So... Interstellar

[MinisterofDOOM]

Yeah. WTF did I just watch? To say it's not what I expected would be an understatement, but more pointedly: I'm not sure the MOVIE knew what it was, either. I think if you were to ask it, its answer would change depending on the point at which you asked the question.

As a lifelong "universal expansionist," devotee of the Golden Path, and firm believer that Earth is merely a cradle and not a final domain as far as Humanity is concerned, the trailers had me interested. Unfortunately, that's not what the movie is about. I mean, it completely and utterly is. But it's absolutely not.

It gets really esoteric and, like most modern esoteric films, feels very much like it thinks it's a whole lot cleverer than it is. There's a necessary...finesse and mastery required to building a world and the rules to support it, and that's just not to be found in Interstellar. The ingredients are all there, but there's no artistry. There's no feeling of natural fit to the plotpoints, no real sense of self-supporting disbelief-suspending psuedo-logic. Where it is clearly trying to give the audience credit for figuring things out, its obviousness combines with the opaque bizarreness to insult the audience instead...like a sardonic "Yeah, nice job, genius" to someone who figures out something patently obvious. None of that is helped by a tone and pace that bounce all over the place, creating the aforementioned sense of identity crisis. The second act feels simultaneously rushed and drawn-out, trying to do too many things at once.

The casting, too, feels weird and a little forced in places, and is just as all over the place as the rest of the movie. Chris Nolan regulars play their obligatory roles, with Matt Damon showing up like a wacky cameo and some no-names who feel out of place despite perfectly decent acting skills.

It was weird. I LOVE weird. The problem this wasn't the good weird. It was just incoherent weirdness, not something self-guided and purposeful like a Phillip K. d!ck (gorram swear filter!) or Ray Bradbury novel or something of that sort. Just incohesive oddity that doesn't really add up to anything.

Really, it reminds me of a lot of what's becoming a too-common genre: self-impressed overly-introspective nonsense that's so nutty it's unfathomable and is thus convinced of its own genius. It's the filmic equivalent of a Peter Molyneaux game. Impossible aspirations and minimal effort backing a ridiculous desire to be something special and falling so very incredibly short.

So, the big question: should you go see it?

I have no smegging idea. I really don't. I still don't know if I liked it or hated it. I watched it. That's about all I can tell you. Oh, and the music was pretty good for the most part.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I plan on watching it once its out on DVD.

I don't really see a reason to pay 10 bucks to see it on the big screen. Do you?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Definitely not. Despite some pretty vistas of space and planets, it wasn't really anything incredibly grand in the way that requires a big screen to enjoy.

[themadscientist]

So does it top his Lincoln ads?

[MinisterofDOOM]

@#$% no.

[frapjap]

I plan on watching it once its out on DVD.

I don't really see a reason to pay 10 bucks to see it on the big screen. Do you?

John Wick was worth it on the big screen. Especially during a Sunday morning Matinee.

[BusyBadger]

As a lifelong "universal expansionist," devotee of the Golden Path, and firm believer that Earth is merely a cradle and not a final domain as far as Humanity is concerned, the trailers had me interested.

Here's my favourite remark/quote about this, and it's to the point and in plain speak...

The Earth is just too small and fragile a basket for the human race to keep all its eggs in.
--Robert A. Heinlein

So does it top his Lincoln ads?

@#$% no.

And this, with the "bugs on a rock in a void" comment brings us full circle.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3eN9u5N2Q4[/youtube]

[MinisterofDOOM]

John Wick was worth it on the big screen. Especially during a Sunday morning Matinee.

John Wick was tons of fun. Much better movie than Interstellar.

[Dattebayo]

Just caught a matinee of it...

I'm trying to understand what to get from the ending?
Also, that was the MOST annoying constant soundtrack during the movie. I guess the dialogue was so weak they had to compensate with annoying "wonder and awe" music the whole time. If I had that soundtrack playing the whole time I was hurtling through space, maybe I'd consider hurling myself into a black hole too...

Sure, it was kind of cool visuals and a cool idea. But I would like it if Hollywood could actually produce some well-written and executed sci-fi once in a while.

[MinisterofDOOM]

All of that exactly.

I found an article that discussed the original Spielberg script, which had none of the goofy mysterious stuff and replaced it with more clean-cut time dilation stuff. It also did not include the horrendously out-of-place fight scene. I think I would much prefer to have seen that movie instead.

[Dattebayo]

That fight scene came right out of the Mars movie from the 2000s, remember Red Planet??? I called it from my seat like a complete jackass during the movie and no one even called me out on it. Plenty of "come on!" jeers and the like directed at the screen from the few folks with me in the crowd, though. Gotta love the DC area...

I think the coolest thing about the whole movie was the robots. Friggin' big-a**, fully-articulated, terminal-screen-faced awesome square-things. With a sense of humor.

Maybe they'll release a "theatrical version" that will cut out the BS or something, right? It might not be a total loss if they edit it right.

[dasoupdude]

I made the biggest mistake of watching Interstellar under the influence.

Also, Matthew McConaughey's voice made me want to throw nachos at the screen.

[Dattebayo]

Matthew McConaughey's voice made me want to throw nachos at the screen.

Yeah, you keep getting older, but his voice just stays the same.