RANKING CHRISTOPHER NOLAN’S FILMS

 

 

So, my homeys over at Movie Mobsters posted a very interesting question on Facebook last week. Here it is:

Is Inception the best movie of the year and Christopher Nolan’s best film?

My answer to this was “yes” and “no”. Inception is by far the best film I’ve seen this year. Outside of animated films, it’s not even a close race. However, is it Nolan’s best work? I don’t think so. So, I’ve set out to do the near impossible and rank Christopher Nolan’s short but impressive filmography. As you know, Christopher Nolan was ranked #1 on my list of DIRECTORS THAT GET MY DOLLARS. The only filmmakers that come close in quality in recent years, in my opinion, again, are the fellas over there at Pixar. I love a challenging list so let’s do it. Here they are (in order):

8. DOODLEBUG.

This film comes in at #8 for 2 reasons. 1) It’s a short film. 2) I haven’t seen it.

7. FOLLOWING.

A fine little Black and White film and a great feature length debut but far from the calliber of Nolan’s other films.

6. IMSOMNIA.

Not even 2 big stars, Robin Williams and Al Pacino at a time when they were turning out solid work, could save this film. It’s shot nicely and I love the whole going crazy due to lack of sleep (or as I call it: 1997 to 2003) but this film is not one of Nolan’s best.

T-4. INCEPTION.

Definately a great film. Unfortunately, it’s one of Nolan’s and, in my opinion, is about as good as…

T-4. THE PRESTIGE.

This film is fantastic. I actuallly chose it as one of my underrated films on MILFcast but had to cut it because we ran long. I love this film and just feel like The Illusionist stole a bit of it’s thunder and kept it from getting the recognition I think it would have had if it had the chance to stand on it’s own.

3. THE DARK KNIGHT.

I’m not putting this 3rd for shock factor but I also didn’t start a blog and podcast to sit and agree with everyone. TDK is one of my favorite films… but if you take out the Heath Ledger factor, it’s easily Nolan’s 2nd best Batman effort.

2. MEMENTO.

Memento and Inception are equally as brilliant. However, I have to give Memento the edge for becoming popular before Nolan himself and doing it on a shoestring budget by comparison. This is Nolan’s best original idea and would be his best film had he not made…

1. BATMAN BEGINS.

This is the gold standard for comic book films and, in my opinion, the best entry into the sub-genre. The reason it stands apart is because of how well Nolan was able to ground the whole thing in a believable reality. Bruce Wayne’s motivation is explored much deeper than in other incarnations, his weapons and their inception (pun intended) becomes believable for reasons other than Wayne is a billionaire and can buy anything he wants and he even manages to make the Batmobile believable. Also features one of the greatest movie posters (above) of all time. A GREAT overall film that not even Katie Holmes could ruin and, again, in my opinion, Nolan’s best!