Now that “The Bikeriders” is out, what do you think of his general oeuvre? Favorite movie? Is he living up to his potential?
He’s also working on adaptions of Cormac McCarthys final two novels.
Really now!
I hadn't really considered it but I kinda think if anyone could do a decent adaptation of Suttree it might be him
Yeah I agree with you! I think his sensibilities align pretty well with McCarthy’s.
Fun fact: his brother Ben Nichols is a musician and did a whole album based on Blood Meridian
That is a perfect director/subject pairing
It’s The Passenger and Stella Maris, I think.
Midnight Special was fantastic. Did not expect it to be so damn good.
I think he's also developing his remake of Alien Nation
He's always been one of my favorite working American directors. Love all his movies despite having not seen Loving (or Bikeriders) yet.
Captures a part of America rarely seen to the world outside of it.
Mud, Take Shelter, and Shotgun Stories are movies i would recommend to foreigners not familiar with the US outside of the big cities.
Take Shelter is incredible.
Mud and Midnight Special are good.
Haven’t seen Bikeriders or Loving.
I don’t want to go against the spirit of this sub, but I would highly recommend giving mud another watch based on your rating.
Midnight Special I get - I once heard someone describe it as a movie where the most interesting stuff takes place before and after what we see in the film. And Nichols himself said he cut out as much exposition as possible to just focus on the characters
Even still, boy do I love that movie
But I think that’s just because he’s also one of my favorite directors of the past 15-20 years
No worries! I should give it a rewatch. I was spoiled on Take Shelter first and maybe might have had expectations going in.
There doesn’t seem to be a big punk crossover in this community, but I know about him because of his brother. Ben Nichols has been the front for the band Lucero for 20 something years and while not punk these days, there are staple in my world. The first song I heard of theirs was actually Bikeriders (which is in the movie I think)
All that aside, I love Mud
I liked Lucero before seeing his movies. I remember being like "oh cool the Lucero guy made a pretty nice song for Take Shelter" not knowing Ben's name.
Same for me, I knew Ben and Lucero first.
I really liked Bikeriders. I've seen some carping about a bad Act 2 but it's an adaptation of actual events and seems faithful to that. In a lot of ways it reminds me of Zodiac. Different thematics but fidelity to recreating the past accurately. Also not sentimental about its protagonists. I really liked it.
Really enjoy his work, Mud is probably my favourite. Seeing Bikeriders tomorrow and looking forward to it.
Take Shelter a great American film
Only seen Loving and Take Shelter, gonna try to see Bikeriders this weekend. Generally like him. He has a sense of place that eludes a lot of directors. I find his work a little emotionally distant.
I definitely recommend Midnight Special because to see if you connect with it emotionally. It's also his most fun movie since it's his stab at a Spielberg, Carpenter, Stephen King mashup. I also think Mud has a chance to connect too.
I get the emotional distance with Take Shelter and even Loving since it has to hit some pretty standard biopic beats.
You found Take Shelter emotionally distant? That's really interesting. Both Mud and Take Shelter had me in tears.
Take Shelter fucking rules. Shotgun Stories also excellent. I'd rank Midnight Express in third and Loving and Mud tied for after but both good watches too. Would not be interested in Bikeriders if not for Nichols and Mike Shannon so i will probably wait til its streaming.
He is imo the greatest slept on American filmmaker alive today.
The dude doesn't have a single bad film. They all take from good to phenomenal and has one of the greatest first films.
The guy doesn't get a fraction of the props he deserves
Couldn’t agree more
I really like him but feel like he could still get to another level. Mud, Take Shelter, and Midnight Special are all very good imo, but I don’t think he’s made anything great yet. I saw Shotgun Stories many years ago and can’t remember that much about it. Loving was fine. Based on the reaction to The Bikeriders so far, it seems like another good not great entry in his filmography.
He’s clearly a very honest, thoughtful director and I remember liking Mud in particular but he’s also a bit boring. Interested in The Bike Riders though!
Great filmmaker.z
LOVING is a masterpiece.
Was really impressed by take shelter and shotgun stories. Appreciate a southern voice out there that isn’t whatever Taylor Sheridan is doing now
One of my favorite working directors. Take Shelter was the first time a movie had ever given me a panic attack (not necessarily a negative!).
