Has Villeneuve reached Nolan status?

12,934 Views | 160 Replies | Last: 10 mo ago by Brian Earl Spilner
Chipotlemonger
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Did Leto method act for Requiem for a Dream?
Proposition Joe
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Bruce Almighty said:

Sicario is an all timer, a top 15-20 movie of this century. I enjoyed Arrival, but haven't seen it since it's release. For whatever reason, I've had no desire to watch it again. I just can't get into Blade Runner 2049, which is strange, because I love the original. I didn't like Dune at first, but after rewatching it, I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to part 2.

I too have found it very hard to get into BR2049. Have started it twice, and managed to not even get halfway through it.
Chipotlemonger
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Chipotlemonger said:

TCTTS said:

Remedy this ASAP. One of the best movies of the last decade.


I've never seen it either. Going to watch this weekend.


Update: Well that was a great movie!
TCTTS
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MaroonStain
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BadMoonRisin said:

Man. I keep forgetting to watch Sicario. Everyone says it's great.


It's a movie for wolves and you're obviously not a wolf.
maroon barchetta
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MaroonStain said:

BadMoonRisin said:

Man. I keep forgetting to watch Sicario. Everyone says it's great.


It's a movie for wolves and you're obviously not a wolf.


But his username…
BadMoonRisin
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This movie was an absolute banger.

He's not fibbing at all. That truly was one of the best films I've seen in my life.

Emily Blunt is a revelation.
Head Ninja In Charge
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The extradition set piece that starts with the task force briefing and ends with the border crossing shootout is absolute GOAT status.
TCTTS
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BadMoonRisin
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RichardSplet
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Watch Villeneuve's 2010 movie "Incendies" if you haven't seen it. It will stick you for awhile after watching
Brian Earl Spilner
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The lack of discussion on Prisoners is concerning to me.

Seriously, folks who haven't seen it should do themselves a favor and check it out, especially if you're a fan of noir thrillers.
Lathspell
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Prisoners is one I put off watching for a while because of the subject matter being pretty rough. Finally got around to watching it about a year or so ago, and thought it was fantastic. Definitely a rough movie and one I don't see myself watching again. Movies like Arrival and Sicario, I can watch many times over.
veryfuller
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The performances in Prisoners are incredible too.

Thinking of Prisoners and Sicario has me wanting Villeneuve to take on Cleopatra next, step out of sci-fi for a bit.

Also, with Oppenheimer winning SAG ensemble and PGA this weekend it's almost a lock for Nolan to win best director and best picture at the Oscars.
Brian Earl Spilner
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Picture, Director, Score, Sound, Editing, and Supporting Actor have been 100% locks for most of the season, IMO.

The only question before the SAGs was whether or not Giamatti had overtaken Cillian Murphy in the best actor race. Now it seems like Murphy probably still has the edge, if only a 55/45 edge.
Brian Earl Spilner
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Re: the performances in Prisoners --

For my money, the best in all of Villeneuve's filmography. In particular, it's probably a career best for both Paul Dano and Hugh Jackman. And that's a high bar.
TXAG 05
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Eliminatus said:

BassCowboy33 said:

BadMoonRisin said:

Man. I keep forgetting to watch Sicario. Everyone says it's great.
Nothing will make sense to your American ears.
"This is a land of wolves now, and you are not a wolf"


I ironically just rewatched it this morning and I think it has now migrated into my Top 5 movies of all time. del Toro is also the actor I think has been the most underrated in the past decade. Emily Blunt is my most favorite actress and top it off in a morally ambiguous story about a topic I care about and all orchestrated by DV? One of the best story tellers of all time?

Yup. Top 5 all time for me. This train of thought above just solidified it in my head.


But how much is it on DV and how much is it on Taylor Sheridan, who wrote it?
powerbelly
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TXAG 05 said:

Eliminatus said:

BassCowboy33 said:

BadMoonRisin said:

Man. I keep forgetting to watch Sicario. Everyone says it's great.
Nothing will make sense to your American ears.
"This is a land of wolves now, and you are not a wolf"


I ironically just rewatched it this morning and I think it has now migrated into my Top 5 movies of all time. del Toro is also the actor I think has been the most underrated in the past decade. Emily Blunt is my most favorite actress and top it off in a morally ambiguous story about a topic I care about and all orchestrated by DV? One of the best story tellers of all time?

