In This Economy?

NOTE: The following article comes from ITE? guestblogger T-Bag.

Here at ITE? we’ve been writing about things that we feel are a WASTE OF MONEY for months now, so it only made sense to take a look at the other end of the spectrum in the companion feature — WORTH THE MONEY.

Here’s today’s worthwhile item:

Inception

There’s a moment a little bit more than halfway through Inception, an action sequence set on two different planes of reality, where Christopher Nolan proves he is the greatest working director today.

Nolan’s follow-up to the wildly successful The Dark Knight seems at first to be little more than a victory lap. After all, what else does Nolan have to prove? Knight made over a billion dollars worldwide, brought critical legitimacy to the superhero genre and, with its lack of a best picture nod, became one of the primary reasons the Academy increased the total nominations from five films to ten. More than anytime in his career, Nolan has earned the right to coast.

But with Inception, Christopher Nolan has created the most ambitious and thought-provoking summer blockbuster since Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.

The plot is simultaneously intricate, disorientating and straightforward. The marketing campaign, for once, is entirely on the nose. Inception is a heist film set within the landscape of the human mind. The thieves, led by Leonardo Dicaprio, are hired by corporations to steal information locked in the dreams of their competitors. Much of Inception’s running time is devoted to explaining how this concept works, with the first half of the film serving as a massive infodump tutorial on dream hacking.

And it’s all insanely satisfying, entertaining, and immersive. At its core, Inception is an action film. Yet, it’s power lies in the mysteries of the human mind, the subconscious desires of the soul, and the suppressed memories of the grieving heart.

The weight of these ideas, like a collapsing dream, should have been enough to topple Inception like a stack of cards. Instead, with Nolan’s assured hand, the plot builds on itself layer upon layer, until a thriller both familiar and new rises up to dazzle our eyes and fire up our minds.

Nolan’s genius lies in his ability to keep us from losing our grasp on the story. No matter how byzantine the plot, we are always aware of where we are, where we’ve been, and where we will soon be led. The map is always clear, and our waypoints always accurate.

This is a film that demands to be seen twice, three times, once every year for the rest of your life. It is meant to be discussed in a dimly lit bar, where patrons are shadows in the background, and Inception’s ideas shine like stars so close you can touch.

In the 70’s, Jaws and Star Wars were blamed for the death of the art film. How could filmmakers like Ashby, Cassavettes, and Friedkin compete with the thrill and showmanship of the modern blockbuster? It was much easier for audiences to understand the terror of a man-eating shark and the joy of going into hyperspace than it was to give themselves over to explorations of the human psyche. With Inception, Christopher Nolan has brought art to the blockbuster. You owe it to yourself to see this film, to demand that Hollywood crafts more stories like it.

The golden age of the blockbuster has begun. It’s time to wake up and dream.

[T-Bag resides in Los Angeles, California. His favorite film of 2010, so far, is Exit Through The Gift Shop.]

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Previously on WORTH THE MONEY:

• Haiti Earthquake Relief
• HANDJOB!
• Blow Energy Drink Mix
• HEALTH’s New Album
• (500) Days of Summer

Tags: guestblog, guestblogger, Inception, movies, T-Bag, worth the money

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 18th, 2010 at 6:19 PM and is filed under Good News, Humor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.