Clock Crew

AHHH This film buddy! This film buddy!
I copypasted from my website in my sig because I'm really lazy!

Inception is terrifically difficult to talk about anyway, because the films plot details have been kept so wonderfully concealed so far that to talk about pretty much anything could diminish the effect of the film. Oh right, yeah, it's really, really good, too. Just needed to slip that in somewhere.

So, what I'm going to do is talk about a few ideas in the film without actually spoiling plot details as I know how difficult it is to simply "stop reading" something (but, I should add I would consider the ideas in a film to be some of the most important aspects). Ready? Okay. Inception is a film concerning Solipsism. It doesn't really start that way, but it moves there eventually. However, Inception is not like The Matrix; it does not tell us our lives are illusions. The films message seems to be the delicious one that solipsism on it's own is dangerous enough (and the idea certainly is a destructive one). "The idea" - "the cancer" referred to in the film is the fallibility of being awake. "They come here to wake up".

The movie asks the audience if we can distinguish between reality and dreams, then ingeniously makes its dream sequences as realistic as possible. Both in terms of believability, and the fact that on several ocassions we're unaware we're even in a dream at all, to really drive the theme home. Of course, the film falls back on the sci-fi setting, so the questions don't really apply to us, but they at the very least raise the interesting topic of debate (and again in a more interesting way of just telling us the world in the film is fictional). It's unclear what side the film takes on the solipsism debate though; on the one hand the movie would lack the "catharsis" Cobb says is required if the notion of solipsism wasn't conquered in some form; however, what's conquered may not be the idea of solipsism so much as it's negatives effects. I will be spoiling the final shot of the film now, and although I don't think it will really damage viewing of the film, it may be better to avoid reading my thoughts on it if you haven't seen it yet. The final shot shows Cobb reuinited with his children; he is happy, finally, after so much strife and so much torture from his own subconcious. We see the top is still spinning over their laughter, and while it does seem to slow down slightly, we don't see it fall. The top throughout the movie, the "totem" is something that keeps the characters certain of where they are; that they are the dreamer, or at least are viewing the world unaltered. The fact the top is left spinning at the end of the film seems to be suggesting the possibility that Cobb remains in a dream (though I doubt he actually is) - however, he is happy. Does it really matter if Cobb is dreaming? He's happy now, finally.

watched it today, its way cool. you wrote a lot of words about it but yeah its good.

I didnt read any of the op because I don't care, but the movie was really really good.

Sorry man, I don't want to ruin the movie by reading your review.

Besides. Not sure I'd trust the insight of someone who throws the word 'solipsism' around five times to sound profound but can't spell delicious or thinks geniously is a word.

Quote from: Pop-Tart;1768963Sorry man, I don't want to ruin the movie by reading your review.

Besides. Not sure I'd trust the insight of someone who throws the word 'solipsism' around five times to sound profound but can't spell delicious or thinks geniously is a word.

My only defense is it was very late, but errors that obvious are unforgivable, I'm sorry. Also maybe watch the movie before you decide to say I'm just trying to sound profound. The entire running theme of the film is solipsism. Heck, it's a movie that almost entirely takes place in dreams, of course it will be.

I watched the 'Escape to the movies' review and after massive spoiler warnings, which i ignored, he described the movie as Freddy Krueger mixed with James Bond.

After hearing that, I am definitely going to see this movie.

Christ what a film
WHAT A FILM

Everyone needs to go see it and make it a fucking massive blockbuster. So there'll be no excuses for dumb as nuts shit films being made.

Also, that ending shot. Oh man, what an asshole Nolan is. Well not really obviously. But man oh man.

Quote from: Biblo;1768987Christ what a film
WHAT A FILM

Everyone needs to go see it and make it a fucking massive blockbuster. So there'll be no excuses for dumb as nuts shit films being made.

Also, that ending shot. Oh man, what an asshole Nolan is. Well not really obviously. But man oh man.

