where: CENTURY 14 VALLEJO in Vallejo, CA
when: Friday, July 16th, 2010
show: 11:00 a.m. ( Extra Dollar-Off First Show Matinee )
costs: $6.25 Ticket + $4.25 junior Popcorn ( w/ Butter ) + $4.00 small Diet/Zero ( w/ Barq's & Cherry flavors ) Coke = $14.50
auditorium: 13
seat: 4th row, 6th column
2nd time:
where: EDWARDS FAIRFIELD STADIUM 16 & I-MAX in Fairfield, CA
when: Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
show: 10:25 p.m.
costs: $17.50 Ticket + $1.00 medium Popcorn ( free + dollar upgrade ) + $1.50 Kernel Season's White Cheddar Popcorn Topping + $4.75 small Diet Coke = $24.75
auditorium: 12, with the I-Max screen
seat: 5th row, 5th seat
synopsis: Concerned that one man, Robert Fischer Jr. ( Cillian Murphy ), will end-up with too much financial power and political clout, a clandestine organization headed by Saito ( Ken Watanabe ) hires the services of a mind infiltrator, Cobb ( Leonardo Di Caprio ), to alter the course of future events. But Saito, unsuspectingly, may just be asking too much of a man who comes with a very heavy "psychological baggage".
noteworthy scenes: 1.) Beach; 2.) Resilient parasite; 3.) Fresh air; 4.) The double-cross; 5.) Folder; 6.) Train; 7.) 'Phone call; 8.) Helicopter; 9.) Leap of faith; 10.) The New mind architect, Ariadne ( Ellen Page ); 11.) Maze; 12.) First shared dream; 13.) "Five minutes is one hour"; 14.)" Wake me up"; 15.) Totem; 16.) The Forger, Eames ( Tom Hardy ); 17.) Chase; 18.) Paradox; 19.) The Chemist, Yusuf ( Dileep Rao ); 20.) "They come to be woken up"; 21.) "Not the typical corporate espionage"; 22.) The old man, Maurice Fischer ( Pete Postlethwaite ; 23.) The plan; 24.) "We have our 10 hours"; 25.) "You shouldn't be here"; 26.) "These are memories, not dreams"; 27.) Passport; 28.) Taxi; 29.) Ambush; 30.) Limbo; 31.) "Downwards is the only way forward"; 32.) "Disappointed ..."; 33.) "We built our own world"; 34.) "Letter from my attorney"; 35.) Subconscious security; 36.) "It was worth a shot"; 37.) "Nice synchronized kick"; 38.) "Break into his own subconscious"; 39.) Hotel hallway fight; 40.) Ski chase; 41.) Avalanche; 42.) "Just a projection"; 43.) "It was my world"; 44.) Elevator shaft; 45.) "I feel guilt"; 46.) Improvise; 47.) Pin wheel; 48.) "We can be together"; 49.) "Someone from an half-remembered dream"; 50.) "Welcome home"; and 51.) The spinning top.
prediction: This movie will win an Oscar in the SFX category. This movie is this year's MATRIX!
audience reaction: The audience was in rapt attention as they watched this movie. They had to, since this movie is very cerebral and convoluted.
recommendation: Although I liked this Psychological Sci-Fi Action movie for its SFX, I don't think that it will be to everyone's liking. It's a summer action movie alright, but not in the typical sense.
