To sleep, perchance to snore.
So, it’s official. INCEPTION is My New Favourite Movie™.
It joins a distinguished (if not altogether that exclusive) list of movies upon which this honour has been bestowed, going all the way back to COBRA (1986), a film that prompted a 10-year-old me to start dressing in black and chewing a matchstick.
To celebrate this not particularly extraordinary development I set about trying to write my first film review for over a decade. The result was a pathetically earnest attempt to encapsulate INCEPTION within the confines of a long-forgotten critical methodology, all of which soon threatened to become incredibly boring for all concerned.
So I dumped all the pre-amble, and made a good old-fashioned list instead. It’s a list of films that are like INCEPTION, but different. After looking briefly at why each film is like INCEPTION, but different, there’s a little video clip, and a sublimely arbitrary verdict on which film is best. All in all, it’s a bit of a shambles.
Needless to say, the rest of this post is up to its rapidly moving eyeballs in spoilers. If you haven’t seen INCEPTION, I should look away now. Even if you have, you probably have something better to do than carry on reading.
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Like INCEPTION because…
It’s a study of a man ready to put everything at risk, including his already fragile grip on reality, for the sake of rediscovering lost love.
Not like INCEPTION because…
Hitchcock eschews dialogue in favour of the film’s haunting score to guide us through a series of spell-binding sequences leading up to VERTIGO’s dizzying conclusion. Nolan does not eschew dialogue. Nolan has dialogue coming out of his ears. Which, when you think about it, is quite an achievement in itself.
Also, Hitchcock’s dream sequences are much shorter. And a good deal odder.
Verdict: Don’t look down Chris. INCEPTION is no VERTIGO.
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Like INCEPTION because…
A crack team, on a daring mission behind enemy lines… a snowbound fortress, built to protect secrets men will lie, scheme and kill for… an action-packed and unrelenting finale, beginning less than halfway through the film and not letting up until the credits are practically rolling.
Not like INCEPTION because…
It may have happened when I popped out for a wee, but I don’t remember the bit in INCEPTION where Arthur gets hold of two submachine guns and mows down a battalion of heavily-armed Nazis. Whereas, of course… (skip to 5:55 for the gunny shot)
Verdict: INCEPTION is unabashed in the homage it pays to the gun-toting grandaddy of action-adventure. WHERE EAGLES DARE wins every time.
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Like INCEPTION because…
It’s a seminal one-last-job heist movie, featuring a pivotal sequence in which besuited men engage in a running gun battle through the busy streets of a major American metropolis. It even has the same(ish) music playing in the background.
Not like INCEPTION because…
It’s not raining.
Also, HEAT is infused with moral ambiguity, as we find ourselves willing the outlaws to get away with it, even as we watch them mowing down the innocents that stand in their way. Whereas, well, it’s much easier to side with the ‘bad guys’ when people in their way are just gun-toting figments of some rich kid’s imagination.
I couldn’t find the right clip, but I found the trailer. Watch it, and feel yourself making plans to watch HEAT again at the first available opportunity.
Verdict: Yup, HEAT takes INCEPTION down too. Takes it down to Chinatown. And leaves me starting to seriously question whether INCEPTION is actually half as good as I thought it was.
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Like INCEPTION because…
It gives us the play within a play.
Not like INCEPTION because…
It doesn’t give us the play within a play, within a play, within a play. Within a play. Maybe.
Ok, so a little spurious. Probably listed here as much because it gives me all the excuse I need to include a clip of Charlton Heston in his pomp, allowing me to forget for a moment that he was such a massive wanker.
Verdict: It’s HAMLET, for fuck’s sake. Of course it’s better than INCEPTION.
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Like INCEPTION because…
It’s comprised of a series of jaw-dropping action sequences, including ground-breaking gun-play and hand-to-hand combat, made possibly only by the suspension of the laws of physics as we would otherwise commonly expect to encounter them.
