Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan, 2017)

[Morris Schæffer]

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/ch...ie-1201662561/

[megladon8]

Never thought I'd totally not care about a Nolan movie, but...yawn.

War movies are just not my thing.

[Dukefrukem]

"from his own original screenplay"

Sold.

[Morris Schæffer]

I do look forward to it. Always been a huge fan of those epic, ensemble, men-on-a-mission war flicks like we saw lots in the 60's. My username is even from a real classic, Where Eagles Dare. And as I once, somewhat unfortunately, exulted on the old Match cut forum back when Father Barry was still there, WW2 is my favorite war.

[Dukefrukem]

Also, merge?

http://matchcut.artboiled.com/showth...project-(2017)

[Morris Schæffer]

Also, merge?

http://matchcut.artboiled.com/showth...project-(2017)

delete it. This is now the official "Titled Christopher Nolan Project" thread.

[Irish]

Extremely weird choice for subject.

Who will give Nolan ~$200 mil to make a movie where (1) the Brits look like lucky losers, (2) the Germans look terribly stupid, and (3) the Americans and Russians aren't involved at all (not to mention China)?

Largely, tho, I'm with meg. Let's agree to a moratorium on war movies, especially WWII movies, for the next 50 years or so. It's such a tired subject.

[Dukefrukem]

Nolan wants that Oscar.

[TGM]

I'm interested because it's Nolan.

[transmogrifier]

War movies are ace.

[Morris Schæffer]

Largely, tho, I'm with meg. Let's agree to a moratorium on war movies, especially WWII movies, for the next 50 years or so. It's such a tired subject.

As tired as superhero movies? My perception is that we haven't had a lot of ww2 movies in recent years, certainly no memorable ones.

[Dukefrukem]

As tired as superhero movies? My perception is that we haven't had a lot of ww2 movies in recent years, certainly no memorable ones.

Saving Pvt Ryan is recent enough. So is Fury. And The Thin Red Line.

[Skitch]

Who will give Nolan ~$200 mil to make a movie...

Hes just that bankable, dude.

[Grouchy]

I don't hate Nolan or anything, but I honestly don't give a shit anymore. Interstellar is a bloated failure of an epic and I'm not all that eager to sit through another one of those. I'll always remember him at his best for Memento and The Prestige.

[Morris Schæffer]

Saving Pvt Ryan is recent enough. So is Fury. And The Thin Red Line.

19 years ago is recent?

[Dukefrukem]

19 years ago is recent?

"Recent enough"

So yes.

[Morris Schæffer]

"Recent enough"

So yes.

Still think your Logic is on shaky ground even with "enough" added to it. Although it suddenly dawns upon me that perception of time and how quickly it 'travels' in relation to where folks are is a major theme in Nolan's last movie. Oh my, are we so far apart?

[Irish]

As tired as superhero movies? My perception is that we haven't had a lot of ww2 movies in recent years, certainly no memorable ones.

Superhero movies have a lot more wiggle room to tell interesting stories. Outside of one or two examples (Superman, maybe, or The Dark Knight) I'm not sure there has been many truly great ones yet. In other male dominated genres -- war, westerns, and gangster films, for example -- we can immediately think of a half dozen great ones before we remember a half dozen more.

My specific beef: World War II movies are especially narrow and black and white; the Germans are the most morally simple villains in movie history. You never have to explain anything about them. Put a character in a Wehrmacht uniform and voila, he's evil.

Then there's the way these movies fetishize the so-called "Greatest Generation." Watch enough WWII movies and it's possible to come away thinking America won the war single-handedly, while a bunch of rag-tag, beleaguered Europeans cheered them on. I hate that. After a certain point these things cease to be entertainments and become propaganda, the kind that bleeds over to real world thought. Hey, if we put enough boots on the ground and planes overhead, America can solve any problem in the world. Sure they can. Sure they can.

There's also a problem of freshness. War movies age with the generation that fights. With WWII, they are popular just after the war, then again when those veterans entered middle age (in the seventies), and once more when they become seniors (in the nineties).

