Blank Check with Griffin & David - Inception

Episode Date: August 6, 2017

Griffin and David present a very special episode on 2010’s dream heist, Inception.

You remind me of someone, a man I remembered in a half-forgotten podcast. A man possessed of some radical notion. what to say or to expect. All you need to know is that the name of the show is Blackjack. What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? Intestinal worm?

No. A podcast. Resilient. Highly contagious. Once a podcast has taken hold of the brain, it's almost impossible to eradicate. A podcast that is fully formed, fully understood, that sticks right in there

somewhere. Hi, everybody. I'm Griffin Newman. I'm David Sims. Welcome to Blank Check with Griffin and David. Yeah, welcome. Hi, that was great. That was great. I was thrilled with that. Thank you. This is a podcast about filmographies of directors who experienced massive success early on in

their careers and were given a series of blank checks to make whatever they wanted. Whatever they dream. Oh, don't. Boom. All right. All right. Here I am. I'm into it.

I'm into it. This is. What are you doing? Producer Ben, a.k.a. the Ben Ducer, a.k.a. the Poet Laureate, a.k.a. Purdue Urban, a.k.a. Mr. Hasev, a.k.a. Mr. Positive,

a.k.a. the Fuckmaster, a.k.a. the Tiebreaker, a.k.a. not Professor Crispy. Never, no. He is the meat lover. Did I say that one already? No, no. He's the peeper.

He's our finest film critic. He's not a temperature queen. He's not finest film critic. He's not a temperature queen. He's not a temperature queen. He's Dirt Bike Benny. That's true. He's Soaking Wet Benny. Yeah. He's graduated to certain titles over the course of different miniseries.

Please. Such as Producer Ben Kenobi, Kylo, Ben. Yeah. Ben Night Shyamalan. Ben, say it's been a while. It's been a while. It's been a while. Oh.

Ben Night Shyamalan. Did I say what I wanted to say? Say Benny thing Ailey Benz with a dollar sign And Warhawks There you go He's playing fast and loose With the soundboard today

Oh my god Well I'm getting ready For these Brahms baby We got some Brahms I suppose this is an Exposition heavy film So It's an exposition heavy episode

Right And we got a lot of Brahms We gotta drop today Yeah This is a mini series On the films of Christopher Nolan It's called the Pod Night Cast Of course it is And we got a lot of problems we gotta drop today. This is a main series on the films of Christopher Nolan. It's called The Pod Knight Cast. Of course it is.

And we've gotten to the film that kind of makes him different from other blank check filmmakers we've covered. Go on. Because he got hit. Go on. You could argue that Dark Knight is the film that allowed him to be issued the blank check that he

used to make Inception. Right. For sure. That's the catalyst movie that gives him the blank check. This is nominally his blank check movie. His cash-in. Yeah, exactly. That's what I mean.

Right, yeah, his cash-in. And usually people's cash-ins. They're the ones that are maybe a failure or, you know. Because sometimes those checks clear. Sometimes they clear. Sometimes they bounce, baby. Right? Yeah. you know, sometimes they check clearance. Sometimes they bounce baby. Right. Yeah. And even when they clear,

usually it's like you get a double or triple. You're safe. Yeah, exactly. You, you, you, uh,

satisfied your artistic. You did one for me and then you'll go back and do one for them again. Maybe. Right. Like that's, that's the ideal model. But this is a movie that would have given someone a blank check. That's the thing.

The success of this movie has given him a blank check. So he gets a check on a check. You know how much he was paid for Dunkirk? How much? $20 million plus 20%. Amazing. For the movie that he should be talking them into. You know, like, I really want to make this.

Please let me. Well, let's talk about this. Your brother, Joey Sims, went to a screening of Dunk sure dunkirk and a q a yeah uh christopher nolan directly disputed the notion that blank check films are a thing he did that's true we haven't recorded in like a month so i there's a lot of right like nolan since we've last recorded i saw dunkirk dunkirk came out dunkirk was a huge success sure it's doing well. Joey Sims heard Nolan. Did you tell you the Brom thing? No.

What's the problem? He was just joyous. Like he talked. He's very quiet. You know, he's not commanding, you know, voice or anything. Sure. Sure. So Joey was like, everyone was clearly it's an old crowd at Lincoln Center nodding off

during this Q&A because it's just very mumbly. And then do ASMR videos. Hely. He should do ASMR videos. Yeah, he should. He should do ASMR videos. Hello, I'm Bruce Van Nolen. Today I'm going to do some of my favorite teas. That's basically what he sounds like, I think. This is a twinning.

And then for some reason he did the Inception noise. He went, and everyone was like, because it was suddenly very loud. That's very funny. But yes, I think he disputed the blank check notion. He was basically like, no one ever gets a blank check. It's always a series of negotiations. There's always concessions, which of course, if someone's giving you that much money, it's always,

and just the fact that it's collaborative. Splitting hairs over here. No one else would have been allowed to make Dunkirk and certainly the way he did and be rewarded that way. Anyone else, they'd go like, okay, you can make Dunkirk but guess what? You're making fucking $2,000 for this. Yeah, right.

Exactly. You want to make your passion project? You can make it for scale. Right. I mean, when your passion project costs $100 million. Right. But he's a guy who's got a check on a check on a check. Because he made Inception knowing- Check within a check?

After this, he's got a check within a check. Would you say that he's possessed of some radical notions? Oh, yes. About blank checks? Most certainly. He reminds me of a man I met long ago. Was that you doing your Brahms? Oh, guys. We have not been together for a long while.

It's been a while. It's been painful. It has been a while. Love you, Benny. You're the best. I can touch him, so he's the one who gets my affection. Griffin's across the table. Yeah, I'm good.

Connoisseurs of Context. Come on, we're connoisseurs. What the hell is happening? I'm good. Connoisseurs of Context. Connoisseurs of Context. Connoisseurs of Context. What the hell is happening? I don't know. I'm really... You know, I've said before on this podcast that no one should ever make a TV show, and I stand by that. I think

the tick is excellent. I'm very proud of it. I think people are going to love it when it comes out August 25th. I'm very excited. Exclusively on Prime Video. And I'm not watching the screeners. I want to watch with the masses on my 50-inch Amazon TV that I just bought. That keeps telling me about you. My face keeps on coming out, right? It does.

It's weird. Like when I turn it on. Yeah. Because that's the creepy thing about these smart TVs. It's like, here's an ad for you. Six tight half-hour episodes coming out August 25th. It's a really weird show. Sure.

I just like, I keep on looking at like how much they're promoting and the promotion is only going to get crazier, but like putting us on all these. You're on the Facebook. Right. And the JetBlue flights and built into the TV and all that sort of stuff. And I'm like, this show is really weird. Yeah. I mean, they're, you know, they're these 30 second ads you can't really tell it's just superheroes but i mean it seems a little weird yeah it's weird okay it's weird it's weird i think

it's really good i just like i wonder if everyone else shares my taste right well it's gonna post in a at the end of the month where this is posting the beginning of the month uh and as i said you know no one should ever make a tv show very proud very proud they forced me to do it but no one should ever do it no i, I wish you hadn't. I'd rather you were really in just like destitute right now. Right, and ready to record episodes. Exactly. Just, David, let me do more blank checks.

You know what I've realized even more than making a TV show no one should ever do? Promote a TV show. Too much work. That's the real problem. Too demanding. I'm exhausted. My brain is fried. But you're almost done.

I'm almost done. And we're here today. We're here today to talk about the movie called Inception. Inception. Inception. Yes. 2010 romantic comedy. What's the genre of this film again?

I'd say it's like a romantic dramedy. I would say it is. Because it does have some dramatic elements. I know we mostly think about it's cutting humor. Right. Because there's a whole scene that's an extra long pee gag. Yes. Let's be honest.

This is a whole not scene, like a whole. A set piece. Right, a whole chunk of the movie is a pee gag. This might be the most expensive pee joke in the history of cinema. It's a hell of a pee joke. There's also the parody of that Jamiroquai video. Very fun. Very true.

Yeah, so basically it goes like this. Christopher Nolan 1996 5 whenever he's he's sitting there watching the box an early British

cable channel where you could call in and watch your favorite music videos by pressing a three digit number what kind of what kind of

and he he calls in and he's like virtual insanity please he's wearing the fuzzy hat he's watching

he's wearing it at home and he's watching JK virtual insanity, please. He's wearing the fuzzy hat. He's wearing it at home. And he's watching JK of Jimmy Raquai navigate a world of furniture shifting around. What else happens in that video? There's like a bird at some point. Who directed that birdie video? Christopher Nolan. I feel like it was someone like Jonathan Glazer. It was like one of those big shots

Or romantic Yeah sure he's one of them I mean you're joking David That was a funny joke and five comedy points Jonathan Glazer I was right One shot That's impressive We all know

That this movie of course is based on One of the Carl Banks' Scrooge McDuck comic books. I love those comic books. You know there is a Scrooge McDuck comic book that's about the Bugle Boys trying to steal Scrooge's dreams. They sneak into his dreams when he's sleeping. That's cool. Yeah, it's cool.

They changed the characters a little bit for this. No, but he makes The Dark Knight. I'm sorry, The Duck Knight. And the movie's very successful. Quite successful. Right? I mean, there's a thing. You know, box office fanatics like you and I, there was a long stretch there where it kind of looked

like, I guess maybe nothing's ever gonna top Titanic. Sure. But not only that, nothing ever came close. Right. Like, Titanic was sitting pretty at 600 mil. Yeah. And nothing had even crested 500. Right, right. And then you have the Dark Knight in 08. And then after that, the next one's the Avengers,

right? Correct. Yeah, yeah, to beat 500 mil. Right, but for a while, nothing was in 500. You had some 400 grocers, and those were big, but Titanic was miles ahead. And then after that, the next one's the Avengers, right? Correct. Yeah, to beat 500 mil. Right, but for a while, nothing was in 500. You had some 400 grocers, and those were big, but Titanic was miles ahead. And Dark Knight, there was this real kind of like Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire thing of like, are they gonna do it? Are they gonna do it week by week? Everyone's looking at the holds going like, everyone. Everyone like

us. All broken people were looking at the holds going like, are they gonna make it? And it taps out at 534. But it's still a huge, huge, huge fucking total. It's the second biggest movie in history. Yeah, until Avatar the next year. Right. And they know that he's going to make a third Batman movie.

Who knows? Warner Brothers. Do you think they knew that? I think Nolan was reticent. Yeah, he didn't want to do it. But I think they were like, come on, dude. Well, look, forgetting that. Forgetting Star Trek. Marshall. Yeah, he didn't want to do it. But I think they were like, come on, dude. Well, look, forgetting that. Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Yeah, exactly. What the fuck was that? That was weird. Yeah. I mean, it'd be cool if Inception was about them trying to get Jason Segel to forget Sarah Marshall. Yeah, because that guy really has to get over it. He really needs to get over it. That was not a healthy relationship. I mean, I understand, look,

I'm a heartbroken dude, but that relationship was not healthy to begin with. But we did get him to the Greek out of it. Yes. Which is great. And we did successfully get him to the Greek. We got him to the Greek. Did they get him to the Greek? They got him to the Greek.

Oh, you didn't know? Spoiler. I've seen it. All right. He's got the Dark Knight. It's doing great. Sure. It's got The Dark Knight. It's doing great. Sure. Cracker Jack business.

It's doing Cracker Jack. He wrote an 80-page treatment about dream stealers. But he had done this earlier, right? A long time ago. He said he was influenced by movies like The Matrix, Dark City, the 13th floor these sorts of uh 90s uh city sci-fi movies i don't know how do you describe sure sure he wrote it as a horror movie okay and then he was like i think i want to do it as a heist film yeah because i think he probably mostly just because he likes heist films and more than he likes horror films but I don't know he said

he was into that I don't know and he pitched it in 2001 I'm just sorry I'm just getting this info for you we're conscious of context when he goes in to sort of start on an insomnia he's made memento and he's there like what do you got and he realized Inception

would need a very big budget so he's like forgeto and he's there like, what do you got? And he realized Inception would need a very big budget. So he's like, forget it. And he makes Batman and he makes the Prestige and he makes the Dark Knight. Yeah, Batman began and, you know, continued. Yeah, he knighted. Yeah. And then after making the Dark Knight, he spent six months really like writing the script for Inception that is the movie. Like, you know, he has a blank check.

So he's like, great. And now I can do my dream thieves movie. And then he gets Leo DiCaprio to be in it. Right. He gets quite a cast. But that's the big thing is like he knew, I mean, apparently his only other choice was Will Smith. I think he knew he needed a guy of that stature.

Makes sense. Right. And Leo is such an obvious Chris Nolan lead. He just has. He looks like Christopher Nolan. In a weird sort of way. We talk about the death of the movie star a lot, right? And Leo is this one guy who's been so particular and strategic about what he signs on to do.

Yes. That even if all the movies aren't great, he still has that kind of event film power by him choosing to be something. And I would say just more and more. So, I mean, here's Leo. Because Will Smith used to have that and he lost it. You're not excited for Bright?

Bright. Looks twisted. It looks twisted. Brown. Twisted. He had made The Aviator, you know, just in recent, I'm saying like when he's. Well, he's getting Scorchese. Yeah, he's getting very Scorchese.

He makes, right, Gangs of New York, 02, nothing. Aviator, 04, nothing. Departed, 06. So three Scorsese movies in a row. And then he has Blood Diamond in 06 as well. And those movies successively, each one is more successful than the last. They're all doing great. He gets an Oscar nomination for Blood Diamond in 06 as well. And those movies successively, each one is more successful than the last. They're all doing great. He gets an Oscar nomination for Blood Diamond that he richly deserved.

Just kidding. He was fine. He made Body of Lies in 08 with Ridley Scott, which went nowhere. That's a whiff. It's a whiff. He made Revolutionary Road in 08 with Sam Mendes that was supposed to be a big Oscar play. Kind of goes nowhere too. Another whiff.

