Interstellar (Nolan)

[Kaius]

Goddamnit I tried to find common ground with you. Fuck this. Fuck you. Fuck Godzilla.

[LoathedVermin72]

Goddamnit I tried to find common ground with you. Fuck this. Fuck you. Fuck Godzilla.

Hahaha I'm sorry.

[BurtReynolds]

Fuck black holes.

[LoathedVermin72]

Fuck black holes.

Goddammit I wish I knew of an RMer that only dated black women so I could make a joke.

[dimejinky99]

Thought this would get a solid endorsement on RM...still want to see it but i'm nervous now.

[Kaius]

I loved it, dime. Burt liked it too. LV is a silly goose.

[dimejinky99]

There's a cam version on torrents..i may grab it

[Kaius]

I'd pay to see this again.

[Jorge]

I see you guys had a productive evening

[Kaius]

I really don't want to pick on LV, but rereading last knights discussion and I forgot all about how it started.

I mean, THIS.

Well, Gone Girl has been topped. Worst movie of the year, and one of the worst movies ever made.

C'mon man.

[LoathedVermin72]

I really don't want to pick on LV, but rereading last knights discussion and I forgot all about how it started.

I mean, THIS.

Well, Gone Girl has been topped. Worst movie of the year, and one of the worst movies ever made.

C'mon man.

Just being honest, man.

[McParadigm]

He had me at

Spoiler: show

The concept of transcending/accepting childhood is Godzilla’s largest theme, but Edwards is careful to transcend the limitations of childhood without disparaging or disrespecting it. The innocent wonder of gawking at a giant monster wreaking havoc is deeply felt, but grounded in a solemn acknowledgement of the human toll. This is an element Pacific Rim and Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla, in which death and consequence were off-screen abstractions, lacked, and an affirmation that maturity does not engender an absence of wonder any more than joy demands ignorance of reality – the two can, and do, coexist.

The rapprochement between child and adult sensibilities is something this film accomplishes more successfully and with more maturity than I think any other movie I’ve ever seen. This is perhaps best exemplified through the development and progression of Ford.

All the Joe stuff is totally designed to build Ford as a character. The whole reason he goes into the military is because of the resentment he feels towards his father and what he perceives as his father’s cowardice and complicity in his mother’s death. It all comes out in the scene when they’re reunited: Joe says, “You know I did everything I could, right? You know that, right?” And Ford can’t bring himself to give Joe that affirmation, because he DOESN’T know that; the resentment is palpable.

He also has abandonment issues, because Joe has chosen to spend his life obsessively trying to solve the mystery of the disaster and Sandra’s death instead of giving Ford the attention, reassurance, and paternal protection he needed.

So there are multiple things going on with Ford now:

1. He has confused, complicated, and resentful feelings toward his father.

2. He has never come to terms with the childhood trauma of losing his mother (and, in many ways, his father, whom he blames).

As a result, he is now:

1. Repressed (not having dealt with his parental issues)

2. Trying to be the pillar of nobility and strength he feels his father wasn’t (this is all pretty brilliantly tied together by having Ford play with that soldier action figure before passing it on to a child he is protecting)

Therefore, his stoicism, which a lot of people seem to be mistaking for blandness, is essential to his character; it would be illogical and inappropriate for him to be any other way. Not to mention, that stoicism “cracks” in all the right moments (such as when he is trying to get Joe to “let it go” and come live with him).

The whole movie is really about Ford transcending the trauma of his childhood, forgiving/understanding his father, and fulfilling his own aspirations of nobility.

I think we should be doing this for all terrible movies.

[dimejinky99]

I was appalled by Gravity and got a lot of guff about it. The only beef i had was Bullock and Clooney...it would have been incredible had anyone else appeared in it..

we dont have to like everything i guess

[Heathen]

Looks like someone has chosen to spend his life obsessively trying to solve the mystery of the disaster.

[dimejinky99]

Local imax cinema has it...hmmmm

[Malloy]

I think it's largely true science fiction, a term which has been watered down since Star Wars, but still exists. It is of course wrapped in other themes like family and love. Perhaps if LV didn't dismiss the depictions of those themes as cynical (as if that somehow invalidates them out of hand) he would see some depth or insight to them (and how insightful are they ever in movies anyway?. Maybe not.

When did I say that the depiction of those themes was the cynical part? You're making a lot of assumptions about me and what I'm saying, man.

You never seem to say anything you say. What did you find cynical about it then, and if the cynicism wasn't from how it handled its themes, then what does it matter?

Spoiler: show

Actually I say exactly what I say. Just not what your smug, dismissive attitude toward me leads you to think I say.

