mojorizen7
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Who's the better writer,director,producer?
I'll take Abrams.
I'll take Abrams.
JJ Abrams or Christopher Nolan
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I have some issues with each of them but it's Abrams for me. I'm considering his TV stuff also but if we limit it to their work in the movies I'd have to go with Nolan.
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mojorizen7
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Entire body of work.
Lets not complicate a simple poll folks. These polls aren't FDA studies
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Entire body of work.
Lets not complicate a simple poll folks. These polls aren't FDA studies
Well then, it's definitely Abrams. The work he did at Dairy Queen made this an easy choice.
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mojorizen7
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This is not even close for me..... Nolan.
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Have you ever actually seen a Nolan movie? I mean really seen it? Every time I watch his Batman movies I feel like the blind lookout in the Mel Brooks Robin Hood movie. Shadows and darkness go hand in hand with the Batman story and I still love Nolan's films but I have to drop him down a notch for the over-use of this technique.
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there's simply no comparison for me.
Nolan has crafted some of the greatest movies of all time IMO. Memento was unlike anything I've ever seen and The Dark Knight transcended the comic book genre and was a masterpiece in my eyes. Throw in Nolan's other original material like The Prestige and Inception and it's not even close.
What has JJ done movie wise? Made an okay Mission Impossible that nearly killed the franchise? Made a pretty entertaining reboot of Star Trek and then made a shameless Spielberg wannabe Super 8 that was beyond underwhelming. Where is his master vision? Where is his originality seen in things like The Prestige, Memento or Inception... or his ability to set the world on fire with an already established property like Batman?
The guy's biggest success in TV was Felicity. That was his baby. Lost? Uh... I don't think so. The reality of that show was that the guy wasn't involved in that show AT ALL after the pilot. That was all Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof's baby.
Nolan has crafted some of the greatest movies of all time IMO. Memento was unlike anything I've ever seen and The Dark Knight transcended the comic book genre and was a masterpiece in my eyes. Throw in Nolan's other original material like The Prestige and Inception and it's not even close.
What has JJ done movie wise? Made an okay Mission Impossible that nearly killed the franchise? Made a pretty entertaining reboot of Star Trek and then made a shameless Spielberg wannabe Super 8 that was beyond underwhelming. Where is his master vision? Where is his originality seen in things like The Prestige, Memento or Inception... or his ability to set the world on fire with an already established property like Batman?
The guy's biggest success in TV was Felicity. That was his baby. Lost? Uh... I don't think so. The reality of that show was that the guy wasn't involved in that show AT ALL after the pilot. That was all Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof's baby.
Cardinals.Ken
That's Mr. Riff-Raff to you!
Nolan, hands down.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Abrams' work. I also like pork rinds. I find Abrams' films entertaining, and they're the best that modern ADHD media has to offer.
However, you could use Nolan's films as the entire curriculum for a two-semester film class. Only Joss Whedon comes close to his level of craftsmanship.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Abrams' work. I also like pork rinds. I find Abrams' films entertaining, and they're the best that modern ADHD media has to offer.
However, you could use Nolan's films as the entire curriculum for a two-semester film class. Only Joss Whedon comes close to his level of craftsmanship.
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I would have answered the exact same way if I only considered Memento & The Prestige.
The Batman (soon to be) trilogy just makes this a case of man vs. boy IMO.
Nolan has made at least 4 movies that are better than anything Abrams has done on the big screen.
Not.....Even......Close.
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mojorizen7
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Ok Well for me...
Nolan is a very good director,and i'm intelligent enough to recognize good quality craft and writing when i see it(and he's an artist).... but come on is this guy overrated or what? Avant garde? Somebody tell me why he's being attatched to this label?
Haven't seen "Insomnia" yet but i've heard its a good film...its on my list of must see older movies that i've missed.
"Memento." Good film and i own it...i like it, and i'd recommend it,but this movie is nothing more than a gimmick. A well done,tightly packed gimmick. BTW has anyone seen the easter egg on the DVD that allows you to watch it in chronological order? Pretty cool.
"Batman Begins." Excellent,my favorite from him. The Dark themes and superhero based in realistic science touch he created were just really cool.
Better pace than TDK and better acting too IMO(minus Ledger of course).
"TDK." I chewed out this movie in another older thread in here somewhere and had to run to the store for some Prep-H for my troubles...LOL. I've lightened up a bit after several watches since,but i still say that its probably the most overrated mainstream film of the last 10 years. Sorry,i know it gets lots of love on this board especially....but without Ledgers performance what are you left with? IMO you're left with 2 hours of pretentious storyline with a couple nice action sequences.
