My first official review! Let’s do it. Let it be known, you should not read this if you have not seen the movie and are planning on doing so in the future.

“Inception this!” “Inception that!” Literally, every time I would log into facebook or look anywhere on the internet, someone would be buzzing about this movie. I even saw one person call it “the best movie I have ever seen!” Between The Dark Knight and Inception, director Christopher Nolan has found ways to generate enough hype to power a small continent. I’ll be honest, I was a bit nervous to see this movie. When things get this much publicity and hype, I tend to become “that guy”. I hate to be “that guy”, but often times I can’t help it. There’s usually some sort of urge in me to want to go against the grain and sort of dislike what everyone else is liking. It’s most likely the “I wanna be hipster” in me. Overall, the movie has received acclaim from the overwhelming majority. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, but here are a few things to ponder…

I went with my friend Prince to the illustrious Pearl Theater only blocks away from Temple University in the beautiful area of North Philadelphia. Going to that theater is always such an experience. Watching a film with the locals here is completely different than with that of the white suburbia of Lansdale. Everyone seemed excited as the 15 minute previews ended. 

• The film screamed Christopher Nolan from the beginning. Start off right in the middle of the action, immediately drawing interest and intrigue. He’s got such a style to his writing and direction, and it’s proven successful. He finds ways to continually confuse the audience, but stops just shy of turning them completely off. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the protagonist, Dom Cobb. Cobb main goal is to complete inception, the idea of planting an idea in a person through their dreams in order to return home to the United States and his become reunited with his children. Cobb plans are made more complicated when it is revealed that his dead wife Mal manifests herself through DiCaprio’s subconscious in dreams. She becomes an awful annoyance throughout, but is eventually vanquished when a dreaming Cobb finally decides to push her aside. Aside from making this decision about Mal, Cobb’s character remains somewhat static throughout. In fact, most all of the characters do.
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character is not explained well enough. We are told he is the best at what he does…but what exactly did he do that was different from the other characters involved in the inception plan? We know that Ellen Paige’s character is the architect, there is an impersonator, and a chemist. We are told that Gordon-Levitt failed to do his research on the subject well enough, but was that really his only job? Everyone has one job and one goal, but beyond that, we don’t know much about a lot of the characters.
• Where, when, and why was the dream infiltration process started? The military is mentioned briefly, but beyond that, I was a bit unclear on that.
• The whole Saito going into Limbo was also a bit confusing and rushed. Why was Saito aged in the lowest level, but Cobb was not? And did Cobb get there anyways?
• The whole idea of the totem wasn’t really explained well enough to me. Leo’s top made sense, but what did the other totems do to determine the difference between dream and reality?

Overall, it was an extremely entertaining flick, just some things to think about. Nolan has a great way of interesting new ideas and inventing things through film, and he does not fall short with Inception.

OVERALL - B

I like to rank things. I think sometimes ranking is important. It’s where you can truly judge something. Maybe it’s the fact that I grew up on sports and still love them very much. I don’t know. Either way, here are my top 10 tv shows, movies, and albums of all genres. (NOTE: These lists are only based off of shows, movies, or albums that I’ve already listened to. So, for instance, The Sopranos or The Wire may not be on my list simply because I have not seen the series). I think it’s important that you know these things to figure out where I’m coming from in my reviews and opinions in the future.

TV Series

1. LOST - In-depth article about this series to come later in the week - I’m currently re-watching it.

2. Seinfeld - “That’s gold, Jerry! Gold!”

3. The Office - This is one of, if not the best written sitcoms in the past 5-10 years. The stories are genius and each and every character is supremely developed. 

4. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia - All of the characters are despicable people, but we find a way to love them.  

5. Arrested Development - You’ll find that characters are important to me, and this show is full of them.

6. Saturday Night Live - Think late 90s-early 2000s. Who doesn’t love a good Will Ferrell sketch? Hope it makes it back to greatness soon.

