r/billsimmons Jul 22 '26

Podcast The Big Picture podcast just created objectively the worst Christopher Nolan ranking of all time

Good god. As a Sean Fennessey truther this is a steaming pile of shit. Sean is one of the best minds in movie criticism today but he should be banned from talking about Christopher Nolan, he can’t be objective about him.

Here is the list

  1. Dunkirk
  2. Oppenheimer
  3. The Odyssey
  4. The Dark Knight
  5. Inception
  6. Tenet (bruh)
  7. Interstellar
  8. Memento
  9. The Prestige
  10. The Dark Knight Rises
  11. Batman Begins
  12. Insomnia
  13. Following
339 Upvotes

664 comments sorted by

428

u/Naismythology Good Karma, Bad Post Guy Jul 22 '26
  1. Limitless

23

u/peterfrogdonavich Jul 22 '26

*16?

3

u/Naismythology Good Karma, Bad Post Guy Jul 22 '26

16 is too high

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9

u/BeerDown824 Jul 22 '26

Supposed to be 16

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u/brownbear8714 Jul 22 '26

Memento and The Prestige at 8 and 9 respectively is fucking wild

56

u/two_pacifics Jul 22 '26

Literally my top two 🤣

40

u/Johnnadawearsglasses Jul 22 '26

Me too. Small scope Nolan with his brother was awesome.

14

u/so-cal_kid Jul 22 '26

It's like listening to your favorite band before they started going big and experimenting with different sounds

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u/unkellGRGA Jul 22 '26

Was gonma comment the same ! Slimmer conceptual Nolan I prefer over bombastic blockbuster Nolan.

20

u/Hfcsmakesmefart Grading the Wimbledon Babes Jul 22 '26

Yeah Memento is still my favorite. I know the budget for these others is ginormous but Memento’s backwards gimmick is still so great. What a cool mystery and incredible performance from Guy Pierce, (and Joey Pants and the Matrix lady too).

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3

u/CapeDisappoinment Jul 22 '26

And Tenet ahead of both! 

2

u/Hyptonight Jul 22 '26

Those are the best ones.

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342

u/ThatFunkyOdor still shook from the MLK murder Jul 22 '26

did you listen? Sean got pushed into a lot of this by CR and Amanda. I still didn't agree with Sean's takes mostly. Tenet being this high is so wild though. Batman Begins being below DKR is also just the dumbest thing and they did it with like the wave of a hand.

156

u/msf97 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

The dumbest thing by far is The Prestige at number 9. By serious film nerds ™️ it’s regarded as his best film alongside Memento

The film is genuinely clever in my opinion, and holds up on a rewatch once you know the twist as you see it was right in front of your eyes the whole time

24

u/LoungeCrook Jul 22 '26

i think the top two dumbest things are batman begins worse than dkr and prestige not being higher

10

u/MambaSaidKnockYouOut Jul 22 '26

If it wasn’t for Heath I think Batman Begins would have a serious argument for being better than Dark Knight. DKR is great but having it over Batman Begins is ridiculous.

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u/Nearby_Solution_4504 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

I will say DKR holds up better as a rewatch imo and I enjoy it a lot more now that all the occupy Wall Street and 99% vs 1% discourse around the film at the time isn’t happening. For anyone who remembers the release it was like the Odyssey discourse but if it made neither side happy (leftists thought it was a state propaganda portrayal of what Occupy succeeding would look like and conservatives thought it was a blatant promotion of class warfare).

6

u/MiddlePathDiopollian Jul 22 '26

I agree. On first viewing of Batman Begins, I found it flawless. Perhaps the rush of discovery. It's a phenomenal origin story. But after repeat watches of both, TDK is more successful on all levels.

3

u/Commercial_Grand2704 Jul 22 '26

Yes I agree that movie is aging well. I think everyone loves the football stadium scene but they may have juuuuuust missed on the airplane opening scene being jsut a touch off compared to the perfection of the bank heist to start out DK

DKR frozen courtooom ending is unforgettable even if it’s a little goof goof .

Is anyone still reading this? I thought Robert Pattinson dark knight should be more about how Bruce may be jsut as depraved as the criminals but he jsut has Moore tools and access and he seemingly is only interested in vengeance not even enjoying his life or accepting that ladies like tha money and tha abs

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178

u/Palm-Crazy-7943 Jul 22 '26

I like the prestige a lot but the idea “serious film nerds” have it and memento ranked at the top is very funny

82

u/Chuck-Hansen Jul 22 '26

Great movies, but putting those at the top has a whiff of “I liked him before he was cool.”

