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I just found out about your channel and I'm in love with your reviews. You're so articulate with your thoughts and have an interesting perspective on so many aspects of filmmaking.
I think Memento (and most of his films except the Dark Knight trilogy) are great exercises in subjective film making. And I will continue to argue that Inception is an action espionage thriller first with undercurrents of cerebral cinema. Nolan is Michael Bay if Bay only watched French new wave cinema and the classics of the 60's and 70's. I also see him as a bridge between Spielberg (big, adventurous tent poles) and Kubrick (cold, clinical, and distant). This is evident with Interstellar as it was first given to Spielberg to direct because of the family dynamics that were front and center (single parent trying to save their kid) but then it was handed to Nolan after Spielberg balked and Nolan added his cerebral aspects to it and said its cinematic father (or mother) was 2001. He's too art house for mainstream and too mainstream for art house but for those who love a blend of the two, he's the director for you (and me).
I generally like Nolan's work, but you hit the nail on the head about his dialogue. I always thought his dialogue gets a little too expository, at times it starts to resemble a conversation in a video game between your character an NPC giving out mission details. As always, your review was great, I'm looking forward to watching Dunkirk!
I agree with you. While I'm a Nolan fan, by Interstellar his weaknesses REALLY started to show themselves. Dunkirk is him playing completely to his strengths and it's wonderful. One of his best.
Woah I literally just rewatched this last night and completely agree with everything you said here. I rewatched Nolan’s entire filmography this past week and I’ve had issues with all of his work, mostly the scripts and dialogue overall but this feels like the film he was always working towards and by far his most personal. Agree with what you said about Inception I admire a lot of the craft behind it and the ambition but ultimately there’s much to be desired and I would love to hear your thoughts on it. Also think The Prestige is quite underrated and while I do have issues with the script and camerawork I love the way Nolan is deconstructing the act of filmmaking and the illusion behind it all and I really think that more than any other film of his besides Dunkirk, Prestige is very much worth your time.
Nice review! I was actually just thinking about this movie. Probably my favorite Nolan film from last decade. Hoyte Van Hoytema’s (what a name) cinematography is so good in this movie.
Funnily enough, that's one of the few Nolan films I haven't seen. Though I've been told I may like it. I would love to see it and review it at some point.
I watched it again(4th time viewing) a few nights ago...In my opinion it gets better each and every time! An expertly crafted film from one of the best!
Nolan Rankings: 1) The Dark Knight (carried principally by Ledger's performance, but this performance broke the curve, is stained into my consciousness, and ultimately drags the movie up to 1) 2) The Prestige (a masterpiece that explores many themes including how envy and obsession will destroy you) 3) Dunkirk 4) Insomnia (no bells and whistles here, just a messy situation that makes for a compelling movie) 5) Batman Begins 6) Memento (once you piece everything together it loses some its lure) 7) Inception (a mind numbing, forgettable popcorn movie that is all about the mathematics without any character moments) 8) Interstellar 9) The Dark Knight Rises 10) Following
1. Interstellar 2. Mememto (gap) 3. Dunkirk 4. Insomnia (gap) 5. Inception The Prestige I'd have to see again. (Didn't two magician films come out at the same time?) The Batman stuff I don't care about. Following I never saw.
Yeah I'm not on the trendy "Christopher Nolan is overrated" bandwagon. Memento Insomnia Batman Begins The Prestige The Dark Knight Inception The Dark Knight Rises Interstellar Dunkirk Tenet (which certainly looks incredible and will hopefully see the light of day eventually) No director has that kind of track record over the last 20 years. In fact it's probably on par with the best runs any director has ever been on.
@@SkolneyVikings scorsese, noè, refn, wong kar wai,park chan wook, bong john woo,spike jonez, yorgos lanthimos, charlie kauffman, denis villenueve, david lynch, lars von trier, terrence malick, robert eggers and soooo many more i can't even count them who have in two of their movies more artistry than this entire filmography
i tried to see dunkirck but they accidentally sold me a ticket to dumbjerk. the whole movie was just a recording of me looking for my glasses, which were on my face.
Would like to see a video explaining why you like certain directors, actors, actresses and composer and why not for example Han Zimmer. Talk about some of his work that you liked (if there's any) and the dislikes too.
Lots of negative comments about this film. Not yer typical "rah-rah" war movie like private ryan. (Which, production value aside, I thought was garbage.) I liked the three contrasting timelines. Actually "frames of reference". Overlapping circles. I LOVE that the germans are not seen. It would be so cool and edgy if someone actually did this from the GERMAN PERSPECTIVE. (Perhaps like a Das Boot.) Good review. I wish I could say more but I don't like commenting on a film I saw over a year ago.
I get your views on Nolan. Rewatching many of his ‘bigger’ films, a lot of his flaws really stand out to me, particularly in his Batman trilogy... and Inception. I do think, however, that Interstellar is a great film, flaws and all... it’s very moving, and it has heart. And as much as I’ve tired of Zimmer’s bombastic trombones, I also very much enjoyed his Interstellar score. I like the use of the organ in some of the pieces. I think it’s kind of a rare instrument to hear so prominently in a bigger score. But yeah, I enjoyed Dunkirk. I find myself comparing it to Mendes’ recent war film, can’t think of the name, which was a disappointment to me. Maybe because they both have that same washed-out color palette? Dunkirk was better, imo, and I appreciate its shorter runtime. A war movie worth the watch. Cool top, btw.
