Christopher Nolan

[Jonesy]

I've washed my hands of Nolan. I love Memento, and thought, 'ah, at last - a new, original, interesting director'. Then followed The Prestige and the two Batman films. All three were awful disappointments. But maybe the common denominator is not Nolan but Bale, and that Inception has a chance of actually being good as a result.

[trailerguy]

I believe Nolan is one of Few great directors left making great Hollywood films.

If you're not a fan of Nolan, good luck finding anything better in the mainstream now-days, if you do, point me in that direction. You are, of course, welcome to you opinion about Nolan and his films, i hope that Inception will help you realize what a Master Nolan is becoming.

[Jonesy]

I don't want to find anything in the mainstream necessarily. Nolan started out as a director with originality. But unfortunately he's regressed by being eaten and belched back up by the Hollywood system. He's an example of so many other international directors - has a great deal of talent, then goes to Hollywood where the talent is gradually drained from him.

[MrSilly]

Aside from Memento, I'm largely indifferent to Nolan's work. His films aren't necessarily bad (wasn't a fan of The Prestige though), but I'm never excited by them. I want to hold out some hope for Inception, if only for the casting of Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, two great up-and-coming actors (even if they have technically been around for years now).

[jaykays hat]

Originally Posted by MrSilly

Aside from Memento, I'm largely indifferent to Nolan's work. His films aren't necessarily bad (wasn't a fan of The Prestige though), but I'm never excited by them. I want to hold out some hope for Inception, if only for the casting of Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, two great up-and-coming actors (even if they have technically been around for years now).

I turned the Prestige off half way through as I got bored with it.

Tom Hardy was superb as Bronson.

[Jonesy]

The Prestige was a mess of a film. The acting was dire, particularly from Bale, and the whole thing was just a boring mishmash of half-baked ideas.

[morris]

It was stunning to look at, which is true of all Nolan films. But sometimes when you get beyond the visuals you realise there is a lack of substance and flow to the stories in his films. Memento excepted of course.

There are parts of The Dark Knight that I love, mainly all the Joker bits and it looks great but it's at least half an hour too long and the sub plots like the one about Commissioner Gordon's family just needed to be nixed. The end of the film gets really messy and boring. After the Joker's gone, I switch it off.

[thedude]

While I agree with portions of what has been said, I still beleive him to be far more exciting than anyone else working in Hollywood today, sure there are holes in his work, sub-plots seem to be a weakness of his, but on the whole I find his films entertaining and just different enough to excite me with his next release (gayest sentence ever!!) I'm really looking forward to Inception, it will be interesting to see what he can get out of the great cast he has assembled.

[Goodland]

Really, I feel the need to defend Nolan. It strikes me that the problem is not with him but the system and the type of film that Hollywood produces but, still, Nolan still manages to produce interesting and exciting films whilst also being successful. Too often people think that a film being successful automatically means that it has sold out.

[MrSilly]

I don't begrudge him his success, it just puzzles me the amount of critical praise lavished on many of his films. The Dark Knight was a good film, but was marred by pacing issues, scenes that were downright unnecessary (that goddamn Hong Kong bit), unneeded characters (was Rachel Dawes really needed apart form to provide one plot moment that could have replicated with damn near anyone else?) and a strained narrative. What's done well is done very well, but it's still pretty flawed.