Not like INCEPTION because…
INCEPTION establishes these familiar mechanisms of action and adventure as a cogent and compelling reality, anchored in the all-powerful faculties of creativity and imagination, and the limitless reach and ambition of the dormant human mind. THE MATRIX establishess the same familiar mechanisms of action and adventure as a considerably less cogent reality, anchored in a load of clever-sounding codshit.
Of course, THE MATRIX has this scene, meaning that all other sins are forgiven (even if someone somewhere has decided that I don’t get to embed it in my blog).
Verdict: Nolan spanks the Wachowskis. INCEPTION is THE MATRIX for grown-ups.
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Like INCEPTION because…
It introduces a handsome but troubled central protagonist on a journey of enlightenment and self-discovery, mentored along the way by a sagely Michael Caine. It was directed by Chris Nolan. And it has Ken Watanabe in it, who’s really quite good.
Not like INCEPTION because…
Its handsome but troubled central protagonist dresses up like a bat.
Verdict: Nolan spanks Nolan, INCEPTION takes it. The world needs all the original ideas it can get.
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So there it is. If there was any doubt that INCEPTION is My New Favourite Movie™, this has surely put it to bed.
Which is where I’m going. Got a date with Kim Novak, in the dungeons of Schloß Adler. It was her idea. I think it was the matchstick.
Tags: inception
July 26th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Makes me think I’m going to watch all these films (in some cases again) one by one. This was a good read Dan.
July 27th, 2010 at 12:28 am
I would like to see a review your favorite move with Snake Plissken
July 27th, 2010 at 8:44 am
a mite surprised the game didn’t find its way onto the list.
similar because: deception within deception within…
different because: more jowls. oh and the anti-hero is the deceptee rather than deceptor.
July 27th, 2010 at 9:38 am
Ma – yup, every one a gem. We should try and sort you guys out with a decent on-demand set-up in the new place.
Dot – can’t beat the one-eyed leather-trousered Snake. Expect something Plisskin-related in the near future.
Bro – Thought about THE GAME. Similar, in that, unlike so much contemporary fare, it has a plot more elaborate than your average ladybird book. I think subconsciously I just didn’t want to have to choose between them.
Nice to see this turning into a family affair. Might see if I can shake up Auntie Chatchet for some sort of contribution.
July 27th, 2010 at 10:59 am
I would probably have loved it if I weren’t so very very bitter. . .
July 27th, 2010 at 11:30 am
Interesting read and in the main good set of films although where Hitchcock is concerned would always take To Catch a Thief or Notorious ahead of Vertigo.
Heat and Where Eagles Dare of course at the top of my list along with the Shawshank Redemption which has to be on any list – even if it is not like Inception in any way at all!
Batman Begins – didn’t like it, didn’t like any of his Batman films – if I was looking for another Nolan film for comparison Memento might have made my list – complex, dark and clever execution
Finally – Cobra – Stallone in the eighties – I would go with Lock UP if only for the fine performance of Donald Sutherland as the nutjob prison warden from hell
Then there is the added dimension of Di Caprio – best film, of late for me …. God – how to choose – down to three it would be between Gangs of New York (although Day Lewis steals the show I loved i Caprio in it), Blood Diamond – just for all out gun toteing, head in hands dispair combined with balck comedic one liners or The Departed – clever, sharp and engrossing took me by surprise to the end and was an accidental watch in the cinema – one of those , lets go and see whats on trips which resulted in us leaving saying what an unexpectedly great film …
July 27th, 2010 at 11:38 am
One of my favourite ideas in the film was ‘the kick’. The way all the levels of subconscious were tied together with gravity manipulation. A very cinematic device. And on that note, I reckon you missed out one key film comparison: ‘2001′. Stan the man played with gravity in the same way with his big wheel space ship. That spinning corridor was another manifestation of the same film trick. Pretty amazing that the actor & stunt man learnt how to fight in a spinning corridor, leaping to avoid practical lights and props. Apparently they made the walls slightly soft to cushion their numerous falls.
