christopher nolan is just okay

Christopher Edward Nolan CBE is a British-American filmmaker known for making personal, distinctive films within the Hollywood mainstream. pretty funny joke from his wikipedia page
0:00 - Christopher Nolan is Just Okay
0:42 - Technical Framework
4:11 - Emotional Core
7:24 - Style
10:06 - The Problem with Chrissy Baby
calebgamman.com/

[@benm5970]

Christopher Nolan is basically the go to director for movie fans who are so desperate to add street cred to themselves, cause most of them just seem to be like “I like Christopher Nolan, that means I’m deep”

[@jovanym2931]

W take

[@noahfletcher3019]

The irony of hating Nolan is that the people that do this are precisely trying to appear deep.

[@noahfletcher3019]

@@deckard97 Nah, I think you're full of it

[@ktheterkuceder6825]

​@@noahfletcher3019Ironic maybe. But still foesn't change what they say. Nolan is overrated.

[@Yogopolo]

You know Chris Nolan being regarded as a cinematic genius really explains why people say the prequels are masterpieces

[@derektrammell911]

Although I do enjoy his movies such as Inception, The Dark Knight, & Interstellar, Nolan seems to wax philosophical almost to the point of disconnection from the human element, especially with Tenet. Now, this may not rub some people the wrong way, and there's nothing inherently wrong with it, just my personal perception.

[@rashan2424]

Tenet is concept over substance

[@JoQeZzZ]

Nolan is trying to be very clever, but is also incredibly insecure and afraid that people won't understand his movie. That's why in the middle of interstellar a main character needs to say "LOVE TRANSCENDS TIME AND SPACE", Because Nolan is afraid not everyone got that subtext. It's also why cooper needs to say out loud that he's traversing a 3D representation of a 4D spce because humans live in 3D. I know, Chris, I'm watching the movie. It's very obvious. It's insulting to the audience intelligence, but maybe (probably) it's made for the dumbest people in the (IMAX) theatre Funnily enough, Arrival made both the same points, about love transcending time and navigating in a 4D world as a 3D being. It didn't labor it or try to explain these points though, which is why Arival is a better movie than Interstellar.

[@Domsonthecase]

​@@JoQeZzZI'm glad I found this comment as I've literally just watched Interstellar and watched Arrival a few nights previously. They both do a lot of the same things in using love and time in a sci-fi setting to conjure emotion. But Arrival just works on a much better level. Both have some corny, overexplainy dialogue, but Arrival has much more faith in the viewer to understand what's going on and letting the viewer piece together the twist. Nolan doesn't trust his audience, maybe his own ability to convey the necessary information to the audience. Meaning you get so many lines about love and about ghosts and time. It's frustrating, because there's a world where Interstellar is maybe the greatest movie ever made. But the Nolan's dialogue and character's can't meet what the film is trying to achieve. I do understand on a fundamental level why it does work for many people.

[@Adam-ms7gc]

I could hear what you were saying over the music so IMO you're already a better filmmaker than Nolan

[@Hritik9000]

Intentional

[@rebeccas8404]

Please do a "just okay" series :)

[@VonJay]

1:51 You just predicted his non linear timeline in Oppenheimer. Lmao

[@vishnurajan6313]

Really good vid. I've always thought Nolan's problem is that he fumbles pretty often when it comes to the elements of the movie that he can't put down in a cool diagram on a chalkboard. His actors are usually the ones doing the heavy lifting in terms of giving his characters some dimension, because they're pretty bland on paper. Interstellar always makes me laugh because of how hard it's trying to be emotional and it's just failing 'cause while all the 'movie' parts are good; the performances are good and the spectacle of it is fantastic, it's still such a cold, unfeeling movie. it's so funny to me how he tried so hard to make it about love even though it's so obvious that he thinks the whole 'love is the only force that transcends time and space' or whatever is horseshit but he still committed to it for some reason. I thought Dunkirk was an exception though, I think he managed to convey a lot of emotion in that, maybe because the intensity that's brought to a war movie makes the emotions around it less abstract and he's able to contextualize it better with his style of filmmaking. Or maybe it's cause no one can call you a pussy for making a war movie emotional, because it's manly tears. I dunno, I don't know what it takes to make a movie.

