Official Thread of Inception: Best summer blockbuster since 2009!

[CajoleJuice]

1.   Inception   $43,505,000
2.   Salt   $36,500,000

 

[drew]

Drew "partied" with a distinguished mentally-challenged girl in his parents basement.  Don't know what to say...

dude, i was a kid, my sister threw the party, i didnt actually hang out with her

[Robo]

I only just realized over the course of reading the last page that all the references to "salt" were for a movie and not the mineral.  I was wondering how Inception could possibly have more facebook fans, because salt is pretty delicious.

[Joe Molotov]

1.   Inception   $43,505,000
2.   Salt   $36,500,000

 

Only a 30% drop. This movie's got

[drew]

Salt looks corny as fuck

[bagofeyes]

I already read what happens in salt on wikipedia. im not seeing that shit.

[etiolate]

Saw it. Really liked it. I liked the way time is trapped in the film and the rules of the film making the cinema form create doubt. Reminded me a lot Shutter Island, but more focused on the thrill and suspense. In a way it is just a heist movie, with a gang, disguises and specialists, etc. Except the punishment for failing is not getting caught and going to jail, but being forever trapped in the crime itself.

[Cheebs]

I already read what happens in salt on wikipedia. im not seeing that shit.

It's a really average movie. Not worth more than a rent really.

[GilloD]

Finally saw it; was sufficently awed. This is the first time in my life I really understood the art and purpose of film editing. Especially in the first third, the editing is really jarring and quick, it does a great job of simulating that feeling of being in a dream, of reinforcing that point Cobb keeps harping on about not being able to remember how you got there.

It's seemed pretty obvious to me

spoiler (click to show/hide)

That Cobb is in a dream, right? His totem is unreliable- He took it from Mal and if Arthur is right, that makes it useless. And in the end the kids are the same age, in the same pose and have the same clothes on. If you wanna push back farther, could the Mumbasa chase just be a result of Projections chasing him? I feel like the entire film is Cobb inventing a reason to overcome his demons and overcome his guilt and be able to move on with his dream life.

[close]

The entire last third, where you're basically watching 5 movies at once, was incredible. Beautifully assembled, beautifully shot and beautifully written. All the elements of that film are in perfect harmony.

[chronovore]

Yeah, I thought the same thing, because of the reasons you gave. But it's more like:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

"BLUE SKIES ON MARS! THAT'S A NEW ONE!" from Total Recall. It's there not to be an endcap which makes everything make sense, but to bring a new level of confusion to the viewer. As Stringfellow says, it goes against the title of the movie if the point is "extraction," but maybe it's the wife placing the idea of redemption in Cobb's head, at some point he will have to disbelief the existence of his kids, who are unchanged from the last time he saw them. Maybe his wife was right, the realm he returned to was one level too low, and he is stuck in the dream. Or maybe he was permanently trapped in limbo, his own limbo, since we don't see the resolution with Saito onscreen.

[close]

[GilloD]

Yeah, I don't think it's meant to be cut and dry, but there are plenty of hints that tip the scales.

[etiolate]

Eh, I do not think dreams have to be extremely weird to be dreams. If they were, by the films own rules, it would alert the dreamer to the dreamworld. As a lucid dreamer, what mostly REM dreams I have are made out of real world places that present real world obstacles in my way. Often, it is when my dreams become really weird that I become self-aware.

But to the issue of lack of character development, I agree that there is less character exploration than say Shutter Island, but if

spoiler (click to show/hide)

he is still trapped in the last layer of dreams then the other characters really wouldn't show much growth beyond their purpose, and he himself would only change as much as he is willing to take a leap of faith on. Whether he is still in a dream or not I cannot say for sure. If he's not then the character growth is a real flaw.

[close]

[Mupepe]

I don't mind the lack of character development and whatnot.  It was a summer blockbuster.  I wasn't expecting it to break that mold.  It was definitely the most fun summer blockbuster in ages and without a doubt it was more engaging than any I've sat through in years.

[Cheebs]

Every dream I have had that I can recall were realistic. I don't get this idea where dreams have to be some sort of crazy psychedelic abstract weird look in films. Most peoples dreams probably don't look like that but that is the standard image of a dream in movies. Nolan's feel far more like real dreams to me.

[etiolate]

Well some people do have really weird dreams. I had more weird dreams when I was younger. These days my memory of events is built up so much that they supply a lot of dream fodder instead of my mind drawing from nothing or from fantasy. Since this was a movie reliant on rules, the dreams had to be of the sort where rules could apply in some manner.

[Great Rumbler]

Most of the dreams I can remember are pretty mundane and involve mundane issues. Like, I'm in my old school again and I can't remember which locker is mine or I forgot my books or something.

Although I have had dreams that involved a zombie attack before.

