Looking back over 2010, it becomes clear that we are in the middle of a major shift within the film industry. For better or for worse, 3D is a part of Hollywood. Not every picture will be released in 3D, but we will watch as “flat” movies fade into a lesser role, much like black and white films did in the last century. I’m sure that next year’s summer tent-pole pictures will be all 3D releases. With that in mind I would like to give a hand to the film that might end up being the last big summer blockbuster released exclusively in 2D: “Inception.”

“Inception” was everything that you could want in a big summer action picture. It had a recognizable A-list cast; actors from “Juno” were in it, as were individuals from “Titanic” and “500 Days of Summer.” It was visually spectacular. I don’t know any other movie preview that could be so easily synced up with the audio from the “Double Rainbow” video and have it describe how your internal monologue sounds like when you watch the actual movie. Trains coming down the middle of the street? Residential neighborhoods contouring themselves like Chinese acrobats? Gratuitous hyper-slow motion? It’s starting to look like a triple rainbow! What does it mean?! Sure, the movie would have looked amazing in 3D, but it sure was nice to get a nice little feeling of awe without having to strap on those damn glasses.

The biggest strength of the movie, what pulled people into the theaters, was that the movie was based around one good, original idea. Most movies don’t even have that going for them in this age of sequels, prequels, remakes and tie-ins. Too much of the content that makes it to screen is rehashed schlock, old IP or dead horses to beat on. Sure, “Waking Life” has some similar ideas but it’s not a copy of that movie in any way. “Inception” fed our brains the teaser early in the film, set up a world so similar to the one that we live in but at the same time so fantastical and amazing that it could only be a place we could imagine in a dream.

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