rank a director

[Onderhond]

All over the place, but I'm generally hopeful when sitting down for one of his films. At least they are never dull.

1. 4.5* - The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) (#300)
2. 4.0* - The Pillow Book (1996)
3. 3.0* - Eisenstein in Guanajuato (2015)
4. 3.0* - The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story (2003)
5. 3.0* - Prospero's Books (1991)
6. 2.0* - Drowning by Numbers (1988)
7. 1.0* - Lumière and Company [Lumière et Compagnie] (1995)

[AB537]

Greenaway is a director I've never specifically prioritized, but I've also seen a decent amount over the years. He can at times veer a bit avant-gardey for my taste, but he did also produce a couple of the best British films of the 1980s. My top three films here all rank towards the higher end of their tiers for me.

Great

Very Good

1. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover (1989)

Good

2. The Draughtsman's Contract (1982)

Above Average

3. Drowning by Numbers (1988)
4. The Falls (1980)
5. The Belly of an Architect (1987)

Okay

6. Vertical Features Remake (1978)
7. The Pillow Book (1996)
8. Prospero's Books (1991)

Not Good

A Zed and Two Noughts (1985)

[Fergenaprido]

1. 7.4 - The Pillow Book (1996)

[pitchorneirda]

1. The Baby of Mâcon 4/10

Even though I was very deep into esoteric and hermetic literature at the time, it was really hard to get even 1/5th of what was shown. In some cases I accept not being in total awareness of what's going on, but let's say the criteria weren't met.

[Lonewolf2003]

Have seem too little too far apart to make any kind of statement n

Masterpiece
-

Excellent
-

Good
-

Fine
1. A Zed & Two Noughts (1985): 6.8

Okay
-

Mediocre
-

Poor
-

Bad
2. The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover (1989): 3.5

Terrible
-

[AB537]

1. 4.5* - The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989) (#300)

Huh. Also #300 on my all time ballot this year.

[TraverseTown]

Oh I can finally do one

1. A Zed & Two Noughts
2. Drowning by Numbers
3. The Draughtsman's Contract
4. The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover
5. Prospero's Books
6. 8 1/2 Women
7. The Falls
8. The Belly of an Architect
9. The Pillow Book
10. The Baby of Macon
11. Eisenstein in Guanajuato
12. Goltzius & The Pelican Company
13. Nightwatching

[Y U M E]

Not much going on in this topic lately. I've had an intensive personal British challenge during May and June (and still catching up with a few Netflix titles from the 50s) to fill in gaps in filmography's of some directors and actors and some checks on lists. Seen 91 titles so far this year, so my UK-counter is at 1129 features at the moment... So I'm suggesting to complete a trilogy of legendary directors from the UK for this topic. After Lean and Greenaway let's rank.....

Nicolas Roeg

★★★★★ | 10.0
01. Bad Timing

★★★★½ | 9.2
02. Don't Look Now

★★★★ | 8.4
03. Walkabout

★★★¾ | 8.0
04. The Man Who Fell to Earth

★★★½ | 7.6
05. Eureka
06. Insignificance

★★★¼ | 7.2
07. Castaway

★★★ | 6.8
08. The Witches
09. Puffball
10. Heart of Darkness

★★¾ | 6.4
11. Cold Heaven

★★ | 5.0
12. Performance

★ | 3.0
13. Track 29

☆ | 1.0
14. Sweet Bird of Youth

N/R
Un Ballo in Maschara - segment from "Aria"-anthology

The only title I added to my Roeg list in the mentioned British challenge this spring was Puffball, which wasn't as bad as most reviews suggest. A lot of vintage Roeg elements there!! The overall look was a bit cheap, so were some of the obvious shockers, but most of it was quite enjoyable. Not like the real stinker-remake of SBoY. Only missing Two Deaths from his filmography, which doesn't sound promising either...

[Onderhond]

I have trouble remembering any of these films.

1. 2.5* - Eureka (1983)
2. 2.5* - Walkabout (1971)
3. 2.0* - The Witches (1990)
4. 2.0* - Performance (1970)
5. 1.5* - The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
6. 0.5* - Don't Look Now (1973)

[beavis]

1 . 4,5 - Walkabout (1971)
2 . 4 - Performance (1970)
3 . 3,5 - The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
4 . 3,5 - Don't Look Now (1973)
5 . 3,5 - Eureka (1983)
6 . 3,5 - Bad Timing (1980)
7 . 3,5 - Aria (1987)
8 . 3 - Cold Heaven (1991)

[OldAle1]

Not a filmmaker I've ever looked into that seriously, just seen a few over the years. I don't think I've seen any of these more than once, and Bad Timing is the only one I've seen since 2000, so maybe somebody I should investigate more seriously at some point - a couple of my friends back in the 90s just *loved* him but that never transferred to me for whatever reason.

