I still owe a few people replies earlier, so apologies for that. Just replying to what I can remember is out there at the moment. I'll catch up, though, I promise.
Zuh? Backwards? I don't follow.
Concerning my favorite scenes, though: I really like Ariadne's training program, and I really like Cobb's Mr. Charles routine. Obviously the hotel scenes were the most inventive and fun, though. I think they have to be among just about everyone's favorite scenes. It's one thing to have cool, Matrix-y style fights, but it's another thing to actually have a logical reason for the bizarre nature of the fight. Really dug that. A lot.
No, he had it with him, and deliberately spun it on the table. He did the same thing three times earlier in the film, two of those times right after he'd woken up, to make sure he was in reality, and the third time while he was holding a gun, ready to shoot himself if the top didn't stop (this was right before he was on the phone with his children, early in the film).
Anyway, in the final scene he comes in, spins the top, but then sees his children's faces and walks away before seeing what happens to it. The top wobbling was the very last thing we see/hear; we don't see it correct itself again, which is one of several reasons I think the ending is reality.
Same here, though probably because I saw Shutter Island just a couple of weeks beforehand. I think someone said this already, but that'd be a heck of a double-bill.
I dunno if this jibes with what Nolan has been saying about the film, though. He's repeatedly emphasized that it took forever because he couldn't find an emotional core to connect to, and he says DiCaprio found it. The film certainly works on many levels, but I don't think Cobb is just some excuse to drag us into it all; he's pretty clearly integral for Nolan.