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Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Christopher Nolan/archive1

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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by Gog the Mild via FACBot (talk) 13 January 2023 [1].

Christopher Nolan

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Nominator(s):Sammyjankis88 and FrB.TG (talk) 19:48, 15 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Christopher Nolan is one of those rare filmmakers who make highly intelligent blockbusters, which ponder the bigger philosophical questions. His films leave you thinking for days. Nolan's work with IMAX technology and insistence on minimalising the use of CGI have been highly influential. One of his films (which BTW is also at FAC currently) redefined the modern superhero genre as we know today and is the third highest-rated film on IMDb. I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.

Sammyjankis88, who is the primary author of the article, asked me three years ago if I would be interested in working on Nolan-related articles for FA. Sadly, they have been inactive since February. I recently decided to give it a go and did some reworking and strengthening of the article, including employing more literary sources and adding a bit more on his filmmaking style but I have left it at three solid paragraphs as I think this article, also authored by Sammyjankis88, does an excellent job of explaining it in greater details. FrB.TG (talk) 19:48, 15 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by John M Wolfson

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Watching this and will review this shortly. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 00:22, 21 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Apologies if I have not fully incorporated the relevant quote's wikitext/linkage here.

  • His father, Brendan, was a British advertising executive who worked as a creative director. Link, or explain, "creative director" for us yanks. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 01:50, 30 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • He has an elder brother, Matthew, and a younger brother, Jonathan, also a filmmaker. This might imply that Matthew is a filmmaker. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 01:50, 30 December 2022 (UTC) No it doesn't, I'm just stupid. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 02:00, 30 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • Shortly after abandoning Larry Mahoney, Nolan conceived the idea for his first feature, Maybe link/explain "feature" for the non-filmies, if you are so inclined. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 01:50, 30 December 2022 (UTC) Nevermind, it appears "feature film" is already earlier in the text. Maybe link it, but that would be SEAOFBLUE. Hmmm. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 01:52, 30 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • and reside in Los Angeles, California Just say "Los Angeles". Even better would be a neighborhood, but I definitely understand if that is private information. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 01:50, 30 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
  • Nolan's films are majorly centred in metaphysical themes, exploring the concepts of time, memory and personal identity. Do time and memory really need to be linked? – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 01:50, 30 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
No, they don't. De-linked.

That's pretty much it for me. I'm already inclined to support, but would just like to see if these would be addressed. – John M Wolfson (talk • contribs) 01:50, 30 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, John M Wolfson. These should all be done. FrB.TG (talk) 12:01, 30 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Comments from HAL

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  • I would add one sentence on Oppenheimer to the lead.
I'm not a big fan of including future work in the lead. We can certainly add it when the film releases in July.
  • Very minor, but maybe switch "existentialism and epistemology" so that they are in alphabetical order
  • "by the work of Ridley Scott, and the science fiction films" --> I don't think the comma is needed after "Scott"
  • I would link "Josephite"
I'm not sure which one it refers to. I removed it altogether as it's somewhat trivial anyway.
  • 16 mm film is linked twice
  • "Following, Memento and Insomnia" missing an Oxford comma, which is used everywhere else in the article
I generally try to do without Oxford comma, but I have intentionally used it in places like "themes of self-destruction, the truth's nature and value, and the political mindset of the hero and villain" to clarify to which category the individual themes belong.
  • "screenplay for a biopic based on Howard Hughes's life" --> A biopic is by definition based on somebody's life, I would shorten to something more concise, maybe just "screenplay for a Howard Hughes biopic"
  • "Many critics cite The Dark Knight as 'the most successful comic book film ever made'" seems somewhat superfluous
On the contrary, I think this is a very distinctive achievement, especially considering that there are many other superhero films that are more commercially successful than TDK. It just goes to show how much of an impact the film had.
  • "released a statement to the press" --> Maybe remove "to the press" for concision
  • "The Dark Knight trilogy inspired a trend in future superhero films seeking to replicate its gritty, realistic tone to little success" --> This is discussed in two separate places, I would try to concentrate them in one location
  • "American Journal of Physics" should be italicized
  • I would link 70mm
  • "The film tells the story of a CIA agent who travels through time to stop a world-threatening attack" Was he really a CIA agent?
  • "Nolan secured the deal with Universal after..." I would clarify that he was upset with Warner's HBO Max releases
  • "IndieWire wrote in 2019" --> IndieWire shouldn't be italicized
  • "making him the most commercially successful filmmaker from the British Isles since Alfred Hitchcock" Hitchcock's film's made over $5 billion?...
Good catch. I rechecked the source to see if I missed something but that is in fact what the source says. Maybe Hitchcock's films are adjusted for inflation? In any case, I have removed this part.
  • "The Dark Knight, Inception and Interstellar" Another missing Oxford comma

