Interstellar (2014)

[Rsyu]

I don't think there's any specific content that definitely says that -- I'll keep an eye out tomorrow when I see it again. But in the context of the story, why limit him (and her), especially to a point in time that was constraining on her end? It's convenient to the story, but not the reverse.

 

It says in the movie. Cooper specifically says "She's the one they chose"

[Dementeleus]

It says in the movie. Cooper specifically says "She's the one they chose"

 

Yes, she. But the concept of the tesseract -- as presented -- was complete manipulation/ability to observe her physical and temporal existence.

 

Perhaps I should mention that this is not one of the huge major issues I had with the movie, it's just an instance of arbitrarily constraining the story to force drama.

[Blankments]

Tele just wishes Nolan had spent his time filming a 3 hour version of Too Many Cooks instead of this drivel

 

 

Dee Wallace Stone: Cujo

Jack Nicholson:  Shining

Morgan Freeman:  Shawshank

Michael Clark Duncan:  Green Mile

Marcia Gay Harden:  The Mist

Fred Gwynne:  Pet Sematary

Kathy Bates:  Misery

River Phoenix:  Stand By Me

Richard Dawson:  The Running Man

Christopher Walken:  The Dead Zone

Edited September 12, 2015 by baumer

[Noctis]

Hopefully you'll enjoy it more tomorrow. I find it his best.

[Fancyarcher]

Oh boy...

 

Tentative B- to start with. Parts I really liked.... parts I thought were the worst stuff Nolan's ever done. Like, laughably bad. The ending saves it for me, I think (not the tesseract, the human stuff afterwards).

 

Oh yeah, and I'm 99% sure I sat next to Wil Wheaton.

 

You disappoint me Tele. I was expecting great things.

[4815162342]

For now...

 

B.

 

Take my Nolanite card away. But don't ever say I can't be objective. And that's not to say this opinion can wildly change either way with multiple viewings.

 

Space Bros still. If I had to give a letter grade my would hover between a B and B+ because of the strength of the first two acts.

[4815162342]

Oh boy...

 

Tentative B- to start with. Parts I really liked.... parts I thought were the worst stuff Nolan's ever done. Like, laughably bad. The ending saves it for me, I think (not the tesseract, the human stuff afterwards).

 

Oh yeah, and I'm 99% sure I sat next to Wil Wheaton.

 

Now things get interesting

[4815162342]

Here is one thing that's been nagging me:

 

If Michael Caine secretly believed that Plan A would never work and Plan B had to be done, why would he send only a single female on the mission. Presumably under Plan B, the female astronauts would have to be surrogate mothers for a long period of pregnancies, so having only a single female would really slow down the repopulation plan for a generation. Plus I imagine it would suck to have to go through a pregnancy every year while the male guys sit around and do...other things I guess.

[Lordmandeep]

Not sure if serious.... 

 

 

I did both seemed tedious at the theater . 

[ShouldIBeHere]

 

Parts I really liked.... parts I thought were the worst stuff Nolan's ever done. Like, laughably bad. The ending saves it for me, I think (not the tesseract, the human stuff afterwards).

 

Totally agree about the bold part... though the bookshelf part and the shallow philosophing (and Hathaway's love speech is imho almost cringe-worthy) during the entire movie brought it down much farer for me (C/C-).

Edited November 9, 2014 by ShouldIBeHere

[baumer]

So its not just me.

[Noctis]

So its not just me.

Go watch it again. At least they understood it.

[filmlover]

Wow. This was definitely an experience. While it won't be for everyone (this is arguably the most 2001-esque movie since...2001: A Space Odyssey), Christopher Nolan has crafted an astonishing and emotionally rich sci-fi epic that will give the viewer plenty to think about. I'm still processing the movie, actually. There are a lot of interesting themes presented here, dealing with time, space travel, pain, and love. Matthew McConaughey continues his recent string of excellent performances with a central performance that is moving in an understated matter. Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, and Michael Caine all deliver strong support, with special mention also going to young actress Mackenzie Foy (who was previously seen as the daughter in the Twilight finale). And Matt Damon (yes, you read that correctly) is also very good as a character who doesn't appear until the third act and plays a rather important role. But as good as the cast is, the star of Interstellar is really Nolan's incredible direction. This movie is a full-on big screen spectacle that should be seen on as big a screen as you can possibly find. The special effects and sound design match what we saw in Gravity last year in terms of perfection, while Hans Zimmer delivers another excellent score to accompany the sensational visuals. While not quite Nolan's best (which speaks more to the strength of his filmography more than anything else), Interstellar is nevertheless an effective, emotional motion picture that is a spectacle that needs to be seen (especially on an IMAX screen) to be truly believed. A

[The Panda]

Reading these reviews it appears I should watch this at home by self then with my friends at theaters 

 

No, watch this in theaters for the sake of the visual experience.