Horrible movie. There's definitely a dip there. I forgot about that dip. Yeah. But two logical decisions, by all means. Big directors, big stars. 2010, he was duly appointed

a federal marshal. He was. He was. For Shutter Island, another huge hit. But then that was pushed back to 11, was it not? No, no, it was,

well, it came out in 010. It came out in 10. It was supposed to be for 9. It came out in 10. Oh, okay, okay. So, Sugar Island came out before Inception? Yeah. I always got the order wrong. Because it came out February? Right. Yeah, but essentially, yes. He does have two movies come out the same year where he's

like a man tortured by a dead wife who's a ghost. Losing his mind. Is losing his mind and like what is real and what is not is sort of like the central drama I remember that they came out within six months of each other but I thought it was

the opposite order I know because they made Shutter Island right for it was supposed to be an Oscar player for 09

right and it got pushed back it got pushed back for whatever reason it came out in February big hit yeah big hit and

Inception humongous hit well yeah his second biggest film ever yeah and then he made J. Edgar and he showed them all then he made J. Edgar and he, he, he showed them all.

Then he made Django. Right. Big. Uh, great Gatsby. Huge hit. Yeah. Weirdly,

very successful. And we never talk about that. Wolf of Wall Street. Huge hit. Huge hit. Uh, then the Revenant. Huge hit.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he's kicking ass. And since the Revenant, he's done nothing. Right. He's on,

he's, he's like trying to convince Donald Trump not to destroy the world, I guess. Yeah. He has like a lot of meetings with Ivanka. Isn't there some new Scorsese movie that's being talked about? Well, right. He'd do after Irishman. Yes.

There's a multiple. Because they've been talking about Devil in the White City for a long time that he'd be in. And now there's a new thing they're talking about that he might be in. Which I'm forgetting what that is. But right now Scorsese's making The Irishman. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway. So in 09, February 09,

Warner Brothers purchases Inception, a spec script. And I think for them, this... And announces it, big deal. I remember it being announced. Right. And this always felt to me like an insurance policy. Like, if we bankroll this huge, crazy movie... Surely he'll make us another Batman.

He has to do with her Batman. Because I think everyone could sense already he was a little on the edge about the Batman. I think he required a lot of talking into it. But yeah, maybe Inception was part of the pitch. Kind of felt like a one for them, one for us sort of deal. The film shot in Tokyo.

It's shot in the United Kingdom where they did all the sets. All the hamster wheel sets, all the weird rotating, you know, all the crazy shit. Yeah. And a lot of all the crazy shit. Yeah. And a lot of the, like, university stuff. Yeah.

It's shot in France. Yeah. Paris. It's shot in Morocco for Mombasa. That's like a lot of this movie's budget. And then it's shot in L.A. Yeah. And then it's shot in Alberta, Canada for the snowy stuff.

Yeah. So all over the place. That's very expensive to do, especially if you're retaining the same crew and traveling them everywhere and you're not using second unit. And not using second unit. And shooting on IMAX. Shooting on IMAX with a massive cast of big stars who all, you know, have accommodations. Please do accommodate me. Yeah, he casts Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is a new guy for him too.

He hasn't been in any Nolan movies yet. No. But he's sort of hot, right? He's like, people like, had 500 Days of Summer come out last? The summer before, right? Was that 2009? Yeah, people are into him. It was, yeah.

He casts Ellen Page, recent Oscar nominee. right was that 2009 yeah people are into him it was yeah uh he cast ellen page recent oscar nominee a cuckoo coutillard who had beaten her that year for the oscar yeah cuckoo coutillard that's right right uh hardy obviously coming off a bronson coming off a bronson who right also had not yet been now now these guys are like yes uh yeah because Cotillard also hadn't. But they all become like the Nolan players. Cotillard's done Public Enemies. No, but it hadn't been in a Nolan movie. Oh, yes, correct. He's establishing a lot of new company players in this.

He brings back Watanabe from Batman Begins, gives him a real role this time. Yes. I believe he's second build. Well, we'll get to the building game later. So excited. Cillian Murphy, his old pal. His old buddy.

He revives Tom Barringer this time rather than Eric Roberts or Rucker Hauer. If I revived it, it literally looks like they shook Tom Barringer out of bed at four o'clock in the morning and said, can you shoot a couple scenes? Look, all right. So with Rucker, I was thinking about this.

With Rucker Hauer, obviously Nolan admires Blade Runner. Yes. Right? That has to be part of the reason he wants him. And like, maybe Matthew Modine,

maybe it's like Full Metal Jacket. Eric Roberts, it's got to be Runaway Train. Like, what the hell? I don't know. Star 80. But do you think he's like a Platoon fan?

Like, what's, that's the Berenger role, apart from Major League. A weird one I think he's excellent in this movie I agree with that But it's also weird that like

Of all the Nolan one thing that he does is he has These big credit blocks on his posters He gets these big casts And he has like 10 people above the title And of all his like reclamation projects Berenger is the only one To 10 people above the title. And of all his like reclamation projects, Barringer is the only one to end up above the title.

He does put him above the title. It does feel like leading up to this movie, it was a big push of like, oh, is he going to pull like a Robert Forrester on Barringer? And then Barringer is just kind of in this movie. I think he's good. I think he's solid. But it's like his part is kind of more functional than anything else.

I'd say your part is more functional. I would agree with that. Yeah. I just schooled you. You did. Took you to school. Five school points. Exactly. And then he gets Kane for a little roll.

Just a little touch of the cane. Yeah, a little boop. A little boop of Kane. Beep, beep. Pete Postlethwaite, I think his last roll. No, he did something after this, but Postlethwaite was over pretty much at this point. He was over? You're right.

He did the town after this. We've been Postal Threating for a long time. We have. And then finally, I just want to acknowledge this. He's talking to Leo probably one day, and they're probably just talking about pussy. Right? They're just getting some drinks, talking pussy. And he's like, let's get one of the posse in here.

Lucas Haas. talking pussy and he's like let's get one of the posse in here lucas haas leo's like who's not doing anything right now and his phone without him touching it calls lucas haas can we talk about the pussy posse for a second for a brief second you're the one who opened this i just love that lucas haas is in this i do too okay It had to be a favorite right Or like that connection Peak Titanic peak post Titanic wave The tabloids go crazy Reporting on DiCaprio which has existed pre Titanic

Right but now they really run the world People are crazy about Leo They have dubbed their own posse The pussy posse the Pussy Posse because they like having sex with women. There's a very famous and very good New York magazine article

called Leo, Prince of the City that I think, I can't remember what year, but by Nancy Jo Sales. That is, I feel like where a lot of this legend comes from, including the name. But they were a group of young gentleman actors

who enjoyed vaginal intercourse, right? Hey, man. And so they dubbed themselves the Pussy Posse. I hate to keep saying it this many times. No, I know, I know. It was like E from Entourage, Kevin Connolly. We gotta go down the whole list. Okay, that's what I want to do, okay? So DiCaprio, who do you have leading the Posse?

The biggest movie star in the world, right? The modern day Valentino of the 90s, right? Sure, sure, sure. Okay, and then who's he rolling with? This guy could open any door in town. There's buds, though. It's like his buds who were auditioning for Critters 3 with him. Exactly. That's the key

to this, is they were all child actors. Lucas Haas. We mentioned him already. He's the kid in Witness. Mars Attacks. Sure. The Donut Store employee. Yeah, he's funny in that. He's really good in that. He's been around, right? Yes. Harmony Corrine.

Corrine? Sure. He's a major member of the Pussy Posse. Right. Director of Gummo, one of your favorite movies. Street magician David Blaine. David Blaine. Doing street magic.

Who hadn't gotten a special yet. But Leo- They discovered him. Because Leo helped push him out there. Because I re-watched David Blaine's first special recently. We can't believe we're doing the Pussy Posse right now. We have to. I re-watched David Blaine's first special recently. I can't believe we're doing the pussy posse right now. We have to. I re-watched David Blaine's

first special recently. And there were six different points where they cut to Leonardo DiCaprio in a room doing a talking head explaining why David Blaine's a good magician. I remember. I remember that special really well.

Let's say something. It's a good special. It's a good special. David Blaine. Why were you re-watching that special? When I can't sleep, I watch magic videos on YouTube.

I told you this. In a Prestige episode, I talked about that. I watched Ricky Jay. And I watched all the Ricky Jay too many times, so now I've been watching David Blaine specials. Good for Blaine. You got, well, Tobey Maguire. Of course. Blaine had on alcohol.

Sure. Tobey. Right. Pre-Spider-Man Tobey Maguire. But he'd been in, like, the Ice Storm. What else had he been in? He was ruling cider houses left and right. Boy, oh boy.

Jay Ferguson. I really just want to shout out J.R. Ferguson, who I know is Stan and Mad Men. Stan Rizzo and Mad Men, but at that moment was the least successful of all of them. He had been in some shit. As a kid, but he wasn't like... He was in like Evening Shade. Right. You got

E from Entourage, Kevin Connolly, the tallest man in business, show business, so handsome and hot. E from Entourage, Kevin Connolly. Right. The tallest man in business, show business. So handsome and hot. Remember in Entourage when he's a sex machine? Yes. E. What's happening with the Murphy group right now, do you think? Sorry, I could just do E jokes all day.

Midnight Raid. Yeah, and there's a bunch of others who you barely have heard of, like Josh Miller, Ethan Supley. Sure. I mean, these are adjunct members, though. Sure. Justin Herwick. Sure. I mean, these are adjunct members, though. Sure. Justin Herwick. Okay.

But I like. And Sarah Gilbert, who is like the Shirley MacLaine in the Rat Pack of the Pussy Posse, who is gay. Yes. Or bi. I can't remember. She is a gay woman. She's married to a lady.

A gay woman. So I think she was like their gal chum. Sure. And similar child star of the early 90s type. But Leo doesn't hand out roles to his posse. Like it does feel like there's a separation of church and posse in how Leo conducts his business. It's true. It's not like, right, you see Shutter Island and there's J.R. Ferguson being like, I'm crazy.

Because even like Maguire's the other guy who gets really big and they don't really do a collaboration together until Rick Gatsby. But what about Don's Plum? Don's Plum, which is buried. But that's the point. Don's Plum was like the Pussy Posse movie and they were like, bury this.

I've never seen it, but isn't it just them talking about pussy? It's on Vimeo, yeah. And it was apparently mostly improvised, which is why they had to bury it because it was like, oh, this is stuff they actually thought. Like they weren't just reading dialogue.

Yeah. Anyway. So it's particularly strange that Lucas Haas is in this because it's not like Haas is his Hector Elizondo. It's not like it's his good luck charm. No one just loved the Pussy Posse. He did. He just loved it and he wanted to pay homage. He goes, I like him a little bit

as an actor. I like him a lot as a stick man as a stick man he's a legendary stick man alright so great we've lost all our subscribers great perfect but we gain new ones yes I'm just pointing towards the window but there's nothing there and E from Entourage is hanging by the window the Murphy

group yeah I'm excited that this podcast is now part of the Murphy Group's network of podcasts. We have shifted over to the MGPC. I guess we could announce that. Murphy Group Podcast Company. Uh-huh. Yeah.

So, yeah. Okay. Inception. Inception. So, he makes Inception and it comes out and people like it. Yeah. Okay. Well well good up wait a second Ben what's that

is there a leak in the ceiling I feel like it's just rubble oh my god what's going on here in the studio Ben what's going on this is great so far I mean what's happening it feels like the podcast so far. I mean, what's happening?

It feels like the podcast is collapsing. Oh my god, is the room falling apart? Oh my god! Ben, we just started talking about the movie. Yeah, no. Wait, are you guys telling me that the room's falling apart? The podcast is collapsing.

We have to go deeper? We gotta go deep. Can we go into a podcast in a podcast? Yeah, I guess we're gonna. Yeah. Okay, let's plug in, guys. Ben, don't be too shaken up. Yeah. We can do this. Thank God I brought my dream suitcase. Okay, here we go. Great suitcase. David. Alright, and

how do I just instantly fall asleep? You just put the thing on your arm. I never really figured it out. Okay, cool, cool, cool. Just count sheep. You mustn't be afraid to podcast a little bigger, darling. Oh, good. There you go.

Another great line. I'm Griffin Newman. Oh, great. David Sims. Welcome to Blank Check with Griffin and David. This is a miniseries called The Pod Night Cast, and today we're talking about the movie Inception. Oh, great. David Sims. Welcome to Blank Check with Griffin and David. This is a mini-series called The Pod Night Cast and today we're talking about the movie Inception. Okay, so the movie starts.

Uh, it starts well, it starts with Leonardo DiCaprio washing up on a beach. Yeah. Right? That's the first thing. Yeah. Oh, I should just apologize in advance if we have some sound problems. We are recording from the back of a van right now. Sorry, but I take a sharp turn, guys. Hold on.

It's fine. Also, time is dilated, so this should sound very slow to everybody. Listen at times three speed. One episode for us in the real world would be five episodes right now. Do you think it was talking about the pussy posse that collapsed the previous podcast? I think it was

too hot. I think it might have been that, actually. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was like, yeah. And we got some details wrong. It was like how the rug is made of polyester or whatever. Yeah, Jay Ferguson was never part of the group. No, he was! God damn it! I'm trying to instill doubt in you. Alright. Oh, yeah, so just apologies in advance

if there are any sound issues. We're in the back of a van with taking a lot of sharp turns and also it's raining very hard. Yeah, and we're asleep. Oh, I think we got a tail, too. Uh-oh. Gunshots. Okay, Ben, you take care of this. Great. Yeah, and we're asleep. Oh, I think we got a tail, too. Uh-oh, gunshots. Okay, Ben, you take care of this. Great, all right, I'm on it. Okay, so Leo looks like shit. He looks like he just got back from a night with a pussypast.

It's actually good. I remember seeing this in theaters, and this is the movie that, in my opinion, begins the Nolan's movies, I can't hear what anyone's saying, complaint. Yes. And seeing this, and it's Leo is dragged before Ken Watanabe

in absurd old age makeup which I love he looks I think he looks so good awesome they do such a good balance of like

just owning the surreal yeah like just making it look like a cartoonish old man but with a lot of detail Leo's eating rice like his life depends on it

and he's doing the way the way people eat when they're desperate in a movie. Right. Where they hold the spoon with their whole fist. Right. Like that's going to somehow get the food to them faster. Right. And they essentially have to turn their entire hand upside down, twist their arm in order to get stuff on the spoon.

