Tag Archives: christopher nolan

Lawless (2012)

Posted on December 26, 2012 by rorydean

John Hillcoat’s extraordinairy film Lawless is a crafted cacophony of moments in time and place that goes beyond the experience of historical dramas and genre flicks, resonating, however fleetingly in the hours and days of our lives with the thrill that comes from movies made by and for adults. It is the language of Hillcoat’s obsessions and his direction of Nick Cave’s script that gives breath as breath is taken, the way smiles soften a harsh reality, give birth to shared darkness Continue reading →

Posted in Blu-ray, Blu-ray Elite for Warner Home Video, Movie I've Seen, Movies You Should or Should Not See, My Review of Their Review:, On DVD, Rants & Raves | Tagged above the line, bootleggers, christopher nolan, gangster films, gary oldman, george clooney, guy pearce, Hillcoat, Jason Clarke, jessica chastain, john hillcoat, Matt Bondurant, Mia Wasikowska, moonshiners, Nick Cave, practical movie reviews, prohibition era, Proposition, rory dean, Sergio Leone, Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, westerns, whiskey runners | 8 Comments

Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Posted on December 22, 2012 by rorydean

DKR is not the worst comic book movie or end to a trilogy in recent memory but the fact that it’s over might just be its greatest achievement. It is long-winded and cluttered with the usual crippling redundancies, overdone explanations leave little to the imagination or curtail simple discovery while story is relegated to a cardboard box stuffed with convoluted action sequences and the plodding melodrama of PG13 blah. I could spend an entire article on the ills of the MPAA and the PG13 rating system and the directors who have gotten drunk on the Kool-Aid. Continue reading →

Posted in Movie I've Seen, Movie Makers & Shakers, Movies You Should or Should Not See, My Review of Their Review:, On DVD, philosophy and film, Rants & Raves, Speak-Freely | Tagged above the line, Arts, batman, batman begins, Belmont Park, christopher nolan, dark knight, dark knight rises, Elvis Presley, heath ledger, Nolan, practical movie reviews, rory dean, Tom Hardy, trilogy | 3 Comments

Batman: America’s James Bond

Posted on August 7, 2012 by rorydean

Bond and Wayne are iconic figures that cross in and out of fantasy to reveal our secret desires and worst nightmares, the men who take charge to right all the wrongs in the world in exaggerated, often overblown and virtually incomprehensible ways that somehow manage to fuel our tampered down sensibilities with a pressure cooker release valve. It is this link to that which explodes in us everyday but must be wrestled to order, to the broken people and far away places we need to believe in that we can all come together in the form of supermen heroes that rescue without question and save us from ourselves. Continue reading →

Posted in Essays on Film, Movie Makers & Shakers, On DVD, Online, philosophy and film, Rants & Raves, Speak-Freely | Tagged 007, above the line, america's james bond, batman, batman & Robin, bill finger, blockbusters, bob kane, Britain's batman, bruce wayne, burtons batman, christopher nolan, comic book adaptations, daniel craig, daniel craig olympics, dark knight, dark knight rises, dc comics, film criticism, film theory, gotham city, ian fleming, international man of mystery, james bond, license to kill, practical movie reviews, rory dean, schumacher, shaken not stirred martini, skyfall | 2 Comments

Batman Begins (2005)

Posted on July 31, 2012 by rorydean

For all the facts and figures, agreements and dastardly deeds, for the accomplishments and tragedies forever linked with these films, Nolan’s revisionist dream for the universe of Batman is an impressive film all by itself, a solid beginning for the franchise that follows and like all blockbusters it has earned as much praise in the aggregators as notable criticism. If Nolan is anything he is Master and Commander of the Cinema of now, a modern movie maker building on a rich history of motion pictures and escapism with bigger films at every turn that thrill and disappoint, that enliven imaginations and simple pleasures, that are grand explorations but above all he entertains. Continue reading →

Posted in Essays on Film, In Theaters Now!, Movie I've Seen, Movie Makers & Shakers, Movies You Should or Should Not See, On DVD | Tagged above the line, batman & Robin, batman begins, batman trilogy, blockbusters, bruce wayne, capped crusader, christian bale, christopher nolan, dark knight, dc comics, gotham city, joel schulmaker, liam neeson, master and commander of cinema, morgan freeman, origin films, practical movie reviews, reboost movies, rory dean, Warner Bros. Entertainment | 2 Comments

Christopher Nolan Master and Commander

Posted on July 22, 2012 by rorydean

In the darkness of Christopher Nolan lives a part of us struggling against insurmountable odds and dreams that don’t come true. In the person is a place we strive to find in ourselves so when Batman falls we all fall. It is there in that rise from utter ruin that we see him rise again like the title of the movie, to transform from individual Bat-“man” to Dark Knight of the many and he brings us along. He chooses grand over nuance, drives his points forward with all the subtlety of a bull in a china cabinet but somehow it always pays off. He’s larger than life and flesh and blood, magnificent and flawed and fans, followers, critics and everyday moviegoers seem set on loving him and fighting for him no matter what. Continue reading →