Win free movie tickets Editor's note: Comment on today's "Cinema Chat" for a chance to win free movie tickets to the Michigan Theater. Some time between now and 6 a.m. Wednesday, leave a comment on this column, written by the Michigan Theater's Russ Collins. Offer your opinion on a recent movie you've seen, or on anything Russ mentions. We'll randomly select a winner and notify that person via the email address they signed up with. They will get two passes to a movie of their choice.

The opening of Christopher Nolan’s new film “Inception,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is sure to stir up a sluggish summer box office for commercial live-action movies. Nolan is a very hot director right now. His last film, “The Dark Knight,” grossed over $500 million in the U.S. alone. He is currently shepherding a new Superman film toward production with screenwriter and Ann Arbor native David Goyer. With “Inception,” Nolan has taken the traditional heist film and turned it on its ear. Instead of bank vaults, the vaults that Leonardo DiCaprio’s character unlocks — with supporting cast Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, and Cillian Murphy — are the vaults of the human mind.

DiCaprio plays Dom Cobb, a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. So far the reviews have been incredibly positive. At this writing, it has a 96% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and has been hailed by the Associated Press’ Christy Lemire as “One of the year's best films, one that will surely get even better upon repeated viewings.” “Inception” will be released in both conventional and IMAX theaters starting tomorrow. Nicolas Cage and Disney weren’t crazy enough to go head-to-head with “Inception;” that’s why “The Sorcerer's Apprentice” was released yesterday, on July 14. The film is loosely based on the "Sorcerer's Apprentice" segment in Disney's animated classic “Fantasia,” and is directed by Jon Turteltaub — who also directed the “National Treasure” film series. It stars Cage as Balthazar Blake, a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (the always great Alfred Molina). Balthazar can't do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential as his reluctant protégé. However, the reviews have not been kind to this “Apprentice.” Nicolas Cage seems to have entered a “crazy” phase with his acting — if you didn’t see last year's “Bad Lieutenant” then you missed him at his peak. The cast is strong, however, so you might want to give it a chance. “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work”

“Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” opens at the Michigan on Friday. This well-reviewed Sundance Film Festival hit is directed by the same team that created the acclaimed 2007 documentary “The Devil Came on Horseback.” This documentary looks at the life and career of comedienne Joan Rivers and was made as she turned 75 years old and entered a new phase of her career. Colin Covert of the Minneapolis Star Tribune says, “A hilarious and unsettling look at the rewards and costs of compulsive celebrity shows Rivers in all her multifaceted glory.” I saw it at Sundance and liked it!

This week as part of our Summer Classic series, we are very pleased to have a brand-new 35mm print of the French comedy classic “Mr. Hulot’s Holiday.” The film follows the generally harmless misadventures of a lovable, gauche Frenchman, Monsieur Hulot (played by the always terrific Jacques Tati) as he spends the obligatory August vacation at a beach resort. It plays on July 18 at 1:30 p.m. and July 20 at 7 p.m.

Our Monday Documentary Series continues with “We Live In Public,” Ondi Timoner's documentary chronicling a decade in the life of Internet pioneer Josh Harris, who instigated an "artificial society" experiment in which more than 100 artists lived under 24-hour surveillance in an underground compound in New York City. After FEMA broke up the project, Harris turned the cameras on himself and his girlfriend. This inventive and provocative film, which won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at Sundance, plays on Monday, July 19 at 7 p.m.

“Girl Who Played With Fire” opens July 22 “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” fans can see a FREE documentary on this and all the books and films of Stieg Larsson on Sunday, July 18 at 4 p.m. “Millennium: The Story” looks at the planetary triumph from the point of view of his journalist colleagues and by various professionals who have worked on the films, including leading actors Noomi Rapace and Michael Nyqvist, who play Lizbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. “The Girl Who Played With Fire” opens on Thursday, July 22 at 7 p.m. with a special screening, followed by a live panel of noted literary, film and entertainment journalism figures along with an audience Q&A. If you missed “Winter’s Bone” last week when it was at the Michigan, you still have a chance to catch it at the State Theatre this week. Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly says that this is “one of the un-showiest and most true-blooded epics of Americana you're ever likely to see.” Also, “Cyrus,” the terrific Sundance hit that premiered in Ann Arbor, continues at the Michigan. See you at the movies!

Russ Collins is executive director of the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor. Tune in to the audio version of “Cinema Chat” on WEMU radio (89.1-FM) each Thursday at 7:40 a.m. and 5:40 p.m., or listen to it online at WEMU's website.