[@srksharma8199]

Interstellar is an unfeeling movie..... I have enough of Internet for this month

[@ataketesamuel9542]

@@srksharma8199 it's unfeeling though

[@igotluckbutluckgot....4601]

@@srksharma8199 it's unfeeling

[@noahfletcher3019]

@@igotluckbutluckgot....4601 You have to be retarded to talk about feeling in such an objective way. LOL, just say you dont like christopher nolan and move on.

[@Diggnuts]

I think he's below just okay. He knows he's not that good which is why he mostly writes his own stuff with a lot of convoluted nonsense to distract from the fact he's not that good.

[@simeongrk486]

👍

[@yakman94]

another banger, caleb!!!!

[@harlow2047]

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE TAILORED SUITS?

[@Blorp52]

To me Nolan was never really “just ok” he was always mediocre. I enjoyed parts of Inception and some of the dark knight trilogy but even then I think most of his films are just random loud noises with imax footage crammed in (which is jarring because of the aspect ratio change I might add). He tries to grapple with philosophical concepts often but when he does they just fall flat to me. Not to mention his pretentiousness. The guy seems to think he’s the next Kubrick.

[@andremarcelino6809]

Maybe u're the one that think like that? Just sayin

[@JohnBanana]

0:33 got me hooked lmao, you always got a real way of talking in vids, keep it up, also your camera looks very HQ

[@rebeccas8404]

I am learning so much from these videos

[@schizogony]

It's those soundtracks. It's all about those soundtracks.

[@Ace93x]

when Plastic Love hits lol. good video man. keep making these. it looks like you get a trifling amount of views for the effort you put in to these, but i'll watch every one because your videos are good

[@Osama_Abbas]

This is an underrated review.

[@sodadrink8363]

I think my main problem with Nolan is his shooting style, you say the way he shoots scenes makes them feel grounded but honestly it feels bland and boring to me. I think movies should be fun to look at, which is part of why i love directors like Edgar Wright and Matt Reeves so much. Their films always have these super creative and visually appealing camera angles that you'd never see in a Nolan film because they aren't "grounded" enough. Go watch the Wall Street battle from TDKR and then the street battle from Reeves's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and you'll know what i'm talking about.

[@VonJay]

You kind of lost me at Matt Reeves. But I think the point he was making was that Nolan chooses to give the audience camera angles that they’d see in real life. So he usually uses subjective shots and not shots that can take them out of their suspension of disbelief in an already convoluted film.

[@bleemfordreamcast]

I really liked this video! I watched the whole thing, and I can't really remember what was going on or what was happening. This reminds me of acclaimed filmmaker Christopher Nolan

[@chrisbennett8337]

Memento - "As an annoying 14 year old, I thought, was genius." I think you're right. I had no idea Memento was a Chrissy Nolan film until faving your post lol. I also saw Memento in the theatre when I 15, at release time (Carrie-Anne Moss, typecast, nah?). Yes, it was genius. Or intellectually patronizing. I think it's worth your analysis bandwidth to compare to same-era, Pi, by Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky was originally slated to direct the Batman series. The Brothers of Warner awarded this instead to Nolan. Why? (I think this topic is beyond my ken, but I'll bet you can figure this out.) I'm curious about your thoughts on "Mother!" and Pi, Requiem. I think Aronofsky is more than just "okay" in perspective of the Batman title, but agree with you 100% on Nolan's flawed editing.

[@chrisbennett8337]

That said, I think The Fountain has a lot of non-linear lulz to entertain (or not) for a good time.

[@ronron86]

What a fabulous mind you have! Subbed!! Btw, where did you matriculate? Oxford?

[@sagwah4697]

what should i watch then, caleb? i don’t KNOW

[@calebgamman]

i'm trying to rule out all other entertainment options until it's just caleb gamman youtube account

[@rupeshbardiya7030]

hey bro you used interstellars music and didnt get copyright strike. how you get rid of that please explain

[@dornravlin]

Nolan is a hit or miss I always appreciate he swings for the fences. There some films I Think are eh good not great there’s a few of his films I think are outstanding

[@Kyoto_Ed]

Gosh how clever you are. Seriously, very good analysis, totally agree. And this is from someone who went to school with Tom Hardy.

