Official Thread of Inception: Best summer blockbuster since 2009!

[Cheebs]

The Prestige is still my favorite from him, no doubt. It deals with the same theme as Inception, but handles it on a much more intimate and satisfying level, and it actually has characters and development.

Im starting to wonder if Chris Nolan shouldnt be seeing a shrink. He clearly has obsession issues. Every movie he makes revolved around it 

He also seems to glorify criminals (hero of both batmans, inception, and prestige to an extent are criminals). Which is interesting because his older brother is in prison for life for murder.

[Ichirou]

Yes, the characters look fucking stylish.  Another plus of the movie is that Nolan knows how to assemble an ensemble.

And Ellen Page is so cute in this, but again...personality-free.  She's just there to fulfill a certain function of the script.

[Solo]

The Prestige is still my favorite from him, no doubt. It deals with the same theme as Inception, but handles it on a much more intimate and satisfying level, and it actually has characters and development.

Im starting to wonder if Chris Nolan shouldnt be seeing a shrink. He clearly has obsession issues. Every movie he makes revolved around it 

He also seems to glorify criminals (hero of both batmans, inception, and prestige to an extent are criminals). Which is interesting because his older brother is in prison for life for murder.

Nolan obsessed with murderous brother am confirmed

[Ichirou]

The Prestige is still my favorite from him, no doubt. It deals with the same theme as Inception, but handles it on a much more intimate and satisfying level, and it actually has characters and development.

Im starting to wonder if Chris Nolan shouldnt be seeing a shrink. He clearly has obsession issues. Every movie he makes revolved around it 

He also seems to glorify criminals (hero of both batmans, inception, and prestige to an extent are criminals). Which is interesting because his older brother is in prison for life for murder.

Following and Memento are also about criminals.  The protagonist in Following ends up breaking into people's houses and developing an addiction to it, the protagonist in Memento ends up (SPOILER) committing murders thinking he's avenging his wife (SPOILERS OVER).

[Ichirou]

Was I the only one annoyed by the fact that none of the characters pronounced Watanabe's names the same way?

DiCaprio was the only one who pronounced it correctly.   Everyone else was like "Seeto" or "Sayto."

[Cheebs]

True, those as well. I wonder how much it has to do with his older brother who I assume he looked up to being an older brother falling into a world of crime and murder.

[Solo]

Man, talk about the black sheep of the family. Chris basically wipes his ass with hundred dollar bills while WB simultaneously gives him a reacharound, Jonathan is getting attended to by a fluffer before he steps up onto the same level as Chris, meanwhile the elder Nolan is killing motherfuckers.

[Ichirou]

True, those as well. I wonder how much it has to do with his older brother who I assume he looked up to being an older brother falling into a world of crime and murder.

From what I read, he and his older brother didn't really interact with each other much.  I mean, his older brother is very americanized from what I understand, and they spent a lot of time apart because of his parent's divorce or whatever.

[Ichirou]

Too bad it didn't make you want to get a haircut.

[Cheebs]

Too bad it didn't make you want to get a haircut.

Ponytail

Anyway, I just realized how he is obsessed with criminals and/or vigilantes. Which really made him the perfect pick for the Batman series, if Inception did anything else it hyped me up for Batman 3 more. Oh and I missed Bale here  :'( I bet I'm the only one.

Miss? He has The Fighter out this fall which he is getting a lot of oscar buzz for.

Edit: Oh! You mean in a Nolan movie.

[Solo]

Bale can fuck off and die as far as Im concerned.

[Ichirou]

I like Christian Bale, but I believe that audiotaped rant of his is characteristic of his behavior on set.  Sad, really.

[Cheebs]

And if Inception had Bale I doubt Leo would be in it because Bale isn't really going to play one of the side characters. Inception is way better off for having Leo in the lead. Waaaay better. Inception would have been half the movie it was without Leo.

[Solo]

His "Mal, Jesus CHRIST!" was  :'(

[bagofeyes]

bale's crazy rant made me like him

[Ichirou]

Yeah, DiCaprio is a way better actor than Bale.

[Cheebs]

His "Mal, Jesus CHRIST!" was  :'(

For someone who has never been married or had kids and entire romantic history is random 20 something super models every other week he is absolutely amazing at playing mourning father/husband roles.

[Ichirou]

He's actually starting to look his age, too.  I mean, even in The Departed he still looked like a kid.

