KM32MVP
Well-Known Member
Tarantino is hardly void commercial appeal...he's been living on it for quite sometime. Not to say the work couldn't stand on its own merit. In fact, commercially speaking, Nolan (aside from the Batman films) has a slightly higher hill to climb. I would concur that Nolan's spectrum for appeal is more broad... and maybe that's all you meant. I wanted to say that regardless as other readers may read that into your comment.
I think you sell Insomnia short, Id put it on equal footing, maybe a notch above Prestige. It might not be as grand, but the layers given to Pacino and Williams' characters surpass most work by other directors. Nolan's stories always tend to include a study of the human psyche, esp. concerning his main characters. Its rare for today's directors to put as much emphasis on character development (and when it happens is usually hand-in-hand with a deficiency in the aesthetics of the film) Nolan never sacrifices one for the other. While its a rare film that accomplishes this, his always come to play in every category. The imperfections of his characters though have very strong and real parallels with the people we meet and see every day...even in the mirror in some cases.
Tarantino is generally delving into the psyche of the ghosts of movie history. He takes incarnations of characters we've seen time and time again and gives them a new depth and new perspective, but one is often hard pressed to apply it outside of the fantastical realm of Taratino-fiction.
