Christopher Nolan Movies

Saturday, July 23, 2011 at 1:54 am

Films Directed by Christopher Nolan

Everyone seems to love Christopher Nolan movies. The British director’s lowest-rated movie at Rotten Tomatoes comes in at an impressive 75%, and anything he’s involved with has a habit of cleaning up at the box office and garnering multiple Academy Award nominations. In fact, The Dark Knight’s failure to get a Best Picture nomination led to a wave of criticism that resulted in the category’s nominees being increased to 10 (at least for a year).

Christopher Nolan movies are dark and brooding affairs, with men tormented by their past and often distanced from the women they love. The endings are rarely nice and tidy, and lead characters are prone to wind up miserable or even dead. Throw in bombastic scores, and you’ve got some weighty stuff on your hands. That being said, both the popcorn crowd and mainstream critics seem to eat it up.

If you become a member of Netflix, you’ll be able to enjoy all the films discussed in this article. In fact, Netflix has over 100,000 movies in their library, and you can test the waters by signing up for a free trial membership. If you’re serious about cinema, you’d be crazy not to.

Christopher Nolan movies

Nolan has also become the go-to guy when it comes to adapting comic book characters to the big screen. While Zack Snyder also falls into this category, he can’t come close to matching the box office revenue generated by Nolan’s run on Batman.

This article is dedicated to all the Christopher Nolan movies currently available, as well as a couple of unreleased blockbusters. I’ll give my impressions of each, and you’re more than welcome to agree or argue in the comments section.


Christopher Nolan Movies I’ve Seen

The following are the Christopher Nolan movies that I’ve currently seen:

Memento (2000) – Guy Pearce is searching for his wife’s killer, but he’s no longer capable of storing new information in his brain. So whenever he finds a clue, he takes notes, snaps photos, or has the information tattooed onto his body. The film plays out in reverse chronological order, which is perfect considering the skewed way our pitiful protagonist looks at the world. Providing a breath of fresh air to an otherwise stagnant industry, Memento helped Nolan break out and land the coveted Batman gig.

Christopher Nolan moviesInsomnia (2002) – This remake of a Norwegian film stars Al Pacino as a crooked LAPD detective sent to Alaska to investigate the death of a local girl. After accidentally gunning down his partner, he must track the killer with the help of a local starstruck deputy (Hilary Swank) and stay one step ahead of an Internal Affairs investigation. Robin Williams co-stars in this relentlessly gloomy and intelligent film.

Batman Begins (2005) – The first Batman film in the Christopher Nolan era finds Christian Bale slipping on the rubber suit and getting some help from the likes of Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. Liam Neeson is flat as one of the villains, but Cillian Murphy makes up for it with his creepy portrayal of The Scarecrow. A fitting reboot for the series, although the scenes featuring playboy Bruce Wayne (more interesting than Batman, in my opinion) are few and far between.

The Prestige (2006) – My favorite Christopher Nolan film, The Prestige is set in London during the late 19th century and stars Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman as a pair of rival stage magicians. You’ll be guessing right up until the end thanks to the movie’s twists and turns, and lovely ladies like Scarlett Johansson and Piper Perabo add some sex appeal to the project. Michael Caine pops up, too, and David Bowie takes on the role of real-life inventor Nikola Tesla. Even if you’re not into magic, this well-acted thriller is worth a look.

The Dark Knight (2008) – Heath Ledger’s Joker was the best thing about this movie, especially since Christian Bale’s growling Batman delivery is beginning to grate on my nerves. I also don’t understand the insistence of Hollywood to include two villains in every superhero film, as Two-Face would have been more than capable of playing the heavy in a later sequel. While I enjoyed the film, I didn’t think it lived up to the hype. At least they blew up Maggie Gyllenhaal, though.

Inception (2010) – Loud and pretentious (although not to the level of Black Swan), this is my least favorite of all the Christopher Nolan movies I’ve seen. The South Park parody of Inception was spot-on, and all the Nolan version lacked was Freddy Krueger as an agent of the U.S. government. Marion Cotillard, by the way, does absolutely nothing for me.


The Christopher Nolan Film I Missed

It turns out that I’ve missed one Christopher Nolan film. Here’s a little more about it:

Following (1998) – I wasn’t aware of this first Christopher Nolan film until I started doing research for my list, but I’ll be adding it to my Netflix queue in the near future. Jeremy Theobald stars as an aspiring writer who follows people around the streets of London in search of a story. He finds one when he meets a slick burglar named Cobb, and soon the writer is drawn into a web of theft, murder, and blackmail. Sounds like my kind of movie.


Upcoming Christopher Nolan Movies

Here’s a bit of information on the upcoming Christopher Nolan movies:

Christopher Nolan moviesThe Dark Knight Rises (2012) – Announced as the third and final film in Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises will once again star Christian Bale as the grim dispenser of justice in Gotham City. This time he’ll be joined by Catwoman (Anne Hathaway), and the main baddie looks to be Bane (Tom Hardy). Other cast members will include Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Marion Cotillard, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

I’ve been a fan of Hathaway for years, as she combines good looks with the ability to act in a wide range of roles. And after seeing the crime drama Bronson, I’m confident that Hardy can pull off the role of Bane, a character famous for putting Batman in a wheelchair in the comic books. As for Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his role as a rookie cop…I’ll be amazed if he makes it out of the film alive.

In short: The Dark Knight Rises is looking like a must-see film for the summer of 2012. And if that doesn’t give Nolan his fill of superheroes, he’ll also team up with Zack Snyder to reboot the Superman franchise with 2013’s Man of Steel. When it comes to comic book adaptations, the next two summers look to be owned by the London-born director/producer/writer.

While it’s rare to find a director with such universal appeal, Nolan and his projects seem to have a magic touch usually reserved for a guy named Spielberg. And when it comes to cinema, you don’t get any better company than that.

This entry was posted on Saturday, July 23rd, 2011 at 1:54 am and is filed under Good Movies, Thoughts on Film. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Christopher Nolan Movies”

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December 20, 2011

Jupiter Walp

All these movies are very aesthetically pleasing. My favorite is Batman Begins. Its a good combination of action and wiles.

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