Inception

** SPOILER ALERT **

Chris Nolan’s experiment in originality is a blast of fresh air over what was shaping up to be a stagnant and stale summer. It’s not in 3-D, but it might as well be. It’s a completely visceral experience -- you can’t just sit and idly watch. It’s tense, and it grabs you and never lets go, minute by minute, scene by scene. Chris Nolan and company honor their dreamworld subject matter and treat it with utmost seriousness. It feels important. It’s why so many of his fans worldwide are beholden to his every move -- he rewards them by RESPECTING the art form and the fan’s thirst for something new and cerebral. But it’s not a journey of typical human emotion, so it’s not sentimental or "good triumphing over evil" or whatever. The emotion is in the tension, kind of like Hurt Locker. Like the characters, you’re lost in a maze, and that feeling of fear and disorientation is the emotion that drives the movie. So even though the acting is excellent, character-wise, it’s a bit thin. But I can forgive Inception for having a slightly thin emotional spine, especially if something REALLY COOL is happening on screen. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt, defying gravity, bounding through the hotel halls, kicking asses, and "floating" his colleagues to safety… that was REALLY FUCKING COOL.