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Now that Interstellar is here - Spielberg or Nolan?

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AI is a piece of shit, the worst thing Spielberg has ever done and would have been the worst thing Kubrick ever did if he wanted to make it himself. It's a painful exercise in going through the motions of a Pinocchio story where every emotional beat feels contrived, predictable, and not actually touching at all. It's boring as hell, ridiculously hokey, and I hate it.

Scullibundo said:
Thing about Spielberg is that he's just as consistent as ever. Last decade was just as consistent as any other he's had.

He's started wobbly this decade, but now we'll have to see how St James Place and The BFG turn out.

I have high hopes for St James Place.
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Oh hell, is that what the Cold War thriller is being called? Not exactly an exciting sounding title is it.
 
DrForester said:
Speilberg. I doubt I would have been as bored as I was with what Interstellar ended up being.
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While Interstellar went too far into the "intellectual" portion, I much prefer it over what Spielberg would have probably done with it and probably turn it into a super lame blockbuster with kids flying through space.
 
Tempesta di Fuoco said:
While Interstellar went too far into the "intellectual" portion, I much prefer it over what Spielberg would have probably done with it and probably turn it into a super lame blockbuster with kids flying through space.
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I liked the intellectual stuff. Time dilation fascinates me and is something I do understand. The movie was just boring to me. Poorly paced, and far longer than it needed to be (
The entire bit on the ice world could have been cut, and the film would have lost nothing.
)
 
dark_inferno said:
Old Spielberg wins against Nolan easily.
Nolan wins against new Spielberg easily.

I wonder what happens to Nolan if he puts out one bad movie.
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he put out a movie where a random cop found out batman's identity because he saw the twinkle in his eye

did you forget about that or
 
If this were Spielberg from back in the days I'd say him. But he hasn't made a single movie I have enjoyed for a while. Nolan isn't perfect either. I choose Martin Scorsese.
 
Scullibundo said:
You mean Cameron.

God, if Cameron ever made a bonafide space movie.
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You'll eat your words when Space Pocahontas 2 comes out.

They thought they were free from the humans

But what these cat people didn't know is that they pissed off the wrong human among the humans. Now they have to deal with mega humans
 
DrForester said:
I liked the intellectual stuff. Time dilation fascinates me and is something I do understand. The movie was just boring to me. Poorly paced, and far longer than it needed to be (
The entire bit on the ice world could have been cut, and the film would have lost nothing.
)
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I think you should consider watching it again if you felt that part could be cut..it was incredibly crucial to a number of future plot points. I don't know how anyone could possibly think it was unnecessary. It's baffling

Tempesta di Fuoco said:
While Interstellar went too far into the "intellectual" portion, I much prefer it over what Spielberg would have probably done with it and probably turn it into a super lame blockbuster with kids flying through space.
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Nah dude. "Too far" is Primer and Pi, sort of. This went just the right amount!

Azulsky said:
The hardest scifi Spielberg has done is Jurassic Park and it is heavily neutered from the source material.
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I've brought this up a number of times and it is glossed over for seemingly no reason. I LOVED the hard sci fi aspects of this. It seems like most people just wanted another space fantasy, when we already have tons of those and very few hard sci fi (or anything approaching it) in big blockbuster movies
 
The hardest scifi Spielberg has done is Jurassic Park and it is heavily neutered from the source material.

I love that all the science was supervised on this one, I like the exposition. I like the human drama being the central aspect.

I wish Chris would give us some more long glamour shots though. Passing in front of Saturn was some of the best space porn I have seen.
 
Echoenigma said:
he put out a movie where a random cop found out batman's identity because he saw the twinkle in his eye

did you forget about that or
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You've captured the nuances of that plot point perfectly.

Maninthemirror said:
Next Nolan title is either the prisoner or howard Hughes movie
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The number of times he and his brother have talked about missing the boat with Citizen Hughes during the Interstellar press tour make me think that movie isn't going to happen, at least not for a long(er) time. Warren Beatty coming out with his own Hughes movie next year probably cements that even more.
 
