Inception and Toy Story 3 – dreams and nightmares collide

Dreams and nightmares are confronted in Inception and Toy Story 3 – and I was blown away by both.

INCEPTION

[Links might contain spoilers.]

What is a dream? What is reality? Does it matter? Not for a long time have I found a film and its ideas to be so worthy of the immense IMAX screen. Inception is a truly awesome film.

Christopher Nolan, of The Dark Knight fame, has produced an impressively intellectual blockbuster, in which Leonardo DiCaprio leads an ensemble cast as Cobb, an extractor who steals information for corporate clients from within people’s dreams. After a failed job, he is given the chance to redeem himself by carrying out inception – instead of stealing information, he must plant an idea in the dreamer’s mind.

What follows is a masterfully layered film which has set blogs alight with analysis of the tiniest details. Is Inception an allegory for the filmmaking process itself? Does it reflect Jungian dream theory? Is there a hidden meaning to the haunting theme music?

At its core though, this is a stylish thriller of epic proportions with a last beautiful, maddening shot which will thrill you long after the credits roll. I can’t wait to watch it again. Go see it.

TOY STORY 3

I laughed, I cried, I loved it – Toy Story 3 exceeded all my expectations. For possibly the first time, I left the cinema feeling rewarded for my loyalty to a movie trilogy.

It is 15 years since spaceranger Buzz Lightyear crash-landed in Andy’s room, and 11 years since cowboy Woody was stolen by a greedy toy collector. Now Andy is all grown up and off to university. But what will happen to his beloved toys?

Pixar stays admirably true to Toy Story’s origins, offering us a film brimming with love for its characters and audience. Children will adore the energetic characters and their tumultuous adventures. But as an adult, the film evokes memories of the toys, dreams and people left behind in the rush to grow up and face the adventures the real world holds.

In Toy Story 3, we get an entertaining, powerful and satisfying send off for the toys, for Andy and for ourselves. And finally Barbie kicks some serious ass. Completely unmissable.