[@juststealthystreams7668]

I'm enjoying the video, though the musics audio mix is distracting as hell lol.

[@felipea1399]

Pretty fitting for Nolan movies

[@calebgamman]

yeah i tried to err on the louder side as a little meta joke, though admittedly, it's not a funny one

[@juststealthystreams7668]

I definitely got it was a joke lmao.

[@eminemfan50098]

Sounds like my experience with Nolan films lol

[@nurse_wretched]

post the non-intercut versions! do it for the true fans ❤

[@NecroMorrius]

Arrival isn’t a time loop or a bootstrap paradox. The point is that no amount of loss and heartache would/should stop you from living and loving people you may one day lose. On first watch for the whole thing you think she’s broken because her daughter died. Turns out she’s broken because she hasn’t met her yet. And the fact that she dies has no bearing on her choice to have her - there’s no choice at all, even though she ends up with nobody, because those moments she “remembers”/foresees are unmissable. That relationship is worth having and worth losing. Maybe it’s an emotional bootstrap paradox :)

[@arthurd6495]

Yup.

[@pokguys16]

after watching tenet I've learnt even the best of the best have their flaws

[@FinalBoss429]

Your mom is just okay

[@Carlo24515]

1:56 nolan in a nutshell

[@psychedelikchameleon]

Relief to watch this. Thought it was just me. I started watching The Prestige last year and found it uncomfortable and annoying. It should have been fascinating and entertaining. Why wasn't it? Looked it up. Ok... Chris Nolan is the director. I find his films be visually fun but that's about it for positives. The themes are pompous, overcomplicated to try and make them seem clever when they actually are not. Someone described him as the thinking man's Michael Bay and now I can't unsee it. I think I prefer Michael Bay because he's unbridled fun and silliness and doesn't believe his films are going to be thought provoking and challenging

[@eddsrt4604]

Elizabeth devici in mand from uncle is amazing

[@Virolaxion]

5:23 this video holds up haha

[@Nesta4815]

My biggest question is, do you have fun when you watch these movies? I think Tenet was his worst other than Batman Begins but I had fun with it.

[@calebgamman]

dont know how to say this without sounding like a hater but no ❤

[@eminemfan50098]

I've never had fun with a Nolan movie.

[@VonJay]

That’s if you think that having fun watching movie is important. I can’t say that I go to a movie expecting to have fun? What does that even mean? Are you expecting it to be a theme park ride? I thought the matrix was awesome. Did I have fun watching the matrix? What? I still don’t know what that means. If you’re referring to marvel films then yeah, they’re largely made through committee and research group influence, they’re closer to theme park rides than actual cinema.

[@safwan7155]

Famous has haters

[@XYZ-ol6pc]

Everyone has haters.

[@Keegan8311]

I don't like Christopher Nolan's movies. Not because they are "deep" and i just "don't get it". But because they are pretty shallow and rely too much on gimmicks and yes, tell, don't show. Also, you've earned yourself a sub for the use of Human Elements .

[@andremarcelino6809]

I agree with your opinion. However, I dont he just "okay" he is not the Greatest, but he is really good Director... I enjoy his films

[@chudpunter]

I've *generally* enjoyed *most* of his stuff that I've seen so far. I don't think he's the "master" or a "film genius", but I do think he usually delivers something decent, if not nearly as clever as it thinks it is. Is rather sad that he was so committed to the "dream heist" parts of Inception though, when they were by far the weakest elements of the story, while the (relatively few) character moments were very good. And I just didn't enjoy Interstellar much at all. It was probably twice as long as it needed to be. And the engaging parts for me were all on Earth, exploring what it must have been like living through a slow apocalypse. The "space exploration where everything goes wrong" wasn't engaging, seen it done better too many times elsewhere. And the "love conquers all" conclusion just felt cheap, or like it didn't really respect the audience. It was *trying* really hard to be "big thinky movie" (not saying it succeeded), and it wrapped up with a bland moral cliche.

