I’d Really Like to See…Christopher Nolan Direct a Western

This originally appeared as part of Zoom In Online's weekly "I'd Really Like to See..." blog series on January 29, 2009... so don't expect this to mention Inception.

In his relatively short film career, Christopher Nolan has proven that he’s among the best filmmakers working today. He slowly gained notoriety for completely changing the way we look at film structure and the reliable narrator with Memento and in less than a decade of work he's helmed one of the biggest motion pictures of all time. While Nolan’s films typically share some similarities tonally and thematically, he’s proven he's admirably adept at directing a wide range of genres, from intimate thrillers such as Memento to big budget summer spectacles such as The Dark Knight. Taking into consideration his versatility and the characteristics seen in Nolan’s films, I’d like to see one of my favorite filmmakers diversify a bit further and take on one of my favorite, mostly forgotten genres: the Western.

I’d Really Like to See…’The Dark Knight’ Take the Gold

This originally appeared as part of Zoom In Online's weekly "I'd Really Like to See..." blog series.

In recent years, it seems that there’s a certain ‘type’ of movie that racks up the nominations in the Oscar race and some others that get shunned altogether. You could pick out most of these overlooked categories individually: aside from whatever is “this year’s Juno/Little Miss Sunshine,” comedies are ignored; fantasy films are ignored (with the recent exception of Return of the King getting an Oscar to award Peter Jackson for the cumulative achievement of his massive undertaking); and crime films will most likely be ignored despite The Departed trying to make up for all the times Scorsese has deserved his Oscar in the past. A lot of people are clamoring for WALL-E to get a nod, but it’s going to be secluded to the ‘animation ghetto’ of the Best Animated Picture category for a consolation prize. 

I’d like to categorize all of these diverse films under the umbrella of “the popcorn film.” Not to discredit all ‘popcorn’ films, but they are, on the surface, the type of film that’s accessible to the common moviegoer and do not require a lot of thought to ingest them. However, many may have their own layers of motifs, recurring themes, and character ticks that provide extra substance for the more analytical viewer.