If one director can be said to have brought a touch of class to mainstream Hollywood blockbusters it's without a doubt Christopher Nolan. Both his visual style and consideration of character and narrative is a far cry from the ADHD-inducing cacophony of noise and explosions which pass for Michael Bay movies. When it comes to understanding how a director finds a style and rhythm for which they are best known, going straight to the horse's mouth is the best way of discovering the movies which inspired them. As Paul Thomas Anderson said when asked about his own career as a director, "My filmmaking education consisted of finding out what filmmakers I liked were watching, then seeing those films." Watching Nolan's films and you can't help but be struck by a particular formality to his compositions and the clarity of mise-en-scène accomplished through judicious editing. The lack of showy camerawork and fast cuts is one of the reasons why they stand out as far more mature than most of the competition. How much of this aesthetic sensibility can be drawn from the films Nolan himself admires depends on the film in question. Here are ten incredible films which come with a strong recommendation from Christopher Nolan. If you haven't already seen them make sure you check them out soon.