[Phoenix Dark]

Solo always gets agitated whenever a true film buff shows up. Ichi

[cool breeze]

I want to be an extra in a Chris Nolan movie just so I can steal the stylish clothing.

even Nolan dresses to impress.  Someone posted a video of the rig built for the hotel scene and Nolan is just standing around looking fly.

I will say that the corridor fight in the hotel was fucking amazing, I've never seen anything like it.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt was fucking badass in the movie, but his character really had no personality.  He was just there to fulfill a certain purpose and look cool.

You look at heist movies, and the characters always have personalities and quirks, even if it's just fulfilling a certain type.  The only guy with any sort of discernible personality in Inception was Tom Hardy.

Agreed for the most part. 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Saito only sometime came off like he was just there to watch, and again, those scenes were mostly his interactions with Tom Hardy.  The van driver/medicine guy didn't really have anything going on except for that one line after the van rolled.  But I thought Arthur had some personality just from the style of his dreams.

[close]

[Great Rumbler]

I do have one question, though. In this reality, is the whole "we can enter people's dreams" common knowledge? I got that impression with the "opium den" in Mumbasa and the mention of the military using it for training, but I still wonder...

The impression I get is that it's known about in certain circles, but it's still something that exists on the fringe and it's not something that's really understood fully.

[Great Rumbler]

The "reported" budget is $178 million in Canadian dollars, not US dollars. And that's not including marketing, which was likely close to $100 million. So yeah, nice try, Cheebs.

Nolan bomba

Somehow I remember this post and decided to do some currency conversion. 178 million Canadian dollars is equal to about 168 million American dollars.

[Cheebs]

Oh and this made over 60 mil this weekend due to shockingly good holds on Saturday that wasn't expected yesterday. Holding steady/increasing on a Sat on a summer movie like this is a sign of very good legs. It will top 200 mil, no question.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I still liked Batman Begins and Memento better

[close]

[The Fake Shemp]

Somehow I remember this post and decided to do some currency conversion. 178 million Canadian dollars is equal to about 168 million American dollars.

That's now, but the Canadian was rated higher than the dollar within the past two years!

$60 million for a $250 - $300 million film

[Cheebs]

That canadian budget was shifted down to 160 american due to Nolan coming under budget. At thats what Nolan says. He said they came in under budget in the end. He has point blank stated the rumored budget was wrong that he came in well under 200 mil.

But no matter. He'll lose to Transformers 3 still.

[Boogie]

Somehow I remember this post and decided to do some currency conversion. 178 million Canadian dollars is equal to about 168 million American dollars.

That's now, but the Canadian was rated higher than the dollar within the past two years!

Yeaaaaah, barely, but not really:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/markets/indexes/chart/?q=cad/usd-I

[Cheebs]

Somehow I remember this post and decided to do some currency conversion. 178 million Canadian dollars is equal to about 168 million American dollars.

That's now, but the Canadian was rated higher than the dollar within the past two years!

Yeaaaaah, not really:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/markets/indexes/chart/?q=cad/usd-I

Willco is just trolling, he liked the movie lol.

He came in early and under-budget on both Inception and The Dark Knight.

[Boogie]

Somehow I remember this post and decided to do some currency conversion. 178 million Canadian dollars is equal to about 168 million American dollars.

That's now, but the Canadian was rated higher than the dollar within the past two years!

Yeaaaaah, not really:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/markets/indexes/chart/?q=cad/usd-I

Willco is just trolling, he liked the movie lol.

duh.

I just like posting charts and graphs. 

[Great Rumbler]

We know he's trolling, but he could at least troll WELL. You know, for the kids.

[The Fake Shemp]

Obviously the budget was spent when the Canadian dollar was valued higher, and even a small difference could account for almost TWENTY MILLION. Cheebs is just pulling junk out of his bum, per usual. Nolan fanboys can't accept that this big budget piece of junk is a massive bomb.

bu bu bu bu it'll make its money back

Yeah, Hollywood studios love to spend $250 to $300 million to make their money back, or a small return.

[Cheebs]

Official budget is 160 mil looooool:
As can be seen here:
http://admin.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2010&wknd=29&p=.htm

Or on The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i4e5fe86c8a88e96ba73a8e7044756d02

Or even the dreaded Wikipedia .

I love Willco's movie trolling but this one is not as well thought out. :'( It'd be more funny to attack to the quality of the movie instead. It's not as easily refutable. All the major press outlets are reporting the opening as good.

Still it's hilarious. Last week Willco was claiming Nolan is the last great hope in hollywood film making and is the next Spielberg. 

This would have been epic if someone like GS was here and fell for the trolling but oh well.

