The Bore Debates 2020: Is Christopher Nolan Good?

[jakefromstatefarm]

i’m a tentative no but i still like the prestige and the first 25 minutes of batman begins

[El Babua]

His movies are great first watch but end up weak after. Good ideas, but very little to dig into.

[Great Rumbler]

Yes.

And also Mupepe.

[Mandark]

yeah

got some obvious weaknesses but he's made some good stuff

[EightBitNate]

Yeah. He even made Dunkirk for all the lame people who don’t like his other movies.

[Steve Contra]

I’ve liked a few of his movies, but I sat through Interstellar so that’s a firm “no” from me

[Rahxephon91]

He's got some problems. His obsession with time and playing with it dosen't always work because I think he puts too much emphasis on it. Though I think it worked in Dunkirk.  His action scenes are pretty bad when it comes to gun or fit combat, but when it's something neat like the hallway scene in Inception it's cool.

I just simply like his movies. I like the look of them. I like his attempt at being serious and mature even if it dosen't always work.

[jakefromstatefarm]

my hottest take itt is prob that i think memento is boring

Christopher Nolan and Ridley Scott are hacks that got lucky on one or two movies

i legit love kingdom of heaven

[Mandark]

Honestly I'm kinda astounded that we haven't had some horrible #metoo-adjacent story surface with him yet.

Memento, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, and Inception all hinge on a male protagonist being wracked by guilt because they're responsible for a woman's death. That guy is working some things out.

[Great Rumbler]

[team filler]

Christopher Nolan and Ridley Scott are hacks that got lucky on one or two movies

and they're both racist too

[Great Rumbler]

my hottest take itt is prob that i think memento is boring

Christopher Nolan and Ridley Scott are hacks that got lucky on one or two movies

i legit love kingdom of heaven

Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut is really great.

[TakingBackSunday]

He’s good.  I think his biggest problem is how much he buys into his own pretentiousness.  Everything from Inception onwards has felt very “guys looks at all the A R T I’m making.”

Obviously has a clear skill set for imagery and effects, and he is one of the few popular filmmakers left that champions celluloid.  But I’d be curious to see what sort of pull he’d have if he never made one and a half good Batman movies out of three.

[nudemacusers]

he's zach snyder with better taste and restraint.

[Great Rumbler]

He’s good.  I think his biggest problem is how much he buys into his own pretentiousness.  Everything from Inception onwards has felt very “guys looks at all the A R T I’m making.”

Obviously has a clear skill set for imagery and effects, and he is one of the few popular filmmakers left that champions celluloid.  But I’d be curious to see what sort of pull he’d have if he never made one and a half good Batman movies out of three.

Mainstream success has definitely given him bigger budgets, but I dunno if his movies would be wildly different without. He'd definitely be working more on the indie side of things, but even early on he really liked playing with perception and time.

[nudemacusers]

speaking of pretentious ouroboros let's side channel a discussion of refn. 

[team filler]

don't be too much of an autisty nerd and you'll enjoy his movies

don't be enough of an autisty nerd and you'll think he's the greatest director since kubrick or some shid

[Mandark]

But I’d be curious to see what sort of pull he’d have if he never made one and a half good Batman movies out of three.

Who are the directors who can get a fairly big budget movie greenlit without signing on to a big franchise IP? Nolan, Tarantino, Scorcese?

[nudemacusers]

Speilberg maybe? I could see netflix throwing stupid money at him.

[team filler]

mel gibson

[Mandark]

Speilberg maybe? I could see netflix throwing stupid money at him.

Yeah, was thinking of him but felt he was doing more mid-budget Oscar bait stuff like Lincoln and Bridge of Spies. But he did direct Ready Player One! Not sure if I forgot that or never knew it.

[jakefromstatefarm]

Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut is really great.

the biggest, most obvious knock is that bloom was an awful casting choice but in a weird way, his cardboard performance makes the movie better because you can ignore the boring protagonist’s character arc and enjoy the world he’s living in

I think his biggest problem is how much he buys into his own pretentiousness.

this comes close to articulating my distaste for him. he postures as hollywood’s Big Ideas guy but is really oblivious how his movies all seem to want to slide into tedious schlock. theyre designed to give the affectation of having been clever. he’s obviously got a ton of skill for the craft of filmmaking though.

forgot about inception. that one’s good too. so 2.25 good movies

[Mandark]

Related, there's some revisionism around the Schumacher Batmans because of the endless pendulum of the grimdark/camp debate but I'm pretty sure it's like SW prequel revisionism and they're just bad.

[naff]

Related, there's some revisionism around the Schumacher Batmans because of the endless pendulum of the grimdark/camp debate but I'm pretty sure it's like SW prequel revisionism and they're just bad.