Yeah. When you're most tired, you have to hold the spoon in the most counterproductive way um what this means is nothing um but uh so what's happening is leo's young but he looks like shit ken watanabe looks great but old exactly ken watanabe is talking about uh god knows what and it you the music's going and you're just like, what the fuck is he saying? Roms are loud. It's IMAX images.

This movie's just like punching you in the face. And he's essentially saying, you know, the sort of, you remind me of a half-remembered dream. All that stuff, right? Right. And Cobb is looking up just like his mind is gone. Sure. Then you cut to same place, but everyone looks hot now. Really hot.

Cobb's in his suit. Looks like Nolan. Saito, who is Ken Watanabe's character, he's in his, I don't know, fancy dress. Yeah, I can't even remember. Yeah. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt is there. Yes. Yes.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Arthur. Who has too much posture in this movie. He's postury alright. It's the straightest anyone has ever stood for an entire film. It's true. He looks like a collection of right angles.

He really does. Even the way he's moving throughout the entire movie. He's very eager to please in this film. Like he's doing, he's writing this weird line of like. Art that was intended for James Franco and he was initially cast in. Oh, interesting.

I don't think Franco would have done this well. I agree. He probably just would have done something different, right? I mean, yeah. I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt's performance in this film is very strange because I don't always think it's good, but I think it always helps the movie. It's true. He's weird.

He's basically like a computer mouse because he's sort of like the thing that does all the stuff that needs to be done. And he's doing this weird, overly – like he's almost doing an Agent Smith kind of thing. His posture is too good. David's doing a really good JGL face right now. I wish I was as skinny as JGL. But apart from that. But he doesn't have much of a personality. And when he does, he's mostly just sort of complaining.

Right. And when he kisses Ellen Page, which in another movie would be like a moment people maybe had been like thinking about. Sure. You're like, that was the least romantic kiss 100 in the history of kissing but i think what kind of works and i you wonder how much of this was intentional on his part he has so much exposition he is trying so hard to fit into this nolan thing you know with his voice and his posture and i explaining how things work you need a kick no one else knows the exact weight of this loaded die.

It does feel like he's a guy who's trying so hard to be DiCaprio in the movie. Sure, I get that. DiCaprio just kind of has it naturally, a little unforced. Yeah, I get that. Right, right, right. Which works for the character,

and he puts a lot of spin on all of the exposition he has to deliver. So he's in the room, and immediately he's like, come on, we gotta walk this way. He's like, just leading him around. He this way. You know, he's like, just leading him around. He's the producer. I mean,

everyone says this movie sort of tracks to, this is Nolan using the basic functions and positions of filmmaking to show how a crew works. I mean, I know the theory.

He's the producer. He's a little too slick. He's the producer. Keeps things moving, keeps things on time. Leo's the director, I assume. Tortured,

losing his mind. Tortured, losing his mind. Not sleeping well. Separated from his family for indefinite periods of time. Seemingly at the whims of forces he doesn't totally control. Right. Possessed of

certain notions. But needs people to help realize that vision. And Saito is like the studio. He's like the financer. He's the guy you gotta make these negotiations with to figure out how to execute your vision. But in my opinion the movie is more of a film about his connection.

Whatever. I really his connection with Saito is what I love about the movie most. You're smiling at me. And I think that the beginning of the movie being about the movie most. Interesting. You're smiling at me. And I think that the beginning of the movie, you know, being about the two of them, Yeah.

is obviously hugely intentional. Interesting. Like, you know, it's not like Nolan was like, would it be a great teaser for my movie? Like, in the dark night, I had a cool bank robbery with clowns. I know.

Fucked up Leo talks to old man Ken eating rice. Like that, that'll really, that'll really get everyone hooked. Well, I assume we got to dig in a little deeper before you can sort of fully outlay this thing,

but I'm curious to hear this take. Really? You've never heard me talk about this before? Watson Abe to me is so good in this movie. He'd be an Oscar nominee for me. I think he's very good in this one. I don't know if he would have gotten a Griffey, but I think he's very good.

Yeah. And, um, well, we can talk about it, but, you know, like, the crucial decision that Cobb makes, in my opinion, is rescuing Saito, which he doesn't, he does have to do to, I suppose, you know, get his daughter

back or get his kids back. I just want my kids back. Yeah. Sorry. It's one of my favorite arrest development jokes ever. But, yeah, we'll talk about it more. Sorry. It's one of my favorite arrest development jokes ever. But we'll talk about it more. Okay. Let's, you know, we're right at the start. So they're walking around this beautiful party.

Right. It's kind of who's cutting who. They're in his dream palace. Right. Saito's dream palace. Right. And then very quickly it's cutting to them sleeping in like an apartment. In an apartment where there's like a war raging

outside there's like mobs approaching political uprising and people with torches and they're in this dirty apartment and Leo is sitting above a bathtub right filled with water yes Saito's in like a chair so this movie gives us Arthur's asleep right yeah Lucas Haas is there

just yeah I don't know thinking about pussy. I will say, every time you say Arthur, it throws me off because I've gone through five months of people almost exclusively referring to me

as Arthur. Someone's on a TV show. I'm not bragging, but I'm saying people forget my name and they go, Arthur, can we bring you over here for a second for lighting? Yeah.

So I'm going to keep having Pavlovian responses every time you say that. I mean, I can call him JGL. You can call him whatever you want. It's fine. I'll get over it. I mean, I can call him JGL. You can call him whatever you want. It's fine. I'll get over it. I need to learn to establish my own identity.

You should call him for breakfast. After we fuck. Whatever. JGL feels like someone who's an early riser, right? Who doesn't need much sleep. On the dot. Yeah, yeah. He sleeps four hours a night.

Hey, good morning. I made you pancakes. God, yeah. And the blueberries are too crisply arranged in each pancake. How'd he do it? There is something weirdly like morning talk radio about him. Like, hey, I'm JGL. It's 6.15 in the morning.

Here with some Fleetwood Mac. It's why he hasn't succeeded as a star. He's a weird guy to put in the lead of your movie. Because, you know, we all put him in the lead of movies because he was this exciting supporting character in so many movies. And he plays a dirtbag well. Like, he played a lot of good dirtbags. Well, he had that breakthrough year where it was Mysterious Skin and Brick.

And both premiered at Sundance the same year. And then they came out two years apart. But it's like two amazing leading turns from the kid from Third Rock from the Sun. I know. Treasure Planet, who had disappeared for a while. And Angels in the Outfield. And suddenly it's like, oh, he's this weird kind of broken character actor. He's very cute.

Yeah, but those two movies he's very... And Angels in the Outfield. Really cute in that. Also very cute in Treasure Planet. But those two movies he's very kind of withdrawn, elusive, tortured. and then he like you know everyone's like oh this might be the next big guy and then immediately 500 days of summer right then

he kind of rebrands himself as this very like poppy up together dude uh and clearly like is gunning to be like a major leading man agree and has given a weird collection of performances since then. He's someone I like a lot. I think his best starring role is Premium Ron. He's great in Premium Rush. I like him in Looper. I do too. Looper's just such a weird thing that he's doing a Bruce Willis impression.

Obviously, I love Don John. Oh, I'm kidding. Don John, I think, is where he starts to lose us in general because you're like, oh, this is the movie you wanted to make I do think that movie is kind of well directed it's a weird movie I saw it and was like I'd like to see you direct other things

I'm going to stop saying that he was trying to get an invitation to the posse he would have been in the posse you know time shifts around maybe I don't know I feel like he probably would have had his own posse with like Jonathan Taylor Thomas the 90's like sitcom boys right Zachary Ty Bryant shifts around maybe. I don't know. I feel like he probably would have had his own policy with Jonathan Taylor Thomas. The 90s sitcom boys.

Zachary Ty Bryant. So they're trying to steal, I'm with you, but they're trying to steal Saito's dream information. Right. And it all goes wrong because Mal shows up. Marion Cotillard. The shade.

And we don't know that she's a dead ghost lady yet. We just think she's maybe a rival. Right, and within the filmmaking metaphor, she's a critic. It kind of falls apart when you bring her into it. She's like... A muse? I guess so, but I would say she's more like the story, or the narrative trope, you just can't shake.

Right. Where it's like, another dead wife nolan like right like because it is kind of like that she keeps showing up and they're like you wrote this in again this within the filmmaking metaphor the dead wife character represents no one's wife right yeah she's um it is it is insane when this movie sets it up Cause she's talking to him about their kids Like they have this dialogue that suggests a relationship You don't know if she's dead at that point But then he ties her up in a hotel room It's weird because you can't tell if they're meeting for the first time

It almost feels like a seduction scene Is this a Mr. and Mrs. Smith situation? This movie's throwing a lot of like purposefully Disconnected elements at you. In three different temporalities. Yeah, well, also, right. This is the first movie where he's really playing with time. Yes.

In ways that he keeps doing with other movies. Yes. Especially, it's in Dunkirk, but also Interstellar. Yeah. And so, she disrupts the dream. They try and... And Joseph Gordon-Levitt's They try and, and like then. And Joseph Gordon-Levitt's like, red alert, red alert.

Yeah, red flag, here's Maul here. What is going on? And then he gets tortured by Maul, actually. Yeah. You know, she shoots him in the leg. And she's explaining like, you can feel pain. If you die, you wake up. Like, we're getting like some basic rules of the dream.

Yeah. And then they, in the hotel or in the dream. Yeah. And then they in the hotel or in the room Still sleeping. He's still sleeping but Lucas Haas like Arthur wakes up because Leo killed

and Lucas Haas is like give him the kick or you know. Yeah. And so they dunk him in the water and you got the water Slumbering in the bath

and then it leaks into the Love it. It's a great shot. Good image. I mean right like that's yeah. So I feel like this movie came's a good image. I mean, right? Like, that's... Yeah.

So I feel like this movie came under a lot of criticism for its dreamlike imagery being very Nolan-y. Yeah. Very big buildings. Yes. Large, tactile set pieces that he wants to create in camera, like, rather than use CGI for. Right.

And the surrealism is either those structures... Like Escher, MC Escher. ...deteriorating. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. use cgi right and the surrealism is either those structures like escher deteriorating right yeah or other clinical man-made creations interrupting you know like a train in a street like it's yes you don't have bing bong in this movie tom barringer is the bing bong of this movie yeah no one's teeth fall out you know no but right it's not

lynchian at all or whatever you know like and people are like uh I can't believe this guy's conception of like surrealism

and dream logic is essentially like complicated Christopher Nolan set pieces right that take weeks

to execute and take place in city streets now what is your response to this uh cause I have my, what is your response to this? Because I have my response. What's your response? My response is, I think dreams

are a means to an end for what this movie's actually interested in, which is the unconscious. Sure, sure, sure. You know? Yeah, I get that. Dreams are literally the way for them to get into it, and I think it's a pretty good depiction of how the unconscious works. I,

I, but I actually, when I remember when I was watching this movie, I was so thrilled because it felt like dreams that I have all the time. Uh, because my dream logic is basically, it's like, I wait,

I'm like in a place. I don't know how I got there, which I love that he uses that trope. Sure. To start every dream. And I have to do something kind of ordinary like i have to accomplish some sort of task uh-huh and uh then i'm just sort of waylaid in various ways usually ordinary ones and frustrating ones you know what i mean like there's nothing like

that like the surrealism is slight okay because my dreams are very visually surreal right later when i think about my dreams i'm like like, oh, well, how did I get from this place to that place? That makes no sense. Sure, I think that logic stuff in the movie is very dreamlike. The way it tells the stories and the scenes are structured. I don't have dreams that involve surreal things or

monsters or anything like that. My dreams are like, David, if you just deposit this check, then you'll have money in your bank account you didn't do enough drugs david i know and then and then like i spend what seems like eons trying to deposit the fucking check and i keep getting waylaid by other things sure like synecdoche new york is my dream movie like that's the movie that reflects the way i i mean i love that movie too that's also why i don't sleep well yeah because every time i close

my eyes it's that uncomfortable. I didn't tell you this. Humble Rag was on a plane recently. Whoa. Were you with Saito? I was with Saito. He bought the airplane. He bought the airplane. I had to do him a favor.

I mowed his lawn. He let me get a seat. It seemed neater. I can't remember. Cleaner? I can't remember. Cleaner. I was flying back from London, which you should go to, Dave. It's a really nice town.

You would love it. Oh, I've never been there. Great city. Foggy London town. But I was very sleep deprived and fucked up by the time zone changes that I've been going through traveling a lot, right? And fell asleep on the plane

and had a dream that I woke up and they were making an announcement that the pilot had to do a Sully type hero landing. Brace for impact. Did they say Sully type hero landing? No, but I was like, oh shit, this is like Sully. But we weren't going to land in the Hudson. It wasn't going to be a miracle in the Hudson. We were going to try to land on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Great. That was the runway they thought. And I'm looking out my window. First class humble brag, so I'm near the nose of the plane. I've never been in first class. That is humble brag. It was chill, baby. Yeah, sure. And I'm looking out the window and we're like skidding

on the Golden Gate Bridge. And debris is flying off from the bridge and the plane and like smoke is fuming. It's like conception. And I'm like crying and I'm like, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die. And then I wake up and I was like, and I'm like I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die and then I wake up and I was like oh fuck that was terrifying like I don't have plane anxiety I wake up on the plane

and I was like now I'm really freaked out I usually don't have plane anxiety now I'm stressed out about this plane and then the pilot goes we are experiencing some slight turbulence and I was like fuck this and the plane starts shaking and then we start dipping into the Golden Gate Bridge. Dream within

a dream. Oh my god. I had two consecutive dreams. I've had that happen to me too although that's very elaborate. And then I woke up on the third dream and I was like, fuck this. Get me off this plane. So you tried to leave. They were like, we have five hours and 45 minutes left on this flight. You've been asleep for five minutes.

And I just heard that you're going to Australia soon. Yeah, it's going to be great. That's the flight that they do in Inception. Sydney to Los Angeles. Right? The longest flight you can do. Brom Brom, baby. Okay.

