Done Deal

On 12.31 a “remember Inception?” trailer will be shown in “key” movie theaters around the country (i.e., not located in Waco, Tallahassee and/or Dubuque) and will appear online. The purpose will be to remind folks that Chris Nolan‘s film, which has been available on DVD/Bluray since 12.7, “is every bit the artistic achievement that its rivals are, and that it deserves to be part of the Oscar conversation,” writes Popeater‘s Jeff Labrecque.

The trailer tells me the following: (1) The highest-ranked honor that Inception can hope for is a Best Original Screenplay Oscar — it’s also a shoo-in for VFX, score (Hans Zimmer), sound design/editing, etc; (2) Nolan looked like a Best Director lock last summer, but right now the likeliest finalists are David Fincher (The Social Network), Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), David O. Russell (The Fighter), and Tom Hooper (The King’s Speech) — Nolan might squeak in ahead of Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right); (3) Many of the more dazzling visual mind-benders were created on a sound stage with real organic elements, and it doesn’t matter because nobody trusts what they see in a film these days; (4) Tom Hardy is a much more interesting actor playing quiet and contained than when he’s bare-chested and bellowing and flexing his muscles.

19 thoughts on “Done Deal

  1. Forget all that stuff, let’s concentrate on the real issue here – does Leo wear a piece? His hairline in that video still above seems more shockingly V-shaped than in the actual movie.

  2. “The highest-ranked honor that Inception can hope for is a Best Original Screenplay Oscar”

    I’ve been thinking this, largely because there’s very little competition. If Hollywood likes Nolan at all — which is an open question after ‘The Dark Knight’s Oscar nominations fizzled out — he’s got a strong shot at it. Is there anybody else in competition besides ‘The Kids Are Alright’ (which is probably the front-runner right now, to me)?

    And, yes, Nolan gets the fifth directing slot, for sure. In fact, I’d argue he gets the fourth slot and that Tom Hooper would be a toss-up in a decent year.

    “it doesn’t matter because nobody trusts what they see in a film these days”

    I have a feeling it shows on the Blu-ray. See, I didn’t have one before, so most of my experience with actual Blu-ray discs was with store stuff or people showing off the system, both of which use CGI-heavy movies to do so (the first I ever saw was ‘X-Men 3′). And the movie as a whole, but especially the effects, look cartoony. So I thought that was how Blu-ray looked. But now I’ve seen ’2001′ on Blu-ray, and I know that practical effects that used to lose texture in transfers gain it back on Blu-ray. CGI looks much less realistic on Blu-ray (please, give me counter-examples to check into, because I’m curious about this), where practical effects done right can truly soar.

  3. OK, DZ, I’ll bite — please explain how ‘Inception’ is less original than ‘Little Fockers’. Be as thorough as you like; the more you write, the funnier your stupid shit is.

  4. Lupo: “please explain how ‘Inception’ is less original than ‘Little Fockers’. Be as thorough as you like; ”

    Actually, it’s at about the same level. Both movies are essentially about male leads who want to spend time with their kids while dealing with unwanted obstacles in the way, right?

  5. Kakihara, I’ve seen Paprika, I love Paprika, more than I love Inception, and they share only the most tenous of connections. You could say that Nolan got the idea from a Donald Duck comic (seriously, look it up, it’s hilarious), but not from Paprika. Paprika and Inception are wildly different in how they deal with dreams and the nature of reality, too. They’re not thematically similar either. Satoshi Kon was a brilliant talent, and it is a fucking tragedy that he died so early, but you should not feel like you have any obligation to piss on other good filmmakers for Kon’s sake. I think the man himself would be flattered, were he still alive.

  6. Mechanical: Well, given that Kon acknowledged TDK in films he and his staff liked and discussed, I don’t see why Nolan can’t return the favor. As for their differences, well, that’s what they said about Reservoir Dogs and City on Fire once.

  7. Nolan should get a nod for best director. “the kids are alright” could have been made by anyone with a camera. It took a fucking director to make Inception. That shit doesn’t just fall together all by itself.

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