Yeah I do believe Nolan gets too easily overrated. I've met more than one person who has said Dark Knight is THE greatest film of all time. And my counter is that it's still just a comic book movie. And it's saddled with all the conventions that suggests, including interminable fight scenes. You can see something similar with biblical/classical era spectacle films from the 50's and early 60's. Ben Hur or even Spartacus are pretty good but they can never be great in the way Stalker or Vertigo is. The genre conventions are just too heavy in these cases. And the fact that Nolan did three of these? And I enjoyed Inception but it doesn't linger with me. I would agree Memento shows the promise. Dunkirk is quite good. But Nolan's danger is cleverness over depth. Thanks for prodding a few thoughts.
I just rewatched it and I'm surprised you weren't more harsh on the score, I thought that as well as the pacing really undercut a lot of the scenes in the second half, or just in general to be honest. I think it starts off perfectly, even the music worked really well, but then way too much stuff goes down for anything to really hit the same way the first 15 minutes does.
Even though 3 Billboards was my favorite film of 2017, I think Dunkirk was the best film of 2017. Dunkirk violates some of my core desires for a film. I like to have a central character I can relate to & feel for. I like to have a linear timeline. Yet, I loved Dunkirk. Great pacing, great practical effects, and a central character that was an entire army rather than 1 individual. I just thought Dunkirk was an incredible achievement in Cinema.
I’d love to see you review Insomnia (2002). I find it to be Nolan’s movie that’s most grounded in reality. It might not be the most re-watchable, but the themes really do stick and the performances were great.
I am absolutely with you - I'm not a fan of Nolan in general, with a few exceptions. I LOVE your thoughts on Nolan - on what is great about him and what falls short. For me, it's MEMENTO and THE PRESTIGE and that's it. However, now that you've recommended DUNKIRK, perhaps I can add it to the other 2 Nolan films I actually like.
I didn't enjoy this film. Its only achievement was taking that legendary story, that budget, those resources afforded to a director of that calibre and producing a cold, clinical snooze fest of a film. Infinite potential squandered. I realise I'm in a minority on this. I even saw it an IMAX theatre but I just didn't care for it. Tenet looks like Nolan by numbers too judging from the trailers. Convoluted sciencey fare, BRRRRR deafening Zimmer soundtrack, expositiony dialogue and Michael Caine playing himself and crying half way through the movie.
The movie is overrated. I thought it was one of his worst films- Tenet being the worst. It was a boring film with a blaring soundtrack that made me wished I had brought some ear plugs to the theatre. Lately, it seems that Nolan is more interested in exploring some new film technique than he is about making an entertaining movie. I think Inception was probably the last truly entertaining movie he made.
A small problem with reviewing movies like Lawrence of Arabia and Dunkirk is they are so tied into a super high def theatrical experience. Both movies in the big 65mm film and Dunkirk lots of it in super big super sharp IMAX. Christopher Nolan has this problem with resorting to the timely whiney gimmick, jumps forward and back in time at varied speeds sometimes. Tenet worries me it could be just a bigger budget rehash of reverse continuity of Memento. And he's pretty heavy with the transhumanist objectivist libertarian stuff.
This is the only Nolan film it took me another viewing to engage with it and appreciate its genius. So you caught the three timelines on the initial watch. It wasnt overtly clear to me for some reason that's what was going on during my first watch.
@@deepfocuslens Yes this one may take a couple viewings to understand what Nolan was going for. At first I even thought it was pretty bland, didnt even watch until the end and Nolan is one of my favorite directors today. Now I love Dunkirk, having seen it again in its entirety.
Awesome review I really enjoyed the movie, I like that it seemed more natural almost as I time travelled back to 1940 and I was stood watching it play out, thousands of soldiers waiting to be taken back to Britain. I liked Hans Zimmer’s score in this movie, back when I first noticed his work I thought he was brilliant but then his musical scores especially for sci fi movies just started sounding all the same, just like so many others. You’re very knowledgable about movies and musical scores did you study movies at college? I live in Britain and Weymouth is about 45 minutes from where I live in Salisbury Wiltshire I just say Novichok and people are like oh yeah!
Hi Maggie, cant you review just one Netflix series. Dark. Total 26 episodes. I know its too much. But it's so great to listen to you. When you describe some movie, its like poetry for me :) I just love you. for me, 'Dark' is a gold standard for the sci-fi genre. please please. its a genuine request, straight from my heart
Dark season 1 is great, great concept and execution but after that it's an overrated messs characters became just names and they wanted to "complicate" the story just for the sake of being "complicated" it's the definition of pseudo-intellectuals
Christopher Nolan's main interest has always been brainy, almost mathematical storytelling. He's fascinated by the technicalities of plot more than he is fascinated by the human psyche. So corny dialogue and tropey characters sometimes just serve to help him deal with his real obsessions. But at least he has real obsessions. And at east he's pursuing them. I feel similarly about James Cameron.
Good review. I may give the film another shot. That aside. I have said it before and I'll say it now: Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan don't understand people. While this may come across as arbitrary I'll say that all the great film makers understand people and it's the core which permeates the scenes and dialogue. Nolan is some sort of anomaly or enigma. He understands the craft and the great works of others but can't replicate it himself. I believe this is because he understands the different parts well but can't really assemble those parts into something truly coherent. People who like his films mistake layers for depth and he tends to add "layers" a bit too often. From a historical point of view Dunkirk falls short. Yes, I know that movie making involves a degree of "artistic liberty" but there were close to 400,000 soldiers in Dunkirk in reality. In the film it looks like 4000. Scale?
