Filmsane

Let me explain. Yes, there are plenty of potentially good movies that are coming to the movie theaters this year. Aside from Tenet. Yes, there will be plenty of Marvel/DC movies (I’m looking at you Wonder Woman and Black Widow), there will be plenty of long awaited reboots and remakes (Dune and West Side Story being the obvious choices), and of course the sequels. Lots and lots of sequels.

There’s the Top Gun sequel, called Maverick, the Quiet Place sequel, the Bill And Ted sequel called Bill and Ted Face The Music, and the Bad Boys sequel called Bad Boys For Life. Oh, and there’s a James Bond movie in the mix. Yup. No Time To Die will be released in April, but hey… We’ll just have to wait a while for them.

And they’re all good and dandy. They’re all fine. But I’m not interested in most of the aforementioned movies. Why? Well, because they’re familiar. They’re safe and well nested in the comfort zone. All let’s be real… most of them will make a shit ton of money because of that- there’s no question about it. Whether its nostalgia or a big franchise super-heros being pushed down our throats, most of the releases this year will be based on some pre-existing and very familiar material. Books, comic-books, original movies that are based on. But hardly any of them will be original.

That’s where Tenet comes in. You see… Tenet will be something quite different. Something that you might expect from a genius like Christopher Nolan. A true master piece. Why? Well, because he’s been subverting your expectations for decades now (while making quality movies), and you kinda didn’t mind. You barely even noticed. In an age where that sort of practice is very frowned upon by the fan boys, and the modern movie going audience, he’s been doing that for more than a decade now and you were begging for more.

How? Well, for one for creating and original movies in an era where original movies are a dying breed. And by original I mean movies that were not based on previously published content. Yes, I’m very well aware that he also directed the Dark Knight trilogy and Insomnia (also not original movies) but his most recent products have been stellar and very much original.

Secondly, although Nolan has been well known for having favorite actors that are often in his repertoire, he’s always willing to experiment if you will with actors that are somewhat questionable choices at first, but will prove to be excellent casting choices later on. Heath Ledger, Fionn Whitehead, John David Washington and Robert Pattinson first come to mind here, and although nothing can beat having Christian Bale in the roster, Nolan can really put his faith in actors that are not Bale. Coughs DAVID BOWIE coughs.

And thirdly… there’s the case of the premiere of the Christopher Nolan movies. The date of the premieres to be exact. While most sane directors would save their best work, for the last months and days of the year, he’s been doing the exact opposite.

That’s right. Take a look at the Nolan film premiere dates in the last decade or so. All but one are set outside of the normal Award season premiere time-frame. Interstellar had its premiere in November 2014, while every single one Christopher Nolan movie dating to the Dark Knight had its premiere in July. Check it out for yourself if you don’t believe me. And Tenet is no exception.

Tenet will hit theaters on July 17^th of this year and I guarantee that it will be sooo good that everybody will be talking about it all the way to December 2020.  You see, there’s the unwritten rule that if you want your movie to be even considered for the upcoming Award season, it’s best to set up the premiere from September onward. That doesn’t apply for Nolan. He’s that good that he doesn’t care.

Oh, and let me wrap this post by saying that despite being a 220 million dollar budget film, despite having premise based on an original idea, despite premiering in a month that’s usually set for summer blockbusters (think Transformers), and despite the fact that Tenet will be competing against movies like Ghostbusters Afterlife, Purge 5 and Morbius, Tenet will not only make a shit ton of money at the box office, you’re looking at least 5-6 Oscar nominations attached to the movie. At least.

And that my friends is my take on Tenet. The only movie that I’m hyped about in 2020. Tell me about your picks. I wanna know all about them.