My thoughts on Interstellar were asked for. The first thing Ill preface is that this is a first impression and nothing more. One of the things Intermediate Fiction has taught me is that a comprehensive review after one showing isnt possible. Thats like trying to analyze a short story after reading it once and that isnt happening...and both are the equivalent of trying to make a bulls eye without taking any aim whatsoever. No. That said, impression and a few observations. I personally enjoyed it, simultaneously for its science (and psuedo-science because its a movie and no film with an emphasis on science of that magnitude can be 100% accurate because then it wouldnt be a movie, itd be a lecture) and for its focus on the human tether. The comparisons to 2001: A Space Odyssey dont add up. That feels very much like an obligatory parallel. They share a backdrop, not subject matter. Just because two stories share a location means very little and theyre two very different works. 2001 is a bullet and Interstellar is a rubber band. Kubrick shoots off world and escapes the gravitational pull of humanity. Nolan stretches pretty damn far but its threaded so much in humanity between Cooper and his family that it snaps right back to Earth (so to speak; refraining from spoilers). Funny enough, I thought the aesthetic of Interstellar felt much more like a kindred spirit to Alien and Aliens. Seriously. That moment in Alien when the Narcissus detaches from the Nostromo and makes its landing on LV-426? Interstellar felt a lot more like that than anything in 2001...hell, Zimmers music, the orchestrations and string work sounded like a relative of Jerry Goldsmiths Alien score. And the moment of betrayal on the 2nd world? Thats Ash betraying Ripley. What I mean is tonally, Interstellar felt more like Alien than 2001. And, well, the...Ill call it waking ending of the film...I mean thats the same plot point that triggers Aliens, just as a means of concluding Nolans film rather than starting Camerons. The photography is gorgeous and its fascinating to see Nolan working with someone beyond his inner circle. I know Wally Pfister was working on Transcendence. Hoyte van Hoytemas photography was beautiful, both in space and on Earth. Oh and the film made me cry twice...once at the 23 year messages mark and again at the end. Mcconaughey is terrific, really the entire cast is. Thats about all Ill go into now.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 00:50:02 +0000