I was thinking of you after watching a beautiful film “Midsommer” I have no idea if you have or have not watched but omg would love to here your thoughts 💭
I think the motivation of Warner Bros. to continually back Nolan is as simple as his confidence with broad strokes. In an era of blockbusters, what Nolan does on the big screen is an investment they can understand. I can see why you don't go easy on Nolan, and I don't think he goes easy on himself. The abstract part of his brain never rests. His resulting work has about as much subtlety as a Picasso painting. (Or M.C. Escher. That might be a more appropriate comparison; Escher did directly color "Inception"'s design.) Edgar Wright is more organic with the blockbuster format than Nolan is. I feel with Wright that cerebral acrobatics are always at the service of an emotional core. Even with "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World", where a primary point is that these characters are self-centered morons, you can expect Wright to also carry through (especially in editing) the theme of internal baggage and its consequences, and he delivers.
I felt the same way with tenet as you do memento I think tenet was his magnum opus of reverse story telling and it is hopefully a finale of his execution in which it is revealed that you cannot tell a story in reverse and it be a good film even if it is well executed. I thought tenet was executed well it’s just that the attempt and full commitment of the execution doesn’t work as successful story telling from a film perspective.
I did like Dunkirk, but I think the narrative devices that Nolan likes to use didn't necessarily service the story. Technically, I think he pulled everything off very well, I just don't think it added much value.
I wasn’t a massive fan of Nolan’s Dunkirk. It all felt a bit sterile and organised and I thought the whole different time zone narrative didn’t quite work for me. Now the Dunkirk scene in Atonement however was probably a lot closer in the way the madness it might have been like. A depressed and utterly defeated army pushed back to the sea.
How do you compare Memento to the similar structure with Irreversible? At the time Memento was new in its telling of a tale backwards, and the aspects of having to deal with it. Nolan is a big fan of time. It plays key roles in many of his films, and was least effective, in my mind with Tenet that was simply a bridge too far. Too many layers, too much going and interaction amongst time on different plains. I really like Nolan films and manage to see them in the biggest theatre I can find. IMAX for sure. I saw him at TIFF with Dunkirk where he personally was there to discuss its making. I will simply, with respect, disagree with you on Hans Zimmer. The soundtrack on Interstellar was just excellent. Same with Gladiator and Da Vinci Code. Always enjoy hearing a different perspective on movies.
I like Nolan and most of the movies by him I've seen but I do miss one thing.. Comedy or humor. I understand that some of his movies are suppose to be deep more than just a casual friday afternoon movie (to get your mind off work). I just wish some of the dialog wasn't so stale. I would loved to have someone like James Coburn, Bruce Dern, Jack Nicholson or Donald Sutherland to come in and just be more natural, funny and witty. Just let them run more free instead of that "serving the whole picture" kind of dialog. Michael Caine could be such a character. Mostly now he just seem to be in the movies to bring some respect from older audiences who might not know so much about the "younger" actors like Tom Hardy or Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Of the current fimmakers who the general public can mention. Noland and Tarantino seem to be the biggest. Funny thing is that I wish Tarantino could take after Nolan some and vice versa. I think Tarantino can be too silly at times (like himself in Django Unchained) just like Nolan can be too serious and forget he is suppose to entertain as well.
The war genre is usually a hit or miss, this was undeniably executed very well especially considering it kept things palatable enough to be PG13, it ain't no Hacksaw Ridge or Spielberg work but it wasn't trying to be...
NOLAN IS A BONAFIDE GENIUS WHO MADE AN AMAZING MOVIE. HE IS NOT COLLEGE TRAINED IRONICALLY LIKE MANY TRULY GREAT DIRECTORS. (P.S I have to apologize before I say this... Not to trivialize this conversation but You look marvelous.) NOW ON WITH THE REVIEW. I AGREE WITH YOU THAT HIS DIALOGUE IS DRY SOMETIMES, BUT NOT AS BAD AS GEORGE LUCAS. OUTSIDE OF THIS MOVIE & THE BATMAN TRILOGY, I USUALLY DO NOT LIKE HIS FILMS ALSO.
Nolan has made some not great n action sequences. 'Inception' has that really awful van falling off bridge scene with silly fighting in hallway. Also some batman action sequences are nowhere near the mastery of for instance James Cameron
One of the first ones I have watched where I really disagree with you. I don’t care about any of the characters in this, all I see is the actors. How do I know that all these people aren’t just awful? Maybe it’s because I’m British and I hate half of the people in this country. I just felt bored. I know it’s WW2 and they’re fighting Nazis so it’s normal to support the British. Naturally, everyone does and so do I, but this film totally takes that fact for granted and comes across as lazy in terms of character development. I didn’t see any particularly interesting or exciting stories in this film.
My opinion: Maggie's favorite movies tend to be cerebral and/or psychedelic with possibly a strong female lead who's independent and driven (and perhaps very in tune with her sexuality). Let's be honest Nolan doesn't have many movies like that. Nolan's movies tend to go for mass appeal and thus he makes it too straightforward for Maggie's tastes.
Don’t know where you got the strong female lead thing, she’s been very vocal about how she disagrees with the current agenda pushing of modern mainstream films.
Film had no heart, it is one of the dramatic events of WW2. And yet the film Dunkirk felt flat and cold. You barely see the enemy, no real conflict of the retreat... His Batman films were a lot better.