spoiler alert! Only $500.00 in his wallet when he's supposed to be one of the richest heirs- apparent in the whole, wide world? Heck! I've had customers pull-out a thick wad of bills from their front pocket just to pay for their groceries--I'm talking twenty, fifty and one hundred denominations here. Why were the security personnel shooting at the abductors indiscriminately when they didn't know the outcome of such an action, i.e. if hit, will their employer wake up or end up in limbo? Why didn't they just shoot-out the tires? Were the body panels of the vehicles bullet-proof? I ask because, with all those bullets peppering the vehicles, only one abductor got hit. A "dreamer" can be trained to put up defenses while an "infiltrator" can plant ideas/scenarios in--and populate--his subject's dream world; so ... why couldn't Cobb, the infiltrator, populate the dreamer's world with his own private army to combat the defenses of the dreamer or, at the very least, just have everything surrounding the "bad guys" explode, just like in an earlier "demonstration" scene for the new mind architect? The suicide occurred across the street so that the crime scene investigation as well as the security cameras would have easily cleared Cobb of any criminal wrong-doing. ( Duh! ) I guess Cobb became a French citizen to keep from being extradited back to the United States, but I don't know about the Extradition Laws of the other countries where he worked in; France, Austria, Russia, Japan and China forbid the extradition of their respective citizens--Mexico, too--as for any other country, I do not know at present where they stand on extradition. But in criminal cases like hijacking, terrorism, assassination and murder, the United States and other countries now use abduction to bring the fugitive to justice. So, even then, Cobb would still have to be on his guard even in France because he could be abducted from anywhere and at anytime, provided, of course, that he became the prime suspect/"person of special interest" ( a stupid euphemism, if you ask me ) in the "murder". The ending scene was cut short, leaving the audience to try and guess whether it was just a dream or if it was a reality--dang! I hate to be left hanging like that.
fyi: I absolutely love the top-notch fight scene in the hotel hallway! It will make all those Chinese martial arts choreographers scratch their heads in puzzlement for a good long time. I would gladly pay extra to watch this fight scene again in I-Max!
With some patience and dedication, you can do your own low-budget, no-tech "inception." Before going to bed each night, just keep telling yourself that you'll find yourself awake in your own dream. After a few days or weeks, it should happen. And, once you've awakened yourself within your own dream state, you can reshape your dream or incept your mind with a positive affirmation to modify your behavior. Although this is hard to do, it can be done because it has been done countless times by different people through the centuries! I, myself, was able to do it once: From a dream state, I willed myself to have an out-of-body-experience; so, I was actually functioning in two levels: dreaming and astral projecting simultaneously!
In a nod to Marion ( who plays the character of, Mal, in this movie ) Cotillard's Oscar-winning performance in the French movie, LA VIE EN ROSE ( 2007 ), a song by Edith Piaf, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien, plays in this movie.
word of advice: Too much power is too much.
tidbits: After the show, a theatre worker asked me how I liked the movie. I told him that it was very cerebral and that I liked the hotel hallway fight scene.
When I stepped outside of the theatre, there was a Filipino kid standing around with two Filipina girls. He had a ukulele with him--I've never seen that at a theatre before. I guess he was practicing to be the next "Jake Shimabukuro."
Then, I went to the nearby CVS drugstore to buy a bottle of Calcium/Magnesium/Zinc supplement ( $3.99 ) as I was completely out of it.
Next, I went to the Postal Annex to claim the package that my sister in Michigan had sent me--she sent me too much stuff! On the bright side, half of the stuff were of the edible kind.
As my Hyundai Accent was very low on gas, I swung by the Chevron gas station across the street from Marine World to get $6.50 of regular gas.
Then I drove to Springs Road to buy three gallons of ionized drinking water ( $7.50 )from Agua Pura. Across the parking lot, I decided to have lunch at Selecta Filipino Buffet ( $6.59 ), along with a 16.9 oz. can of Tasco Brand Coconut Juice ( $1.29 ) to go with my meal. And, while there, I also bought some lottery tickets ( $6.00 ), plus a special quick-pick ticket ( $1.00).
So, as you can see, I really didn't have the time to go to Pep-Boys, as promised, to buy an air filter and a set of spark plugs for my Hyundai Accent. I'll get them next week--hopefully!
2nd tidbits:
I used my new Smart HD View Wraparounds Sunglasses to watch this I-Max show, hoping that it would give me more clarity. But I was wrong. I took it off after just a few minutes.
And speaking of a few minutes, I missed the first few minutes of this I-Max show. But it really didn't matter to me since I've already seen the movie anyway.
