Author Topic: Interstellar anyone?  (Read 8469 times)

Offline scottws

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Interstellar anyone?
« on: Monday, October 27, 2014, 08:27:55 PM »
So Interstellar is right around the corner.  It has Christopher Nolan in the director's chair and McConaughey hot of the heels of stellar performances in both Dallas Buyer's Club and True Detective.  Who is biting?

The original teaser for this movie is easily my favorite I've ever seen.  I must have watched it thirty times by now.



I cannot wait!

Offline idolminds

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Re: Interstellar anyone?
« Reply #1 on: Monday, October 27, 2014, 09:19:31 PM »
I'm interested in it, but I don't know much of anything about it.

Though in the TV commercial I thought I saw Christian Bale and Michael Caine, so I was like "Holy shit they are making Batman in Space!"

Offline iPPi

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Re: Interstellar anyone?
« Reply #2 on: Monday, October 27, 2014, 09:23:53 PM »
I'm looking forward to it.  It looks more subdued compared to recent Nolan flicks.

Offline Quemaqua

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Re: Interstellar anyone?
« Reply #3 on: Monday, October 27, 2014, 10:33:21 PM »
First I've heard of it. Don't know anything about it either ... but that's definitely an awesome trailer. Curious to see more.

天才的な閃きと平均以下のテクニックやな。 課長有野

Offline ren

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Re: Interstellar anyone?
« Reply #4 on: Saturday, November 08, 2014, 08:46:38 PM »
I loved it. It's very similar in theme to Inception. If you liked that you'll like this.

Offline Cobra951

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Re: Interstellar anyone?
« Reply #5 on: Sunday, November 09, 2014, 02:46:46 AM »
From Ren's comment, I take it that the movie was released to the theaters on Friday.  I'm really interested, but I don't go to movie theaters at all anymore.  I hope it's not so popular that it takes forever to come to video.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Interstellar anyone?
« Reply #6 on: Thursday, November 20, 2014, 02:43:42 PM »
Oh this is certainly worth a watch. It is hauntingly beautiful at times yet deeply flawed as well. Probably Nolan's worst films in years yet also his best film in years.

Offline Cools!

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Re: Interstellar anyone?
« Reply #7 on: Tuesday, November 25, 2014, 04:46:31 PM »
I watched it last week. I agree with Pugnate's comment.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Interstellar anyone?
« Reply #8 on: Sunday, November 30, 2014, 02:18:25 AM »
So here is what I thought of he film:

http://www.dawn.com/news/1147069/interstellar-written-in-the-stars

"For mankind, few endeavors are as dauntingly complex as the colonisation of other planets; an event we are unlikely to have the pleasure of witnessing in our lifetimes.

In Interstellar, celebrated filmmaker Christopher Nolan imagines the possibility of such an endeavor in a future where planet Earth is nearly drained of its food resources, with mankind’s only hope of survival being space colonisation after an exciting scientific discovery.

To call Interstellar an ambitious film would be an understatement; it is perhaps the most sweeping epic to grace the silver screen in years, featuring both the haunting beauty of space travel as well as offering an absorbing examination of the human condition. A film of such grand scope was only perfected once by the late Stanley Kubrick, whose 2001: A Space Odyssey set the blueprint, and few filmmakers have taken on the futile task of matching Kubrick’s cinematic masterpiece.
Second perhaps only to the Stanley Kubrick masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar is a sweeping epic that fires the imagination

At the very least, Nolan should be admired for taking on such a herculean project, but sadly, it seems that the director bit off more than he could chew, for as entertaining as this science-fiction film is, the Interstellar engine sputters and coughs regularly, and at times when you least expect it.

From a filmmaker who has brought us narratively strong films such as Memento (2000) and The Dark Knight (2008), Nolan’s storytelling in Interstellar can be surprisingly clumsy. On occasions the dialogue is amusingly bad, dangerously close to chartering the territory where M. Night Shayamalan (Lady in the Water) has tragically planted his flag quite firmly.