 

I think the gauche sex appeal of those films is also considered kinda funny and hot now.

[james]

Christopher Nolan is the defining figure of our generation.

When the American empire is long forgotten, Christopher Nolan will still be remembered

[Steve Contra]

Related, there's some revisionism around the Schumacher Batmans because of the endless pendulum of the grimdark/camp debate but I'm pretty sure it's like SW prequel revisionism and they're just bad.

Schumacher’s Batman movies are legitimately bad, but they also have a definable style and appear to be made by a person. I mean how many marvel movies are there now and how many feel like that?

[naff]

Are people here discussing Kingdom of Heaven just being contrarian? I gave the dir. cut a go after seeing Rumbler rated it years ago and i did enjoy it i guess, but still found an overly long middling epic with occasionally rousing battles imo. I didn't care for it's portrayal of history or Bloom's tediously noble performance. It needed an unrestrained powerhouse to guide it like Crowe throughout Gladiator.

Also, Stro has fuckin' terrible takes jesus christ. The Duellists, Blade Runner, Alien, Thelma and Louise and Gladiator are all great with a smattering of solid popcorn flicks filling out the ranks.

[thisismyusername]

Yes/No, for me. I agree with the "good for a first watch, not good on rewatch" opinion. Though Inception holds on rewatching for me, but that's on the strength of it's effects more than anything.

Related, there's some revisionism around the Schumacher Batmans because of the endless pendulum of the grimdark/camp debate but I'm pretty sure it's like SW prequel revisionism and they're just bad.

https://hazlitt.net/longreads/paper-faces-parade

[team filler]

Related, there's some revisionism around the Schumacher Batmans because of the endless pendulum of the grimdark/camp debate but I'm pretty sure it's like SW prequel revisionism and they're just bad.

Schumacher’s Batman movies are legitimately bad, but they also have a definable style and appear to be made by a person. I mean how many marvel movies are there now and how many feel like that?

this works for star war prequel too

as bad as they are, I've rewatched, but don't feel I'll ever rewatch the sequel tril. both are bad, but with the sequels and other disney it's watch it once and forget forever

[nudemacusers]

mel gibson

have you forgotten who runs hollywood? 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

i think it's the chinese now tbh

[close]

[team filler]

chicommywood

[Mandark]

Related, there's some revisionism around the Schumacher Batmans because of the endless pendulum of the grimdark/camp debate but I'm pretty sure it's like SW prequel revisionism and they're just bad.

Schumacher’s Batman movies are legitimately bad, but they also have a definable style and appear to be made by a person. I mean how many marvel movies are there now and how many feel like that?

this works for star war prequel too

as bad as they are, I've rewatched, but don't feel I'll ever rewatch the sequel tril. both are bad, but with the sequels and other disney it's watch it once and forget forever

hahaha NOPE

[team filler]

Related, there's some revisionism around the Schumacher Batmans because of the endless pendulum of the grimdark/camp debate but I'm pretty sure it's like SW prequel revisionism and they're just bad.

Schumacher’s Batman movies are legitimately bad, but they also have a definable style and appear to be made by a person. I mean how many marvel movies are there now and how many feel like that?

this works for star war prequel too

as bad as they are, I've rewatched, but don't feel I'll ever rewatch the sequel tril. both are bad, but with the sequels and other disney it's watch it once and forget forever

hahaha NOPE

let's rewatch 90s batman together  bb

[team filler]

the prequels were so bad that we rewatched and talk about how bad they are. the sequels are so bad that I can no longer go back to rewatch the preguels or p much any other star war

[VomKriege]

Starting with his Batmans, his films are consistently way too long & the writing too explicit and meandering which ruins his great flair for ideas (the premise are always good, intriguing and he always gets a couple of good impressive sequences out of it). Design and visuals clean and above average but a couple of steps below greatness. His pieces of résistance and the high notes get drown in filler that feels way too self-important for what it is.

[Joe Molotov]

Ya, he’s p. good

[Cauliflower Of Love]

I watch interstellar all the time but every batman sucks.

[BIONIC]

Batman & Robin is legit fun, and haters can suck a small one 

[Transhuman]

Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut is really great.

the biggest, most obvious knock is that bloom was an awful casting choice but in a weird way, his cardboard performance makes the movie better because you can ignore the boring protagonist’s character arc and enjoy the world he’s living in

Like that Australian guy in Avatar.

[benjipwns]

Related, there's some revisionism around the Schumacher Batmans because of the endless pendulum of the grimdark/camp debate but I'm pretty sure it's like SW prequel revisionism and they're just bad.

Schumacher’s Batman movies are legitimately bad, but they also have a definable style and appear to be made by a person. I mean how many marvel movies are there now and how many feel like that?

