Interstellar – Movie Review

I don’t see many movies in the theater, unless Richard Armitage is in the cast. I watch most movies online. However, I’m writing a novel with a hero with a southern accent and I thought a few hours of Matthew McConaughey would be useful, so I went to see Interstellar.

Wow. This was a fun movie and definitely worth watching in IMAX. There were about five minutes in the middle when I was getting bored with Anne Hathaway making faces behind an astronaut mask and the spaceship spinning, but then the plot picked up and I was fine. There were interesting family relationships and interactions and a hint of romance, which nicely balanced the space travel/adventure/fighting scenes. I liked the music, too. Sometimes it is nice to escape into a different, exciting world. And after seeing this movie, I no longer think my house is dusty.

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Flaws and all

The movie Dan in Real Life has a flawed hero.  I have watched this movie several times and there are a few scenes that make me cringe every time.  SPOILER.  When he tells his daughter that she can’t drive, I hear myself, worrying about my teenaged drivers.  When he says something rude at the table to embarrass his brother, I think of rude things I’ve said.  When he gets in a fender bender with a police officer and tries to make a joke, I remember my one and only traffic ticket.

This movie works because it shows a basically decent man, who is still grieving the death of his wife, trying to raise three daughters, and suddenly finds himself falling in love with his brother’s new girlfriend.  What a mess.

But there are moments that are very sweet, very romantic, and true to life.  As with most PG 13 films, there is something rude/crude/vulgar that I wish wasn’t there, but overall, I like this film.  One of my favorite parts is a conversation the mother, admirably played by Dianne Wiest has with her son Dan (Steve Carell).  Dan has just said something rude at the dinner table that embarrassed/shamed/humiliated his brother, and his mother makes him wash all the dinner dishes.  She knows and Dan knows that he was a jerk and doing all the dishes by himself is his punishment.  It’s one of those film moments that rings true.  Lovely.   I also like the bit with the teenager telling her dad he’s a love murderer.

It’s one of the movies that I wish I had written.

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This song, I like

For some reason I’m quoting Little John from the BBC Robin Hood series.

I just listened to Ed Sheeran‘s song that is going to be at the end of the second Hobbit movie:  The Desolation of Smaug.  Wow.  I like it.  A lot.  I liked the music in the first movie, but I really like this song.  Of course, I also like the clips from the movie, too.  Enjoy.

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