[Great Rumbler]

Like I said, Willco is really slipping here. The lack of Green Shinobi to push back and give him some competition to step up his game is really evident here.

[Cheebs]

Yeah we really needed someone like GS who would fall for the trolling.

Willco, don't you still have your GAF account? Post this boxoffice bomb stuff there. They would buy into it and go crazy. 

[Rman]

Do it, Wilco.  Your trolling is wasted here. 

[The Fake Shemp]

That's just an estimate Cheebs, that's not official. I've got a bridge to sell you, ice to eskimos, etc.

Even if you took your estimate (and I won't, because other folks are citing $200 million), you're still looking at a $250+ million production yielding $60 million its opening weekend.

[Rman]

Wilco, don't you think the movie will be immensely profitable when you factor in DVD sales, etc?

[The Fake Shemp]

Yes, because Hollywood greenlights tentpole flicks to make the profits with DVD sales

[The Fake Shemp]

People that think the studio gets all the box office money

[Great Rumbler]

Foreign markets have been really good to big American movies this year too, even when the American market hasn't been. I'd be surprised if it didn't do better than $250 million overseas.

And it's not some rare thing for a movie with a $60 million opening to do $250 million or more total.

[The Fake Shemp]

People that think all the ancillary revenue goes to the studios

[The Fake Shemp]

People that don't realize that studios usually get a flat amount for distribution in foreign markets and not the box office

[Rman]

I thought that has been a big strategy for a while, making most of your profits from DVDs.

[The Fake Shemp]

I thought that has been a big strategy for a while, making most of your profits from DVDs.

[Great Rumbler]

Willco going off the deep end.

[The Fake Shemp]

People with no concept of how money works

(see: Nolan fans)

[The Fake Shemp]

True. Shit movie, shit thread.

[Great Rumbler]

Nobody's rising to Willco's trolls, so he has now gone insane.

[Rman]

I thought that has been a big strategy for a while, making most of your profits from DVDs.

This was quoted in the GAF thread.  

"The blockbusters do well enough in American theaters -- the first "Harry Potter" pulled in more than $317 million -- but ticket sales are a drop in the bucket: That film's total earnings as of last year were $1,249 billion, the biggest chunk of which ($436 million) came from worldwide DVD sales. In effect, as Epstein persistently argues, theatrical release now exists not to make money but to open the way for "intellectual property" income to be earned over the long term from other sources. As the "Midas formula" makes plain, these movies are strictly product; they may win the occasional award, since Hollywood reveres success, but they have little if anything to do with cinematic art."

[TakingBackSunday]

wow, willco is really losing it itt

[The Fake Shemp]

Yeah, sure.

[The Fake Shemp]

Home video sales are important, but studios do not invest hundreds of millions into tentpoles for DVD sales - which they do not see all of. That is distinguished mentally-challenged logic.

[Great Rumbler]

wow, willco is really losing it itt

This easily trumps his trolling in the Avatar thread, but it's actually just kind of pathetic more than funny.

[The Fake Shemp]

I hated Inception, it was awful.

[The Fake Shemp]

hay guyz speed racer made lots of money on dvd and blu-ray where is teh sequel?!

[Rman]

Home video sales are important, but studios do not invest hundreds of millions into tentpoles for DVD sales - which they do not see all of. That is distinguished mentally-challenged logic.

Dude, it only made 17 million dollar less than Avatar's opening week.  I don't think it will have Avatar's legs, but word of mouth, international BO and yes, DVD sales will make it a profitable investment for WB.

[Cheebs]

This thread is really depressing without someone like GS to fall for the trolling.

It's going to make over 200 mil in America, running around calling 200 mil domestic earners flops is hilarious but Willco is trolling for some bait.

[Joe Molotov]

hay guyz speed racer made lots of money on dvd and blu-ray where is teh sequel?!

Chronicles of Riddick made $60 not in it's first weekend but total, and they're making a sequel to that based on DVD sales.

[The Fake Shemp]

I can sense the anger in Cheebs; trying to stay restrained, but he wants to let it out. Typical Nolan fanboy - trying to be passive aggressive.

[Cheebs]

I can sense the anger in Cheebs; trying to stay restrained, but he wants to let it out. Typical Nolan fanboy - trying to be passive aggressive.

I know you like the movie, I saw you posting links to youtubes of Zimmers score on twitter like a few minutes after you trashed the score.

[The Fake Shemp]

Chronicles of Riddick made $60 not in it's first weekend but total, and they're making a sequel to that based on DVD sales.

It made $115 million at the box office.