* cinema

PLATINUM
-

GOLD
1. Performance
2. Walkabout *

SILVER
3. Don't Look Now
4. Bad TIming

BRONZE
5. The Witches *

COPPER
6. The Man Who Fell to Earth
7. Track 29

ALUMINUM
8. Cold Heaven *

[gunnar]

Nicolas Roeg

1. Walkabout - 9/10

2. Don't Look Now - 7.5/10

3. The Man Who Fell to Earth - 6/10

4. Performance - 4/10

[blocho]

I've written this before elsewhere in the forum, but I'll repeat it here. I admire Roeg for fashioning a distinctive style that diverged so strikingly from the typical cinematic experience. Unfortunately, I think his style can't compensate for the narrative and thematic weaknesses of his movies, which often feel like a chore to watch.

Superlative

Very Good

Good
Don't Look Now

OK
The Witches

Misfires
Performance
Walkabout
The Man Who Fell to Earth

[Lakigigar]

Only seen Walkabout but i'm a fan of that film

4.5* - Walkabout (1971)

[prodigalgodson]

Not really my stizzy, though I guess I like everything I've seen.

Performance 7/10
Eureka
Don't Look Now
Walkabout 6/10
The Man Who Fell to Earth - got too high and fell asleep in the theater, which feels entirely thematically appropriate

[1SO]

1. The Man Who Fell to Earth
2. Don't Look Now
3. The Witches
4. Walkabout
5. Eureka
6. Bad Timing
7. Performance
8. Track 29
9. Insignificance

[Arkantos]

I've also only seen Walkabout, which I liked. 4/5

[hurluberlu]

Nicolas Roeg

8
Walkabout (1971)

7
Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession (1980)
Eureka (1983)

6
Don't Look Now (1973)

4
The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

[Silga]

Only seen one from Nicolas Roeg

Performance (1970) 7/10

[AB537]

A really hit and miss director for me, was on a hot streak in the early to mid 1970s but otherwise pretty forgettable. Almost the smallest filmography possible to have entries in all of my categories.

Great

Don't Look Now (1973)

Very Good

Walkabout (1971)

Good

The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

Above Average

Insignificance (1985)

Okay

Performance (1970)
Bad Timing (1980)
The Witches (1990)

Not Good

Track 29 (1988)

Don't Remember Enough to Rate

Eureka (1983)

[Fergenaprido]

1. 7.6 - Walkabout (1971)
2. 7.4 - The Witches (1990) - this deserves a rewatch as I have fond memories of the film but I don't think I've seen it since I was a kid.

[Lonewolf2003]

Masterpiece
-

Excellent
1. Walkabout (1971): 9.2

Good
2. Don't Look Now (1973): 8.0

Fine
3. The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976): 7.5

Okay
4. Eureka (1983): 6.5
5. Track 29 (1988): 6.5

Mediocre
6. Performance (1970): 5.5
7. Bad Timing (1980): 5.5

Poor
-

Bad
-

Terrible
-

I'm pretty sure I've seen The Witches when I was little, but that was too long ago to rank.

[gunnar]

Excellent
1. Walkabout (1971): 9.2

Good
2. Walkabout (1971): 8.0

I'm assuming that one of this is supposed to be a different film unless they are ratings for different viewings.

[Lonewolf2003]

Excellent
1. Walkabout (1971): 9.2

Good
2. Walkabout (1971): 8.0

I'm assuming that one of these is supposed to be a different film unless they are ratings for different viewings.

You’re correct. Fixed it.

[pitchorneirda]

1. Don't Look Now 6/10
2. Walkabout 4-5/10

Infinite respect for his work so far, but it's just not my type of cinema and I'm not really interested to watch more.

[Good_Will_Harding]

OK guys, it is finally time...

... to finally give due praise to our LORD and SAVIOR...



