From brothers Jonathan and Christopher Nolan comes the show-stopping sci-fi adventure Interstellar (2014). With so many takes on time travel and inter-dimensional travel out there, where does this one rank? Jim and A.Ron tackle the threads of this epic from the science to the fiction. Where does this rank for you in Nolan’s catalog?
Batman, Wolverine, and Black Widow star in Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Prestige. It has the hallmarks of a Nolan classic; a mind-bending plot, science fiction, and Michael Caine. Packed with detail, nuance, and hints, it’ll have you guessing until the very end. Join Jim and A.Ron as they comb over the details and hints in this brain-teaser of a film.
Follow Al Pacino to an Alaskan town where the sun never sets, but darkness lurks beneath. There’s been a murder! Can Pacino catch the killer before they strike again? This movie is based on the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name and Nolan adds some of his signature flavor to this remake. Weave through the insomnia-induced hallucinations with Jim and A.Ron and hunt down the truth.
Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of Christopher Nolan’s dreamscape heist film, Inception. We covered it immediately after its initial release and 10 years later we’re back to do it all over again. I assume we’ll hit level three in about 90 more years and come back from limbo to cover it one final time, but until then check out our 2nd podcast review of this film.
Special thanks to Ethan and Allison for commissioning Batman Begins, the first in the Nolanverse Batman trilogy (you can see our podcast on Batman: The Dark Knight here). This is a fantastic comic book movie that also happens to be a fantastic film in it’s own right. We love the fusion of gritty realism with the strong emotional core and exploration of Bruce Wayne and his struggle to walk the narrow path between justice and vengeance. Excellent casting, excellent performances, and while the third act perhaps leaves something to be desired in light of a decade of super hero movies continually trying to outdo themselves in terms of spectacle, the movie holds up like a champ and is an undeniable part of what makes the sequel work so superbly.
We’ve seen Christopher Nolan’s new film, the war epic Dunkirk, and found it hard to immediately react to. It’s a very visceral, claustrophobic, unflinching, and moving film, epic in scale, but equally effective in zooming in to focus on a small number of actual human beings to focus on and care about. It offers views of the best and worst of humanity, and constantly dares you to both judge and empathize with the men dealing death and narrowly avoiding it. Another fantastic film from Nolan.
Special thanks to a bunch of Aron’s gaming buddies, namely Hobbsam, CLUSTER_F, SheIsGeeky, TONYDETH, Jormagund, and Meatplow77 for coming together to commission perhaps the greatest superhero movie of all time, Batman: The Dark Knight. Featuring a Heath Ledger performance that won him a posthumous Oscar, this film has a unique blend of superb writing and direction, dazzling action, well grounded performance, and just enough heart to make it a modern classic. Jim and A.Ron talk about the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy in general, and the Batman himself before lavishing praise upon the film, and of course, poking around for the few problems the film has.
Special thanks once again to Andrew “The Commissioner” Mount, for having us do the 2001 Christopher Nolan movie, “Memento”. Starring Guy Pierce and Carrie-Anne Moss, Memento is an engaging, cerebral, well crafted thriller mystery with an ingenious plot device that plays with our sense of memory and time. We both highly recommend you see this movie before listening to the podcast, as the first time viewing experience of this movie is hard to beat, and it’s an excellent film. If you can find it please give it a shot and then come back and see what we had to say about it.
Thanks, Andrew, that was fun and intellectually stimulating! Do you have something you’d like us to blab about on a special podcast just for you? Find out how you can commission your very own podcast right here.