inception

Unless you actively scrounge the Internet for spoiler morsels and script leaks, chances are you have no idea what Inception, Christopher Nolan's sci-fi film due out this summer, is about. The trailer hints at a plot revolving around entering the dreams of other people, but the relative lack of dialogue combined with stunning imagery of Parisian streets folding in on themselves makes it rather hard to get a firm grip on it all. That's just clever marketing, right? Surely the people involved with the production entirely understand what's going on, right?

Maybe not. While doing press for the coming release of the Martin Scorsese directed Shutter Island, Inception star Leonardo DiCaprio revealed that he doesn't get what it was all about. From his interview with the UK's Daily Telegraph, "It didn't make much sense to us when we were doing it, and we had to do a ton of detective work to try to figure out what the movie was and what we were doing from day to day, but, thank God, we had somebody who knew what he was doing."

That somebody would of course be writer/director Nolan, so given his track record I'm willing to assume that it all indeed makes perfect sense and this is just one of those times when keeping the plot under wraps meant keeping some of the talent in the dark. At least I hope that's the case. If Inception does only make sense to Nolan and no one else, I don't think my hard sci-fi craving heart can take a disappointment like that.

A new trailer for Christopher Nolan's Inception has hit Apple trailers. We get trippy shots of an entire city bending in on itself. We get a lot of gravity defying escapades. We get a great deal of star Leonardo DiCaprio looking very, very concerned. And it all looks gorgeous, surreal and completely unlike something you'd see in a trailer for a tentpole summer release from a major studio.

So, um, what exactly is Inception about? Apparently it takes place in "the architecture of the mind" and "your mind is the scene of the crime." The ever-helpful IMDB lays this shocking tidbit at our feet:

"A CEO-type becomes involved in a blackmailing scandal. "

Nolan and WB are keeping their cards close to their chest on this one. Knowing Nolan's penchant for surprise and mystery, it's both expected and entirely welcome, not to mention a refreshing change of pace from marketing that encapsulates the entire plot of a movie into two and a half minutes. Nolan tackling an original science fiction film (undoubtedly his post-Dark Knight thank you gift from WB) is more than enough reason to be excited. Let's not forget that when he's not making his Batman adventures, Nolan is making great films like The Prestige, Insomnia and Memento. The guy has chops beyond the superhero scene and anytime he takes anything on, people of good taste have reason to celebrate.

Yeah...but what's it about?

Frivolous question. I'm going to see it and you're going to see it and if they keep pushing this as being from the director of The Dark Knight, your mother, father and cousin will probably see it too. DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Tom Berenger, Cillian Murphy, Tom Hardy and presumably just about every other awesome actor out there will be solving architectural mind mysteries on July 16th, 2010.

Votre esprit est la scène du crime.

Translation: Your mind is the scene of the crime, or less literally, there's a low-res Inception trailer online and it's in French (courtesy of Making Of). If that's all you need to hear, then just go below the jump and we've got the trailer embedded for you.

If you're curious as to what exactly is being said in the trailer, Daemon's Movies went to the trouble of translating things for us. After checking out the translation, I'd say the voice-over is intriguing but definitely not the least bit revealing. Christopher Nolan and the Warner Bros. promotional team seem to be playing things close to the chest, and after catching this extended look at what they've got on hand, it looks like the mystery could really play to their advantage.

We watch a city block literally fold in on itself (correct me if I'm wrong, but that looks like Paris), scenes of city destruction and some very, chilly blue shots of Leonardo DiCaprio in what could easily have been an outtake from The Dark Knight. In short, this thing looks absolutely wild (side note: DiCaprio and Ellen Page make for an interesting visual pair on the screen, eager to see how that works out in full).

From the first teaser to the generally hush-hush attitude, Warner Bros. and all the players have taken, mums been the word on the details of Christopher Nolan's Inception. This might seem hypocritical coming from a movie blogger, but it's actually kind of refreshing how WB and Nolan have managed to keep loose lips from sinking the secrecy around any significant details.

Keeping those appetites wet, WB released the first Inception poster, which Quint over at Ain't It Cool News pointed out, is cut almost precisely from the mold as posters like this one. Nothing wrong with a little pilfering, and technically, it isn't really stealing if you're taking from your own cookie jar. The more interesting bit is where the poster came from -- a nifty little game on the Inception website called "Mind Crime". Essentially, you plot out a maze with a start and end point, and then the rudimentary map becomes a city maze. Avoid contact with all other little people on the map (in true paranoid form, everyone is the enemy) and when you finish, the big reveal is...the poster that you've already seen.

Besides being an addicting office diversion, though, "Mind Crime" seems like a pretty good place to keep your eyes peeled for future trinkets, like say a full trailer or something of that nature. The WB marketing team really knocked it out of the park with The Dark Knight viral stuff, so it'll be great to see how they continue to sell Nolan's original sci-fi project.

The first teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan's Inception has arrived online, courtesy of Yahoo (watch it after the jump), and while it looks very cool, we still have no idea what this sucker is really about. This, I think, is a good thing -- too many movies are ruined too far in advance these days, and so for this to hit the teaser trailer stage without a somewhat meaty synopsis having already been revealed, that, well, is a pretty cool thing.

Here's what we do know: It's a film that will take place within the architecture of the mind (does that mean our main character can control things with his mind?), and that Leonardo DiCaprio plays a "CEO type who gets caught up in a blackmailing scandal." What the teaser does tell is that this will definitely play a little strange, as one scene features men fighting Matrix-style in a hallway ... and what's with the spinning silver top? So much is left to be revealed, and you bet this is already at the top of our most anticipated list for next summer.

Inception is due in theaters on July 16, 2010. Watch the trailer after the jump.

-- Unfortunately it's not a real record player, though even if it was who uses record players anymore? That said, this Enterprise-themed record player, created as part of an Enterprise model gallery in honor of the new film, would be a pretty neat toy if it were real. [Gadget Venue]

-- Could a new lawsuit hurt future Terminator sequels? Halcyon Co., the company behind the latest Terminator movie, is now suing the company that helped financed the film, Pacificor, along with one of its employees, claiming a number of different types of fraud. Halcyon, who still owes a ton of money to Pacificor, could be in a situation where they'll be forced to hand over the rights to the franchise if they don't win their case -- a decision that could have huge impacts on the next Terminator installment. Read a more detailed rundown of events over at io9.

-- Director Peter Berg talked up a Hancock sequel to SciFi Wire, and here's a snippet of that convo: "At the end of last year's Hancock, it was revealed that Will Smith's superpowered character was actually an immortal god who became vulnerable only when in the presence of his goddess companion (Charlize Theron). Berg confirmed that a sequel would elaborate on the film's mythology. "There might be another god out there," Berg said in an exclusive interview last month in Pasadena, Calif. "Might be another one." If two gods render each other mortal, imagine what kind of wrench a third would throw into the mix. Berg also confirmed that the subplot of Jason Bateman's publicist character should pick up where it left off in Hancock, where he's starting his charity campaign."