Jose San Mateo" />
Psycho Drive-In logo
Search
  • PDI Press
    Featured
    • BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

      Jose San Mateo
      January 17, 2022
      Fiction, PDI Press, PDI Press Writers
    Recent
    • BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

      John E. Meredith
      January 17, 2022
    • Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Seven)

      John E. Meredith
      January 16, 2022
    • Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Six)

      John E. Meredith
      January 15, 2022
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    Featured
    • X (2022)

      Jose San Mateo
      April 22, 2022
      Movies, Reviews
    Recent
    • X (2022)

      Nate Zoebl
      April 22, 2022
    • Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

      Nate Zoebl
      April 15, 2022
    • The Adam Project (2022)

      Nate Zoebl
      March 16, 2022
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
    Featured
    • Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

      Jose San Mateo
      July 13, 2018
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

      The Final Girl
      July 13, 2018
    • David Black: Carnies, Carnage, and the Creative Chaos of Darkness Visible

      Dan Lee
      March 7, 2017
    • Jaiden Kaine joins the Marvel Universe as new Luke Cage baddie, Zip

      Andre Lamar
      September 29, 2016
    • SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Batman: The Killing Joke

      Jason Sacks
      July 28, 2016
    • SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Syfy’s Van Helsing

      Dave Hearn, Paul Brian McCoy
      July 27, 2016
    • Wondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien

      Gary Richardson, Laura Akers
      April 16, 2016
  • News
    Featured
    • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum arrives on Digital 8/23 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand 9/10

      Jose San Mateo
      July 30, 2019
      DVD/Blu-ray, News
    Recent
    • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum arrives on Digital 8/23 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand 9/10

      psychodr
      July 30, 2019
    • X-Men: Dark Phoenix arrives on Digital 9/3 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD 9/17

      Paul Brian McCoy
      July 16, 2019
    • Avengers: Endgame arrives on Digital 7/30 and Blu-ray 8/13

      psychodr
      July 16, 2019
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
Breaking
  • X (2022)
  • Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
  • The Adam Project (2022)
  • The Batman (2022)
  • Entropy (2022)
  • Killer Sofa (2019)
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Who We Be
  • Contact
  • PDI Press
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
Home
Movies

Interstellar (2014)

Jose San Mateo
November 8, 2014
Movies, Reviews

Interstellar is a singularity of a movie that dazzles in the long view, but has its ultimate purpose and message squished and smashed into the tiniest of spaces.

Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated sci-fi epic purports itself to be a grand adventure with the most dire of stakes. The intrepid pilot Cooper, played by Matthew McConaughey, is tasked with a grim mission of finding a new home for mankind somewhere beyond a black hole. The movie does an excellent job setting the appropriate stage laying out how the final generation of humans on earth will live out their days. Desperation is palpable as governments collapse in the wake of global food shortages and technological innovation comes to a screeching halt as mankind barely has the means to feed itself let alone go to war with each other.

interstellar-02

Suddenly the world needs more farmers than they do engineers and it is against this backdrop that Cooper raises his family. Little is told of his past other than that he is an engineer and former pilot for NASA, but it is the relationship he has with his young daughter Murph that forms the emotional lynchpin of this movie. Their screen time together is easily the strongest part of the film and the emotional connection between them is ultimately the most human part of this experience. Their scenes together are the touchstone that holds this movie together and the movie is easily at its best around the time when Cooper boards the shuttle Endurance and finally has to leave her behind.

As the movie shifts into space, it showcases Hoyte Van Hoytema’s beautiful cinematography with shots that illustrate just how overwhelming the universe can look and feel. The Endurance set against massive celestial bodies nail the sense of place and just how difficult their journey will be. The dangers they face when touching down on the other side of the wormhole further drive home the power of nature and just how insignificant humans are in its face.

interstellar-01

Unfortunately, the characters are also overwhelmed by the thematic concepts Interstellar tries to convey and any more attempts at characterization are hijacked by the need to drive the message home. This movie is oddly spiritual for something that comports itself to be hard science fiction and the ideas of sacrifice and faith become a powerful thread in this movie. This happens at the expense of characters who are stifled by themes delivered with all the subtlety of a jackhammer. Dialogue suddenly becomes didactic and stilted as they cease acting like real people and become mouthpieces for explaining to the audience about what it all means.

Professor Brand, played by Nolan favorite Michael Caine, delivers the treatise of this movie with his quote from a Dylan Thomas poem. He does little else and serves no other proper function other than to try and shoehorn meaning to this journey into space. Amelia Brand, played by Anne Hathaway, is an equally flat character and also becomes a vehicle for delivering the film’s overt message. Her soliloquy on love and sacrifice as the Endurance team debates which planet to visit next is also heavy handed.

interstellar-04

Even the relationship between Cooper and Murph, the strongest part of the early going, loses its luster later. Jessica Chastain does an admirable job playing the adult version of Murph but does not quite have the emotional connection to Cooper her younger self does, as their lives literally take place in different parts of the galaxy.

While there are periods of conflict and excitement, Interstellar is also dull for long stretches. Far too much of the movie is spent philosophizing and pondering its own meaning and that is its greatest failure.