I just want to say my dream movie is Enter the Void. You love that movie. I do, but I also... That's how you dream. I have really disturbing dreams. Do your dreams... You guys have done too much. Well, you have done too many drugs. Oh, for sure. I don't do I also That's how you dream. I have really disturbing dreams. Do your dreams You guys have done too much. Well, you have done too many drugs. Oh, for sure. I don't do any drugs. You are too anxious or whatever. Yes, correct. I don't need drugs.

Yes. Yeah, no, my shit is screaming and colors and people melting. Puzzle of hearts is always in them. People melting. Yeah, it's fucked up. But I think this raises a good point, which is like when people complain about like, well, he's so unimaginative

with his dreams. It's like, maybe this is not Christopher Nolan dreams. Like dreams are personal. Like you can't go like this is the correct way to depict dreams. I agree. And that's why I always thought that was silly. Right. And of course, Christopher Nolan dreams this way. Of course, because he thinks this way. And he fucks this way and he eats this

way. Can't wait to fuck him. I can't wait to fuck him. I can't wait to fuck him. All right, so it's a dream within a dream. Yes. They wake him up. Saito wakes up and he's like, I rumbled you guys. Because Leo's trying to get to a safe in the house. He gets to a safe, he gets the info, but it's already being blacked out.

And so it doesn't work. And the water crashes through and wakes him up. And Saito's like, well, I thought you guys were good. This was an audition for you guys, essentially. You thought you were conning me. But I'm conning you and not impressed. I figured it out. And then he realizes he gets pushed on the carpet.

The carpet is wrong. It's in his house. It's in like one of his little apartments. It's his love nest where he goes with his little side piece. Exactly. Who's an important and well-drawn character in the film. Really apartments. It's his love nest. It's his love nest. Where he goes with his little side piece. Exactly. Who's an important and well-drawn character in the film. Really good. She's dead.

And he realizes, oh, this carpet's wrong. I'm in a dream within a dream. I always hated this carpet. I always hated this carpet. Right. Yeah. Now I'm impressed. Now I'm impressed.

And then he starts seeing Lucas Haas on a train. Right. And we're on a train, a bullet train. Yes. Kid reading a train. Right. And we're on a train, a bullet train. Yes. Kid reading a manga. Kid's reading a fucking manga next to them. He's reading some shonen jump. Wakes them up.

Yeah. And they all leave while Saito's still asleep, I guess. Right. And Cobb's like, well, that didn't work. And they're mad at Lucas Haas. But Saito has a sort of wry smile. Like, very tricky, sis. Yes. Very sneaky, sis.

Fucked up my Connect Four reference. Great. And then Leo's in the hotel in Tokyo. Yes. And he's spinning his top. Can't stop spinning that top. And he's pointing a gun at his head. And he's making a phone call.

A lot of business. And he's making a phone call to his kids who talk to him for like a second. And then they're taking off the phone. kids who talk to him for like a second and then like they're taking off the phone. It feels like an audition for drama school. I'm making a phone call with a top and a gun. And then the top. What's the motivating force? The gun. The top falls. He puts the gun down. Right. He

completes the phone call. Right. And Arthur's there and he's like Leo's like I gotta go to like Buenos Aires or whatever. I don't know you know. And instead they are. Gotta get caned. Right. And instead they are. Gotta get caned. Right. And instead they are captured by Saito.

Right. Who's got Lucas Haas. Who's got Lucas Haas. And he says, I offer you the satisfaction. Because you really thought Lucas Haas was going to be a principal character in this film. You all saw the trailer where he's being carried off. Right. And then they carry him off. They carry him off.

Leo refuses to kill him. And that shot is based on the trailer when they carry him off. Yeah. The trailer. Look. Nolan had dreamed of this trailer his whole life. And he saw the pussy. All right.

Whatever. Too many times. I can't believe you're the one who keeps saying this. This is such a grift thing to do. There's something about the word pussy when you put it next to posse that makes it sort of blunts it in some weird way for me but yeah um uh cut it all out ben let's start again no put it back in double oh gosh shit guys what's going on oh oh no oh that was a really hard turn we just yeah we're taking a really hard wheel there no i but we have to i think we have to go deeper. God, the podcast is collapsing. Yeah, yeah. Is that what's happening?

Yes, David, the podcast is collapsing again. Don't they go deeper because they need more time? Isn't that why they go deeper in the movie? David, the van is falling apart. All right, we'll take a... Yeah, the van's falling apart, sure. Oh, jeez. The van is falling apart. Oh, jeez. This is a podcast.

She locked away a secret deep inside herself, something she once knew to be true, but chose to podcast. Hi, everybody. My name's Griffin Newman. Yeah, I'm David Sims. So this is Blank Shife, the Griffin David. This is a Dark Knight cast.

Talk about a phone call. Shut up. I have a bunch of nicknames. We're recording inside a hotel now, so hopefully everything will be a little quieter. We're in a nice hotel room. We rented a hotel room inside Ben's dream. Sometimes it tilts, though. Sometimes it's a little

tilty. I think that's minor. I can't foresee that being a major problem. I'm not worried about that. So, Saito says, I got a job for you guys. Inception. You guys usually do extraction. Right. What about instruction, also known as inception? Can you plant an idea?

And Arthur's like, no way, bro. It can't be done. Impossible. Think of an idea. I tried suggesting something to you. You know I suggested it. It's never original. Don't think of elephants.

What do you think of? Elephants. Elephants. Yeah. Cobb's like, no, I can do it. It's been done. I've done it. Nope. It's tricky, it. It's been done. I've done it. Nope.

It's tricky, but... It's tricky. Arthur, instead of being like, hey, explain to me what you're talking about. You've done it? The thing that I know to be impossible? I, an expert in the field of dream thieving? I'm a dream producer.

Who's the producer Ben of dreams? Instead of that, they never discuss this again. No. He just says it can be done. And the reason Leo wants to do it is that Saito can offer him freedom, essentially. Claims he can offer him. Leo can't go to America. Get back to America.

Get back to your kids. Get back to your kids. So the kids are with Marion Coutillard's mother. Is that the implication? Yeah. And Michael Caine is Marion Coutillard's father? Yeah. And he's not in the same country as them?

He teaches in Paris. Right. Where he met Leo because Leo and Marion were students there. And he commutes. They were architecture students. From America to Paris to teach? I don't know. Or he only lives at James Bond?

Yeah, okay, whatever. I don't know. What can I tell you? But Leo's like- Maybe he just comes to Paris. I don't fucking know. Like, yeah. Good questions.

Right? I've always wondered that. Yeah, I don't know. You're busted. Yeah. Yeah, Nolan, your whole movie just fucking crumbled. He, DiCaprio's like, cool, we're going to need a team. Sure.

And the idea is you gotta get the heir to a company to split up his father's assets when his father dies right the father

his greatest rival right his side toes big rival and everyone's waiting for him to die he's on his deathbed the son is Killian Murphy

who plays Robert such a beautiful man he is excellent in this movie. So good. Really excellent. He's my

Ken Wentz Nabi in this film. But can we both agree who the best performance in this movie is given by? I think there's an obvious answer.

Tom Hardy? Hans Zimmer. But like I'm not even really joking. So Hans Zimmer constructs a fabulous score for this movie. Yeah. It's the first time that a fabulous score for this movie. Yeah.

It's the first time that he's working with Nolan solo. The other, he'd made the two Batman scores with him. And then Julian did the other couple. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But this is the first time that he and Nolan are really building a score from the ground

up. And Hans Zimmer has this idea of La Vie en Rose. Is it La Vie en Rose or no? It's. Yeah. La Vie en Rose. No, no,

it's non. Oh, yeah. The Edith Piaf song which is their kick like alert right and which slowed down

sounds like he slows it down because at the beginning it's like dun dun dun and that's super cool and he builds the score around

it's such a great score it's really great and there were a lot of moments where I was watching at this time where this movie is incredibly silly.

It is a remarkably silly film. That's the thing about this movie is the stakes are so high. But, of course, the worst thing that could happen to them is they will wake up. Right. And obviously there's the concept of limbo, scrambling your brains and all that. But, like, there's a moment late in the movie where Leo's like, well, that's it. Fuck it. We're done.

And Tom Hardy's like, well, I mean, it's not my kids I don't have to see, but I really did want to know if it was going to work. Like that's all the stakes for him. But it also it feels they can always just wake up. It feels like a really, really dorky, dense 2000 page sci fi novel that some kid in your history class recommends. And they tell you the idea and they're like, that idea is cool. But this is way too dense to read because half of this book is just going to be explaining the rules of the universe my friend alex chris who is a long-time fan of the podcast once said his opinion to me that his opinion of reception is like it's like a script written by a 12 year

old directed by like a master you know like that's like how he felt that's what it feels like like it feels like something that a kid would doodle in a notebook and then now has to explain it down. The amount of rules. I mean, it's especially, all the rules you're like, I'm on board, I get it. You know, like the things like the kick or whatever. The movie's 60% shoe leather.

But then when Leo's like, he'll go into limbo. What's limbo? Unconstructed dream space. You're like, come on. Who the fuck is that? Unconstructed dream space. Which I'll say, this is a very divisive movie.

I like this movie. I do too. And I think a lot of people just go like, fuck this. This movie is so sweaty. It's so silly. It's so sloppy. It has to cut so many corners in order to not completely like self-destruct. Sure.

But I think it's like that's, you got to go with it. Like those are the Faustian bargains of like the premise for this movie is so bizarre. And his goal, which is essentially to get to the last hour of the film. Which is where it's just. A symphony. It's just like, right. He's able to just cut between all these things with very little explanation. And suddenly shots of people sleeping in a car feel like the most exciting thing.

Right. Like that's the deal he has to make. Like you have to sign up. I agree. I just feel like for a lot of people, they saw the movie the first exciting thing. Right. Like that's the deal he has to make. Like you have to sign up. I agree. I just feel like for a lot of people, they saw the movie the first time and liked it, but then rewatch it. We're like,

shit, this movie is an hour of an instruction manual. And then sure, it gets to more exciting stuff, but like, it's boring to rewatch. This movie is incredibly clunky. Like you cannot argue.

It isn't clunky. Unconstructed dream space. And it's weird because everyone talks about Nolan, but being very tight and very controlled and very precise. But he knows the only way he can get to the state he wants to get to is to be clunky and inelegant with a lot of it.

You know? Like either he doesn't explain as much and the movie doesn't really make sense. And when you get to the sequences at the end, they're less visceral and exciting because you're still trying to figure out what the fuck is going on or essentially you have to devote several reels to like drawing a map you know for the audience and having seven different characters take turns delivering exposition so let's talk about the team he builds yeah add some

new members he goes to michael cain and he's like give me your best student and he's like i need your best student because I can't be an architect anymore for reasons I'll explain 20 minutes from now yeah so I need a new architect and Caine's like

okay wait stop your red flag what's up bro if you're shaky enough that you can't be an architect maybe you shouldn't be doing this period maybe you should get some

fucking R&R no I need to see my kid shut up shut up Michael I got this kid Juno He's like fuck fine So yeah Juno she was just delightful All I need is you

Her ego is Prego This is one home skillet that can't be undid God fucking Rain Wilson Honest to blog this is the best one He meets with Ellen Page. He finds her in the penny saver. Juno references.

Who knew we needed them? But we do. And she draws a maze for him of sufficient complexity that he decides to essentially drug her against her will and take her into a dream state. No, I mean. I think she's very well cast in this movie. Yeah.

Because. I wish she would return to the Nolan stable. I want to see her in another movie. She fits weirdly well. She's similar to Swank in Insomnia. Kind of like doe-eyed go-getter who is flinty underneath. More steely than she

might initially present. What I like about her is I think she's exclusively playing steely. I think she's a very strong-minded young woman, but Ellen Page is innately very vulnerable in how she plays on screen because she looks like a cartoon baby. She's Lil. Right, right. She's a little lady.

She looks like a cartoon faun or something. Now, she's the writer. Yes, she's the screenwriter. And the director is like, oh fuck, I can't, you need to write the script. I need to outsource this.

But then she keeps presenting the script and he's like, no, my ex-wife should be in it. She's like, this looks good. I put my ex-wife everywhere. She's like, why'd you do that?

He's like, I don't know. I, she's, she has to be in the movie. It's important to me. I'll never forgive myself. And she keeps being like, explain to me why it is you're good at what you do.

And he's like, I just am. Shut up. They need to find a forger. Who's essentially a professional liar. Also known as an actor. Yes, yes. And boy, do they find a good actor. He's wonderful in this movie.

He's so good. I really think it's audacious the whole thing like the way they dress him the way he plays it I mean Tom Hardy is a terrific actor one of my favorites he really

you really when you're doing a Nolan podcast you really remember how much you love Tom Hardy I can't wait for you to see Dunkirk man I can't wait I'm seeing it right after we record this today but here's what I love about every time Ben has to note it it's so funny wait for you to see Don Kirkman. I can't wait. I'm seeing it right after we record this today.

But here's what I love about it. Every time Ben has to note it. It's so funny. So three Tom Hardy Nolan movies, right? Yeah. Tom Hardy, I would argue, has the best mouth in show business.

Sure. And he's hidden it from us in two. Two out of three. Two out of three. He's got great lips. Oh my God. But I love the way

he's dressed. Jesus Christ, those lips. Tom Hardy's such a big guy. Yes, he is. He's got great lips. Oh my God. But I love the way he's dressed. Jesus Christ, those lips. Tom Hardy's such a big guy. Yes, he is. He's just a big guy. Like even though, like as Bane, he's huge. Like he built up for that role.

Right, he's broad-shouldered. He's got certain dimensions. You would think Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be the actor type in this movie because he's got the physical type of an actor, right? And Tom Hardy's supposed to play a man who then like can be like an attractive blonde, who can be Tom Berringer, right? And Tom Hardy's supposed to play a man who then can be an attractive blonde, who can be Tom Berringer, right?

Because Joseph Gordon-Levitt is built like a ballerina. Right, and Tom Hardy's built like a linebacker, and he's in this funny suit with the wide collar and like, you know? But it feels like how that type of actor would dress. He dresses like John Malkovich in this movie. You know? Have you seen John Malkovich's suit line?

