Hyphen magazine - Asian American arts, culture, and politics


Inception Gift Pack Giveaway

It's been a lucrative pair of weeks for Christopher Nolan. Inception, his new sci-fi dream-heist thriller, is perched atop the box office for the second straight week and -- no offense, Steve Carell and Zac Efron fans -- looks to hold that spot this go-around as well. The film, unlike most box office-rampaging mega-schlock, is no critical slouch, holding steady at 87% on Rotten Tomatoes and ranking well with the director's other dark, brainy, critically-adored flicks.

Neither has it failed to appease its most rabid demographic -- the anonymous masses of the Internet -- who have voted it the third best movie ever made on the film reference site IMDB.com. In short, Nolan has emerged in the wake of Inception, one of the riskiest and most inventive films ever made by a major studio, cemented as one of the best directors of his generation, capable of satiating stuffy film critics, hysterical online posters, and the ticket-buying public with a single reel.

Of course, no box office stranglehold is forever -- curtains close, IMDB rankings fall, and, once in a while, even Christopher Nolan and the team behind Inception come up short. Case in point: the July 12th screening of Inception at the SF Metreon, an event Hyphen staffers and readers were invited to but found far, far overbooked in capacity. Luckily, though the fact that many of us were turned away at the gate evidently didn't dent the film's haul, the studio has agreed to compensate us jilted brides with a number of Inception gift packs -- including hats, shirts, and free tickets. Just comment with your email address and our hard working publisher Lisa Lee (vote! vote!) will arrange to have a gift pack sent to you, supplies permitting.

And, as for the film itself -- if you are among those painfully unhip woodland hermits who have yet to see it -- Inception is absolutely a flick worth catching in theaters.  It's a rarity to see big-budget action scenes seated in rigorously scripted plotlines, and Inception does it spectacularly. There's an elegance to the storytelling that tethers the film's ambition -- a spinning top, for instance, that becomes the film's most evocative symbol, almost functioning as dialogue in a number of crucial scenes. Couple that attention and sensitivity to plot with a number of incredibly inventive shots -- a vaguely Japanese room with a ceiling encrusted in lights, sandcastles (literally) that crumble into the sea, a hotel hallway throwdown that transcends every faceless henchman brawl you've ever seen -- and you have a film whose ambition deserves to be seen.

Inception isn't perfect. If you hated the pummeling nature of The Dark Knight's Hans Zimmer-soundtrack, you'll find Inception's music no less punishing. The film's heart -- a romance between characters played by a masterful Leonardo DiCaprio and a haunting Marion Cotillard -- is cold and painful, casting much of the film in the steely gloom that has become Nolan's signature. And Ken Watanabe, who is perfect in face and body as Saito, a debonair and slightly shady businessman, is at times unintelligible through his accent.


But what a relief when I realized he wasn't still playing the Fu Manchu'd secret ninja army general he played in that other Nolan flick.

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35 comments

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LK wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Inception was a lot of fun to

Inception was a lot of fun to watch.

 

email in the required email box.

Nathan wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

AWESOME

That was such a brilliant movie!!

And please enter me for the gift pack! nizin [at] hotmail.com

Jenn wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Inception Gift Pack

I loved Inception! Hopefully I'll get to go see it again.

 

Please enter me for the gift pack :)

Lauren wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

I really enjoyed the movie.

I really enjoyed the movie. Parts of it were left unfocused on I thought, but overall, it was a bit mind-bending and highly interesting.

Sandy wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Gift pack

Truly amazing movie....soooooo glad to have seen it. Wouldn't mind receiving the gift pack either....a movie worth seeing over again....

Jon B. wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Please send me a gift pack

if you have any more! That would make my day! :DThanks for the time and the consideration!

Emmett Bamba wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Best movie of the year.

I hope this film wins the BEST PICTURE Oscar.  It's the most original film I have seen in years.  Please enter for a gift pack... thanks!  enbamba@yahoo.com

Mike wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Can I be entered for a gift pack?

Can I be entered for a gift pack? Thanks!

Karthik wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

That elevator scene was

That elevator scene was pretty awesome....

Megan C wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Gift Pack Please

:-)

 

I loved Inception. Best. Movie. Ever. Hands down.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt is so dreamy...

Katie wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Gift Pack

May I please receive a gift pack? :)

I included my e-mail address in the boxes above where it's required.

Kevin wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

yay

Watanabe did a good job!

Anonymous wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Thank you!

If you have any Inception gift packs left by now, I would sure like one!  I haven't seen it yet, and I've been hearing about what an awesome movie it is.  Thank you so much. :-)

anthy_stl [ATT] yahoo [DOTT] com

Annette wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Inception

I enjoyed the movie a great deal. It left me disoriented & questioning reality, much like after having a really vivid dream.

I lost my Mom & sister last year, and I often try to use my dreams to spend time with them in my dreamworld. I totally understand & empathize with the Cobb character.

