Just came back from Dunkirk
I'm pretty conflicted since it was really well made, beautifully shot and did a great job putting you in the headspace of a soldier during war, but on the flip side I fucking hated it. (and maybe that was the point, since war is awful). I felt super tense and uncomfortable the whole time and that's not really my thing when it comes to seeking out the escapism of the cinema. If that's what Nolan was going for, than mission accomplished.
It also did a piss poor job of establishing the structure or what the fuck was going on. Only half way through the movie did I figure out that I was watching a Tarantino film basically since none of it was chronological and they cut back and forth between 3 different stories which took place over 3 different time frames, which made it really confusing to follow. One took place over an hour, one took place over a day and the other took place over a week, but they were all meshed together and it lost me. It kept cutting directly from day to night and it was really screwing me up. It was so esoteric and honestly felt like an art film. I felt nothing for these characters. I knew nothing about them and just could not get invested. yet this is the stylistic choice that nolan made.
Now contrast that with Saving private Ryan which was super cohesive and also captured the horrors of war, but was a film that I walked away feeling very satisfied.
Now, there's plenty of people that loved Dunkirk and I totally respect that. Nolan was going for something very specific stylistically and it is a good film in that regard. It just wasn't for me. And despite me not liking it, I will give it its props. For what it is, its a home run.