Interstellar Mania in 3...2...1
Monday, October 27, 2014 at 11:38AM If you've been on the internet at all in the last half hour you're likely to have seen a tidal wave of Interstellar reviews. The embargo broke on Christopher Nolan's first feature after his release from Batman prison today at 11 AM. The film makes it debut in theaters on Friday November 7th in a variety of formats but see it in IMAX 70 MM because it is epically large and immersive that way.
If you've been putting up with The Film Experience for any length of time you'll know that yours truly, Nathaniel, is not the speediest critic. My interest in screaming "first" is practically less than nil which can be a disadvantage online but it's not who I am. Never cared about it. Never will. Time is a flat circle, yadda yadda yadda. My review is forthcoming at some point. It was meant to go up today but I caught a cold so I may surround myself with screenings and kleenex rather than writing. To Be Determined.
Let if suffice to say for the moment that I liked it and it might well be my favorite Nolan since The Prestige (2006) though it should be noted again that I am not at all indicative of public reaction when it comes to the Internet's Chosen One to whom I am relatively cool. I'm still parsing my thoughts on it but I found it endearing in some of the exact same ways that I normally find his films offputting. Go figure and we'll get to that later. The Oscar Prediction charts are fully updated in all categories.
P.S. It seems people are freaking out about the non-spectacular early RT score already. T'was ever thus with Nolan films
Reader Comments (13)
How dare you make us wait until your opinion is fully formed! I say good-day!
I've read several reviews now from all different points of view and it seems like this is going to be a polarizing experience. The score will continue to go up on rottentomatoes and metacritic as more people weigh in, especially those who choose to see it more than once before they review. I'm glad your taking your time to review. Kneejerk reactions, especially on big ambitions films like this always bug me. I for one can't wait. I love Nolan. He isn't without his issues, but by god can he paint a stunning vision on a large canvas.
Forget about Interstellar, are you going to write about Nightcrawler later this week? I saw it at TIFF and it has been steadily growing on me ever since.
I've also read a lot of reviews from various sources and the through line I'm picking up is that the actors are less important to the film and story than the themes are. No one is praising the performances and some are finding fault with the women in particular (the script, more than the work). I don't see acting nominations unless a category is extremely weak or the film really takes off.
As with Inception, it seems to be hard for many to pin down. The highlights seem to be Lithgow (mentioned in every review), MM, TARS and the score but no one has printed the word Oscar or even the word award.
@Henry - every review I've read praises Mathew McConaughey's work to the high heavens.
Henry, that's interesting because two reviews I have read are particularly cool on the movie but highlight two performances: those of McConaughey and Chastain.
@Sean-Yes. I pointed him out in my last sentence. But no one is calling it Award caliber work. My point is more that the actors are not leading the story, the story is leading the actors.
Hey Nathaniel, I don't give a hoot about the Oscars (Sacrilegious thing to say on this particular site I realize) but aren't you underestimating American Sniper? Seems like a movie the Academy would be into. Even if the movie proves to be less than stellar, there's the acting; Bradley Cooper put on 40 pounds for the role, you know?!
And don't underestimate Sienna Miller (one should never ever underestimate Sienna Miller) but don't underestimate her in THIS movie. (She plays a griveing wife/mother, lots of emotional scenes, lots of crying etc.)
Supporting wife equals supporting academy award nomination, no?
As a Nolan ambivalent, I am quite enjoying the fanatic freakout.
Suzanne: Veering ambivalent on Nolan myself. It was The Dark Knight Rises that did it, specifically how it ignores half of the narrative hooks for the sequel. They are: 1. The city is going to become hell due to crazy internal forces. ("They'll be doubling up the cells at the rate this city's inhabitants are losing their minds.") 2. The cops are going to be entirely against Batman. 3. They're hiding the truth about how Harvey Dent ended to comfort Gotham. 4. Batman is a symbol, and is, thus, innately replaceable. (This one was introduced at the end of Act 1 of Batman Begins.) How do they do with those narrative hooks and closing the trilogy? 1. The villains are Bane and Talia al Ghul, who have always been, narratively, EXTERNAL FORCES on Gotham City, not an internal burst of crazy. FAILURE. 2. The cops never really show any reaction to Batman being back other than "Oh man, this is going to be awesome." FAILURE. 3. Gordon hiding the truth about Dent drives roughly the first third of the movie before inevitably collapsing. SUCCESS. 4. Batman's successor is a greenhorn at hand to hand combat and untested as far as ninja skills who figures out Batman's identity in a way that's just insulting, unlike Tim Drake's evidence based discovery, and is put in a situation at the end (trapped under the mansion during the day in between nights of being the new Batman) where he's almost certain to go stir crazy. (See also: Jean-Paul Valley.) FAILURE IN SPITE OF HEAVY INCLUSION.
Dear AMPAS
Please nominate five directors that aren't Christopher Nolan. I like him and everything, but you know the ensuing internet scream would be worth it.
Thank-you
PS. Also, nominate Matt Damon for best director before Ben Affleck (another year, I know).
Yay. Even though I love Nolan 80% of the time, based on the trailer, I was worried that this would be an overindulgent mess. Glad to hear you of all people liked it.
"Favorite since The Prestige" ooh this is good news; The Prestige is my favorite Nolan movie as well. Also totally excited for Hathaway + Chastain. And as someone who has largely missed out on the McConaussance with the exception of True Detective, looking forward to see MM to get back into movie star mode as well.