I'd say it's pretty much the only way the film could have ended though, given everything that lead up to it.

I want to see it. I've heard nothing but great things about it so far.

It feels kind of weird for me to urge people to see this, considering it isn't some indie zero-budget film thar needs the attention, but if this becomes a blockbuster it can only mean good things.

Smarter blockbusters please, Hollywood

Quote from: Clay Puffington;1768973My only defense is it was very late, but errors that obvious are unforgivable, I'm sorry. Also maybe watch the movie before you decide to say I'm just trying to sound profound. The entire running theme of the film is solipsism. Heck, it's a movie that almost entirely takes place in dreams, of course it will be.

I'm only doggin ya, bro.

Quote from: Clay Puffington;1769021It feels kind of weird for me to urge people to see this, considering it isn't some indie zero-budget film thar needs the attention, but if this becomes a blockbuster it can only mean good things.

Smarter blockbusters please, Hollywood

Woah aren't you the trendy lil fella

The only thing I knew about this movie was the bizarre scene of the ground flipping over like paper.

I read a guy on Twitter yesterday saying how damn awesome it was, I guess I should check it out too.

Quote from: Nasty Nas;1769954wait so did the kids age at all?

Yeah a bit. We don't know how long Cobb's been away though

Also

[u2]ZrYPJ4Yc31g&feature=player_embedded#![/u2]

(https://clockcrew.net/talk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2F28.media.tumblr.com%2Ftumblr_l5sgo28Oqw1qz7f9to1_500.jpg&hash=66858e60dfa1fa114cb5ec02851637cd1e8e99ab)

Quote from: Nasty Nas;1769954wait so did the kids age at all?

At the end the kids are in the same clothes and the exact same position as his memory of them. This makes it pretty obvious its a dream at the end. Also on the phone with his daughter she sounds older than she looks at the end for further proof.

Quote from: PatriotClock;1770089At the end the kids are in the same clothes and the exact same position as his memory of them. This makes it pretty obvious its a dream at the end. Also on the phone with his daughter she sounds older than she looks at the end for further proof.

However, the fact that he actually see's his childrens faces (which he never allowed himself to do in his dreams/memories) and that the top wobbles at all could indicate it's reality.

(https://clockcrew.net/talk/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia2.slashfilm.com%2Fslashfilm%2Fimages%2FZZ79EABF11small.jpg&hash=d886ab67761e14e62b31566cf9c7a59cfc17579a)

My brother said it was great.

Just got back from seeing it.  Best movie of the year, fucking awesome, loved every second of it.
That top definitely stopped spinning.

The movie was very entertaining... though slightly predictable. You kinda know that they're going to end it the way they did leaving interpretation up for debate.

I will say in regards to the kids... IMDB lists 4 actors for Phillipa and James at different ages.. so it is assumed they aged. Also, their outfits change ever so slightly (and of course you see their faces) in the last scene. So one can assume he was no longer seeing his 'projections' of them. But then again... he could have been in limbo where the mind can concoct all sorts of shit. Geesh nevermind... what a mindfuck this movie is.

Quote from: Poltergeist;1772284

Why is that so needlessly tiny and confusing?

Also, I'm with Toppy on the matter of what happened at the end.

I still say it doesn't matter.

It's definitely one of those up to interpretation endings.

Quote from: clammo;1774923the thing about this picture is that its totally wrong.

The only wrong-ish thing I'm seeing is that Cobbs dream and limbo are the same.

That's the only thing that confuses me about the movie.  Anyone dies in what is overall not Cobb's dream, why do they go to Cobb's limbo?

Also Eames was totally the best character.  Just sayin.

Quote from: topcatyo;1774926That's the only thing that confuses me about the movie.  Anyone dies in what is overall not Cobb's dream, why do they go to Cobb's limbo?

Also Eames was totally the best character.  Just sayin.

It's Cobb's dream because Cobb is the only person who has been to limbo before. If Cobb hadn't of been there, then limbo would have been an empty canvas. I think.

