I

Inception (2010)

Rated R

148 Minutes

Directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, The Prestige, The Dark Knight)

Budget - $160,000,000

Box Office - $826,000,000


Ok.  This should not be allowed on the list.  $160M budget.  $100M marketing campaign.  3 Oscars.  But, Christoper Nolan is my favorite director and this is his most definitive film.  Plus, I have too many "M" movies to fit Memento onto the list.  Anyway, it's a Frank Movie, and here's why:



1.  Opening scene.

For the same reasons that I described in Heat, an opening scene is critical to draw me in, and it's tough to top this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8APU-ZHEUg



2.  A gunfight within a car chase.

Gunfights and car chases are important to me.  One the 1st dream level is a nice little car chase; its in the rain, it involves a guy with a shotgun on a sweet motorcycle.  But, it helps to mess with the gravity/physics on the 2nd dream level - the dream within a dream.  This leads to a fantastic zero-gravity gun fight.  Just a fabulous moment in film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tofY_2kwoGI


3.  Heist movie.

Most Frank Movies, at their core, are just heist movies, and this one is no different.  Even better, its a heist built upon character development, which checkmarks two boxes simultaneously. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgKhMumgdek



For those who are interested, here is Roger Ebert's 2010 review.  He liked it, too.


http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/inception-2010



Runner-up:  The Illusionist (2006)

Directed by Neil Burger (The Lucky Ones, Limitless, Divergent)

Reasons its a Frank Movie:

1.  Edward Norton.

He will appear all over this list.  Although he is notoriously self-absorbed and difficult to work with, he is, for me, the quintessential actor of his time.  He is The Frank Actor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd0AQjpqDUE



2.  Political Commentary.

The story is really about one man inspiring a nation to bring down a tyrant.  That's a Frank sentiment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osb_Fklz5ag


Honorable Mentions:  Internal Affairs (1990), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Inglorious Basterds (2009)