Inception

After patiently waiting so long to see this film, I finally waited no longer and rented Inception.  I deeply do regret not seeing it at the IMAX, as my small non-HD television couldn't even compare to the sound and better quality picture I would have gotten at the IMAX.  Anticipated by many to be the best film of 2010, surprisingly Inception only received 4 Golden Globes nominations, leaving me to wonder if the Academy has better taste and will give it multiple nominations for an Oscar.  One would think.  In my opinion, it was a very good looking cast, and they all deserve an award for their performances.  Props to the casting director!  Actors in a film often make the film what it is.  A film, to me, is only as powerful as its weakest actor.  Although Inception was nominated for Best Motion Picture-Drama and Best Director, it didn't get any nominations for Best Actor, Actress, or Supporting roles, and more often than not a Best Actor/Actress nomination goes hand in hand with a Best Film nomination.  It was also nominated for Best Screenplay and Best Score (which was intense). I guess its up to the academy to pick up the slack.
All in all this was a great movie.  I'm not even being bias even though Leonardo DiCaprio is hands down my favorite actor of all time.  He's done everything with such greatness, and when there's a film he's going to be cast in, chances are its going to be pretty epic.  I've noticed over the years that he'll fall off the radar for a few years then do two or three movies at a time.  I believe he does this, not because he can't find work, but because he's choosing his roles wisely.  And every role he's had since he was a child has been pretty great, as has his supporting actors and the film itself.  Even if the supporting actors were terrible (which they hardly ever are) he's such a strong actor that, contradicting what I stated earlier, he would make that movie great.  He should just do a one man show, it'd be great!  Unfortunately, he's only been nominated for three Academy Awards ever and hasn't won any!  But moving on to the film, this blog, after all, is called Inception not The Great DiCaprio....
I was told by so many people that this movie is amazing, and I was not disappointed.  I normally don't like SciFi films, other than the Twilight Saga but honestly those are more or a drama than sci-fi, but Inception has a good, original storyline.  I'm a huge fan of originality, which is hard to find these days in a world of cover songs and remakes.  Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, known for other great films as The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins, and Memento, the film is about a team of experts who invade people's dreams in order to get information from them.  After failing to retrieve the information they were assigned to get by their corporation, Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) and Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 500 Days of Summer) are given a second chance by Saito (Ken Watanabe, Letters from Iwo Jima and Memoirs of a Geisha).  The task at hand, inception, which is planting an idea in someone's mind.  Cobb is tempted by the idea of being able to see his children again and assures his partner, Arthur, that it can be done.  Saito wants the heir (Cillian Murphy, The Dark Knight and Tron) of a rivalry company to break up his father's (Pete Postlethwaite who returns for his second performance with Leo, the first being Romeo + Juliet) empire.  In order for Robert Fischer (Murphy) to believe he thought up the idea himself, Cobb and Arthur round up a team of experts to help them dig deep enough in Fischer's mind to safely plant the idea.  Ellen Page (Juno and Whip It) plays the young architect, Ariadne, who builds three levels of dream sequences to make it possible for the team to go deep enough.  Eames (Tom Hardy, Marie Antoinette and Band of Brothers) is the team's conman and can change his appearance to anyone who's personality he has observed making it easier for Fischer to trust him.  Finally, the chemist, Yusuf (Dileep Rao, Avatar and Drag Me to Hell) creates a sedative strong enough to keep Fischer out for ten hours without being woken up.  The film focuses on the team's struggle to get the idea planted in Fischer's mind within the ten hours, or one week in dream time, with such conflict as Fischer's security and Cobb's secret enemy that seems to follow him in all his shared dreams.
The special effects in this film were phenomenal.  The morphing buildings and even the sound effects.  I really hope it gets some recognition with the Academy.  This movie was obviously made to be viewed in 3-D, and even though the experience was great on my tiny TV, it could probably be even better with an updated system.  This film will make you want to forget your own reality and get lost in your dreams.  Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Tom Hardy can invade my dreams anyday!