One idea that I didn’t like underpinned the whole narrative of the film. The idea that you can perceive more time in a dream than in waking life. That’s just bollocks. Since lucid dreamers can move their actual body’s eyes from their dreams some experiments were carried out on a sample of them. They were asked to move their eyes to count seconds. Since they were counting from their dream it was designed to measure the difference between a dream second and a waking second. They found that dream time is pretty much identical. The only way you can experience long stretches of time in a dream is the same as the way you experience long stretches of time in a film – ruthless editing! So that whole knowledge kind of irritated and distanced me from the concept.
Still though. I’m biased. I’ve been developing an almost identical idea (mine has a working title of ‘Dream Doubt’) for 10 years. And now I may have to bin it. (Even the last shot was pretty much identical.) Scuppered by the collective unconscious once again. But when you think about it, if anyone else was going to have that idea, it was always going to be a film director. Because film’s are like dreams. When making films a director hopes to make it as believable as possible. To make the experience lucid. He hopes to blur the audience’s line between reality and film. So he likes the idea of a merging of reality and dream.
One thing that amazed me, was the extent to which the audience understood the concepts without much explanation. We all dream. We all know what he’s on about. Dreams are real after all. We really do dream!
When I stepped out of the cinema and walked into the car park and a train went past. I listened to the sound very carefully. Then I looked around and noticed the wind in the trees. For a short moment I wondered if I was dreaming. Or maybe I was still watching the film. That’s what I wanted to happen with my film… Bastard!!
July 27th, 2010 at 2:25 pm
I’m interested in your tweet about comments Dan. I am slightly frustrated by the number of ghosts who stray into my particular niche of the blogosphere…….. they leave a dusting of their visit with no clue as to identity which leaves an essentially nos(e)y person like me puzzled. I’m not talking spammers, but bods from my circle who want to find out what I’ve been about. Is it the thought that only something ‘clever’ should be posted, or a fear of being caught and pursued by virtual strangers?
July 27th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Sis – much to debate, but I have to call you out on The Departed – a long way from being Scorsese’s best film, and pure tokenism giving it Best Picture. Why not just watch the original, Infernal Affairs, which is waaay better? And has a great sequel. If you’re into DiCaprio right now, check out Shutter Island. Also from Scorsese, and rumoured to be really rather good.
Dan – I feel your pain. MOON trod on some ideas I’d been playing around with for a while. Probably serves us both right for not managing to do anything about it
I see what you’re saying about the time slowing down thing btw, but as cinematic devices go, it’s one I can live with, in terms of how it affects the visual dynamics of the final third.
Ma – the norm is not to comment, and I think most people just don’t have time. I get the odd comment on here from strangers, but mostly it’s people I know. It’s always lovely when people take the time to add something though, the notifications are pretty much my favourite type of email to receive. The key thing is if people do comment you should always try and make time to reply x
July 27th, 2010 at 3:53 pm
I’m writing a feature at the moment that has a couple of things in common with Moon. Not too much though. Hope it doesn’t have too many things in common with your idea. Let’s hope I’m getting my arse in gear fast enough with this one. It’s taking ages though. I wrote the first draft in the first 6 weeks of the year, and I’m still not quite ready to start on the second draft. Getting there though. See you soon. Dan
July 27th, 2010 at 6:08 pm
that’s all great Dan but i will stick to “Snake on the Plane” as my favorite film ever which i would strongly recommend to Jandy as an eleventh film to watch soon.
July 28th, 2010 at 8:23 am
I wish I could leave a clever comment here but I haven’t seen the movie yet. I’ve got to see Cobra as well. I thought you might like this: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_XdP6Lp2ceqY/TE7ZT32nUiI/AAAAAAAAXMQ/WCmGpEkPG_A/s1600/SIQ59.jpg
July 28th, 2010 at 11:31 am
Dan – hang in there. love to see it when you’re ready.
Marko – still reeling from the fact that you’ve deigned to comment on my blog. even if your comment is virtually unintelligible.
Immo – you should watch both Inception and Cobra. and i take your Inception infographic and raise you Pulp Fiction: http://www.slashfilm.com/wp/wp-content/images/zz4140be0b.jpg (by the same guys)
July 29th, 2010 at 7:15 am
Memento! Memento! Memento!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!