Inception

I have no idea how he does it, but (almost) every Christopher Nolan has made have had the same effect on me, when the credits roll: a chill (of pleasure) down the spine, a huge smile on my face & my mind ebullient by the spectacle I was given to watch...

Inception is no exception.

It's one of those movies that I find myself embarrassed to talk about, because I can't help to have a sort of maniacal smile on my face, need to speak loud with big hand gestures, because I find it so good I can only be passionate about it.

What's also amazing about his films is that he hasn't yet repeated himself. There's something in common. An elegance in the direction, a definite love of mind games, some fairly twisted (yet likeable) characters, but it always takes place in a different context. A film noir, a super hero movie, a magic trick...
In this occasion it's a heist movie. Ocean's 11, only by Nolan.

It's less of a puzzle than, say, Memento, as you know pretty much from the beginning where you stand. No magic powder thrown in your eyes either.
But don't get me wrong, it's no less groundbreaking. It feels almost wrong to reduce this as an action movie, because it takes such a fresh and cerebral approach to it.

Visually, it's stunning with visions that are from dreams yet grounded in reality (I guess in the same way that the Batman movies were realistic in a way).
And this being an action movie, there are some crazy set pieces, that 1) made me wonder how they did that and 2) were simply mind blowing. In some aspects, it beats Matrix to its own game (although they actually don't really play in the same park).

DiCaprio yet again confirms what a fine actor he is, with a performance that just might be his most relaxed to date (in the films I've seen of him at least, to illustrate, he's got very intense performances in The Departed or Shutter Island). But the rest of the cast is also to credit. I know I always tend to say that but just have a look at the cast: Helen Page, Joseph Gordon-Lewitt (if you haven't seen Brick, go see it), Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy... So much talent in just a few names...

And as for the concepts developped, just don't get me started. Shall I say that, as usual, the film isn't really throwing a "message" at the audience, yet the ideas raise so many questions, just choose how metaphysical you want to get...

I can't think of any way I could see something better this year...
Strange how I remembered thinking that when walking out of The Dark Knight...

Update: after mulling over it during the night, it might be more of a puzzle than 1st thought... :)