Anonymous wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Gift pack

I'd like a gift pack too, if possible. "Inception" was a wonderful film, although I do agree with the few criticisms at tne end of the article.

LXG wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Inception

 Great movie, and thanks very much for the opportunity. Not very many of these giveaways anymore!

Anonymous wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

INCEPTION

inception was so amazing. i have to watch it again.

Anonymous wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Inception is the best movie

Inception is the best movie ever.

Randy wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

The reason Inception succeeds

...is because it takes those vague senses we have about dreams and brilliantly extends them into the future with a script that we can believe.  Who hasn't had the sense of a noise heard while sleeping being integrated into a dream?  Who hasn't had the realization that they're in a dream and been able to change it?  Technology changes so fast now that we can't predict what we'll develop in 5 years, so a plausable idea seems believeable.  Nolan rolls these senses together into a world that seems as rich as our own dreams and adds human feeling.  The result is something very rare:  something fresh and exciting.

Winston Chou wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

I agree, of course. I mean, I

I agree, of course. I mean, I don't exactly participate in those thirty-page-long online arguments about how the dreamworld functions, but that those discussions can even exist is a testament to how well Nolan sets up the rules of that universe. Good stuff :)

Jun Zuniga wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

sizwenkambule (at) yahoo .

sizwenkambule (at) yahoo . com

 

 

Samara wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Is it wrong to enjoy a mainstream film so much?

I haven't been so excited to think about a movie over and over again since Memento.  I thought I wouldn't like the film because everyone and their mom was like "omg its so good!"  So I tried not to find out much about this movie and I ended up really enjoying it. 

I thought it the chemist was a cool role for Dileep Rao... there are tons of south asians in east africa, but people don't really know about it was great to see that in this film.

Winston Chou wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Totally agree. Rao was great

Totally agree. Rao was great in the film. I gotta confess, when I saw that he was playing 'The Chemist' and not 'Badass Action Star #1' I was a little disappointed. But he had a lot of edge to him and some pretty great scenes/lines as well.

cDonna F wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Inception swag?! Really!?! Oh, please, please, please!

Very interesting article!  Thanks, also for the reminder about voting.

In short, Nolan has emerged in the wake of Inception, one of the riskiest and most inventive films ever made by a major studio, cemented as one of the best directors of his generations, capable of satiating stuffy film critics, hysterical online posters, and the ticket-buying public with a single reel.

Hey, you're talking about me!

Going in to the film, I was a bit concerned that it would come off as pretentious and overblown.  But this is one of those rare movies that manages to be both deeply meaningful and entertaining at the same time.

It's also served as the springboard for some of the most interesting online conversations I've had in quite a while.

And Ken Watanabe, who is perfect in face and body as Saito, a debonair and slightly shady businessman, is at times unintelligible through his accent.

There were only two times I really couldn't understand Watanabe because of his accent.  But then I paid especially close attention to him at all times. :)  However, I do agree he's perfect in face and body as Saito.  The acting that man is able to do with his eyes alone is amazing.

Winston Chou wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Yeah, I didn't mean to impugn

Yeah, I didn't mean to impugn his acting ability at all. Watanabe and Leo were both great; a couple of their scenes in the dreamscape were Zoolander-walkoff-esque in how they kept ratcheting up their performance.

Neil wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

I would like a gift pack

I would like a gift pack please.

brownstocking wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

inception

I am really happy to see nuanced characters, especially compared to the A:TLAfail that started off our 'megamovie' summer. Saito and Youssef have depth that we miss in most blockbusters. I could quibble about no women of color, but...baby steps, right?

Winston Chou wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

In one sense, it's a shame

In one sense, it's a shame that the failure of TLA will likely torpedo the career of Shyamalan, probably the most famous AsAm in the business, as an unencumbered writer/director. But I was so happy when that movie got panned.

Evans Malaya wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

I need this!

I love you so much for this

Jeff Abalos wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

I want an Inception Gift Pack!!!

Inception was awesome. i wanna watch it again.

Eric wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Well-made, entertaining film

My wife and I rarely go out to the movies since our daughter was born, but we made the effort to go see "Inception". We love Christopher Nolan movies, and "Inception" might be his best work. It had an interesting and well thoughtout plot, and great pacing.  It was also nice to see a fairly diverse cast, especially Asian actors Ken Watanabe and Dlieep Rao.

Winston Chou wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

I agree. Glad you made the

I agree. Glad you made the effort to see a film that delivered on its hype, and not some other junk like The Last Airbender.

James Park wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Hurray for Inception!

Thank you for this opportunity!

Madeline wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

Awesome! :) imad...@yahoo.com

Awesome! :) imad...@yahoo.com

Kelly Kim wrote 1 year 26 weeks ago

INCEPTION!

This movie exceeded my expectation!

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