[@OhDearBabajan]

These are Caleb's opinions, and everyone is entitled to their opinion. Most of his audience would probably disagree with you about Nolan being "okay" and the repeated numbers of profitability speak to that. He does a pretty good job outlining the hero's journey in his films and is consistent in his filmmaking style. Sure, his characters don't develop like a Scorsese, Coppola, or Maleck film, but that doesn't mean he is an "okay" storyteller. It just means he has a different filmmaking style. I think basically the only way you can pull off non-linear plot development is when the story you are telling is science fiction when the concept of time isn't in the here and now anyway, so things feel even more sci-fi. David Lynches Mulholland Dr. is also non-linear. And many people don't figure it out even after watching it a dozen times, but it is regarded as one of the best movies of all time. Dark knight 2 and 3 both made over a billion dollars each. Interstellar had A LOT of emotion, a bit too much for me actually; made 700 million dollars gross. I think you are taking a few of his films and generalizing your review across the board for all his films collectively, which I don't think is very accurate. I agree that some of his movies could have used more work, more information, better character arcs, but as much as I have nitpicked in the past, and as much as I was frustrated with Tenet, I still enjoy his films all in all. Good review nonetheless.

[@willspare]

outlining the hero’s journey doesn’t automatically make something have depth never seen muholland drive but it’s not about simply having non linear storytelling bc it’s cool it’s about using non linear storytelling to serve the narrative. nolan doesn’t do this. it’s more of a gimmick to make things seem more interesting and have more depth than it has, which doesn’t automatically make it bad it just isn’t anything special🤷🏼‍♂️. It just causes a headache for me personally but i can understand it working for other people. I’m pretty sure stuff like fast and furious and transformers rakes in billions bc of the franchise name i’m not sure if that’s the hill you wanna die on. nolan is a big name he’s bound to bring in a lot of money at the box office regardless of the quality he puts out there is an exception to everything in this world. of course not every single nolan film has all the flaws listed in this video. some only have one or a few of these flaws. some have all of these flaws some have none. but the video was just trying to get a general point across

[@bobcobb3654]

Profitability has nothing to do with an opinion of a film or filmmaker’s quality. McDonalds sells millions of dollars worth of burgers a day, but I wouldn’t call it fine dining.

[@OhDearBabajan]

@@bobcobb3654 I agree, but using McDonald’s as an analogy is like a logical fallacy. It isn’t an accurate comparison. I mean to each their own, but Nolan is by far an “okay” film director lol. There are many “okayy directors. Nolan is not one of them.

[@varunemani]

PSUDO INTELLECTUAL PROFESSOR NOLAN-DO-LITTLE.. Well somebody finally admitted it!

[@deannickname]

I think Tenet might be the worst Christopher Nolan movie which is also why it's probably my favorite of his.

[@VonJay]

I don’t hate Nolan but I enjoyed Tenet. As someone who reads about quantum mechanics almost every day, I was really surprised at how much I disliked Oppenheimer.

[@deannickname]

I really don't think liking quantum mechanics will mean you'll like Oppenheimer. It's not like it was a physics lecture. I'm always curious what people don't see in Oppenheimer. I think it's a huge achievement in editing and storytelling that repurposes techniques from silent film directors like Eisenstein. To me it's the ultimate culmination of Nolan's work.

[@VonJay]

@@deannickname well there’s the added effect of seeing all my favorite scientists come together like the avengers. Also, when Nolan did interstellar, he actually got the producers of the film (though it was a major part of his story) to pay for the creation of a realistic image of a black hole with an accretion disk. Something I’ve never seen in so many years studying physics yet there it is in a movie. But in Oppenheimer he only teases the look of the wave function of atoms. It’s beautiful, but doesn’t really complement the story(for instance if he tied the vibrant wave function of an atom, building toward fission of uranium in Oppenheimer’s imagination, relaying that to his fissile interpersonal relations, I think that would have made for a better theme and better emotional traction overall in a non linear edit). But all of that is beside the point. Oppenheimer felt like it deserved a more fitting, if not more emotionally resonant director. I cannot see how the editing served a story with little to no emotional payoff. And again, Nolan is my favorite director. But I think the performances of actors often hides his most glaring flaws. He spoon feeds audiences dry and monotonous exposition. Often ops for tell “but not show” type scripts, which are only practical in scripts with rules of a universe that he himself created. He seems to slap non linear storytelling on films where it serves no function, because in Oppenheimer none of those non linear scenes are juxtaposed with a common through thread, that don’t really feed off of each other or necessitate the need to being framed against one another. Like memento for instance, the non linear cuts are embedded in the theme of the film. But in Oppenheimer there is no clear reason for its existence. He also used an overly obvious central theme in “a race against the nazis.” This I don’t believe serves his flaws as a writer of dialogue and emotion really well. Instead the actors seem to be getting lines out as fast as they can and the music drones on forever in the background without ever matching the intensity of the scenes. It was a huge mess imo that people are mistaking for a masterpiece because they’re not they’re really thinking about what they’re watching. Which I think is credit to Nolan in his ability to build trust with audiences and to do things good enough to keep them suspended in disbelief. But I think everything breaks down when you actually think about what you’re watching.

