The journey begins. Jake and Marshall discuss Books 1–4 of Robert Fagles’ and Emily Wilson’s translations of The Odyssey, which translation they prefer so far, and initial thoughts on how Christopher Nolan may approach his adaptation. Plus, the return of the regular Nolan News and What Else Have You Been Watching? segments. Follow along with your preferred translation (or both).
Much like Odysseus… we have returned! [insert BWOOOMM noise here] Christopher Nolan has also returned and is currently filming his adaptation of The Odyssey.
Season 2 of Friends at Dusk finds Jake and Marshall exploring all things Odyssey-related: Different translations! Film and TV adaptations! Matt Damon just trying to go home! Join us for all-new episodes of Nolan talk, coming soon.
Buy Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey on Bookshop.org
Listen to Claire Danes narrate Emily Wilson’s translation of The Odyssey on Audible (Only available on Audible)
Buy Robert Fagles’ translation of The Odyssey on Bookshop.org
Listen to Ian McKellen narrate Robert Fagles’ translation of The Odyssey on Audible
Buy The Nolan Variations on Bookshop.org
Episode-by-episode media list (Google Doc)
Instagram: @friendsatduskpod
Marshall’s Letterboxd: @MDoig
Jake’s Letterboxd: @808jake_
Oppenheimer is an Academy Award-winning film! Christopher Nolan and co. took home seven Oscars on Sunday night, including Best Picture and Best Director, and Jake and Marshall are here to recap it all. Plus, we talk about what else we liked in the ceremony, and where we think Nolan will go next now that he has an Oscar.
Happy Oscars Sunday! Jake and Marshall are back with more in-depth predictions on how Oppenheimer will fare tonight, as well as some predictions on what should win, what they hope will win, and some memories from Oscars ceremonies past. Will Christopher Nolan finally win his own golden statue? Fill out those ballots and get ready for the red carpet, and we’ll see you after the Academy Awards to see how well our predictions held up.
Today we’re joined by a very special guest. Tom Shone, the author of The Nolan Variations himself, talked to us for a bit to promote the upcoming paperback version of his book about the films of Christopher Nolan, now with a new chapter on Oppenheimer.
We talked to Shone about writing that new chapter, Oppenheimer’s Oscars chances, what it was like working with Nolan, and more!
We’re back for another bonus episode! On Tuesday morning, Oppenheimer got 13 nominations for the 96th Academy Awards. Jake and Marshall are here to talk about their predictions for the film as well as some other general Oscars talk. We’ll be back soon once the ceremony is closer!
We’re back! It’s a holiday miracle. On this episode, Jake and Marshall are talking all about the most anticipated physical media release of the year: Oppenheimer on 4K Blu-ray.
The title quickly sold out at multiple outlets, but we each managed to get a copy so we could take a gander at all those sweet, sweet bonus features. Topics covered this episode include the importance of physical media (always), Spotify Wrapped stats from our listeners, and our favorite bonus features on the Blu-ray.
(Audio quality note: Due to a recording issue there is a faint, intermittent echo on Marshall’s track.)
The finale, the ending, the cut to black — whatever you call it, this is it! (For now.)
In this wrapup episode, Jake and Marshall look back on their yearlong journey through Christopher Nolan’s films and influences. Topics include the newly published Oppenheimer script, alternate names for the podcast, what's next, and of course, the guys’ (latest) official Nolan rankings.
Thank you so much for joining us, and we'll see you at the beginning, friends.
Chapters
One episode wasn’t enough. Now that Barbenheimer Fever has gripped the nation, Jake and Marshall discuss their theatrical experience seeing Barbie and Oppenheimer on the same day in Austin, and delve deeper into the themes of Oppenheimer.
We did it! We made it to Oppenheimer. Here’s a quick episode on Jake and Marshall’s immediate thoughts about Christopher Nolan’s latest film, from the score to the editing to the performances and how well Nolan adapts Bird & Sherwin’s American Prometheus. More thoughts to come later!
