A tight-knit group of street dancers team up with NYU freshman Moose and find themselves pitted against the world’s best hip hop dancers in a high-stakes showdown.

This is not only the first 3D dance drama but also the first 3D motion picture to shoot entirely in New York City.

Trailer followed by music video below:

The latest Christopher Nolan cinematc mindbender will keep you riveted throughout the 2 1/2-hour running time, not only due to the fast pace, high energy, and frequent innovative action scenes, but also because of the challenge in deciphering the plot and setting that is literally working on multiple levels — of the dream-state and subconscious minds of the characters.

The elaborate visual elements and dynamic chases, including the eye-popping sight of a full-scale train plowing through rush-hour automobile traffic on a downtown city street, is all quite enveloping when it encompasses your entire horizontal and vertical field of view in a full-scale IMAX theater, as was the case at Universal CityWalk’s IMAX theater Thursday night. (The digitally remastered film for IMAX theaters opened on 22 international IMAX screens Thursday and will follow in 44 others internationally in the coming weeks.)

Nolan, whose “Dark Knight,” also from Warner Bros., grossed more than $65 million at IMAX theaters, said audiences will get the best immersive experience when watching it in IMAX. ”We have done all kinds of things to re-format the film for The IMAX Experience, and as a result, you get enhanced clarity, sound and a closer relationship with the action.”

“…Nolan and IMAX have once again proven to be ideally suited to each other,” said Warner Bros. Pictures’ president of domestic distribution Dan Fellman. He also noted that with the number of IMAX theaters doubling since the release of “Dark Knight,” more moviegoers will be able to “experience ‘Inception’  in this exceptional format.”

“With a visionary director that knows and understands the power of the IMAX medium, …this film has all the key ingredients for an anchor 2010 IMAX release,” said Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment.

M.C. Escher 1960 lithograph Ascending and Descending

I am not the first to make the comparison to “The Matrix” or even Nolan’s “Memento” when referencing the cryptic challenges of “Inception,” but the movie is also filled with fun homages or maybe even Nolan’s own subconscious references to other movies such as the gun-toting skiers and even the accompanying score during what I’ll call the Level 3 setting that is very reminiscent of a couple of James Bond movies. Nolan also borrows from M.C. Escher, using CGI to bring to cinematic life the artist’s famous visual puzzles drawings of continuous up/down staircases.

Ever since “Catch Me If You Can” in 2002, Leonardo DiCacprio’s performances have been noticeably stronger with each new challenging role he chooses to tackle as opposed to settling for an obvious or easy character in a simple, one-dimensional  film.

That trend continues here as DiCaprio delivers a convincing character of sufficient depth that amidst all the action and the brain-testing labyrinth of story-lines and the real and imagined characters and settings, he is able to repeatedly engage and capture our deep sympathy and emotion in gripping scenes depicting his struggle to reconnect with his two young children and come to terms about an unresolved traumatic confrontation with his wife.

DiCaprio is supported by a strong cast including Joseph Gordon-Levitt (”500 Days of Summer”), Ellen Page (”Juno”), Ken Watanabe (”The Last Samurai”), Marion Cotillard (”La vie en rose”), Tom Hardy (”RocknRolla”), Cillian Murphy (”Batman Begins”), Tom Berenger (”Platoon”) and even Michael Caine in a small but important role. But, as always, this is Christopher Nolan’s movie with his stamp on the concept, writing, and directing.

– By Scott Hettrick

Among the extras in Criterion’s special edition of the story of a French colonel who goes head-to-head with the army’s ruthless top brass when his men are accused of cowardice after being unable to carry out an impossible mission in treench warfare:

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• New audio commentary by critic Gary Giddins
• Television interview from 1979 with Douglas
• New video interviews with Kubrick’s longtime executive producer Jan Harlan, Paths of Glory producer James B. Harris, and actress Christiane Kubrick
• Excerpt from a French television program about real-life World War I executions
• Theatrical trailer

• PLUS: An essay by Kubrick scholar James Naremore

Criterion is also releasing another black-and-white classic on Blu-ray in October (19th), a two-disc special edition of the 1954 Japanese 3 1/2-hour “Seven Samurai,” which inspired the 1960s American adaptation “The Magnificent Seven.”

Special features with the Akira Kurosawa film starring Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura in Japanese with English subtitles include:

• Restored, high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• Two audio commentaries: one by film scholars David Desser, Joan Mellen, Stephen Prince, Tony Rayns, and Donald Richie and the other by Japanese film expert Michael Jeck
• Fifty-minute documentary on the making of Seven Samurai
• My Life in Cinema, a two-hour video conversation between directors Akira Kurosawa and Nagisa Oshima
• “Seven Samurai”: Origins and Influences, a documentary that looks at the samurai traditions and films that helped shape Kurosawa’s masterpiece
• Theatrical trailers and teaser
• Gallery of rare posters and behind-the-scenes and production stills
• PLUS: A booklet featuring essays by Kenneth Turan, Peter Cowie, Philip Kemp, Peggy Chiao, Alain Silver, Stuart Galbraith, Arthur Penn, and Sidney Lumet, and an interview with Toshiro Mifune from 1993

– By Scott Hettrick

The bonus material will also be accessible in a new “MU-TH-UR Mode” interactive access feature to connect material from every previous home video release of the “Alien” saga, including the 1991/1992 laserdisc releases, the 1999 “Legacy” release and 2003’s “Alien Quadrilogy.”

The set also includes two versions of each film and more than four hours of previously unreleased exclusive material such as original screen-tests of Sigourney Weaver prior to filming the original “Alien,” unseen deleted scenes, thousands of still photographs from the Fox archives, and the previously unseen original cut of “Wreckage and Rage: The Making of Alien3.”