Shotgun Stories is so, so excellent, and it’s been damn-near impossible to see because of complicated rights issues that have now been resolved - a new Blu-ray just dropped so you should see it if you haven’t.
Take Shelter, Mud, and Midnight Special rip so fucking hard. If those three movies were released in any other decade all by the same director, people would be universally lauding this person as the next DePalma or something. Jeff Nichols is definitely “one of my guys”.
i like that guy. really especially loved Midnight Special. met him 2x at Sundance for Mud and Take Shelter and he is a nice man.
I’ve liked all his movies that I’ve seen. ‘Take Shelter’ and ‘Loving’ are at the top of my list, but ‘Mud’ and ‘The Bikeriders’ are both really good. I saw ‘The Bikeriders’ as the Cinemark Secret Movie earlier this week, and I really liked it! I’m going to see it with my teen daughter this weekend. She’s more interested in Austin Butler and Mike Faist than Jeff Nichols and Michael Shannon. Something for each of us to enjoy!
He’s my favorite filmmaker working today. Take Shelter and Midnight Special are two of my all-time favorite films, period. Plus, most movies suffer from a lack of Michael Shannon, so Nichols’ filmography should be classified as humanitarian aid.
He's one of my favorite filmmakers he captures America, specifically white America, in a way that I find refreshing. He has this unblinking honesty to it and no real ounce of nostalgia glasses. He does imbue his characters with enough humanity to make you invested, but the movies outside of Loving don't ever feel like they're on the characters' side.
His work has such a texture to it that when you're watching these movies, you feel like you've known these people forever. His use of camera really feels like a pair of eyes watching and visiting the place and the story he's telling.
I wish he was more known becuz he's severely underrated. Always thought he would have made a great Superman movie.
His brother's band Lucero is one of my favorites and he has a song based on this book on their Nobody's Darling record. https://youtu.be/tjXiTFR464U?si=TOxKyjwkRYtbb4pc
Love that band so much.
https://youtu.be/H5wW3AuUGik?si=sQ75AaEXndhJlJss
Also he’s a great director and lovely dude.
I don't think of any of his films as perfect but they're always interesting and I've never regretted watching one. Still haven't caught up with Loving though that seems to be very well regarded.
I'm a big Ben nichols fan so excited for bike riders though I haven't seen any of his movies yet
His interview on Big Picture today got me more interested in him. Otherwise I saw Mud in the theater and really like it. I will be seeing Bikeriders this weekend.
i liked midnight special wasnt a fan of take shelter or mud
One of "my guys"...Mud is up there for 2010s for me, Midnight Special was totally underrated. Really enjoyed Bikeriders.
He's been one of my guys as I think he really gets middle America and the south. He also made one of the great films of my home state (Take Shelter).
I highly recommend Shotgun Stories to those who haven't checked it out. It's rough around the edges, but there was a time that I thought it might be his best movie.
He had a Cuban Revolution movie in development with Adam Driver called Yankee Comandante before the Bikeriders that I would really love to get made, but I'm not sure if that's happening. I don't really get why he was in director jail and/or development purgatory for so long.
Excellent. Hasn’t made a bad movie yet.
I think he rocks, one of my favorite modern filmmakers.
He’s allsome
Shannon - ALWAYS
I am DYING for a copy of his ALIEN NATION script - which was a project that got killed as part of the Fox/Disney merger. The only details I have is that it was to take place in Arkansas- and Michael Shannon was going to be in it.
I heard it started out as an original concept, then got the Alien Nation IP grafted onto it, only now its at Paramount back to being an original story.
Curious where it is, and if we’ll see it one day.
Like him, don't love him. Bikeriders just didn't hit for me at all, but the rest of his filmography ranges from "not bad" to "pretty good"
To try to quantify it, basically everything he's done is a 7/10 or 8/10, then Bikeriders is like a 5/10.
His beard is good.
Just a compliment to him. Just a compliment to him about his beard being good.
I thought he was a great director until yesterday
He’s great. Take shelter and mud are singular works that I think he could really only make. He understands the American south better than most that’s for sure. I like Loving and Midnight special as well. He’s also working on adaptions of Cormac McCarthys final two novels. Need to see the bike riders. Should see it this weekend. In my opinion, he’s one of the better “indie” film directors of the last 25 years.