My nigga back and the shit sounds weird b. IMAX 70mm here I come!!!

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.complex.com%2Fpop-culture%2F2019%2F05%2Fchristopher-nolan-2020-action-epic-gets-title%3Futm_campaign%3Dcomplexmag%26utm_source%3Dfacebook.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial&h=AT2sblAT1YljeEg2-LRn6iRpo-SxR1AQ8XgRBnN2051TqdRFjrcv2a8PRwK06YIgIfGGF9_sgm3ge6SPfxef1gnBxaNhAhd_OLIwCPPeW7vkUOna0JHxO6gng0F3GzjbRf_DNNsURQ

Christopher Nolan's 2020 Action Epic Gets a Title
Trace William Cowen
BYTRACE WILLIAM COWEN
Trace William Cowen is a writer based in Los Angeles. He tweets with dramatic irregularity here.

MAY 22, 2019
christopher nolan
Image via Getty/Matt Winkelmeye
Consistently compelling writer/director Christopher Nolan's 2020 film, his first since the excellent Dunkirk, now has a proper title.

Per Deadline, Warner Bros. announced Wednesday that shooting has started on Tenet, starring Michael Caine, Dimple Kapadia, Kenneth Branagh, Robert Pattinson, John David Washington, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and more. From what we know so far, Tenet will be an "action epic" spanning seven different countries. Ludwig Göransson, he of Black Panther and frequent Gambino collaborations, will score.

Pattinson, who—coincidentally enough—is now the new Batman, previously let loose some details on just how closely guarded the Tenet script-reviewing sessions have been. Speaking with USA Today in April, Pattinson revealed he was "locked in a room" and not given a personal copy.

–– ADVERTISEMENT ––



"I've been a little wary of doing big movies for years and years, but there's just something about Chris Nolan's stuff," he said. "He seems like the only director now who can do what is essentially a very personal, independent movie that has huge scale." As for the script, by Pattinson's estimation, it is indeed "unreal."

As for those previously circulated claims of Tenet being something in the vein of "North by Northwest in tone meets Inception," Warner Bros. has since squashed any such talk. In a statement to Complex in March, a studio rep said the description was inaccurate.


With 2017's Dunkirk, featuring a notable performance from Harry Styles, was again met with a cascade of awards nominations and wins, including a trio of Academy Awards in the sound and editing categories.

... that John David Washington is the lead of this shit.

I'm most def in.

Go 'head.

...diversity. His films are largely white people featuring Morgan Freeman occasionally. LOL.

That’s why you using the n word to describe him in the opening post in this thread seemed hilariously wrong.

Cool that Ludwig got a job. I thought Coogler would keep him to himself forever. Would have been cooler if Ruth Carter got a gig on wardrobe tho. She has been under appreciated far too long. Until recently, obviously.

bullshit. Stop being corny.

Hopefully it'll be online soon.

I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I appreciate Nolan's passion for cinema in its pure form and the experience that is specific to watching movies in a theater. I like Nolan's films for the most part and even his weaker movies have strong scenes or concepts within them.

I think less is more as far as marketing before a movie and like that Nolan is one of the few filmmakers who have the clout to build intrigue in this way.

On the other hand, it's frustrating as a fan to conform my wish to learn about the movie to suit his whim. I don't want to see Hobbs and Shaw and the exclusive nature of the release actually makes me ever so slightly less enthused to watch the movie. I'm sure filmmakers of his generation don't like the online world (in some ways for good reason) but sometimes its best to feed the beast. Then again, the release strategy worked me up so much that I now learned more about the movie. Guess the plan worked.


https://nofilmschool.com/tenet-teaser-trailer-christopher-nolan

Phil Pirrello

August 2, 2019

Why Christopher Nolan's Release of the First 'Tenet' Trailer Is a Big Deal

The Dark Knight director's latest marketing move is turning watching trailers into an event.
Christopher Nolan has an enviable and virtually unique position in Hollywood filmmaking when it comes to the marketing of his films. They are always treated like events on par with the actual films themselves. He has considerable say in not just how they are presented and in what form, but, now, also when -- and where.

