Inception. Or how to make dumb people feel smart...?

As I look back over the year, i'm,finding this more and more the most over rated film released. To preface, I liked it. It was solid filmmaking and fantastic that a studio would faith in Nolan to deliver an original idea and for it to pull in at the box office. BUT is is flawed, South Park nailed a lot of my beef with it. Just because it's convoluted doesn't make it intelligent and i'm sick of people posting on facebook how it's the best thing in the World. The majority of people who seem blown away by it are those who don't actively push their film viewing limits and won't watch anything unless it's in the cinema, thus not really seen a film that makes them think. It's certainly not as good as IMDB rates it, not that that's ever been a reliable gauge. So what do people think? Is THAT good? Does it appeal more to less cultured viewers? Is this a GOOD thing or frustrating for films aficionados?

been gone a while in case this isn't due a new thread and wants to be moved

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i dont think its fustrating or overrated to me. I understood the plot with ease and people do have a right to say its overrated because in a way it is. I admit its not a masterpiece by any means but it is the best film this year because it was different and did something no other film did before. Besides the reason its beloved by movie goers is because we are sick of Jerry Bruckheimer & Michael Bay giving us dumb summer blockbusters without actual effort in telling an interesting story. More like blowing things up to get our eyes. I would encourage more Inception and less Transformers. Nolan , Coen Brothers & Jason Reitman are the future of directing.

I think this is enough of a sub-topic that we can keep it separate from the other Inception threads. That said, we've touched on this in some of them already, and my philosophy is this: who cares if some goofy fanboys love it too much? You really can't make a broadly accessible, complicated, thought-provoking film, particularly in the sci-fi genre, without a lot of 16-year-olds thinking it's the best thing they've ever seen.

I think it's a really good film. I don't find it convoluted, I think it's genuinely layered and complicated. I heard a lot of overzealous kids lose their minds over Fight Club and The Matrix, too, but I wouldn't "blame" either film for attracting that sort of thing.

I also think that MovieMad makes a very interesting point, in that whatever anyone thinks of it, it's still obviously a big step up from your usual blockbuster fare, so it seems like we should be encouraging this sort of filmmaking, given what the alternatives seem to be on a wide scale.

Anyway, if it's of any interest I wrote a review of Inception, though it's not one of my better ones.

Do I think Inception is overrated? Yes and no. For those of us who are already familiar with Nolan (outside of his Batman movies), it's typical Chris Nolan. For those who only know Nolan for his Batman movies, they are blown away.

I like him as a filmmaker. He doesn't go for the cliche storylines. He aims for something greater; he takes the road less traveled, which is why he gets kudos from me.

A guy at work, yesterday, was telling me he hadn't seen Inception yet, so I told him that I would let him borrow my copy to watch. I also recommended that he watch Memento, which I also said I would let him borrow.

I also agree with MovieMad. We NEED more directors like him. In this day and age, the message from studios has been made abundantly clear. They don't want to rely on original stories, they want re-hashed, re-imagined, re-booted films to keep them floating. Rightfully so, however, considering some original stories that can't attract audiences like Nolan can. I'm not saying he's perfect, by any means, but he understands his audience and knows how to draw them in.

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"I was walking down the street with my friend and he said, "I hear music", as if there is any other way you can take it in. You're not special, that's how I receive it too. I tried to taste it but it did not work." - Mitch Hedberg

But is it really that complicated or just overly convoluted to make it seem more complicated than it is? If it was more straight forward, I think certain points would be easier to pick apart. 'Moviemad' I don't think that's a fair justification for being 'the best film this year'. I didn't think it was particularly ground breaking as a film in terms of content, Eternal Sunshine was a lot more effective and affective and Donnie Darko more thought provoking, for my money. Though saying that, they might not have got the box-office but certainly had similar followings.

Yoda, i praised the film for that in my OP but do you not find it frustrating that they hold it so high up on a pedestool yet recommendations for better/similar films fall on deaf ears? This is more personal experience than a generalisation.

