Inception Breaks Baffling New Ground in Viral Geekdom

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We're a few days removed from Christopher Nolan's WonderCon testimony and his latest chat with the L.A. Times, neither of which seem to reveal much more than the filmmaker's aptitude for blowing your effing mind with diversions, distractions and other modes of geek-bait legerdemain. But now it appears that the real brain-cramping spoils belong to those combining WonderCon access, cell-phone technology and free swag into something, well... still totally unintelligible. But cool! I think? Read on and you tell me.

So basically one Inception panel attendee received a ticket for a free shirt, on which was emblazoned the mysterious "Dream Machine" -- some gadget in a briefcase that referenced a crucial element of Nolan's narrative, most likely being the device through which criminals invade one's mind and steal ideas as they develop. Great! Score one for Warner Bros. marketing.

Except when you flip the shirt over and use your phone's QR reader (?) to scan the silkscreened symbol on the back, you're directed to a Web site featuring a user's manual for the machine itself, i.e. the Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous (PASIV) Device -- which is good for providing "precise control and stabilization of dosages for Somnacin dosage and delivery in the field." Somnacin, for those updating your Physician's Desk Reference at home, is the drug apparently used for dream infiltration in the first place. And how about these illustrations and section headers, such as, "Priming the Pump," "Preparing For Infusion" and "Powering Down"? Just in case you were worried you wouldn't be able to figure the gizmo out. You have to appreciate the specificity.

Anyway, if you geeked out at the emergence of that relatively boring "I Believe in Harvey Dent" viral campaign in 2008 (with about the same time left before Dark Knight came out), then this will trigger an aneurysm right where you sit. Consider yourself warned.

· Is this Inception's Dream-Stealing Machine? [/film]



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