Monday, July 16, 2012

The Week of Nolan


Like many people across the world, I plan on spending at least three hours marveling over Christopher Nolan’s Batman conclusion this weekend. My excitement for The Dark Knight Rises is dangerously high; I simply cannot wait to be in its presence. And believe me, this is coming from a guy who doesn’t get excited for blockbusters. Ever. Point in fact, that last two big Hollywood movies I was seriously jazzed about were the last two films Nolan released.

Which is why I feel it’s appropriate to dedicate this blog to the charming, talented, gracious Christopher Nolan for this entire week. Here is what you can expect from The Week of Nolan on And So it Begins. 


Monday July 16
Brief reviews of the seven wonderful feature films Nolan has made.

Tuesday July 17
Hint: it won’t be any scene you think it will be. Maybe.

Wednesday July 18
This character actor stole every scene of a Nolan film. I’ve be meaning to highlight him for a while, and now couldn’t be a more suitable time.

Thursday July 19
A week ago, I thought most everyone loved The Prestige as much as I do. Oops. With the help of a few fellow film bloggers, we’ll dissect why some hate it and others love it.

Friday July 20
A beautiful, desperate scene that perfectly encapsulates the last truly great performance we’ve had from Al Pacino.

Saturday July 21
Review of The Dark Knight Rises
HolyshitIcannotwait.

Sunday July 22
Why You Need to Follow Following
A review of Nolan’s first film, and why it is essential viewing for Nolan admirers.


My Directors profile on Nolan will be posted in a few hours. But until then, I leave you with the only Dark Knight Rises trailer I’ve (purposely) seen. It gets my blood pumping everytime. “There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wayne.”  That’s goddamn right.

22 comments:

  1. ZOMGZOMGZOMG!
    Especially cannot wait for the In Character one. And maybe this will finally give me the much-needed push to watch Following.
    AND TDKR!! YESHHH :D Screw high expectations being bad etc. Anything else seems like a crime.

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    1. A crime indeed! Hope you like the stuff here over this week, Thursday should be fun!

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  2. Man, this is the coolest idea ever! A whole week of Nolan! I'm excited already. Easily my favourite director and as you know I only saw Following (and then Insomnia as well) due to your blog posts.

    Can't wait for all of these (and of course The Dark Knight Rises)

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    1. Thanks buddy! I'm really excited to dedicate all these posts to Nolan. Love all of his movies. Could not be more pumped for TDKR!

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  3. Great idea! I actually think Following is Nolan's best film, and The Prestige is right behind it, so I can't wait to read those posts. I really need to re-watch Batman Begins and The Dark Knight this week. Also, I'm probably the only person in the blogosphere who won't see TDKR until early next week in a feeble attempt to avoid the crowds.

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    1. Not a bad idea at all... the crowds are going to be absurd. But oh well, that's the tradeoff!

      Really interesting that you consider Following his best. That's such a hidden little film. I'm going to send you a DM on Twitter, be on the lookout!

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  4. IS IT FRIDAY YET

    (Sorry for the anxiety in that statement. I just really want to see it.)

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  5. I'm not as excited as you (and many, many others) are for TDKR, but I am looking forward to seeing you spread your love seed on everything involving Christopher Nolan, because... well, you're cool like that. There aren't many guys I'll watch spread their love seed on anyone. Consider yourself lucky.

    (By the way, I'm not really as creepy as I may sound here.)

    (Maybe a little bit.)

    Bring it, Withrow!

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    1. Haha shit, you're a funny man, LaBato.

      Spreading the seed, the seed of love, is what you surely will see a lot of here over these next few days. I deserve a little love talk after all the recent negative reviews I've been dishing out.

      Thanks for stopping by, you creepy bastard.

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  6. Nolan Week... Awesome.

    I'm nearly finished with my Auteurs piece on him as I'm just waiting for this weekend to see The Dark Knight Rises. After seeing it and review it, I'll post my Auteurs piece on him. I've already covered everything else including the short Doodlebug which you can find easily on YouTube. I just need to see the new movie and so far, the early reviews have been positive.

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    1. Oh man I can't wait to read your Auteurs piece on him. I'm so pumped that TDKR has been getting great reviews.

      I watched Doodlebug online but didn't include it in my Directors piece. Groovy little flick though for sure.

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  7. As much as I couldn't care less about Nolan I'll definetly check the posts, if only for your awesome writing :)

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    1. This is probably the most equally sad and kind comments I've ever read. On one hand, one of my favorite bloggers doesn't like Nolan (tear), but on another, she's willing to read about Nolan because of my writing style.

      But seriously, thanks so much for saying that. I had no idea you weren't a Nolan fan. Not even Memento?

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  8. I'm one of your favorite bloggers? Oh man, thank you! :)

    I do like Memento and The Prestige got solid 9/10 for me. I really like his earlier films, the one that focused on 2-3 characters. But ever since 3rd act of TDK I was severely disappointed and Inception was so boring I barely got through it. I think Nolan makes fine movies, but he never knows when to stop - TDK's third act is just excruciating and Inception's third act is a mess.

    It also seems that because of the ridiculous praise his ego really grew to monsterous sizes, I read the stuff he says and I roll my eyes so hard they will pop out of my eyesockets one day :) I think he would do better without all of those great reviews and all those people calling him "God" - now he packs too many well known actors in his movies and they really have nothing to do. Caine was barely in Inception and I'm sure JGL is in TDK just for some cliche resolution, but I hope I'm wrong.

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    1. You are DEFINITELY one of my favorite bloggers. You put out continual gold.

      I think all of your points against his work are valid. I do (obviously) love all of his stuff, but I can see how people would consider some of his stuff too grandiose. Every interview I've read with him (or seen of him), he seems very humble about his films, so I dunno about his ego. Either way, here's to hoping TDKR kills.

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  9. Fun idea. While that would be far too much Nolan for me, I still love his work. I'm looking forward to TDKR on Friday as well. Reviews have been mostly positive, but I'm still holding my expectations in check. I was more excited for Prometheus and we saw how that turned out.

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    1. I wasn't really excited one way or the other for Prometheus, so I guess I wasn't let down as much as other people. I really dug that flick.

      Too much Nolan might be the case haha, we'll see!

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  10. Who hates The Prestige and why do they exist?

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    1. Ha. A LOT of people hate The Prestige. Of the people that I talked to on Twitter, it was an even 50/50 of love/hate. It's the ending, people detest the ending. I had no idea.

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  11. My Favorite Scene: Inception - i'm gonna take a stab at this, the hallway scene.

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