Interstellar

[wilder]

I don't feel like writing a lot here, but I really dug this movie. Yeah it has narrative problems and blah blah blah but I didn't care. This was exactly the kind of thing I want out of a big budget film, and no matter how ridiculous or abrupt or out of left field any of the revelations are, I was in with the story's emotions almost the whole journey through. God it's beautiful looking. Kept thinking "oh yeah - this is how the movies are supposed to be...". My heart was practically beating in my ears during the wormhole scene -- that hasn't happened to me in well over a decade, probably since I saw Titanic or something (yeah fuck you all). This was the shit. A real movie. It's not Malick or Tarkovsky it's Spielberg. Conjured the same type of excitement I felt when watching things like Jurassic Park. Good on Nolan this time and thanks for reminding me that movies can be awe-inspiring again.

[Cloudy]

^ I dig how much you love this movie, and the way you talk about its beauty resonates with me as well. I tried commenting earlier today, but the more I type out my thoughts the more it smacks me in the face how beyond uneven it was --/mattdamon\-- I haven't seen such an uneven movie in a really really long time. And uneven isn't the word. Just not rhythmic. Lacking dance skills. Lacking funny skills. Lacking an intuition for how movies move in a way Spielberg is a master at. That's a huge flaw. But somehow it barely covered all those flaws up with massive moments of intimate yet delicious power and beauty that took complete control over everything else, texturally, visually and sonorously. And for that alone, and for bringing back film the way it did, I'll probably see it again with another group of friends at home in IMAX 70mm this time instead of 35mm. What's interesting is that he made an intimate film, which made the 35mm projection with medium format photography weirdly fitting.

Remember when pt said a monkey could make 65mm look good? I still don't believe him, I think it was Hoyt VH. Also, I gotta see Matt Damon open his eyes from a deep annual slumber one more time, that was one of the funniest moments in the cinema in a while.

Anyway, thanks for saying that Wilder.

[jenkins]

i feel overall mellow about what's happening with this movie. i think it has strong cultural support. the biggest/baddest imax theater was installed at the chinese theater here in los angeles, prompted by the theater wanting to ready itself for interstellar. when the movie leaves that'll still be a dazzling theater, so thanks for that

i said before that my friends and i jazzed ourselves to see it. we hype talked ourselves into thinking we'd experience what wilder described. we simply didn't. we left cold. it's a bit our loss, isn't it. because i think if you liked the movie you liked the movie, and that's that. happy for the happy people, and i'm standing on the outside, butso i just wouldn't worry about me or anyone like me <3

[samsong]

god i wish spielberg made a movie with this premise instead of nolan.

even spielberg seems like a stretch.  maybe nolan's shit exposition was meant to mimic the uselessness of the first half hour of close encounters? spielberg's sense of wonder and pure cinematic bravura allowed him to get away with just about anything because on top of all the technical prowess and grandeur, there's a sense of wonder instilled in every goddamn frame.  there's love/warmth/humanity there, indicative of a sensibility that is as generous as they get, not just navel-gazing grandstanding.  spielberg invites audiences to escape with him.  nolan, especially with this and inception, is more about impressing people while not giving them the credit to understand things without hand holding. 

there are awe-inspiring sequences to be sure, and it isn't all a complete misfire but dammit if it wasn't a total dud for me.  i love big movies.

[wilder]

I had no expectations, not much interest even. Wasn't able to attend any of the 70mm screenings and thought I was just going to rent it down the line. But: was in a terrible state earlier this week and wanted to escape from everything, found a theater playing it in 35mm and ended up going on a whim. It did what movies are supposed to do and transported me. Pure entertainment. That's all I wanted and that's what I got. Guessing it helped that I didn't go in wanting more.

[Cloudy]

^That's me exactly, terrible state and all. Well said.

Jenkins, I have no clue how you managed to muster up high expectations going in....

[Axolotl]

Like wilder and cloudy I didn't have expectations of greatness from this. I was ready to hate this even, because of a really terrible line in the trailer and my general allergy to Nolan films.