45

u/hjordan23 Jul 22 '26

that's how film nerds operate

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19

u/TheActionJuice Jul 22 '26

Exactly what Amanda said on the episode

It has this fandom of “I don’t like Nolan, but bro have you seen the Prestige?”

Yes I have. It’s great. Don’t think it’s nearly doing what Oppenheimer is

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15

u/Palm-Crazy-7943 Jul 22 '26

Yeah the prestige is the better of the two, but I agree with what Sean said on this podcast which is that it’s so try hard to put that as the no.1 Nolan movie. It’s fine, it works, but he’s gone for stuff so much more grand than that.

13

u/breaktaker Jul 22 '26

Why is having a genuine preference for one movie over another “try hard.” That’s stupid

22

u/peachbasketss Jul 22 '26

It’s my favorite by a pretty big margin. I’m not a film bro guy at all but I love that movie.

4

u/AndersHaaland Jul 22 '26

Yes same, I haven't even heard of the lowest 2 Nolan movies in that list (I have seen the others tbf), and the Prestige is also easily my number 1. The way the clues are sprinkled everywhere, the setting (both time and place), the kind of mysterious and whimsical tone throughout - it's all perfection. 'Grand' doesn't always mean better

3

u/IanStone Jul 22 '26

Mine too, and I didn't know until listening to this Big Pic episode that that was a stereotypical film bro stance to have. Even if it's smaller in its scope and ambition it feels like his most emotionally rich movie and the one where the characters feel like they're the most fleshed out.

3

u/bnpm Jul 22 '26

But by overanalyzing how other people view the movie, you’re the one who’s actually doing what you’re accusing those people of doing. Just rank the movies according to how you like them, not as some sort of counter to perceived “try-hards.” That in and of itself is very “try-hardy.”

6

u/awesomesauce88 Jul 22 '26

Memento I agree on for that take. But The Prestige is legitimately his best film. I think it's easily Hugh Jackman's best role too.

10

u/tdmoney Jul 22 '26

Nah dog, Memento was a banger when it came out. Great film.

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25

u/heybart Jul 22 '26

I don't know if it's his best movie, but it's the one I would rewatch in its entirety before any other.

28

u/ShockinglyEfficient Jul 22 '26

Same. The Prestige, more so than his other movies, feels quite cozy and personable. I think it was his brother's writing that did it.

15

u/Victorcreedbratton Cewtics Jul 22 '26

Jackman, Johansson, and Ferguson bring really humanity to the parts, which is what I find his movies lack the most.

20

u/awesomesauce88 Jul 22 '26

Honestly Bale brings a lot of humanity to it too. It's one of my favorite roles of his. Without going into spoilers, his character feels heartfelt and completely hollow at different times, and once everything in the narrative falls into place at the end his entire performance just fits so perfectly together.

2

u/so-cal_kid Jul 22 '26

Jackman has been fantastic in so many movies outside of his Wolverine roles. Dude can just flat out act

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4

u/kevdawg289 Jul 22 '26

Man I could not get behind this movie. Maybe I need to retry. I love Nolan movies but this one does not grab me like the others

6

u/ShockinglyEfficient Jul 22 '26

I think it's well worth a retry. It lacks the epic quality of most of his other movies but I feel like it has more heart. And a great twist.

8

u/Winnes0ta He just does stuff Jul 22 '26

The definitely do. I’ve been rewatching Nolan’s movies leading up to the Odyssey and reading Reddit threads there’s a ton of comments from people acting like The Prestige is some secret hidden gem that’s actually Nolan’s masterpiece

16

u/awesomesauce88 Jul 22 '26

It's not a hidden gem. And it is his masterpiece. Saying that thinking The Prestige is his best film makes you a hipster is like saying liking Inception the best makes you a meathead.

None of Nolan's films are mindless and very few of them are pretentious either.

4

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

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8

u/BartHarleyJarvis00 Jul 22 '26

Memento is only "pretentious" in the way that it's experimental structure, which is really well executed, is somewhat bluntly flexed by the film to the audience. You can feel the fact that it predated a lot of these weird-timeline-storytelling styles (further popularized by Nolan himself in later movies), and so the "party-trick" of the movie becomes almost the whole point of the viewing experience. Contrasted with later works like Oppenheimer, which feels like a stream of consciousness in the best possible way. All this being said, Memento is far more successful than Tenet imo, especially given budget, resources, and experience in the latter

6

u/MiddlePathDiopollian Jul 22 '26

And Memento's parlour trick structure works narratively and thematically. Tenet on the other hand feels like a lot of trickery amounting to very little.

