We saw the film Inception on Saturday, July 24, 2010 at the Brenden movie theatre at the Palms hotel and casino in Las Vegas, NV. We had driven to Vegas the day before and attended a Keane concert at the House of Blues Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Hotel, eaten at several restaurants, and we would see another movie at a different theatre the next day (see future reviews). Before going to Vegas I looked up what theatres were near our parents' condo where we would stay. All theatres were showing Inception at many different times. It had come out the previous weekend. We decided to go to the Brenden theatre because we didn't have that brand of theatre in the L.A. area and I had also never been to the Palms. It was built in 2001 and owned by the Maloof brothers who also own the Sacramento Kings NBA basketball team. It's not on Las Vegas Boulevard (a.k.a. "The Strip"), but further west on Flamingo. After having a big brunch at Hash House a Go Go (see later review), we drove to the Palms and parked in the west parking garage.
We arrived at the Palms well before the next showing of Inception at 4:30 PM. We had just missed the prior showing. They were also showing it in 3D Imax format for around $15 per ticket. But we just wanted to see the matinee showing in the regular format for $7.75 per ticket. Matinee tickets were available for showings before 6 PM. In our spare time we walked around the Palms a bit. They have a very good New Mexican restaurant called Gardunos where my wife had eaten when she visited the Palms for the first time many years before. Their menu listed fajitas (chicken, steak, and shrimp), a chicken stir-fry that sounded good, and sopaipillas. We thought about eating there the next day, but ultimately didn't because we went to a different theatre. Near the Brenden Theatres at Palms there's a food court that has a counter for Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, the company that puts on the famous hot dog eating contest on Coney Island, NYC on the Fourth of July. At the food court Nathan's they served their famous hot dogs for $3.95 along with several other items including hot dog nuggets.
The Brenden Theatres are at the west end of the casino to the right after entering the main entrance and just passed the food court. Above and across from the indoor ticket counter is a large neon sign that shines "Brenden" in red letters and "Theatres" in blue. The ceiling above is an oval-shaped model of a night sky with many twinkling stars. We bought our tickets and entered the theatres proper. Just inside on the floor in front of the concession stand is the Brenden Theatres version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, only cleaner since it's indoors. It had stars for Michael Jackson, Dennis Hopper, Nicholas Cage, Shaquille O'Neal, Hugh Hefner, Toni Braxton, Joseph Jackson and Family, and the Maloof Brothers. Usually there was a special message to or about the recipient below the star from Jeremy Brenden. We followed the hall to the right of the concession stand and found theatre #9 showing Inception. The number for each theatre was in large red font on a shiny silver disco ball.
We were glad to find that theatre # 9 had stadium seating as I believe they all did. The seats were red with high backs and armrests with cup holders. It wasn't very crowded initially but did mostly fill up by the time the film started. The screen showed still ads for the Palms, local business such as Pole Position go carts and a gun range that gave patrons the opportunity to fire automatic weapons. There were also ads for Brenden theatres in other locations such as Vacaville, CA and Modesto, CA. At 4:30 PM the recurring still ads ended and the show began with an animated ad for Brenden theatres. Next came the previews: The Town starring Ben Affleck, The American starring George Clooney, the Paul Rudd/Steve Carell comedy Dinner for Schmucks that my wife learned from our brother-in-law was a remake of a French film, Wall Street: Money Never Dies, Tron Legacy that comes out in December, and finally, the road comedy Due Date with Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. The Tron sequel looked the most interesting because of its "throwback" status.
Next came the feature presentation. Earlier we had learned that it was directed by Christopher Nolan who had previously directed Momento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight. He also wrote Inception and my wife read that he had originally come up with the idea when he was a teenager. I had seen the DVD's of Momento and Insomnia and enjoyed them. I had also seen parts of the two Batman films. Inception stars Leonard DiCaprio and the main cast includes several other established stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Tom Berenger, Cillian Murphy, and Michael Caine. The poster also listed Tom Hardy though I hadn't heard of him. The posters also seemed to give some of the main characters their own titles: the Extractor, the Point Man, the Forger, the Architect, the Tourist, etc. We had seen the previews available on mobile phones as an ad before seeing the movie Toy Story on June 28. It looked surreal.
The film does involve some outside reality concepts that are interesting. Most are explained, though not right away. Not everything is explained, but just enough for the viewer to follow. The film is fairly action-packed from the beginning and doesn't let up much. That's a good thing because it's a fairly long movie at two and a half hours. The fast pace makes it seem a bit shorter. However I also found all the action to be a bit exhausting by the end. All these things happening so quickly and all at once nearly gave me a headache. By then I did get bit lost and had to think about it later to figure it all out. There's a bit of humor, but mostly, everyone is serious.
The actors did well in their roles. DiCaprio brought his usual charming intensity. I wonder if he could ever just play a laid back goofball. Well, not this time, it's another charismatic leading man. But the others still held their own opposite him especially Tom Hardy and Ellen Page. The characters' relationships to each other were complex and it was hard to tell whether they were friends or just forced to work together. Cillian Murphy seemed like a completely different person from the scheming villain in Batman Begins. Pete Postlethwaite had a cameo.
Overall, I couldn't get into the film completely. Some concepts seemed just a little bit far-fetched and difficult to take seriously. Despite the A-list cast and acting, the primary focus was DiCaprio's character, Dominic Cobb. I was never sure about the motivations of the others on his team. Some things we could relate to included a scene that looked like it was filled in Downtown L.A., possibly on Hope Street or Wilshire Blvd. It hadd Famima!! in the shot. The characters also refer to a type of limbo. A while back, my wife and her sister obtained an autograph from Joseph Gordon-Levitt. They've also seen Johnny Marr live and he helped compose the music for Inception. Finally, the film was fairly free of computers, e-mail, smart phones, texting, social networks, and other popular technologies, just like our Vegas vacation.
