At the Behest of <em>Inception</em>

Once in a while pop culture is dealt a major blow by an intrepid director with an audacious spirit that conveys a film with a sheer lucidity that breaks across cultural bounds. Christopher Nolan is that man and Inception is his film.

If you are not familiar with the premise of Nolan's blockbuster it involves a furtive group of suave thieves who steal ideas from a person's subconscious -- in this case the protagonist Dom Cobb, portrayed by Oscar nominee Leonardo Dicaprio, is charged with planting a single idea into someone's mind. Of course it is not that simple and Nolan leads us into his maze of compelling storyline juxtaposed with action and mind-bending dialogue. Unfortunately, you can not fully be told what Inception is -- you have to see it for yourself.

What I am hedging at here is the Pandora 's Box director Nolan unearths. Why do we dream? Moreover, why don't we have the where withal to know we are dreaming and take advantage of that evanescent moment? Scientists are not sure why it is that humans dream. Much like the summer movie experience one can simply relegate the experience to a form of escapism. However, we can not ignore the singular truth that often times dreams stick with us. Not necessarily in a stolid fashion as evinced by the computer graphics of Inception but rather moments of déjà vu that are interspersed through our varying experiences.

Explaining the consequences of dreams is more or less as convoluted as understanding why they occur in the first place. Nevertheless, Christopher Nolan inspires serious contemplation concerning the subject of dreams. Inception is a unique movie lost in a summer of mediocrity. My hope is that Inception will be discovered come Oscar season, for now my hope is that you will see it.