It’s almost time! This is our last episode until Oppenheimer premieres in wide release. As such, we prepared as much as we can by reading American Prometheus, Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin’s exhaustive biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer.
We also watched The Day After Trinity, the 1981 documentary that chronicles the events of the Los Alamos test and acts as a kind of CliffsNotes on American Prometheus.
So join us for this freewheeling episode, and get ready for July 21.
All we have for you is a word: Podcast.
That’s right, it’s Tenet time. This week, Jake and Marshall take a look at Christopher Nolan’s most recent film to date, a Dudes Rock tale of time travel wrapped up in a James Bond plot.
Also discussed: How Tenet’s release schedule changed the film industry as we know it, how Tenet acts as a bridge from Dunkirk to Oppenheimer, and how Tenet is the Most Nolan Film to ever exist — at least, that is, until Oppenheimer comes out next week.
Cold War espionage and spycraft is the name of the game on today’s episode. Jake and Marshall take a look at how much Christopher Nolan drew on influences like Alfred Hitchcock and John le Carré for Tenet, Nolan’s version of a James Bond film.
Here you’ll find a look at Hitchcock’s North by Northwest and how it led to the Bond film franchise, as well as a close reading of the ins and outs of the spy trade in le Carré’s novel The Night Manager.
Grab your headphones and have a listen. Or, in the spirit of Tenet, maybe you’ve already listened, and you just don’t know it.
“All we did was survive.”
“That’s enough.”
This week on the pod, Jake and Marshall discuss all things Dunkirk: The script, the score, the spectacle, and the smaller moments that feel like spectacle. They also look at how this film succeeds at balancing its tone where Ryan’s Daughter fails. Come along for an episode about Nolan’s most contradictory film yet.
Summer’s coming, so we thought we’d celebrate with a trip to the beach. But this is a Christopher Nolan podcast, so this beach trip involves real-life stories of the men who evacuated Dunkirk in 1940 and tales of adultery amid Irish and British tensions. Join Jake and Marshall as they get ready to watch Dunkirk by discussing two of its key influences: David Lean’s film Ryan’s Daughter and Joshua Levine’s oral history book Forgotten Voices of Dunkirk.
Christopher Nolan’s longest film to date is also the one considered to be his most emotional. Interstellar is a space-travel epic that combines all of the director’s themes: Time, guilt, foils, multiple narratives, maximalism, and minimalism. It’s also the Nolan film that Jake and Marshall are the most emotional about. So S.T.A.Y. right there and listen to them chat about love, time, and space.
It’s an emergency episode! Join Marshall and Jake as they talk about the latest trailer for Oppenheimer.
Topics covered from this new glimpse of the film: American patriotism, Matt Damon’s penchant for hamminess, Cillian Murphy’s eyes, ticking countdowns, huge cast lists, and more. Join us as we overanalyze this footage as we get closer and closer to Oppenheimer’s release date.
Look, we know Contact isn’t mentioned anywhere in The Nolan Variations, but it’s our podcast, so we do what we want. There’s no way to talk about Interstellar without talking about Contact, the other movie where Matthew McConaughey and a strong female lead (in this case, Jodie Foster) wrestle with questions about faith, love, science, and space. Join us as we talk about the many similarities between Contact and Interstellar, plus a look at “The Library of Babel,” another Jorge Luis Borges short story.
All good things come to an end eventually. Don’t worry, we’re still continuing this podcast, but this episode marks the end of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Join Jake and Marshall as they discuss The Dark Knight Rises and how effective it is as a trilogy-capper, and what this trilogy did for the wave of superhero films that followed.
“I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss.”
The theme of this episode: Revolution. Join Jake and Marshall as they look at Charles Dickens’ historical fiction epic A Tale of Two Cities and Gillo Pontecorvo’s neorealist film The Battle of Algiers and examine how the two are related to each other and how they influenced Christopher Nolan while making the final chapter of his Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises.