You know John Malkovich has a line of suits? Yes, yes, yes. They all look like what fucking heart he's wearing in this movie. And he's got, he's doing a really interesting. He's just got this like touch of, I mean, he's like an actor. He's like a British lovey. I mean, is the best way to put it. Right. And he's doing a little bit of an affected Brando thing

with mumbling certain words and not making eye contact and looking down and throwing away lines and all that kind of stuff. He's also kind of flirty with everybody. Very flirty, very sexual, very charisma-based. There's a fanfic about him and Arthur that is a big deal on the internet. We're going to read some later. You didn't know about that? No, three or four levels from now we'll

do our fanfic episode. Arthur Eames shipping is something very common in the world of fans I believe. Do you realize how much highly erotic fanfiction is about to be written about me? I can't wait. Oh god it's so true. They're just going to want your little shrimpy butt. It's not subtextual

it's like textual. I keep on saying this show is like romantic comedy minus any physical payoff do you have a love interest like or a potential love interest it's my favorite part of the season i can't reveal it uh but but i i have i have an admirer on the show which i think is the funniest element of the entire season. Fantastic. But, God, fucking Hardy. Hardy's great. And he has, everyone else in this movie is doing such a clinical, technical thing. And he's just throwing it off a hump a little bit, you know?

And he's showing you what an actor can do. So he comes in and he rules. And then you've got Dilip Rao as Yusuf, the chemist. Who's the special effects supervisor? Yeah, technical, right? Yeah. Right? Isn't that what he's supposed to be?

Because it's basically like, I need some complicated shit. Dream within a dream, but your ears need to be unbalanced so we can kick you out of it. And he's like, yeah, I got just the thing. I live in a vintage-y, I mean, I'm in Morocco. No, he's in Mombasa. Come to my basement. These people are freebasing dreams. He's like a first AD maybe, but also if a first AD was like, hey, this is my house in the basement. People are living out a movie nonstop.

Right. He puts people to sleep who no longer can sleep because they are too deep. The idea is this dream tech was invented by the military and now it's like proliferated. And I love that the movie spends so much time explaining how the tech works and offers six words explaining why it exists. That's why the military

created it so you could do military stuff and stab people in your dreams and get the hands-on experience. Yeah, it's like great. People learn how to stab someone. Such as they could practice killing people. I guess so. I mean, look, there's some weird logic to it. But it's great that they just don't... The more they try to explain how it works...

You know what I'm realizing, though? As much as it all is complicated, we're barreling through the plot, because there's not... It's just like, Saito recruits them. They recruit the team. The team thinks of what to do. They execute the plan. It's like Ocean's Eleven. Yeah, it is very... Like, it's just like, Saito recruits them. They recruit the team. The team thinks of what to do. They execute the plan. It's like Ocean's Eleven.

Yeah, it is very, like, it's a heist movie. There's a superficial quality to it all. Yes. Like, there's the scene where Leo, you know, recruits Ellen Page, where he takes her into the dream. Like I said, I really do love the idea where it just, they cut to the middle of it. And he's like, that's how this always works, right? That's a really good cinematic dream depiction. Yeah. Is, now we're just

jumping locations, and the, do you ever question how we got here? Is like, uh, I think this movie is doing interesting stuff. I mean, people say the dreams aren't surreal enough visually or whatever. Right. But I think what he's more interested in is that, which is finding the ways in which

dreams mirror film and how films really are, like, a way for us to physicalize dreams, right? And that sort of logic and storytelling and emotional involvement, whatever. Then she bends Paris onto itself. Right, so he likes finding those tricks for how you can play with the structure

to replicate how a dream feels and how shit like the pee turns into the rain and all that kind of stuff. And then he throws you the couple of things like Paris folding on itself, like a quesadilla. Sure. Like a quesadilla. But even the folding on itself is very mathematical. It like folds at a right angle.

Yes. Because he wants to make this look, you know, he likes things to look real. Yes. There's the moment I like where you see like, oh, this kid's good. When she's drawing too much attention. He's giving her all the things. You can't bring in details of what you know. A street lamp, but not an entire city block.

They're coming after you. My subconscious doesn't trust you. And then she makes the two mirrors and they face each other. And it's essentially a reset. Yeah. And he's like, ooh. Yeah, she's good. She's good.

And then Mal stabs her. And she's like, fuck this Yeah, she's good. She's good. And then Mal stabs her. And she's like, fuck this. You're crazy. Yeah. Which is essentially the meeting where she pitches the script to the director. And the director is like, yeah, it's great. My ex-wife is in it. Okay.

And she's like, no. But then she comes back because she's like, fuck, you know, you do have the, you know, I do want to do this. Right. And she, of course, loves it. So, yeah. So she's making dreams for him. want to do this. Right.

And she, of course, loves it. So, yeah. So she's making dreams for him. She's the entire time, like many screenwriters, hoping that even though the director is blocking a lot of her best ideas, I'm going to be able to push it through. Exactly. It'll work out. At the end of the day, we're both going to end up making the movie we want to make. And instead, he drives a train through her first thing.

She's like, he's like, a train comes through here. And she's like, that doesn't make any sense of the logic of the story. Yeah, but. Yeah. I just, I bought a train comes through here. And she's like, that doesn't make any sense of the logic of the story. Yeah, but. Yeah. I just, I bought a train. Train that will take, you got to do that one in the next level. It is like she has to work all his weird like fetishes and piccadillos into the movie. Because he's just like, oh, look, I just always had the thing about trains.

Yeah, it's got to be trains. My wife and I use trains to kill ourselves. I told you that, right? The one time my wife and I killed ourselves. It's okay, it was Libba on Constructed James Face. ourselves I told you that right the one time I was on construction space so my water bottles floating up in the air oh my god this entire hotel room is spinning oh shit okay okay guys just try to stay close to the mic. Okay, so they have the whole team together.

You guys are holding on to the table. I'm proud of you. Oh, God. Okay, this is not as easy as it... David, what were we talking about? You got to keep me grounded. Give me a totem. What's going on in the movie now?

What's going on in the movie now? David. Hold on. Grab onto the wire your headphones attach to. David. What's going on in the movie now? Hold on, grab onto the wire your headphones attach to. What's going on in the movie? David! David, ground me in the plot!

You're my totem, David! Only I know how you weigh! How I weigh? I know how you weigh! Okay, I'm grabbing you. Tell me what's going on in the movie. Oh, I don't remember. They're explaining all the rules of the deception.

Ben, I think the dream's collapsed. Oh, fuck. I think we've got to go down to another podcast. The podcast is collapsing. We've got to go down to another podcast. Shit. All right. All right.

Okay, ready? Everyone buckle in. David, here's your dream plug. Ben, here's your dream plug. Thank you. All right. How do we fall asleep so quickly? Are you going to tie us together in like a big ball later?

Yeah, we'll do that now. Let's all use our plugs to tie ourselves up. Okay. I tell you don't think about podcasts. Now, what are you thinking about? Podcasts. Hi, everybody. I'm Griffin Newman.

Welcome to the podcast. God, it's so cold. God, it's freezing in here. We're talking about the movie Inception. Guys, put on these snowsuits. Yeah, right. Yeah. Okay.

Let me just put grip tape all over my microphone so it's white. Why don't we move further into the move plot because in the podcast we're a lot. I'm sorry. Yes, it's just really cold here. So during the planning phase, this is when we're getting a lot of Leo's, Cobb's backstory. Because every night after he's like, good meeting, guys. Good prep. Great job.

Movie's on track. We're like two weeks away from starting principal photography. Yeah, because they just had a whole debate where they're like, how do we get him to, you know, dislike this, have this idea? Right. And it's like he can't do it because he hates his father because that doesn't work as well as like an idea that's positive. Right. Like they're sort of, they're having, that's the story meetings, right? Yeah, right.

They're trying to crack story, break story on this. Yeah. But yeah, but then. And you're not really seeing Cillian Murphy in this trunk. You see a little of them doing some research on due diligence. No, there's no Cillian Murphy.

But he's not really in it. The basic crux is his father was a very successful businessman. The son was always viewed as a disappointment. The father wasn't very emotionally available. The mother died young. And he feels like

his father was disappointed in him for not being more like himself. But their idea is essentially don't break up the company as a fuck you to your dad. Break up the company because you need to do your own thing. Make it a point of empowerment. He wants you to do your own thing. Which is the thing I really like about this movie. That's the one movie where the mark in the con is they're actually doing something kind to him.

Right. Yeah. Like it benefits them, but it also benefits him. I agree, I agree. Like, it's kind of a nice con. Yeah, it's a nice con. We're gonna con you and make a bunch of money. Make a huge realization about your father's emotions.

Come to terms with the sins of the father. Swear to me. Fuck! All right, all right, all right. So, but Ellen Page is also peeping. Leo's sleeping. She's pulling a little bit of a bend. She's peeping and sleeping.

And every night he's like, good meeting, guys. I'm just going to go back to my office for a minute. You can all leave. Yeah, and Deeley Brow's like, here, drink this. Yeah. And then Ellen Page hangs around and she's like, wait a second, you're doing some fucked up dream shit. Right.

You're going down an elevator all the way to the bottom with your dead wife and you keep on wrestling her. Yeah, there's this elevator metaphor in his dream world where it's like, right, like one floor is like their nice apartment. Right. Which is where he takes her. Yes. Maybe she comes in and I can't remember the exact specifics. Uh-huh. And that's where his kids are and you've got this repetitive shot of the backs of his kids' heads.

He can't see their face because he like... Anytime they're about to turn around, he looks away. Which I think is really good. I think that's very dreamlike too. Yes, totally. And then she sort of sneaks away and goes to the bottom level, which is the hotel

room where his wife killed herself. And if, you know, you see it one time and there's that thing where she just looks at Ellen Page and the music goes like but then eventually I mean what we essentially see is they're in he goes into a hotel room she's in the window

across from the hotel room and she jumps. She's kind of broken. That's what she ended up doing. And I can't remember yet when do we learn the sort of story of Maul. Is it once we're in the dream up doing. Right. And I can't remember, yeah, when do we learn the sort of story of Maul? Is it once we're in the dream? Yes. Right?

Yes, pretty much. I think so. It's doled out in little bits and pieces. Because limbo is not really explained until they're in the dream. Yes. And the idea is, I guess I can't. It sort of explains to Ellen Page at this point, I think, without the full limbo thing, that the major issue was they kept on experimenting with dream shit, trying some new fucking dank dream shit. Yeah, they were doing some, they were going like dream into dream into dream.

Right. And. They're sort of the vapors of dreamers, if that makes sense. Sure. And she couldn't figure out what was real and what wasn't anymore. And it kind of broke it. Right. When they went into limbo and they were down there for, we eventually realized their entire

lives. Of course, skipping ahead to that part. Right. They spent 60 years there. They lived an entire lifetime there. And then when they came out, she was like, this is the dream. Like, we're now in a dream. Still a dream.

That was, yeah, that was just a dream within a dream. Right. Right. And because she's so convinced of this, she kills herself while also having her self-declared sane so that there's no way anyone could believe that she'd killed herself. Three times. Yeah, had herself declared sane three times. Yeah. How'd she ever self-declared?

I guess she just, I don't know. She stood in a street corner and said, I declare! Do I seem same to you? And some guy's like, I do declare! Sure, you seem fine. Great, sign this, notarize it. It made me think of the Simpsons episode where Homer,

it's the one where Michael Jackson makes the cameo on it. At least it's his birthday. Yeah, exactly. And he gets a certificate that says, I am not insane. Yeah. So I think that she got a similar thing. Is that Stark Raving Dad? That sounds right, actually, yeah.

Yes, but that's what it's like. That's essentially what it's like. And now Ellen Page is getting some of it. She's getting some of this tragic backstory. But that's why he is haunted by his wife. Right. And he's lost control. He can't reconcile his doubt

and also his doubt about whether or not how culpable he was in her death and the doubt she instilled in him about his own perception of reality. And he has literally taken her totem, the thing that grounds her to reality

I know the top this is the thing he keeps explaining the rules to Ellen to Ariadne is her name and she keeps being like why don't you do that though because you don't do anything he's essentially like pulling the classic like do as I as I say not as

I do kind of thing like he's going like be better than me because I suck I'm fucking this up left and right I'm do as I say, not as I do kind of thing. He's going, be better than me. Because I suck. I'm fucking this up left and right. I'm doing all the wrong things. I'm basing everything from memory. I'm leading to my wife's death. I'm stealing her totem, bro.

Yeah, don't be me. But he is, at the same time, in charge. Right. And she keeps on sort of incredulously saying, like, no one else knows about this? Like, no one else picked up on the fact that you're a fucking wreck? But she's not revealing it.

I mean, this is... She wants to get the movie made. She wants that credit. I guess so. I mean, because I feel like this is... She wants to get WGA. She needs that WGA card. She needs the benefits.

So, Paul Sothwaite dies, and they're like, great, we'll get Cillian Murphy, we'll get him on this plane. I bought the airport. The airplane. The airline. The airline, it seemed cleaner.

Right. Because Saito at this point is not really very involved during the planning phase. Sure. Because he's just the money. He's the money. He's the producer. And Saito's like, I get to come. He's the executive of the studio.

I get to come. No room for tourists on this job. He doesn't care. He gets to come. So, I don't know. That's like the studio head is like, I want to come. No room for tourists on this job. He doesn't care. He gets to come. So, I don't know. That's like the studio head is like, I want to play the supporting role. Yeah, I want to be in Video Village every day.

Whatever. You think you want like a clean single? I mean, you do you. I feel like maybe you might want to, once you get in the editing bit, you might want a clean single. So, they're going to get him on a plane. Yeah. They're going to do all the shit.

Yeah. And they're going to convince him to break up his company by the time he lands in LA. Correct. So here we go. Okay. And now the movie, we're like an hour and 25 minutes in? Yeah, probably. Yeah.

It's a two hour, 25 minute in. Yeah, probably. Yeah. It's a two hour, 25 minute movie. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I think that the heist happens maybe like an hour 10 in, maybe hour 20, whatever. Anyway, now we're into Rainy Van Hellscape. Right. Because.

