So after watching Christopher Nolan's Interstellar I have come to the conclusion that every good film director is allotted one or a few flops on his or her resume. Not that this film was a complete flop (financially), and perhaps I do need to see it again, but honestly I was bored almost out of my mind; if it had been any other director than Nolan, I might not have found the film interesting at all. These were the positives that stood out enough for me to remember: good writing (the screenplay), one really good cinematic shot of Saturn, excellent performances by the cast, and some really cool robotics. Other than that, I can't recall anything else that was impressive, stunning, or awe inducing. Mathew McConaughey as the main character was perfect and perhaps the best part of the entire film; he was likable, sympathetic, interesting, and compelling. Anne Hathaway was perfect as well; cautious, practical, and deeply wounded and emotional however once you get past the insulated facade. Jessica Chastain was another good choice (albeit she had a smaller role than did her justice), John Lithgow was another gem that seemed rather wasted on a diminished role as McConaughey's wary father in-law. Michael Caine was....well....Michael Caine; nothing interesting, different, or bad. Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan did an excellent job with the screenplay, but the story was boring and not made to be as compelling as it could have been. The same goes for the characters; although the performances were great, and a fantastic cast was assembled, none of them were really fascinating enough that made you want to get to know them even more. I wasn't really impressed by Hans Zimmer's score for the film; it reminded me a lot of Watchmen, and a little like Inception, but not nearly as compelling (perhaps that has something to do with the content of the film). Perhaps most disappointing of all was the cinematography, lighting, set decoration and design; one descriptive word for all 3 "blah." There was nothing really grand in the shots really, the color scheme was bland and mostly back and grey, and the design for most of the onscreen tech was ugly, and not shaped well (with the exception of the robots which worked well, although quite strange at first). I would find the film interesting for a while, and then I would be bored for a long while, then something interesting would happen, and then I would get bored again. This describes my film experience in general, ending in a very confused state. I'm sure I will see it again when it comes out on DVD, but for now, I don't think that I'd miss anything. I wouldn't encourage people to see it, but if you have the time to burn then why not. Switching gears, it has become quite frigid in the Midwest; it's snowing and everything is white and frozen. Needless to say, I miss San Diego more than ever once again. I suppose that provides me with enough motivation to keep things going and get away from the frozen tundra. Things have slowed down, I think in part because of the weather change, so there is a silver lining of sorts to the dreadful change in temperature. Well, there it is. May the Force be with us all, oh and if you haven't seen it yet Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is the title for the new film. Should get more interesting.The Science of Interstellar
Into the Woods Trailer (this looks great!)
Marco Polo series (could be interesting)
