everywhere i'd (managed to) go, i'd hear people talking about it, i'd become incredibly drawn to the idea of catching it and in the end i gave up to the sheer power of peer pressure (which might not be so sheer after all) and watched it.

Inception.

i'll save my comments for later- Because comments aside, i really had gone into the cinema with an open mind, and made sure i didn't read any spoilers about the plot that'd potentially spoil the enjoyment of the movie.

There's really nothing to like- the interesting plotline, the stellar cast, the cool movie effects, the fantastic acting, the combination of humor/romance/action/thrill- there's really nothing much to dislike.

In fact if anything, i'd watch the movie just for Marion Cotillard alone, (by far my favourite french actress, audrey tatou aside,)because i fell in love with her since i watched her in Jeux d'enfants and have been in love with her ever since. Ellen Page is also quite a bright young thing to watch- her performance in Hard Candy really impressed me, i loved her movie character in Whip It!.

Now for the comments-

I'd accidentally read a newspaper report on how movie-goers are going back into the cinemas for a second, third, or even seventh time to watch Inception just because they want to pick up the small details they might have missed during previous times, or to rewatch the movie to find out what the true ending to the movie was. There a multiple hypothesized outcomes/endings but it still remains largely a matter of debate. Now having read this, of course i'd thought that the plot was probably rather difficult to catch on or the details/changes very subtle and so i'd been aware, very cautious, and very awake during the entire movie-

and when the credits rolled and the movie ended i came up with one single conclusion-

Obviously the movie was meant to be a cliff-hanger and there was nothing else about it.

You don't have to keep thinking about it; what you see is what you get, what you think is, really is. It gave me a kind of small distaste and disappointment at the end, having sat through for more than 2 hours of a largely enjoyable and intriguing progression. I know some people like open endings, because they give space for the viewer to participate, freedom for the viewer to select a preferred outcome/ending, time for the viewer to ponder, process, and elaborate.

But i'm not really a fan of open endings. I like fixed endings, because, much like science, what you see is what you get. There's no worry about whether things are a dream in a dream, or a dream in a dream in a dream, or whether the movie from the beginning to the end was just the main protagonist's dream. Having to consider the infinity possible outcomes just makes me feel like an idiot who's been cheated of $7 to watch something that is of no consequence.

From what i saw, it was apparent that the ending was just that there is no ending, or that you can choose the ending that you think might have most possibly occurred. Nothing to debate about, because it's all about perspective, and given that the movie going crowd is diverse, it's only reasonable that people would have different opinions and argue that they are correct.

Open ending aside, i do like the movie. Because it was planned around a central question that i have constantly been asking myself since i've gained awareness of myself as a being, the same question that the matrix revolved around-

Am i awake? is all that i see, feel, around me, real? or perhaps this is but a dream, but sensory perceptions that are false, that are meant to deceive me? Because there is no way for sure that i know that anything else is real. As Descartes once postulated, 'i think, therefore i am'. What he really meant is, one is aware of one's ability to think, and this consciousness of self is the only proof that one exists. However, there is no way of assuring oneself that those people/things around him exist for sure- because there is no way of verifying the existence of these things. Many a times our senses deceive us- a tree branch far in the distance can take the form of the silhouette of a man; the sound of the wind blowing on the door may resemble an angry man banging- these things show us that though largely our senses are dependable, we are unable to know for sure, if the world we are living in truly takes the form that we are able to see/feel/sense it.

For all i know i could be a brain in the vat, and having watched Inception, created a blog, experienced university life- these sensory perceptions that seem so real could all be simulated and projected on to my brain.

Of course there's no utility in discussing this at the present moment since there's no way to find out if the world is really as is seems, and it's stupid trying to convince you that i am real whereas, you, who is/are reading my blog, is/are not (at least not to be, i don't know for sure),

but still, an interesting thought experiment.

going back to the movie-

i'd say it was good, but it wasn't mind-blowing.

it was well, just pretty interesting.