Interstellar - Part 7

[Mysteryman]

Sadly, Guardians is not playing in Los Angeles anymore .

 

[Dr.]

okay, so, I don't usually get angry at reviews, it's just opinions and whatever, but i saw the blurb for Zacharek's review on MC and was just, like, "you've got to be kidding me..."

Whatever his strengths may be, Nolan lacks the human touch. His movies are numbingly sexless, and by that I don’t mean they need sex scenes or nudity -- those things are rarely really about sex anyway. But in all of Nolan’s films, human connection is such a noble idea that it’s beyond the grasp of flesh-and-blood people.

I'm avoiding her full review because you guys warned about spoilers, so maybe the context clarifies that comment. but I'm actually kind of offended by the point she seems to be making. I absolutely do not think Nolan's films portray human connection in a way that's so "noble" that it's unattainable in real life, and I think more films should try to depict characters struggling towards that nobility.

In a way, this sort of review is enormously helpful. Zacharek makes a fairly categorical statement about all Nolan’s films. So if you’ve - so far - liked Nolan’s approach to “human connection” (however Zacharek defines that), expect Interstellar to be more of the same.

 

[Micromind]

I don't know what she means by "Human Touch", If "Human touch" means having a heart and emotional moments in movies, then BB, Inception and TDKR had them.

 

[Kane52630]

Is there any movie out there right now, even a space based documentary ,
that is a good warm up film before seeing Interstellar ?

Guardians of the Galaxy

Europa Report
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2051879/

Moon
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1182345/

 

[DeadPresident]

I don't know what she means by "Human Touch", If "Human touch" means having a heart and emotional moments in movies, then BB, Inception and TDKR had them.

Again it seems people need those "human moments" to be so overt that they're almost overpowering, like everything emotionally engaging has to seem like it comes from Mrs Doubtfire.

Honestly Inception's conclusion is one of the most emotionally compelling things I've seen, Cillian Murphy's character (forget his name) in the hospital with his father and Cobb getting through the airport? How on earth that could be classed as anything but having a "human touch" is beyond me.

 

[Micromind]

Moon is fantastic movie !

 

[Oneironaut]

^Totally, Moon. Terrific movie.

I'd like to add a few, I'm a sucker for space movies:

Sunshine http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448134/ - space fillet mignon

Event Horizon http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119081/ - space burger

Solaris http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0307479/ - I love the remake but most people agree that the original is superior. I'd watch both, if you don't mind old movies

Gattaca http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/ Not very Interstellary as the others but still a superb sci-fi involving space travel

 

[BatLobster]

Love Gattaca. Underrated movie.

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

I enjoyed Sunshine, I even enoyed the controversial 3rd act.

 

[ThreadPool]

Again it seems people need those "human moments" to be so overt that they're almost overpowering, like everything emotionally engaging has to seem like it comes from Mrs Doubtfire.

Honestly Inception's conclusion is one of the most emotionally compelling things I've seen, Cillian Murphy's character (forget his name) in the hospital with his father and Cobb getting through the airport? How on earth that could be classed as anything but having a "human touch" is beyond me.

Honestly part of the reason Inception completely clicked with me. I had already loved it, (exposition and all) but those last 20, 30 minutes... Especially Cobb walking through the airport and getting home. The acting, framing and music were perfect to me. I've watched just those last 4 minutes over and over.

 

[Travesty]

Sunshine and Moon are the ones I would pick. But if you're in the mood for a horror movie since it's around the Halloween season, I would go with Event Horizon and Europa Report.

 

[Micromind]

Yeah, if someone wants to watch "dark & creepy" SciFi movies, watch "Solaris" and "Event Horizon".

 

[Kane52630]

I would also say Gravity but that goes without saying.



Just like Galaxy Quest and Iron Sky.

 

[Schlosser85]

Inception, at least to me, at its core underneath all the cerebral dreamscape/mind heist plot outline, is a very moving, poignant film.

It has stuff to say about emotions and dreams vs. reality and letting go and catharsis. The scene where Fischer says "I know you're disappointed I couldn't be you", and his father (well, the projection of him) says "No...I was disappointed that you tried". And then Fischer opening the safe and finding the picture of his dad holding him with the little toy.

How does that have no "human touch"? Or Mal saying they were supposed to grow old together, and Cobb says they did, and we see their old selves walking through their limbo city.

Inception at its core is tremendously moving and poignant, almost heartbreaking at times, and I feel kind of sad that it apparently just was completely lost on some people.

 

[Schlosser85]

I don't get the "humorless" description about Nolan movies either.

Inception and the Batman movies have plenty of banter and one-liners from Eames, Alfred, Lucius, and Catwoman, and The Joker had plenty of funny moments, at least to me.