It's not complicated at all, it really brought up nothing to talk about, but I do think it was still good, just not nearly good enough for this amount of blind recognition. It's easy to say that its better than most of the hollywood bs but at the end of the day the film settled for less in order to be accessible.

Well, we've spent a fair amount of time picking it apart in the main review thread. I certainly agree that movies in general can seem intricate when they're really just confused, but I honestly don't think that's the case here. Amusingly, one of the complaints I've heard about Nolan's films is that they snap together too efficiently and conveniently, and I think that might be a more apt criticism of his style in general. It's clear a lot of thought goes into them.

Anyway, it's hard to discuss whether the film is complicated or convoluted without getting into specific examples.

Sure, but "they" is just younger moviegoers who haven't seen as many films, right? It's frustrating, absolutely, but I wouldn't blame the movie or think less of it because of them.

Good topic. I too am sick of HAI GUISE JUS WATCH'D INCEPTION: MIND BLOWNNNN!!!!!1 LOLZ!

First of all...What science?

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"Loves them? They need them, like they need the air."

The idea that we can use chemicals and machines to both induce lucid dreaming and enter one another's dreams, and extract information from people's heads while inside.

[quote=Pyro Tramp;704808] 'Moviemad' I don't think that's a fair justification for being 'the best film this year'. I didn't think it was particularly ground breaking as a film in terms of content, Eternal Sunshine was a lot more effective and affective and Donnie Darko more thought provoking, for my money. Though saying that, they might not have got the box-office but certainly had similar followings. [quote]

Well if we cant agree with it being the best , it is certainly the most original film of the year. Nolan has proved that you can make a blockbuster...WITHOUT BEING STUPID! in which directors like Bay have told us thats the only way you can make money these days. Well Nolan has made Inception and proved him wrong. Is Inception Overrated ? IMO Hell No.

Well, Steven Spielberg already proved that 35 years ago.

what with Jaws ?

I guess , but Inception was actually a film you could think about and actually work out. Jaws was a simple Modern Monster Film really. I mean yes its a masterpiece , but has a simple plot where as Inception is more complex.

Just sayin, you're comparing Jaws to Inception

Well, the 'they' was more peers than the youf. Despite the Juno character exsisting solely for exposition and a narrative guide, people still seem blown away by it more the fact they can't understand it. I don't think it's 'confused', Nolan has a clear idea of what he wants to say but it's a straight forwarded idea executed in an overly complicated manner with an ambiguous ending. It seems that the scripts bends it's own logic to get from A-B and hides this under it's intricasies, all conveniently justified with exposition being thrown directly at you. So you're made to feel if you don't understand it, you're stupid as it's all being explained. But my beef was more at the way it's consumed but I suppose we can't really crack on with that if we stand on different sides of how good the film is.


Ok, if we're rating it solely in the 'blockbuster' spectrum then yeah I can deal with that, even though prefered The Expendables. And yeah, you can look at what the film is on paper and then look at the numbers and yes, it's a fantastic achievement. But objectively, previous point aside, is the film THAT good?

Id like to think so YES. And whats wrong with comparing Inception & Jaws.

Well you'd like to think so and opinions aside, since you brought that up before, the film is what it is, which isn't much. A crime film in dream stages, cool, it was executed well, no one denies that, but there is nothing else to it, no deep introspect about what dreams are to people that hasn't been said a billion times and no insight as to why it was soooooo simple for them to follow all those dreams, it's just a crime film in a new setting.

What's wrong with comparing kissing and ass-to-ass, same thing

Which would have been part of my next point. It is a very A-B film. When all he needed to do was ask Mr Caine to put his kids on a plane and fly them away.

if that is what you think then opinion is opinion.

But really, Inception can't be blamed because of fanboys. It doesn't claim to be a super deep film. It's a solid movie and immensely entertaining. I mean, it had me thinking a lot afterwards. Not "what does it all mean" thinking, but more trying to draw some kind of conclusion.

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But what's to think about? The only thing you need to recognize is that he didn't care whether or not his totem fell or not and he accepted where he was wherever that may be.