The Hollywood Reporter broke news Thursday night that the first teaser trailer for Nolan's upcoming Tenet is now playing before this weekend's Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. (Read a breakdown of the trailer here). The 40-second teaser is not online; it's an in-theater only experience so far. And, if you want to see it, it is reportedly (right now) only playing at Regal Cinemas, according to ScreenCrush. The site will update their post if and when reports come in of Tenet's teaser trailer showing up at other theater chains, and we will do the same.

Having our first look at Nolan's top-secret movie starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, and Elizabeth Debicki confined to in theaters this weekend isn't surprising, seeing as how the cinema is The Dark Knight director's preferred venue. What is worth paying attention to his the roll out of location. If indeed Tenet's brief teaser is only playing at one theater chain, that represents a unique milestone in the studio-exhibitor relationship, one forged by the sheer will and brand of Nolan as a filmmaker.


Ever since The Dark Knight released its first teaser trailer, Nolan and his fellow filmmakers revealed their mandate and strategy when it comes to marketing their works: Less is more. The famous (if not iconic) teaser started with black as the Bat symbol appeared backlit. As Alfred (Michael Caine) told his story in voiceover about how some men "just want to watch the world burn," the Bat symbol gradually fractured and broke apart before a Joker card appeared along with the villain's infamous laugh.

No footage. Just 59 seconds of keyart, a title card, and a release date. This minimalist approach proved effective because The Dark Knight, is, well, The Dark Knight. (Nolan piloted this approach with his first game-changing teaser for Batman Begins, which gave us some footage and also employed similar voiceover, this time from Christian Bale - though none of Bale's narration made it into the final cut of the film.)

Ever since then, graphical representations that speak to his films' themes and tones have been Nolan's marketing M.O., while also using short bursts of footage that literally interpret the purpose of a teaser as exactly that.

Tenet ups the ante there by making its viewing an event; if you want to see it, then you have to come to the medium it was made for. By limiting its location increases its event status (and, also, garners good will for studio Warner Bros. with exhibitors and vice versa).

The lesson here is -- look, we all want to be at Nolan's level. Both as a creative entity and business partner. On the day when that (or a version of it) happens, while our paths to that end goal will be different from one of the best directors working today, what hopefully will be similar is the means we use to uphold the value of the theatrical experience we worked so hard to put our vision through. Trailers now are basically plot recaps preceded by MPAA green bands; marketing movies has become a lost art -- and it is definitely an art form. The internet is full of discussion about trailers better than the movie (see GoldenEye or Die Another Day's respective teaser trailers, or Alien 3's). Nolan and his team's embrace of the "less is more" approach is a way to bring the art of it all back, while also helping bring audiences right where Nolan -- and you -- want them: At the edge of their seats.

Earn it. Make the viewer feel like they got their money's worth; don't spoil or reveal all of your big set pieces too soon or flood the market with them in TV spots. When you arrive at a place of influence in your career, like Nolan has, the take away here is to both protect and service your film through its marketing. Don't show more than what you want the audience to have; you set the tone.

One hopefully your collaborators at the studio-level will hear loud and clear.

Tenet arrives in theaters (all theaters, mind you) July 17, 2020. Hobbs & Shaw is now playing.

What changes would you help make or want to see made when it comes to the marketing of your work? What approach would you take, or prefer, for how distributors build a marketing plan around your movie or television project? That's your cue to sound off below.

how weird

Holy shit it's very interesting.

And John David Washington is front and center.

If it's playing near an IMAX near you m

Nolan really sticking to his pre-social media/only-on-the-big-screen guns here, huh? All good.

Peace,

Spirit (Alan)
http://wutangbook.com

https://streamable.com/mrtfc

It's a nothing part, just a guy among many in a critical scene, but being able to say "I was in a Christopher Nolan movie and got to chill with John David Washington" is still a cool ass card to have in the deck.

Can't wait.

Hope y'all copped IMAX tix

>

He's doing it to me again. I'm in first night, JDW and Rob Pattinson. Shit looks like wind. Just hope it's not strictly a time heist flick.

Yes this is for real. No it's not a joke.

But the real question is when is the movie is going to be released?