[Mupepe]

I'm in that camp too.  There is too much evidence leaning that way IMO.

I had a dream the other night that I was part of Avatar and we got attacked by the Na'vi and we were escaping Pandora on our ship and we were all fucked up.  but then on the ship I met one of my best friends from high school and he had all this cool shit now.  And he gave me a bunch of cool shit like a covered wagon and big tv and stuff. 

[Great Rumbler]

And he gave me a bunch of cool shit like a covered wagon and big tv and stuff. 

[Mupepe]

I put all the other cool shit in the covered wagon.  It was badass.  I kept thinking "in 6 years when I get back to earth, this is going to be fucking awesome"

[Cheebs]

I had a dream the other night where I was reading on twitter than Daniel Craig died. Either I use twitter too much or I am subconsciously want to murder Daniel Craig. Or both.

[Mupepe]

I'm in that camp too.  There is too much evidence leaning that way IMO.

Even ignoring most of the perfectly legitimate evidence, the thing that struck me most was

spoiler (click to show/hide)

the kids didn't come to the airport to meet him, in order to maintain that exact same position in the home.

[close]

Never thought about that, but yeah

spoiler (click to show/hide)

the children sealed it for me.  Everything about them in the last scene was ridiculously obvious.

[close]

[AdmiralViscen]

I'm in that camp too.  There is too much evidence leaning that way IMO.

Even ignoring most of the perfectly legitimate evidence, the thing that struck me most was

spoiler (click to show/hide)

the kids didn't come to the airport to meet him, in order to maintain that exact same position in the home.

[close]

Well,

spoiler (click to show/hide)

if the chinese guy fucked Leo over, I doubt grampa would want the kids to see him dragged away in handcuffs. But yea

[close]

[Ichirou]

The chinese guy

[AdmiralViscen]

 :himu

[Groogrux]

Quick question:  Did anyone forget they were watching a movie at any point during the film?  Cause I got sucked into what was going on so much, that I forgot that I was even in a theater.  I'm not kidding.

[AdmiralViscen]

Quick question:  Did anyone forget they were watching a movie at any point during the film?  Cause I got sucked into what was going on so much, that I forgot that I was even in a theater.  I'm not kidding.

INCEPTED!!

[Great Rumbler]

That's not a dream.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[Mandark]

it's astonishing too how much more subtle and clever the writing in memento (his second film!) was.

...

i'd say that subtlety isn't nolan's strongest suit either, but he's proven otherwise (at least with memento and to a degree with prestige). the film's writing, and this isn't solely reflected in the dialogue, is just too literal, too obvious. the screenplay is so often busy explaining things, but hardly ever uses concepts, ideas or visual metaphors to do so.

Seriously?  I think you need to go back and rewatch Memento , cause literally half its scenes are devoted to expository monologue.  Delivered into a telephone, no less.

[Dickie Dee]

I thought that was one of Inceptions strong points...I knew all of the early scenes with Ellen Page were completely didactic, but they still worked, for me anyways.

[Reb]

Everybody says the kids haven't aged, but:

[Cheebs]

Everybody says the kids haven't aged, but:

(Image removed from quote.)

Still obviously a dream of course.

[Dickie Dee]

Probably wrong to think it's a wink and a nod from the filmmakers instead of just adhearing to child labor laws.

[Reb]

The kids are 2 years apart.

[Cheebs]

If he was dreaming there is no reason why they still couldn't have aged. He imagined that he and mal aged in their dream world previously.

[The Fake Shemp]

Cheebs annihilated, reality confirmed.

[Mupepe]

I watched it again last night.  Did anyone else notice...

spoiler (click to show/hide)

They make it a huge point to show the him getting up, spinning the top and it falling over after each dream.  Then they meet nerdy dot-head and they put him to sleep.  he "wakes up" and goes to spin the top but doesn't do it, instead he just drops it.  Then he sees molly and then dot-head dude interrupts him and he never actually spins it.  Then he doesn't spin it for the rest of the movie except at the end.

He never woke up from indian dude's shit!   

[close]

P.S.  Not actually subscribing to that theory but I just thought it was neat.  He never sees

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Molly "awake" except for right after he "wakes up" from indiana boyo.

[close]

[Mupepe]

NSFW text?
http://www.geekosystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/in-your-dreams-e1280240379259.jpeg

[Groogrux]

NSFW text?
http://www.geekosystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/in-your-dreams-e1280240379259.jpeg

[cool breeze]

Everybody says the kids haven't aged, but:

(Image removed from quote.)

Don't forget that

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Cobb has a memory of when him, Mal, and the kids were at the beach.  They were younger than the time Cobb last saw them before he became a fugitive because it was the time before he and Mal did the dream experiments.  You know it was before she believed she was still dreaming because she wasn't neglecting them saying they weren't her real children.  Add the time before their dream experiments plus the time between them and her suicide and it could easily be 2 years.

