{"id":13228,"date":"2014-11-05T23:00:38","date_gmt":"2014-11-06T05:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=13228"},"modified":"2014-11-05T23:00:38","modified_gmt":"2014-11-06T05:00:38","slug":"interstellar-is-a-big-beautiful-insane-b-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=13228","title":{"rendered":"\u201cInterstellar\u201d Is A Big, Beautiful, Insane B Movie"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Christopher Nolan\u2019s very big budget, big studio, big screen \u201cInterstellar\u201d: it\u2019s three hours long, and completely insane. Some of it is a tribute to \u201c2001: A Space Odyssey.\u201d Some of it riffs Steven Spielberg\u2019s later period \u2014 \u201cMinority Report,\u201d \u201cA.I.,\u201d \u201cWar of the Worlds.\u201d Some of it is really cheesy. Some of it is incomprehensible. Ambitious? Oh yes. Does it stop when it should? (No, just like \u201cA.I.\u201d) Is it boring? Never. It\u2019s a big, beautiful B movie.<\/p>\n

First, you want to know: there\u2019s formidable work by all the actors. It\u2019s not exactly Oscar caliber because the story, and the dialogue, are often mad. But you know you\u2019re in good hands with Oscar winners Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, who have to advance the story while explaining it. Jessica Chastain and surprise player Matt Damon have showier roles, so they resonate a tad more\u2013 they\u2019re more reactive. John Lithgow and Michael Caine are the steady sages\u2013always great to see them. Ellen Burstyn, too, in old-old make up, very \u201cBenjamin Button,\u201d is a pleasure. Bill Irwin is the ironic voice of the \u201cLost in Space\u201d type robot, R2D2 as the walking slab riffed from \u201c2001.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a kid, too: Mackenzie Foy is outstanding as the younger version of Jessica Chastain\u2019s character, McConaughey\u2019s daughter.<\/p>\n

Nolan and his brother Jonathan started with \u201cMemento,\u201d a movie told backwards. It was brilliant because it was fresh, even if it didn\u2019t totally make sense. Is that 15 years ago? Increasingly, the movies have become tone poems that are impossible to understand. \u201cInterstellar\u201d is the pinnacle of this process.<\/p>\n

After a while, you figure out enough to get by. You will make it to the end and kind of understand the main points. There\u2019s some philosophizing on the order of Linus discussing Nietzsche in \u201cPeanuts.\u201d\u00a0 The cinematography is stunning. Outer space really looks cool. The CGI is very good, although there are a couple of \u201cLost in Space\u201d kind of moments. The music is a hodgepodge, and often way too loud. A key revelation is nearly drowned out by a mashup of faux Wagner and \u201cTubular Bells.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will it\u00a0 be a hit? I think so. \u201cInterstellar\u201d if nothing else is the Big Movie Experience of the fall-holiday season. People will be talking about it. All the tech stuff will be up for awards. I mean, the film company says it grew a 500 acre cornfield in Canada just for the movie!\u00a0 Plus, there are so many close ups of the spine of Stephen King\u2019s \u201cThe Stand\u201d that that book should get a big boost in sales. Plus Hamilton watches has a huge product placement. There\u2019s too much riding on this film!<\/p>\n

Kudos to McConaughey. He does his job very well. He\u2019s the guide to a maze, and he keeps the audience in place. And he gets rewarded in scenes with Matt Damon that you won\u2019t forget.<\/p>\n

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