[@deannickname]

There should really be a character limit for KZbin comments.

[@VonJay]

@@deannickname agreed. I can verbose. The first paragraph or so directly rebuts what you stated

[@chrisobrien6254]

I’ve been saying the same thing about Nolan ever since “The Dark Knight” 2008. I loved Memento, The Prestige, and Batman Begins, but when The Dark Knight came out I just knew something was off with Nolan, that maybe he wasn’t the genius everyone kept insisting that he was. I think the TDK is his most overrated film.

[@VonJay]

I think there was a sharp decline in effort after TDK, butI actually liked it. I didn’t like Batman Begins at all, and The Prestige is my second favorite movie of all time. But I think he doesn’t have anyone to challenge him. No one In the studio or any other auteur. He’s “great” in the current vacuum of auteur lead films where I think he’d be above average in other eras where studios could afford to take risks.

[@owentatenda2651]

Nolan is the best director out there.

[@Ghhotghff]

Just watch more films kid

[@junglemoose2164]

Why do I find his films to be unwatchable?

[@ziyakhalayoutubechannel]

Yes Quinton is... and don't ever throw the word 'besy' loosely

[@FieryDinoPancakes007]

caleb gamman

[@josiahbarefoot7564]

caleb gamman

[@jovanym2931]

I am not like other girls I like Christopher Nolan

[@matthogg2252]

Not really into Nolan. He thinks his films are smarter then the audience. I find them to not be rewatchable , with the exception of Dunkirk, maybe Insomnia and Batman ( if your into superhero movies , which I’m not).

[@grandcanyon-fu9zt]

his movies have interesting ideas and concepts but the execution falls apart

[@NotthatRossKemp]

Nolan is...meh...solid but ultimately...meh!

[@humphrex]

nolan is just a horrible director. cutting the script in pieces, then randomly reshuffle it, doesnt make it clever

[@soumil5794]

@K4yr4h U described my feeling for his movie perfectly in one sentence

[@Lerppunen]

He is one of the most clever directors.

[@humphrex]

@@Lerppunen only for the light minded ;)

[@rolphylewis6196]

One big advantage of this gimmick is that it makes his movies look like 'cool puzzles' to his audience, hence they get inclined to analyze and interpret it as accurately as possible.... which means repeated viewings (~ more revenue). What do repeated viewings offer? More and more details. How does it benefit Nolan? While the audience are engrossed in digging out details and connecting the plot pieces (under the growing influence of the realistic tone of his movies), all plotholes and inconsistencies go unnoticed in the process. Eventually, they will be under the illusion that they have understood his movies completely and that Nolan is a great genius.

[@TheMrfoxguy]

Chris nolan is if wes anderson made thrillers all flash zero substance.

[@jothishprabu8]

Tenet and Insomnia are his worst films. Tdkr and Dunkirk are fine. Other films are good.