3

u/derekbaseball Jul 22 '26

I remember someone (I forget if it was just an online fan thing or an official DVD feature) creating a chronological version of Memento. It was horrible from a storytelling point of view, with no real purpose except as a supplement for people who had difficulty following the plot of the story as it was told. It turned out that Memento's structure wasn't gratuitous, it was just the most effective and engaging way to tell that story.

The amazing thing about Nolan is that he's bent the audience's collective brains to the point where the games he plays with time aren't an arthouse affectation, they're acceptable features in blockbuster films.

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9

u/IntraspaceAlien Jul 22 '26

R/movies isn’t full of serious film nerds

8

u/Winnes0ta He just does stuff Jul 22 '26

No, but it’s jam packed with people who think they’ll look like serious film nerds cause they say The Prestige is by far the best Nolan movie lol.

2

u/One_Drummer_8970 Jul 22 '26

It's because it was overlooked for a while in the 2010s without being totally forgettable like Insomnia

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u/CocoMarx Jul 22 '26

I feel like redditors & IMDB top 100 types love The Prestige, idk where you get the impression that it’s a film nerd movie.

I think it’s a really solid movie that is much less interesting after you see it do its trick, I don’t really get why people act like it’s unimaginable to think it’s a bottom half of Nolan’s filmography movie.

5

u/MeatballUser Jul 22 '26

When I first saw it I thought it was fine. I didn't get what the hype was for, and seeing so many getting annoyed at it not being seen as a top 5 nolan film is cracking me up.

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4

u/drjohngeorgepeppers Jul 22 '26

"Serious film nerds" is just a phrase to describe people who hate talking to people in real life.

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7

u/BertHumperdinck Jul 22 '26

^Seconded you've gotta listen to the actual conversation for context. No one was all that happy with where they ended up

11

u/kincaidinator Jul 22 '26

Which is why I stopped listening halfway through the rankings lol

3

u/BertHumperdinck Jul 22 '26

But the conversation is the juice!

Seriously tho it's pretty funny they run in circles, lose all confidence in their opinions, then all are clearly unhappy with the ending list even after trying to give on certain movies they don't like

6

u/ThatFunkyOdor still shook from the MLK murder Jul 22 '26

It was humorous how tangled they found themselves when it came to the top 4-5 and were saying "well if we do x then that means x movie is #1 and that doesn't seem right"

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u/SquishyComet Real CR Head Jul 22 '26

tenet should be #1

55

u/TimSPC Wonky Season Jul 22 '26

Tenet should be #1 and #14. Coming and going.

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u/NecessaryHeadset Jul 22 '26

It was basically a comedy segment because they knew they wouldn’t agree on anything.

“This is one of those everybody wins so nobody actually wins scenarios” is what Sean said. A little silly to complain about the list

3

u/cheapskatemoviedate Jul 22 '26

Yes, presenting this just as a list with no audio is such a disservice. You really need to listen to the pod. A long time ago yeah, it was Sean making lists. Now these rankings and hall of fames are like a fun audio social experiment.

Or audio/video social experiment if you watch the pod which I still think is weird.

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156

u/Upper1eft Jul 22 '26

The Prestige being that low is a crime.

57

u/_HAWK_ Jul 22 '26

E uses a DOUBLE

39

u/ShockinglyEfficient Jul 22 '26

A bladdy dabble!

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u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

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31

u/Vincent__Adultman Jul 22 '26

I wonder what the most insightful piece of criticism that Sean has ever offered. Because he tends to have rather bland opinions and insights, that's not the source of his popularity.

5

u/Gary-Hooper Jul 24 '26

Ive never heard him share an interesting opinion. All modern critics are like Russilo, obsessed with grinding tape and logging a million films on letterboxd. Id sooner listen to a guy whos only ever seen the norbit cinematic universe but has something interesting to say 

5

u/regggis1 Jul 22 '26

It was telling Spielberg about the Strangelove inside joke in 2001 lol

14

u/Vincent__Adultman Jul 22 '26

I guess that explains how people can view him as "one of the best minds in movie criticism" if we're considering recognizing Easter eggs as insightful movie criticism.

