The films of Christopher Nolan (3): Insomnia and The Prestige

Today, we're introducing Push The Envelope, a new podcast where The A.V. Club editors and celebrity guests come together to discuss the Emmys, Oscars, Grammys, Globes, and more. From dream nominations to current snubs and surprises to favorite moments from past ceremonies—if someone’s passing out trophies, we’re talking about it.. Future episodes will cover everything from the VMAs and Tonys to the latest critical darlings of all forms of entertainment, but Push The Envelope kicks off with four episodes focused on the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards. Every Friday leading up to the Sept. 20 ceremony, TV editor Danette Chavez and managing Editor Erik Adams will join editor-in-chief Patrick Gomez in analyzing the nominations and predicting what we can expect from the upcoming at-home telecast. Push The Envelope will also feature interviews with some of the folks you’ll see in that telecast; in our first episode, you’ll hear from The Good Place’s D’Arcy Carden and Schitt’s Creek’s Catherine O’Hara. The three episodes that follow will focus on the limited series and movie, drama, and comedy categories, and feature conversations with Uzo Aduba (Mrs. America), Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy Vs. The Reverend), Nicholas Braun (Succession), some of the Watchmen creative team, and more. And if the TV isn’t your thing for some reason, don’t fret—this podcast is a year-round effort and we’ll be moving on to discuss other topics posthaste, with more celebrity guests and members of the A.V. Club staff joining the conversation. For now, we hope you’ll subscribe to Push The Envelope, available wherever you get your podcasts. Visit: https://www.avclub.com/ Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the past three weeks on Film Club, our critics A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife have embarked on a deep dive into the films of Christopher Nolan. And our final installment in the series is as twisting and complex as it gets, as we discuss the blockbuster trio of Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), and Dunkirk (2017). Is Nolan’s reputation for making chilly films that are full of ideas, but short on emotion, justified? Have our opinions of his work changed after spending the last month seeped in his filmography? And how did he manage to put out a such an ambitious series of $100 million-plus epics, with only a few years in between? Visit: https://www.avclub.com/ Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week on Film Club, critics A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife discussed Christopher Nolan’s massively popular Dark Knight trilogy. This week, in the third part of our month-long series on Nolan’s filmography, they’re pulling a Memento and dicing up the timeline to discuss the movies the director made directly before and directly after his first trip to Gotham. It’s two smaller-scale thriller adaptations for the price of one: Insomnia, Nolan’s work-for-hire remake of a Norwegian detective thriller, and The Prestige, his twisty take on the Christopher Priest novel about dueling 19th-century magicians. Visit: https://www.avclub.com/ Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the second installment in our month-long series on the films of Christopher Nolan, critics A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife revisit the blockbuster comic-book franchise that made him one of the world’s most celebrated directors. Nearly a decade later, which entry in the trilogy holds up best? And how did this particularly operatic take on the caped crusader shape both the future of big-budget moviemaking and Nolan’s own style? Visit: https://www.avclub.com/ Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Later this month, audiences around the world (including—though this is less certain—some in the United States) will finally lay eyes on what once looked like the movie event of the summer, Tenet. In honor of the belated release of this time-bending thriller, we’re spending the rest of August talking about the filmography of its celebrated director, Christopher Nolan, who’s become possibly the premier blockbuster craftsman of the new millennium. Today, to kick off our four-part series, critics A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife are returning to Nolan’s pre-Hollywood work: his scrappy directorial debut, Following, and his big breakthrough, Memento. How well do these nonlinear indie noirs hold up two decades later? Let’s discuss. Visit: https://www.avclub.com/ Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The year is about halfway over, and though no new movies have hit theaters in months, plenty of very good ones have made their way to streaming platforms, video-on-demand, and virtual cinemas since everything shut down in March. Which got us thinking: If next year’s Oscars honored only the current crop of 2020 releases, which ones would be most worthy of consideration? On the first new episode of Film Club since June, critics A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife offer their picks for the best movies, performances, and scripts of the year so far, in what we’re calling The Midyear Awards. Don’t worry: Our “ceremony” is much shorter than the real one. And there are no montages. Visit: https://www.avclub.com/ Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s almost July, and if release calendars can be believed (they probably can’t), we might see a few movies creep into theaters again. (Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and the live-action Mulan remake are both currently scheduled to debut in multiplexes by the end of next month.) Whether that actually happens remains to be seen, of course. For now, we’re still stuck watching movies at home—and plenty of new ones arrived over this last month. On the last new episode of Film Club for three weeks, A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife look back on two of June’s more high-profile digital releases: the Pete Davidson-Judd Apatow comedy The King Of Staten Island and the Gothic psychodrama Shirley, starring Elisabeth Moss as horror author Shirley Jackson. Plus, both critics offer their recommendations of the best news films currently streaming. Visit: https://www.avclub.com/ Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A few weeks ago on Film Club, our critics reminisced about movie theaters, many of which are still closed because of the pandemic. But the multiplex will reopen eventually. What, by contrast, will become of the video store, which was endangered long before COVID-19? On today’s episode, A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife are joined by fellow A.V. Club contributor and former Film Club cohost Ignatiy Vishnevetsky to discuss the past and potential future of brick-and-mortar movie renting, along with their own fond memories of frequenting and working behind the counter of video stores. Visit: https://www.avclub.com/ Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There’s a new Spike Lee joint available today on Netflix. Da 5 Bloods, about a group of Black veterans returning to Vietnam decades later in search of both their fallen brother-in-arms and some gold they buried during the war, has earned Lee mostly glowing reviews (though not from our own reviewer, Ashley Ray-Harris). In honor of the film’s release, our critics sat down with Robert Daniels, who runs the website 812FilmReviews and has written for RogerEbert.com and The Playlist, to talk about Lee’s prolific career as a filmmaker over the last three-and-a-half decades. Visit: https://www.avclub.com/ Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to this week’s second installment of Film Club, The A.V. Club’s weekly movie-discussion series. On this very special, format-breaking episode, our critics encroach on TV editor Danette Chavez’s turf to discuss the strange world of The X-Files. Since its premiere almost three decades ago, Chris Carter’s sci-fi drama grew from beloved cult favorite, to pop culture juggernaut, garnering prestige and acclaim along the way. By total coincidence, A.A. Dowd and Katie Rife both found themselves revisiting the series while quarantining, and decided to record this bonus episode of Film Club. In it, they discuss their shared love for the series, its influences and legacy, and whether or not it still holds up.  Visit: https://www.avclub.com/ Like: https://www.facebook.com/theavclub Follow: https://twitter.com/theavclub Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices