Inception

Release Date: July 16th, 2010

Click here for the Inception Trailer.

Dom Cobb(Leonardo DiCaprio) lives in a world where people can enter other people's dreams and, in doing so, extract information that would otherwise be impossible to retrieve. Dom is an extractor, a professional thief who specializes in conning secrets from his targets by infiltrating their dreams. Dom has a specialized team including his partner Arthur(Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who is the point man, the Forger Eames(Tom Hardy) who can take the form of other people in a dream and Ariadne(Ellen Page), the team's architect who is in charge of constructing the worlds were the dreams will take place.

Dom and his team are approached by Mr. Saito(Ken Wantanabe), a businessman whose dreams they were infiltrating. Mr. Saito reveals that he was testing the team for a job. Mr. Saito wants Dom and his team to perform something known as Inception, implanting an idea into somebody's head through their dreams which will then push the person to make the decision in real life.

The act of inception has never been successfully done and Dom is wary about trying it. Mr. Saito's target is Robert Fischer(Cillian Murphy), the son of Mr. Saito's terminally ill corporate rival and heir to his father's business. Mr. Saito wants to implant the idea that Fischer should break up his father's empire so Mr. Saito can be number one in the industry. In order to perform inception, Dom and his team must infiltrate a dream within a dream within a dream in Fischer, deeper than anyone has ever gone.

Due to the depth of the project, Dom enlists the help of Dr. Yusuf(Dileep Rao), a sedative chemist. Yusuf develops a sedative that is strong enough to keep Dom and his team unconscious long enough to achieve their objective. However, should someone die in the dream they will not be woken up in real life as is common with extracting information. Instead they will be stuck in a limbo for an indeterminate amount of time. With the risk of inception along with the risk of going so deep into a human's subconscious, the added threat of any training the subject has had against dream infiltration and Dom's personal struggles against a ghost from his past, the hopes of coming out of the dream is slim at best.

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Ok so Inception comes from the mind of Christopher Nolan, the same genius that brought us The Dark Knight. So needless to say, this movie is probably going to be good. But it isn't good, it isn't great, it's phenomenal. This is probably one of the best movies I have ever seen and is definitely one of my new all time favorites.

First off, the premise behind the movie is just so intense. The possibility of going into somebody's dreams and retrieving information or even implanting information is beyond cool. Couple that with all the things some of these characters can do in the dreams and the imagination highway seems endless. One thing I loved about this film is how Leonardo DiCaprio's team could do almost anything they want and add or subtract virtually anything. It sort of reminded me of the premise behind The Matrix where the characters could receive anything and learn anything instantly.

Let me just say that if you don't like movies that make you think, then you should not see this movie. You will be constantly wondering whether or not the characters are in a dream, how many dreams they are in or if they are in real life. But this just adds to the overall suspense of the film. It also grabs your attention and doesn't let go until the credits roll, and even then you won't want to leave.

I really loved the action in this film. Car chases, shootouts, assaults on military bases and an insane fight in zero gravity are just the tip of the iceberg. One cool element that added to the action was how, if something went wrong, a person's dream could begin to collapse causing all kinds of mayhem.

I thought all the actors and actresses were fantastic. There was a nice blend of personalities and styles. From fairly new actors like Ellen Page to seasoned veterans like Leonardo DiCaprio and the always incredible Michael Caine, there was somebody for everybody to enjoy. All the performances were top notch and will definitely be ones people remember for years to come.

I don't think I can find any fault with this ending. The one thing some people may have a problem with is the ending, which leaves plenty of room for debate. But I like that fact about the ending so for me it is a positive. Overall this movie was fantastic. It had a story that blew my mind and caused me to doubt whether or not I was living or in a dream. The action was intense and flowed perfectly with the story and most certainly was not overdone. The acting was incredible and no person delivered a bad performance.

Overall I think I will have to say that this movie is my favorite of the summer. In my opinion this film needs to win an award for Best Picture. I give Inception 10 Totems out of 10.

Shutter Island

Release Date: February 19th, 2010

Click here for the Shutter Island Trailer.

In 1954, U.S. Marshals Teddy Daniels(Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule(Mark Ruffalo) travel to the mysterious Shutter Island and its institution for the criminally insane to investigate the disappearance of a murderous patient committed for drowning her three children. Teddy and Chuck are tasked with finding the patient and bringing her back to the institution.

While investigating, Teddy and Chuck slowly begin to realize that the entire staff at the hospital is hiding something and nobody is willing to talk. Teddy and Chuck decide to leave the island but are forced to stay when a hurricane moves in. On the island Teddy begins to have hallucinations and the longer he stays the worse they get.

As the mystery of the institution begins to unravel, Teddy and Chuck begin to realize that if they don't figure out what is going on that they, like the patients, may never leave Shutter Island.

Loosely based on the book of the same name by Dennis Lehane, Shutter Island is a thriller set in the early 1950's that will have you guessing the whole time trying to figure out just what is actually going on. The movie is directed by acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsly.

There has been a lot of hype surrounding this move recently with many people waiting with anticipation for it to come out, especially after it got delayed from an October 2nd, 2009 release date to the final February 19th, 2010 release date. But is it worth all the hype? Many critics say yes but you didn't go to them, you came to me to see if I think it is worth all the hype so lets get into my review.

The initial trailers and publicity for this movie was very intriguing, and it appeared to be a psychological thriller that would require a bit of thinking and attentiveness while watching it. Movies like this grab my attention because I enjoy not knowing what is happening and trying to figure out what is going on. This is where Shutter Island really shines, the mystery. The whole movie has you wondering who is actually sane and who is insane and makes you sit there and wonder what in the world is really going on.

The whole movie builds and builds to the moment Teddy finds out what is going on and when he finally gets there you are just as surprised at what he finds as he is. I will say that the twist at the end may be figured out by some but the ones who do figure it out will not, like me, have it 100% correct. The ending is also where the movie strays away from the book so those of you who read the book will not have the ending completely ruined for you, whether or not that is good or not is up to you.

I'm not a huge fan of Leonardo DiCaprio. I know all the women out there have some strange attraction to him but acting wise he hasn't really blown me away. I'm not saying he is terrible my any means but he isn't top on my list of amazing actors. That being said, DiCaprio did a very very good job in this film. I liked the way he carried himself in this film. His stance and his mannerisms made the character real for me. I also though his dramatic sequences were top notch, allowing the audience to empathize with his character. Overall this is one of DiCaprio's best performances in my book.

DiCaprio wasn't alone in this film however. Starring alongside Leo was the very talented Mark Ruffalo and the always fantastic Ben Kingsley. Ruffalo was very good in his role as DiCaprio's partner Chuck. Ruffalo added a sense of calm to the intense and, sometimes, chaotic performance of DiCaprio and the rest of the craziness this film displayed. He was a kind of anchor to DiCaprio, balancing out the two personas. Kingsley did a fantastic job as the Chief Psychiatrist of the institution Dr. John Cawley. Throughout the film you always wondered what Kingsley's motives were. On the one hand, he always tried to convince you that he was a good person and out to help the patients, yet on the other hand it seemed like he hid a dark secret, one that he was willing to do anything to keep hidden. This added another sense of mystery to the film and an aspect that kept you tentative and guessing.

Overall, Shutter Island was a great film. The atmosphere and the setting gave you chills and it made you afraid to see what was around each corner. Scorsese did a fantastic job of making a truly terrifying mental institution and a setting that made the movie stand out. The plot was enticing and kept the audiences attention and even though it strayed from the book, it will still leave you shocked.

I give Shutter Island 8 Delusional Psychopaths out of 10