And that's what war is, it's cold, ugly and pointless. I think you fell into a trap of liking the movies that romanticize war, meanwhile Dunkirk tries to give more of the 'gut feeling' of it.
@@dawidjagusiak I disagree, war is not cold, it is seeing your friends blown to bits or brothers being sent to war. I feel the film is flawed, as it only shows a small aspect of Dunkirk, and not the conflict of the French and English forces being pushed back to the Channel. The reviewer stated that characters were there for exposition and it is true. This film was yet another Nolan experiment on the perception of time and experiences and not a decent account of the 330,000 souls who fought and escaped that beach in 1940.
@@Vonklieve It is his interpretation of the events and personally I think it is a step forward in the war movie genre. We didn't see friends blown to bits and brothers sent to war? So what? An informed viewer knows all that, seen it in countless war movies and probably grew indifferent watching it over and over again. I don't think movies like 'Private Ryan' or even 'Schindler's List' cut it anymore, as Western society gets further and further away from actual experience (or first hand relation) of war. I think Nolan was trying to make us simply resent the war as an event, and put the 'heroism' if any into the hands of civilians (which overall don't get much credit in war movies, won't you agree?) You only criticizing the movie because it doesn't portray the event the way you want it to be shown.
Even when Nolan makes the most basic improvements to his filmmaking, he still insists we take seriously a bunch of Calvin Klein models with freshly cleaned faces in a literal war zone (in which nobody bleeds, of course, because PG-13). Truly preposterous. I can't take anything he does seriously. It's all a big joke, and the seriousness he insists on only makes that joke funnier.
Dunkirk frustrated me so much. Loved the tone and overall look of the film, but the time jumping was beyond irritating to me and the music and sound effects were aggravating and ruined some of the drama. Didn’t care that much about the characters either. 1917 was so much better, in my opinion
The fact is that everyone has their own opinion. Some people are better at communicating it, some people get paid for articulating it, but we all have them.
I like Dunkirk, but they focused too much on the British perspective. We're supposed to fear the Germans as this fearsome enemy yet the Germans are barely shown. Detracts from the sense of dread.
Fun fact. Tarantino said it Nolan's best work and one his top 10 movies of last decade.
interesting but I hate tarantino
I agree with him even though Interstellar had a bigger wow factor. Dunkirk works on a technical and storytelling level.
I just found out about your channel and I'm in love with your reviews. You're so articulate with your thoughts and have an interesting perspective on so many aspects of filmmaking.
I think Memento (and most of his films except the Dark Knight trilogy) are great exercises in subjective film making. And I will continue to argue that Inception is an action espionage thriller first with undercurrents of cerebral cinema. Nolan is Michael Bay if Bay only watched French new wave cinema and the classics of the 60's and 70's. I also see him as a bridge between Spielberg (big, adventurous tent poles) and Kubrick (cold, clinical, and distant). This is evident with Interstellar as it was first given to Spielberg to direct because of the family dynamics that were front and center (single parent trying to save their kid) but then it was handed to Nolan after Spielberg balked and Nolan added his cerebral aspects to it and said its cinematic father (or mother) was 2001. He's too art house for mainstream and too mainstream for art house but for those who love a blend of the two, he's the director for you (and me).
I did not know that about Interstellar. That is very interesting.
Inception is great if you are not familiar with Memento.
I wish I had seen this in theatres. I enjoyed the movie but viewing it on a big screen would have been epic
I generally like Nolan's work, but you hit the nail on the head about his dialogue. I always thought his dialogue gets a little too expository, at times it starts to resemble a conversation in a video game between your character an NPC giving out mission details. As always, your review was great, I'm looking forward to watching Dunkirk!
Having not seen this movie, your review is coming off as high praise given your stance on Nolan. So this makes me excited to watch this.
Lol same. I'm genuinely surprised she liked it
I stopped watching after 10 minutes.
Saw it couple weeks ago in theaters, its my least favourite film that ive seen from nolan
@@benjaminkukkola8754 why?
The best part is if you have the Blu ray or 4K it has all the imax scenes and it is awesome
I agree with you. While I'm a Nolan fan, by Interstellar his weaknesses REALLY started to show themselves. Dunkirk is him playing completely to his strengths and it's wonderful. One of his best.
A lot of people love Interstellar
@@anthonymartensen3164 never said that wasn't the case. I like the film myself. But it's very flawed.
@@1080TJ isn't that all a matter of perspective?
I think Interstellar is a pretentious mess. The black hole itself is well done, but my goodness Nolan...
"I'm not a fan of Christopher Nolan"
👍
Woah I literally just rewatched this last night and completely agree with everything you said here. I rewatched Nolan’s entire filmography this past week and I’ve had issues with all of his work, mostly the scripts and dialogue overall but this feels like the film he was always working towards and by far his most personal. Agree with what you said about Inception I admire a lot of the craft behind it and the ambition but ultimately there’s much to be desired and I would love to hear your thoughts on it. Also think The Prestige is quite underrated and while I do have issues with the script and camerawork I love the way Nolan is deconstructing the act of filmmaking and the illusion behind it all and I really think that more than any other film of his besides Dunkirk, Prestige is very much worth your time.
Nice review! I was actually just thinking about this movie. Probably my favorite Nolan film from last decade. Hoyte Van Hoytema’s (what a name) cinematography is so good in this movie.
