Inception
Inception continues to be the film on everyone’s tongues. We haven’t had such a buzz in the film world since Avatar came out last December. Inception has been a trending Twitter topic for over a week and I’ve had plenty of people chime in with their own thoughts.
I know not everyone has been a fan but you have to impressed with how it has so generated discussion. Who’d have thought an action film would require so much thought. In my review, I said that “Inception may be the most intelligent action film you will ever see.” It was my first thought on leaving the cinema last Wednesday and I stand by that statement. Rotten Tomatoes has used it as my quote and it’s nice to see a few people chiming in with their comments on the link below. My review has had over 1,500 hits to date so I’m quietly chuffed.
Matt's Inception Review On Rotten Tomatoes
I saw the film for a second time on Friday night and I stand by my review. I picked up much more on the second viewing (particularly with the opening). I mentioned it my review but even watching it a second time, the two best scenes are still (1) Joseph Gordon Levitt’s hallway fight sequences, and (2) the very last scene. I couldn’t wait to hear the audience gasp once again. Christopher Nolan, you are a genius.
I’ve perused numerous forums on the internet looking for interpretations and explanations. I’m fairly happy with the conclusion I’ve reached but I’m tempted to watch it one more time to see if I can pick up anything else. For the record, there are only two films which I’ve seen more than twice in the cinemas – Romeo & Juliet (the version with Leo and Claire) and Billy Elliot.
The box-office in the United States illustrates that word of mouth is strong. Inception took in $43m during its second week for a total of $143m in its first 10 days. That’s only a 31% drop from its opening weekend – a very impressive feat. Even more astonishing was that it held off the new Angelia Jolie thriller Salt (which has had good reviews).
I have a general rule that a film here in Australia will make about 1/10th of what it does in the U.S. Inception opened a little stronger than that with a healthy $7.4m opening weekend in Australia. I suspect it too will hold up next weekend as word spreads.
Inception does mark my first A+ of the year and my first since January 2009 (The Wrestler). No film is flawless but this one is close enough to warrant that grading. You can hear me passionately speak about with Spencer Howson on last week’s 612ABC show by clicking on the link below.
612ABC Podcast - Reviewing Inception
If you haven’t seen it yet, be sure you do!
2010 Toomey Awards
I announced the nominees four weeks ago and the time has come to reveal the winners of my 2010 Toomey Awards. It’s the 11th time that I’ve produced this list and it’s the 11th time that I’ve agreed with all the winners (since I am the only voting member).
It was very tough trying to pick some of the categories (best film was tricky indeed) but the films and performances that I’d like to honour from the past 12 months can be viewed by clicking below.
You can go back over the last ten years and look at all the previous winners with this link.
Winners Of Toomey Awards - 2000 to 2010
That’ll do it from me for another week.