Monday, July 19, 2010

A Twitter Trend I Can Get Behind.

Inception, Inception, Inception. It's the talk of the town, isn't it? I know I, for one, have been fangirling all over that thing for months. But, to be quite honest, I've quieted down a lot about it in recent weeks as it really approached. I've been excited for it, yes, but I was avoiding learning too much, theorizing too much, because I really like the experience of seeing a movie without truly knowing what you are going to get out of it. I had seen the basic trailers, but I avoided the spoilers, the plot details, pretty much all of it beyond the very basics everyone knew.

It paid off for me. I didn't even see the movie on opening day; I'd been thinking about a midnight screening, but had made plans to see it today and thought I might as well wait a couple extra days. I took my time, heard bits and pieces of the critiques, and just went into the movie without knowing precisely what I was getting.

I personally quite loved Inception. It was smart without being pretentious or much over my head, its cast was amazing, its technical side was stunning (that score! that cinematography! that EDITING!), and it was just an engrossing tale. Of course I applaud Christopher Nolan for his originality, but also for his dedication and his skill in bringing this fascinating tale to life. I thought the pace was tremendous as well, and like my favorite "long" movies, it didn't feel long in the least. I was thrilled to see more and more and more.

If I am to make a small comparison to The Dark Knight, however, I would say that the pace is better in Inception. I know there is some criticism about the ever-high tension of The Dark Knight, which I personally loved, and is still very much apparent in Inception. However, as Inception works in the layers that it does of the dream world, rather than through a straight time-line of different conflicts in The Dark Knight, the ever-heightened tension works better for Inception. That is really the only comparison I want to make between the two, because their handling is not so different despite their much different stories and tones in regards to the pacing of the films.

I want to watch Inception again, of course, before I really decide how much I liked it. I do know that I want the Academy to recognize it because it is brilliant and it is well-crafted and it is original. I know that many will argue that Christopher Nolan deserves his due because of the snub for The Dark Knight, but that's not why I want him to get recognized. I want him to get recognized because he has done consistently great work and this may not be his most critically-acclaimed film, but it is clearly one he poured himself into and is so very much his.

No matter if the Academy ends up acknowledging Nolan despite their snub of The Dark Knight and his work on it, they still snubbed a great modern film two years ago. Call me a fangirl all you want, but The Dark Knight is a freakin' fantastic movie and of all the Academy snubs in recent years, that is one of the most egregious, in my opinion.

But back to Inception. I really don't have a whole lot to say about it because though certain things stand out, every moment was as well-crafted as the last and the next. I did not see and points that made it weak. In its own concept, in its own world, it was done just right. Are there better movies, better tales both original and adapted? Sure, probably. But that does not take away from Inception's perfection in and of itself. I, personally, wouldn't change a thing about it. I wouldn't dare touch it.

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