Solid work. It might be nice to see this as "Today's Featured Article" when Oppenheimer releases. ~ HAL333 22:03, 22 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your reveiw, HAL333. It should be all done unless I have stated otherwise. If this FAC passes, I will definitely nominate it for this to be TFA on the day of Oppenheimer's release. FrB.TG (talk) 09:43, 23 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I'm content with the fixes. Support. ~ HAL333 03:31, 24 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Comments by Wehwalt

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  • "Christina, was an American flight attendant who would later work as an English teacher." If English was her subject rather than her subsequent nationality, I might say she was a "teacher of English"
Good catch on that ambiguity; done.
  • Was Christina resident in Illinois and that is why the childhood was split? It might be useful to note that his parents did not reside together (if so).
I didn't find any indication in any source that the couple lived apart. I added that Christina was from Illinois to clarify why the family spent their summers there.
  • "His uncle, who worked at NASA building guidance systems for the Apollo rockets," I might say "had worked" since the last Apollo capsule to fly did so in 1975.
  • " corporate videos and industrial films.[16][14][17]" Is it your intent to have refs out of numerical order?
  • You don't define "UCLU" though you do "UCL".
  • " an unreleased project that was scrapped." Isn't this redundant?
  • I seem to recall that quote boxes are not to be in darker colors, possibly because of accessibility, but I can't seem to find it in the MOS offhand.
  • "Initially reluctant to make a sequel, he agreed some time after Warner Bros. insisted." I'm not clear on what "some time" is intended to convey to the reader.
  • "and for that The Quay Brothers in 35mm will always be one of latter's most important contributions to cinema".[122][123]" Is there a missing "the" before latter's?
  • "the truth's nature and value" maybe "the nature and value of the truth"?
  • "His films have earned $4.9 billion." Since this figure is from a 2015 source, it might be useful to say "as of" (and look for a more updated figure)
  • "not Academy Award-nominated" perhaps "not nominated for an Academy Award"
That's it.--Wehwalt (talk) 15:32, 24 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you, Wehwalt. All done as suggested. FrB.TG (talk) 20:37, 24 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Hello Wehwalt. Sorry for the ping but I was wondering if you had anything more to add. FrB.TG (talk) 12:01, 30 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Support.—Wehwalt (talk) 12:05, 30 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Source review - spotchecks not done

  • FN57 is missing author, and should be styled as Film Comment
  • FN61 doesn't match author formatting of other refs
  • RogerEbert.com is a work title and should be italicized. Ditto Collider, check for others
  • What makes SuperHeroHype a high-quality reliable source? Daily Beast?
  • FN158 is missing publication date. Ditto FN185, check throughout
  • FN182 is missing author. Ditto FN185, check throughout
  • Be consistent in if/when you include ISSN
  • Check alphabetization of Cited sources
  • Be consistent in how journal citations are formatted. Nikkimaria (talk) 19:07, 30 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you, Nikkimaria. All done except for two things: The Daily Beast source is an official interview with Nolan so it should be okay in this context IMO, and FN182 (now 183) does not have an article author. It does say Melinda Sue Gordon but I think that's the image author. FrB.TG (talk) 20:27, 30 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not aware of a lower bar for reliability of interviews - would you be able to point me to where I could review the consensus on that point?
Re 182/3: it does have an author, they've just chosen to list the author at the bottom of the article instead of the top. Also suggest going over the formatting throughout again - there's now a cite error in FN108, still a missing date in FN191, etc. Nikkimaria (talk) 20:36, 30 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
My point was that since it's an official interview, the claims come straight from the horse's mouth, but I also understand the concern that an unreliable source could fabricate the interview and quotes; Daily Beast removed. After another recheck, I have added a couple more dates and authors. FrB.TG (talk) 21:36, 30 December 2022 (UTC)[reply]
Hi, I removed/replaced the unreliable sources and I think I caught all the sources missing publication dates/authors. Unless Nikkimaria has (other) concerns, I have nothing else to add. FrB.TG (talk) 11:49, 12 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Nope, should be good. Nikkimaria (talk) 23:45, 12 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Image review

Cheers, Ian Rose (talk) 23:16, 7 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Hello, Ian Rose. Thank you for the image review. Soderbergh image removed since I couldn’t find any working archived link either. FrB.TG (talk) 23:40, 7 January 2023 (UTC)[reply]


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