Calling this film a masterpiece is hysterical. Come on really? Why?
"Inception." Watched it three times. Meh...Decent. I think if you were to somehow mesh together "The Matrix",any 007 movie and "Memento" you'd get this gorgeously filmed clusterfuk story called Inception.
So we look at Abrams who rebooted Star Trek,and Nolan who rebooted Batman....which movie was pulled off better? I dont know,both films are excellent but i'll say this...it took a helluva lot more balls to reboot Star Trek with a new relatively unknown cast of characters(and somehow pull it off despite the immense history and fan loyalty to the original actors) than it did to just plug another guy into the batsuit .
JMO
Dark Knight Rises will be released almost a full year before Abrams next Star Trek IIRC.....sort of an interesting parallel going on between these two talented directors' careers at this point concerning the reboots.
Fire away Dark Knight lovers!
Well for me...Nolan is a very good director,and i'm intelligent enough to recognize good quality craft and writing when i see it(and he's an artist).... but come on is this guy overrated or what? Avant garde? Somebody tell me why he's being attatched to this label?
Haven't seen "Insomnia" yet but i've heard its a good film...its on my list of must see older movies that i've missed.
"Memento." Good film and i own it...i like it, and i'd recommend it,but this movie is nothing more than a gimmick. A well done,tightly packed gimmick. BTW has anyone seen the easter egg on the DVD that allows you to watch it in chronological order? Pretty cool.
"Batman Begins." Excellent,my favorite from him. The Dark themes and superhero based in realistic science touch he created were just really cool.
Better pace than TDK and better acting too IMO(minus Ledger of course).
"TDK." I chewed out this movie in another older thread in here somewhere and had to run to the store for some Prep-H for my troubles...LOL. I've lightened up a bit after several watches since,but i still say that its probably the most overrated mainstream film of the last 10 years. Sorry,i know it gets lots of love on this board especially....but without Ledgers performance what are you left with? IMO you're left with 2 hours of pretentious storyline with a couple nice action sequences.
Calling this film a masterpiece is hysterical. Come on really? Why?
"Inception." Watched it three times. Meh...Decent. I think if you were to somehow mesh together "The Matrix",any 007 movie and "Memento" you'd get this gorgeously filmed clusterfuk story called Inception.
So we look at Abrams who rebooted Star Trek,and Nolan who rebooted Batman....which movie was pulled off better? I dont know,both films are excellent but i'll say this...it took a helluva lot more balls to reboot Star Trek with a new relatively unknown cast of characters(and somehow pull it off despite the immense history and fan loyalty to the original actors) than it did to just plug another guy into the batsuit .
JMO
Dark Knight Rises will be released almost a full year before Abrams next Star Trek IIRC.....sort of an interesting parallel going on between these two talented directors' careers at this point concerning the reboots.
Fire away Dark Knight lovers!
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I agree, Whedon and Abrams seems like a much more fair comparison. Outside the new Star Trek(which I really liked), I just don't see anything close to Nolan's body of work.
I went to check imdb to see if there was anything of Abrams I was missing and realized the only moves that he has both written and directed that I've seen is MI 3(big disappointment) and Regarding Henry(liked), unlike Nolan who has written and directed pretty much all his well known films.
I agree...over a body of work
only seen memento, batman and super 8. love all 3. Super 8 best fam movie of the bunch, batman is awesome but the voice is annoying and memento was just great.
Some of Abrams' critics seem to want to push him into Michael Bay subterranean being status, and I don't see that at all. Abrams definitely has some substance to his work.
That said, Nolan is the best living Hollywood director on the planet, IMO. It's not even close when you compare their work.
cheese, did you ever see The Following? Loved that movie.
That said, Nolan is the best living Hollywood director on the planet, IMO. It's not even close when you compare their work.
cheese, did you ever see The Following? Loved that movie.
His writing career launched James Belushi's career as an actor, and it's pretty hard to forgive him for that. Regarding Henry was decent, but he also wrote Pallbearer.
He's not novel or unique. He's a good writer, not a great one. I thought he had some strong writing on Alias that went under appreciated.
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eh... I think Abrams is a good idea man, but his execution leaves me wanting. he's kind of like Steven King to me. He comes out of the gates swinging for the fences, but in the end, the majority of his stuff crumbles like coffee cake.
never saw The Following, but I heard it was great.
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mojorizen7
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I would consider any movie made before my time as ancient. So anything pre '69
I dont "go" to the movies much anymore. I buy and sell,rent etc...watch on the home system,so i've missed a few gems im sure.
Can you recommend "Insomnia?" Or are you here just to bust my balls?