[close]

[Raban]

I've only read the past couple pages, and if Willco's on the hate train for this movie I don't feel as bad saying this; movie felt way too much like The Matrix with Bourne-esque action in place of wire-fu. The ending was practically ripped straight from Total Recall. Anybody who felt the questions brought up about dreams were super thought-provoking should do themselves a favor and watch Waking Life.

I think Chris Nolan should just remake Heat, because he seems to be really gay for heist films atm. First the opening scene in TDK and practically all of Inception played out like a heist film.

Don't get me wrong, Inception was entertaining, but it didn't feel nearly as fun and new as I thought, going in.

[Raban]

NSFW text?
http://www.geekosystem.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/in-your-dreams-e1280240379259.jpeg

[Barry Egan]

Anybody who felt the questions brought up about dreams were super thought-provoking should do themselves a favor and watch Waking Life.

Well, to Inceptions credit, it is an actual movie.

[Raban]

Anybody who felt the questions brought up about dreams were super thought-provoking should do themselves a favor and watch Waking Life.

Well, to Inceptions credit, it is an actual movie.

I will admit, Waking Life's constant dialog probably isn't for everyone.

[Ichirou]

I've only read the past couple pages, and if Willco's on the hate train for this movie I don't feel as bad saying this; movie felt way too much like The Matrix with Bourne-esque action in place of wire-fu. The ending was practically ripped straight from Total Recall. Anybody who felt the questions brought up about dreams were super thought-provoking should do themselves a favor and watch Waking Life.

I think Chris Nolan should just remake Heat, because he seems to be really gay for heist films atm. First the opening scene in TDK and practically all of Inception played out like a heist film.

Don't get me wrong, Inception was entertaining, but it didn't feel nearly as fun and new as I thought, going in.

Glad Willco's trolling makes you feel validated.

I agree with you overall, though.  Just an okay movie.  I can't understand how it's gotten over 20 pages of discussion thus far.

[Great Rumbler]

Half of those twenty pages is Willco trolling. Half of that other half is people responding to his trolls.

[The Fake Shemp]

I wish I was trolling. People are still talking about this shit movie?

[Joe Molotov]

I wish I was trolling. People are still talking about this shit movie?

It's the highest grossing movie for adults this year. Grown-ups have spoken with their dollars, Wilco.

[Ichirou]

Transformers 3 will gross higher, then Willco will have the last laugh.

[Raban]

I've only read the past couple pages, and if Willco's on the hate train for this movie I don't feel as bad saying this; movie felt way too much like The Matrix with Bourne-esque action in place of wire-fu. The ending was practically ripped straight from Total Recall. Anybody who felt the questions brought up about dreams were super thought-provoking should do themselves a favor and watch Waking Life.

I think Chris Nolan should just remake Heat, because he seems to be really gay for heist films atm. First the opening scene in TDK and practically all of Inception played out like a heist film.

Don't get me wrong, Inception was entertaining, but it didn't feel nearly as fun and new as I thought, going in.

Glad Willco's trolling makes you feel validated.

I agree with you overall, though.  Just an okay movie.  I can't understand how it's gotten over 20 pages of discussion thus far.

Now I know my taste in films has leveled up. I posted an opinion about a movie and Ichirou AGREED with it?

I wish I was trolling. People are still talking about this shit movie?

It's the highest grossing movie for adults this year. Grown-ups have spoken with their dollars, Wilco.

The whole world spoke with their dollar already. All hail Avatar

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[Raban]

I vote we change the topic of discussion to the only good thing about Inception.

[Joe Molotov]

Transformers 3 will gross higher, then Willco will have the last laugh.

Transformers isn't for adults, only manchildren.

[Great Rumbler]

The whole world spoke with their dollar already. All hail Avatar

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Like Transformers 3, it's not a movie for adults.

[The Fake Shemp]

Pretty sure Twilight outgrossed Inception.

[Joe Molotov]

Pretty sure Twilight outgrossed Inception.

Another tweener movie like Transformers. 

[Great Rumbler]

Pretty sure Twilight outgrossed Inception.

Where will you be when Inception out-grosses Sherlock Holmes?

[The Fake Shemp]

Pretty sure Twilight outgrossed Inception.

Where will you be when Inception out-grosses Sherlock Holmes?

Watching actual entertainment.

[Great Rumbler]

Like Transformers 3?

[Raban]

I vote we change the topic of discussion to the only good thing about Inception.

(Image removed from quote.)

Marion Cotillard >>> Ellen Page

In your opinion, sure. I can't think of Cotillard without thinking of this:
[youtube=560,345][/youtube]

[Groogrux]

 

Ellen Page = WLTF

[BlueTsunami]

Yeah Page has a weird hotness ambiguity going on