tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post6297051308961403126..comments2023-09-15T04:27:57.129-04:00Comments on Commentarama: Film Friday: Inception (2010)AndrewPricehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-46960785298478488482011-01-17T14:19:56.045-05:002011-01-17T14:19:56.045-05:00El Gordo, I'm glad to hear I'm not the onl...El Gordo, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who liked <i>Tampopo</i>! Very entertaining movie!<br /><br />Thanks for clarifying some of the facts. On the top, I thought he took it from the safe he found in the house she grew up in while they were in the lowest dream level.<br /><br />That's good to know that the snow fortress was intentionally James Bond-like because it really seemed like it came straight out of a Bond film.<br /><br />I'll have to check the voices again when the woman answers the phone regarding the kids. But even if it's the mother-in-law, the children still haven't grown and are still in the same poses. I suppose we could be looking through his memory at that point, but it still strikes me he's dreaming.<br /><br />I know they've asked Nolan if he was dreaming and Nolan refused to answer, as I guess he should have -- but it would have made things easier to figure out.<br /><br />My favorite Nolan film is <i>Memento</i> though I've been told to check out <i>Following</i>, which I haven't seen yet.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-30032306888548120102011-01-17T07:25:39.184-05:002011-01-17T07:25:39.184-05:00I liked Inception very much, but The Prestige is s...I liked Inception very much, but The Prestige is still Nolan´s best.<br /><br />Many good points here, a few remarks: When Cobb calls his children, the woman answering the phone is his mother in law, the French wife of Michael Caine´s character. In Paris, I think Caine mentioned that he was going to the US soon, so him being there is not totally implausible.<br /><br />The top Cobb was using was taken from the hotel room when his wife killed herself (he stepped on it, remember)? Cobb didn´t take it from a dream and since she is dead, the top is as good a totem as anything else. That is, unless his wife was right all the time. <br /><br />According to Nolan, the snow fortress is a deliberate homage to On Her Majesty´s Secret Service.<br /><br />Andrew - agree on Tampopo, it is hilarious.El Gordonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-14125778170937768882011-01-16T15:00:57.259-05:002011-01-16T15:00:57.259-05:00T_Rav, I had a similar thought about the top. Cob...T_Rav, I had a similar thought about the top. Cobb said that you can't let anyone else touch the top, but he took it from his wife. If this was a dream, then he took an item from a dream and used it to determined if he was in a dream. In effect, he used unreality to judge whether or not he was experiencing reality, which is further proof that he was in a dream state the whole time. In fact, we never get evidence that the top was ever real.<br /><br />In terms of female characters, I actually think that's a huge problem in Hollywood. Female roles in Hollywood seem to fall into very small set of simple stereotypes: the "fantasy girl", the "dominatrix", the "perfect wife", the "bitch" and the "girl next door." It's a rare movie that ventures beyond this and which gives a multifaceted female character.<br /><br /><i>Doom</i> falls into the category of guilty pleasures, which are movies that seem to have something that keeps pulling people in even though the movie is horrible. Scott wants me to write a Top 25 of guilty pleasures and I do keep meaning to do that, but I haven't had the time to sort them all out.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-55489791779275528162011-01-16T14:41:57.203-05:002011-01-16T14:41:57.203-05:00Andrew, sorry for the delay, I've been a mite ...Andrew, sorry for the delay, I've been a mite under the weather this weekend but I'm doing better now. <br /><br />The use of the top is, I think, a plot hole because it didn't actually belong to Cobb, it belonged to his wife; yet he told Ellen Page's character that the totem you used could not be touched by anyone else, because then they would have enough sensory knowledge of it to deceive you as to what is and is not reality. Whether Cobb was in a dream this whole time or not, he was obviously violating his own rules by using another person's totem. Maybe it can be explained by stuff I'm forgetting at the moment, but I think it's too much of a gap. <br /><br />I did see (and liked) Nolte's point the other day about what you see as reruns on TV. In general, I think that's true, and I'm glad "Pleasantville," which I did not like, ran afoul of it. On the other hand, the fact that you can frequently find "Doom" on TNT at midnight proves there are exceptions to this rule. (I know, I know, more stuff flies late at night, but come on.)<br /><br />By the way, since I notice a lot of people knocking Ellen Page's performance, I would add that one criticism of Nolan I do agree with is that he either can't or won't write good roles for women. This was obvious in "Inception," though I didn't think either her or the wife was terrible, as well as in the Batman movies, though not so much in "The Prestige." It's not something that bothers me much when I watch his movies, but it is noticeable and it is something that needs improving.T_Ravnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-71642524583267428962011-01-16T12:16:40.855-05:002011-01-16T12:16:40.855-05:00Ed, That could be. We were talking about expectat...Ed, That could be. We were talking about expectations up thread and it certainly can be true that expectation affect how much you enjoy a film.