There's an article out there that says WB is going to wait until worldwide theater capacity is at ~30-35% to release the movie.

But I'd think they'd take a bath on the movie since the production cost alone is ~$200M. Add on another $50M in marketing and that Nolan is getting ~20% of the first take and they'd have to clear a BIG number to break even. Is that even possible unless theaters just showed Tenet along for a month?

Would they release it VOD? I know Nolan wouldn't be pleased with that.

What are you hearing about the release?

I wanna see this in a packed IMAX theater when it's safe.

https://youtu.be/L3pk_TBkihU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZGcmvrTX9M

lfg!

but i'm an old, crotchety, out of touch person

>but i'm an old, crotchety, out of touch person

its got nothing to do with it.

the song sucks and it doesn't feel right with the visuals.

i couldn't sit more than 30 seconds through it before Xing out of it.

maybe interest is lagging in whatever male demo travis scott appeals to.

other than that...i got nothing. its mad out of step with rest of the film rollout and uncharacteristic of nolan himself.

im not sure why.

This is Nolan on steroids which is not a good thing.

Everyone has complained about the sound mixing in his movies, here it's a big fucking problem. Which is not good for a movie with wall to wall exposition about inversion entropy and physics.

Ludwig's score overpowered the whole movie. Good thing it's fire.

John David carries the movie on his charisma alone. His nameless character calls himself the protagonist twice in this. I shit you not.

Rob Pattinson was good as always. Him and John David Washington have great chemistry.

Elizabeth Debicki's character is a literal punching bag. There's 2 scenes in here that we both looked at each other like what the fuck.

Kenneth Barangh's Sator is such an over the top and overpowered villain.

Gonna give it a rewatch tomorrow through headphones. Hope I don't go deaf.

But yeah, this is not very good. Please don't risk contracting COVID-19 to see this.

the mixing on cam rips is usually tinny and treble heavy.

they tend to sound like shit at high volume.

https://entertainment.ie/cinema/movie-news/tenet-sound-mixing-460957/

The sound mix in 'Tenet' is pretty awful. Explosions and Ludwig Goransson's soundtrack often drown out dialogue to a point of it being unintelligible. At least one key scene involving some pretty key story points is done during wind sailing over a crackling intercom system.


--
https://www.rereleasenews.com/2020/08/22/first-tenet-audiences-complain-about-inaudible-dialogue/

First Tenet Audiences Describe Inaudible Dialogue
Inaudible dialogue has been a signature trademark of director Christopher Nolan and his newest film is no exception to the rule.

While “Tenet” won’t open in the United States for a few more days, reporters who attended press screenings along with early audiences in New Zealand and Australia have noted difficulty hearing exposition dialogue in the movie.

--
Note: I d/ld a 5GB KOR camrip and the sound on that is bad because of it being a CAM - but I'm sure the sound is bad even if you do go see it in the theater.

He's ALWAYS had bad bad bad sound mixes.

My brother and I said it would've been much worse in a theater.

i dont doubt that the sound in theaters is mixed bad. but the cam audio prolly makes it a lot worse.

>He's ALWAYS had bad bad bad sound mixes.

for such a famous auteur, it's surprising that he keeps messing this up.

>He's ALWAYS had bad bad bad sound mixes.

for such a famous auteur, it's surprising that he keeps messing this up.

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I know Nolan is a money earner but you would think at some point Warner Bros would demand he mix his movie audio better.

It's occasionally maybe a bit tricky because characters are wearing masks during action scenes, but I didn't think the clarity was sacrificed.

are they just dropping it in theaters with a reduced audience to get it out there and fast tracking it to vod/streaming?

or are they really gonna let it go through a typical run then bring it to homes a few months later?

My brain and ears are tired now

Glad to know that somehow you were in the room watching it with me knowing exactly which version I was watching.

Man, if working in bars and restaurants is a weird experience right now I can't even imagine what theater workers are going through. AMC is not taking this shit lightly though. Granted again there were literally no other movies playing in a 14 cinema multiplex and literally no one else had a ticket to see this thing, but they still had the ticket counter and concessions set up with barricades as if it was a Star Wars or Marvel premiere night.