What can possibly be said about fighting in World War II that hasn't already been said by The Best Years of Our Lives, The Longest Day, The Big Red One, Saving Private Ryan, and Band of Brothers?

Gimme something different. Gimme French partisans fucking over Vichy France. Gimme Bernie Gunther dodging Russians in Vienna. Gimme Primo Levi working his way across Poland and not knowing what the hell. Gimme anything but Brad Pitt in a tank, the same old same old, which is macho and patriotic in the worst way -- silly, stupid, retrograde, and boring.

*gingerly steps off soap box*

[amberlita]

I like Nolan and love me some war movies (especially WWII), but that's pretty on point, Irish. Pretty uninteresting choice on the surface.

[Ezee E]

I'll see anything Nolan does, so I'm in.

Too bad it wasn't WWI. Not enough of those movies.

[Morris Schæffer]

Superhero movies have a lot more wiggle room to tell interesting stories. Outside of one or two examples (Superman, maybe, or The Dark Knight) I'm not sure there has been many truly great ones yet. In other male dominated genres -- war, westerns, and gangster films, for example -- we can immediately think of a half dozen great ones before we remember a half dozen more.

My specific beef: World War II movies are especially narrow and black and white; the Germans are the most morally simple villains in movie history. You never have to explain anything about them. Put a character in a Wehrmacht uniform and voila, he's evil.

Then there's the way these movies fetishize the so-called "Greatest Generation." Watch enough WWII movies and it's possible to come away thinking America won the war single-handedly, while a bunch of rag-tag, beleaguered Europeans cheered them on. I hate that. After a certain point these things cease to be entertainments and become propaganda, the kind that bleeds over to real world thought. Hey, if we put enough boots on the ground and planes overhead, America can solve any problem in the world. Sure they can. Sure they can.

There's also a problem of freshness. War movies age with the generation that fights. With WWII, they are popular just after the war, then again when those veterans entered middle age (in the seventies), and once more when they become seniors (in the nineties).

What can possibly be said about fighting in World War II that hasn't already been said by The Best Years of Our Lives, The Longest Day, The Big Red One, Saving Private Ryan, and Band of Brothers?

Gimme something different. Gimme French partisans fucking over Vichy France. Gimme Bernie Gunther dodging Russians in Vienna. Gimme Primo Levi working his way across Poland and not knowing what the hell. Gimme anything but Brad Pitt in a tank, the same old same old, which is macho and patriotic in the worst way -- silly, stupid, retrograde, and boring.

*gingerly steps off soap box*

That's an interesting take on the issue of something being tired, but I still feel there haven't been many great ones in recent years so from that pov I don't feel the subject has worn out its welcome at all. And as for your comment that everything about ww2 has already been said, I feel that rare is the movie that tells me a completely new thing about life and stuff. Therefore, if it is exceptionally made and scripted and cast, then surely it can engage once more. Besides, i'm not really familiar with operation dynamo (other than the basics) and although I could read wikipedia for that, if i decide not to, the movie Dunkirk could very will intrigue me on a narrative level.

[DavidSeven]

I'm a fan. But this sounds booooooring.

[Mysterious Dude]

"Yeah, it's a good idea, Homer, but they've already made some movies about World War II."

[Dukefrukem]

I can't wait to reference these quotes in 2018.

[baby doll]

Superhero movies have a lot more wiggle room to tell interesting stories. Outside of one or two examples (Superman, maybe, or The Dark Knight) I'm not sure there has been many truly great ones yet. In other male dominated genres -- war, westerns, and gangster films, for example -- we can immediately think of a half dozen great ones before we remember a half dozen more.

Wait, you're argument is: We don't need more World War II movies (or westerns or gangster pictures) because there are so many awesome ones, while on the other hand, since most superhero movies are shit (excepting of course Feuillade's Judex), Hollywood should keep on pumping them out until somebody figures out how to make a semi-decent one? (Personally, I gave up what little hope I had after Stephen Chow got fired from The Green Hornet.)