Journey to the Center of Your Mind or my review of "Interstellar" *****

The term “mind blowing” is way over used in film reviewers repartee as evidenced in many a quote that are splashed across the commercials for films but the term is an understatement for Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. It will be hard to talk about the film and keep in the genre of ‘containing no spoilers’. I don’t remember which film it was but I remember the great Roger Ebert once gave two reviews for one film or at least a separate write-up in which he could discuss all the intricacies of the film with those that had already seen it.  In fact there are some elements of the film like in Donny Darko, or Vanilla Sky just talking about what genre the movie could fall in, is a spoiler in itself.

So without going into too many specifics let’s just say Interstellar touches on elements in some of the best science fiction elements while still being totally original. Unlike say, Tom Cruise’s Oblivion which shamelessly stole from many science fiction films and offered absolutely nothing new. 

Nolan’s vision has touches of say 2001: A Space Odyssey, or his own Inception, but still manages to

Interstellar travel in the Endurance

create something uniquely original. The film has just the right balance of having the movie literally grounded on earth, an earth gripped by blight and famine, with that of the outer reaches of the universe.
Like 2001…, the bulk of the movie has a main mission that takes the humanity on a journey to the stars for potential contact with beings from other galaxies or dimensions, but throws in drama that interferes with the goal. Only this movie ramps up that action many, many times. For instance there’s the waltz music accompany a docking scene from 2001… that is beautiful and esoteric like most of the film, whereas there’s a docking scene in Interstellar that is one of the most intense dramatic action filled sequences in film history.

A planet near a black hole

Speaking of the excellent action scenes, there’s another scene that reminded me of  Inception.  There’s an action sequence in Inception where the action and is building larger and larger with the tension stacking on top of itself while trying the grasp the drill-down plateaus of several realities of dreams with-in dreams and relative timelines, and Interstellar has a similar overlapping action sequence where the drama is building with nail-biting intensity while at the same time your mind is grappling with the idea of quantum physics. Now some people might be put off by having to think that much about a movie. There’s the Michael Bay's of the world raking in the mega-bucks appealing to the lowest common denominator of audiences, relying on the least amount of thought possible, delivering yet another mindless explosion. But Nolan’s genius is delivering just as much tension and action as a Michael Bay film yet filled wall to wall with thought provoking ideas.

So if you’ve already seen the film I would love to love to talk in depth about all the spoiler alert stuff that this film does have going for it, but as an objective review just know this movie starts out with the best of a slow burn plot, a mystery much like Close Encounters of The Third Kind that then rolls into one Inception and 2001… classic science fiction while yet delivering action that is a fun roller coaster ride.

Mackenzie Foy (Murph 10 years old) and Matthew McConaughey

The cast is pitch perfect, even matching child actors with their older selves which of course is a necessity when talking about Einstein’s relative nature of black hole space travel and such. Matthew McConaughey is a good center anchor delivering some great lines of subdued humor to help humanize this technological film.  And while 2001’s sterile bland human portrayal I think purposely made HAL the most “human” of characters, Nolan balances the true vastness of the universe with

Timothée Chalamet (Tom 15 Years old) and John Lithgow

touchingly human scenes plus has the computer/robots being real assets and companions in space travel. Plus the theme of “love trumps all” is something that should tug at anyone’s heartstrings without the cliché of strumming a false note.

(Murph and Tom as adults) Jessica Chastain and Casey Affleck

One final observation in conclusion is that even the music was totally original. Many people point out how Stanley Kubrick’s use of classical music was ground breaking compared to most science fiction movies of the time trying to have futuristic sounds of strange worlds etc. But Nolan working with Hans Zimmer keeps it simple too, there’s some standard orchestral and stark piano filler here and there but most of the space travel and action scenes are driving pipe organ pieces that are like Bach tripping on acid, and to me really made it a unique experience that just rounded out what is near perfect movie. I know I am biased as a science fiction fan. But I would say this would rank up there in ANY genre.

The Man With A Child in His Eyes or my review of “Boyhood” *****

There is so much about this movie I could comment on, that it’s almost over whelming.  First of all... what a concept!… but is it a gimmick? I suppose it could be like the movie Memento, you’re either distracted by “the gimmick” or you revel in its originality. So here you have them making a movie over a 12 year period literally taking a boy (Ella Coltrane) from 5 to 18 right in front of your eyes, not employing two or even three actors to play a boy at those ever changing years. At one point there was an audible gasp in the theater when the boy started walking to his locker at around the change of 14 to 15. “That’s the same kid?”, we all thought.

In it’s artistry I would almost compare it to The Tree of Life minus the death of a child tragedy and all… but I would hesitate doing that, because there are those, including me, that that might say that movie was closer to looking at paint drying than a ‘paint’ing…Ha But because it was filled with all these scenes that just cause waves of childhood memories to flood in at times…. and it was the same thing with The Tree of Life.  So conditioned by that tragic movie, I was watching the kid in Boyhood…..and I would cringe. When the kids would do dangerous, crazy things, as did I, as did we all? But ***spoiler alert**** nothing ever happens despite all the cringing…  I survived… as does he, but it’s kind of that “lack of Hollywood” drama that I’m sure some people will find fault with in this film.