So you wind your way through this long maze while one person stands at the concession counter to check your ticket and they ask you to sanitize your phone, hand it to them, sanitize your hands, they re-sanitize your phone after confirming the ticket, strongly imply they'd like you to re-sanitize your hands after taking back your phone, let you know where the bathrooms are rather than where your theater is located and don't ask if you'd like anything to eat or drink.

Again, as somebody who lives in one of the least affected states this summer and has really only been out to work at my restaurant or be on the patio at the bar across the street but otherwise orders everything delivery, it was wild stepping into a national, corporate building for the first time since the pandemic. It almost scared me away, which I guess is the point, right?

Anyway, Tenet. Is this supposed to be Nolan's new trilogy? This whole thing felt like a prologue, or like it was making fun of the enterprise of blockbuster filmmaking or something. Looked great, John David Washington is officially a star, but I gotta say this movie lacked some kind of...oomph. At the start of every big action scene I was on the edge of my seat, but by their conclusion I honestly felt kind of dull. Going in I was worried that the movie's big gimmick was going to be too tremendous for the movie to be able to take advantage of it as much as I wanted or keep it making sense and I think my hunch was right. Edit: that being said, when the pivot hits at the mid-point mark, this thing fucking does not let up on the NOS injection for a solid 45 minutes and it no longer matters that you don't know any of the characters' names or care about their motivations for being in this plot or what their role is in this story. Nolan gets to do his whiz-bang setpiece thing and nails it.

Ultimately, it's hard to say how much the scenario surrounding the movie affected that, but goddamn did it feel baseline pleasant to walk out of the theater and look around at the world in that dreamlike state where you're suddenly imagining how you'd film the location if it were in the movie you just saw, and to be in a huge room with a massive screen and awesome sound system completely glued to the movie rather than constantly checking OKP, Facebook or Reddit and forgetting what's going on. Watching movies at home kinda sucks, man.

But is it worth going to a theater to see Tenet? Not at all, other than how great it looked and sounded and the specifics of my experience in that I only saw and interacted with a single person during my three hours in that building which is a far cry from my own workplace. For what it's worth, I didn't think the movie had any sound issues at all other than when it was appropriate, and anyway almost all of the dialogue was expositional so it wasn't terribly interesting anyway. Other than the potential for a Tenet 2 and Nolan shoehorning a Black James Bond into our lives who also has the ability to travel through time, kind-of sort-of.

I probably won't go back to a theater the rest of the year.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

but had to watch a youtube analysis when got home to help clarify my viewing experience.

====================================
Life in the completeness of its unity is negative. (c) ABK

Action set-pieces were great, and it was funny/entertaining, but the plot was incomprehensible.

Admittedly this sort of time travel shit is absolutely cat nip for me, so I may have been predestined to like it (or, perhaps, I've always liked it...). But yeah, the action is *outstanding*-- probably the best of Nolan's career. He's definitely giving you shit you've never seen before. And even if some of it is confusing in the moment-- something that *never* bothers me in movies, fwiw-- it's always fairly clearly explained afterward. I actually found it way less confusing than others have complained. (I also didn't have trouble with the audio. So perhaps those two factors are connected?)

And JDW is a terrific lead-- would love to see him in an even more stripped-down action flick, a Liam Neeson or John Wick kind of jam where he's just pummeling fools.

This is probably a Top 3-4 Nolan for me. Inventive, funny, slick, and filled with terrific action. Looking forward to the Bluray release.

Batman aside (love them, I just don’t think of them as «Nolan» movies in that sense»)

I think my current Nolan top 3 is

1. Interstellar

And 2 + 3 is a tie between Tenet, Dunkirk and The Prestige

I’ve seen it in movie theatres 3 times now and I loved it even more on my 2. and 3. watch

this is Nolan's set-piece mastery with just enough cleverness (like you said, the rules don't always make sense but all the general ideas are easily absorbed).

it deserved a wider audience on the big screen, but it'll go down as one of Nolan's best.

it was too confusing and reminded me too much of inception, same sorta concept. i didn't really care what happened, i just wanted to
look at john david washington.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/5/21551390/tenet-home-release-date-dvd-blu-ray-digital-nolan