Yup. Top 5 all time for me. This train of thought above just solidified it in my head.


But how much is it on DV and how much is it on Taylor Sheridan, who wrote it?
From what I have seen from Sheridan, very little. He is so hit or miss it is crazy.
Brian Earl Spilner
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Directors always take most of the credit for a great movie. A great script in the wrong hands can make for a bad/mediocre movie, and similarly a great director can lift a bad/mediocre script.
Brian Earl Spilner
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Case in point:

Compare The Shining (Kubrick) to the god-awful tv adaptation, which was much closer to what Stephen King wrote and had a lot of input from him.
G Martin 87
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The Porkchop Express said:

jeffk said:

TCTTS said:

Yeah, in addition to Dune: Messiah, Villeneuve is apparently simultaneously developing/co-writing...

Cleopatra
(starring Zendaya in the title role)

Rendezvous with Rama
(which he calls "Arrival on steroids.")

Sicario 3
(rumored but not confirmed)

He said he's almost assuredly doing a non-Dune movie next, so likely one of the three above (or a mystery project we're not aware of), then he'll tackle Dune: Messiah. So 2026/2027-ish for one of the above, then Dune: Messiah for 2027/2028-ish.



Holy crap! I didn't know he was doing a Rama movie! I love that trilogy. ACC's best imo. Read them several times growing up.
I assume the budget for Rama is going to be like $700 billion.
No kidding. Rama is the quintessential book in the BDO (Big Dumb Object) subgenre of sci-fi. The budget will have to be crazy. As someone said elsewhere, DV "gets" sci-fi. He has a superb feel for the incredible that makes sci-fi awe inspiring.
Definitely Not A Cop
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Watched Sicario this weekend as well for the first time.

Villenueve just knows how to shoot a movie to watch on the biggest screen possible. The movie was great, but you can just tell you aren't getting the full experience watching at home.
BoydCrowder13
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powerbelly said:

TXAG 05 said:

Eliminatus said:

BassCowboy33 said:

BadMoonRisin said:

Man. I keep forgetting to watch Sicario. Everyone says it's great.
Nothing will make sense to your American ears.
"This is a land of wolves now, and you are not a wolf"


I ironically just rewatched it this morning and I think it has now migrated into my Top 5 movies of all time. del Toro is also the actor I think has been the most underrated in the past decade. Emily Blunt is my most favorite actress and top it off in a morally ambiguous story about a topic I care about and all orchestrated by DV? One of the best story tellers of all time?

Yup. Top 5 all time for me. This train of thought above just solidified it in my head.


But how much is it on DV and how much is it on Taylor Sheridan, who wrote it?
From what I have seen from Sheridan, very little. He is so hit or miss it is crazy.


Sheridan had a great run with Hell or High Water, Sicario and Wind River. Nothing he has done since has been nearly that good.
Lathspell
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Definitely Not A Cop said:

Watched Sicario this weekend as well for the first time.

Villenueve just knows how to shoot a movie to watch on the biggest screen possible. The movie was great, but you can just tell you aren't getting the full experience watching at home.
Let's not forget:



But I do agree, he has a special eye for making movies look amazing.
TXAG 05
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Brian Earl Spilner said:

Case in point:

Compare The Shining (Kubrick) to the god-awful tv adaptation, which was much closer to what Stephen King wrote and had a lot of input from him.


I actually prefer the made for tv version since it actually tells the story and is longer so it can take its time, where in the Kubrick version Jack starts going crazy pretty quick. Not that the Kubrick version isn't a classic, got to see it in the theater a couple years ago, which was fun.
Tonyperkis
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Couldn't have said it better myself. With 3 kids under 5, it's so hard to get to the theater but I'll never miss movies from either of these two.

I echo the thoughts on Sicario from this thread. It's an all-timer that I have re-watched many times. If you haven't seen it, rectify that.