To make matters worse, the narrative also flows unnaturally with scenes of needlessly long exposition only designed to bring the audience up to speed. This is especially true at the beginning of the film, where our hero, the widowed space explorer Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), has a strangely long political discussion with teachers at his children’s school to set up the film.

Interstellar fires on full thrusters in its second act. Here, the narrative also shakes off the earlier clunkiness as the film begins to bare its soul. In recent news in the real world, when volunteers were sought for the foolhardy mission of colonising Mars, countless people sought to be a part of the mission. If you are wondering how the love of being a pioneer of space exploration can drive human beings to put their lives at risk, then Interstellar may have your answers. It is a love that can’t be put into words, but must be felt instead.
If you are wondering how the love of being a pioneer of space exploration can drive human beings to put their lives at risk, then Interstellar may have your answers. It is a love that can’t be put into words, but must be felt instead.

Thankfully, the performances are good, and alongside Matthew McConaughey, who has hit the stratosphere as far as his career is concerned, Interstellar also features some actors familiar with Nolan’s earlier work such as Michael Caine (Professor Brand) and Anne Hathaway (Amelia Brand). Both play members of a NASA that is a shadow of its former self yet desperate to prevent mankind from hitting extinction.

If Interstellar fumbles in its dialogue it is absolutely mesmerising in its visualisation of space travel, the depiction of other planets beyond our solar system, wormholes, and of course the biggest enigmas known to mankind, black holes. A human being traversing through outer space is as insignificant as an ant crossing the ocean, and Interstellar drives this point home so effectively that it not only inspires awe but a little fear as well. Such scenes are wonderfully complimented by the magnificent score by Hans Zimmer. Meanwhile, some of the science in Interstellar was given a stamp of approval by the rock star of science, Neil deGrasse Tyson (although he did question the logic of colonising a planet near a black hole).

For viewers the most polarising aspect of Interstellar will be its fantastical third act, which will surely open up more debate than Inception, especially for those who paid attention to Dr Mann (Matt Damon)’s speech to Cooper during their altercation in the second act. Unfortunately, the ending uses scientific theory like a magic wand, neatly tying up all the plot holes like a cheap magic trick."

Also, I want to thank you guys for your feedback a few years ago. I remember Scottws pointing out that while he liked my review of a film I posted here, he said that at times it felt like he was reading a summary of the film. Since then I have made an effort to not do that. Or at least do it in a more natural manner.

Offline Cobra951

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Re: Interstellar anyone?
« Reply #9 on: Sunday, November 30, 2014, 04:57:26 AM »
Well, the thing about reviews is that I read them before I experience whatever subject they're reviewing (movie, game, whatever).  I don't want Cliff notes.  I don't want any part of it spoiled.  I just want to know if it's worth my time and money.  Dissecting things like the quality of the story, the acting and the cinematography is perfect.  Summarizing the plot is not.  I've gotten good at skipping entire paragraphs in reviews, because one prevalent attitude is that a review should take apart a story scene by scene.  I'd call that a post-mortem, not a review.  I understand that to someone who already finished a game or watched a movie, a post-mortem makes sense.  But the reviewers need to go a step further, and keep in mind who they're writing for.  Are they writing for a discussion forum for those experienced with the subject, or are they writing for people yet to experience it?

I think your review is well written, and not bad in the sense I just mentioned--immensely better than the egregious spoilers I have to dodge routinely in reviews every day.  I still skipped some lines when I felt the red flags go up.  But to be fair, I think I'm a lot more determined to stay in the dark about plot developments (in something I'm looking forward to, at least) than the norm.

One bit of grammar naziism: only a person can compliment; anything less sentient can only complement.  :)

Oh, and thank you!  Now I really want to see this.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Interstellar anyone?
« Reply #10 on: Sunday, November 30, 2014, 07:10:05 AM »
hahaha thanks! Yeah I can't believe I missed that. Too bad the editors didn't pick on it either. :/

Thanks for your feedback. I agree.