Saint CHRISTopher noLORD

Surely I'm not alone here, especially for those of us who migrated from the IMDB message boards, but for the past fifteen odd years, it's been almost impossible to judge the quality of his works based solely on their own merits, when every single time he premieres a new film, before most of us even have a chance to see it, there's legions upon legions of diehard fans automatically anointing it as the single greatest achievement in cinematic history, simply one unimpeachable work of genius after the next. Of course this isn't any fault of the man himself, and over the years I have gotten better at separating the films themselves from their hyperbolic first reactions. And I'll definitely be there to check out his latest opus, but the real question is how high will it debut on the IMDb top 250? My first guess would be somewhere in the 20-30 region.

10

Memento

9

The Dark Knight
The Prestige

8

Interstellar
Tenet
Dunkirk

7

Inception
Batman Begins
Following

6

Insomnia

5

The Dark Knight Rises

One thing I do find curious is that the further away we get from his Dark Knight trilogy, the less enthused the reactions to his newest works from the online crowds become. I mean, his previous two films haven't even managed to remain in the IMDB top 250 (a very low bar, for sure) and I'm not even sure Tenet was ever in there to begin with. Could it be that the near cultish behavior wasn't ever really about his ouvere as a whole, but rather the fact that his Batflicks were just seriously toned enough to where it made certain viewers feel validated in their nonstop obsessing over superhero stuff as adults - and when he stopped making them to focus on other projects, they slowly over time lost interest in his non-comic book fare?

[Silga]

Christopher Nolan

1. Interstellar - 10
2. Inception – 10

3. The Dark Knight Rises – 9
4. Batman Begins – 9
5. Dunkirk - 9

6. The Prestige – 8
7. Tenet - 8
8. The Dark Knight – 8

9. Insomnia – 7
10. Memento – 7

Short films:

1. Quay - 6
2. Doodlebug - 6
3. Tarantella - 3

[blocho]

My formula for Nolan is the bigger his budget, the lesser the movie. I try to tune out the intense and unrelenting hubbub around his filmography. I too tend to feel reactive to fanboy adoration, but his works deserve to be considered apart from such cacophany. When I'm able to do so, I find his movies on the whole fun but a bit shallow. I don't mean that to sound harsh. It's very hard to make fun movies.

Nolan is above all an action director, and like all talented action directors, he understands pacing and movement. His movies are best when he deploys those elements judiciously rather than excessively. He also adores spectacle, including stunning vistas, monumental sets, and explosions. And he favors densely plotted storylines, full of narrative elements that are established early on and come to fruition all at once during climactic scenes. In his early movies, those storylines contained themes and characters that felt important and encourage emotional involvement. In his recent efforts, that ability has faded greatly.

Superlative
Memento

Very Good
Following
The Dark Knight

Good
Batman Begins
The Prestige
Inception

OK
Insomnia
The Dark Knight Rises

Misfires
Interstellar
Dunkirk
Tenet

[Fergenaprido]

1. 9.2 - Inception (2010)
2. 8.8 - Memento (2000)
3. 8.6 - Dunkirk (2017)
4. 8.4 - The Prestige (2006)
5. 8.4 - The Dark Knight (2008)
6. 8.2 - Interstellar (2014)
7. 8.2 - The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
8. 8.0 - Tenet (2020)
9. 7.8 - Batman Begins (2005)

[beavis]

Is it really time now? wouldn't it have been more interesting to wait a bit on the premiere of his new one to see how we rank it too?

Anyway, here is my ranking for him. Not a huge fan, but still someone you have to take notice of in the Hollywood landscape. It is always interesting when someone can really just make what they want! ...whatever I might otherwise think of his style or themes. And, to be fair, not a bad film maker at all.

1 . - 4 - The Dark Knight (2008)
2 . - 4 - Dunkirk (2017)
3 . - 4 - Tenet (2020)
4 . - 3,5 - Memento (2000)
5 . - 3,5 - Inception (2010)
6 . - 3 - The Prestige (2006)
7 . - 3 - Insomnia (2002)
8 . - 3 - Batman Begins (2005)
9 . - 3 - The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
10 . - 3 - Interstellar (2014)

(ratings out of 5)

[Onderhond]

Often starts with a decent premise, but then goes on to ruin it by making it overly sentimental and taking it overly serious. He started off well though!
Also don't like his ideas about cinema (the theater experience, no CGI, ...)