Warner Bros. released a price breakdown for the physical edition:

4K UHD combo pack — $44.95
Blu-ray — $35.99
DVD — $28.98

there was some cool looking shit in it though.

i downloaded few different versions because i thought maybe the audio wasnt ripped right.

but its just the way the movie was made.

you gotta be a pretty stubborn dude to leave that shit the way it is after so many people have complained about it. it really is off putting and takes away from the experience of the movie.

i didnt realize that dude was aaron taylor johnson.

i remember before the movie came out nolan or somebody saying he was unrecognizable in the film.

i had completely forgot about that until i watched it a second time and let the credits roll. then i saw his name.

The first time I saw him on screen, I said to my wife, “Is that Daniel Radcliffe?” and spent the rest of the film convinced it was Harry Potter. Saw it was Johnson during the credits and was shocked. Wife still makes fun of me about it.

i dont even know how you change your face like that. its not like he lost a shit ton of weight or hasnt had facial hair in the past.

I somehow liked this less than Dark Knight Rises.

Nolan is the LAST filmmaker I'd want anywhere near the Bond franchise.

It was far from perfect, but I dont get all the hate Ive been seeing for it.

>My nigga back and the shit sounds weird b. IMAX 70mm here I
>come!!!
>
>https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.complex.com%2Fpop-culture%2F2019%2F05%2Fchristopher-nolan-2020-action-epic-gets-title%3Futm_campaign%3Dcomplexmag%26utm_source%3Dfacebook.com%26utm_medium%3Dsocial&h=AT2sblAT1YljeEg2-LRn6iRpo-SxR1AQ8XgRBnN2051TqdRFjrcv2a8PRwK06YIgIfGGF9_sgm3ge6SPfxef1gnBxaNhAhd_OLIwCPPeW7vkUOna0JHxO6gng0F3GzjbRf_DNNsURQ
>
>Christopher Nolan's 2020 Action Epic Gets a Title
>Trace William Cowen
>BYTRACE WILLIAM COWEN
>Trace William Cowen is a writer based in Los Angeles. He
>tweets with dramatic irregularity here.
>
>MAY 22, 2019
>christopher nolan
>Image via Getty/Matt Winkelmeye
>Consistently compelling writer/director Christopher Nolan's
>2020 film, his first since the excellent Dunkirk, now has a
>proper title.
>
>Per Deadline, Warner Bros. announced Wednesday that shooting
>has started on Tenet, starring Michael Caine, Dimple Kapadia,
>Kenneth Branagh, Robert Pattinson, John David Washington,
>Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and more. From what we know so far,
>Tenet will be an "action epic" spanning seven different
>countries. Ludwig Göransson, he of Black Panther and frequent
>Gambino collaborations, will score.
>
>Pattinson, who—coincidentally enough—is now the new
>Batman, previously let loose some details on just how closely
>guarded the Tenet script-reviewing sessions have been.
>Speaking with USA Today in April, Pattinson revealed he was
>"locked in a room" and not given a personal copy.
>
>–– ADVERTISEMENT ––
>
>
>
>"I've been a little wary of doing big movies for years and
>years, but there's just something about Chris Nolan's stuff,"
>he said. "He seems like the only director now who can do what
>is essentially a very personal, independent movie that has
>huge scale." As for the script, by Pattinson's estimation, it
>is indeed "unreal."
>
>As for those previously circulated claims of Tenet being
>something in the vein of "North by Northwest in tone meets
>Inception," Warner Bros. has since squashed any such talk. In
>a statement to Complex in March, a studio rep said the
>description was inaccurate.
>
>
>With 2017's Dunkirk, featuring a notable performance from
>Harry Styles, was again met with a cascade of awards
>nominations and wins, including a trio of Academy Awards in
>the sound and editing categories.

I guess it's supposed to make sense by the time you get to the end?

but it could've crawled up its own ass 75 percent less and been twice as good.


www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

it's kinda stupendous that for how confident Nolan is shooting action, and some of the scenes her are among the best he's done, he feels like he needs to spend soooo much time on exposition. Also he clearly still has no idea how to come up with interesting female characters. Oh and the sound mixing was as bad as I'd read. Switched to my noise-canceling headphones after 15mins, and it still wasn't great.