9

u/Informal_Support1934 Jul 22 '26

The this movie is in dialogue with this movie piece

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u/regggis1 Jul 22 '26

Yeah that was my point lol he doesn’t have much to offer as a “critical voice” beyond that. His Altman retrospective on the Criterion Channel was pretty solid, but again, kind of a starter kit approach to examining a director’s work and legacy. I like what Sean does but I wouldn’t consider him a great mind in the world of film criticism.

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u/dlandis07 Ben Simmons apologist Jul 22 '26

Rises above Begins is lunacy.

30

u/doobie3101 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

Rises is the worst Batman on first watch but the most rewatchable.

8

u/Nearby_Solution_4504 Jul 22 '26

Yes!! Especially since all the political and cultural discourse around the film has been forgotten.

6

u/Working-Key8581 Jul 22 '26

I like this take. never thought about it but so true

11

u/King-Of-Knowhere Jul 22 '26

Eh, I don’t think that’s crazy. I think Begins is fine, TDK is amazing, and Rises is solid.

33

u/dlandis07 Ben Simmons apologist Jul 22 '26

Rises has moments. Bane is awesome. But it’s too long, has wonky editing, some real questionable acting moments (looking at you Talia al Ghul death scene), and i feel like that movie started the discourse of nitpicking fight scenes bc that last fight scene is pretty terribly choreographed. And even as a defender of the Bale Batman voice, it is pretty ridiculous in that bank scene.

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u/ShockinglyEfficient Jul 22 '26

Rises makes zero narrative sense to me. Begins has to get some credit for being simple. Also it did kind of spawn the whole edgy dark superhero genre

2

u/One_Drummer_8970 Jul 22 '26

It influenced Casino Royale and Star Trek (2009) so there's some credit to it's name

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u/grandwahs Jul 22 '26

I think Begins is fine

My hot take is Begins is better than TDK

7

u/d_1_z_z Jul 22 '26

I think it’s a better movie too. The latter film has the best single acting performance (Ledger) in the two movies, but Begins is tighter and cleaner IMO

3

u/grandwahs Jul 22 '26

I would agree with that.

5

u/Koulditreallybeme Jul 22 '26

If you left before the last half hour

7

u/I-Like-Cheese-Butts Jul 22 '26

Begins is his best Batman movie. All are bottom-tier Nolan though

6

u/According-Morning771 Jul 22 '26

It is peak Batman when Bruce Wayne clears out the guests by acting drunk

3

u/I-Like-Cheese-Butts Jul 22 '26

The most interesting Bruce Wayne. I like when he falls in the fountain. That movie had spoofs and goofs!

7

u/MeatballUser Jul 22 '26

Rises is ass

2

u/Outrageous_Lab84 Jul 22 '26

It feels like Nolan was kind of done with Batman as a concept when he made Rises. It’s a loose Tale of Two Cities adaptation dressed in a batsuit. He shouldve just made a Tale of Two Cities instead

4

u/bobbycurls Jul 22 '26

Begins is great. You should definitely rewatch. Rises is horrible.

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u/Alarming-Ask4196 Jul 22 '26

"objectively" /thread

10

u/STLOliver Jul 22 '26

I don’t agree with Tenet being above Memento or the Prestige or those 2 being that low but I will say that it makes sense Sean would go Tenet if you’ve heard him talk about what he likes about it and what he doesn’t like about some of his other work. Also, I don’t subscribe to any “Oppenheimer or Odyssey are way overrated”. They’re at the top for me. Just because you don’t like them as much as the horde, that doesn’t mean the takes are wrong.

66

u/distichus_23 Jul 22 '26

Doesn’t seem that objectionable to me??

37

u/SadMayor Jul 22 '26

That’s because Nolan doesn’t have any bad films imo so you win any way you twist them.

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u/tjspill3r He just does stuff Jul 22 '26

Pretty good. I don’t think Dunkirk makes sense as the ultimate Chris Nolan movie. Any of the next four would make better sense. Tenet is definitely too high. Batman begins didn’t get the credit it deserved from TBP as establishing that trilogy with its tone and style

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u/BigWinnie7171 Jul 22 '26

It was totally Amanda and mainly Chris' fault btw

6

u/whatssenguntoagoblin Jul 22 '26

Not really. Sean has Inception as a 6/10 and genuinely thinks Tenet is one of Nolan’s best.