In regards to videogame reviews I can barely read any of them. I don't know if anyone actually reads them completely. I wish they could be more like film reviews, as in a fair taste of the game without describing every mechanic in the game just for the sake of it.

edit:

I know you don't like going to the cinema, but I feel similarly to Gravity, this film needs to be seen on the bigger screen.

edit:

Also, no need to apologize. There is nothing Grammar Nazi about it. An article published in the paper should be written perfectly.

Offline scottws

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Re: Interstellar anyone?
« Reply #11 on: Sunday, November 30, 2014, 09:01:11 AM »
Good review!  I don't even remember my earlier complaint you mentioned about another one of your reviews, but in any case you certainly avoided falling into that trap.

I do disagree with you on one part:  "To make matters worse, the narrative also flows unnaturally with scenes of needlessly long exposition only designed to bring the audience up to speed.  This is especially true at the beginning of the film, where our hero, the widowed space explorer Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), has a strangely long political discussion with teachers at his children’s school to set up the film."

Generally, all stories need a way to set up the characters and setting.  There are exceptions where a designed part of the experience is leaving you in the dark to just sort of slowly figure it out on your own through context, but this is pretty rare.  In a movie, there are only three ways to do set up the characters and setting:  text on-screen, narrative voice-over, or dialogue.  The first two are generally frowned-upon these days, so screenwriters and directors are constantly challenged with finding a way to set up the story via dialogue without it sounding ham-fisted.  It's tough to do, but I personally thought it was done fine in Interstellar and actually appreciated the scene you mentioned.

Offline Pugnate

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Re: Interstellar anyone?
« Reply #12 on: Sunday, November 30, 2014, 11:38:54 AM »
Yup, I agree with what you are saying but I actually did find it ham-fisted. I remember thinking that at the time throughout that scene. Maybe I was being too harsh. What did you think of the movie overall? Even though I have my complaints, I want to watch it again.

Offline gpw11

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Re: Interstellar anyone?
« Reply #13 on: Sunday, December 28, 2014, 03:58:38 PM »
I just saw the movie last night without knowing anything about it except it dealt with space travel in some way and it was a Nolan movie.  I ended up really really liking it. 

Spoilers below for the scene in the school (I'm not going to mark them):

I had no problem with this scene at all and actually found it a very good tool to showcase the state of mankind at the time.  Walking into the movie blind it was a bit hard to tell exactly what the situation was:  Is the entire world in a drought/food crisis? Is there still centralized government in the united states?  Exactly how dire is the situation?  Is everyone fucked or is this a repeat of the Dust Bowl and it's a highly localized crises?  For all I knew, the rest of the nation was more or less fine and Oklahoma (or wherever the hell they were) was just hit very very hard by the famine/food crises and/or taking a hit for the rest of us.

The scene managed to convey a lot of information - everywhere was fucked, there was still a centralized government, and the priorities of mankind as a whole were drastically shifted in the last generation. Not only was there an increased focus on agriculture, it was the be all and end all of everything and there was no hope of scientific advancement at all.  There wasn't even effort - the powers that be were producing propaganda to make sure that society is using all available resources to try to fight the tide.  It gives an idea of the political landscape, the mentality of the people on earth, and a sense of foreboding - things are really, really bad - we're not even using resources to maintain MRIs and other very potentially helpful technology that we've already developed.  It's not just a case of not everyone owning a cell phone and a Playstation - it's a complete reversal of societal evolution back to a purely agrarian society - in infrastructure (but more importantly) mentality.  This is further driven home in the next scene with the Yankees playing on a little league field.

Had I seen trailers or read reviews it may have been different, but going in blind the scene did a lot to really drive home some of the topics hinted upon or brought up in previous scenes and dialogue.  It's hard to get your bearings when all you've really seen so far are some cuts of old people basically talking about the dust-bowl, the main character chasing a futuristic drone through a corn field in a 2009 F250, taking it over with a Windows 8 notebook, and lamenting how he missed his shot and he hates being a farmer.