Interstellar – Not quite up there

Interstellar – It’s a Christopher Nolan movie, so how can I miss watching it. Except for Transcendence, I have watched all his movies. But the only sad part for Interstellar was that we didn’t get tickets in an IMAX. So had to watch in a normal theater with some light disturbances across the screen whenever someone moved in and out of the room. I am not going into the story or any spoiler here (even though there isn’t any except for the last one part where it was a Aha! moment). Having watched Gravity (again not in IMAX) let me start first with what I felt as soon as I watched the movie. I thought I should have watched it in IMAX to see if it made the same impact , visually I mean, as Gravity made on me even in spite of me watching it in the small screen. Upfront, because of the same space theme and all, I did compare the visual effects to Gravity and so far Gravity won. My friend suggested that we should watch it in IMAX just to be sure 🙂 but let me come back to that when that actually happens. No doubt that the visual effects for this was very good for the topic and the depth that this movie had, but still.

One more thing that made me compare to Gravity was, the emotional impact. With Gravity, I had tears at the end when she makes it. I rooted for her through out, it was like a personal thing. Well, this one didn’t quite make there with that. There was one scene where they are trying to get control of the spacecraft back which was quite intense, and the whole theater was waiting with unabated breath, but I would say it was mostly due to the sound effects more than the actual visuals. Comic relief and the one liners by TARS , the robot, was very funny and cheeky. I should also accept that the whole five dimensional thing details, I quite didn’t get it. Granted that I am not very smart but I was able to follow Inception without any problem. Even Gravity was understandable to a large extent. Here I got lost in the intricate details and given that I am not a fan of sci-fi or rather the time-space related stuff (except for the movies like ‘Back to the Future’ – fyi: I love that series) I had struggle grasping the concept. And the whole love concept in between their 3/4/5 dimensional space talk was a little scary actually. There is no love angle here, which was good in spite of all those talk, if you skip the parental love that is. And you know what, I clapped so hard when I saw Matt Damon, and I may or may not have done a little jump in my seat. Man, come on, I never knew that guy was there in that movie. OK, I didn’t read anything about the movie until I saw it because it could spoil the surprise, but Matt Damon!. Just for moments like these, I should learn to whistle. And Michael Caine got the same welcome from my friends and myself. That man deserves a good welcome. Matthew McConaughey, he is in every single frame, if not his daughter is there. But I think I am glad to see him in these kind of roles, rather than the ones like ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 days’. Jessica Chastin , the Zero Dark Thirty woman (that is how I remember her) and Mackenzie Foy, the Renesmee girl from the Twilight Series, did very good too as did Anne Hathaway. Acting wise every single one did their job well. I have to say that when I heard that the daughter’s name was Murphy and she complains to her dad that he should have named her something else, I remember a blogger’s comment in my other post and made me smile :).

No doubt. Story wise, it was good. But as an end result, there was something missing. Something that made me sit at the end of Inception to wonder what was I supposed to be even thinking now because it was too much to consume that I had to go back to the movie to understand the connecting bits again. Something that made me cry and my heart almost ached for that woman to finally make it on her own in Gravity. Something that made me sit back in shock and surprise and wonder in The Prestige. Everything was there, but then something definitely was missing to make me remember this movie like the rest. And I don’t know what it is.   

  

Gravity – One hell of a ride

Alfonso Cuarón’s recent ride: Gravity. I have been waiting to watch this movie for three reasons, Alfonso Cuarón, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Well finally here I am today. And I should say it was an hell of a ride.  No kidding. Sunday started very relaxed and late , as usual and suddenly it went downhill and this movie was a perfect relax in all ways.

Just two characters and a whole movie….Well, actually it is just one character, Sandra Bullock who single handedly carries the movie through out. Too good and just the right person. George Clooney rather makes a guest appearance. That is what it is for all practical purposes. But who can resist him, even if it is just for a few minutes 😉

The story is not much, as you might see in the Wiki. But if we have to put in other terms, it is how you handle yourself when life throws you all those hurdles. Do you want to take the bull by its horns and go for the ride or just switch off everything and not let anything hurt you and go to the endless sleep. What would you prefer. What will be your choice based on your experiences. You want to let your hurt take control of the person you are? Or try to beat it till there is either nothing left of it or of you. Some lovely dialogues, even if there are less and these two belongs to George Clooney. He got the best ones

I get it, it’s nice up here. You could just shut down all the systems, turn down all the lights, just close your eyes and tune out everyone. There’s nobody up here that can hurt you. It’s safe. What’s the point of going on? What’s the point of living? Your kid died, it doesn’t get any rougher than that. It’s still a matter of what you do now. If you decide to go then you just gotta get on with it. Sit back, enjoy the ride, you gotta plant both your feet on the ground and start living life. Hey, Ryan, it’s time to go home.

You just point the damned thing at Earth. It’s not rocket science.(You can’t not chuckle on the timing here)

I feel that this movie will end up with the Oscar for Visual Effects for this year. Damn!!!! they were just ‘out of space’ (pun intended). The sound effects too. I always admire the story lines where people keep fighting till the end, because for some goddamn reason it gives me hope. And today I definitely needed that. Funny how some movies always come at the right time.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of the Azkaban was my favorite among all the Harry Potter movies. It rates first for me. Just because of the way it was treated and that is just because of the director. I also liked his Children of Men (not only because I like Clive Owen a lot). They are so intense movies and this one is no less intense. If you really have to say about the story it is about how an engineer in her first shuttle mission where things go awfully wrong, get herself in control to try to make back to the living fighting all odds which are totally out of space and out of control. That is all it is about. Of course, George Clooney coming back to try to give her a bit of hope when she is in a sort of ‘subspace’ was a little clichéd, but that is OK. We all need those moments of clarity and hope even it is just a fiction.

If not for anything just watch it for a wonderful space experience. Totally worth it.