01. 4.0* - Following (1998) (#823)
02. 2.0* - Tenet (2020)
03. 2.0* - Insomnia (2002)
04. 1.5* - Interstellar (2014)
05. 1.5* - The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
06. 1.5* - The Prestige (2006)
07. 1.5* - Inception (2010)
08. 1.0* - Dunkirk (2017)
09. 1.0* - Memento (2000)
10. 0.5* - The Dark Knight (2008)
11. 0.5* - Batman Begins (2005)

[Y U M E]

Is it really time now? wouldn't it have been more interesting to wait a bit on the premiere of his new one to see how we rank it too?

Copy that. Based on the trailer I do fear a real stinker though... (★ | 3.0)


NOlan

★★★★ | 8.4
01. Dunkirk

★★★¾ | 8.0
02. Following

★★★½ | 7.6
03. Memento
04. Interstellar

★★★¼ | 7.2
05. Tenet

★★¾ | 6.4
06. Batman Begins

★★½ | 6.0
07. Inception
08. Insomnia

★★ | 5.0
09. The Prestige

★½ | 4.0
10. The Dark Knight

★¼ | 3.5
11. The Dark Knight Rises

[OldAle1]

Nolan is above all an action director, and like all talented action directors, he understands pacing and movement. His movies are best when he deploys those elements judiciously rather than excessively. He also adores spectacle, including stunning vistas, monumental sets, and explosions. And he favors densely plotted storylines, full of narrative elements that are established early on and come to fruition all at once during climactic scenes. In his early movies, those storylines contained themes and characters that felt important and encourage emotional involvement. In his recent efforts, that ability has faded greatly.

Not sure I agree with this, and I doubt that he considers himself "above all" an action director. I don't think he does action particularly well; I'm not really sure what he does well, honestly. I'm rarely bored with his films, but I don't leave them thinking or feeling much of anything, and don't usually have any particular desire to see them again. I think he has a lot of grand ideas, and I'm glad that somebody has them, but I don't think he carries them to fruition terribly well.

[beavis]

I agree, the below average action (or the way the action was presented at least) is maybe my biggest issue with his first Batman movie and on the whole his movies are about ideas more than action

[OldAle1]

Nolan in a nutshell: big, exciting, complex ideas that deserve intelligent and thoughtful exploration - but no follow-through, instead relying on over-done exposition to make things simple for the multiplex crowd, when really the films would be better suited to a smaller scale and a more challenging workout that would appeal frankly to a much smaller audience. He wants to have his cake and eat it to, and it overall doesn't work that well IMO

* cinema + multiple viewings

PLATINUM
-
GOLD
-
SILVER
1. Following
2. Memento *+
3. The Prestige *

BRONZE
4. Batman Begins *+
5. Interstellar *
6. The Dark Knight *
7. Tenet

COPPER
8. Insomnia *

ALUMINUM
9. Dunkirk *

TIN
10. Inception *

RUST
11. The Dark Knight Rises *

Would actually like to see both Inception and Interstellar again - the former because it was SUCH a big deal back in old FG days and I got so crucified for my harsh review of it - and I'm curious - the latter because I *almost* loved it, and felt like for the first time Nolan was making something with some real emotional depth but... it slipped away.

[gunnar]

Nolan

The Dark Knight Rises - 10/10
The Dark Knight - 10/10

Dunkirk - 9/10

Batman Begins - 8.5/10
Interstellar - 8.5/10
Inception - 8.5/10
The Prestige - 8.5/10

Memento - 8/10

Tenet - 6.5/10


I haven't seen any of the top 6 since seeing them in the theater when they came out so my ratings for them might be different today upon rewatch, but I had a great time when I saw them.

[prodigalgodson]

Inception 9
The Dark Knight
Tenet 8
Memento
Dunkirk 7
The Prestige
Following 6
Interstellar
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight Rises
Insomnia 5

[Lakigigar]

Surprised we haven't done Nolan before lol.

I haven't seen Tenet and of course neither did i watch Oppenheimer, i know it's going to be released in theatres this month but it might take a while before i go to watch it, though i suppose the theme is more interesting to me than Tenet is.

1. Memento - 8/10
2. The Prestige - 8/10
3. Interstellar - 7/10 (love/hate relationship with this film)
4. Dunkirk - 7/10 (excellent cinematography but kind of forgettable story/connection with characters too distant)
5. Following - 7/10
6. The Dark Knight - 6/10
7. Insomnia - 6/10
8. Batman Begins - 5/10
9. The Dark Knight Rises - 5/10
10. Inception - 4/10 (probably need to rewatch this one though but i really don't understand that, partially because i simply don't care enough about the film to keep attention)

And i think most of these ratings are quite mild ones (i used to rate some films even lower).

