An odd Downtown connection to the day

Before heading to Bottega Louie for a late lunch this afternoon, I parked at a meter on the last block of Wilshire — between Grand and Hope. (One of those shocking $4-an-hour meters, and of course the credit card reader didn't work — did you know a nickel buys you a single minute on those?) Then tonight, when I finally got around to seeing "Inception," it was easy to spot the same block in a number of key scenes, with the One Wilshire building and the Famima store at Hope Street in the background. The Music Center and DWP building also get camera time, by the way.

I liked the movie's premise and action well enough, though be warned: it's another of those where the bad guys fire 100 machine-gun rounds at close range and always miss, and the good guys fire once from a handgun and always get their man.

Photo: Stephen Vaughan / Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc