Topic: DCO fourth Alphabet Marathon - discussion/review/banter thread

[Dragonfire]

Hope you like it

[Achim]

Though there will be people who don't like it because it is so different.  My mother is one of them.  She hated it.

My friend and me both liked it (although he missed 30-45min early on ).

I think, if more people here see it, we should open a spoilered thread for discussion of certain points of the movie. Using the posiler tag would get cumbersome quickly. I would love to hear other's opinions on at least the ending.

[goodguy]

Though there will be people who don't like it because it is so different.

Just to clarify, my concern - as indicated by the review quote - is that it might not be different enough. But since I haven't seen it, you can safely discard this as my prejudice against Nolan if you like.

[Dragonfire]

Though there will be people who don't like it because it is so different.

Just to clarify, my concern - as indicated by the review quote - is that it might not be different enough. But since I haven't seen it, you can safely discard this as my prejudice against Nolan if you like.

I wasn't meaning you..I mostly meant in general.  I've know people not liking other movies because they were different.  And with this one, I already know one with my mom.  That's all I meant.

[Critter]

Just got back from it then.

I'm feeling a lot of  with just a touch of  and a smidge of 

[Najemikon]

I've only read two reviews so far. Roger Ebert was completely in awe (but so he was for The Dark Knight), DVDTimes was favorable, but made an interesting point:

Nolan’s dreamverse has too much structure, too much lateral logic and what moments of surrealism there are feel rather forced. Yes, it’s intriguing to watch Paris folding over like a calzone, but would André Breton have thought it was the real deal?

Anyway. Nolan never really was my thing, but, hey, Ellen Page is in it, so I might give it a try.

Now, I haven't seen it, but really want to, so there is no point with me going too far with this, but I have to say I like it to be structured and solid. For two reasons... one, a clip I heard the other day had Leo in a scene discussing manufacturing dreams. So if they are contrived by another character, they should appear too structured (hence the Matrix references?). And anyway, my second point is I don't think I have ever seen a dream sequence I liked that was aiming for surrealism. It becomes arty, annoying and "ooh look how clever we are" obtuse!

Now don't bother discussing that lest you give me too much info. I was just sounding off a random thought. Really can't wait to see this. As a lot of reviews have said including those of you on here, Nolan has produced an intelligent blockbuster. Mark Kermode was talking the other day and saying how that really can't be understated. This film could be so important.

He did a similar thing with The Prestige, which was marvellous and completely spun me out. I plan on watching that again for my "P". In fact I started it the other night, but my region 3 DVD was such a flat transfer, I went online and ordered the Blu.

[Dragonfire]

Just got back from it then.

I'm feeling a lot of  with just a touch of  and a smidge of 

I understand your feelings.  I have that too.  Especially 

I did type up a review to post on Epinions last night..but I didn't post it yet.  I'm going to go back through it first and make sure I didn't accidentally say too much.  I always try not to spoil things in reviews, but I was extra careful with this one, and more vague about a few things.  Just need to look at it to see if it still makes sense.

I do feel like watching The Prestige again now too...I might.  I can't make it work for my alphabet marathon now, but I still think I'll watch it soon.

Christopher Nolan has created something wonderful...a creative, original, entertaining movie that makes you think and has already started all sorts of discussions.  It's a brilliant movie.  I think he's probably the most creative director working right now.  Just look at the variety of movies he's made...Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight...and now Inception. 

[dfmorgan]

I do feel like watching The Prestige again now too...I might.  I can't make it work for my alphabet marathon now, but I still think I'll watch it soon.

Christopher Nolan has created something wonderful...a creative, original, entertaining movie that makes you think and has already started all sorts of discussions.  It's a brilliant movie.  I think he's probably the most creative director working right now.  Just look at the variety of movies he's made...Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight...and now Inception. 

I still have The Prestige in my HD-DVD TBW pile so may give this a go later this week when I reach P, assuming I do reach P before the month runs out which I ought to as I've done upto L so far. Re:  Insomnia have you seen the original Norwegian release, Mr. Nolan's remake was close to this.

Dave

[Dragonfire]

My friend and me both liked it (although he missed 30-45min early on ).

I think, if more people here see it, we should open a spoilered thread for discussion of certain points of the movie. Using the posiler tag would get cumbersome quickly. I would love to hear other's opinions on at least the ending.