Spielberg could not possibly have been worse than what we got...so Spielberg.

Anton Sugar said:
Says you. Middle slows down too much, but it has a pretty quick pace for a three hour movie, IMO.

Easily Nolan's best use of comedy, too.

Even Hathaway gets a few laughs in. Now THAT'S movie magic!
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I dunno, Hathaway always makes me laugh
unintentionally
 
Anton Sugar said:
Who amongst us does not belong? Someone here does not belong, a stranger amongst the loyal. Sculli will weed you out!
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AxmNzk6.jpg
 
Spielberg by a damn landslide, the themes in here were right in his bag

I was surprised nolan managed to nail some of the emotional scenes though, but i'd credit mcconaughey/zimmer for that more than anyone else

I liked the movie quite a bit but nolan's problems are all over it, Spielberg would have made a better film
 
BobbyRoberts said:
But you have a point: Spielberg hasn't actually PROVEN he can make a magic-trick movie better than Nolan has.
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Albeit by circumstance rather than choice, he made a shark film that barely features a shark. And it's not only the film that created the blockbuster, it might even still be the best example.
 
Solo said:
Albeit by circumstance rather than choice, he made a shark film that barely features a shark.
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That's not the "magic trick" we were talking about, though.

He hasn't made one of those puzzle-box thrillers that play with linearity in narrative yet. Although I think he absolutely could. I don't see that particular style of storytelling as being beyond his grasp AT ALL.
 
JB1981 said:
Has Spielberg made a film where he experiments with form and edting like Memento? Spieilberg has never attempted a narrative like that, ever.
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Editing, no. Form? Are you kidding me? As a director, he's experimented with form over and over again. The guy is incredibly versatile because he's always tried new things.

The shaky-cam that has often been so terrible in lesser filmmakers' hands was started by Spielberg. The de-saturated, washed out look that now dominates not just war films/series, but anything attempting to be gritty similarly came from Saving Private Ryan.

The guy has gone from defining conventional blockbuster technique to abandoning those tricks for the unobstrusive, steady-cam style of Schindler's List.

He's gone between making serious dramas and thrillers like Schindler's List and Munich to kids films like E.T and fast moving, lighter dramas like Catch Me If You Can before going back to noirish sci-fi like Minority Report. Then he's done animation/mo-cap with Tintin. A talky, actor's showcase like Lincoln.

Nolan experimented with narrative form in Memento, I'll give him that (even though it's mainly an extension of what Tarantino and many, many others before both of them have done before). What has he done as a director that hasn't been done before? I'm not talking about making a serious comic book movie. Talk about the films themselves irrespective of the stigma that surrounds them.
 
Still amazes me that the shutter/exposure tricks that Spielberg did with SPR haven't really been matched. The Berg made it somehow organic and just a little surreal.

With other movies, it's "action sequence has started and now we're using a fast shutter speed go-go-go frenetic movement" and its so obvious, it feels artificial.
 
Phoenix said:
No. There should be no doubt whatsoever. ET, Jaws, Schinder's List, Saving Private Ryan, Close Encounters, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, Minority Report, The Color Purple, etc.

Nolan isn't even in the same league.
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Nobody is in Spielberg's league though. He's just so incredibly unique. And then there's Dual - a TV movie - which was brilliant too and still holds up today. Right at the beginning of his career.

Nolan is still so young though but he's working in a very different climate to Spielberg was at this point in his career. Cinemas are full of kids wanting to see CGI heavy comic book superhero movies. Everyone else is watching Netflix. I do fear for the movie industry :(
 
Both have had one great movie since 2000. Starting at 2000 since it's when Nolan released his first real effort.

The Prestige and Munich.