JDW was great though, I want to see him in more action for sure. And he had me looking up how much those polos he was rocking throughout cost (you don't wanna know lol)

if all the explanation had been boiled down to "man, idk time shit" and looking directly into the camera


it would be a better movie

and the character being referred to as the protagonist is just some shit

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

I begrudgingly rewatched Inception a few months back and the exposition-filled dialogue was a complete bore. I was shocked that I used to like the movie and was worried Tenet would fall into the same territory. It basically did, but the premise and the action is more fun and I’m actually excited to rewatch it. Nolan needs to calm down on the exposition though. I mean Christ... the only way to enjoy it was to not follow every detail lol.

I have a million things to say but first and foremost

1. JDW is a superstar
2. Closed Captions + big 4k tv at home plus sushi -- perfect viewing experience first time not. Now I need to see it in IMAX
3. LUDWIG

Yes @ these 3:

>I have a million things to say but first and foremost
>
>1. JDW is a superstar
>2. Closed Captions + big 4k tv at home plus sushi -- perfect
>viewing experience first time not. Now I need to see it in
>IMAX
>3. LUDWIG

I saw Dunkirk in that, and of course seeing it again at home has dulled that experience's shine

but I'm glad I got the captions at home

JDW + Pattinson were perfect together

1. Inception
2. The Prestige
3. Tenet

Didn't seem that difficult - BUT didn't seem that clever either.

It's simple because "reverse entropy" doesn't work. Once you understand that then you can follow the logic they present - ** AND only the logic presented is what you have to follow because it doesn't actually track.**

I think if I hadn't have read all those Greg Egan books, especially the Orthogonal trilogy I'd have been much more confused. All of the "time travel" that takes place in the book is nonsense - but it is presented as an axiom so you go with it. That's the entire point.

The explosion causing frostbite isn't reverse entropy - it's simply "OPPOSITE DAY" logic.

It's like Lisa trying to explain global warming to Homer:
Homer: Wait, wait, wait, so in August it's cold?
Lisa: That's right.
Homer: And in February, it's hot?
Lisa: Mm-hm.
Homer: So it's opposite land! Crooks chase cops, cats have puppies!
Lisa: No, Dad, it's just the weather.
Homer: So hot snow falls up?

So all my questions went away when I realized that you could have an effect without a cause and it didn't matter.

It was fine - I think of this more as a sloppy sci-fi short story rather than a mind blowing super scientifical genius movie.

Or I could be just "smart" but you have to be really really smart to "get it." Either way is fine for me.

As for the film - I watched a REMUX of the 4K discs with subtitles on and the film looked and sounded great - until the so so so overpowering final credit song - my system could not handle that.

..which means not good in the world of blockbuster films.

This wasn't great, wasn't terrible, but wasn't much more than "..ehh..."

This felt like Terminator meets Inception, in a bad way. The CGI/action wasn't impressive, while the writing & tone were dry a best.


*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

if it had 1/10th of the budget

www.engadgethd.com - the other stuff i'm looking at

*skatin' the rings of saturn*


..and miles to go before i sleep...

for me was the agents living in the wind turbines. I want a whole movie about the period between missions and showing how they spend their down time living in those things.

https://youtu.be/hCKbjKLutoQ?si=lht2DL3ub7-SczyP

February 23rd to make up for the pandemic and tee up for DUNE PART TWO with a special look paired up for the film.

Loved it when I saw it during the pandemic. Excited to see it again, hopefully this time with a packed house.

on the 8 story joint of course.

I got good seats, but damn did tickets move fast the entire week it's playing.

After seeing it with a sold-out crowd on the 8-story IMAX with a film print, this movie is fun and cool as fuck. Also, very funny. The audience was clapping, laughing, cheering, and gasping at the Oppenheimer mention. Huge applause at the end.

The plot is really easy to understand.

John David is The Protagonist. The performance is all in the face. His character and who he is is all in his face and how his character reacts to the information given to him and what it makes him do next. You need a blank slate to guide you through this high-concept world.

