2023 was a challenging year for many reasons, both personal and across the movie industry, but in the end it also gave us a number of quality films. Here’s a look back on the year that was and my countdown of the best movies of 2023.
…
Top Ten Movies of 2023 Read More »
It’s been 13 years since Inception, a film which showed off director Christopher Nolan‘s innovation, technical skill, and storytelling at its peak. Since that point, Nolan’s track record has been spotty at best. While the technical skill in Oppenheimer is expected, the joy from the film is Nolan abandoning some of his trademarks, such as the overbearing booming score which at this point had become a caricature of itself, in order to focus more squarely on a character-driven story based on a complicated man standing at the crossroads of history. The fact that it isn’t immediately in contention for best movie of the year has more to do with the troubled circumstances of its presentation rather than any failures of the film itself. More on that later.
…
I miss blockbusters. Although far from Christopher Nolan‘s best work, TENET doesn’t skimp on spectacle. Tackling perception as he did in Inception, this time around Nolan plays around with the idea of time travel and inversion. The concept is far more clunky than planting an idea within someone’s mind. In fact, TENET eventually devolves into little more than super-spy pitting his skills against a villain out to destroy the world. Basically, TENET is Christopher Nolan’s version of a Bond film.
The story involves an unnamed spy (John David Washington) introduced into a secret war involving those using entropy to travel backwards in time and alter events in their favor. The science is mostly gobbledygook, but the set-up does allow for some interesting sequences involving characters moving backwards through events a second time. Kenneth Branagh is fine as the evil mastermind, although his evil Russian act isn’t as much fun as it was in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit.
…
Storytellers examines the symbolism in Batman Begins.
Symbolism in the Dark Knight Trilogy | Part 1 – Batman Begins Read More »
Like Stories of Old examines the metaphysics of Christopher Nolan’s Inception.
The Metaphysics of Inception Read More »