There is drama with the mother really picking some losers over the years which I’m sure some people will try and point out as a “dumb woman plot flaw”. But I think this story is partially autobiographical, and that, the director,  Richard Linklater grew up this very way, plus it is obvious the mother is VERY intelligent, as she later gets her degree and a better jobs etc, but I think you could tell she was always putting her kids first even in picking a ‘provider’ over a ‘companion’.  So like many an auteur in film, their own life is a springboard of settings… from the obvious nostalgic feel of Junior High and High School of the near perfection of a movie Dazed and Confused all the way to even including a ‘true story’ like Bernie.  Not that he had anything to do with the events of that story (although I think I heard Linklater set up a place for the real Bernie to live now that he’s out of prison? ) anyway I digress…  A movie like Bernie is “autobiographical” in sense that the state of “Texas”  is it’s own character in the film and it’s Linklater’s point of view on all the different characters and people that make up that state. It’s kind of like the way Woody Allen used have “New York “in his films as a character.

The other thing that will probably turn some people away, but makes me love it all the more, is the way these interesting and intelligent people can have really fascinating philosophical discussions as part of everyday life. From Dazed and Confused with the kids getting stoned on the football field to the ‘talk all night’ or ‘all day’ like movies of Before Sunrise and it’s sequel Before Sunset (A modern My Dinner with Andre sort of approach) to the totally ALL philosophical exploration of the animated brilliance of Waking Life.  All these “smarts “ sort of creep into the movie too as the boy grows into a teenager with maybe too deep of thoughts…  but it plays so well with the mother eventually teaching at college, the dad being creative, and spontaneously fun etc… they raise a VERY intelligent kid in their own way and it’s just amazing.  And the sister too, (the director’s daughter Lorelei Linklater) grows along side her on-screen brother right before your eyes and is a joy to watch.

I was going to talk a little about one scene in particular but it goes along with another scene I had kind of forgotten about.  I was researching the soundtrack (which I’ll get to in a bit) when I started reading the comments on IMDb.com And while I brush off a lot of the haters out there I saw one conservative getting all bent out of shape about “Hollywood’s bashing Bush and praising Obama” etc… and sometimes it’s like they were watching another movie.  The Dad(actually "Mom" and "Dad" were never known as anything else in the movie) being a creative liberal of sorts rebelling against his conservative Texas parents has a few choice words about the so-called “Texan” Bush, and another scene has some house-wife was all gushy about them putting Obama signs in her yard etc… and it was a fleeting glimpses of something the Dad was doing to spend time with the kids and it was sweet and funny…  to be ‘offended’  is just like how Fox News goes looking for trouble where there is none. 

I’m guessing they probably had a similar problem with the scene I WAS going to point out because I think it shows Linklater’s true mastery. The kid has a birthday at the grandparents, he unwraps a bible from grandma, and then grandpa gleefully gives him a shotgun. The “praise the lord and pass the ammunition”, scene could be seen as making fun of these Texas caricatures, and it IS funny…. but you might as well say Jack Black and Linklater where making fun of religion when Bernie from “Bernie” sang those hymns. Because I think there was some real respect for those songs. Here too he maybe poking fun.. but there’s still a real respect and reverence for all things Texan… for instance after the birthday party he shows the family at church, and instead of a fire and brimstone speech from some evangelistic preacher, Linklater has the most pleasant pastor speaking in the most down-home inviting voice and even though it’s almost a throw away scene,  it grounds that whole section of the film and then later the grandfather is teaching the kid how to shoot and the kid is having fun… and so those ‘bible thumping, gun nuts’ are just people. That’s Linklater.

So yes, there is no plot, per say, and that’s going to drive most people crazy, and aside from a few dramatic scenes of the “parade of losers” to quote the boy at one point….  It’s a movie with nothing but brush strokes of events leading to him being 18… and then…  The End… which, again, will leave some people scratching their heads, but me wanting to cheer…. As I watched the credits I anxiously awaited the songs so I could ‘relive’ things like remembering the opening scene, of the little boy staring into the sky contemplating...life? and Coldplay is singing “ Look at the stars, Look how they shine for you.” and so there you are, about to take the ride of your life inside this kids head, ending with him STILL contemplation life in the last scene. But back the music... while the years some songs were released, helped make milestones for ticking off the years  with Sheryl Crow soaking up the sun as they drive away from the old house(2002) , to moving to the suburbs of Arcade Fire (2010)  But then there’s also a scene like Dad’s “playlist” of the Beatles “Black Album”: his collection of Beatles and Post Beatles  for the son’s “education”, so that when “Band on The Run” comes on... you know it's from Linklater’s (and my)childhood (or the Dad’s) but it just elevates the movie into a contagious nostalgia and love of the characters.

So all I can say this movie is SOOOOOO much more than a gimmick… everything about it, is masterful strokes of genius that I enjoyed immensely. As I said, I could go on and one about the “politics” the music, the acting of Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawk or all the others that had to showed up year after year to make this, but suffice to say…. Five Stars.

I have an Addendum: In another synchronicity of the character's/my/ and Linklater's life, is the one scene where the girl asks about the book he's carrying which was "Breakfast of Champion's" by Hoosier author Kurt Vonnegut Jr.. Of course having read at a pivotal point in my life too, and having just recently visited the Vonnegut Museum in Indianapolis, this movie reminded me how that book is sort of a "Catcher In the Rye" for modern day cynics. So another nice stroke in the masterpiece painting that is "Boyhood".