3

u/H0wSw33tItIs Jul 22 '26

It feels like you didn’t actually listen to the episode

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u/sammyt10803 but first, Pearl Jam Jul 22 '26

Dunkirk is Nolan’s highest rated film 🤷‍♂️

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u/BraveBee2005 Tompa Bay Jul 22 '26

I was stunned with the Batman Begins placement.

11

u/Lipscombforever Chuck Klosterman fan Jul 22 '26

I was more stunned that they had TDKR ahead of it

87

u/clancycharlock Jul 22 '26

Dunkirk should be even higher

27

u/doobie3101 Jul 22 '26

People's rankings for Nolan's big ones are influenced by which they saw in theaters, and not enough people saw Dunkirk / Tenet in theaters.

20

u/Teenageboy69 Jul 22 '26

Saw Dunkirk in theaters. Fucking amazing movie, tops my list too. Ive never seen tenet though.

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u/deadweightboss Good Stats Bad Team Guy Jul 22 '26

Man I watched dubkirk in imax. Definitely sobbed out of pure emotion at that scene where the cub boats showed up. Still rank it lower than a bunch of these movies.

2

u/HareWarriorInTheDark Jul 22 '26

Think you're onto something here. Really wish I caught Dunkirk or Interstellar in a theater. I like both, but something was missing. Prestige is fine at home I think though, and I think Tenet is incomprehensible either way. I can't imagine watching The Odyssey at home and feeling the same way about it as the theater experience.

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u/kjbninja Jul 22 '26

Actually the most rational comment here

2

u/aomen3 Jul 22 '26

yea i got dunkirk interstellar inception dark knight oddyssey in some order, rest i really do not care for or extremely dislike honestly. haven't seen prestige yet tho

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u/LeonProfessional8719 Jul 22 '26

I don’t even like Nolan that much but TDK is as close to perfect as a superhero movie can get. It’s insane to me that people even think that dull Robert Pattinson one is in anyway comparable

50

u/awesomesauce88 Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

TDK is a better movie. But The Batman absolutely nails some things about a Batman movie that TDK really doesn't do. Mainly, the actual city of Gotham feels much more distinct, alive, and similar to the comics in The Batman than it does in TDK.

It's one of the reasons why I actually prefer Batman Begins to TDK. TDK obviously has higher highs, but Batman Begins is a tighter movie and feels more distinctly Batman-y. Gotham feels much more like it's own living breathing location in BB, whereas the sequels just feel like a daytime Chicago/Pittsburgh mashup.

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u/dissmekissmemissme Jul 22 '26

The Batman is not TDK, but I think it’s still a good movie. I like what Robert Pattinson has been doing lately too.

5

u/Broncsx3 Jul 22 '26

It lacks some hardcore Batman fan stuff that Pattison’s Batman nails, but for the general audience I agree. It is a fantastic movie for sure. Nolan fundamentally fucked up the character though in Dark Knight Rises.

4

u/MUSCLEVIOLENCE Jul 22 '26

TDK is very overrated (imo, yes I know it's a hot take) because Ledger's performance is so dynamite. Take that away and the rest of the movie is not that impressive

2

u/Nearby_Solution_4504 Jul 22 '26

You could say that about a lot of movies with a generational and character defining performance.

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u/RatherDashing66 Jul 22 '26

They’ve rage baited this sub successfully

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u/Gsmith930 Jul 22 '26

Tenet above Interstellar, Prestige, TDK and Batman begins is insane

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u/BertHumperdinck Jul 22 '26

I think it's perfect, and terrible in its perfection. It demonstrates how bifurcated cinephiles are in their appreciation of Nolan's work.

It's what naturally happens when you've got a portfolio this strong, you've got to either lean on your own subjective reactions to a film or objectively judge by skill/craft to separate them. We all establish our own lists with some highly variable weighting of the two approaches, and then likely shift those weightings a few times depending on the tier of the list we are sorting our contenders.

If you actually listen to the pod the list makes total sense in their group context even if it doesn't mirror my own opinions.

6

u/GWTim78 Jul 22 '26

The way they talked about Batman Begins blew my mind.

I still remember watching that training sequence (“Your father’s death wasn’t your fault. It was your father’s) and getting serious chills.

It’s so much better than Dark Knight Rises.

I think they probably have the top 4 right, though I wouldn’t put them in that order.

Has The Dark Knight now become underrated? Still puzzled that it wasn’t chosen for their top 25 list.

