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Dunkirk - Review thread

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Its so funny to me how Jauns always has a main defense of "I'm not a critic!!!". Thats complete bullshit, it's his job to review movies. He's a critic.

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This is the go-to response for all these guys. I challenged the way AVGN handled his Ghostbusters debacle as being poor form for a professional critic. Half the thread was full of folks calling me a liar for insisting that he's a critic. "He just does these for fun!!!" they insisted.

Yet he has a website cataloging his 300+ film review videos. Like, come on.
 

Kazaam

Member
It's not like it's unprecedented (classics like A Man Escaped, The Battle For Algiers and The Wages of Fear jump to mind).

I'm not sure you're listing these films because you've read those were his inspiration or because you've seen them (Dunkirk included). I'm just curious what you meant... It feels weird bringing them in the context you did (as related to characters and personalising).

Also seeing the film and seeing what he took from the "inspiration", in my opinion he has really missed the point of those films and what made those great... It's still the most enjoyable Nolan film in a very long time tho because it focuses more on the ride than the bloating. He is a very good technical filmmaker and it's not a surprise that the technical aspects of this film are and still will be first to be praised.
 

Daft_Cat

Member
I'm not sure you're listing these films because you've read those were his inspiration or because you've seen them (Dunkirk included). I'm just curious what you meant... It feels weird bringing them in the context you did (as related to characters and personalising).

Also seeing the film and seeing what he took from the "inspiration", in my opinion he has really missed the point of those films and what made those great... It's still the most enjoyable Nolan film in a very long time tho because it focuses more on the ride than the bloating. He is a very good technical filmmaker and it's not a surprise that the technical aspects of this film are and still will be first to be praised.

I haven't seen Dunkirk. I was just referring to the stripped down characterization and "in-the-moment" storytelling, which reminds me of those other films. As far as I know, A Man Escaped has not been mentioned as an inspiration - the other two I'm sure have. And yes, I've seen them.
 
Other than the actual business delineation of "yes, I'm a professional critic part/full time, receive screening invites, etc", whether or not you consider someone to be a *relevant* critic is purely up to you.

That applies to all critics/reviewers/whatever, pro or not. Every critic is subjective, every critic is drawing from their own experience, their preferences, etc. If what they look for out of a movie doesn't align with you, then just ignore them.
 

ogbg

Member
Other than the actual business delineation of "yes, I'm a professional critic part/full time, receive screening invites, etc", whether or not you consider someone to be a *relevant* critic is purely up to you.

That applies to all critics/reviewers/whatever, pro or not. Every critic is subjective, every critic is drawing from their own experience, their preferences, etc. If what they look for out of a movie doesn't align with you, then just ignore them.

This is a little bit too sensible to be in a review thread
 

a916

Member
I'm curious, a lot of these reviews are saying that none of the actors give a stand out performance... will that hurt Nolan's chances of getting the Best Director win?
 
I'm curious, a lot of these reviews are saying that none of the actors give a stand out performance... will that hurt Nolan's chances of getting the Best Director win?

I don't think so. A lot of the time the "Best Director" Oscar goes to a film that is showy from a filmmaking perspective, like Dunkirk, than one that is showy from a performance perspective.
 

ezekial45

Banned
I'm curious, a lot of these reviews are saying that none of the actors give a stand out performance... will that hurt Nolan's chances of getting the Best Director win?
I thought Kenneth Branagh, Tom Hardy, Harry Styles, and Mark Rylence were really great, and they have some great moments, but there isn't really much developement for any of the characters.

I don't see any best actor noms coming if that's what you mean.
 

Ricky_R

Member
I don't think so. A lot of the time the "Best Director" Oscar goes to a film that is showy from a filmmaking perspective, like Dunkirk, than one that is showy from a performance perspective.

Maybe the point was not having a stand out performance, or at least one that considerably out-shadows the others. I imagine that the event is the protagonist here.

I may be wrong though.
 
Maybe the point was not having a stand out performance, or at least one that considerably out-shadows the others. I imagine that the event is the protagonist here.

I may be wrong though.

No, no. I agree. I think Nolan's approach sounds fine. Perfect, even, given the material.

I was just responding to this guy's question that the lack of a central performance could hurt Nolan's oscar chances.
 

Ricky_R

Member
No, no. I agree. I think Nolan's approach sounds fine. Perfect, even, given the material.

I was just responding to this guy's question that the lack of a central performance could hurt Nolan's oscar chances.

Oh, I got ya.

You could also argue that Nolan did a fine job maintaining a consistency in performances and letting the event speak the loudest.
 

Kazaam

Member
I haven't seen Dunkirk. I was just referring to the stripped down characterization and "in-the-moment" storytelling, which reminds me of those other films. As far as I know, A Man Escaped has not been mentioned as an inspiration - the other two I'm sure have. And yes, I've seen them.

I'm curious what you will think after watching Dunkirk. While I understand how he might have been influenced by the minimal, unembellished approach of Bresson's film(s) (quite different from Clouzot or Pontecorvo), I still think he misunderstood Bresson's points and detail-based storytelling. I think, as I mentioned before, he misses the more important point of these films and their directors' approach and in the end these influences prove to be more technical and on-the-surface. That being said all these films have great characterisation(s)

Would really love to hear your opinion after seeing the film as I think it would be interesting to compare Dunkirk to the films Nolan said he was influenced by.
Also A man escaped was according to Nolan one of his (main?) influences so if that wasn't something you've read about maybe there is something you felt about the trailers that felt similar to Bresson? Or the description from the reviews?
 
From impressions, it doesn't sound like it will be like Fury Road except in that it's an intense, packed experience through-and-through.

I think the characters in Fury Road were well drawn and motivated. I don't know if that will be the case here.

It actually sounds a bit like Black Hawk Down in that regard. A film full of good-great performances, no real central character (Hartnett is the closest), and no chance for any of them to stand out above the rest. That's not the story they were trying to tell there.
 
With 27 reviews tallied on MetaCritic it now has 17 100 scores. Already surpassing every Nolan film in terms of 100 scores on there. Will more than likely be his best reviewed film ever.
 

Daft_Cat

Member
Would really love to hear your opinion after seeing the film as I think it would be interesting to compare Dunkirk to the films Nolan said he was influenced by.
Also A man escaped was according to Nolan one of his (main?) influences so if that wasn't something you've read about maybe there is something you felt about the trailers that felt similar to Bresson? Or the description from the reviews?

I spoke about the prologue reminding me of A Man Escaped late last year. It was the moment-to-moment, tactile depiction of characters accomplishing physical tasks in step-by-step ways that set off those bells.

Also, not to poke the bear, but is this a ”gotcha" attempt? Because I can't understand why anyone would object to those films being called "in-the-moment", or stripped down in their approach to storytelling, exposition, and character. And that includes Wages of Fear and Battle For Algiers. I didn't just read it in some interview, if that's what you're getting at.
 

Fersis

It is illegal to Tag Fish in Tag Fishing Sanctuaries by law 38.36 of the GAF Wildlife Act
Not gonna lie, probably gonna watch it just so i can watch the future "Half in the bag" episode about it.
 

Kazaam

Member
I spoke about my reaction to the prologue reminding me of A Man Escaped late last year. It was the moment-to-moment, tactile depiction of characters accomplishing physical tasks in step-by-step ways that set off those bells.

Also, not to poke the bear, but is this a “gotcha” attempt? Because I can’t understand why anyone would object to any of those films being called "in-the-moment", or stripped down in their approach to storytelling, exposition, and character. And that includes Wages of Fear and Battle For Algiers. I didn't just read some interview, if that's what you're getting at.

No no... no gotcha moment. I was just curious. The reason I mentioned reading somewhere about those films was because those were the ones Nolan mentioned in interviews (except maybe The Battle of Algiers) and it didn't make sense to me having them as examples of films that lack characters/deep characterisation (Wages of Fear can be seen as a study film exactly for that). Maybe the reason they feel like weird examples is because I've seen the film and you haven't and already seeing it I can't connect the way Nolan uses characterisation to the films mentioned, while you have only the expectations to go by. Probably after you see it you will understand why I couldn't connect the dots on that front. Or maybe not. That's why I said I would love to discuss exactly this after you see it.

As someone mentioned before, the film I guess can be seen as being closer to United 93. In that it feels more like an extremely expensive reconstruction that dabbles in experimental editing, that also happens to be quite enjoyable. I don't think the film is or even tries to be a vehicle for something more...
 
Well Jeremy jahns didn't like it although he fully admits the picture and sound quality are top notch.
And gave it no rating. his ratings are usually spot on for me and so I am not in a rush to see it now.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OS0K_dwdZU0

David Ehrlich gave it a rare perfect score on Letterboxd.

This juxtaposition on the same page is interesting.

Not gonna lie, probably gonna watch it just so i can watch the future "Half in the bag" episode about it.

As much as I don't like what these guys have become over time, I can't knock that they are getting people to watch movies they might not otherwise watch, even if its for what seems like, on the surface, a counterproductive reason. People might not give these films a real chance if they're heading into the theater with that mindset, but there's still the possibility something new might surprise a viewer or two, and that's overall a good thing.
 
No, no. I agree. I think Nolan's approach sounds fine. Perfect, even, given the material.

I was just responding to this guy's question that the lack of a central performance could hurt Nolan's oscar chances.
Nolan's films have always been technical Marvel's. So I wouldn't. Be surprised if the film only manages to get technical nominations as well as best director/picture. But its still too early to talk about Oscars anyways.
 
Can't believe that average rating is holding steady.

Now my main goal is to de-hype myself a bit before Thursday so my expectations aren't impossibly high.
 
70mm on Friday, here we gooooooo. If I like it enough maybe I'll go out to Studio City for an IMAX showing, but I hate driving so the odds are low.
 

DMczaf

Member
In terms of budget

Mendelsohn from Forbes seemed to know the budget but WB didn't want to reveal it just yet.

He spoke in riddles but pretty much confirmed it was a lot less than Inception and Interstellar.

Inception was $160M I believe

So probably like $120-125M for Dunkirk?
 
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