Inception - The movie, explained through C code
thechangelog.com
thechangelog.com
To each his own, didn't do it for me though.
The runtime of that movie is 148 minutes-almost two and a half hours. Yet it doesn't feel that long. It also manages to have three different groups of characters doing separate things, without confusing the audience. The last move I can recall trying to do that level of simultaneity was The Phantom Menace, which failed horribly at that task. Therefore, I find Inception to be a very interesting movie intellectually, because I think it's fun to think about the techniques that Nolan uses to make a 2.5 hour, multithreaded movie so entertaining.
Your example of The Phantom Menace is interesting because I think the simultaneity was actually one thing that was done well in that shambles of a movie. IMO it was the poor characters and direction-less plot that failed that climax, not the editing of the different scenes.
Agree. It felt almost like padding material, like someone said "we have this gap in the plot, ah let's just fill it with some james bond action".
The bridge looked to be about 100 feet up when the van started falling. It takes 2.5 seconds to fall 100 feet. So Arthur, who was one "level" down, would have had 2.5x20 seconds to figure out what's going on... come up with a plan... go back to the floor below to retrieve the charges... get back to the floor where the team is... get them wrapped up and moved to the elevator... set the charges... and finally detonate them. That took _way_ longer than 50 seconds.
Sadly, I actually did a little more research after the movie and found my estimate was even a little generous. The bridge the van was falling off was the Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Bridge in LA. Combining the published stats on the bridge with a clip from the movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_4qc-JYZPo#t=17s) makes it look like the van only had ~80 feet to fall...
About halfway through, he started making these little dismissive groans and mumbling "no way" under his breath. They gained volume as the plot progressed until finally he couldn't take it anymore:
"No way. There's just no way they could fit that many people into a phone booth."
Great popcorn movie.
Apologies for the rant; I've just seen your sentiment shared here and on other similar forums, delivered in such condescending ways so as to somehow invalidate whatever entertainment any 'lay' person might've gained.
My view is probably distorted by the fact that I consume more anime than Western media - the Japanese seem to have a perverse love for making things that just don't make any sense whatsoever.
Basically it plays a little bit of music and sound effects, and also processes external sounds and plays them backwards and stuff like that (it would pick up on you talking in your sleep). It also uses the movement and light sensors to go through different phases. There are different 'dreams' (basically sound generation algorithms) that you unlock somehow by using the app. One thing that bugs me though is, people always told me not to sleep with headphones on in case you strangle yourself, and for this app that's pretty much required.
When they said Nolan was keen on making a groundbreaking game, I really wasn't expecting this.
I couldn't find any relevant cases of headphone strangulations so I think you're good.
All I found was a case where a woman tried to strangle her sleeping boyfriend with his headphone cord...
However, I don't think you can strangle yourself with headphones while you sleep. I imagine the force needed to do it is stronger than what you'll face from tossing & turning. I wasn't able to find any info on this anywhere either though, so don't quote me on that - but it strikes me as unlikely, at least in my own experience.