Not to be confused with Van Helsing. No. Rainy Van Hellscape is a different thing. It is so easy to confuse the two movies. Basically identical up to this point. Not the movies, but those terms. Van Helsing and Van Helscape. No, the movies.

Because Yusuf drank some champagne. Oh, boy. He's got to pee. He's got to pee pee. So his dream, which is the first dream, is rainy. Right. Now, this is the other thing. There's like someone designs the dream someone dreams the dream yeah and then someone else is the subject of the dream they

fill it with their secrets and they do this you know um but they explain all this but it doesn't ever totally i mean it makes sense but you know what i mean but it doesn't ever totally, I mean, it makes sense, but you know what I mean? Like it's sometimes you're like, wait, who's the dreamer again?

Right. Because the car dream, like the rainy dream is Yusuf. Right. The hotel dream is Arthur. Yes. Because he's the one who's awake during it. Right.

And then the final dream is, I don't even know. Yeah. No, I think that, no, that one, I'm sorry. That one, they're going into Cillian Murphy's dream. I guess so. The snowscape.

Yeah, because that's where they convince him to fall asleep. Right, and then it's Leo's limbo. And Leo is limbo. But that's the thing with this movie. Limbo is Unconstructed Dreams, guys. We all know. Because Saito ends up there too. Yeah.

There is no way for this movie to fully make sense. And I don't mean to make like excuses for it, right? But it's like the premise that he's presenting here to execute it the way he wants and have it work in the last hour. You just have to fucking go along with it. And if that's a bridge too far for you, you know, great. You're never going to like this movie. But you have to buy this movie is fucking silly. It's really dumb at times.

And it has massive leaps that it needs to ask you. A leap of faith. Exactly. I love them. That's the thing. I love them. Cobb and Saito. That's my ship.

Yeah. In this movie. But wait. So now we're in the rainy van scape and immediately... Don't you want to take a leap of faith? I wanted to find the line. Overcome an old man filled with regret. They're being chased.

Yes. And the thing they do is they Tom Hardy buttonholes Killian Murphy in a cab and they follow in another cab. But then they're being chased because his subconscious has been weaponized against them. And there's a train.

And also there's a train, which is a separate issue. Right. That's Leo's. That's Cobb's problem. Yeah. And so a lot of problems. All going wrong really fast.

And so they have to go into the second dream really fast. Right? We don't really get much out. It's just the train thing. Right. He puts them all asleep in the van. The kick is going to be they the second dream really fast. Right? We don't really get much out. It's just the train thing. Right. He puts them all asleep in the van. The kick is going to be they'll drive off a bridge. Yeah.

Right. But I think there was just supposed to be a lot more time, because it's like an hour a day a week or whatever. It's essentially just a big car chase, and then there's that scene where they end up back at the warehouse, and they're like, this mission's fucked. We're fucked.

That's where Leo's yelling at Arthur. Saito's been shot. And they're like, call it off. Call it off. And Leo're like, this mission's fucked. We're fucked. That's where Leo's yelling at Arthur. Saito's been shot. And they're like, call it off. Call it off. And Leo's like, but we can't kill ourselves because we actually might fall into limbo. Oops, I forgot to mention that before. So what's limbo? It's on.

I'm not going to lie to you. I'll get to that in like an hour. So that's also where Arthur says that you got to dream a little bigger. Yes. Eames says that to Arthur. Sorry, not Arthur. Yes. So they drop down a level.

That's their moment. That's like the only real interaction. Well, no, they have the bit where like, yeah, one of them kicks the other one's chair. And then he says like, thank you for the pedantic explanation, Arthur. Like they have a little bit of a thing where it's like, you know, he clearly looks at Arthur as kind of a suit. And Eames is like, I'm this fucking artist full of life. Exactly. I'm a fucking person.

I'm a professional person. People pay me to be a person. You're the producer. You're the stuff suit right here. Yeah, fucking stuff suit. That's how I treat producers on set. Kick over their chairs. Tell them to dream bigger.

Take out grenade launchers. Shoot them. You fucker. Don't knock me out of my chair, David. Oh, okay. Ben's a producer. Ben's the producer. Right, of course.

I'm going to set my chair back up. Jeez. That's all from the film. Any good creative bullies a producer. Exactly. Yeah. We sure do bully Ben. We're so mean to him.

It's crazy to think, Ben, that you remember, like, we you had to tolerate us doing all those fucking Star Wars prequel episodes which you hated. You hated those movies. I hated that. And week after week we'd come in and just talk about, like, now we sometimes talk about movies you'd like and we'd change it every week.

You hate those films and we like forced you to talk about them and watch like and we change it every week. You hate those films and we like forced you to talk about them and watch them over and over again for months. I remember, yeah. It was awful. Just because we had this dumb idea. That's mean. So they go into the hotel. They drip into the hotel. They drip into it. Right, and now. This is the best part of the

movie, right? The hotel shit's so fucking good. Tallulah Riley, who's actually Tom Hardy is like flirting with Cillian Murphyulah Riley who's actually Tom Hardy is like flirting with Cillian Murphy yeah that's like Tom Hardy's lady role right and then uh and then Leo comes up and he's like wait a second dude don't trust anyone else I'm the guy let me tell you what's going on he does the inception squint he does the meme right um we have to go deeper meme I think he's so good in this movie because he does such a good balance of playing someone who is able to project that he's entirely in control and that you should trust him,

but showing all the signs of the fact that he's cracking. I forgot the other thing in the first level. The first level also has the thing where Tom Hardy plays Tom Barringer and they get a code out of Killian Murphy. Yeah, right. They do a fake kidnapping. And,

and Tom Barringer has this heart to heart with him. Your father, you know, maybe it was this, they start to get more information out of him. Right. They're giving, but also they get this code out of him because they're like, he must have told you. You're his son.

Yeah. You wouldn't know the code? And Killian's like, no. He never told me anything. We're not, yeah, he's a bad dad. Yeah. So, yeah, so they planted that seed. Right.

And then in the second level, he's playing Tallulah Riley. Mm-hmm. But, yeah, but what's the name? It's like Mr. Whatever. Like, you know, the name of the con that Leo's running. Oh, I forget. Mr. Charles, I think. Yeah, Mr. Charles.

You're right, Mr. Charles. Yes. But he's essentially like, I'm a bad guy. I'm the guy you should be worried about. But actually, trust me, because I'm being honest with you. Yeah, it's the thing where, right, like, yes, you are being conned, but not by me. Not by me. I'm your head of security, your head of dream security.

I'm the guy who would be conning you usually because that's what I'm good at, which is why you should trust that I know how to stop the people who are doing it. And this is dangerous because, like, now the subconscious is worried because they've been told they're in a dream. They keep on saying, like, you're, like, destroying the internal reality of the dream. Right, yeah, exactly. Like, it's scary because the subconscious can turn on you. The unconscious can turn on you. Right. So what else happens in the hotel?

I mean, later there's going to be some bullshit. Well, so very quickly, he's like, come with me. They negotiate. They talk everything. He's like, you gotta trust me. What are we going to do? We're going to go into a dream. A dream within a dream? And he's like, yep, that's all it is. It's just two dreams, buddy. One, two.

One, two, like the friends. And they put everyone in a hotel room. They're all dressed very nice in this reality. This is probably the nicest. This is the, right. Now, also, he's making his James Bond movie, right? Yes. And he's always, Nolan has always been obsessed with James Bond and, like, speaks so, and

he's always said, if I ever wanted to make any kind of franchise, it would be a James Bond movie. And anytime there's like a new Bond like rumor, they're always like Christopher Nolan, maybe, which seems unlikely at this point, but who knows? Well, also the Broccoli's, they don't never give anyone a blank check. No. Although Sam Mendes was the closest they've ever come. So who knows?

Sam Mendes was a little back on his heels, which was, I think why that worked out so well. I agree. I'm just saying like, they've been a little more pliable than they have in the past. Yeah, it's starting to get a little more. Yeah. But I still would be surprised. I think the Bond name would have to be really disgraced for them to turn to someone like Nolan.

And I don't think, even though Spectre was bad, I don't think it's in, like, a particularly bad situation. No, I also think you would need to have Nolan do the relaunch. That's what I'm saying. You could have him do the fourth. Somehow the wheels would come off the bus, and it's like, great, we're going to reboot Bond to Christopher Nolan. Give us your Bond. Right. Basically what they did with Man of Steel.

Tom Hardy is James Bond. Sure, right, whatever. Right. But yeah, so it's like, right, you've got the car chase sequence in the first dream, and the second dream is everyone's in suits, and everyone's being clever and everyone's like talking all smart to each other. Very quickly, DiCaprio's like nighty night, baby. Nighty night. Let's go into the third dream.

That's the most Bondy part, which is like this like mythical ice hospital. It's on Her Majesty's Secret Service. Exactly. He's always said this is his favorite Bond movie. Right. And yeah, everyone's on. What do you call them? Snowmobiles.

Everyone's wearing white. They look cool and they're trying to get to a safe. Of course this giant safe is on a ski slope. And it's like the craziest damn safe you ever did see. The wall looks fucking great. Man, I love

ski fighting. Well, there's a ton of it. It's so great. I mean, like... So do you like James Bond movies? I do. This reminded me of GoldenEye, the video game, which that was like one of the better levels. But I mean, because...

So many ski fight sequences in the Bonds too, yeah. Right. It's like the Tomorrow Never Dies where he's got the coat that turns into like a bubble. Yeah. Yeah. But this movie's hitting on a lot of shit I love. Because you got the

the rain right the first level it's a very wet movie they keep on using water as like an activator what if you were

within a wet dream that would be sticky that'd be Inception rated X there definitely is an Inception porn parody that is that concept right

maybe if not can we make that who's the star finally gonna whip it out Griffey finally finally right? Maybe. If not, can we make that? Who's the star? Finally going to whip it out, Griffey? Finally. Finally,

yeah. You say that as if there's a demand. What are you talking about? Major demand. Put it back. But really, why I like the snow is just because of the outfits. Cool outfits.

It's always good. Anytime, anytime you- It's a good look. You have to, you have to- Like, when Marion shows up in her snowsuit, she's looking great look you have to you have to like when marion shows up

in her snowsuit she's looking great i feel like they all look like gi joes in this sequence like they look like gi joes like on an arctic mission and right and there's this thing where saito keeps getting better every time they drop down but then he gets sick again like you know like it only stops the bullet for so long in He starts coughing in the napkin. But they're all becoming buds. It's really crucial to me, the Cobb-Sido thing, where he's just working for Sido at the start of the movie. But by the third, there's so much emotion

invested in Sido, and he's so crucial to their final tower defense. Yeah, and I also think... No room for tourists on this job. You know, where they're basically taping a grenade to his hand so he can throw it later. Right. I also think no room for tourists on this job you know like where they're like basically like taping a grenade to his hand so he can throw it later

like right I also think it's not just oh I can't let this guy die because because I need him for my thing I think at a certain point

it becomes like I don't want to let him die like I can't have blood on my hands I can't be responsible for another person's death exactly I have sent someone

to limbo before it is my greatest guilt right he becomes emotionally invested in Saito as a chance to turn the tide. Not to get ahead of the movie, but my argument basically is that

where he failed with Maul, he succeeds with Saito. And that's why... No one loves that repetitive dialogue right from the start and then over and over again, like radical notions, leap of faith.

Like he's reaching out to him, you know, once they're in limbo. But I love that they're also, we're building at the same time the killing Murphy character more and more. I mean, all these scenes and all these interactions. That's great too, yeah. He's the arc I love the most in this movie. Because I think it's interesting that he comes in so late. It's the movie within the movie. It's the story of him.

And he's the guy who has like a real kind of like grand emotional story. The thing they keep doing with him is his wallet where they're like $400. I know. Yeah. And I know how much your wallet costs. Is that a blender? A little bit. Well,

it's kind of a blender. A little bit. By the way, thank you for all the blender suggestions. I love that. I love that too. Alex loves it too. I think he's,

we've been talking about it. Um, but, uh, yeah, it's just, and he plays it um but uh yeah it's just and he plays it so deftly yeah but just this guy who's like it's essentially like my dad made me play little league all the time I was never good at baseball and now I've been forced to play in

the majors you know right yeah yeah and it's like he's conflicted between knowing it's not really what he loves knowing he's not very good at it and having this chip on his shoulder of needing to prove it but he's not bratty at all he's a very sweet he's not brat what he loves, knowing he's not very good at it, and having this chip on his shoulder of needing to prove it, but he's not bratty at all. He's a very sweet... He's not bratty. He just, yeah, wishes his dad had been nicer. And now he's lost him and the door's closed. But the vault door maybe can be open.

Maybe, but... It's cold in here. Can we go somewhere warmer? Is there anywhere warmer we could go? I, I, I'm... Oh, no, explosions. Yeah, let's blow up the hospital. The hospital's caving in.

Okay. How many podcasts do we have left? Are there any more podcasts we can go to? I mean, is there? I don't know. I've never gone this deep before in a podcast. I think we're going to have to go into unstructured podcast space. We're going to have to go into the cloud. Hold on. Let me just check we're

still recording. Alright, we're good. Great, let's go. Ready? Yeah. Okay. David, plug? Oh, thank you. Thanks for the plug. Anytime. Here's another plug. Watch the tech, August 25th. Will that be in the cloud with us? Yeah, well, yes.

I mean, Amazon, right? No physical media ever. Okay, we shot the entire series on fire tablets. You know Amazon, right. No physical media ever. Okay. We shot the entire series on fire tablets. You know that, right? Okay, everyone. You're waiting for a podcast. A podcast that will take you far away. You know where you hope this podcast will take you, but you don't know for sure.

Yet it doesn't matter. Because we'll be podcast. Hi everybody, this is Griffin Newman. This is David Sins, Blank Check, Griffin's Pod Night cast and caption. I don't know, dude. I'm on a beach right now. Sometimes they bounce, baby, and I'm in a collapsing skyscraper. Does anyone have any rice? Any bowls of rice?

