CONTEXT NOTE: Topic: Film review of Interstellar in the style of popular film review site Rotten Tomatoes. Audience: Mainly American males in their 20’s, but online film reviews do have a very broad audience demographically, so I will make it accessible to any potential reader. Persona: Professional/Technical while still being accessible to a general audience that is not necessarily educated on this specific film or in film language in general. Purpose: To inform a general audience about the film Interstellar, from empirical facts about the film and plot, to a critique of the film which is meant to help the reader decide whether or not to see the movie. Some readers will have already seen the movie, and will benefit from the review by hearing a different perspective on the film. I made sure not to put any spoilers in the review, which allows any reader to remain interested and captivated. - Jackson Hyland-Lipski

Audience Score: 87% (4.2/5) Critic Score: 74% (7.4/10) SCREENSHOTS:

INTERSTELLAR Directed by Christopher Nolan Written by Christopher Nolan & Jonathan Nolan SYNOPSIS: With our time on Earth coming to an end, a team of explorers undertakes the most important mission in human history; traveling beyond this galaxy to discover whether mankind has a future among the stars. © Paramount Genre: Action & Adventure, Sci-Fi In Theaters: November 7, 2014 (Wide) Box Office: $120.9M Runtime: 2 hr. 49 min. (169 min.) Rating: PG-13 Production: Paramount Pictures CAST: Matthew McConaughey as Cooper Anne Hathaway as Amelia Brand Jessica Chastain as adult Murph Mackenzie Foy as child Murph Michael Caine as Professor Brand Timothée Chalamet as child Tom Casey Affleck as adult Tom Matt Damon as Dr. Mann John Lithgow as Donald Topher Grace as Getty Bill Irwin as TARS

REVIEW: I first read about the film Interstellar in early 2013, when it was announced that for production they were carving out the nose of a jet-plane, placing an IMAX camera in the nose, and flying it around to create realistic imagery for sky scenes. I closely followed the film’s production after this, and awaited its release with great excitement. Interstellar, directed by Christopher Nolan (Inception, The Dark Knight Trilogy) takes place in the near future, when an environmental disaster known as “Blight” threatens all natural food sources on Earth. Mankind’s new necessary lifestyle focuses on survival and concentrating government resources towards agriculture. Their volatile situation results in a lack of funding for seemingly superfluous technologies such as space exploration and other technological developments that were seen as unessential. This is an unsettling and unfulfilling reality for Interstellar’s main character, Cooper (played by Matthew McConaughey), who as an ex-NASA pilot, was forced to become a corn farmer – a more productive and socially responsible occupation. A widower, Cooper lives with his father in law (played by John Lithgow) and two young children. His relationship to his like-minded daughter Murph proves to be a pivotal factor in the narrative of this film. So much important plot material is constantly occurring, which makes it difficult to not give away any spoilers – however, I will do my best. After meeting with Professor Brand (played by Michael Caine), Matthew McConaughey’s character is chosen by a

much smaller and covert formation of NASA to pilot a spacecraft in search of potentially habitable planets that are only accessible through a newly manifested wormhole in our solar system. Professor Brand’s daughter Amelia (played by Anne Hathaway) accompanies Cooper along with two other astronauts on this journey, becoming a key figure in the developing plot. After a long introduction, the film brings us to outer space, where most of the remaining scenes take place. This setting is only left when the characters land on new worlds or in brief scenes and flashbacks from Earth. Nolan is able to seamlessly mix the intimacy and comfort of home, being Earth, with the vastness, beauty, and inescapable loneliness of deep space – both visually and audibly. After a while, the two realities of the film seem to unify, evoking a sense of singularity felt by both the audience and the main characters. In one brief scene, we see the spaceship passing by an immense and intimidating Saturn, while the only sounds are of crickets, rushing water, and leaves rustling – noises heard on one astronaut’s headset. This connection of spaces allows a wholeness to be achieved in the film. The dullness of Earth, uniformed by the layers of dust on every surface due to Blight, is enhanced and contrasted by the stunning landscapes of outer space and foreign planets. This device allows the audience to feel more connected to space due to the diegetic relationship between the unknown and the universally known. Seeing these scenes in IMAX is unquestionably spectacular, as if the

audience is experiencing these discoveries first-hand. However, possibly due to a mistake in the theater or an unfortunate conscious decision, the screen dimensions changed on numerous occasions. For most of the film, the screen had a black border on every side. However, during many space scenes, the screen was larger – the black boarders on the top and bottom disappeared. This may be because of the dimensions of the IMAX camera, which was only used in some shots. This subtracted from the beauty of the non-IMAX shots, which seemed smaller and blurrier in comparison. It created a dichotomy between space and Earth, in opposition to the intended sentiments of the film and lessened the impact and awe of many scenes. Whether intentional or not, it was a very distracting effect, and hopefully was an error specific to the theater. Whereas many are comparing Interstellar to Stanley Kubrick’s all-encompassing film 2001: A Space Odyssey, I believe it was quite contrary in many respects. Rather than focusing on existence, mankind, and discovery, Interstellar focused on personal relationships and individual identity, guised by an adventurous plot and immense graphics. In terms of music, there were many scenes in Interstellar in which the film scorer, Hans Zimmer, seemed to attempt channeling the classical and ambitious sentiment of 2001 without being fully capable of the same emotional magnitude. Many scenes were diminished by Zimmer’s eerie score that would have been more appropriate for a horror film. However, the sound (besides the score) was very captivating and visually complimentary. Unlike in

Gravity (directed by Alfonso Cuarón), another contemporary space blockbuster, the scenes in Interstellar were accurately silent when in space. This overbearing silence added to the isolation felt in many of the space scenes – a feeling that was lacking in Gravity due to the loud noises and tense music. Also, while 2001: A Space Odyssey is able to use time and patience to its advantage, Interstellar is unforgivably fast-paced, feeling as though there is a constant doomsday timer, ticking down to zero every chance it gets. While this makes the movie an exciting experience, it doesn’t allow the audience to find the importance of specific scenes and moments, making the film monotonous in its persistent adrenaline-fueled plot. So if you are in the mood to be visually stunned, question your perception of time and space, and feel mildly humbled afterward, you should see Interstellar before it leaves theaters and consequently loses its main appeal.

- Jackson Hyland-Lipski