Ambition has never been a problem for Christopher Nolan. Whether it was constructing an intricate reverse narrative in his hit second feature, Memento, or turning a comic book into a complex, noirish crime epic in The Dark Knight, Nolan is the rare director who manages to make successful blockbusters that conform to an intensely personal vision, no matter how confounding or dark that vision might be. On the one hand, he has qualities of the arthouse auteur, challenging his viewers intellectually. But he's also a people's filmmaker, issuing those challenges to masses of viewers who flock to his films in contradiction to popular wisdom that populist audiences don't like dark or difficult work. more ›

>> Tony Snow, Dan Bartlett and the White House Press Corps turn a routine presser into a Christopher Nolan movie for morons. The Pledge: Snow and Bartlett begin an ordinary conference on the record. The Turn: Halfway through, the two make their ordinary act seem extraordinary by suddenly becoming Anonymous White House Sources. The Prestige: Everyone assembled acts as gallingly obsequious as possible to enforce the illusion that the American people are children that should... more ›