Author: Alex Lubetkin

When you think about it, kids are mostly stupid. And these eight kids that go to the elementary school that my beautiful fiancé Rory teaches at? Buddy, I am so much smarter than them. Gary, 5 One time I saw Gary trying to feed his leftover chocolate pudding to an Optimus Prime action figure. What’s wrong with this kid? I would never do that. Owen, 4 Everyone raves about Owen’s drawing skills, and I just don’t get it. What’s so talented about this: What the fuck is that? I am smarter than whoever drew that. Candace, 9 As a part…

Is Christopher Nolan’s Batman series politically reactionary or not? In this examination of yet another Michael Caine film, The Dark Knight Rises, Ali, Megan, Alex and Gautham discuss the most overtly political Batman movie Nolan created. Spoilers: The French Revolution is solved when Batman punches it in the face.

BRRRRRRRM. Inception took the world of pop culture by storm, combining one of Hollywood’s brightest stars with one of its most innovative directors. The heist epic saw Leonardo DiCaprio and co. break into people’s dreams to steal – or plant! – information. Its standing as one of the most popular popcorn movies in recent memory isn’t to be disputed (it pulled in over $800 million), but does it withstand the test of time? Ali, Gautham, Megan and Alex discuss Christopher Nolan’s seventh movie in this week’s episode of Nice Nolan Ya.

A handful of circumstances – some good, one particularly tragic – guaranteed that all eyes were on Christopher Nolan and co. when The Dark Knight released on July 18, 2008. The movie broke box office records, soared to the top of IMDb’s Top 250 list, and inspired a ton of creepy Halloween costumes the following October. Nine years later, how does it hold up? Find out in the newest episode of Nice Nolan Ya!

Christopher Nolan followed Batman Begins with The Prestige, a movie about obsession, competition, and magic. Featuring some familiar faces within the Nolan-verse (Christian Bale and Michael Caine are back!) and some newcomers (hello, Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson!), the movie doesn’t lack in star power, or in incredible special effects. But, over a decade after it released, how does it hold up? The Nice Nolan Ya crew breaks it down.

In 2005, Christopher Nolan completed his transformation into a director of big-budget spectaculars with Batman Begins. Ali, Alex and Gautham (no relation to the city) talk about the gritty realism and psychological detail it takes to envision a man trained by Himalayan ninja assassins to dress up like a bat and punch crime in the face. Is there any humor to be had here, or is the movie as rough and grim as Christian Bale’s Batman rasp? What elements of the character’s nearly eighty-year mythology does Nolan mine for this origin story? Find out in the latest episode of Nice…

Insomnia, Christopher Nolan’s 2002 remake of a Norwegian thriller, is his first film with major stars. Al Pacino, Hillary Swank and Robin Williams play cops and a killer in a sun-flooded Alaskan setting. With a jump in budget and acting prestige, does Nolan sacrifice any of the stylistic ambition of his first two films? How much of Nolan’s structural complexity survives in a remake he had no hand in writing? How much of the scenery ends up in Al Pacino’s choppers? Find out below in our third episode of Nice Nolan Ya!

The mission: To take a retrospective look at each of Christopher Nolan’s films in advance of the release of his newest movie, Dunkirk, on July 21, 2017 (Be sure to check out the first episode, which covers Nolan’s first film, Following). Memento, Christopher Nolan’s 2000 follow-up to Following was a popular success and even more structurally complicated than his debut. Alex, Ali and Gautham discuss whether Guy Pearce’s lead role shows more depth than the opaque, almost symbolic characters in Following. Does Memento have what Alex calls the ultimate test of a classic – rewatchability?

Christopher Nolan is prolific…but is he good? Welcome to Nice Nolan Ya, the podcast where we discuss the works of the famed British-American director. In the podcast, our three hosts – Ali, Gautham and Alex – will take a retroactive, movie-by-movie look at Nolan’s filmography, from Following to Interstellar and, eventually, Dunkirk, all the while trying to determine how, exactly, Nolan should be considered. Is he the best big-budget filmmaker since Stanley Kubrick? Or is he a mediocre director overrated by some seminal pop culture moments? Listen to find out! Alex, Ali and Gautham kick off the series with a look…

WASHINGTON – Anticipating the ascension of their preferred presidential candidate to the chair of President of the United States of America, a cartoonish legion of grotesque monsters has descended upon Washington D.C. for Donald Trump’s inauguration. The beasts, clad in “Make America Great Again” hats, mini-American flags draped over ear and horn, and the odd “Hillary for Prison” t-shirt are arriving steadily in the nation’s capital by car, plane and purple-tinted interdimensional vortexes. “Oh, I can’t wait,” said Doras Mofatu, a 351-year-old Ukrainian vampire residing in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “I told my wife, I said, I’m not going to make this about…