Starting with an apocalyptic scenario is always a tricky thing to do, because there's a certain amount of cynicism inherent in that alone. But it can be explored in ways that are interesting and edifying, ways that transcend facile cynicism or pessimism. This movie doesn't do that. This movie almost always chooses to believe the worst about mankind, such as when it's saying that people in the future have accepted the moon landing as faked political propaganda or only focus on "their place in the dirt" or that even bright, scientific, supposedly noble minds will choose to resort petty, selfish survival at the cost of everyone and everything else (that Matt Damon scene was just the fucking worst). Nolan seems to want to re-ignite some kind of passion or joy for space exploration (a worthy cause), but that is totally undermined by his cynical conceit and inordinate focus on conflict and tired drama. Take, for example, the wave planet sequence. The imagery should be awesome; mammoth waves obscuring the horizon, crashing down with unbelievable power. But does Nolan ever let the imagery breathe? Nope. He focuses on stupid, boring "tension" involving Anne Hathaway playing the part of a melodramatic retard and getting a colleague killed. No time for majesty; humans needs to act like idiots.

It's the worst of both worlds for me: a cynical, pessimistic view of the world and humanity countered by sappy, maudlin platitudes about family and love. Both sides of the coin are painfully lacking in depth.

yes

[McParadigm]

Ruminations on the pressures of entering adulthood, especially those focusing on young men, can very easily turn preachy. But by presenting the primary forces physically, delivering them as subtle allegorical constructs rather than as unremarkable emotional turmoil, Bay allows us to see Spike's catabasis manifested...and the results are surprising in very powerful ways.

The triumvirate is perfect: the Autobots represent a successful life, ripe with consumerism and its shiny and showy pleasures, as well as the difficult mature choices one must make in order to thrive within that system. Megan Fox is vapid and plasticine, yes, but this is actually what makes her perfect for the role. We don't want or welcome any characterization, because she is there solely for the function that delivers so well: to be a visual stand-in representative for the overwhelming physical and romantic urges that a boy becoming a man must face. And it is these urges that force Spike to make a change in his life, more than any robot (part of the brilliance of this film is that the other forces look so large and inescapable, but it is ultimately the girl that really matters). The Decepticons, warped and cruel, are the base violent urges all young men experience.

Bay does something truly novel by not having Spike feel temptation towards the Decepticons...most directors would pessimistically devote their story to showing a young man who DOES sometimes want that part of himself, in effect wanting to expose the weaknesses inherent to masculinity. But Bay goes noble, having his character reject it completely and devoting his film to the triumphant achievement of this impassioned rejection.

It is a movie about triumphing not just over the darkest part of yourself, but of the ease with which we all can make the choice.

[Malloy]

whatever lv has written in the past about other movies--and i'll admit, i haven't read his reviews or visited his site--doesn't diminish his argument about interstellar, which i quoted above and which no one has convincingly debunked. all i've seen is people appealing to "emotional" reactions, which are irrefutable and equally valid (and, as such, ultimately worthless).

[Kaius]

Well, Gone Girl has been topped. Worst movie of the year, and one of the worst movies ever made.

Expand on this, plz.

Quick version: It's dripping in cynicism and pessimism (which is a huge pet peeve of mine), it's maudlin, it's pretentious (every line containing the word "love" in this movie made my eyes roll so hard they nearly fell out of their sockets), and it's one of the most mind-numbingly vapid, vacuous, and flat-out moronic things I've ever watched. If our future scientists and astronauts are as self-absorbed, hyper-emotional, incompetent, and driven by petty personal sentiment as the idiots in this movie, it's no wonder people like Nolan think we're all so fucked.

On top of that, it is shockingly poorly directed and edited; Nolan can't even seem to compose a sequence that makes basic geographical sense. There is also an utter lack of awe, majesty, and lyricism to the visuals (something Gareth Edwards certainly can't be accused of in Godzilla ). This guy is the king of modern hacks.

Ok, so let's talk directing/editing. I guess I don't technically know anything about the subject, but I think I may grasp the concept enough to know when something is well done and when it isn't. I'll mention a couple of moments that stand out to me, and you tell me why Nolan sucks.

These may be spoilers, maybe not, I don't know.

When Cooper drives away from the house, and as his pickup rumbles down the gravel road leaving a cloud of dust the rocket launch countdown begins, instead of with him seated in the shuttle. His true take-off was right there in that moment, and it was bittersweet for him. You could tell the pilot in him wanted to go, but he was gutted to leave his family, Murphy especially. Nolan took us directly from the seat of Coop's truck to the edge of Earth's atmosphere. I think a huge credit goes to McC again, but I thought the whole scene was really well put together.

I was impressed by all of the shots of the ship drifting through space, but I found the tension in the docking scenes to be absolutely riveting. When we think about space travel, naturally we are more inclined to imagine the dramatic view of huge planets, or the intensity of entering an atmosphere. It's easy to forget just how difficult even the most basic or boring tasks are. Both docking scenes were beautifully captured imo. On the last one I could almost feel the g-forces pinning me to my seat.

[Kaius]

Local imax cinema has it...hmmmm

DO IT.