Can you recommend "Insomnia?" Or are you here just to bust my balls?
I was mostly just busting balls, but yeah, Inception was good, I thought.
Can you recommend "Insomnia?" Or are you here just to bust my balls?
I think Insomnia might have been his weakest effort, but not for trying really hard to do something interesting on film. It's paced really slow -- slower than indie slow -- but the affect does capture a specific way-out-Alaskan kind of mood.
I would have preferred someone with more dramatic intensity than Robin Williams' scowling moodiness. I guess that's my biggest beef.
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mojorizen7
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Ughhh....Robin Williams? I'll still give it a shot i guess. It's not Bi-Centennial Man Robin Williams is it?
Back to Abrams for a sec...my experience watching "Cloverfield" was pretty awesome. I had just left a Coyote's game with my girlfriend...we were strolling past the movie theatre and decided it was still fairly early and we wanted to catch a late movie. We saw the Cloverfield poster outside and were like WTF?....hadn't heard about this thing(the lack of promotion and all...) we went for it and were totally caught up in it. We almost walked out after the first 20 minutes thinking ..."Oops...this is stupid." Then it transformed...unfolded into a a very fun...creepy at times....gimmicky....visually stunning film.
I've always held it in fairly high regards because of the execution of it artistically(btw the sound effects are second to none IMO)...but also because of the circumstances regarding my completely blind state of expectations going into it.
You never have another chance to make that first impression with alot of films. Sometimes you can discover something you missed and change your opinion...but in this case maybe i overrate "Cloverfield." I dont know....i still enjoy it on home video.
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Ughhh....Robin Williams? I'll still give it a shot i guess. It's not Bi-Centennial Man Robin Williams is it?
Back to Abrams for a sec...my experience watching "Cloverfield" was pretty awesome. I had just left a Coyote's game with my girlfriend...we were strolling past the movie theatre and decided it was still fairly early and we wanted to catch a late movie. We saw the Cloverfield poster outside and were like WTF?....hadn't heard about this thing(the lack of promotion and all...) we went for it and were totally caught up in it. We almost walked out after the first 20 minutes thinking ..."Oops...this is stupid." Then it transformed...unfolded into a a very fun...creepy at times....gimmicky....visually stunning film.
I've always held it in fairly high regards because of the execution of it artistically(btw the sound effects are second to none IMO)...but also because of the circumstances regarding my completely blind state of expectations going into it.
You never have another chance to make that first impression with alot of films. Sometimes you can discover something you missed and change your opinion...but in this case maybe i overrate "Cloverfield." I dont know....i still enjoy it on home video.
JJ neither wrote, nor directed Cloverfield.
I voted Nolan but I am not so sure it's as far apart as people think. Nolan is simply a brilliant film maker. Batman, Inception...all of the others mentioned above.
Abrams works a little differently in that some movies he doesn't get credit for writing or directing, he has a direct hand in the initial creation of projects Bad Robot touches. I have read many interviews were Abrams helps flush out ideas but doesn't go on to write or direct them. He has helped many a writer and producer flush out their ideas but doesn't get credit for it.
Also, if we are really going to talk "entire body of work", you must include Abrams TV credits as well. The guy has had his hand in many TV projects that IMO were brilliant as well.
If were talking strictly movies, the Star Trek Reboot was excellent and so was the the last MI movie. Again, Abrams has a creative hand in almost everything BAD ROBOT touches even if it's just at the start of the idea process. On the other hand Nolan is simply brilliant and more original from a MOVIE making perspective. Nolan to me is one of the most brilliant minds in movie making today. Inception absolutely blew me away. What he did for the Batman franchise was something I didn't think could be done.
Bottom line is I love them both.
Abrams works a little differently in that some movies he doesn't get credit for writing or directing, he has a direct hand in the initial creation of projects Bad Robot touches. I have read many interviews were Abrams helps flush out ideas but doesn't go on to write or direct them. He has helped many a writer and producer flush out their ideas but doesn't get credit for it.
Also, if we are really going to talk "entire body of work", you must include Abrams TV credits as well. The guy has had his hand in many TV projects that IMO were brilliant as well.
If were talking strictly movies, the Star Trek Reboot was excellent and so was the the last MI movie. Again, Abrams has a creative hand in almost everything BAD ROBOT touches even if it's just at the start of the idea process. On the other hand Nolan is simply brilliant and more original from a MOVIE making perspective. Nolan to me is one of the most brilliant minds in movie making today. Inception absolutely blew me away. What he did for the Batman franchise was something I didn't think could be done.
Bottom line is I love them both.
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