 

[Schlosser85]

Not to mention the best throwaway moment from Inception

 

[I SEE SPIDEY]

Event Horizon is not anywhere near a good movie to me. I've watched it multiple times to give it a chance and still don't see a good movie. With some serious rewrites and a good director it could have been a good film.

 

[DeadPresident]

I don't get the "humorless" description about Nolan movies either.

Inception and the Batman movies have plenty of banter and one-liners from Eames, Alfred, Lucius, and Catwoman, and The Joker had plenty of funny moments, at least to me.

Is there a possibility people are confusing humour and drama? Nolan's movies are never overly dramatic in a tonal sense, which is perhaps why people feel like it's "dry", because there isn't a hammy emphasis on the humourous moments.

If the pencil scene in TDK (Or the overcoat full of hand grenades with the "blow this out of proportion" line) were shot and delivered differently perhaps almost everybody would've have fallen out of their seats, but Nolan doesn't shoot his scenes in a highly dramatized way, they're neutral in the sense that he just lets the scene speak for itself instead of trying to frame it a certain way.

 

[Schlosser85]

To me the funniest part of the pencil scene is Ledger's "TA DA!!!" afterwards.

 

[Schlosser85]

Event Horizon is not anywhere near a good movie to me. I've watched it multiple times to give it a chance and still don't see a good movie. With some serious rewrites and a good director it could have been a good film.

Event Horizon is just too messed up for me.

 

[DeadPresident]

Honestly part of the reason Inception completely clicked with me. I had already loved it, (exposition and all) but those last 20, 30 minutes... Especially Cobb walking through the airport and getting home. The acting, framing and music were perfect to me. I've watched just those last 4 minutes over and over.

Yeah, agreed. One of the best and most satisfying moments of closure in a movie I've seen. Along with the MoS ending scene with Clark as a kid in the cape (probably a minority here) and the closing monologue to TDK I'd say Inception's end is one of his best.

 

[Dr.]

Event Horizon is not anywhere near a good movie to me. I've watched it multiple times to give it a chance and still don't see a good movie.

I saw the movie once, years ago. I remember very little about it - except that I thought it was bad.

 

[Schlosser85]

I went to see TDK a few times in the theater. One time, the audience was quiet with no discernible reaction (don't know if they weren't into it, or just a subdued audience), but another time you could tell the audience was loving every second of Ledger.

 

[DeadPresident]

To me the funniest part of the pencil scene is Ledger's "TA DA!!!" afterwards.

Ledger executed that whole scene so well, now that I think about it there are numerous funny moments.

-Line about the suit not being cheap, "You oughtta know...you bought it".
-Line about not getting a nickel for Gambol's grandma.
-"Didja balls drop off?"
-Pencil trick.
-"Let's not blow...this out of proportion".
-"Here's my card..."

Unequivocally funny stuff, maybe not over the top but certainly as funny as anything else out there.

 

[BatLobster]

Inception, at least to me, at its core underneath all the cerebral dreamscape/mind heist plot outline, is a very moving, poignant film.

It has stuff to say about emotions and dreams vs. reality and letting go and catharsis. The scene where Fischer says "I know you're disappointed I couldn't be you", and his father (well, the projection of him) says "No...I was disappointed that you tried". And then Fischer opening the safe and finding the picture of his dad holding him with the little toy.

How does that have no "human touch"? Or Mal saying they were supposed to grow old together, and Cobb says they did, and we see their old selves walking through their limbo city.

Inception at its core is tremendously moving and poignant, almost heartbreaking at times, and I feel kind of sad that it apparently just was completely lost on some people.

Nolan said in this recent interview that he feels it should always be a goal to try and transcend whatever genre he's working in.

He's referring to the Batman movies there, but that's one of things I enjoy so much about Inception. It's fully functional as a fun, heist/caper sort of movie but it reverses some of those tropes in interesting ways and becomes more of an emotionally moving/intellectually stirring film as a result.

I have no doubt that there will be something similar at play in Interstellar. It's going to be "hard" sci-fi, but at the same time it's going to aim to tell an emotional, universal (pun slightly intended) story. Similar to how Titanic is just a love story wrapped in the confines of a historical fiction piece.

A lot of the reviews seem to be split about how it eventually forsakes the science for the emotion, but I'm looking forward to the whole ride. I'm not going into this movie with the mind to start nitpicking any flaw I can find.

It's Nolan's curse as a writer/director that it's his attention to detail and the way he engages the minds of the audience that sometimes it makes it more glaring when he uses a bit of "movie logic" to get where the film needs to go narratively/emotionally. And he's certainly not afraid to leave a few lingering questions for the audience to ponder upon multiples re-watches, and endlessly debate. With Inception, it wasn't just the ending, but multiple clues and ambiguous scenes throughout the movie that could potentially give credence to different interpretations.