Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: The Prestige (2006)

6/19/2023

The Prestige (2006) - Nolan's overrated magician picture

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Two familiar male star leads and a hazy female star wedged between them make up this dark, enigmatic poster for Christopher Nolan's The Prestige

Robert Angier and Alfred Borden are magicians in Victorian era London, feuding over a prestigious teleportation trick.

The Prestige is written by Jonathan Nolan (Interstellar (2014)) and his brother, English master filmmaker Christopher Nolan (Following (1998)), whose 5th feature it is. It is an adaptation of the same-titled 1995 novel by Christopher Priest (Short Circuit (1986)).

It is an overrated film in which we have to take two men who make tall hats disappear gravely serious. Basic suspense and a teasing final image don't disguise that The Prestige suffers from miscasts in its female roles and general awkwardness.

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Memento (2000) - Nolan's overrated amnesia mindfuck
Following (1998) - Nolan's ineffectual debut

Watch a fan-made trailer for the film here

Cost: 40 mil. $

Box office: 109.6 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 2.74 times its cost)

[The Prestige premiered 17 October (Rome Film Fest) and runs 130 minutes. Shooting took place in June 2005 and from January - April 2006 in Colorado and California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #1 to a 14.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent 1 more weekend in the top 5 (#3), grossing 53 mil. $ (48.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 6.8 mil. $ (6.2 %) and Spain with 5.1 mil. $ (4.7 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars. It lost Best Cinematography (Wally Pfister (Batman Begins (2005)) to Guillermo Navarro for Pan's Labyrinth and Art Direction also to Pan's Labyrinth. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. IMDb's users have rated the film in at #42 on the site's Top 250 list, sitting between Whiplash (2014) and The Usual Suspects (1995). Nolan returned with The Dark Knight (2008). Hugh Jackman (Real Steel (2011)) returned with 2 voice performances, a TV-series performance and a short prior to his theatrical return in Deception (2008); Christian Bale (American Hustle (2013)) in 3:10 to Yuma (2007). The Prestige is certified fresh at 76 % with a 7.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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6/19/2023

The Prestige (2006) - Nolan's overrated magician picture

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