I just re-watched Arrival for the first time since becoming a Dad and wow, it hits so hard. Beautiful movie that reminds me of The Prestige in how knowing the ending enhances the repeat movie watching experience.

I think what DV did with BR 2049 is one of the most remarkable accomplishments any Director has done with a franchise. BR is such a beloved sci-fi movie (one of my all-time favorites) and it was near impossible to follow-up on that with success when expectations are so high. He nailed it. I also really appreciated how he incorporated Harrison Ford, which can be clunky when using previous story characters and integrating them with new characters (Gosling). Really in awe of how he pulled it all off.

Anyways, watching Dune 1 with some buddies on Friday (one guy has never seen it) and it's awesome to get to see someone experience it for the first time. I've seen it so many times but have held off the last few months in anticipation for the viewing with friends. Crazy to crave a movie you've seen so many times but that's what the best like DV can do. Dune 2 on Saturday. First movie in theaters since Oppenheimer which seems appropriate for this thread.
PDWT_12
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Two of my favorite working directors. Here's how I rank their films from what I've seen. Insane to have something like Sicario or The Prestige as your 6th or 7th ranked movie (fully aware there are people here who consider those the directors best or close to it, no argument here).

Deputy Travis Junior
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Sicario is so good. The storytelling and acting are fantastic and I can't say enough about the film work (and I'm not usually one who fawns over that).
-The huge shots of the countryside paired with the atmospheric music create the perfect mood.
-The moment during the border scene when they see a gun and it immediately switches to a helicopter view that lets you see the spec ops crew fanning out to cover the whole bridge is awesome.
-The descent into the tunnels at dusk is similarly well done.

Watching benicio dual wield a knife and rifle will annoy me forever though :-D
TheDoctor
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Sicario is my favorite DV

Haven't seen Arrival since theaters
Same with Dune. Thought it was good but haven't rewatched.
Watched BR2049 on my laptop during Covid.

I think I need to give his sci-fi a chance again.

Nolan is the GOAT right now.
TCTTS
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Brian Earl Spilner
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Honestly, a bit of time isn't the worst thing. I think there's a big time jump to the next book, so it'd be good to let all the characters age a few years.
TCTTS
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Yeah, he's already said Dune: Messiah won't be his next. I'm more curious about the "secret" project.
Brian Earl Spilner
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DV on Colbert last night.


He's definitely reached that upper echelon of directors that people are interested enough to see on a talk show. (Scorsese, QT, Nolan, etc)
Brian Earl Spilner
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MBAR
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TCTTS said:

Villeneuve is certainly getting closer and closer, but Oppenheimer just took Nolan to a whole other level. With all the awards he's winning, and all the Oscars he's about to win, Nolan is now in rarified air. He's gone from blockbuster guy to now adding prestige awards/drama guy to his resume, something we haven't seen since Spielberg (think Jurassic Park / Schindler's List).

That, and Nolan's name itself has as much brand recognition as most major franchises. Even my sisters and my parents know that when a trailer says "A Christopher Nolan Film" it's a huge deal, and will show up for it.

Villeneuve simply isn't at that level, as most general audiences don't yet know his name. He's also at a disadvantage in that he never had a major superhero franchise like Nolan, which is obviously how Nolan's name became so widely known in the first place.

But Villeneuve will eventually get there, and as of now I think he's just as good, if not even better in certain areas.

All I know is that between them, it's us who wins. Barring any tragedies, we basically get either a Nolan or a Villeneuve movie roughly every year for the next 20 years or so (with gaps here and there, of course). People complain about the movies not being as good as they used to be, yet we've never seen anything like what Nolan and Villeneuve are putting out on a consistent basis. It's just mind-blowing stuff every single time, where they're basically trying to one-up each other each time, while also having become genuinely good friends in the process. It's so awesome to see, and I could not be more grateful that we're here to witness it all.
This is all fine and good, but if DV and Nolan both have a movie premiering on the same night I'm choosing the DV film. I love both, but DV has something I enjoy more. There's no director who's films I look forward to as much as his.
 
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