills.

The Cell, I meant.

Cobb was the name of a character from Nolan's first film. Figured he just liked the name. Or Ty Cobb. xposts.

lolling at the "WORST FILM EVER!" hyperbole

guys, there's a Cats Vs Dogs sequel coming out, you have to ration the ire so that it lasts all summer

if cats and dogs sequel goes around masquerading as high art cinema, and the critics buy it, i'll worst film ever that too

seems a bit unfair to rip on inception for 'masquerading as high art' just because a few critics and fanboys claim it as such. i don't think there's anything particularly pretentious about it, nor does it seem to make any claims to be anything other than a summer action/heist film.