All-Encompassing Christopher Nolan Discussion Thread

[Solid]

That happens with every director though. They change with age or their interest in the project. Not even Scorsese or Spielberg or Tarantino or James Cameron have had the same consistent quality in their careers (I like True Lies, but it doesn't belong in the same conversation as Aliens or T2). But they all bounce back. After Hook didn't become the instant classic like everyone thought it would, Spielberg came out with a one-two punch of Jurassic Park and Schindler's List two years later.

I agree that nothing Nolan's come out with in the last decade has matched TDK or Inception, but I'd hardly call them disappointments and it doesn't mean he'll never make something that great again.

He's probably the best blockbuster director of the 21st century. Their style is different (one loves CGI, the other dislikes it) but i would say that he's probably the equivalent of what Cameron was in the 90s. The difference is that Cameron always took a lot of time between his films, and he's mostly a technocrat at this point so with only 7 films, even if his quality got slightly worse, the incredible consistency makes up for that.

He's a director you watch where i think he's nailed the balance between his cerebral films and enterteinment for most of his career. I'd put him in the same tier of greatness as Cameron.

Is he in the same level as Spielberg, Lynch or other all-time greats? No.

Is he in the same level as Cameron, Raimi, Mann and other great directors? Yes, no doubt. I'd put Nolan over Mann any day of the week.

I hope he gets back on track, because up to Interstellar i didn't see all this criticism and hate towards his films, and there was just a film (Following) that i didn't like a lot. I think while some criticism towards Tenet is pretty understandable -- the rest of his work is very solid in their respective genres.

His last few are his best. You guys are cray.

The Dark Knight Rises 90/100
Interstellar 85/100
Dunkirk 70/100
Tenet 65/100

Nolan is great at coming up with his own and adapting others products, i don't think he's overrated neither underrated, sometime people are way too much critical and analytical and sometime people praise him a lot. Rated fairly by critics and general audiences overall.

I think the exposition is mostly used well -- the only film which was too much was Tenet, which is Nolan's worst film for a good reason.

It's the director (Alongside Raimi and Tarantino) who made me interested in films, so i don't have huge issues with his films except the last two; what lacked in these two was the "emotional punch" that Rises and Interstellar had.

A good example would be the scene with Catwoman getting the motorbike showing their relationship or Alfred telling the truth to Bruce in TDKR -- were far more engaging and touching than any of Tenet's and Dunkirk's.

I have seen them both just once, so while he's not "fallen off" , i think he can recover but right now he's on the mid to late career James Cameron trajectory, solid but not as oustanding as he was before almost note for note.

 

[Detective Conan]

 

[mclay18]

I think Universal or Disney’s 20th Century Studios will be a good fit for the project.

But it wouldn’t surprise me if Paramount won it, what with them co-financing Interstellar with WB.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Nolan news today and this also dropped from Unspooled today:

Unspooled podcast on Earwolf

A good listen with an even handed appraisal of both the film and Nolan as a film maker.

 

[OutOfBoose]

Murphy in the role looks like an inspired choice.

 

[DarkKnight88]

Nolan news today and this also dropped from Unspooled today:

Unspooled podcast on Earwolf

A good listen with an even handed appraisal of both the film and Nolan as a film maker.

Unfortunately, I can’t really stand Unspooled anymore. Two reviewers who can be fun on their own, just have the oddest takes.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Unfortunately, I can’t really stand Unspooled anymore. Two reviewers who can be fun on their own, just have the oddest takes.

Oh I think Amy and Paul have some truly head scratching and even pretentious hot takes that make me psychically throw popcorn at their heads all the time.

But the convos are always interesting and informed even when I go "Nope... Sorry... SPEED is not as good as the Fugitive sure but it is still one of the greatest and more influential 90's Hollywood blockbusters."

But between a pro critic, who are a class I don't always see eye to eye with in terms of movies to begin with, and an actor comedian who may not realize that there's huge blind spots just being someone on the other side whose experience is in making movies can have in comparison to the audience (99.9% of teams are looking to make a resonant and profitable movie but not all succeed so intentions can be moot...) who have neither the personal connections to movie production people and talent and who don't get bogged down in the weeds of "proper" film making the way too many involved in film do.

But I think they are pretty genuine and often make me ask some questions about my own movie assumptions even when I strongly disagree with what they put out.

 

[Solid]

I see a lot of hate and toxicity towards his name by cinephiles after Dunkirk and Tenet, which i personally rank below the rest of his films.

With the new movie upcoming, it feels like it will be something like Prestige and Dunkirk and not a spectacle one. Even if his films always do well at both box office and reviews.

Do you think he has fallen off?