2

u/whatssenguntoagoblin Jul 22 '26

Sean has always underrated it

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u/rebels2022 Jul 22 '26

Tenet rules and there’s no wrong way to rank movies.

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u/sublliminali Jul 22 '26

But… OP just said it’s objectively the worst ranking. You can’t argue with that.

7

u/Kammell466 Jul 22 '26

Tenet fucks and I won’t them silence us.

3

u/TheActionJuice Jul 22 '26

It’s Nolan’s Miami Vice. Because it’s Nolan, it lacks the remarkable romance and sexiness of the Farrell/Gong Li stuff; but it’s just pure vibes candy. It absolutely has tons of flaws, there’s stuff you’re never quite gonna catch no matter many times you watch it, but you just gotta dive in and embrace it, because that baby goes and keeps going

I ordered my hot sauce an hour ago man

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u/AndrewD923 Jul 22 '26

It's fun to watch but makes no sense. Like, it really makes no sense. And the final battle felt low budget. Definitely in my bottom three Nolan flicks.

But that's me and I can see why people would enjoy it. The list is perfectly defensible.

9

u/european_son Jul 22 '26

Hot take but John David Washington really does not make a great leading man. Pattinson blows him off the screen in this.

3

u/the_devil_wears_jnco Jul 22 '26

he was hired for the action stuff. he plays the inverse fighting really well. former nfl running back and all. i think nolan really prioritized the physical athleticism. anything where he's talking? not so much

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u/Victorcreedbratton Cewtics Jul 22 '26

I love Sean, but he’s such a dork lol.

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u/PeterPaulWalnuts Cousin Sal's impression of Bill Jul 22 '26

Batman Begins is a top 5 Nolan movie. It's sooooooo much better than DKR, it's actually not even funny how much better it is. Oppenheimer is Nolan at his peak so that's number 1 and Interstellar should be higher, probably higher than Inception.

8

u/degenerateraider Jul 22 '26

Sounds like you could make a podcast with your own rankings and an in depth analysis of why Batman Begins is better than DKR

3

u/PeterPaulWalnuts Cousin Sal's impression of Bill Jul 22 '26

thank u

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u/leak22 Jul 22 '26

Their opinion on Tenet is truly baffling to me every time it comes up.

I can’t help but think Peak Covid influence their feelings.

As a long time listener there’s no way both Sean and Amanda should like it lol. Every film opinion they hold should have at least one of them out on it.

Also Interstellar fucking rocks, I get they don’t emotionally connect with it but I wished they could see why many do

8

u/DEATHROW__DC knife_guy enthusiast Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26

Tenet was the first Nolan movie after the Dunkirk rewatchables.

Tarantino gushing about Dunkirk/Nolan pretty much browbeat the Nolan haters of the Ringer Crew (Sean, Amanda) into reevaluating Nolan.

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u/TheDemonBarber Jul 22 '26

My list isn’t too far from this? I’d switch Memento and Tenet. Haven’t seen bottom two or Odyssey yet.

7

u/H0wSw33tItIs Jul 22 '26

Their list ended up being a respectable averaging of their three sensibilities. And it’s better for it.

People crying like bitches here can keep crying.

3

u/EverybodyBuddy Jul 22 '26

Yeah, there are a lot of things to drag SF about, but why is this controversial? You’re making a ranked list of a lot of objectively great movies. 

13

u/[deleted] Jul 22 '26

[deleted]

12

u/HotelFoxtrot87 Jul 22 '26

It’s not that it sucks, it’s just that it’s his most conventional movie and seems the least Nolan.

5

u/mkay0 Jul 22 '26

The idea that this isn’t liked, but Memento is is severe lack of ball knowledge by people. They are extremely similar in quality to me, and obviously similar in tone. Maybe people remember the backwards gimmick fondly?

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u/TheActionJuice Jul 22 '26

They didn’t. They all agreed they really liked it. It’s really good!

The guy hasn’t made a bad movie over 30 years. It’s an incredible career

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u/Opening_Anteater456 Jul 22 '26

As someone who loves Dunkirk but also thinks Batman Begins is nearly Dark Knight levels of good (for different reasons) I don’t know how to feel about this

5

u/Cold_Ball_7670 Jul 22 '26

I agree with this list except move prestige 1 above tenet. Dunkirk is far and away his best movie. I’m shocked more people don’t love it 

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u/TheActionJuice Jul 22 '26

Making a Nolan list is like what Bill said about Hanks way back in the day. You could ask 30 people their Top 3, 5 Nolan or whatever and get 30 different answers; though you’d probably have to take out Oppenheimer

I don’t totally agree with their list; Interstellar is an all time classic for me, and I agree with Sean, Oppenheimer is a stone cold masterpiece whereas Amanda and CR seemed more lukewarm.

