Anyone who hasn't been living under a rock or frozen in a cryogenic chamber to beat death should know about a little movie called "Inception". Let me be frank here. This movie will rock. This movie already DOES rock. Watch the trailers online and the ads on TV and tell me this movie will suck. You can't do it because you know it will rock. Hard.
I decided to be a real geek, and look up the word inception in the dictionary. Here's what I got...
Inception (noun): an act, process, or instance of being; commencement.
How about that. "Commencement". How appropriate that the title of the movie that will more than likely rock the Summer blockbuster season means "to be" and "commencement" at the same time. Because "Inception" is the movie everyone wants to see right now. All the studios knew to get their movies out now before going up against the speeding freight train as "Inception". Box Office Mojo reported on their site the results of a poll conducted recently about what movie goers wanted to see this July. It came as no surprise to me that more than 50% of the poll participants voted for "Inception".
Why do you think that is? Here's why I think it is...
1. It's Christopher Nolan, dammit!
Do you need any other reason? It's Christopher Nolan! He changed the comic book movie and conventional filmmaking with one film for eternity. He could take a cue from Rick James' handbook and go around shouting "I'm Chris Nolan, bitch!" and no one would mind.
Look. He changed the face of the thriller with "Memento". He managed to get Al Pacino, Robin Willians, AND Hilary Swank together on the same film on his first Hollywood outing with "Insomnia". He brought the Caped Crusader back from Critical and Box Office Hell with "Batman Begins". He made audiences do a double take( and buried what seemed to be the copycat movie "The Illusionist") with "The Prestige". And last year, he demolished all that stood in opposition of him with the $500+ million-making "The Dark Knight", giving him many box-office records that have still yet to be broken and the second highest grossing movie of all-time (third highest if you actually consider "Avatar" a movie and not a steaming pile of vomit and melted Smurf).
Warner Brothers doesn't fuck around with amateurs, so, when you do a film for them, you take your orders and don't back talk. When dealing with Christopher Nolan, however, Warner Brothers has given him everything he has asked for, knowing full well he will make them a hit. Looking at the over-the-top elaborate sets used in "Inception" should be an indication that Warner Brothers knows to let Nolan do his thing.
2. A cast that could only be dreamed of...
Anyone who has seen a Nolan film since 2002's "Insomnia" knows he can draw in the best cast possible. But for "Inception"? This is the ensemble to end all ensembles!
The cast list is, as follows (but not limited to)...
Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphey, Tom Berenger, Marion Cotillard, Pete Postlethwaite, Michael Caine, and Lukas Haas.
6 Academy Award nominated performers, including 2 winners. Look at this cast, my friends. Anyone who wants to get an early edge on this year's office betting pools should start here and put down some cash on "Inception" winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture. The cast alone has the aroma of Oscar gold, so who knows?
3. Everyone knows about this movie!
Making it's teaser trailer debut back in the Summer of 2009 in front of "Inglorious Basterds" and its full-length trailer debut on Christmas Day 2009 in front of "Sherlock Holmes" (at least that's what my trailer journal says), "Inception" is possibly the most advertised movie this Summer, and the most anticipated movie that's not part of a franchise. In fact, "Inception" marks the first time since his debut movie "Following" in 1998 where Christopher Nolan has written and directed a movie not based on any previous source material, and the first movie since 2002's "Insomnia" that Nolan didn't co-write with his brother Jonathan Nolan or .
Warner Brothers has not skimped out on getting the word out on this movie, mainly because it's their biggest movie lined up until the first part of "Harry Potter and the Deatly Hallows" comes out in November. Until then, there will be consistent advertising on TV, on the pre-screen show in front of movies in certain theaters, and now in NYC, giant surreal posters on buildings.
Check them out at:
http://woodlandcreature.tumblr.com/post/751242864/cool-movie-ad-for-inception-at-23rd-and-park-i
http://a.yfrog.com/img683/3563/s4hq.jpg
What can I say? "Inception" just looks cool. Intriguing, action-packed, visually stunning, and, if anything like Nolan's past work, very emotional. But those are all the things that made "The Dark Knight" a success, so be expecting some great things.
Of course, I am only one man, and this is my opinion.
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