M: Michael Caine
Michael Caine has now been in the last five films directed by Christopher Nolan. This means that, out of all the actors Nolan uses in more than one of his films, Michael Caine is in the most of them. First appearing as Alfred in Batman Begins then he was in The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception and finally in The Dark Knight Rises. He's a very talented actor and Nolan has him in roles where he helps the protagonist question their actions - whatever they may be - and his roles are often as the moral compass of the film. His best performance so far in Nolan's films has been his most recent; his final turn as Bruce Wayne's butler and father-figure Alfred was the most emotionally charged we have seen him in a while. Despite only being in the film for less than 30 minutes we still left the cinema thinking about how well he had performed. Hopefully, this isn't the last we see of him and Nolan working together.
N: Non-Linear
A lot of Nolan's films do not flow through in a normal fashion; he often includes flashbacks and the same series of events viewed with the eyes of different characters in his films. The best example of this is in Memento where the entire film comes in little bits and pieces meaning you have to try and figure things out along with Shelby until the end where everything is made clear. Doing this means that his films are not merely popcorn fodder, you have to pay attention to his films which is a reason why he doesn't like too much CGI in his films as these are things which distract the audience from the actual plot.
O: Overrated?
Every director will have their critics. Nolan has only directed ten films so far and because the majority of them are well received giving him a huge fan base, there are many who don't understand why people love his work so much. They point out the little plot holes like 'how did Bruce Wayne manage to get back into Gotham after escaping from the pit in The Dark Knight Rises?' Answering back with 'Because he's Batman.' is not enough unfortunately. Inception is of an acquired taste of course; not everyone likes seeing people go in a dream within a dream within a dream to shoot some bad guys who aren't real but can still hurt them for no reason. The Dark Knight Trilogy isn't for everyone either; some people prefer Tim Burton's image of Batman, some people can't be bothered listening to Christian Bale's weird grizzly bear with a sore throat impression and would rather enjoy some George Clooney. People don't like Nolan's work, and that's fine because there's no one in the entertainment industry who is liked by everyone. Nolan is often described as the most overrated director working today but - is he really?