The problem i have with Nolan is that his films are so calculated, basically a kind of puzzle you have to solve, but that the puzzle you have to solve is rarely one you get invested in because everything feels so distant in his films. It's very hard to connect with the stories, characters and his films, and them being complex makes me lose attention and thus not being able to keep up with the story.

I probably for instance prefer an average MCU film over Nolan Batman's trilogy for instance because of this. Interstellar for instance has an interesting subject and while the setting etc. interests me, i hate the ending or the script of the third part, though it's also the only film where Nolan tries to have some emotional elements in the film which is why i think the first half or two thirds of the film are probably the best of Nolan. After that he goes off the rails with some nonsense.

The cinematography is kind of overrated, very reliant on CGI. The music is also overtly bombastic and i'm not the biggest fan of Hans Zimmers work (incl. other films, i suppose i like his work in Gladiator's score (which is my fav of his) but i can't recall a different soundtrack by him). I don't really get the praise for his work, or at least the extent of the praise.

His stories also often lead up to build to a disappointing end, like in Interstellar but that's honestly also the case in my fav of Nolan: Memento, and what holds me back from giving it a higher rating. The ending can often be pointless, ridicilous or pretentious and is rarely satisfying in a Nolan film.

All in all, his films are cold, distant and especially lack emotion.

[Lakigigar]

Often starts with a decent premise, but then goes on to ruin it by making it overly sentimental and taking it overly serious. He started off well though!
Also don't like his ideas about cinema (the theater experience, no CGI, ...)

Sentimental?

Except maybe Interstellar, i wouldn't associate Nolan with sentimental. I think his films are rather the opposite of sentimental: cold-blooded and devoid of emotion.

My formula for Nolan is the bigger his budget, the lesser the movie. I try to tune out the intense and unrelenting hubbub around his filmography. I too tend to feel reactive to fanboy adoration, but his works deserve to be considered apart from such cacophany. When I'm able to do so, I find his movies on the whole fun but a bit shallow. I don't mean that to sound harsh. It's very hard to make fun movies.

Nolan is above all an action director, and like all talented action directors, he understands pacing and movement. His movies are best when he deploys those elements judiciously rather than excessively. He also adores spectacle, including stunning vistas, monumental sets, and explosions. And he favors densely plotted storylines, full of narrative elements that are established early on and come to fruition all at once during climactic scenes. In his early movies, those storylines contained themes and characters that felt important and encourage emotional involvement. In his recent efforts, that ability has faded greatly.

I think i agree with you for the most part. In general, i'm not the biggest fan of action so it perhaps makes kind of sense. I suppose the pacing is okay in his films or is not the issue and i've noticed his desire for spectacle, explosions, cgi visuals that make you wanna fill with awe.

I disagree though that Nolan films are too simplified, though i just don't think his ideas are all that interesting or executed very well, like in Interstellar - probably the subject that interest me most - it's a complete misfire for me. It's like: do you want to make something that is scientifically accurate or not? I don't even know whether Nolan knows it.

I would say it's rather overcomplicated esp. for what it is. Making something more (unnecessarily) complex for what it is supposed to be. Often also a reason why i don't like plot twists in a film. Plot twists for instance also risk making your film unrewatchable, because for a plot twist as a director / script writer you intentionally have to mislead the viewer by leaving things out because you know that you can show what you want your viewers to be shown. I guess in a way it's like a magic trick. To the viewer it looks more complicated than what it really is. And in the case of film, other qualities or the story could suffer because of such a twist because the entire film has to be edited or build towards that twist. You either lie to the viewer or more commonly - if well done - you leave (important) things out and don't tell the fully story to the viewer to make a twist work and make the film hold on by a rewatch.

[Torgo]

You know you waited for me.

(10/10) or close to it - best of the year, best of decade
1. Memento (2000)
2. The Dark Knight (2008)
3. Inception (2010)

(9/10) and special ones even
4. The Prestige (2006)
5. Interstellar (2014)

(8/10), in the upper tiers my of year lists
6. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
7. Tenet (2020)
8. Following (1998)
9. Batman Begins (2005)
10. Insomnia (2002)

I could 8 this anyday for the technical brilliance
11. Dunkirk (2017)


(This makes me looks like a tougher rater than I am)