Inception

Finally. A movie with something I've never experienced before: positive feelings toward Ellen Page.

No but seriously, after all the hype, all the money, all the celebrities, I was pleasantly surprised with how good this movie actually was. Sure the special effects were insane, but so was the plot, which isn't always a given.

Being the die-hard Leo fan that I am, I, of course, loved his performance. My only complaint was that this film came out in the same year as Shutter Island. Leo's character was just too similar. Both Cobb (from Inception) and Teddy Daniels (from Shutter) were haunted by their wives and the horrible things they had done. This grief-stricken act is getting a bit old. Where is the carefree, lover I came to obsess over when I was 7 and Titanic came out? Spice it up some L.D.

Other than that, I thought the movie was pretty amazing. I mean it's kinda hard to screw it up when you're Chris Nolan and you're working with an endless budget. It is, however, easy to not live up to the hype. I mean you have a trailer where entire cities are moving with a plot that is not discernible from the little information shown. It could have been a special effects show with a Seven Pounds storyline, but it wasn't. All of the effects matched the plot perfectly.

The film did take a while to get into. For the first 30 plus minutes I thought it was all smoke and mirrors, but as the pieces started coming together, I realized that this was going to be "one of THOSE films." You know, the one that everyone runs home after seeing it to change their Facebook status to something about how amazing it was. And it deserves it.

As I hinted before, after hating Juno and thinking that Whip It would have been better with someone else, Ellen Page was the best surprise of the film for me. I really liked her and thought she played the role well. I could have done with a little more Michael Caine, but couldn't everyone? After seeing Marion Cotillard in roles where I mostly sympathized with her, it was hard to see her so cutthroat and evil, even if it was "all a dream," but she played it well.

While there has been some controversy with the ending, and I won't spoil it, I will say that I was in favor of the ending chosen. I was lucky enough to watch the film on the largest screen in Britain, the BFI IMAX, and it made all the difference. So for the two people left on this planet who still haven't seen Inception, head out to an IMAX, because this is definitely one to see on the BIG screen.

QUICKIES

"Dreams feel real while we're in them. It's only when we wake up that we realize something was actually strange." — Leonardo DiCaprio (Cobb)

"You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger darling."- Tom Hardy (Eames)

Fun Facts:

Early on, James Franco was in talks with Christopher Nolan for a role. However, due to scheduling conflicts, he was unavailable to join the cast. Joseph Gordon-Levitt was ultimately cast in the role offered to Franco (thank goodness! Levitt was incredible, and a babe).

Evan Rachel Wood was Christopher Nolan's first choice to play Ariadne, but she turned it down. Nolan considered casting Emily Blunt, Rachel McAdams and Emma Roberts, but chose Ellen Page instead.

This is Christopher Nolan's first original work since his debut, Following (1998). All of his films since them were remakes or based off comics, novels or short stories.

Duh, Leo was the ONLY choice for the role of Cobb.

Inception took 8 years to write.