I like that idea.  Then we could discuss whatever we wanted about the movie and others will know to avoid that particular thread until after they've seen the movie.

[Dragonfire]

I still have The Prestige in my HD-DVD TBW pile so may give this a go later this week when I reach P, assuming I do reach P before the month runs out which I ought to as I've done upto L so far. Re:  Insomnia have you seen the original Norwegian release, Mr. Nolan's remake was close to this.

Dave

No, I haven't seen the original version of Insomnia.  I have read about it though.  I'll probably try to see it sometime.  And now I'm thinking of watching that one again soon...and even getting Memento since I don't have that one yet.

[Najemikon]

I still have The Prestige in my HD-DVD TBW pile so may give this a go later this week when I reach P, assuming I do reach P before the month runs out which I ought to as I've done upto L so far. Re:  Insomnia have you seen the original Norwegian release, Mr. Nolan's remake was close to this.

Dave

No, I haven't seen the original version of Insomnia.  I have read about it though.  I'll probably try to see it sometime.  And now I'm thinking of watching that one again soon...and even getting Memento since I don't have that one yet.

I haven't seen the original Insomnia either, but I love Nolan's take on it. I absolutely agree with you, Marie, he is one of the most important filmmakers around and I love seeing what he comes up with. I heard a comment the other day that he is like a modern day Kubrick. Well, I think he could be better. Perhaps not technically or even thematically, but Kubrick was so cold. Nolan can engage an audience and give us something challenging as well.

Empire did a nice set of essays written by collaborators. http://www.empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=1052

I particularly like Robin Williams talking about Insomnia.

[Dragonfire]

I haven't seen the original Insomnia either, but I love Nolan's take on it. I absolutely agree with you, Marie, he is one of the most important filmmakers around and I love seeing what he comes up with. I heard a comment the other day that he is like a modern day Kubrick. Well, I think he could be better. Perhaps not technically or even thematically, but Kubrick was so cold. Nolan can engage an audience and give us something challenging as well.

Empire did a nice set of essays written by collaborators. http://www.empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=1052

I particularly like Robin Williams talking about Insomnia.

I think Nolan is a genius.  He makes such wonderfully entertaining and creative movies and he isn't afraid to take risks with his projects.  I really don't know who else could have made Memento work..or The Prestige..and Inception.

I've started reading those essays.  I just finished the one Williams did about Insomnia.  I really like that one too.

[Najemikon]

And the Batman films too. It's easy to dismiss them, because they are based on a popular character with tons of backstory. But I recently reviewed X-Men 2 and considered it the best of the genre, before The Dark Knight at least. The key difference for me is Nolan's film was the first and so far only comic book movie that could stand proudly alongside the comics as a genuine story exploring and extending those characters. A proper film in other words.

By which I mean that every other comic book film is a compromise for the true fans. They are always based on one of the stories or even several jammed together, which lessens the originality and potential while abandoning logic, like most adaptations (you said about your worries for the next Potter film). Any of the origin stories, for instance; and Spider-Man 3 was a disaster because of this. X-Men 2 is the best of these compromised versions (it used the Phoenix storyline as its base) and even that was spoilt by a fumbled sequel.

You could take the screenplay of The Dark Knight, adapt it into the comics, publish it and you wouldn't spot the difference with a regular issue. And that to me is huge. It shows such a confident grasp of the characters that they can wander off at a tangent and it is still unmistakeably Batman.

[Dragonfire]

That is very true.  The stories for Nolan's Batman movies fit in with the history of the character while also bing original.  The story is put first, something that gets pushed to the backseat with many other movies. 

I definitely agree about some of the comic book adaptations jamming too much in one movie. That has ruined more than one of them.  Spider-Man 3 turned into a giant mess because of that.  The third X-Men movie ended up with multiple story lines, and all of them were short changed.  If that movie would have focused on the Phoenix story like had been set up, it would have been a much stronger movie overall.  A lot has happened in Nolan's Batman movies, but it doesn't feel like anything was short changed.  These movies do their own thing, but they still feel like Batman...Things look different and things are changed here and there, but at the core, it still feels true to Batman.  At least to me.

Ok...now I want to watch those movies again too.  I see a Christopher Nolan marathon in my future.  lol

[Najemikon]

I know that feeling. I'm always thinking of little marathons to do and never getting round to it. Lets stick to this one for now!

The Verdict

hmmm, I fancy doing a "See You In Court!" marathon now...