In Which We Say Another Cool Thing About Inception
Another cool thing about Inception is that while parts of the film are set in Paris, not once is the Eiffel Tower used in an establishing shot. The initial establishing shot is of Montmartre, which is very Parisy, and L'Arc de Triomphe figures in the background of one scene. But the Eiffel Tower only shows up once, and even then it's way in the background of a wide nighttime shot. At that point in the sequence the focus is on the action and not the location, so the tower is just peripheral.
For some reason this really pleased me. It subverted not only the "Meanwhile, in Paris..." shot but the "Every window in Paris has a view of the Eiffel Tower" cliché as well, and it did so stylishly.
I'm sure there's entries for these on tvtropes but you go find 'em; I don't have two and a half hours to spare getting sucked in and ending up at some page deconstructing the Facts of Life girls. Which I would.