[Himu]

I like him. He can have pacing issues. Like The Dark Knight's first third it feels like many scenes are too short because he has so much content he had to dramatically constrict the length of the film. He also has a tendency to overuse overly theatrical music rather than plain old quiet. His themes can sometimes be overwrought and if he struggles to get down what he's trying to say he really struggles but when it works it really works. So I like him a lot and given every one of his films a chance if possible.

[Raist]

He's made more good/great movies than bad/meh ones, so I'd say he is. But also a bit overrated.

[Human Snorenado]

He's good but not great

[Mr Gilhaney]

He's pretty good I think, but certainly also a few mediocre movies.

Also the dark knight rises fight scenes, how the fuck. I usually never notice if stuff like that is bad, but it was so bad in this one.

[Mandark]

It's pretty funny that three of the biggest superhero movies were directed by a guy who's particularly bad at (or is uninterested in) filming fight scenes.

[Mandark]

Inception is good because it is nature's noblest and most majestic creature: a heist movie.

[ToxicAdam]

I've seen them all except for the cape shit. I loved Memento and Insomnia, but the rest hasn't really moved me.  There should be an English word or phrase where something is expertly done but still doesn't impress you. The Ron Howard Effect.

[Nintex]

I'm a big fan.

He makes great films with awesome world building, great casting choices and usually stellar Hans Zimmer soundtracks.
I like how each film has a different theme and focus and brings something unique, while still maintaining a similar Nolan feel.

Because he's heavily in favor of practical effects his movies age well too.

[Himu]

Are people here discussing Kingdom of Heaven just being contrarian? I gave the dir. cut a go after seeing Rumbler rated it years ago and i did enjoy it i guess, but still found an overly long middling epic with occasionally rousing battles imo. I didn't care for it's portrayal of history or Bloom's tediously noble performance. It needed an unrestrained powerhouse to guide it like Crowe throughout Gladiator.

Also, Stro has fuckin' terrible takes jesus christ. The Duellists, Blade Runner, Alien, Thelma and Louise and Gladiator are all great with a smattering of solid popcorn flicks filling out the ranks.

Alien is an all timer. Blade Runner fucking sucks but looks great. Gladiator is absolute schlock.

Blade Runner is great and depends on the version. The final cut is godlike.

[paprikastaude]

No doubt since Rises it's gotten more wonky with these movies. On the other hand, he might just be the last guy left who's got a pass to do non-franchise movies of that budget, which is crazy (and pathetic).

[Nintex]

The budget of Rises must've been crazy after the success of TDK.
I feel a lot of stuff was just thrown in there because Nolan simply wanted to try it out for other future movies

In editing they also used what must've been some of the worst takes of certain scenes.
But despite some quality issues, it's still a very fun watch.

[Great Rumbler]

1. The Dark Knight
2. Inception
3. Batman Begins
4. Dunkirk
5. Interstellar
6. The Dark Knight Rises
7. The Prestige
8. Memento
9. Insomnia
10. Following

[MMaRsu]

Ive missed a few of his movies but aside from Dark knight rises he is a top filmmaker for sure

[Raist]

Are people here discussing Kingdom of Heaven just being contrarian? I gave the dir. cut a go after seeing Rumbler rated it years ago and i did enjoy it i guess, but still found an overly long middling epic with occasionally rousing battles imo. I didn't care for it's portrayal of history or Bloom's tediously noble performance. It needed an unrestrained powerhouse to guide it like Crowe throughout Gladiator.

Also, Stro has fuckin' terrible takes jesus christ. The Duellists, Blade Runner, Alien, Thelma and Louise and Gladiator are all great with a smattering of solid popcorn flicks filling out the ranks.

Blade Runner fucking sucks

Mods pls.

[tiesto]

I liked all his movies except for Dark Knight Rises. They've got the complicated, puzzle-based narratives without being way too overly steeped in metaphor. But I'm not a huge movie guy tbh...

[Cauliflower Of Love]

Not only does blade runner suck, but so does blade runner 2049.

[EightBitNate]

I’ll agree that Blade Runner’s visuals hide the really average movie that’s underneath. Never gave 2049 a shot.

[Steve Contra]

Even if Blade Runner wasn't a good movie (it is) the visuals alone are enough to make it worth more than 95% of movies. Add in some Vangelis and bump that up to 97%

[Great Rumbler]

If nothing else, OG Blade Runner is worth it for Roy's final scene:



And that's when you realize that Roy was the main character all along.

[Joe Molotov]

(Image removed from quote.)

7 is the lowest score you can give a videogame without getting death threats, while also the maximum score a non-cape movie is allowed to get.