REVIEW: Interstellar

10/10 - Epic is a really good word for this movie

Christopher Nolan is a director that built his name on action adventure movies that brought audiences to new worlds with imaginative concepts. Coming off films like The Dark Knight and Inception, the expectations for his sci fi space opera were quite high.

Interstellar is a journey that takes the audience from a dystopian future to the limits of outer space. It's the ultimate cowboy movie, throwing a good ol' farmer into a new territory, looking to claim land for the US of A. This whole film has the feel of being bigger than this movie, bigger than it's story. Perhaps even bigger than Nolan could wrangle. It is a fantastic cinematic experience though, perhaps the best of the year. It hands the ability to infinitely discover the universe to the audience. Interstellar truly feels like a masterpiece, worthy of a grand scale.

The story itself is about Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) a NASA engineer turned farmer who struggles to raise a family during an environmental crisis. Coop gets recruited to join a mission to explore a nearby wormhole, as they believe nearby planets could help save the dying Earth. It's a mission to provide a future for the son and daughter he leaves behind.

What sets Interstellar apart is that it doesn't just tell a story, it shares an experience. We tend to break films down into categories, in order to decide whether they were worthwhile. Story, acting, special effects, audio, what was good and what was bad? In any film, Interstellar included, those specific areas can be picked apart and examined as a contributing part to the film as a whole. In this film, I was so enraptured with the rabbit hole we had been thrown into, that it seemed rather irrelevant to pick apart the individual areas of technical design. The overall effect was so powerful and storytelling so innovative that I felt as though I was a part of the mission the astronauts were on.

For the sake of the review, I'm obligated to share those criticisms. The emotional story was a bit uneven, and I left with more questions about Coopers family then I had answers. At some points conversations felt long, and claustrophobic.

The biggest issue seemed to be the trouble in bridging the science fiction elements to an audience of people without physics degrees. Part of that comes from the desire to tell a story with an explanation grounded in reality but also, science fiction in film seems to arise a bizarre sense of entitlement for scientific accuracy. I get where this comes from, we want to trust and believe in the universe so that story lives on. I can only presume some journalists didn't get the "fiction" part of "science fiction" because I've read a thousand articles desperate to point out minute scientific inaccuracies.

Frankly, we need a better outlet to explore our fascination with great movies, than to credit or discredit the film with educational tidbits of astrophysics. "Debunking" the scientific accuracy only serves to undermine the outstanding achievements of this film.

From beginning to end, Interstellar is an outstanding movie. It utilized every aspect of film making to give the audience an experience never seen before. From the silent explosions in space, to the shocking affects of gravity on a new planet, Interstellar pushed the limits of what humans can experience by putting it on the big screen. If there is ever a film worthy of putting down your phone and offering it your fullest attention, this is it.

IMDb - Interstellar (8.7)
Wikipedia - Interstellar
Rotten Tomatoes - Interstellar (72%)
Amazon.ca - Interstellar

REVIEW: Dallas Buyers Club

Best Picture Nominee

Best Original Screenplay Nominee

9/10 - Alright, alright, alright.

Sometimes I hate the 'drama' genre because it often refers to movies that are just not funny, or not exciting, and not interesting. Dallas Buyers Club is such a deeply emotional, touching story, that you remember why 'drama' is the Academy favorite.

I had no idea what this film was even about before I saw it. For those as ignorant as I was, Matthew McConaughey plays Ron, a blue collar guy who is diagnosed with AIDS, while living in Texas in 1985. His refusal to accept this death sentence leads him to discover his hospitals drug trials, and the drugs unavailable in the United States due to FDA regulations. The cast is rounded out with Eve, a doctor treating AIDS patients played by the wonderful Jennifer Garner, as well as the undeniably talented Jared Leto playing Rayon, a transgendered woman who is also HIV positive.

I don't have a whole lot to say, it's one of those movies that beautifully encapsulates someone's life and struggles, and how can you critique that? It's quite difficult to get through at times because it's very gritty and raw. It was hard for me not to get emotional when someone is fighting for their life. Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto were those characters through and through. The role of Ron was really the role of a lifetime for McConaughey, who never faltered. They both deserve all the praise and all the awards. I also thought the direction and script were particularly outstanding. It's rare to see a character drama like this move alone at a quick pace with interesting events happening. Rarely did the movie stop to dwell in emotion, which it easily could have.

Dallas Buyers Club is really great. It's the story of frailty, and the story of fighting. I don't think wide audiences are going to flock to a movie directly about the effects of AIDS but those who do will be rewarded with a bold and haunting story.

IMDb - Dallas Buyers Club (8.0)
Wikipedia - Dallas Buyers Club
Rotten Tomatoes - Dallas Buyers Club
Amazon.ca - Dallas Buyers Club