Inception

I believe Jarrod had emailed Josh about his impressions of the movie, "Inception," shortly after seeing it. The following is the edited (email address omitted) context of this email:

INCEPTION-al!!!!! by: Thee-Ass (xxxxxx.xxxx.xxx@xxxxx.xxx) 7/20/2010 11:40AM

You know you have seen a spectacular movie when all you can do after the credits role is think about it. Like when you where a kid and watched Jaws for the first time and couldn’t think about anything but shark’s for weeks. I know for me after watching the 2004 re-make of Dawn of the Dead I kept having recurring dreams about what exactly I would do if the zombie invasion ever did come to fruition. Last night, I saw a late showing of Inception and went home dreaming about dreaming I was awake inside another dream.

Confusing as that may sound writer/director Christopher Nolan (Dark Knight, Memento) pulls this mind bender off beautifully. Everything about this movie shouts best movie of the year, from special effects to story telling, all the way down to great casting (including half the cast of Batman Begins). Inception takes you further down the rabbit hole that the Matrix could’ve ever imagined. The film follows Don Cobb (Leonardo Dicaprio) a thief who deals in extraction: subconscious secret stealing from targets while at their most vulnerable, a dream state. His special skills have made him a fugitive on the run from everything he called home including his family. He is offered one last job for a shot at redemption and returning home, but at great risk of pulling off the unthinkable inception: the planting of an idea in someone’s subconscious instead of stealing it. Cobb and his team prepare to pull off the unthinkable only to realize you cannot totally prepare for what the minds of others have in store.

Inception can be hard to follow at times. The movie seems to lose it’s self in translation periodically when in fact what’s happening is being explained. It can be a touch of information overload. However, the dream sequences are done well enough that you are able to follow along. The acting class has never been better with scene stealing performances from Joseph-Gordon-Levitt (G.I. Joe, Brick) in a zero gravity fist fight that could only be described as awesome, and Academy Award Winner Marion Cotillard (La vie en rose) creepy portrayal as Cobb’s projection of his wife Mal. Tom Hardy (RockNRolla) is great as sarcastically bad-ass Eames. Decaprio pulls off a sullen and tortured Cobb. Ellen Page is even tolerable for a change as the mind maze architect Ariadne. Epic plot twists complete with a wtf just happened ending makes Inception a sure fire must see blockbuster. I dare anyone with half a brain to say otherwise. Truly the only A+ movie I have seen this year to date. Also recommended mind bogglers “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus”, and Dicaprio’s first shot at psychosis this year “Shutter Island”.