'Inception' Gets Us Thinking About Other Awesome Dream Sequences

"Inception" is out today. You know this. I've been crowing about it all day. All week. The whole Internet has. It is freaking fantastic. Some critics disagree, and that's cool. In my own opinion though, it is director Christopher Nolan's finest effort to date.

I've intentionally avoided the more spoiler-y stories this week, the ones that ponder elements from the movie. You should all go see it and judge it by its own merits. I don't think it's any mystery anymore though that (minor spoiler alert) the movie deals with dreams. Film and TV is rife with cool dream sequences, but the ones featured in "Inception" definitely carve their own unique space in the realm of such things.

Still, there are some classic dream sequences out there. A few of which I've chosen to highlight in this blog post as my favorites. Read on, then share your own in the comments section below!

"The Big Lebowski"
Ah, "The Big Lebowski." There are so many things about this movie that stand out. The Dude has an epic dream after he is drugged by pornographer Jackie Treehorn. It's set up, at least at first, like a porno, but then it quickly goes to some weird places-- a little bowling, a little Persian Gulf War commentary, some Julianne Moore-as-armored sex fiend Maude Lebowski... like I said, weird. All set to Kenny Rogers' "Just Dropped In." Delightful.

"American Beauty"
"American Beauty" is rife with dreams and daydreams. Kevin Spacey's deeply dissatisfied suburban househusband wants better things for himself. And he's interested in his young daughter's underage friend. While this is creepy, it leads to some mesmerizing dream sequences involving flying, near-nudity and flowers.

"Pee-Wee's Big Adventure"
Clowns. If clowns scare the crap out of you, this isn't a dream for you. Poor Pee-Wee Herman just wants his bike back, but he ends up chasing it to the ends of the Earth -- Texas, among other places -- in his efforts to get it back. In this late-movie anxiety dream, Pee-Wee frets as a group of hospital clowns see to his bike. And when I say "see to it," I mean drop it into a giant cauldron positioned over a raging fire.

"Wes Craven's New Nightmare"
Pick a "Nightmare on Elm Street" movie, any "Nightmare on Elm Street" movie, and you're going to see some cool, if horrifically silly, dream sequences. Dream and reality collide pretty frequently in this one, but my favorite dream elements you never actually see. Desperate for help fending off this apparently real-world Freddy Krueger, original "Elm Street" actor Heather Langenkamp -- playing herself -- looks to Wes Craven for help. He then tells her that the script he's written is the product of dreams he's been having. The whole movie is quite a meta-mindf--k, and stands with the original as the strongest in the series.

"The Sopranos" - Episode 2.13 "The Funhouse"
On "The Sopranos," Tony Soprano's vivid dreams were frequently featured as centerpiece elements in select episodes. By far the most unforgettable is the second season-closing "The Funhouse," in which Tony finally comes to realize that his friend Big Pussy has betrayed the Family and must be taken out. The events leading up to that moment, which comes at the end of the episode, are basically an extended food poisoning-induced fever dream. Pretty unforgettable, a series highlight.

Tags American Beauty, inception, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, the big lebowski, the sopranos, Wes Craven's New Nightmare