I love this channel. I love your reviews. I love you....as a film critic. I don't know you personally, so that would be unhealthy to say I love you.
You should review the prestige, Nolan’s true underrated masterpiece( at least to me it is).
Funnily enough, that's one of the few Nolan films I haven't seen. Though I've been told I may like it. I would love to see it and review it at some point.
deepfocuslens it’s definitely worth a watch. I saw it for the first time a few years ago and became mesmerized by it.
@@deepfocuslens it's really good. And maybe not too self-serious or cold for your liking
I watched it again(4th time viewing) a few nights ago...In my opinion it gets better each and every time! An expertly crafted film from one of the best!
Yes, definitely grows on you.
Dunkirk is dude's masterpiece. Such an impressive work. Really so much more confident in the images than most of his other films.
Nolan Rankings:
1) The Dark Knight (carried principally by Ledger's performance, but this performance broke the curve, is stained into my consciousness, and ultimately drags the movie up to 1)
2) The Prestige (a masterpiece that explores many themes including how envy and obsession will destroy you)
3) Dunkirk
4) Insomnia (no bells and whistles here, just a messy situation that makes for a compelling movie)
5) Batman Begins
6) Memento (once you piece everything together it loses some its lure)
7) Inception (a mind numbing, forgettable popcorn movie that is all about the mathematics without any character moments)
8) Interstellar
9) The Dark Knight Rises
10) Following
1. Interstellar
2. Mememto
(gap)
3. Dunkirk
4. Insomnia
(gap)
5. Inception
The Prestige I'd have to see again. (Didn't two magician films come out at the same time?)
The Batman stuff I don't care about.
Following I never saw.
I still found the movie just fine, but the theater experience was probably the best I've ever had.
Yeah I'm not on the trendy "Christopher Nolan is overrated" bandwagon.
Memento
Insomnia
Batman Begins
The Prestige
The Dark Knight
Inception
The Dark Knight Rises
Interstellar
Dunkirk
Tenet (which certainly looks incredible and will hopefully see the light of day eventually)
No director has that kind of track record over the last 20 years. In fact it's probably on par with the best runs any director has ever been on.
That's VERY debatable. PTA for one.
@@NaughtyVampireGod PTA, Tarantino, Fincher. Prime Spielberg. There are other contenders for sure.
@@SkolneyVikings scorsese, noè, refn, wong kar wai,park chan wook, bong john woo,spike jonez, yorgos lanthimos, charlie kauffman, denis villenueve, david lynch, lars von trier, terrence malick, robert eggers and soooo many more i can't even count them who have in two of their movies more artistry than this entire filmography
i tried to see dunkirck but they accidentally sold me a ticket to dumbjerk. the whole movie was just a recording of me looking for my glasses, which were on my face.
every video she releases she gets hotter and hotter like god damn
Would like to see a video explaining why you like certain directors, actors, actresses and composer and why not for example Han Zimmer. Talk about some of his work that you liked (if there's any) and the dislikes too.
Lots of negative comments about this film. Not yer typical "rah-rah" war movie like private ryan. (Which, production value aside, I thought was garbage.) I liked the three contrasting timelines. Actually "frames of reference". Overlapping circles. I LOVE that the germans are not seen. It would be so cool and edgy if someone actually did this from the GERMAN PERSPECTIVE. (Perhaps like a Das Boot.) Good review. I wish I could say more but I don't like commenting on a film I saw over a year ago.
Agreed. I also felt German perspective would be interesting.
@@deepfocuslens Hey.
Was wondering if you could do a review on “Shadows” directed by John Cassavetes? Interested in your impressions on that film.
I get your views on Nolan. Rewatching many of his ‘bigger’ films, a lot of his flaws really stand out to me, particularly in his Batman trilogy... and Inception.
I do think, however, that Interstellar is a great film, flaws and all... it’s very moving, and it has heart. And as much as I’ve tired of Zimmer’s bombastic trombones, I also very much enjoyed his Interstellar score. I like the use of the organ in some of the pieces. I think it’s kind of a rare instrument to hear so prominently in a bigger score.
But yeah, I enjoyed Dunkirk. I find myself comparing it to Mendes’ recent war film, can’t think of the name, which was a disappointment to me. Maybe because they both have that same washed-out color palette? Dunkirk was better, imo, and I appreciate its shorter runtime. A war movie worth the watch.
Cool top, btw.
1917 is the Same Mendes film. Great comment!
agree on Interstellar and liked 1917 better than D
Could you do a review of Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)?
I probably feel the same way about Quentin Tarantino as you do about Christopher Nolan.
Same
Yeah I do believe Nolan gets too easily overrated. I've met more than one person who has said Dark Knight is THE greatest film of all time. And my counter is that it's still just a comic book movie. And it's saddled with all the conventions that suggests, including interminable fight scenes. You can see something similar with biblical/classical era spectacle films from the 50's and early 60's. Ben Hur or even Spartacus are pretty good but they can never be great in the way Stalker or Vertigo is. The genre conventions are just too heavy in these cases. And the fact that Nolan did three of these? And I enjoyed Inception but it doesn't linger with me. I would agree Memento shows the promise. Dunkirk is quite good. But Nolan's danger is cleverness over depth. Thanks for prodding a few thoughts.
I just rewatched it and I'm surprised you weren't more harsh on the score, I thought that as well as the pacing really undercut a lot of the scenes in the second half, or just in general to be honest. I think it starts off perfectly, even the music worked really well, but then way too much stuff goes down for anything to really hit the same way the first 15 minutes does.
