In Contention

Tag: Following

  • SANTA BARBARA: Nolan crowned as Modern Master

    “He no longer challenges our ideas about film,” actor Leonardo DiCaprio said of Christopher Nolan tonight, before presenting him with the Modern Master Award.  “He has helped define them.”

    It was a great bow on a fine evening meant to celebrate the director’s work over the last decade.  The Modern Master designation is Santa Barbara’s highest honor and, despite an unexpected Oscar snub for Best Director from the Academy last Tuesday afternoon, this is certainly the year to single him out in such a light.

    Pete Hammond served as moderator for the evening as he queried Nolan on his brief if dense career to date.  It was shrewd to note that “Following” in 1998, a $6,000 movie that grossed $40,000 and “Inception” in 2010, a $160 million movie that grossed $800 million worldwide, only have 11 years separating them.  The director’s latest “has been successful on its own terms, not on Hollywood’s,” Hammond said by way of introduction.  It’s a good way to put it.

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  • Christopher Nolan’s ‘Doodlebug’

    I was looking at Brad Brevet’s take on ranking the films of Christopher Nolan over at Rope of Silicon and stumbled across an embed for the director’s 1997 short “Doodlebug.” I hadn’t seen it yet, honestly, and I imagine others haven’t either.  So I figured I’d post it for some discussion.

    What are we seeing here that would find its way into Nolan’s feature work?  You could pull out themes of identity, or reality vs. perception, maybe.  There’s certainly an undercurrent of paranoia in his films that has roots here, too.  Anyway, passing it along for your viewing pleasure on an EXTREMELY slow pre-Comic-Con Tuesday.  Check out the short after the jump.

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  • THE LISTS: Top 10 performances in Christopher Nolan films

    The word of the day Friday will most certainly be “Inception,” as casually interested movie-goers and anxious fanboys alike line up to take in Christopher Nolan’s latest effort.

    Now, I have suggested in this space that the film’s ensemble is an organic one, alive and driven.  And that the performances are separately less than their sum impact. It nevertheless seemed a good time to look back over Nolan’s septet of offerings thus far and cherry pick the best portrayals for a return to this semi-regular feature at In Contention.

    Nolan always puts together a great cast. His carefully selected leads tend to ably balance themes of identity, control and psychosis, while highlighted supporting parts always prove to be charming outside-the-box considerations.

    With the latter in mind, I’d have loved to make room for the Steven Tobolowskys, Rutger Hauers, David Bowies, Ritchie Costers and Tom Berengers, but I naturally kept settling on the larger roles when push came to shove.

    So, without further ado…

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  • ‘Following’ Chris Nolan at LACMA

    (from left) Christopher Nolan and Kenneth Turan at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's Bing TheaterI had not seen Christopher Nolan’s directorial debut “Following” in six or seven years, which made for the perfect excuse to drop 20 bucks on a ticket to tonight’s Slamdance screening and Q&A over at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

    The film holds up as a wonderful, if slightly obscure excerpt from that sensational year of cinema: 1999.  It contains the seeds of a director’s fascination with broken narrative storytelling, borrows humbly from genre particulars already developed by David Mamet and Stephen Frears in years past (while turning them on their heads) and is a modest announcement of a significant new talent.

    Little did we know this unassuming director with a film rejected by Sundance would go on to helm one of the highest-grossing movies in film history.

    It’s a delight to listen to Nolan discuss the particulars of his craft today, with five other films under his belt and a lot of perspective to shine back on his initial cinematic foray.  The narrative with Nolan has become, “He still maintains that independent edge even in blockbuster territory.”  Yes, but it’s deeper, and yet simpler than that.  It would be fairer to say he still maintains an understanding of lean storytelling (for the most part), even in the midst of dramatically ambitious stories.

    “Following” is a case study in that.  And of course, the year-long filming process astounds me to this day, grabbing footage here and there on the weekends, the actors maintaining their appearance long enough to complete the project.  Amazing.

    Nolan spoke an all-too-brief 20 minutes to the LA Times’ Kenneth Turan (who was double-checking his notes constantly) in front of a relatively diverse crowd, bringing in examples from his steadily expanding portfolio to emboss artistic points about his view of the filmmaking process.  With Bat-hysteria flying off the rails this summer, it was a treat to listen in on a developing master’s serene take on the nuts and bolts of his art form.

    And that’s what it’s always about at the end of the day, no?

    Here is a recording of the proceedings.  Nolan is soft spoken, and Turan doesn’t exactly announce his queries with the loudest authority, but you might catch some gems of the conversation if you crank the volume:

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  • Phoning it in from LACMA

    I’m sitting here at LACMA’s Bing Theater awaiting a screening of Christopher Nolan’s “Following,” to be followed (no pun intended) by a Q&A with the man himself.

    The energy is pretty high. Nearly packed theater with a mix of anxious fans and reserved night-on-the-towners.

    I’ll report back later this evening or in the morning with some snaps and an mp3 of the discussion. Ken Turan is moderating, I believe.