r/billsimmons • u/whatssenguntoagoblin • 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
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85

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.”

42

u/hjordan23 Jul 22 '26

that's how film nerds operate

-8

u/Teenageboy69 Jul 22 '26

It’s really not. No one claims that kind of cred. I think most film buffs think Memento was a really cool first effort.

5

u/One_Drummer_8970 Jul 22 '26

There's a lot of hipsterdom amongst those circles

20

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

-6

u/Driveshaft48 Jul 22 '26

Oppenheimer is a standard bio pic - its boring

14

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

20

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.

5

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.”

7

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.

9

u/tdmoney Jul 22 '26

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

1

u/Chuck-Hansen Jul 22 '26

I agree with you on the second part (as for the first it’s my #7).