Christopher Nolan is the Modern Directing Genius

Rating: 8/10 (7 January 2011)

As I type this, "Inception" is sitting at #6 on IMDb's Top 250 and has a firm 9 out of 10 voting average. That is unheard of. Not to say it is not a great film, but I am a little shocked by this. I give it an 8...
Long story short, Christopher Nolan is a genius. He has a ton of films on the top 250 list, and still has along career ahead of him. This film was both written and directed by him, and the story and visuals are striking. Some of the story I think is a bit iffy (if you are too critical it might have major holes) but if you are accepting its basic premise, it is a solid concept that has not been explored before.
Leonardo DiCaprio plays Cobb, and Leo is always a good lead. The family issues here tread close to where "Shutter Island" tread, but this only shows where that other film fell short (as much as I enjoyed both).
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Arthur, and was for me the most pleasant surprise of the film. I still have a hard time accepting him as a legitimate actor and not just a cheesy, comedic character. But here I was moved. He did his own stunts during what was by far my favorite scene of the film, and although he still looks twenty (he was 29 at the time this film came out) he has lots of potential.
Ellen Page was a decent Ariadne (her most adult role yet), and it was nice to see Nolan veterans Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine back for more. And a special shout-out to Pete Postlethwaite (Maurice Fischer) in what was one of his very final roles.
Anyway, a must-see if ever there was one in the last few years. 9 out of 10? Maybe. 6th greatest film ever? I don't know... but definitely one of those rare gems of the last decade.