I ended up enjoying it a lot even though (or because) it was such an easy to hate movie. Samsong could have written his review of the movie before he even saw it and he wouldn't have had to change a word after.

The key to appreciating this is to think of it as the most expensive Bollywood movie ever made.

[jenkins]

Jenkins, I have no clue how you managed to muster up high expectations going in....

we said things like we wanted to feel young and be kids and go like the space movie. it just didn't happen. sometimes it doesn't happen

[samsong]

i didn't go in with dissimilar expectations than those who enjoyed it.  i went in pretty tepid and really just wanted to be taken in by a massive escapist  headtrip.  i remember seeing some sort of promotional bit wherein nolan promised an experiential kind of film, one that could be enjoyed outside of the limitations of narrative.  i suppose holding him to that is having expectations in and of itself but it gave me hope for its potential, that nolan was going to use his status and big studio carte blanche to make something akin to 2001, by his estimation.  still, went in wanting to like this and just have a good time.  scout's honor. 

can't say i understand the uber-positive contrarian route to enjoy a movie that's easy to hate.  usually movies are easy to hate because they, you know, suck.  how anyone can stick with this movie after hathaway's love monologue is beyond me.  but as jenkins has said, it would've been nice to see the movie that everyone enjoyed/is happy with. 

[Axolotl]

can't say i understand the uber-positive contrarian route to enjoy a movie that's easy to hate.  usually movies are easy to hate because they, you know, suck.  how anyone can stick with this movie after hathaway's love monologue is beyond me.

Not being contrarian, just trying to approach a movie on the movie's terms. That means not being preoccupied by issues everyone expects from a Nolan film, which issues are amplified here by the fact that this is him trying to throw everything he's got on the screen which puts both his strengths and weaknesses on full display. I'll take the melodrama and hackyness (reluctantly) if I can still watch the most awe-inspiring and goosebumps-inducing things I've seen in a blockbuster in recent memory.

[modage]

I'll take the melodrama and hackyness (reluctantly) if I can still watch the most awe-inspiring and goosebumps-inducing things I've seen in a blockbuster in recent memory.

I'm a Nolan diehard (I will rep TDKR for life) and this definitely is his most uneven film since Insomnia. But as Axolotl says above, even with its problems it still easily eclipses anything else at the multiplex in terms of scale/spectacle/ambition/visual splendor/weighty action scenes, etc. which still puts it among my favorites this year.

[Kellen]

Matt Damon though 

I feel like watching it on a normal movie screen didn't do it justice; Definitely gonna check it out on our local IMAX theater.  Yeah it was lovey-dovey/silly at times but you know what? I'd rather have Nolan using a studios money to make something huge (even if it is a misfire with some people) rather than Bay or whoever wants to make a Transformers movie.

[Alexandro]

this is the worst movie I've seen since The Dark Knight Rises. I'm now out of the nolan boat for good. the dude is out of control, each new film is longer, more absurd than the last. about 20 minutes in I knew this wasn't looking good and it just got worse by the minute. yet I have to recognize there are some great sequences here and there, but scattered through hours of boring dialogue, cardboard characters and bad performances. almost all of the dialogue is cringeworthy, not even jessica chastain can save some of it.

mcconaughey does what he can, and he has two effective emotional moments, but damn that first hour with him blabbering endlessly about what we used to be and how we used to look at the stars, my eyes kept rolling. again, like in TDKR, there was anne hathaway doing nothing. and when matt damon showed up I just started laughing.

very interesting idea just blown out of proportion. the visuals were ok, but I never felt the awe of something like 2001.
fuck this.

[samsong]

it took a lot of restraint not audibly saying "matte day min" a la Team America when he showed up.  then he said, "pray that you never feel the relief of seeing another face after so long" or whatever his line is and i went back to waiting for the movie to be over.  I've thought about seeing this again on the big screen but the 20 or so minutes of good  isn't worth enduring the movie again.

big hero 6 was better.

[Reel]

Did Matt Damon Gerry up the rendezvous or WHAT?!