Smart and ambitious is great, but not in combination with dry and emotionally stunted. I appreciated all the things that people are raving about, but the experience felt a little imbalanced overall. I felt more impressed than moved. More exercised than exhilarated.

But that's just me, apparently.

Quote from: Poltergeist;1774928
It's Cobb's dream because Cobb is the only person who has been to limbo before. If Cobb hadn't of been there, then limbo would have been an empty canvas. I think.

So is Limbo an infinite dreamspace connected to all subconsciouses or is it just in a particular person's?  Because if it's the latter it still shouldn't have taken place in Cobb's, unless things only changed after Cobb went in...

Quote from: topcatyo;1774950So is Limbo an infinite dreamspace connected to all subconsciouses or is it just in a particular person's?  Because if it's the latter it still shouldn't have taken place in Cobb's, unless things only changed after Cobb went in...

By my understanding, limbo is a man-made creation. You're meant to wake up when you die, however, because they were so heavily drugged, they couldn't wake up, so the mind improvises and sends you somewhere new.

Usually. Cobb, however, had already been in this state, so instead of just sending them somewhere blank and new, they were sent to a pre-existing dream (Cobbs). I understand it, however I appreciate that I'm not explaining it terribly well.

Quote from: LeekClock;1774949But that's just me, apparently.

Actually I spoke too soon:

QuoteJMT:  Maybe if we saw profiteering and careerism as real motives - as it is,  we're supposed to care more about whether Cobb makes it home than  whether it's okay for minds to be invaded and ravaged.
BW: Sure,  the corporatisation is more of a background. It's really a one-last-job  heist movie. And the ethical implications are barely engaged with –  Ellen Page having one line about it maybe being a bit questionable.
JMT: But, like, trippy fun!
BW:  Right! But the fun wears thin. The story isn’t much more emotionally  engaging than it is politically thoughtful. This points to a somewhat  paradoxical problem for Nolan: he's fascinated by identity but not much  good with character.

more

After CHUDs deconstruction (http://chud.com/articles/articles/24477/1/NEVER-WAKE-UP-THE-MEANING-AND-SECRET-OF-INCEPTION/Page1.html) and listening to Jankis (http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/07/28/sammy-jankis-shares-his-thoughts-on-inception/) I almost feel warn out of listening to people talk about it.

I don't know, but I personally don't understand how anyone could not enjoy Inception. It's so masterfully made, edited, scored, written, acted, directed and put together that whenever I dare to think of a flaw with the film it's strengths seem to overshadow it so much that it no longer exists.

I'm not an unemotional guy - I think I've cried more times due to TV/films/books than real life. I don't think it's fair to take one of Nolans flaws - his apparent unemotional film style - and suddenly bring it front and center for this one specific film. If Inception were made by a no-name director without this unemotional history nobody would think to question it.

What's wrong with having a film that focuses more on plot - on twists and turns - than human drama? The way the characters were shown none of them seemed like terribly emotional people anyway, if they suddenly decided to be I'd have felt more sucked out of the film because they were being out of character.

tl;dr: I fucking love this movie

Quote from: Poltergeist;1774978tl;dr: I fucking love this movie

tldr: i wish i did.

Quote from: LeekClock;1774981tldr: i wish i did.

tl;dr: You totes should though man

YOU'RE ON THE SECOND PAGE I DON'T FEEL LIKE SPOILER TAGGING MY SHIT ANYMORE


My opinion on the lack of human drama: The only part of the film that required the human drama was with Mal and Cobb's shitty past, the rest was a heist movie akin to Ocean's Eleven (which, by the way, Ocean's Inception was be an amazing film oh god I just jizzed).  I feel that, what they did with Cobb's story and with his tragic past and all that, I feel that they did well.  The rest of the film didn't really need to be bogged down with "Well I feel like this" and I'm glad they didn't bother to.

tl;dr
The movie was about a heist (sort of) and not the human drama and to add it would only bog the movie down.