[@rashan2424]

Inception, TDK, and Momento were special

[@swimneo]

this is how i want to watch every movie

[@geeee12476]

The thing is, Chris Nolan is the most successful and popular filmmaker in Hollywood which invites people like you who think you know all about filmmaking to create such bias and idiotic takes on KZbin. What do you even know about filmmaking? Lmao

[@VonJay]

Two of Nolan’s films are in my top five favorite films. I’ve enjoyed most of his films besides Oppenheimer and TDKR. Having said that, I think his critique of Nolan is spot on. The strength of his films, it could be a scene or a concept, has the power to overcome his flaws. I think that’s the same for any director or writer when it comes to me liking a film or not. Nevertheless, his flaws are still glaring. He spoon feeds exposition, he’d rather tell than show, there’s this overly monotonous tone to the delivery of dialogue, (outside of Memento and Tenet) he seems to have no real practical function for non linear structures, and the emotional payoff of his films are usually tied into the concept and or the twist, but not tied to the inner turmoil of his characters. The thing is, he does a few things really really well in my opinion. And they’re so good that they overcome his flaws. But when they’re not good enough to overcome them, his films feel like they were made by a cold and intellectual psychopath. Another part of me thinks that he should outsource his weaknesses and hire and or collaborate with writers that may not complement the principal architecture of his plots. I think this will challenge him in several ways, and encourage him to grow as a writer. But I think it’s also glaring that he chooses to write with people he’s familiar with (his brother) or people who aren’t considered above average writers. David Fincher doesn’t spread himself thin, and has worked with some phenomenal writers and I think Nolan could benefit from handing the reigns over to people who are much better than him.

[@Lerppunen]

Nolan is one of the best directors out there.

[@Kyoto_Ed]

thank you Mr. Trolli

[@Lerppunen]

@@Kyoto_Ed Happy to help.

[@WCCOMPUTERGRAPHICS]

He is not ok, he is bad. Its time to give him the priprer adjective: Bad. The prestige has one of the most childish Plot Twist ever. A guy that makes copies of himself easily, and those copies made "ready and identical" accepting dying every time for his success in magic? Also he managed to get all bodies in costy human size lab cilinder, acculumating them in a basement? What? Are you serious? That is the explanation? A kid of 2 years old would elaborate a better ending for this. Its a script fault? I don't think so, director has the power to make the most crazy script looks nice.

[@justinpage2712]

I think you missed it. The premise is the dangers of obsession and doing whatever it takes no matter the cost because of your ego. The fact that he had a twin makes it better. He was so blinded by his obsession of discovering the greatest trick ever that he couldn’t see what was right in front of him. It’s a solid twist because they hint at it but not too much, but since you’re so smart I guess you saw it coming. I’d really like to hear your favorite directors. Because most of the movies in theaters these days are garbage and Nolan is the main one in the main stream level pushing the limits of story telling and coming out with unique ideas instead of the rinse and repeat bs franchises we get.

[@angryhands9564]

I guess if this video’s goal was to be wrong enough in it that viewers would recognize that and want to generate comments then this video is doing great, but otherwise this is pretty selectively opinionated and will broadstroke state something like all female characters are weak and ignore all the movies he made that this is clearly not true and selectively point out 2 movies and move on. Watching this makes me pretty on interested in any of his future opinions on other filmmakers and movies seeing as it’s just not going to be accurate and thus kind of a waste of a viewers time

[@jf4764]

Don't agree. I think David Ayer is just ok. I think Nolan is one of the best directors working today. Also loved Tenet. Perhaps if you dont like Nolans films, maybe you should stop subjecting yourself to them. Also thought Tenet was a masterpiece. Dont think catwoman needed a man, dont think carrie ann moss, s character in memento needed a man dont think Murph needed a man and i dont think hillary swank needed a man in insomnia. Your analysis seems a bit simplistic, but maybe that was a deliberate choice to contrast nolans complex narratives. Buy hey, if you cant do, hate.

[@samhughes4789]

Imagine being a condescending, pretentious ass hat and calling Tenet a masterpiece

[@malafakka8530]

Of course, the go to conclusion. If someone doesn't agree with you it's automatically hate.

[@nonamerequired4566]

Don’t ever comment that stupid ass shit again.

[@eminemfan50098]

Yes, because obviously if you don't like something it means that you just can't do it so you're jealous. Thats the stupidist shit I've ever seen. You seem more up your own ass Then Nolan himself. Go back to watching your faux intellectual movies with little to no character depth or development, where you can't even here anything being said over the movies. We will stick to actually good movies.

[@jf4764]

@@nonamerequired4566 or what?