7. Late Night with Conan O’Brien - I had the privilege to see this show live twice, and let me tell you that Conan O’Brien is a talented and hilarious man. He’ll tear it up in late night on TBS in the fall, I’m sure of it. 

7. Curb Your Enthusiasm - Larry David is a genius. Situational comedy at it’s finest.

8. South Park - It’s edgy, controversial, and is guaranteed to shock. Always current, there’s something funny to find in it at all times.

9.  Friday Night Lights - So much story and better than your typical “high school drama”. The acting’s great. Check it out.

10. That 70s Show - This is my cheesy pick. It’s always been a favorite of mine. Fez will always make me laugh.

Films

1. American Beauty - Kevin Spacey at his finest. One of my performances of all time.

2. The Godfather - The obligatory pick, but let’s be honest, it’s pretty damn good.

3. Star Wars (The Original 3) - IA timeless classic that’s referenced hundreds of times a day.

4. Raging Bull - DeNiro. Pesci. Scorsese. Bam.

5. The Shawshank Redemption - Everyone’s seen it. And loves Morgan Freeman because of it.

6. Pulp Fiction - The film that got Tarantino started.

7. Young Frankenstein - Favorite comedy of all time. Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder are an excellent combo.

8. The Usual Suspects - Another Spacey gem, but it’s an ensemble piece that’s so well thought out.

9. Beauty and the Beast - Timeless classic and the first movie I saw in theaters. It’s really brilliant if you watch it over again.

10. Gladiator - Russell Crowe is great, but Joaquin Phoenix is better. Too bad he’s crazy now.

Albums (This one was REALLY hard)

1. Revolver - The Beatles - I could’ve simply filled this list with all Beatles albums, but that would be cheating. So I had to pick one.

2. Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie - Hits every string of emotion in my body.

3. Viva La Vida - Coldplay - Listen, haters. Coldplay’s good. Get over it.

4. Funeral - Arcade Fire - Canada’s finest. HOPEFULLY seeing them in a week or so, so expect some sort of review.

5. Blue - Weezer - One of the few albums that I’ve listened to for more than 10 years and it still never gets old.

6. Either/Or - Elliott Smith - Elliott’s an amazing song writer and this album has no weak ones in the bunch.

7.  In Rainbows - Radiohead  - They let me buy it for however much I wanted, so that was awesome.

8. For Emma, For Ever Ago - Bon Iver - Beautiful songs with beautiful harmonies.

9. Chutes Too Narrow - The Shins - The dirty, unpolished sound, the high vox, the guitar sounds, this album’s awesome.

10. Veckatimest - Grizzly Bear - One of the best albums to come out in the last few years. Even Jay-Z loves these guys.

HONORABLE MENTION - The Slim Shady LP - Eminem

So there you have it! Dissect, criticize, praise.

Peace & love - Timothy 

So I’m new to this whole thing, the blogging community that is. I never really understood the point of it. I never read blogs, so I figured no one would read mine. Facebook was enough for me, no more social networking things. After talking to a few friends who do blog, I realized that it is different. It’s a sort of journal or a place to put your thoughts and ideas, and expressing them in a more in-depth way, and I like that. For me, I am going to use it as a place to put my opinions on new media that I consume. A review article if you will.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Tim and I am a Broadcast-Telecommunications and Mass Media major at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I am a rising senior and I am expected to graduate in May of 2011 (scary). I have a particular interest in television series, film, and music.

In this space, I will review and share my opinions on just those things. If there is a new show, movie, or album that I am listening to, I’ll post my thoughts on them here. This could be a nice way to share and spread my likes and dislikes to the internet world out there. If you read these, good for you. If not, at least I’ll have fun doing it. I decided to call my page “The Day Tripper” because I like the idea that when one experiences a new show, movie, or song/album that it’s almost like a mini-vacation. It’s a new experience for you. Exploring new worlds for an hour or so.

So, people out there, enjoy! I hope you find this blog entertaining for you. Soon enough I’ll post my current favorites in television, film, and music so you’ll have an idea of what I like and what other sorts of things I’m basing my opinions off of.

Til then, ta-ta!