Wow you really know how to articulate your thoughts well. Subscribed.
Even though 3 Billboards was my favorite film of 2017, I think Dunkirk was the best film of 2017. Dunkirk violates some of my core desires for a film. I like to have a central character I can relate to & feel for. I like to have a linear timeline. Yet, I loved Dunkirk. Great pacing, great practical effects, and a central character that was an entire army rather than 1 individual. I just thought Dunkirk was an incredible achievement in Cinema.
This movie flowed extremely well. Edge of the seat from start to finish. Technically flawless.
I’d love to see you review Insomnia (2002). I find it to be Nolan’s movie that’s most grounded in reality. It might not be the most re-watchable, but the themes really do stick and the performances were great.
thanks so much . never heard of directors like Bertrand Bonello and luis bunuel before this.
I agree Maggie, it's like Nolan finally absorbed the lesson that less can be more and show don't tell, especially relating to exposition.
And then tenet came out swingin'
Imagine if Nolan made a movie like climax 😂😂
I am absolutely with you - I'm not a fan of Nolan in general, with a few exceptions. I LOVE your thoughts on Nolan - on what is great about him and what falls short. For me, it's MEMENTO and THE PRESTIGE and that's it. However, now that you've recommended DUNKIRK, perhaps I can add it to the other 2 Nolan films I actually like.
If you liked Dunkirk you should watch and review the movie "Come and See" directed by Elem Klimov, arguably one of the best depictions of war to date.
THIS
Watched last week. Still can’t stop thinking about it. Great film.
watched both,
both of them sucked.
I didn't enjoy this film. Its only achievement was taking that legendary story, that budget, those resources afforded to a director of that calibre and producing a cold, clinical snooze fest of a film. Infinite potential squandered. I realise I'm in a minority on this. I even saw it an IMAX theatre but I just didn't care for it.
Tenet looks like Nolan by numbers too judging from the trailers. Convoluted sciencey fare, BRRRRR deafening Zimmer soundtrack, expositiony dialogue and Michael Caine playing himself and crying half way through the movie.
zimmer didn't make the tenet soundtrack :/
@@martymcthatsthemostuseless8250 Fair enough, still got that crash, bang, whallop pass me the ear defenders soundtrack though.
Why are you judging things by its cover?
The movie is overrated. I thought it was one of his worst films- Tenet being the worst. It was a boring film with a blaring soundtrack that made me wished I had brought some ear plugs to the theatre. Lately, it seems that Nolan is more interested in exploring some new film technique than he is about making an entertaining movie. I think Inception was probably the last truly entertaining movie he made.
A small problem with reviewing movies like Lawrence of Arabia and Dunkirk is they are so tied into a super high def theatrical experience. Both movies in the big 65mm film and Dunkirk lots of it in super big super sharp IMAX.
Christopher Nolan has this problem with resorting to the timely whiney gimmick, jumps forward and back in time at varied speeds sometimes. Tenet worries me it could be just a bigger budget rehash of reverse continuity of Memento. And he's pretty heavy with the transhumanist objectivist libertarian stuff.
This is the only Nolan film it took me another viewing to engage with it and appreciate its genius.
So you caught the three timelines on the initial watch. It wasnt overtly clear to me for some reason that's what was going on during my first watch.
I actually didn't catch on the first time. I watched it twice as well. It came together for me in the second viewing.
@@deepfocuslens Yes this one may take a couple viewings to understand what Nolan was going for. At first I even thought it was pretty bland, didnt even watch until the end and Nolan is one of my favorite directors today. Now I love Dunkirk, having seen it again in its entirety.
Well, Memento is a masterpiece, but other than that I wholeheartedly agree with your criticisms of Nolan.
Interstellar?
Awesome review I really enjoyed the movie, I like that it seemed more natural almost as I time travelled back to 1940 and I was stood watching it play out, thousands of soldiers waiting to be taken back to Britain. I liked Hans Zimmer’s score in this movie, back when I first noticed his work I thought he was brilliant but then his musical scores especially for sci fi movies just started sounding all the same, just like so many others. You’re very knowledgable about movies and musical scores did you study movies at college? I live in Britain and Weymouth is about 45 minutes from where I live in Salisbury Wiltshire I just say Novichok and people are like oh yeah!
Hi Maggie, cant you review just one Netflix series. Dark. Total 26 episodes. I know its too much. But it's so great to listen to you.
When you describe some movie, its like poetry for me :) I just love you.
for me, 'Dark' is a gold standard for the sci-fi genre.
please please. its a genuine request, straight from my heart
Dark season 1 is great, great concept and execution but after that it's an overrated messs characters became just names and they wanted to "complicate" the story just for the sake of being "complicated" it's the definition of pseudo-intellectuals
Actors are great, direction and editing is very nice but the story is horribly convoluted "and then" bullshit. Dark wasted its potential.
i bet she'll really dislike Dark.
@@stevo19991 i think part of the complication is having to keep up with who is who, which is just a by product of the story element
Christopher Nolan's main interest has always been brainy, almost mathematical storytelling. He's fascinated by the technicalities of plot more than he is fascinated by the human psyche. So corny dialogue and tropey characters sometimes just serve to help him deal with his real obsessions. But at least he has real obsessions. And at east he's pursuing them. I feel similarly about James Cameron.
Good review. I may give the film another shot.