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-20864801567088275722011-01-16T12:01:22.279-05:002011-01-16T12:01:22.279-05:00Maybe the issue was expectations. Everyone said th...Maybe the issue was expectations. Everyone said this was great (and I didn't read your review first) so I went in expecting something really super.Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-61144816401694216842011-01-16T11:22:42.118-05:002011-01-16T11:22:42.118-05:00Ed, I enjoyed it a good deal more than you did, ap...Ed, I enjoyed it a good deal more than you did, apparently, but I do think the criticisms you raise are valid. A lot of people felt it had too much exposition and the ending does seem kind of detached from the rest of the film. Still, I enjoyed the film for what it was.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-78495585693390523652011-01-16T11:21:17.413-05:002011-01-16T11:21:17.413-05:00Doc, I think you'll like both Dreamscape and T...Doc, I think you'll like both <i>Dreamscape</i> and <i>Thirteenth Floor</i>, though I neither is going to be the next <i>Star Wars</i>, so don't go in expecting the greatest movies of all time.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-10781007423849801692011-01-15T23:41:22.467-05:002011-01-15T23:41:22.467-05:00I saw your review yesterday and I wanted to see th...I saw your review yesterday and I wanted to see the film before I read the review, so I rented it. What a stinker. It started out really cool with a lot of promise, but it never went anywhere. It's like they spent half the movie trying to justify the second half of the movie, and then the ending hits you like it belongs in some other film. Thanks for the review.Ednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-44734643798023764492011-01-15T02:19:52.801-05:002011-01-15T02:19:52.801-05:00I agree with that. A lot of people did think it wa...I agree with that. A lot of people did think it was something special, but I never saw that. I just thought it was a pretty good movie, but nothing special. I did like the concept though, though it sounds like it wasn't as unique as I thought it was. I haven't seen Thirteenth Floor or Dreamscape.Doc Whoahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16283308866886912377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-43555219945109044842011-01-14T23:48:31.631-05:002011-01-14T23:48:31.631-05:00Jed, Expectations can be a huge problem. If you j...Jed, Expectations can be a huge problem. If you judge a film against what you were hoping it would be rather than judging it on it's own merits, it's very easy to be disappointed. I try not to fall for that, but I'm sure I'm susceptible.<br /><br />Strangely, in this case, it may have actually worked in the film's favor. Since I am a fan of Nolan, and I think he's done some genius (and quirky) work, I overlooked all the little inconsistencies and problems while I was watching it because I assumed they would all be wrapped up in the end. My disappointment didn't come until the very end, when it all kind of stopped without really delivering.<br /><br />On Ellen Page, I agree that the team could easily be quirky, and I think they were. My problems with her was that she was given a role that was too large for the image she projects. First, she does not come across as a savant of any sort, she comes across as rather bland, and she certainly doesn't have the kind of near mania that seems to accompany genius. Secondly, she's far too meek to have stood up to a personality as forceful as Cobb's. I'm not saying that Page couldn't have done it, but she really would have needed to act very differently than she did -- much more confidence. Instead, she played a relatively pleasant and meek teenage girl, which just didn't work for me. To pull off the role she was given, she really needed to be more of a female version of Eames.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-56819583612968706662011-01-14T23:34:21.581-05:002011-01-14T23:34:21.581-05:00T_Rav, I think that one of the best aspects of sci...T_Rav, I think that one of the best aspects of science fiction is that it lets you ask those kinds of questions. And I don't dispute that you can get those kinds of issues out of <i>Inception</i>, though I personally don't think it was intended to be there. It's still fun to talk about though.<br /><br />In terms of lasting, we won't know for some time. But did you see what John Nolte said today about why he did not include <i>Pleasantville</i> on his list of top leftist films? Beside the fact he didn't think it was a good movie, he made the point that it's no longer in rotation on television. I actually think that's an excellent way to determined "survivability" in films and that's the measure I use -- "do people still watch it and how often."<br /><br />I've found this actually tracks pretty well with how people rate films a few years down the road -- as compared to when the hype is high. A great many films were declared the best of all times right out of the gates, made a ton of money in the theaters, and then vanished into the mist once people realized they'd been sucked in by the hype. I'm very sure that <i>Avatar</i> will be one of those. We'll see about <i>Inception</i> -- I think it will continue modestly for a while, but won't be a big hit. But who knows?