Fuck it! I want a GODFATHER PART II type of movie where it's both a sequel and a prequel. That way we can have John David and Uncle Denzel. Shit throw Tom Crusie and Will Smith in this too.

And this song slaps too. Reminds me of the 90s when songs and soundtracks would be albums of your favorite artists doing their thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDSq16hvZ68

If they do another re-release, I gotta go again in IMAX 70mm.

I do get, absolutely GET why some people struggle with how dry he is, or how little character he has, but for me he's so...stoic, right? Which makes the moments when he's unleashing his athleticism or looking beleaguered by the absurdity of his situation remarkably visceral.


I did re-watch this once at home, though, and I was even more disappointed by the plane stunt. I'll never discount the significance of its practicality, but if you're gonna come for Face/Off, you best not miss. Nolan missed.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

But with not much of a sense of humor. Once I realized that I was able to enjoy the character more. Not a perfect analogy by any means, he doesn’t have a single mentor and he’s better prepared for the new world he’s facing than Neo was, but he still has no clue what he’s getting himself into, so he operates as sort of a sponge just soaking up all the knowledge he can until he has to get in the action.

Still don’t know how to feel about him being called “Protagonist” though. I get the feeling that Nolan was like “oh you want to care about the main character? Fuck you, his name is Protagonist. I dare you to care now.”

“Don’t try to understand it, just feel it.” got a massive laugh in the theater. I remembered that line, knew it was coming up, and it still stunned me that they got away with it.

Which, again, like Washington's performance if you don't get it or more importantly buy into it, doesn't matter, because of course it's objectively silly that the few times this man is addressed by name that's what he's called.


But the Neo thing is a banger of a key to that door, because it seems clear to me that ...ugh, it's even stupid to TYPE... "Protagonist" is just an avatar for the audience to receive this story. He's in almost every scene not because it matters that he's there, but because it matters that the audience can be both stunned by the words coming out of Dimple Kapadia's mouth and confident Protagonist will do exactly what he needs to do with that information.


That being said, I have to stress that I don't want to give Tenet more credit than it deserves, as someone who even pre-Oppenheimer would've slotted it somewhere in the upper-middle of the filmography at best. I just can't help but get a little excited when people notice what this movie fucked around and pulled off, because so much of this movie is so intensely unsubtle that pointing out the subtleties (or whatever word you think is more appropriate) can feel foolish.


In other words, Tenet does a sort of "Pincer Maneuver" on itself. With the Nolan Bros acting as the ??? Step 3 before the profit. By pretending to be a smart movie, it stumbles into convincing people that it's dumber that it is because it's nowhere near as smart as...well, ALL of Nolan's other movies, none of which are spectacularly smart to begin with.


If you go back to - or just remember; I'm doing both because 2020 is a hyperspace blur in my mind - all of Nolan's gaming references at this time, it seems clear that Tenet was a series of big ideas in need of an excuse to share them with the audience, much like most games are a series of big ideas in need of a hook that ties the player to the designer. Which makes some of Tenet's most obvious flaws simultaneously its biggest strengths, which makes what's easiest to hate about the movie what makes it so lovable, which makes it a movie that's almost always something for one audience that it isn't to another, which makes it...


Which makes it a pretty girthy 8/10, with enough 5/10 moments to make the 10/10 moments grind time rap gang - bang, bang, bang.


(It's been a hard week and I wanted to spew. Cheers!)


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." � Jay Bilas
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

Seeing the replies on The Protagonist and decided to do a new reply thread.

Someone said Neo without the humor? Neo is a great comparison as we get to know both through the journey they go on rather than a story arc as again, you need a blank slate to sell this high-concept world.


But to say no humor? Homie is cracking black ass jokes throughout the movie. His reactions to literally everything is 80% humor. And John David is telling those quips.


Shit even they even make you care about him as in the opening he goes back to save the audience from the bombs, as soon as they say we rebuilt your mouth he asks about his team and cries when he finds out they're dead, the look of regret when Kat says you used me and my son to get what I want want, when he tells Neil to go after Kat instead of the piece of The Algorithm, the look of excited concern when he says we're taking Kat through the turnstile to save her, shit even at the end when he kills Pryia to save Kat.

It's all there.