I've seen many of director Christopher Nolan's films by now. Here are my thoughts on each of them:
Following (1998)
The craft is really superb and the thematic elements are intriguing, but on the whole it comes off as very gimmicky. In the end I felt kinda cheated.
Memento (2000)
The craft is really superb and the thematic elements are intriguing, but on the whole it comes off as very gimmicky. In the end I felt kinda cheated.
Insomnia (2002)
The craft is really superb and the thematic elements are intriguing, but on the whole it comes off as very gimmicky. In the end I felt kinda cheated.
Batman Begins (2005)
After feeling kinda cheated by previous Nolan efforts, I did not bother with this one. (What truly serious director does Batman, anyway?)
The Prestige (2006)
The craft is really superb and the thematic elements are intriguing, but on the whole it comes off as very gimmicky. In the end I felt kinda cheated.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Watched this one because of all the high ratings on the internet sites. The craft is really superb and the thematic elements are intriguing, but on the whole it comes off as very gimmicky. In the end I felt kinda cheated. (What truly serious director does Batman, anyway?)
Inception (2010)
Nolan's best effort yet, and while the craft is really superb and the thematic elements are certainly intriguing, on the whole it comes off as extremely, pointlessly gimmicky. In the end I felt kinda cheated.
Overall assessment:
M. Night Shyamalan with more elaborate gimmicks. Emperor Nolan isn't wearing any clothes, you philistines!
[ADDENDUM: At some future point, when I've developed the full philosophical skills for it, I might do a comparison of Nolan's filmmaking style with Kant's philosophical style: a shit-ton of brilliant and elaborate gimmicks masking a whole lotta nothin', stuff people fall for all too easily, few with the guts to call out the whole fucking farce for what it is. Aristotle:Kant::Kubrick:Nolan. The Batman stuff should have been an obvious giveaway. Just remember, 46% of the electorate voted to put an ignorant philistine within a heartbeat of the presidency. Palin:Jefferson::Shit:Shinola.]
[ADDENDUM #2: Limbo? Really? Shared dreamspace? Seriously? 10 years of script development and we get these dead-ends? I don't know what's more laughably arbitrary, that or experience being constructed by a priori categories. I really don't. Coincidentally, the subjective-construction-of-experience stuff took 10 years to develop, too. Hell, this may well be a prime exercise in Kantian filmmaking. *facepalm*]
