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Inception

By The Negation
Sat, 24 Jul 2010, 7:10


What can I say? I'm stumped! This flick is the shizzlenit! It's a thinkin' man's movie. If you're left with zero questions when this film ends, that doesn't mean that you are a movie expert. That means you can't understand shit because you can't comprehend a single thing that's happenin'!

Well anyway, I could go on forever explaining what the hell happened and everything. But I can't, because this film has a lot of intricate complexities. I admit that it's more complex than The Matrix. I could actually compare this to The Matrix (with the Architect and other stuff like that). I could say that "Inception is the new Matrix". Without the "Geta-Zone" shots of course. But still, Inception's effects were eye candy to say the least.

Christopher Nolan is a thinkin' man's director. He made my mind work in The Prestige and The Dark Knight (hence, the familiar Batman Begins/Dark Knight faces in Inception like Cillian ["Kill-Yan"] Murphy and Michael Cain), but I didn't really expect him to make my mind work this much in this movie. Damn Inception! I'm still hung-over. This rant was due a week ago, but I'm just waiting to exhale after the movie. In fact, I will watch this again this coming Sunday! But first, I must watch The Sorcerer's Apprentice and The Last Airbender. Fuck Salt for now.

All I can say is that I give this movie a perfect 10 out of 10 due to the fact that it was all Nolan. Well DiCaprio was pretty impressive too. I haven't watched Blood Diamond yet but my couch tomato bro told me that Leo's acting chops started to sharpen up in this movie. I hope Orlando Bloom's acting goes the same direction as Leonardo's.

Another thing, I'm Asian. And so is Ken Watanabe. 'Nuff said!


(More reviews on Inception after the jump.)





*****




By Sue Denim
Tue, 20 Jul 2010, 15:37


Finally, a movie worth my time away from my bed and worth my money amidst the ever-increasing movie ticket prices. It's the first of its kind of "blockbuster" for the year yet refusing to be boxed into stereotype blockbuster film formulas that we know. And... it makes its audience think. That's a plus-plus-plus for me.

Overall, it's a pat on the back of director Christopher Nolan and equally on the part of the actors. But I super looooove Tom Hardy, a name I only knew when I saw the movie credits (and a name worthy of Googling and IMDb-ing!). He's a real charm. Together with Joseph Gordon Levitt, they bring in the much needed little breathers in a film that bombards the audience with perplexities and philosophies throughout its screen time.

Ellen Page as the character who mainly supplies the psychotherapy babble is good but not great. Marion Cotilliard is okay but kind of really lost in translation (although she speaks English) shooting rhetorical questions. Ken Watanabe is the epitome of cool. And Leo, well, what can I say, he's great in roles he chooses and agreeing to do this film (his first with Nolan) because it's "intriguing" is a surefire way of assuring his smack-on performance.

I wonder though until when these kinds of films will sell big bucks. I say "these" because it kinda borrows elements from The Matrix and Thirteenth Floor, and pieces them together. The result? A refreshing story with a great storytelling take on an idea. Just like when The Matrix was an unconventional movie toying with the idea of "our world is not real" way back 2001.

Inception is that kind of movie today. It has become an unconventional blockbuster because only a few films like it give the audience a complete experience. It supplied all the necessary triggers for a person to think, feel, and appreciate beauty on and off the screen. So even if we're given only a different take on an old subject, it awes us anew. I dare you to say that you didn't have anything to talk about even after the screen went black.


Inception gets eight-point-five out of ten, for the mind-boggling, awe-inducing, and beautifully crafted film that this generation needs.


*photo from allmoviephoto.com





*****




By Sting Lacson
Tue, 20 Jul 2010,
12:07.


Wow.

I was supposed to review this with just one word. "Wow". But of course, I won't, because Ellen Page is in it. Mmm... Ellen Page.

Anyhow, this film seems like a Christopher Nolan lecture on Advanced Filmmaking. Like, "Okay, I'm the master of non-linear storytelling, and since I've already proven that, I shall now prove that I am the master of non-spatial storytelling." And let me tell you that the space in this movie goes down four levels. Space within a space within a space within a space. Or dream within a dream within a dream within a dream. Whatever you want to call it. And Nolan pulls it off well because the actors pulled it off well. It takes great skill to explain a complex script to your actors. And we already know Christopher Nolan is a great director.

Every shot in this movie was well-executed. And again, this is Advanced Filmmaking. I'm just surprised at the casting, though. "Okay, we already have Michael Caine, and we have Cillian Murphy, and we have Ken Watanabe. I could let Christian Bale play Leonardo DiCaprio's part, and we'd have a Batman Begins reunion already. But wait, Bale can't do emo scenes quite as well as Leo can, and this character is so emo that all he needs are slashes on his wrists and eyeliner. So we'll stick with Leo."

Oh, and the ending. "Because I'm Christopher Nolan, I shall give you an open ending, and you can't do anything but squeal, because this is my film, and I want to end it this way." And like he said, we can't do anything, because we are all mere mortals compared to the cinematic deity that is Christopher Nolan.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt would've been great, but because he got to kiss Ellen Page, I don't like him anymore.

And like mumblingmaya said, I shall fanboy. At Ellen Page. Inception here is not about planting an idea in someone's head. It's about me planting my seed in Ellen Page. Just kidding. Haha.

And before we go, one more picture of Ellen Page in a hot corporate attire:


*pics from guardian.co.uk and socialitelife.celebuzz.com


Inception. USA. 2010.


Rating: Eight point five out of ten.
Ellen Page's pretty face: Plus point five.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt getting to kiss Ellen Page: Minus point one.
Final rating: Eight point nine out of ten.




*****




By mumblingmaya




Let's not spoil the movie for people who haven't seen it yet. To those people, go see Inception, now.

To those who already have, let us fangirl together. *Fangirls at the really strong casting.*

The few negative things I have to say about the film involve Leonardo DiCaprio's scenes with Marion Cotillard. He sounds emo and some of her lines sound like they're lifted from a college freshman's Philosophy essay. These scenes also made the whole story's quest—which was awesome, clear and action packed on its own—seem secondary.

Ellen Page was good in this movie, although, it didn't seem like she was acting at all. It's like she's the smart woman-child version of Michael Cera's awkward dude. It's just them in real life. This is opposed to the things Chris Nolan made Lukas Haas, and especially Joseph Gordon Levitt, do. You wouldn't expect that from them.

I found Michael Caine's character in the movie weird, in that he wasn’t helpful as a dad to Marion Cotillard. Then again, making his character helpful would've made the story so much easier and not fun at all. This reminds us that Chris Nolan movies are guy movies with one or two strong female characters that either die or go crazy.

I give Inception an 8.5/10.

And I'm leaving space in this post for what my co-writers thought about the visuals and such and such. Stay tuned.

Photo from IMDB.

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