Digesting Inception

I have to marvel at director Christopher Nolan's phenomenal 6-year run of Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, and now Inception. Try as I might, I can't imagine what a bad movie by Nolan might look like. Balancing impeccable artistic vision with an apparent lack of ego, his rise has been as meteoric as M. Night Shyamalan's fall.

In getting an anxiously-awaited chance to revisit Inception on Blu-ray this week, I wanted to take this opportunity to look back at my unexpected reaction to one of the film's most famous scenes when we saw it theatrically last summer—the rotating hallway fight.

With all the precision of a fine Swiss wristwatch, the parameters of the story have been copiously laid in place. Then this gravity-bending sequence kicks off the film's main setpiece, and you witness how one dream layer can really mess with the physics of the next layer.

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It also happened to be at this very moment in the theater when the chicken and waffle dinner I downed just before showtime started rotating in my intestines, and I had a sudden, forceful urge to have a bowel movement.

As the urge persisted I started to panic. I was completed and utterly invested in this cinematic jigsaw puzzle. How could I possibly get up and go to the bathroom? If I left now, even for a few brief minutes, I would no doubt be totally lost upon my return. I squirmed in my seat. I clenched the armrests. Beads of sweat formed on my brow. But I fought through it and the urge subsided.

You are probably now wondering why on earth I would share this with you. Well, because this rather, ahem, personal experience rather effectively sums up my feelings about the movie as a whole. Inception—so awesome, I nearly pooped my pants.