Sit Down, James Cameron

I can never enjoy another movie again. This was the collective reaction of Brandon, Jon, and myself as we walked out of the movie theater at 2:40am on Friday. We had been anticipating the premiere of Inception for weeks and had already prepared ourselves for it to be the best movie ever made- this is no exaggeration. The bar of our expectations had been set impossibly high... or so we thought. As it turned out, it was better.

Inception more closely resembled a roller coaster ride than a movie. I don't think any of us took a breath or blinked for the entire two and a half hours. I could go on for days about the phenomenal performances by the actors (who knew Joseph Gordon Levitt had it in him?) and the twisted visual effects but that's not what stood out to me. Plain and simple: this is what movie making should be. The story was bold and beyond compelling; plus, it was just complicated enough so you felt challenged but at the same time you weren't exhausted trying to keep up. The intensity of the situation was alleviated briefly by exactly the right amount and type of comic relief and gratuitous violence was clearly deemed unnecessary to plot development (what a concept). When the two and a half hours flew by and the story was winding down the final scene evoked a collective gasp from the audience followed by resounding applause.

All those in the business should stop rolling all over your money pile for a second and pay attention. This is what it's about, folks. Stop overpaying coked-out assholes to write dick and fart jokes and take a risk! Give us something we've never seen before; try some actual artistic creativity for a change. Creativity. Look it up. No, put down the script for Saw 8 go get a dictionary and find out why Christopher Nolan is so much better than you.

I'm sorry, but spending 10 years on creating seven foot tall blue cheetahs and tacking on some garbage script with about as much originality as a teenager in a Team Edward tee shirt may make you truck-loads of money but, in my book, it just makes you a cheap cinematic prostitute. 

Now, as for the phenomenon that is Inception; I really can't enjoy another movie again. Jon remarked, as we made our way to the car still in a haze over what we had just witnessed, "If Christopher Nolan had just applied himself to curing cancer or something... I'm a little mad that he didn't."
Well, we may not have a cure for cancer, but at least my faith was renewed in the future of movies. At least as long as Christopher Nolan is involved. Bring on the next Batman movie!