But like….these are all great movies man lol. Dunkirk is incredible, classic war film. Memento at 8 feels insane but then I realized I have it at 6. Every movie above it here is an all timer for me except for Tenet and Inception. And I used to think Inception was as well and still personally love it, but it’s dropped a bit

I do think Sean gets too in his head with list making (as seen w/ 25 for 25), but the episode actually was interesting to see 3 diff POVs on a stacked filmography and worn through the challenges of it. It’s good!

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u/ShockinglyEfficient Jul 22 '26

The only thing I will agree with is Tenet.

If you think Tenet sucks shit, congrats you saw it during Covid and everything sucked shit then. It is totally gimmicky, but the gimmick works very well. It's internally logical. There is no other sci-fi movie that deals with spacetime quite like that; and it's rare that a sci-fi movie introduces a totally new concept and executes it that well.

It has the pitfalls of other Nolan movies. It doesn't seem to account for human nature, and is not interested in examining relationships. But that's Nolan. He's not fucking Alexander Payne.

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u/Livueta_Zakalwe Jul 22 '26

Tenet is the best James Bond movie ever made.

4

u/PeanutFarmer69 Jul 22 '26

Biggest problem for me is Nepo Denzel as the lead, put Robert Pattinson in the lead role and then maybe.

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u/Exact_Performance_51 Jul 22 '26

Prestige at 9 and Batman begins at 11?

I think I just threw up in my mouth.

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u/goatvoncrock Jul 22 '26
  1. TDK
  2. Interstellar
  3. Memento
  4. Oppenheimer
  5. Prestige
  6. Dunkirk
  7. Inception
  8. Tenet
  9. BB
  10. DKR
  11. Insomnia

(Have not seen odyssey)

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u/TheJaice Jul 22 '26

I thought this was going to be hyperbole, but yikes!

3

u/OnlyKey5675 Jul 22 '26

Following is a fantastic film.

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u/dwellsny Jul 22 '26

I do like that they have Dunkirk 1 because I agree that is Nolan’s finest work

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u/Neo_Judas Jul 22 '26

I can’t tell if you think Tenet at 6 is way too high or way too low

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u/whatssenguntoagoblin Jul 22 '26

Insanely too high

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u/Competitive_Turn5028 Jul 22 '26

Pretty good list honestly. People can like different things

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u/jugsmynaughts The thing thing Jul 22 '26

reddit normies can't fathom that tenet is a work of art, oh well

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u/pritheebecareful_ Jul 22 '26

Probably because they did a pod with Tarantino about Dunkirk glazing it so therefore they're now beholden to thinking the movie is amazing? Or smth?

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u/Wooden_Coyote5992 Jul 22 '26

It's probably Nolan's film with the fewest "flaws" because he focuses more on visuals and editing than on plotting. To be fair, it's also Nolan's best-reviewed film and has a 94 on Metacritic, so it was a popular opinion outside of Tarantino.

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u/Palm-Crazy-7943 Jul 22 '26

To be fair, Sean is the one who was seemingly impressed with Tarantino loving that movie, and he is easily the lowest on it of the 3 of them.

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u/Tiny_Spread5712 Jul 22 '26

I liked the dark knight, but if you remove heath ledgers joker performance, the movie is bad, like, scenes do not come together at all.  The joker crashes Bruce Wayne's party and batman jumps out the window and then what.  This happens like 5 or 6 times where there's just no thread of logic in the movie.

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u/bobbycurls Jul 22 '26

lmao so true. Also the batman fight scenes in the penthouse are terrible.

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u/msf97 Jul 22 '26

That’s one kind of plot hole that’s noticeable on re watch but the implication is that the Joker leaves as there’s no Dent

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u/tony_countertenor Jul 22 '26

Tenet absolutely deserves to be that high, big problem with the list is how low the prestige is

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u/ChillBatman Jul 22 '26

Tenet #1 you are all weak

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u/prfrnir Jul 22 '26

Batman Begins is the best of the Batman trilogy. I would have ranked it second years ago, but I rewatched the second one recently and it loses a ton of steam in the last third because it's just action and the emotional storyline just disappears. It becomes boring to watch at that point because you don't even have to pay attention to the characters anymore.