After the movie ended we couldn't help joking about it and relating it to our own lives. I'm glad we didn't spend the $15 for the 3D Imax.
We arrived at the Palms well before the next showing of Inception at 4:30 PM. We had just missed the prior showing. They were also showing it in 3D Imax format for around $15 per ticket. But we just wanted to see the matinee showing in the regular format for $7.75 per ticket. Matinee tickets were available for showings before 6 PM. In our spare time we walked around the Palms a bit. They have a very good New Mexican restaurant called Gardunos where my wife had eaten when she visited the Palms for the first time many years before. Their menu listed fajitas (chicken, steak, and shrimp), a chicken stir-fry that sounded good, and sopaipillas. We thought about eating there the next day, but ultimately didn't because we went to a different theatre. Near the Brenden Theatres at Palms there's a food court that has a counter for Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, the company that puts on the famous hot dog eating contest on Coney Island, NYC on the Fourth of July. At the food court Nathan's they served their famous hot dogs for $3.95 along with several other items including hot dog nuggets.
The Brenden Theatres are at the west end of the casino to the right after entering the main entrance and just passed the food court. Above and across from the indoor ticket counter is a large neon sign that shines "Brenden" in red letters and "Theatres" in blue. The ceiling above is an oval-shaped model of a night sky with many twinkling stars. We bought our tickets and entered the theatres proper. Just inside on the floor in front of the concession stand is the Brenden Theatres version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, only cleaner since it's indoors. It had stars for Michael Jackson, Dennis Hopper, Nicholas Cage, Shaquille O'Neal, Hugh Hefner, Toni Braxton, Joseph Jackson and Family, and the Maloof Brothers. Usually there was a special message to or about the recipient below the star from Jeremy Brenden. We followed the hall to the right of the concession stand and found theatre #9 showing Inception. The number for each theatre was in large red font on a shiny silver disco ball.
We were glad to find that theatre # 9 had stadium seating as I believe they all did. The seats were red with high backs and armrests with cup holders. It wasn't very crowded initially but did mostly fill up by the time the film started. The screen showed still ads for the Palms, local business such as Pole Position go carts and a gun range that gave patrons the opportunity to fire automatic weapons. There were also ads for Brenden theatres in other locations such as Vacaville, CA and Modesto, CA. At 4:30 PM the recurring still ads ended and the show began with an animated ad for Brenden theatres. Next came the previews: The Town starring Ben Affleck, The American starring George Clooney, the Paul Rudd/Steve Carell comedy Dinner for Schmucks that my wife learned from our brother-in-law was a remake of a French film, Wall Street: Money Never Dies, Tron Legacy that comes out in December, and finally, the road comedy Due Date with Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. The Tron sequel looked the most interesting because of its "throwback" status.
Next came the feature presentation. Earlier we had learned that it was directed by Christopher Nolan who had previously directed Momento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight. He also wrote Inception and my wife read that he had originally come up with the idea when he was a teenager. I had seen the DVD's of Momento and Insomnia and enjoyed them. I had also seen parts of the two Batman films. Inception stars Leonard DiCaprio and the main cast includes several other established stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanabe, Marion Cotillard, Tom Berenger, Cillian Murphy, and Michael Caine. The poster also listed Tom Hardy though I hadn't heard of him. The posters also seemed to give some of the main characters their own titles: the Extractor, the Point Man, the Forger, the Architect, the Tourist, etc. We had seen the previews available on mobile phones as an ad before seeing the movie Toy Story on June 28. It looked surreal.
The film does involve some outside reality concepts that are interesting. Most are explained, though not right away. Not everything is explained, but just enough for the viewer to follow. The film is fairly action-packed from the beginning and doesn't let up much. That's a good thing because it's a fairly long movie at two and a half hours. The fast pace makes it seem a bit shorter. However I also found all the action to be a bit exhausting by the end. All these things happening so quickly and all at once nearly gave me a headache. By then I did get bit lost and had to think about it later to figure it all out. There's a bit of humor, but mostly, everyone is serious.
The actors did well in their roles. DiCaprio brought his usual charming intensity. I wonder if he could ever just play a laid back goofball. Well, not this time, it's another charismatic leading man. But the others still held their own opposite him especially Tom Hardy and Ellen Page. The characters' relationships to each other were complex and it was hard to tell whether they were friends or just forced to work together. Cillian Murphy seemed like a completely different person from the scheming villain in Batman Begins. Pete Postlethwaite had a cameo.
Overall, I couldn't get into the film completely. Some concepts seemed just a little bit far-fetched and difficult to take seriously. Despite the A-list cast and acting, the primary focus was DiCaprio's character, Dominic Cobb. I was never sure about the motivations of the others on his team. Some things we could relate to included a scene that looked like it was filled in Downtown L.A., possibly on Hope Street or Wilshire Blvd. It hadd Famima!! in the shot. The characters also refer to a type of limbo. A while back, my wife and her sister obtained an autograph from Joseph Gordon-Levitt. They've also seen Johnny Marr live and he helped compose the music for Inception. Finally, the film was fairly free of computers, e-mail, smart phones, texting, social networks, and other popular technologies, just like our Vegas vacation.
After the movie ended we couldn't help joking about it and relating it to our own lives. I'm glad we didn't spend the $15 for the 3D Imax.
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