00s:

Memento (8.5)
Insomnia (7)
Batman Begins (9)
The Prestige (8)
The Dark Knight (10)

10s:

Inception (9.5)
The Dark Knight Rises (9)
Interstellar (8.5)
Dunkirk (7)
Tenet (6.5)

I've put my ratings too, and i am gonna say it depends if you consider Inception as 00s or 10s i think.

 

[Gothamsknight]

No. What I see is an ambitious director who continues to try new things, and tell new stories and indulging himself into stuff he's very passionate about. I've loved every Nolan movie, some more than others, and even with Tenet being more of a middle of the road film, you have to appreciate it's scope and ambition. I'd also say Interstellar might be the most emotional movie of the last decade for me.

 

[chintai80]

haven't had a chance to finish watching interstellar yet.

but after watching tenent and dunkirk -- i would say no, far from it, imho.
i greatly enjoyed his last two films.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

I'd also say Interstellar might be the most emotional movie of the last decade for me.

As the father of a son and daughter I'd say it's definitely a candidate.

 

[Prison Mike]

Nolan has been hit or miss with me. But I will give him props for trying original things. I know some people think of all movies as “cinema” or some abstract art (whereas I think of them more as a product or investment), but I will say Nolan tries his best to live up to the “cinema” term.

 

[Pennywise]

Nope. Almost every director can be hit or miss with their films!

 

[Mandon Knight]

Yet to watch Tenet, have it to watch on BR, but I would say no. Dunkirk wasn't up to his previous standards for me, but he's still a major talent and one of the finest British directors working today.

 

[Milk Tray Guy]

Memento 8/10
Insomnia 5/10
Batman Begins 8/10
The Prestige 5/10
The Dark Knight 10/10

10s:

Inception 8/10
The Dark Knight Rises 8/10
Interstellar 8/10
Dunkirk 6/10
Tenet N/S

I've put my ratings too. There have been low spots in his career for me before, so I don't see a sudden drop from a consistent brilliance, because I don't think he had that. But when he's good he's great, and I think that's still the case. The only blip is that Dunkirk didn't hugely impress me, and the Tenet trailers didn't even make me want to see it; so for me this is the first time he's had two low showings in a row.

 

[Solid]

Thread was merged, the question of the poll which is now here, was if he did fall off or get notably worse.

Feel free to post your thoughts

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

His newest project isn't doing much for me at the moment. Plus, as much as I like Murphy, that potential casting leaves me cold as well.

I have no problem with him returning to WWII, but it all sounds a bit samey at the minute.

 

[GothamCity]

I think Memento is really his weakest film. Some like it and thats ok, but the repetition is too much in that film, it simply gets boring fast.

 

[Hurm...]

For me, Tenet and The Dark Knight Rises are two of Nolan's weakest films.TDKR felt completely tonally different than the previous two entries in the trilogy. The film felt like a standard comic book movie which is fine in its own right, but it just felt inconsistent with the previous instalments.

On the other hand, Tenet felt like a Nolan parody film with its terrible use of exposition (I was laughing when Aaron Taylor Johnson practically whips out a white board to explain the temporal pincer movement). It's such a convoluted mess that lacks the emotionality of Nolan's other work - such as Interstellar.

 

[GothamCity]

Well i think every batman movie from Nolan was tonally different. TDK didnt had the same atmosphere like BB for sure.

 

[shauner111]

His newest project isn't doing much for me at the moment. Plus, as much as I like Murphy, that potential casting leaves me cold as well.

I have no problem with him returning to WWII, but it all sounds a bit samey at the minute.

It feels like something any Hollywood director would tackle for the older biopic crowd.

 

[shauner111]

For me, Tenet and The Dark Knight Rises are two of Nolan's weakest films.TDKR felt completely tonally different than the previous two entries in the trilogy. The film felt like a standard comic book movie which is fine in its own right, but it just felt inconsistent with the previous instalments.

On the other hand, Tenet felt like a Nolan parody film with its terrible use of exposition (I was laughing when Aaron Taylor Johnson practically whips out a white board to explain the temporal pincer movement). It's such a convoluted mess that lacks the emotionality of Nolan's other work - such as Interstellar.

All fair points except the tone comment about TDKR. I don’t see how it’s different from Batman Begins.

 

[Black Narcissus]

His last 4 films have not been for me. I hate to say that. But tis' the truth. This new project doesn't do nothing for me either.

 

[shauner111]

I think Memento is really his weakest film. Some like it and thats ok, but the repetition is too much in that film, it simply gets boring fast.

I don’t like it much either. A gimmick hiding a mediocre crime film while Insomnia is a mediocre crime film without the gimmick. Those movies also don’t do much for me visually.

I loved the visuals of Tenet. It’s a funnier, more exotic Inception. Both screenplays are embarrassing though. He should retire from writing scripts.

 

[Black Narcissus]