loony_moony: (SPN: Brainfart)
loony_moony ([personal profile] loony_moony) wrote2010-07-26 12:52 am

Oh hai hello "Inception"

I'm late to the debate. Sue me. I've battled jet lag for a whole week.


Oh, this movie is wonderful. I didn't find it as complicated to follow through as some did. There were people literally leaving the theater mid-movie because they couldn't handle it, lol. I'm also pretty sure about half the audience forgot the van falling into the river was still a dream layer too.

Although, THE ENDING, GARRRRR ARGH. I choose to believe it wasn't a dream, since we got to see a sequence in which the dreidel falls on the side, and the noises match in a way that implies it was about to fall in the end too, even though there's a niggling part in me that says the dreidel was never supposed to be a reality checker in the first place, and it didn't really matter whether it fell or not. UGH NIGGLING NIGGLING.

ANYHOO.

To be entirely honest, I was sure this movie would be a huge flop, from the moment I heard about it. I was sure Chris Nolan was just doing whatever he felt like, with the nice blank check he got from WB post-TDK. I should've known better. I don't think this will be an all-time favorite of mine like TDK is, but this was the smartest movie I saw this summer, probably this year. It was a smart script produced, directed, edited and acted smartly. We should have more movies like this. The effects and music alone deserve a ton of awards.

The concept of dream layers is a really attractive one, and I thought there was something very Jungian about it too, which let me tell you, I LIKED. The idea that love is the basis of creation and destruction, which is what ultimately lies in the core of the movie, is fantabulous. Particularly when given the kind of universe Nolan builds around it. The shift between worlds and layers is so seamless in terms of concept and editing, it places the movie at a much higher level of filmmaking dealing with the subconscious than what "The Matrix" did, for example. I don't think I strayed too far into the labyrinth, so to speak, but I found myself wondering at times if this weren't all an invention of Cobb.

As for the acting, most of it was superb. I retain my reservations about Leo DiCaprio, but the rest of the cast was pretty fabulous. I do find Marion Cotillard's American accent a smidge bizarre, though, but she's such a wonderful actress (and so luminous onscreen!), it doesn't really matter. Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy (<3_<3!!!), JGL and Tom Hardy are all fantastic, and their ensemble work is a joy to watch. I especially found JGL interesting. He's shaping up to be quite the charismatic dramatic actor, you guys! Good on him. Ellen Page wasn't given a lot to work with, but she tried her damnest to give her character layers. Cillian Murphy is still my cupcake. This dude can do no wrong in films, and yet he's so fucking underrated. Don't believe me? Watch "Breakfast on Pluto" and then we'll talk.

All in all, lots of fun! Makes you feel like you need your ball of yarn to get through, but a very satisfying watch.

NOW JUST SOLVE ME THE EEEEND, DAMN YOU, NOLAN.

[identity profile] regala-electra.livejournal.com 2010-07-25 11:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Aww I think it's cute you call it a dreidel.

Marion Cotillard's accent didn't faze me too much when I realized her dad (Michael Caine) was clearly a British ex-pat living in France and his wife was likely French so Mal was probably French herself and moved to America at some point (I guess after marrying Cobb?).

Here is how to solve the ending if you need proof that Cobb made it to his kids: Cobb only wears his wedding ring in the dreams. Whenever he's in reality, he doesn't have it on. In the final scene, he's not wearing it.

[identity profile] loony-moony.livejournal.com 2010-07-26 09:02 am (UTC)(link)
AAAAAAH OMG YOU SOLVED IT THANK YOUUUUUU :D

And it IS a dreidel, dammit.

Also it's just Cotillard's accent in general that weirds me out, maybe because I saw her as Edith Piaf, and heard the accent journey she had to make.

[identity profile] mark356.livejournal.com 2010-07-26 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Yes, but the kids were the same age as in his memory, and playing in the yard in exactly the same way. It was implied that he's been on the run for years-- years in which his children could have grown, at least a little. Plus, his son on the phone in the beginning sounded older.

Still, I want to think that that part was real! I'll take your wedding band logic.

[identity profile] mark356.livejournal.com 2010-07-26 10:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh yes. I'll definitely watch it again and use the first viewing as my ball of yarn.

So agreed with you about the dreams! This is a movie that really gets it.