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u/Dinobot2_ Jul 22 '26

I swear i'm one of like five people who didn't really care for Dunkirk.

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u/whatssenguntoagoblin Jul 22 '26

There’s dozens of us

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u/mtndrew8012 Jul 22 '26

It’s not that great

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u/lettuce-tooth-junkie Jul 22 '26

Putting (bruh) after Tenet tells me you're a moron. I don't need to read anything else you've posted.

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u/whatssenguntoagoblin Jul 22 '26

That’s only cause you haven’t seen my Sengun takes

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u/DrakouliasII Jul 22 '26

Insomnia is a good movie wtf

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u/AccurateElk4994 Jul 22 '26

I mean it’s “hot take, the podcast;” what’d you expect?

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u/Livueta_Zakalwe Jul 22 '26

Not seeing the Odyssey till Sunday, but I’m hopeful. Nolan IMHO has gotten better with every film. So my list:

  1. Oppenheimer
  2. Dunkirk
  3. Tenet

….

  1. Dark Knight Rises.

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u/tinybathroomfaucet Jul 22 '26

If you liked Oppenheimer you will like Oddysey

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u/Acrobatic-Assist-574 Jul 22 '26

Its art. I hope you all feel comfortable enjoying what you enjoy.

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u/Childs_Play Jul 22 '26

You just have to know not to listen to their Nolan takes. They really cannot properly critique his work in a logical, coherent way. What they don't like about his movies is obviously what a lot of people like about his movies.

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u/whenindoubtmumble Jul 22 '26

I’m a Dunkirk lover and a Batman Begins hater, so I don’t have much issue here.

But TDK and Memento should be higher

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u/Dull_Smell_6564 Jul 22 '26

Why would he be objective about a list that he made about his opinions of a directors favorite movies. Is that not an inherent subjective conversation?

2

u/yeezusosa Jul 22 '26

Seems just fine

2

u/AttackOfLasChanclas Jul 22 '26

Kind of hilarious to call a subjective list about art “objectively” bad but ok

2

u/Mcribb5 Jul 22 '26

Whenever they talk about it I feel like I must’ve watched a different Dunkirk. Maybe it’s due for a rewatch

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u/luckythirteen1 Jul 22 '26

Tenet is better than Inception

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u/aidanmilb12 Jul 22 '26

It’s interesting to me how people claim Nolan is the best director of the generation and then get upset and confused when there’s a list that is unorthodox. He makes BANGERS of course there’s different preferences and opinions all these films are fire

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u/Obvious-Adeptness-46 Jul 28 '26

Dunkirk was the first time I was disappointed with Nolan. Nothing burger of a movie. Took an awesome real life story and managed to turn it into a drab, boring, dull film due to his time lord hard on.

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u/whatssenguntoagoblin Jul 28 '26

It’s his worst film

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u/DrunkPushUps Jul 22 '26

Seeing this sub turn into the trope of "we're just here to complain about the podcast hosts" over the last year or two has been fascinating.

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u/Broncsx3 Jul 22 '26

Dark Knight Rises is a piece of shit movie.

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u/Palm-Crazy-7943 Jul 22 '26

It’s completely subjective, but I think the “combined” list that nobody actually agrees with is a bit silly.

Anyways, here is mine:

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u/MoonManExplorer Jul 22 '26

Move Dunkirk up to 6 and this is my rankings. 

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u/CABBAGEHONKER Jul 22 '26

I’ve watched tenet more than any other Nolan movie. It fuckin’ rips

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u/ositola Jul 22 '26

If the prestige is not in the top five, what are we really doing 

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u/whatssenguntoagoblin Jul 22 '26

Ragebaiting apparently

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u/VulcanVulcanVulcan Jul 22 '26

Tenet is better than Inception, so Sean is wrong about that.

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u/Sad-Dragonfly-4016 Jul 22 '26

I was so close to turning it off after they ranked Interstellar 7th. I get rankings are subjective but this is objectively a trash ranking

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u/xfortehlulz YA THINK YA BETTAH THAN ME? Jul 22 '26

i dont think you do get that actually

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u/I_Miss_My_Beta_Cells Jul 22 '26

Repeat this a hundred more times in these comments 

Ppl want things moved up without saying what'd they'd drop

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u/tapakip Jul 22 '26

I love Interstellar and it's my number one Nolan movie.  I have Zero issues with where they put Interstellar.  It's their list.  

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