David, it is important that we get to the end of this episode and that we find Ben, okay? Right, and we have to do the kicks. Because Ben is down here somewhere. We got to find Ben. We got to kick him. Yeah, perfect, perfect. Okay? All right. So let's get to the end of the movie. Now we have syn. We gotta kick him. Yeah, perfect. Perfect. Okay. Alright. So let's get to the end of the movie. Now we have synced up with the movie.

Just about. Because once they're in the Ice Palace. Yes. Which I keep calling it that. I think it's like a prison. I don't know what. No. It's Arendelle. It's the kingdom from Frozen. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Saito, they decide to, right, no, no, right.

Maul shoots Killian Murphy. She shows up. Fucking Ariande is like, take the shot. She's not real. Don't let Killian Murphy get shot. What if she is real, though? It's pretty annoying. What the fuck are we talking about?

So she shoots Killian. He shoots Maul. Yes. So that's when, yeah, he meets up with everyone. He's like, fuck it. I mean, he's dead, so nothing we can do. Well, it was a good while it lasted. Yeah, Tom Hardy's like, I wanted to see what was behind that door.

Right. But Ariana is like, well, why don't we just go into limbo? She's scrappy. She hasn't been beaten down by this industry yet. She still believes that things are possible. She thinks you can go. Right, exactly. She's like, we can go in limbo.

It won't change us. Yeah, let me just take another pass at it. I can fix the third act problems. And so they're going to get him out. Yes. And then ride the kicks back up is her concept. Ride them kicks. So he's like, be ready here.

At this point, we're starting to cut. With the defibrillator. Now, yeah, this movie is really singing. We're starting to cut. We're cutting to Dealey Brow driving a van around town, and then eventually we're just cutting to the van is just hung in midair, just dropping real slow. I just love Hans Zimmer's score,

and you're cutting between people shooting in the snow, right? Joseph Gordon-Levitt fighting in a hotel room, which we'll talk about this in half a second. In literally half a second. Right. And them walking by all these collapsing buildings In literally half a second. Right. And, you know, them walking by all these collapsing buildings trying to find everybody. Yeah.

And then just like Joseph Gordon-Levitt sleeping. Everyone asleep. Listening to headphones. Or really just the van just going like... Right. My favorite is just when they cut to a close-up of a sleeping head and the Zimmer score is blaring and you're like, fuck yeah! But right, yeah, because they're hanging in the air,

the hotel now has no gravity. Right. So right, you have this wonderful, I mean, it was the set piece of the trailer. And it's like, why movies exist? It's so true. Like, there's a lot of stuff that movies can be, but like, it's a perfect example of something that can only happen in this

medium. I agree. And it's just magical, and I think Nolan and Fister and everybody have always done this great job of never totally explaining how they did it. Yeah. There are pieces of it that have been explained. They built some kind of, they call it the hamster wheel, some kind of set. They built a gimbal and the camera is

always locked with the gimbal and the gimbal is spinning. So the actors are having to walk up the walls but the camera and the room are locked. But then there's the later one where they're floating up and down. Which is so cool. So the actors are having to walk up the walls, but the camera and the room are locked. But then there's the later one where they're floating up and down. Which is so cool. So cool. Which is great. But that shot of him crawling up

the weird rotating staircase. And the score is just swelling. Dun, dun, dun. I've never seen this the first time and just giggling. I know, it was delightful. I was just so giddy with like, you know, okay, so this is why he had to do all this stuff in the movie that's wonky. To get to this point without any dialogue where you're just existing on like a pure state. Because people said like, why could he have done the movie without the explanation?

It's like, well, then you're doing like the Holy Mountain. Like that's a movie that works with dream logic, but you can't get emotionally invested in it. It doesn't have a narrative. And you certainly can't make people excited during an action sequence. And that's like his big gambit. It's like, I'm going to bet everything. I'm with you. You know, bet it all on black for like an hour and a half

so that the last hour just like pays out. Great gambling metaphor. Thank you. Right? That works? I don't know. So great. But then also, so we're cutting between all these things. Dealey Brow driving around Joseph Gordon-Levitt

not a very good driver either terrible yeah really bad why'd they put him in charge Joseph Gordon-Levitt uh rumbling around the hotel yeah

the zero grav hotel right the ice planet uh you've got Saito and Eames are trying to like hold everyone off

fight off right like throwing grenades jumping around like sewers and stuff killing Murphys just slowly dying Saito and Eames are trying to hold everyone off. Fight off, right. Like throwing grenades, jumping around like sewers and stuff. Kelly Murphy's just slowly dying. Saito is also slowly dying. You're kind of with them at this point. Stakes have never been greater.

And then in Limbo, you know, they can just, it takes forever in Limbo. So he's just like, yeah, anyway, so this is the world we created, me and Maul. We decided we should live in a city that is endless skyscrapers and a grid. We're not weird at all. Well, that's the thing he's now revealed before they go into limbo is I've been to limbo before. I built everything there. I've done Inception before, and it blew up in my face because my Inception was, hey, maybe you should wake up. Right, right.

And she wouldn't stop thinking. But it wouldn't go away. Right. It was like a programming override. Like every time she woke up, she was like, I'm still sleeping. Let me wake up again. And that is symbolized by this thing where he goes into some safe in her like. Dollhouse.

Dollhouse. Right. And opens it and spins the top again. Right. And the top's just spinning. Just spinning forever. It's a good symbol. Yes.

Inception. So now they go up. They're trying to find. I just love how he's just saying like, you know, we always wanted to live in a small house in the city. So we built this. You're like, this is terrifying. It's just skyscrapers. But we're also, it's decrepit at this point.

I know. But you do see brief shots of it when it's like supposedly nice. And you're still like, this is a weird thing to want to do. And they essentially built up. Like it's like supposedly nice and you're still like this is a weird thing to want to do. They essentially built up like it's like one homey house. Yeah. Like sandwiched in between clinical skyscrapers. And were people there?

You don't see anything. But Bacob Salad realizes like if we're trying to find Kelly Murphy why do I keep on remembering forgetting his name? What is Kelly Murphy's name in this movie? Roger, Robert, Roger, Robert, Roger, Robert, Robert Fisher. Fisher, Fisher.

That's the name I'm looking for. Was fishing for that one. He's like, I guarantee you Maul has Fisher. We got to find Maul. We'll find Fisher. If I know my own fucked up brain. Sure. I think my dead wife's memory is holding this guy hostage.

So he's like, let's go to the apartment, the apartment where our kids are. And they get in there and now it's like the two of them sitting at a table. It's the Dark Knight interrogation scene. Yeah, but it's also, right, and it's also this place

he keeps dreaming about too, their apartment. Right, and everything's collapsing around them. It's like a fucking Roland Emmerich movie. This is, right, and this is the point at which Nolan is really fudging, like having, wanting you to think about like,

is any of his shit real? Like the thing with his kids, did that happen to him? Like how much is he dreaming anything? Which the whole movie is operating and constructed through dream logic. So even the scenes that are sensibly in the real world feel dreamy in a lot of ways. Yeah.

Um, and she's just sort of like calling out and going like how do you know what's real bro? How do you know what's real? Right. Trying to get him to stay there with her. Yeah.

Burn it all down. Right. She's like stay here with me forever. And Leo is like okay I'll do it if you give Robert over to Ariadne. Yes.

And Ariadne's like no don't do it. You know, like, don't, ah, limbo, it's unconstructed. She kicks him off the side of the building. But he's like,

listen up, I have to go get Saito, my real boyfriend. I'll be back in like, three seconds, ten years, I don't know. Hard to tell.

But like, right, like that's the crucial thing he's realized. Not that he has to like stay with Maul and whatever sure write screenplays about his fucking girlfriend forever right

so yeah she kicks him off yes and then she jumps off herself and then he's there digging for Saito and you know we forgot to talk about my favorite image in the entire film and we talked about it jokingly but not really not that I have to dig into it that much but I think it's the weirdest

image in the movie and also sort of the most Nolan-y image in his entire filmography is the entire cast of beautiful actors dressed immaculately stacked up on top of each other in the air wrapped up in foam cords it's great it's so weird it's wonderful

People say the dream stuff isn't weird enough. That's the weirdest. It's pretty weird It's pretty weird Especially because this movie keeps on like after he's assembled the team and there's the whole section with them plotting There's the thing that was the poster where it's like all of them staggered on an intersection Yes in the middle of an empty street and they're all just blocked perfectly at different like depths So that you can see them all clearly and the movie does that like six or seven times like oh he's obsessed with trying to get all of them in

one good widescreen frame and that's like or just like stack them on top of each other wrap a phone cord and float them around in the sky it's great but he does that so right because at this point we watch the kicks happen right and goes Gordon Levitt's in the elevator with the explosives yeah they lie down in the elevator with the explosives. Yeah.

They lie down in the ice palace blow themselves up. Right. Or blow the hospital up to make them fall. Right. Right. Has Cillian Murphy

woken up again yet? Right. Well because right at the same point the defibrillator she kicks him out. Right. And then they're like

okay go have emotional realization please quickly now. As quick as you can. Which is kind of like on set where you save the big scene for the end of the day and they're like we're fighting the light if you could really

we got like three takes max um so he goes in there and Puzzlethwaite is in there shot from an amazing angle P. Puzzlethwaite has one of the most interesting noses in human history and we're shooting right up the nostrils uh yes that is true

he's good. He's so good. In his brief. He was such a good actor. He was. But yeah, it is. I think it is funny that during this super high tension heist climax, he succeeds at hitting pause for just a minute.

For a character who was not a central emotional focus for the first act. And he's done a decent job distilling, because we've had this picture that he keeps looking at himself with a pinwheel. The pinwheel, like he opens the safe, the pinwheel's in it, he's crying. And like Tom Hardy's watching,

and he's like, yeah, we got it. Because he's the audience, right? We should say, by the way, Robert Fisher is the audience. Yes, yeah. And yeah, he? We should say, by the way, Robert Fisher is the audience. Yes. Yeah. And yeah, he says, you know, like, disappointed. He's like, I know, Father, you're disappointed that I never became you.

Disappointed that you even tried. Yes. Pretty affecting. That's pretty emotionally affecting, right? Yeah. I find that touching. Yeah. And it is like tracking with this metaphor of him being the audience,

it's like we kind of look to art and entertainment to give us emotional resolution on things that we never got the emotional resolution on in life, to make sense of emotions that we were not able to sort out ourselves, incidents that we were not able to sort out ourselves, right? It's like they all construct this lie

where his father gets to tell him the thing that would make him be free from all the burden of expectations. What I like is we believe it. 100%. Because, of course, we don't know the real father because he's not a character in this movie. So we're just like, yeah, no, that's what it's always been. That's why he's sad.

Right. His dad was disappointed because he's sad right his dad was disappointed because he uh tried right to be his dad instead of being his own person not to go up around butthole too much but like you know nolan movies are all about confidence they're about con men but it's also like that's what fucking filmmaking is like you're trying to confidently sell people on a false reality and make them care about things that aren't real because a shot of joseph gordon levitt listening to headphones should not have any impact on an audience it should mean less than nothing there's a reason people don't watch hit record joe it's because that's an uninteresting

image right hit record hit record hit record took me a while to figure that out i also thought it was a movie thing but it's a music thing it's both or whatever i don't care anyway but the point is like the magic of filmmaking is you put these disparate elements together and they become something greater, even though they're just a bunch of very technical things assembled in a vacuum. They all ride up. The elevator. Well, sure, right. But, you know, they all

ride the kicks up. They're popping. Leo's down in limbo. He, we repeat the scene from the beginning. Yeah. He's Saito is old, so we, I guess the idea is he's just been stuck here for decades. Right? Yeah. And Leo pulls him out by appealing to like their shared connection, which is, you know,

we are both essentially maniacs. Right? Like we're both, right? Like that's the thing. Like lost man tilting at windmills trying to define some sense of greatness in our legacy. Right. Which is a funny thing when you think about the fact that Leo is a thief, a high-end thief, and Saito is a businessman.

Business, we don't even know what it is. It's like conglomerates. Right. But it works, and that gets them out, right? Like, that's all it is. Yes. Like, we don't need to see them ride the kicks up, because they just need to get out of limbo.

Yes. But it does work. It just works. Yes Like we don't need to see them ride the kicks up Because they just need to get out of limbo Yes But it does work It just works Which is I think credit Wait a second You see that old man over there The long wispy ginger beard It's so wispy

You can barely see it It looks familiar So have you come to kill me i've been waiting for someone to come for me someone from your half-remembered dream cob no that's a griffin my name's griffin griffin you might know another guy named cobb who looks like me it's I'm Griffin not possible he and I were young men together we recorded a podcast but I am an old man filled with regret waiting to die alone yes

I'm gonna stare at you very intensely now And not blink once Big Leo eyes Oh how's the rice by the way? Really good thank you so much You looked hungry Yeah the way I'm eating it is making it hard to get into my mouth Cause I'm grabbing the fork with my full fist It's a little

It's a little deranged It's a little sweaty Yeah Also your eyes are fucked up Thank you Well I worked really hard on that Just FYI guys we still have to do the box office game and talk about the finale I came back for you

I came to for you. I came to remind you of what you once knew. That this world is not real. Maybe I came to convince you to honor an arrangement? Boy, oh boy. Oh, yeah. Did you come to convince me to honor some type of arrangement we had established when I was a young man?

Yes. Yes, and to take a leap of faith. Come back, and we'll be young men together again. Wait, one last thing I want to tell you. What's up? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I know you were disappointed that we did all those episodes on the Star Wars prequels that we committed to doing.

50 hours of episodes just on the Star Wars prequels. I know you're disappointed. I've had a lot of time to reflect upon that. You've been here in Lumbo, yeah. 50 years. Unstructured dream space. Griffin, no. Never apologize.

I'm disappointed you didn't do more. What? Yeah. Hey, guys. I'm disappointed you didn't do more. What? Yeah. Hey, guys. I'm sitting on a beach. There's the van. Oh, wait. We've got to go up a couple more levels. David, get him with us. David! David! It's so cold! Oh, wait. I think we went the wrong corner. We went down a level. Hold on. We're going back up.

That's fine. That's up. You're doing it. This is a nice hotel, but we're floating. Okay, let's back up a little more. A little further. Oh, man. Driving a van. Okay, one more. Okay. Oh, wow. Hot towel.

Here we are on the plane. Thank you very much. Oh, Benny, you're looking at Griffin really weird. And then picking up your phone. Hold on. I have to make a quick call. Yes. Give him what he wants. We get to do 50 more episodes on the Phantom Menace trilogy?

Yes. Yes, you do. In all this time, David, I thought it was our idea. But now I feel like perhaps i was inception you get it david i get it can we talk it's a very confusing narrative can we talk about several different temporalities we talk about but i think it's actually abundantly clear maybe it's sometimes it felt sweaty real sweaty But I think with a little bit of tightening in the edit. This is as sweaty as we were recording the Prestige episode. All right.

Great job. Thank you. Loved it all. Great. Couple things. Sure. Yeah. After they wake up.

That was crazy, by the way. Oh, nuts. Yeah. Let's talk about the ending of the movie now. After they wake up. Yeah. Hans Zimmer's the way. Oh, nuts. Yeah. Let's talk about the ending of the movie now. After they wake up. Yeah. Hans Zimmer's time. Yes.

Kicks on to the soundtrack, right? And this is his, this has become his like fucking Star Wars theme or whatever, right? This is what he shreds on his electric guitar when he plays Radio City Musical. This is what he closes his Coachella set with. Yes. This is his encore. I know. Isn't that hilarious?

And I remember when like he was announced to be doing that and me and joey were texting each other we were like time's got to be the closer right it's got to be time time's your one like you go on youtube there's like so many videos that are like han zimmer's time 10 hours long or you know people who just want to listen to it forever um but leo you know that one of Leo's finest moments as an actor I think is him

playing waking up on the plane and all the looks at everybody it's a totally silent scene of acting all close ups of him

trying to come to terms with what just happened he's looking at everyone and he's like looking at Arthur who's smiling because it worked he's looking at Saito

who looks really confused, but then picks up the phone. Right. And then, you know, and then he turns around to look at, uh, Killian Murphy,

who is also doing a great job of like, I had the weirdest dream. You know what I mean? And, uh, I really think the end of inception is like the end of Titanic where it's like, it's so perfectly executed that you walk out just on a total high yeah because

you're basically they did it they convinced that businessman to break up his company and there's de la ferrara waiting for his luggage at the carousel like it's that same he's seeing everyone like the the music is going it's all swelly and everyone's giving him these kind of knowing nods and then michael cain's like welcome welcome come home it's almost like the end of saturday night live when everyone's like hugging each other and you're just sort of like we Michael King's like, welcome, welcome, come home. It's almost like the end of Saturday Night Live when everyone's like hugging each other and you're just sort of like, we did it. It's like a wrap party. It's like a wrap party. Have you had your wrap party? Oh, you slept through it or you pooped through it or whatever.

Great. Congrats on that. Thank you. And then we're led to see his children. Yes. And he's like and he finally realizes maybe this feels like too perfect. Let me spin this top. Spin the top. Then he's like and he finally realizes maybe this feels like too perfect. Let me spin this top. Spin the top. Then he sees their faces, which

to me is such a like cathartic moment. He's done so well to hide them from you. Waiting for those faces. They're his kids. Take something away. Or at least the boy is his kid. Make people realize how much they missed it. Right. No, I mean I'm fucking up the line, but it is. Cobb, it's Cobb, he's back. But no, yeah, right right it's Nolan's kids

at least the boy oh the boy is not the girl but the boy is and um and then yeah I mean you cut to the the top

spinning right the audience you're with in the theater goes oh and then it like wobbles slightly cut to black

title everyone shrieks hot take doesn't matter no I think the whole beauty of. Hot take. Doesn't matter. No. I think the whole beauty of the movie is it doesn't matter whether or not the top's spinning. The entire point narratively, emotionally, is that he didn't need to check anymore. Right.

And also, I mean, that's what Nolan would say, I think. And yes, and he's had, right, he's free of Maul. Right. I think there's a very good chance he's still in a dream. You know, sometimes I rewatch it and think the whole thing's a fucking dream, but I think it doesn't matter. He's found his inner peace. And he and Saito

are best friends. That's all that matters. The two friends. You need to go soon. I do. Let's play the box office game. So here's the box office game. This movie,

everyone thought was like going to be a big fucking Oscar play and then they snubbed him once again. It got the best picture nom because of the 10. And it got a screenplay nom.

And it won best cinematography. And best visual effects I think. I believe editing? I'm going to look it up. Should have won editing. It's a well edited movie. Yeah. This is movies often are. Let's see. It was the winner

of four Oscars. Okay. It should have won score. That was the real snub. What won that year instead? I'll find out. But it won cinematography, sound mixing, sound editing, visual effects.

It did not win editing. Wasn't nominated for editing. Nuts. Somewhat outrageous. Nuts. The nominees for editing Social Network, which won,

which was actually a wonderful win. Oh, and Social Network won score as well. Right. Which is a great score. You're right. It is a fucking great score. Yeah. Yeah.

That's the social network here yeah anyway so yeah and it was nominated for score art direction screenplay but he gets some director after getting the DGA nom which it's the third time this has happened for him now he gets a DGA nom and then

gets snubbed when they go to the majors snubs and flubs yeah movie comes out on July 16th 2010 and everyone's like is this a risky gamble or how indulgent is Warner Brothers? Yeah, right. Dream Thieves, the movie? It would cost $160.

$292 domestic, $825 worldwide. Humongous. Just a humongous hit. Just an absolute baller hit. It must be the third highest grossing original film ever, right? Totally original material. I mean, it must be the third highest grossing original film ever, right? Totally original material. I can't look that up to you right now.

I would assume it's the two Camerons in this. The director nominees that year are Tom Hooper, who wins. Fincher. Fincher. David O. Russell for The Fighter. Aronofsky.

The Coens for True Great, which is a masterpiece. And Aronofsky for Black Swan. Tough year. Tough year. But Tom Hooper. Tom Hooper, though. Fucking Tom Hooper.

So, number one inception 62 million dollars opening weekend which people were like okay good opening like people were like maybe it's gonna open to 40 but then you know they still might not make back their budget it did like five times opening weekend it was crazy crazy sleeper hit yes number two number two so it's july it was number one the week before July 2010 it's an animated film the start of a series

yes Despicable Me which has made 118 in two weeks yeah I was very surprised when that movie did well because I remember that movie

the word on it was uh oh they fucked up this movie's gonna bomb and then suddenly and the advertising was all over the place it was very unclear it was all over the place

but then suddenly in the last two weeks no but yeah in the last two weeks they shift to just the minions they shift to these minions and I remember reading a Deadline article

that was like a lot of people think this is a risky proposal like shows how desperate they are like these cutesy cartoon characters these are not appealing characters

what a bad idea to bet on the minions this is annoying yeah anyway now they are president massive success are not appealing characters. What a bad idea to bet on the Minions. This is annoying. Yeah. Anyway. Now they are president. Massive success. Number three

is the other big new movie of the week starring your favorite actor. What is it? Who remembered this one? Are you being facetious? No.

It is my favorite actor? I don't know. You love him. He's one of my guys and it's a big movie. It's a Disney movie. It's like a actor? I don't know. You love him. He's one of my guys. And it's a big movie. It's a Disney movie. It's like a family movie, but like a big budget action, like sort of fantasy movie. It's a remake, sort of.

It's a remake, sort of. It's a remake of a Disney film? Yeah. Live action or animated? Animated, but it's live action. It's sort of a remake of a Disney film. It's a live action film. It will cost $150 million.

It opened to $17 million and makes $63 million total, $215 million worldwide. It's probably the last big budget movie starring this guy. Maybe not. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. I can't believe it opened the same weekend. I know, and I saw it that weekend. Jesus. This is The Sorcerer's Apprentice

starring Nicolas Cage. Correct. Based off one short from Fantasia and Teresa Palmer and Alfred Molina. Correct. Yes. Monica Bellucci, too. Yeah, it's a crazy movie.

Didn't do well. A film that killed National Treasure 3. Yeah. Like the two National Treasure movies were so big for Disney. Yeah. And this, they took such a bath on this and it was Turtletop and Cage that they immediately kicked a National Treasure 3 back, which is really annoying because there are a lot of unanswered questions from National Treasure 2.

So sorry. Number four is a- Book of Secrets. No. They opened the book. Is the third entry in a very popular franchise of the moment. It has made $264 million.

Twihard. Twilight Eclipse? Correct. I also saw that. I was working at a summer camp this summer and I saw most of these movies. I would leave late at night and drive with my friend Scott Crater when we'd go to the multiplex and see movies. Wow. Did you jerk each other off in the theater?

Yeah, we'd jerk each other off in the theater. Congrats. I will say, when we were watching Twilight Eclipse, I turned to him at one point and I said, I bet Edward's penis looks like a glitter pen, and he says that's the funniest thing I've ever said. That is pretty fucking funny. I think it was a good joke. He gave me

10 comedy points. Great. Number 5 is one of those Pixar cartoons you love so much. 233. Correct. 362. The top grossing film of that year. Attention must be paid. You also got Grown Ups. Yep. Which is doing great. Last Airbender. Okay I was

going to ask. Last Airbender has come out at this point and dropped like a stone. It has in 3 weeks made 115 and it's already at number 7. Last Airbender. Okay, I was going to ask. Last Airbender has come out at this point and dropped like a stone. It has, in three weeks, made 115, and it's already at number seven. Because it opened huge. I mean, pretty big. Not huge, but big. It's not doing great now, though. No. Yeah, exactly.

But it'll make some money. It's made 115. You got Predators. Yeah, a movie no one remembers. Now they're rebooting Predator again with Shane Black directing. The Predator. Night and Day. Ooh.

A forgotten entry in everyone's filmography. Yeah. And that was supposed to be a big crew's comeback. The Karate Kid. A massive success that no one talks about. Cyrus. The film that launched the Duplass brothers onto HBO forever. I'm not the first one to say this.

That movie's okay. Yeah. I just will never stop complaining about this. Karate Kid, the Jaden Smith remake, features zero karate. That movie's okay. Yeah. I just will never stop complaining about this. Karate Kid, the Jaden Smith remake, features zero karate. It's exclusively about kung fu. They never say the word karate in the movie. That title drives me crazy. It should be called The Kung Fu Kid.

Great. Kids Are Alright. Exclusively about kung fu. You forget The Kids Are Alright was like a spring movie that made it all the way to the Oscars. It's a summer picture. It's a June release. Yeah, you're right. Sorry, whatever. I was reading it wrong. I thought it was out for Oscars. It's a summer picture. Okay. It's a June release. Yeah, you're right. Sorry, whatever. I was reading it wrong.

I thought it was out for 15 weeks. It's actually been out for two. Oh. Iron Man 2 is at the bottom. Yeah. Yeah. The A-Team. Yeah, A-Team I think

is kind of underrated. Shrek Forever Actor after. Yeah. And it was. Mm-hmm. And it was. Robin Hood. That cleared 100. A lot of 2010 blockbusters that don't exist. Here'shmm. And it was. Robinhood. That cleared 100.

A lot of 2010 blockbusters that don't exist. Here's the billing order. Okay. Of Inception, and then we'll go. I was going to quiz you, but you got it there. I have it here. Do you want it? No, well, it's okay.

No, you got it, so quiz me. Give it to me. Quiz me. Okay, so number one's the Caps. Correct. Number two is Watanabe, which is crazy. I love it. But you love it.

He's the best. He's my boy. Number three. The emotional spine of the He's my boy. Number three. The emotional spine of the movie is him and Saito. It really is. Number three is JGL. Correct. Which is very bizarre that he gets above Cotillard and Page.

Cotillard is four. Page is five. Okay. Yeah, but it's true because Cotillard and Page, Oscars. Right. Yeah, anyway. And JGL hadn't been in a big blockbuster yet. And he'd been in JGL. Oh, right. He's, I think, really fun in that movie. Yeah, he. And JGL hadn't been in a big blockbuster yet. And he'd been in J.I. Joe.

Oh, right. He's, I think, really fun in that movie. Yeah, he's good in that one. Number six. Cotillard and Page are next. He got those two. Number six would be Cillian Murphy.

No. Hardy. Then Murphy. Then Barringer. And Michael Caine. Correct. Did it. Dilley Brow didn't make it.

No, there's a split card. There's a shared card with three actors at the end, which is Dilley Brow, Lucas Haas, and Tallulah Riley. Yeah, they're the only other ones in it, really. Yeah, and then there's another card in memory of the Pussy Posse, and they list all the members. Yep. Yeah. Yeah.

So that's it. That's Inception, a very, very dumb, silly movie that I love, and I think it's very fun. I think you have to accept this movie for what it is, which is him trying to make a weird psychological thrill ride. I remember when they announced this movie, and it was top secret. No one knew what it was about. He said, it's a heist movie that takes place in the architecture of the mind. I was like, what the fuck does

that mean? And then you saw it and you're like, oh no, it literally is a movie about people performing a heist in the architecture of the mind. You can't put this goofy, nerdy idea and committed to it. And the movie's sweaty and it's sloppy. And as you jump through a bunch of hoopsops but if you're gonna ride with it it's fucking fun

Do you like it Ben? I loved it And it's also this anomalous fucking film where it's like this fully original film that felt like him getting his blank check that ended up being as big as his other movies pretty much making a huge cultural impact and no one has dared tried to make anything this

ambitious since Yeah I'd have to think about it. In this kind of making a huge cultural impact, and no one has dared try to make anything this ambitious since. Yeah, I'd have to think about it. In this kind of sphere, trying to make like, you know. Interstellar's up there, but yeah. Yeah. This is really concerned with being a popcorn movie. Yeah, you're right. You're right.

Even more so. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just think it's like him trying to do like his Hitchcock, where it's like, can I make something that's smart, but also just like gets the thrills and shows. And also a Bond movie. And dumb people in the audience can just have

fun watching it. And then what comes next? The Dark Knight Rises. Oh boy, we're going to do Bartman jokes again.

Yep. Richard T. Bane. I think it's Michael J. Bane. Yeah, I think you're right.

Please don't mess up my bits. Thank you all for listening everybody. David is whipping me with his AC cord please remember to rate, review, subscribe

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