The Odyssey (2026)

Two things:

1) This is the best version of Homer's Odyssey ever committed to film.

2) This is far from the best telling of this story.

No one was less excited about this movie than me. Even with Chris Nolan at the helm, a 3-hour epic based on a 3,000-year-old text is a big ask. I'm glad to be proven wrong. Matt Damon leads the big budget, all-star cast as Odysseus. Following a 10-year battle in Troy, it details his 10-year journey to get back home to Ithaca, told confusingly out of order. It's Greek mythology conveyed through grounded realism, captured practically for the most part on real-life locations. In order to emphasize its epic scale, it's also the first feature to be shot entirely on 70mm IMAX film, which comes with its own set of caveats. I found the colors on screen to be a bit drab and the sound mixing is absolutely horrendous. I watched it in IMAX, and for half the film the entire theater was rumbling, making it even harder to decipher dialogue. It's an all-out assault on the senses, although it makes the quieter moments stand out. No one would ever accuse Nolan of being a bad director, but he tends to be a little self-indulgent at times. However, there are moments here where you are held at rapt attention. As a fan of cinema, you owe it to yourself to check it out on the biggest screen possible, even though I still maintain it's far from perfect. 

4 gods defied out of 5

Note: If you enjoyed this modern retelling, I highly recommend The Return, which focuses on the final part of this story. 

Oppenheimer (2023)

The most overrated movie of 2023. I love Christopher Nolan as much as the next film nerd, but he excels at making epic, original sci-fi films. I'm not quite as thrilled with his heady, awards-baiting historical dramas. This is essentially a 3-hour "talkie" picture about the Manhattan Project, and its literal fallout and legal ramifications. Does it really need to be that long to tell this story? Feels like a lot of pretentious showboating to me. The performances are all great and worthy of the acclaim they received, it's just that the whole thing feels a lot more self-important than it actually is. It does a fine job at telling its story, but isn't half as memorable or noteworthy as everyone else pretends it to be.

Won the "Best Picture" Oscar for 2023, but if the Academy had any balls, it would have gone to Poor Things.

3 Destroyer of Worlds out of 5

SIDE BY SIDE [2012]

Side By Side is probably one of the most fascinating documentaries for die-hard film junkies and most definitely one of the dullest for the casual popcorn muncher.
Actor dude Keanu Reeves interviews a slew of modern directors, editors & cinematographers about the pros & cons of digital and celluloid film.  Reeves makes for a wonderful interviewer, asking all the right questions with an impressive knowledge of the subject, aided by a quiet charm and wit about him.  The film itself never picks sides (it's not shot on film by the way) and with all the arguments made from each side I found myself rooting for both by the end.  Either way, as it so firmly exclaims, as long as the heart of the film is in the right place, it shouldn't matter how it's made.

3½ M.I.A. Tarantinos out of 5

INTERSTELLAR [2014]

Christopher Nolan's latest fanboy's wetdream comes in the form of the colossally sized, yet thoughtful, sci-fi drama Interstellar.
It follows the of a team of inevitably doomed explorers who travel through a wormhole in search of a planet that can be support life to allow the human race to continue to exist.  The frighteningly beautiful photography is both lonely and busy as it dizzies the viewer with an overly complex plotline that overpowers the heart of the story.  Nolan has high ambitions but he bites off just a bit more than he can actually chew.  Although he states that the sound effects and music purposely drown out a lot of the clumsy dialogue it comes off as nothing more than frustratingly distracting.
In the end, it's a spectacular visual feast with a wonderful cast that never ceases to entertain and that's where it's at it's most powerful.

3½ bookshelves out of 5

INSOMNIA [2002]

Insomnia is Christopher Nolan's moody remake of the Norwegian crime-thriller of the same name.
While the original film goes deep into exploring themes and ideas not usually covered in films in this genre, Nolan seems to forget that and finds himself teetering more towards the standard crime-drama that makes a mess of the narrative.  The dialogue is so damned dry and forgettable it gets a bit too boring at times that it can't even be saved by some wonderfully executed performances by it's three leads.  Fortunately cinematographer Wally Pfister is on hand to capture some beautiful photography that is worth watching all on it's own when put to composer David Julyan's grim, minimalistic music.  It might be different seeing as it is essentially a noir film set in complete daylight from beginning to end but without that it's pretty much your standard fare that makes you wonder how Nolan could produce something like Memento that's so out of the norm and then this.

2½ dead dogs out of 5

INCEPTION [2010]

Director Christopher Nolan's Inception is a bold broken-hearted sci-fi that's like a blend of a heist thriller, a James Bond film and a chess game on psychedelic drugs.
In a rare and brave move, Nolan turns the modern summer blockbuster into something unusually complicated, intellectual and innovative with eye-popping visuals and a very well-dressed cast to appease the average moviegoer.  Like Nolan's largest influence, Ridley Scott, he lacks much in the way of interesting characters and pretty much lets the cast play broodier versions of themselves.   It's a well-thought out, mind-bending juggling act that seems to be a tough act for Nolan to follow up on.

4 Dreams Of A Lifetime out of 5

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES [2012]

The final installment of director Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises is a fitting grand finale to arguably one of the best superhero film series ever made.

It mucks around a bit at the beginning but comes all together pretty quickly and wastes no time charging forward into the darkness.  As gloomy as the film may be, it explores themes of hope for humanity, the will to  keep fighting and some questionable political views.  While it might not have the same impact, well choreographed fight scenes or the smarts of the previous film, The Dark Knight Rises is a huge messy spectacle that is sure to please the fans of the series and leave them wanting more.

3 Moroccoan chants out of 5

MEMENTO [2000]

Director Christopher Nolan's neo-noir revenge thriller Memento is a fascinating watch indeed.  Utilizing the non-linear style of storytelling to the maximum, Nolan has a knack for constantly baffling audiences with twists and turns.  Unfortunately his characters have never really been all that interesting and that hurts the film during repeat viewings since you've solved the mystery.  Still the tense atmosphere and performances from Guy Pearce & Joe Pantoliano make for a great film to see at least once.

3 cases of Anterograde amnesia out of 5

THE DARK KNIGHT [2008]

Chris Nolan's Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight, joins that small league of film sequels that are just as good or even better than the original.
It's essentially a fast-paced study of the psyche of good and evil and the blurry lines between them and then masked as a vastly large action film with some wonderful performances to boot.
It does lack in heart and emotional impact in quite a few spots but makes up for it in the powerful conclusion. The story takes a few pointless turns into useless complications but quickly steer away from them and it keeps on charging full steam ahead.
Heath Ledger disappears into the role as The Joker, which sadly overshadows Aaron Eckhart's wonderful performance as District Attorney Harvey Dent.
Sit back and enjoy for this is popcorn entertainment at some of it's finest.

4 Heat montages out of 5

BATMAN BEGINS [2005]

Heavily inspired by comic books Batman: Year One and The Man Who Falls, director Christopher Nolan gives the Batman movie franchise a well-deserved makeover.
Primarily focusing on humanity, fear and identity in this film, Batman Begins attempts to bring a heavy dose of realism to the world of Gotham City and does a damn fine job at it as well.
The first hour is perfect in every sense, without relying on any special effects, the story charges forward in a beautifully executed character driven fashion. While the second hour focuses more on action, it's good but to be honest I'm far more interested in the Bruce Wayne aspect of the film rather than the hokey sounding Batman.
Like former Batman director Tim Burton praised of this film "Nolan certainly got more to the root of what the Batman comics are about." ...and that's character.

4 Blade Runner homages out of 5