There are two movies that I considered walking out of . . . one was a Netflix disc Slumdog Millionaire, which was so full of treachery and pain that I considered walking out, until I realized I was at home . . . but after two nights, I finally opted to watch it to the end . . . and am glad I did, because it did work out to satisfaction.

Inception is the first movie I have watched in a theater in many years that people actually walked out, and somewhere in the first hour, and for quite a few moments, I wanted to be one of them, mainly because the storyline was too . . . troubling.

This is a multi-layered movie . . . the layering is different that most films . . . in that the layers are layers of consciousness . . . levels of awareness . . . . beginning with the waking state . . . which most of us are currently in. with the possible exception of Mitch McConnell.

This movie is a trip . . . into the dream world, where new technologies allow certain individuals to enter the dream states of their target clients to extract secrets and implant ideas . . . a project known as Inception. It is a highly complex blend of former incursions into this idea, such as Dreamscape and What Dreams May Come, with some very James Bondian action sequences added for the finale. Students of Tibetan Buddhism will enjoy this film, as it takes us into the lower bardos (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardo), levels of consciousness where previous notions have been implanted, and the effect of which is that from which we must free ourselves.

There is insight here, if the viewer keeps their eyes on the prize (the ending), which, when it comes, is inconclusive . . . but at least we make our way back to the "surface," for which, as the audience, we are very thankful, mainly because this movie is a deep descent into the nether realms of human consciousness, and as such, makes one want to walk out at times, thinking that we may be getting into too deep . . . and that this movie is going to affect us more than we'd prefer . . . or perhaps this movie is sneaking into our unconscious and planting something . . . but if you stick with it, you will get home safely, though changed. I have been changed watching this movie, in the sense that when I left the theater and entered the stark sunlight of day, I wondered what level of dreaming I was currently in, and that alone should caution you about even seeing this movie. Need I say more ?

-- Thomas Ormsby