INCEPTION

Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Run time: 148 min

What if you can enter someone's dream and steal something out of it? Well, there wasn't much to steal from my mind, but if you are some corporate hot shot, there are plenty of things to steal.

Think of this, before painting Nightwatch, Rembrandt must have imagined it in his mind right? What if you can steal that idea from people's mind, especially important people. Wouldn't that be a breakthrough?

Billing as the first existential heist movie, Christopher Nolan just saves Hollywood from remake and sequel summer redundancy. With layers of stories comparable to any layer cake, true movie fans will be satisfied with what Nolan has offered so far.

Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a man expertize in stealing secrets from people's dream, now he has to raise the bar by implanting an idea in someone's mind. Burdened by his own dark past, Dom Cobb assemble a team that will penetrate subconscious and finish his mission, while his past still haunt him.

It is not just a mere intellectual thrill ride, but it also involves some epic action scenes like snow chasing (I hope he will helm any James Bond movies in the future) and mind bending fighting in a rotating hotel corridor.

Unlike most movies, all the action and special effect helps the structure of the story. Most people will liken this to the Matrix given its similarities in combining science fiction with philosophical problems. But this one manage one step ahead by not overusing special effect and make Dom Cobb's future world seem close with our very own world. The acting is satisfying, Leonardo DiCaprio gives his best and Marion Cotillard steals some scenes.

If there’s one flaw some people might consider, it’s that Inception is more satisfying on an intellectual level than on an emotional one. But I don't mind that, since I am sick with movies which tries to provoke our emotion by cheap stuff like mellow songs and slow-motion scenes with mediocre story telling. Besides, this film doesn't need to strike people's emotion, it is all about the brain.

Under these layers of dreams Nolan put more subplot and detail that makes their character richer and has more depth. Inception is one of the best film in 2010 and will be talked about in years to come. It would be a crime if Inception didn't make it to be nominated at Academy Awards.

For those who dislike or having troubles following the complex structure of this film, there is one useful trick; concentrate.

The sweet irony is, without any technology that allows people to share their dreams, Nolan has managed to share his dream with us; with this film.

NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT PERSIAN CATS

Directed by: Bahman Ghobadi
Running time: 106 min

Welcome in Iran where secular music is slightly forbidden, especially if you want to make a concert. To the outer world Iran is the one we know from news, but do we know what is really going on in Iran? Through the lens of Bahman Ghobadi, we can have a peek on Iran (or Tehran's) daily life of struggle and hope.

My conclusion after watching this film is that the Iranian people is just like us; they have to struggle to make ends meet but with a slight twist; the youngsters need to do extra effort to get government permission for their creative work. In this case; music.

To people outside Iran, what the youngster do; establishing a music band with many genres like indie rock to jazz, is harmless. But the reality is, it is difficult for them to have government permission to held a concert.

Half documentary half fiction, the film follows two young aspiring musician (Ashkan and Negar) who tries to form a band. The pair befriends a big mouth man named Nader (Hamed Behdad) a music and American movie enthusiast. Nader helps them travel in clandestine around Tehran to meet other underground musicians possibly interested in forming a band and later (perhaps) try to leave the country to some other country (possibly England and they even hinted Iceland so they can meet Sigur Ros) where thay can free expressing their musical taste.

They also meet some guys who can falsify their passport and visa. You might wonder, they are not even political or planning to make any revolution. But it seems that it is very difficult for them to live in their own country and expressing their own hobby.

The film also highlights many of the legal and cultural challenges independent musicians and generally the Iranian youth have to face in Iran. You can't help to chuckle and being sad at the same time as you see Nader try to plea for his case in front of the police. His crime; having American movies in DVD and a bottle of alcoholic beverage.

In visiting those musicians viewers can get a taste on Iranian secular music, which is nice to hear. Who knows, it turns out to be indie rock music, jazz, death metal and rap can be so amazing in Farsi and so much different than all the trash we all hear in the radio.

Not only that, through the lyrics of the songs featured in this film, we can at least, know what these people are thinking or worrying of. In the end this film makes you wonder whether Coldplay will ever held their concert in Iran anytime soon.