That aside. I have said it before and I'll say it now: Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan don't understand people. While this may come across as arbitrary I'll say that all the great film makers understand people and it's the core which permeates the scenes and dialogue. Nolan is some sort of anomaly or enigma. He understands the craft and the great works of others but can't replicate it himself. I believe this is because he understands the different parts well but can't really assemble those parts into something truly coherent. People who like his films mistake layers for depth and he tends to add "layers" a bit too often.
From a historical point of view Dunkirk falls short. Yes, I know that movie making involves a degree of "artistic liberty" but there were close to 400,000 soldiers in Dunkirk in reality. In the film it looks like 4000. Scale?
Please consider Come and See (1985) and Days of Heaven (1978) for reviewing.
I was thinking of you after watching a beautiful film “Midsommer” I have no idea if you have or have not watched but omg would love to here your thoughts 💭
if you check her videos you'd see that she reviewed it a year ago: th-cam.com/video/9sO_6478-hQ/w-d-xo.html
Yay, you're doing a movie I've watched ☺😎.
I think the motivation of Warner Bros. to continually back Nolan is as simple as his confidence with broad strokes. In an era of blockbusters, what Nolan does on the big screen is an investment they can understand. I can see why you don't go easy on Nolan, and I don't think he goes easy on himself. The abstract part of his brain never rests. His resulting work has about as much subtlety as a Picasso painting. (Or M.C. Escher. That might be a more appropriate comparison; Escher did directly color "Inception"'s design.)
Edgar Wright is more organic with the blockbuster format than Nolan is. I feel with Wright that cerebral acrobatics are always at the service of an emotional core. Even with "Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World", where a primary point is that these characters are self-centered morons, you can expect Wright to also carry through (especially in editing) the theme of internal baggage and its consequences, and he delivers.
I felt the same way with tenet as you do memento I think tenet was his magnum opus of reverse story telling and it is hopefully a finale of his execution in which it is revealed that you cannot tell a story in reverse and it be a good film even if it is well executed. I thought tenet was executed well it’s just that the attempt and full commitment of the execution doesn’t work as successful story telling from a film perspective.
I did like Dunkirk, but I think the narrative devices that Nolan likes to use didn't necessarily service the story. Technically, I think he pulled everything off very well, I just don't think it added much value.
I'm really glad I saw this film in IMAX when it came out. Such a powerful visual experience.
I wasn’t a massive fan of Nolan’s Dunkirk. It all felt a bit sterile and organised and I thought the whole different time zone narrative didn’t quite work for me. Now the Dunkirk scene in Atonement however was probably a lot closer in the way the madness it might have been like. A depressed and utterly defeated army pushed back to the sea.
you are the cutest critic ever
Chris Nolan's First Film - Following is Excellent.
How do you compare Memento to the similar structure with Irreversible? At the time Memento was new in its telling of a tale backwards, and the aspects of having to deal with it. Nolan is a big fan of time. It plays key roles in many of his films, and was least effective, in my mind with Tenet that was simply a bridge too far. Too many layers, too much going and interaction amongst time on different plains. I really like Nolan films and manage to see them in the biggest theatre I can find. IMAX for sure. I saw him at TIFF with Dunkirk where he personally was there to discuss its making. I will simply, with respect, disagree with you on Hans Zimmer. The soundtrack on Interstellar was just excellent. Same with Gladiator and Da Vinci Code. Always enjoy hearing a different perspective on movies.
Anything I could say, you said better.
I like Nolan and most of the movies by him I've seen but I do miss one thing.. Comedy or humor.
I understand that some of his movies are suppose to be deep more than just a casual friday afternoon movie (to get your mind off work). I just wish some of the dialog wasn't so stale. I would loved to have someone like James Coburn, Bruce Dern, Jack Nicholson or Donald Sutherland to come in and just be more natural, funny and witty. Just let them run more free instead of that "serving the whole picture" kind of dialog. Michael Caine could be such a character. Mostly now he just seem to be in the movies to bring some respect from older audiences who might not know so much about the "younger" actors like Tom Hardy or Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Of the current fimmakers who the general public can mention. Noland and Tarantino seem to be the biggest. Funny thing is that I wish Tarantino could take after Nolan some and vice versa. I think Tarantino can be too silly at times (like himself in Django Unchained) just like Nolan can be too serious and forget he is suppose to entertain as well.
Watch Tenet
The war genre is usually a hit or miss, this was undeniably executed very well especially considering it kept things palatable enough to be PG13, it ain't no Hacksaw Ridge or Spielberg work but it wasn't trying to be...
Come again..?? Praise for Nolan AND H. Zimmermann??!! hehehe Cool review
Dunkirk is a beautiful film and you are a beautiful woman. Nice review.
Love this movie!!!
NOLAN IS A BONAFIDE GENIUS WHO MADE AN AMAZING MOVIE. HE IS NOT COLLEGE TRAINED IRONICALLY LIKE MANY TRULY GREAT DIRECTORS.
(P.S I have to apologize before I say this... Not to trivialize this conversation but You look marvelous.) NOW ON WITH THE REVIEW. I AGREE WITH YOU THAT HIS DIALOGUE IS DRY SOMETIMES, BUT NOT AS BAD AS GEORGE LUCAS. OUTSIDE OF THIS MOVIE & THE BATMAN TRILOGY, I USUALLY DO NOT LIKE HIS FILMS ALSO.
that tank top seems wrong
this is a very nice outfit you're wearing
Betty Rubble dress.... 'The Flintstones'
Hans Zimmer always sounds so generic and uninspiring, his textures are so bland
watch tenet but twice & review i loved it hope u too appreciate it👍
that dress
I feel like this film can only be appreciated on the cinema screen... Has an epic rawness to it that is diminished otherwise.
