Stephanie Paulino
While watching the science fiction thriller Inception this summer, freshman Brandon Edwards said he was reminded of a concept he learned in his high school, called lucid dreaming, where the dreamer is aware he or she is dreaming.
Inception, which opened in theaters on July 15, stars Leonardo Dicaprio as Dom Cobb, a thief who possesses the power to enter into the dreams of others to find out valuable information and plant ideas in someone else’s mind, according to Moviefone.
“When I saw the movie I though it was cool,” said Edwards. “[Lucid dreaming] is a science—people can do it.”
Edwards, a business major, said as a “personal venture” he started a dream journal by writing down his dreams when he can remember them.
“I’ve gotten good enough to get three or four dreams a night,” said Edwards.
Like Edwards, senior Melanie Hernandez said Inception, which according to Rotten Tomatoes, a movie
review website, grossed a total of $262 million at the box office, was her favorite summer 2010 movie release.
“I saw [Inception] twice,” said Hernandez, who saw a total of seven new movies this summer. “It made you think, kept you at the edge of your seat and the acting was good.”
After having excitedly awaited the release of “Eat Pray Love,” based on the best-selling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert, Hernandez said she was disappointed by the movie, which she went to see opening night.
“I hyped it up, then when I saw it, it wasn’t that good,” said Hernandez, who thought the movie was too long.
According to Moviefone, “Eat Pray Love,” starring Julia Roberts, tells the story of Liz Gilbert, who, after going through a painful divorce, “sets out to seek out her true destiny traveling first to Italy, where she learns to appreciate nourishment; then to India, where she discovers the power of prayer; and finally to Bali where she unexpectedly find the meaning of true love. “
“Eat Pray Love” has grossed a total of $47.2 million since it opened three weeks ago, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Hernandez said she also saw Dinner for Schmucks, Charlie St. Cloud, Toy Story 3, The Expendables and Despicable Me this summer.
Divonne Burchette, a freshman graphic design major, said he took his little brother and sister to see the animated movie, Despicable Me, starring comedian Steve Carrell this summer and “had a ball.”
“It’s geared more toward family—a comedy for all ages,” said Burchette, of the animated film, which has grossed over $230 million since it opened in theaters eight weeks ago.
According to Moviefone, when a criminal mastermind steals the pyramids in Egypt, Carell’s charater Gru, a washed-up evil genius, becomes jealous and sets his sights on the moon, planning to build a shrink-ray to steal the earth’s satellite right out of the sky.
The plan fails when super-nerd vector, voiced by Jason Segel, snatches the shrink-ray immediately after Gru heists it. Armed with knowledge that Vector has a mean sweet tooth, Gru adopts cookie-selling orphans and commissions a line of cookie robots to weaken his nemesis and reacquire the shrink-ray. The orphans become more than just pawns and Gru must decide what’s more important—being a parent or maintaining his criminal reputation.
Burchette said he also saw Step Up 3-D, but didn’t enjoy the third installment in the Step Up franchise,
featuring romance and hip-hop dancing.
“If I’m going to see someone dance, I have to see it without a script, from the heart,” said Burchette.
Melissa Cedrac, a junior pre-nursing major, who saw Inception and the comedy film, Lottery Ticket, said
that although she enjoys watching movies in theaters rather than renting, she does become a bit
discouraged by the rising ticket prices.
“When I paid $11 I was a little bummed because I remember when it was $8, and I’m a broke college student, so it’s not really convenient. But I know around New Haven there are discounts for students,” said Cedrac.
Despite the cost, Cedrac said she enjoyed watching Inception and prefers going to movie theaters rather than renting from popular companies, Redbox and Netflix.
“Going to the movies is better; everything is bigger,” said Cedrac.
