Interstellar Review
RATING: (4 STARS) I want to talk about how well-made Interstellar is. I want to talk about Hoyte Van Hoytema’s cinematography in director Christopher Nolan’s ambitious, awe-inspiring film; it’s remarkable. Stepping in for regular Nolan contributor Wally Pfister, Van Hoytema establishes an old-fashioned aesthetic full of shots of a decaying Earth and a quietly wonderous […]
2015 Oscar Predictions: First Guesses Before Fall Fests
It’s 2015 Oscar predictions time, so let’s dig the prognosticator’s hat out of the attic, dust it off, and take a look at the landscape of the 2015 Oscar race. If I’m being honest, though, I almost didn’t want to get involved with 2015 Oscar predictions at all. Last year’s Oscar season and the nonsense […]
Christopher Nolan Movies
Christopher Nolan movies carry a mark that’s easy to spot from a mile away. Forget if you can the almost overwhelming hype that, like clockwork, accompanies each and every Christopher Nolan movie (or at least every film of his since The Dark Knight), Christopher Nolan movies also feature labyrinthine stories, blaring scores, and Michael Caine. […]
Man of Steel Review
RATING: (3 STARS) Once more unto the breach, dear friends… When the public’s goodwill toward Superman turned sour following the abominable Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, Krypton’s finest took a 19 year break from the big screen. Superman Returns was meant to be a triumphant return, and the film played that angle up, but […]
Side by Side
One wouldn’t necessarily expect Keanu Reeves to be as much an expert on the art of filmmaking as folks like James Cameron, George Lucas, Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, David Lynch, Danny Boyle, Steven Soderbergh, and Martin Scorsese, but in the documentary Side by Side, he’s a very knowledgable window into the artistic and technical processes […]
Ranking Christopher Nolan Films
His first movie came out in 1998. Since then, Christopher Nolan has done and accomplished a lot. He has three Oscar nominations under his belt (none for directing, but two for Original Screenplay [Inception and Memento] and one for Best Picture [Inception]). DGA and Golden Globe nominations, BAFTA awards, Independent Spirit Awards, and much more—not […]
The Dark Knight Rises Review
RATING: (3.5 STARS) With The Dark Knight Rises, the stirring finale to the wildly successful post-millennial Batman trilogy, director and cowriter Christopher Nolan laughs in the face of staggeringly high expectations and gives us perhaps the grandest of all superhero movies. The movie itself is this big, hulking monster—not unlike its main villain—but its flaws […]
Where Nolan’s Batman Comes Up Short
Seven years ago, we all began a journey. It started in a distant land with a man carrying a blue flower to the top of a tall mountain. We’ve left it with the same man going into exile after the death of a friend. Where it ends, we don’t yet know (well, some do), but […]
The Dark Knight Review
RATING: (4 STARS) The sequel to the excellent “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight” is only the best superhero movie of all time. And the contest isn’t even close. Director Christopher Nolan creates such a dark world, it’s hard to believe this is the same character as played by George Clooney (remember the bat-nipples?). For something […]
Inception Review
RATING: (4 STARS) The hype had been building up for months, years even—ever since “The Dark Knight†blew people’s minds in 2008. With the keys to the kingdom, just what was Christopher Nolan capable of? “Inception†answers that question—he’s capable of creating an absolutely wild world in which anything is possible and everything is believable. […]
Memento Review
RATING: (4 STARS) It was the film that introduced us all to Christopher Nolan. But “Memento†is more noteworthy than that. It’s a sensational story of a damaged man and his backward quest for revenge. The film does so many things right, but its premise and style are unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. “Memento†[…]