<br /><br />Out of curiosity, why did you think the top was a plot hole? I actually had the same thought, but there was no room to discuss that in the review. What are you thinking on that?AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-15206956663753032922011-01-14T23:20:17.166-05:002011-01-14T23:20:17.166-05:00Doc, I enjoyed it, but I didn't see it as anyt...Doc, I enjoyed it, but I didn't see it as anything all that special, that's all. I think it could have been much better.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-56664571729583946022011-01-14T23:04:18.179-05:002011-01-14T23:04:18.179-05:00Some more thoughts on this: I had high hopes for t...Some more thoughts on this: I had high hopes for this, in part, because I have been a real fan of Christopher Nolan. Not all of his movies have been home runs, of course, but I have enjoyed them all with particular favorites being unexpected gems such as "The Prestige" and "Momento" and even "Insomnia." I had read that Nolan had kicked around the idea of dream robbers for the last decade before finally running with it. Sometimes, I think high expectations can lead to a little let down and disappointment since it is so hard to meet the expectations. I agree Ellen Paige seemed mis-cast. One could argue that certainly a team like this could be made up of conventional members, but if we both noticed it, then it has to be at least a little distracting.Tennessee Jedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10604275115906776992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-35149971713787905672011-01-14T22:44:27.826-05:002011-01-14T22:44:27.826-05:00Andrew, I guess if you looked that far into the fu...Andrew, I guess if you looked that far into the future, that's a reasonable point to make. But Cobb himself made it clear that that wasn't the kind of life he wanted, to be living a lie even if he didn't know he was. After all, every time he appeared to have come out of a dream, he immediately used his totem to see if he'd really come out--even though this really didn't work (and was a plot hole in my opinion). But the point is that this isn't a pointless struggle to him: which might, I think, have the potential to carry some philosophical issues with it. If the ultimate outcome of your situation is the same regardless of what you do--that is, you'll eventually wake up from the dream--does that mean all your struggles are in vain? Does nothing you do or attempt to do matter? I think that's a question well worth asking, even if the movie might have done a better job with it. <br /><br />I've gotten into some very off-the-wall stuff here so I should probably stop. Point is, I certainly agree that Inception had some flaws, but I did still think of it as a strong movie with the potential to last.T_Ravnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-57417100373482805182011-01-14T21:44:41.507-05:002011-01-14T21:44:41.507-05:00I may be in the minority by I liked the film. I ag...I may be in the minority by I liked the film. I agree with your review, but I still liked it.Doc Whoahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16283308866886912377noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-90084112977116540282011-01-14T20:26:30.514-05:002011-01-14T20:26:30.514-05:00Thanks DUQ. Apparently, a lot of people did not l...Thanks DUQ. Apparently, a lot of people did not like this film, which kind of goes against the hype. I guess we'll see how long the film survives in the public consciousness?AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-42262863990738698652011-01-14T20:24:53.243-05:002011-01-14T20:24:53.243-05:00Great review. I like your reviews too. I saw the ...Great review. I like your reviews too. I saw the film and I had no idea what the hype was about. People were talking about this film like it was the next Star Wars or something and it just bored me.DUQnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-25344605805590823542011-01-14T19:30:22.637-05:002011-01-14T19:30:22.637-05:00(continued)
When I said that the story becomes mea...(continued)<br />When I said that the story becomes meaningless, what I meant was the story we were watching. Assuming we enjoyed the film, then we became invested in his team and their struggles to pull this off. But if he's dreaming, then none of those people are real and there were no real struggles, no heroics, no moments of brilliance or courage, no nothing -- it was all for show.<br /><br />In fact, that's one of the problems I saw often in this film -- they often undercut things they were doing. For example, they told us that the limbo state was a horror, but then we learn that he and his wife lived happily together. They tell us that you live in it alone, except that Saito has staff when Leo arrives. They tell us that no one has ever gone into three levels of dreams, but then they do it easily. They tell us no one can do inception, except that Cobb has already done it.<br /><br />At almost every turn, Nolan sets up a risk, only to play it down moments later.