• 1.) Chloe (Sony, $34.95) is a kind of “Fatal Attraction” with a few extra twists typical of director Atom Egoyan — a suspicious wife hires a prostitute to see if her husband will go for the bait, but winds up with emotions she didn’t expect and still unable to confirm if her husband is cheating on her.
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  – Very strong performances by Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried, and Liam Neeson.
  – Surprising nudity involving Moore and Seyfried.
  – Audio commentary by Egoyan, Seyfried, and writer Erin Cressida Wilson.
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• 2.) “The Bounty Hunter” (Sony, $28.95) will suffice when there are no new Sandra Bullock romantic comedies to watch. Jennifer Aniston is a hard-nosed investigative reporter whose former husband (Gerard Butler) has become a bounty hunter assigned to bring her in to keep her off the trail of a dirty cop. It’s a road movie with ex-spouses trying to outwit each other while exposing a police scam and cover-up.
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  – Limited bonus features include a trio of typical making-of featurettes.
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• 3.) “Greenberg” (Universal, $39.98) is a curiosity and has a few moments where it appears it might redeem itself or when the loser lead characters may finally become sympathetic, but ultimately that doesn’t happen.
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  – Greta Gerwig demonstrates she is a talented actress stuck with a self-destructive character who is written to allow the despicable character played by Ben Stiller to perform fairly explicit oral sex on her on a first date in a very uncomfortable scene for all involved, including the viewer.
  – Rhys Ifans is the lone character of mild interest as a former bandmate.
  – Limited bonus features include short vignettes about how and why specific locations in L.A. were chosen.

– By Scott Hettrick

The three-disc sets of “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” and “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” ($49.99 each) from Warner Home Video each offer never-before-seen footage and hours of special features..

As with last December’s releases of the first two ultimate editions of “The Sorcerer’s Stone” and “The Chamber of Secrets,” the new editions each include a book featuring more than 40 pages of movie stills, production sketches, concept paintings, collectible character cards, and a bonus digital copy of the film.

The releases are timed to precede the Nov. 19 theatrical release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part I.”

– By Scott Hettrick

The three-disc “Complete First Season” of the series featuring an ensemble cast reflecting the cultural and sexual diversity of many families will include all 24 episodes, cast interviews, behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted, extended and alternate scenes, a gag reel, and more for $59.99. Among the extras are featurettes on Fizbo the Clown and “Modern Family Hawaii.”

Two other notable Blu-ray releases this week:
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• 2.) Brooklyn’s Finest (Anchor Bay, $39.98 with digital copy) is loaded with top-notch actors/stars, beginning with Richard Gere and Don Cheadle and including Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes, and Ellen Barkin. I can’t think of a poor performance by any of them in their careers. This is another cop character study from Antoine Fuqua, the director of “Training Day,” which will likely appeal to the same audience that enjoyed that tough, fairly violent, and mostly grim movie. This time there are three cops dealing with ethical, personal, and professional challenges in this 2-hour, 15-min. feature.
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  – Typical but still compelling collection of behind-the-scenes extras and filmmaker audio commentary, including learning about first-time writer Michael C. Martin.

• 3.) “A Single Man” (Sony, $34.95) is one of those movies that may not appeal to the masses but features strong characters and performances by Colin Firth as a college professor in Los Angeles in the early 1960s who is depressed and near suicidal after the death of his young male partner of 16 years, and one of Julianne Moore’s many recent TV and movie roles as his longtime friend who is equally lonely.
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  – Limited bonus features include a typical making-of featurette and an audio commentary by first-time director Tom Ford who mostly describes what is visually obvious but does provide a few anecdotes, such as redressing the same single room to look like multiple rooms in the professor’s beach house.

– By Scott Hettrick

The same band that popularized quadraphonic sound, The Who, will have the soundtrack from their 1975 rock opera “Tommy” presented in the original theatrical “Quintaphonic” five-channel soundtrack on the movie’s first HiDef Blu-ray release Sept. 7.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment’s newly digtially restored and remastered version of “Tommy” ($24.95), directed by Ken Russell, also includes a re-mastered 5.1 soundtrack to allow viewers to choose how they want to hear iconic songs such as Elton John’s rendition of “Pinball Wizard.”

“Tommy” was first and only film with a Quintaphonic soundtrack, using five discrete channels of sound in a “Sound in the Round” manner that enveloped the audience from all directions.

– By Scott Hettrick

The movie will open on 193 IMAX screens in North America, for which it has been digitally re-mastered with proprietary technology, the companies announced today. The film will also open in 11 international IMAX theatres in Australia, Mexico and Thailand, on July 1, 2010.

“Twilight Saga moviegoers will have a whole new way to experience this next installment of the series, with the enhanced image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience putting them in the movie,” said Richie Fay, Summit Entertainment’s President of Domestic Theatrical Distribution.

“…It is encouraging to see that Twilight Saga fans, a completely new audience base for us, are driving advance IMAX ticket sales and sell-outs,” said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond.

It’s the second blockbuster franchise to make its debut in IMAX theaters this month on the heels of “Toy Story 3″ in 3D, the first Disney/Pixar movie to debut in IMAX.

“We’re very excited to be a part of the Twilight mania and look forward to transporting the very loyal and enthusiastic fans into the world of Bella, Edward and Jacob via The IMAX Experience,” added Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment.

In less than two years the first two movies in the series have grossed more than $1.1 billion in worldwide box office ticket sales.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse The IMAX Experience is scheduled to play day-and-date at the following IMAX theatres beginning June 30th.

– By Scott Hettrick