 

I saw it last night in 70mm Film and it was easily one of the best films of the year, it's just very easy to go over a viewers head, and it really warrants multiple viewings.  I'm not sure if it's my favorite of the year yet but it's a contender.

[The Panda]

The last thirty minutes belong to the best cinematic experiences of my life. Scratch that, last 45 minutes or whatever it is after Matt Damon explodes.

 

Yeah, it was really quality material before Damon imploded, but that 3rd act brought it up so much.  People also need to look at it from an artisitc and thematic level rather than a flat plot level, there are so many thematic reasons why everything that happens has to happen.

[mattmav45]

Theatrical as fuck.

No matter what you may believe about Nolan there is very little doubt of the man's power in the cinema world. Every Nolan release feels like a bigger cinematic event than before. I am not a Nolan hater by any means, and have liked some of his films quite a bit in the past. The problem I have always had with Nolan concerns the somewhat mechanical and calculated devices Nolan is prone to use in his films. Unfortunately for me as a viewer, such is very much the case here.

It makes sense to begin with the run time here, and I'll be frank and just state that the three hour run time here is a bit ridiculous. As I look back on my viewing last night it is in fact hard to remember just how it achieved that run time in the first place. What that tells me is there is a good amount of bloat to the script that could have been cut off. The initial scenes at the farm are a good example of this. No doubt those were meant to set-up and lay the foundation for the future, but I found it failed to really develop any of the characters and instead just treaded water for the first part of the film.

The film as a whole is very disjointed and almost acts as three different scenes in a play. Each third of the film stands out and differs quite a bit from one another. While that may not be a problem in and of itself, a problem enters the pictureas a result of the scenes not feeling connected to each other in any real manner. Nolan has never been a very fluid or organic film-maker, but this would have come in handy here. The transitions here were nothing less than jarring, plain and simple.

There is a concerted attempt at providing an emotional undercurrent that drives the film and story, and unfortunately this is where the film completely loses me. I'll be clear here and say the tears flow freely and throughout the film. McConaughey in particular could fill up half of the damn Amazon River with his tear-flowing prowess. The problem with all this emotion is that not only does it detract from the power of space exploration, but is quite frankly a laughable device tailored to providing emotion. I can understand how it worked for some, but for me it merely served to under-cut the power that is already inherent in space exploration, particularly when such exploration is aimed at saving the human race.

I'll end with a short spiel concerning the depth that this film provides. I couldn't help but feel that too much time in the film is spent trying to tell you how deep everything is instead of letting that depth come naturally. This is a film about deep space exploration aimed at saving the human race. All this avant garde dialogue served once again to under-cut the innate power of space exploration.

I didn't want to put any thoughts down after my viewing yesterday as these are themes best returned to after a night of sleep and rest. Unfortunately, a night of sleep merely confirmed that the depth here is fleeting in nature at best. That third act seemed cool after the initial viewing, but upon reflection it is not the kind of story-telling that warrants comparisons to 2001 and so on.

It's big, it's ballsy, and it's ambitious, but in the end it never understands where the true source of its power should ultimately reside.

Edited November 9, 2014 by mattmav45

[#ED]

Tele watch it again.

My 2nd favorite Nolan movie.

Tele, you definetly missed some stuff there.

[Dementeleus]

I hated Matt Damon section. HATED it. I thought the character wasn't well-conceived, didn't have enough development for that sort of psychological twist, thought his speechifying was painfully on the nose and ludicrous, I thought Damon was terribly miscast... I hated it. I mean, I think SUNSHINE's big Pinbacker reveal (and psychological study) was better executed.

When he and McConaughey start swinging away at each other, I almost started laughing.

This whole chunk of the story was uninspired and felt completely un-necessary; I would've bought it with better established characters, better dialogue, and better casting (Matt friggin' Damon?!), but not as it was presented.

In terms of the rest of the movie, once I realized that the movie was going to lurch from one section to another with sudden reveals of hugely convenient info dumps, I was fine with it. I loved the elegiac feel of the early scenes, I loved the blastoff and the Dylan Thomas quote (the first time, not so much the 455 other times), the space stuff in general... and despite the complete gloopiness of the ending, I finally bought in to that as well.

Nolan really is rather thuddingly literal at times -- I feel a defter, less explanatory touch would've served him well here.

[Dementeleus]

Tele watch it again.

My 2nd favorite Nolan movie.

Tele, you definetly missed some stuff there.

I don't think I missed anything. Care to elaborate? (I'm seeing it again in 2 hours).

[CoolioD1]

I don't think I missed anything. Care to elaborate? (I'm seeing it again in 2 hours).

He did the math...