Looks like we'll never see eye to eye
Infamously
Mement and inception are masterpieces!!!
you look awesome today
you have wonderful taste in clothes and everything you wear looks great on you.
Nolan is all about time in cinema. Dunkirk is a good example. A good double bill with 'Their Finest'?
Nolan has made some not great n action sequences. 'Inception' has that really awful van falling off bridge scene with silly fighting in hallway. Also some batman action sequences are nowhere near the mastery of for instance James Cameron
1917, way way way better movie then the dont know where the time is, was, whatever Dunkirk.
not even close
One of the first ones I have watched where I really disagree with you. I don’t care about any of the characters in this, all I see is the actors. How do I know that all these people aren’t just awful? Maybe it’s because I’m British and I hate half of the people in this country. I just felt bored.
I know it’s WW2 and they’re fighting Nazis so it’s normal to support the British. Naturally, everyone does and so do I, but this film totally takes that fact for granted and comes across as lazy in terms of character development. I didn’t see any particularly interesting or exciting stories in this film.
My opinion: Maggie's favorite movies tend to be cerebral and/or psychedelic with possibly a strong female lead who's independent and driven (and perhaps very in tune with her sexuality). Let's be honest Nolan doesn't have many movies like that. Nolan's movies tend to go for mass appeal and thus he makes it too straightforward for Maggie's tastes.
Just wait for Tenet
Don’t know where you got the strong female lead thing, she’s been very vocal about how she disagrees with the current agenda pushing of modern mainstream films.
Now that's a load of crap
lotrlovrmr :] made a top 25 films of the decade video, care to check it out and tell me if you agree/disagree with the choices?
yet another drawn out movie that is good (the dog fight, etc) in bits and pieces. Interstellar is his great movie.
4:55 who?
Luis Bunuel
@@deepfocuslens sorry, I was actually talking about the person you said after Bunuel. Thanks for responding though!
@@ARI-vx1ir No problem. Betrand Bonello.
@@deepfocuslens thanks!
Film had no heart, it is one of the dramatic events of WW2. And yet the film Dunkirk felt flat and cold. You barely see the enemy, no real conflict of the retreat...
His Batman films were a lot better.
I think a lot of that was the point about not seeing the enemy.
This was not a typical hollywood war movie.
And that's what war is, it's cold, ugly and pointless. I think you fell into a trap of liking the movies that romanticize war, meanwhile Dunkirk tries to give more of the 'gut feeling' of it.
@@dawidjagusiak I disagree, war is not cold, it is seeing your friends blown to bits or brothers being sent to war. I feel the film is flawed, as it only shows a small aspect of Dunkirk, and not the conflict of the French and English forces being pushed back to the Channel. The reviewer stated that characters were there for exposition and it is true. This film was yet another Nolan experiment on the perception of time and experiences and not a decent account of the 330,000 souls who fought and escaped that beach in 1940.
@@Vonklieve It is his interpretation of the events and personally I think it is a step forward in the war movie genre. We didn't see friends blown to bits and brothers sent to war? So what? An informed viewer knows all that, seen it in countless war movies and probably grew indifferent watching it over and over again. I don't think movies like 'Private Ryan' or even 'Schindler's List' cut it anymore, as Western society gets further and further away from actual experience (or first hand relation) of war. I think Nolan was trying to make us simply resent the war as an event, and put the 'heroism' if any into the hands of civilians (which overall don't get much credit in war movies, won't you agree?) You only criticizing the movie because it doesn't portray the event the way you want it to be shown.
Even when Nolan makes the most basic improvements to his filmmaking, he still insists we take seriously a bunch of Calvin Klein models with freshly cleaned faces in a literal war zone (in which nobody bleeds, of course, because PG-13). Truly preposterous. I can't take anything he does seriously. It's all a big joke, and the seriousness he insists on only makes that joke funnier.
Dunkirk frustrated me so much. Loved the tone and overall look of the film, but the time jumping was beyond irritating to me and the music and sound effects were aggravating and ruined some of the drama. Didn’t care that much about the characters either. 1917 was so much better, in my opinion
1917 was amazing
1917 was a Sam Mendes film, wasn't it? Same time period as Dunkirk, though, WWI.
celestialfilms absolutely
celestialfilms Dunkirk was ww2
I think this movie is a masterpiece
This movie is sooo boring!
dunkirk is easily one of his weakness film ... it's just so bland
I felt the same way, one of my least favorite movies from him. Inception is my favorite
This chick reminds me of the critic Michael Keaton yells at in Birdman.
The fact is that everyone has their own opinion. Some people are better at communicating it, some people get paid for articulating it, but we all have them.
I was so bored…
I think youre amazing but you are way offbase about nolan also you think films like generations and mother are good when both suck real bad
wtf!
He already has made brilliant films,its just beyond you
I like Dunkirk, but they focused too much on the British perspective. We're supposed to fear the Germans as this fearsome enemy yet the Germans are barely shown. Detracts from the sense of dread.
I stopped watching this movie after 10 minutes.
10 minutes - 10 hours - or ten days
cute top
"I'm not a fan of Christopher Nolan"
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"I'm not a fan of Christopher Nolan"
👍