By Peter Covino

Entertainment Editor

Bravo to Warner Bros. and Christopher Nolan for not taking the easy route and creating a film that defies the normal summer box office rules.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that Inception is a perfect film, but it certainly is one exceptional cinematic achievement.

Nolan has taken a giant leap in creative prowess with Inception, after his phenomenally successful The Dark Knight, but we knew he had it in him all along because of Memento.

Memento is one of few films ever made that was not meant to be viewed once. Inception follows that same trailblazing path.

Nolan must have had lots of inspirations here in this film about dreams within dreams, reality and non-reality but the ones that immediately come to mind are

the Matrix films, The Manchurian Candidate, Minority Report and maybe even a bit of Forbidden Planet.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays dream extractor Dom Cobb, and our guide of sorts in Inception. He and his team have perfected a process for invading the dreams of others, usually for monetary gain with big money targets in the world of corporate espionage.

But this time, the dream raiders (who have also perfected the science of shared dreams) are not stealing an idea — they are planting one, hence the film’s title, Inception.

Like Memento, I think Inception is best seen with few preconceptions, so the less detail you know going in the better. Just sit back and enjoy the exhilarating ride as Cobb and company take you through a multi-layered dream world of their creation, with plenty of detours. A few words of warning: Cobb (like Leonard Shelby before him in Memento) is not a particularly reliable guide. With Memento, Shelby was unable to store new memories, and as the film’s narrator who is investigating the murder of his wife, we are forced to rely on his very shaky judgment. Cobb is a veteran dream invader. He has spent the equivalent of years in the waking world (time moves much slower apparently in dreams) on his dream excursions, and his perception has become very cloudy at best.

On the surface at least, Inception has all the ingredients of a typical heist film. Cobb has gathered his all-star team for this one great dream invasion: Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), his longtime organizer; Eames (Tom Hardy), a "forger" who can shapeshift at will; newcomer Ariadne (Ellen Page), an architect who constructs their dreams and Yusuf (Dileep Rao), the drug expert who supplies the powerful sedatives necessary to put the dream team into a collective stupor.

If the whole thing seems rather complicated, that’s because it is, and if you like this sort of thing, you are definitely going to want to see it twice because of the various details you won’t catch the first time through.

Nolan (though everyone involved deserves credit here from editing, cinematography to set design) will literally turn you on your head for Inception’s dizzying complex which seems like it goes on for nearly an hour. The climax involves a dream within a dream within a dream and all three dreams are occurring simultaneously.

And don’t expect a typical Hollywood ending either. Nolan snatches that away at the very last second as well.

Critic's rating: B+

Inception is rated PG 13

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In anticipation of the nationwide release of Columbia Pictures’ The Other Guys, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, in theaters August 6th, the film will make its World Premiere in New York City on August 2nd. But the fun won't stop there.

The movie will have another premiere -- "The Other Premiere" -- and moviegoers can help decide where it will be.  Beginning today, moviegoers can go on Facebook at www.facebook.com/otherguysmovie and vote in a poll to decide which Other City will host The Other Premiere.  Ferrell and Wahlberg will attend the red carpet event in the winning city on August 5th.

The 20 candidate cities are Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, Miami, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, Orlando, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Seattle, Tampa/St. Petersburg, and Washington, DC.  On August 2, Ferrell and Wahlberg will announce the winning city.

Commenting on the announcement, Adam McKay, director of The Other Guys, said, “We’ve all had those moments when we’ve had to watch some other guy be the cool guy.  But your city can be the cool city.  Get on Facebook and vote, and we’ll bring The Other Premiere to you.”

In The Other Guys, NYPD Detectives Christopher Danson and P.K. Highsmith (Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson) are the baddest and most beloved cops in New York City. They don’t get tattoos – other men get tattoos of them. Two desks over and one back, sit Detectives Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg). You’ve seen them in the background of photos of Danson and Highsmith, out of focus and eyes closed. They’re not heroes – they’re “the Other Guys.”

But every cop has his or her day and soon Gamble and Hoitz stumble into a seemingly innocuous case no other detective wants to touch that could turn into New York City’s biggest crime.  It’s the opportunity of their lives, but do these guys have the right stuff?

The Other Guys stars Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Ray Stevenson, with Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson.  Directed by Adam McKay and written by Adam McKay & Chris Henchy, the producers are Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, Jimmy Miller, and Patrick Crowley.