Their rest have been everyone from bad to good. As of now, Nolan is definitely better. He's been more interesting to follow. He's been producing better Blockbusters than the Berg. So I'll take his Interstellar.
Spielberg has hit lower lows too. Warhorse was painfully bad, but I still would say it's not a very big gap either. Spielberg has the technical aspect down. War of the Worlds tone was fantastic. Something Nolan still hasn't done right.
 
shintoki said:
Both have had one great movie since 2000. Starting at 2000 since it's when Nolan released his first real effort.

The Prestige and Munich.

Their rest have been everyone from bad to good. As of now, Nolan is definitely better. He's been more solid. He's been producing better Blockbusters than the Berg. So I'll take his Interstellar.
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Minority Report is fucking phenomenal.
 
is this a legit discussion? Seriously? Some Nolan stans really need to check themselves, or watch more movies. Spielberg would have made a better product. This movie was a bit beyond Nolan's abilities to pull off -- still not a bad movie by any means. Granted, I lean that more towards Matt and Zimmer for carrying the film.
 
Anton Sugar said:
Still amazes me that the shutter/exposure tricks that Spielberg did with SPR haven't really been matched. The Berg made it somehow organic and just a little surreal.

With other movies, it's "action sequence has started and now we're using a fast shutter speed go-go-go frenetic movement" and its so obvious, it feels artificial.
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What do you mean by this?

Can you give an example?
 
Azulsky said:
Only in the sense that the User Interface ideas for the computers were pretty revolutionary for that time period, at least in the mainstream.
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Nonsense. It's a brilliantly directed, wonderfully photographed, well written, well-paced and scored film. It also features perhaps Spielberg's best bait and switch trick for audiences who accuse him of being overly sentimental.
 
we likely got a better soundtrack from nolan's involvement than spielberg's. some of spielberg's films with williams have some god-tier relevance that other composers would kill to have.

but aside from munich i've found much of the soundtracks in his last bunch of movies fairly unmemorable. zimmer goes dumb as hell sometimes but interstellar is a great piece of work that i'm definitely gonna be listening to years from now. like in this case nolan/zimmer's lack of subtlety actually helped big time for me.
 
Eh. Zimmer has been more miss than hit for a long time, while Williams has simply been a pale imitation of his former glory lately, which is still better than Zimmer's nonsense most of the time.

Interstellar was a step back in the right direction though.
 
A Spielberg-directed Interstellar would have undoubtedly been better. He's a far superior director, obviously.

But I doubt it would have been one of Spielberg's better films.

In any case, I wish the Nolans would leave the screenwriting to others. Their dialogue has really become turdtastic.
 
Wow @ some of the harsh comments in this thread. I feel like anyone who didn't at least kind of enjoy Interstellar is a cynical fool. I know we're all entitled to our own opinions and all but Interstellar is objectively great.
 
Scullibundo said:
Nonsense. It's a brilliantly directed, wonderfully photographed, well written, well-paced and scored film. It also features perhaps Spielberg's best bait and switch trick for audiences who accuse him of being overly sentimental.
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Oh god please stop with the bulllshit that the ending is all a halo dream
 
Spielberg is VERY overrated. He doesn't take any risks anymore. A clear example is War of the Worlds. There was no reason for that kid to be alive at the end. It honestly ruined the movie for me. I won't even get into how the Aliens came up from the ground which was a pretty stupid change.
 
Anton Sugar said:
I don't know why people claim he ejected into a black hole. He traveled through the black hole and ejected into the tesseract.

Kip Thorne explains the science behind this quite well.
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Except that you can't approach a black hole (radiation would kill you) much less travel through it (even with a Kerr crunch avoidance the gravity would rip anything remotely conventionally designed to bits - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghettification).
 
Nuklear said:
Spielberg is VERY overrated. He doesn't take any risks anymore. A clear example is War of the Worlds. There was no reason for that kid to be alive at the end. It honestly ruined the movie for me. I won't even get into how the Aliens came up from the ground which was a pretty stupid change.
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What? The same year he had War of the Worlds, he had Munich.

Nolan hasn't got one film as brave or as good as Munich. He's shown no sign of even having a film like that in him yet.
 
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