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-3882961298959309652011-01-14T19:30:15.972-05:002011-01-14T19:30:15.972-05:00T_Rav, I hate to disagree, but I doubt that very m...T_Rav, I hate to disagree, but I doubt that very many people will think about his relationship with his kids after they leave the theater. For one thing, the kids are presented as a sideshow to the story, and that makes it hard for people to focus. Moreover, I'm not sure they managed to give anyone a real connection with the kids because the kids were never real enough -- not to mention that Leo was too happy and flippant in his daily dealing for us to feel his griefs too deeply.<br /><br />More importantly though, the story actually undercuts the sympathy factor because there really isn't any harm here. Let's assume he was asleep and is now trapped in the limbo state again. What happens? He will live a long and happy life with what he thinks are his kids... and then he'll wake up to realize that the kids weren't real. But so what? He's still had a happy life with them.<br /><br />He will then realize that his wife is there waiting for him, young and healthy, as she's just woken up, and he'll have a whole new life to live with her. Essentially, he ends up getting to live 3 happy lives with only a small moment of angst while he's in the dream world that we saw on film. Not really something that will inspire sympathy.<br /><br />(continued)AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-41043286641203023562011-01-14T19:05:02.715-05:002011-01-14T19:05:02.715-05:00Andrew, you may be right. I guess we'll have t...Andrew, you may be right. I guess we'll have to wait a few years and see how well the movie's remembered then.<br /><br />As for what you said about the whole movie being essentially pointless, though, I think it depends on how much you become invested in Cobb's character. Because while I do think there's a pretty good argument to be made that he was dreaming the whole time, the movie never actually comes down on that side, and you don't think about it much until the end. I think this was intentional. Remember, Cobb's wife may have thought they were still dreaming, but Cobb didn't--he thought they had woken up, and when his wife "committed suicide," he was trying to convince her that she was doing just that, because they weren't dreaming any more. This makes his actions more important, I think, because he is someone who is trying to get back to his kids, and for him his struggles are real; they mean something tangible. Because of this, I think it is possible for people to become invested in the movie over the long term, because if he is still stuck in the dream, it means his reunion with his kids is a lie, a particularly bitter one given his happiness. To the degree you actively sympathize with the character, it does give you a reason to go back and think about the movie and what happened in it long after you first watched it. I'm not saying that will actually happen, but I do think it's possible for Inception to muster that kind of interest.T_Ravnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-56128951874769238622011-01-14T18:58:25.485-05:002011-01-14T18:58:25.485-05:00Writer X, I agree, I enjoyed the film, but nowhere...Writer X, I agree, I enjoyed the film, but nowhere near as much as the hype said I should.<br /><br />I think the film was well done, but it didn't come anywhere near it's potential. That actually surprises me a good deal because Nolan has always turned out very creative and solid movies. I kind of wonder if he had the chance to tinker with it now, what he would change?AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-38567129985230717962011-01-14T18:48:59.682-05:002011-01-14T18:48:59.682-05:00I saw this several weeks ago. I thought it was goo...I saw this several weeks ago. I thought it was good, but not as good as its hype. I thought the premise was clever and the acting was good (although Ellen Page is so typecast; she always plays the "I'm smarter than everyone else in the world" role.). Where the film lost me was when they entered the 908th dream dimension. I didn't know if they were in Dream 1, 6, or 87. It also felt very much like DiCaprio's last big film, the name which escapes me. In other words, it felt very deja vu. Been there, done that. Please, Hollywood, new storylines.Writer Xnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-87794966592167227722011-01-14T18:28:38.694-05:002011-01-14T18:28:38.694-05:00By the way....
Ken Watanabe, who plays Saito, sta...By the way....<br /><br />Ken Watanabe, who plays Saito, starred in my favorite Japanese film: <i>Tampopo</i>.<br /><br />If you ever get the chance to see it, don't miss it.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4425587034622601550.post-3712758132009538432011-01-14T18:23:57.089-05:002011-01-14T18:23:57.089-05:00T-Rav, I agree that Nolan designed it that way, bu...T-Rav, I agree that Nolan designed it that way, but I don't think it holds together. I think it <i>appears</i> to hold together until you start thinking about it, which is why I don't think this film will last over the long term.<br /><br />By the way, I am a big fan of Nolan's, and I think this is a rare "storytelling failure" on his part.<br /><br /><br />On the glitch, it's a blogger thing. They've forced a spam filter on everyone which they know doesn't work and they are planning to use the reactions of millions of bloggers to help them define what is spam and what isn't. A lot of people are very upset by this.AndrewPricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11312364467936820986noreply@blogger.com