The entire movie is essentially a psychoanalysis of Cobb anyway. If anything the emotion is shown to you, not simply stated.

mal was such a hateful bitch.
Also, Arthur told Adrianne (or whatev her name is) that if she touched his totem it woudl essentialy void it. SO how do we know cobb's totem (actually mals) is legit?

Quote from: Mr. Miyagi;1778214mal was such a hateful bitch.
Also, Arthur told Adrianne (or whatev her name is) that if she touched his totem it woudl essentialy void it. SO how do we know cobb's totem (actually mals) is legit?

well obviously we don't know if any part of the movie can be taken at face value, but operating within the parameters established within the movie (on the assumption that it wasn't an overarching dream), the idea of the totems is they'd behave wrong in somebody else's subconsciousness, because that person wouldn't know the way the object actually behaves in reality (usually a weight thing). other people knowing about the object would make it useless because that opens the possibility of them understanding the object correctly, and therefore removing the discrepancy that would have allowed you the awareness.

if the only two people who'd used the top were cobb and a dead woman, then there was no danger of that happening.

Also Mal wasn't a hateful bitch, she was just deluded into thinking she was in a dream.  Cobb's depiction of her in the dreams, as explained at the end of the movie, was a bad attempt and not at all like the real thing.

In a some of the movie, he's weearing a wedding band in the supposedly "reality" scenes and in the end, so does that mean the ending is reality? maybe im reading into things way too much...
and is saito really powerful enough to make a phone call to clear up cobb's name?

Yes to both of those questions.

damn christopher nolan

Quote from: LeekClock;1774949Smart and ambitious is great, but not in combination with dry and emotionally stunted. I appreciated all the things that people are raving about, but the experience felt a little imbalanced overall. I felt more impressed than moved. More exercised than exhilarated.

But that's just me, apparently.

Normally I find Nolan's films really dry, Dark Knight being the only one I get more involved in and that mostly because of Heath Ledger being all exciting, but I actually found Inception to be quite emotionally engaging.

Sure there was a whole load of methodical heist stuff but there were two major emotional plot lines going on that drove all of the action and I thought they were both handled extremely well - both climaxes - the scene with Cobb and Mol as old people and the scene with Fischer's pinwheel - hitting me pretty hard. I really did feel for both characters.

The only character who seemed really flat was Arthur, whose face barely flickered throughout the whole film. I know that was kind of his job but I'd have liked to see something that gave a hint of why he was like that.

Quote from: clammo;1778516yeah but he got to kiss ellen page so clearly he had the best role in the entire movie

lucky bastard
 

Quote from: Munglai;1778509Normally I find Nolan's films really dry

i still have to see memento

Quote from: clammo;1778516yeah but he got to kiss ellen page so clearly he had the best role in the entire movie

Quote from: Mr. Miyagi;1778557lucky bastard

you guys rock

Quote from: Munglai;1778633you guys rock
 

ditto mi amigo

Inception was great. I especially loved the music. The low brass was prominent and loud, yet simple. It kind of reminded me of the music in Fallout 3. Especially when the hotel is flipping and shit.

Just saw it, it was ok but way overrated.
There wasn't enough chemistry and development between the team members (think movies like The Seven Samurai, Oceans Eleven, The Dirty Dozen)
They sorely underused the ability to have awesome impossible shit happen in the dreams. So much of it just felt like a mediocre action flick
They never used the mazes AT ALL, and used a paradox once, and it was an uninteresting one we saw earlier during the training.
They over-explained everything about the movie, they left nothing mysterious except the OMG IS HE STILL DREAMING OR NOT WHO KNOWS LOL ending

I have to watch the film twice to completely understand everything, but apart from that, I found Inception truly intriguing, inspiring and in-depth. I especially like the philosophical side of the film - really makes you think.

What was there to think about though? They explained everything. It seemed like there was an illusion of depth.