(Visited 49 times, 1 visits today)

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Christopher NolanInterstellarJessica ChastainJose San MateoMatthew McConaughey

The Originals 2.03 & 2.04
Doctor Who 8.11 “Dark Water”

About The Author

Jose San Mateo
News Editor / The Source

Jose is a straight shooter who always goes the paragon route. When not aboard the Normandy, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area playing video games and plotting ways to rid the world of games like Colonial Marines. He can be shouted at on Twitter as @JAsanmateo

Daily Top Ten

  • An Existential Mystical Experience: The Zero Theorem (2013)An Existential Mystical Experience: The Zero Theorem (2013) by Paul Brian McCoy
  • Unnatural Selections: Two-Headed Shark Attack (2012)Unnatural Selections: Two-Headed Shark Attack (2012) by Brooke Brewer
  • Shakespeare's Macbeth (2010)Shakespeare’s Macbeth (2010) by Paul Brian McCoy
  • Lost in Translation 404: WandaVisionLost in Translation 404: WandaVision by Scott Delahunt
  • Torchwood: Miracle Day 4 "Escape to LA"Torchwood: Miracle Day 4 “Escape to LA” by Paul Brian McCoy
  • The Adventures of Tintin Season One DVD ReviewThe Adventures of Tintin Season One DVD Review by Jason Sacks
  • Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012)Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012) by Paul Brian McCoy
  • Dungeons & D-Listers: D&D: The Book of Vile Darkness Dungeons & D-Listers: D&D: The Book of… by Alex Wolfe
  • Advance Review: Russian Yeti – The Killer LivesAdvance Review: Russian Yeti – The Killer Lives by Paul Brian McCoy
  • With Great Power... The Stan Lee Story (2010)With Great Power… The Stan Lee Story (2010) by Jason Sacks
400x400 GI Joe Funko Banner

Weekly Top Ten

  • The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
  • Adventure Time 6.06 “Breezy”Adventure Time 6.06 “Breezy” by Dave Hearn
  • Women in Horror: I Spit on Your Grave (2010)Women in Horror: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
  • Shakespeare's Macbeth (2010)Shakespeare’s Macbeth (2010) by Paul Brian McCoy
  • House of Wax (2005)House of Wax (2005) by The Final Girl
  • Sick Flix: Guinea Pig 2 – Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985)Sick Flix: Guinea Pig 2 – Flower of Flesh and Blood (1985) by Corin Totin
  • Thor and Loki: Blood Brothers Advance DVD ReviewThor and Loki: Blood Brothers Advance DVD Review by Paul Brian McCoy
  • Drive-In Saturday: Heavy Metal 2000 (2000)Drive-In Saturday: Heavy Metal 2000 (2000) by Alex Wolfe
  • Scream 4: Sidney’s Final KillScream 4: Sidney’s Final Kill by The Final Girl
  • Unnatural Selections: Two-Headed Shark Attack (2012)Unnatural Selections: Two-Headed Shark Attack (2012) by Brooke Brewer
400x400 UA Affiliate Banner

FACEBOOK

FACEBOOK

Latest Reviews

  • X (2022)

    Nate Zoebl
    April 22, 2022
  • Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)

    Nate Zoebl
    April 15, 2022
  • The Adam Project (2022)

    Nate Zoebl
    March 16, 2022

psychodrivein

Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S01E37 - G.I. Joe #12 / Three Strikes For Snake-Eyes!

It's the start of one of the most iconic Joe stories in it's entire history, and it includes the return of two pivotal characters from the past! Join Greg and Jaren as they venture into Rio Lindo to root out Cobra's next devious plot!
---
Watch Greg and Jaren at the link in our profile!

#AnythingJoes @anythingjoespod #GIJoe #MarvelComics #SnakeEyes
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 412: Good Omens (2014 BBC Radio Dramatisation)

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch was first published in 1990 and was a comedy about Revelations and Armageddon.
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #GoodOmens #NeilGaiman #TerryPratchett #BBC #MarkHeap #PeterSerafinowicz #JimNorton #AdamThomasWright #JosieLawrence #Charlotterichie #ColinMorgan #CliveRussell #JuliaDeakin #BBCRadio
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S01E36 - Lexington Comic & Toy Convention 2022

Greg & Jaren recount their experience meeting Larry Hama at the Lexington Comic & Toy Convention 2022. Plus, the latest news, recent acquisitions, and listener mail!
---
Listen to Greg and Jaren's podcast at the link in our profile!

@anythingjoespod #AnythingJoes #GIJoe #Mezco #LarryHama
Today at https://psychodrivein.com X (2022) Ti W Today at https://psychodrivein.com

X (2022)

Ti West is a director I haven’t fully enjoyed, though I would say X is his most accomplished film to date for me. 
---
Read more of Nate's review at the link in our profile!

#X #TiWest #MiaGoth #Slasher
Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 411: The Secret of Marvel's Success

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been dominating the box office since the release of Iron Man.
---
Read more of Scott's article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #Marvel #MarvelStudios #MarvelCinematicUniverse #MCU #IronMan #Avengers #MoonKnight #WandaVision #Hawkeye #RobertDowneyJr
Today at https://psychodrivein.com EZMM 2022 Day Today at https://psychodrivein.com

EZMM 2022 Day 9: All of Us Are Dead S1 E7-12

There are enough plot threads left dangling to give us a good launching point for a future second season, but if that doesn’t happen, All of Us Are Dead can stand as a solid one-and-done.
---
Read more of Paul's review at the link in our profile!

#EZMM #EZMM2022 #EasterZombieMovieMarathon #EasterZombieMovieMarathon2022 #AllOfUsAreDead #Netflix #LeeJaiKyoo #KimNamSu #ChunSungIl #JooDongGeun #YooInSoo #ChoYiHyun #OhHyeSoo #YoonChanYoung #LeeEunSaem #YangHanYeoi #JinHoEun #HaSeungRi #SonSangYeon #zombies
Today at https://psychodrivein.com EZMM 2022 Day Today at https://psychodrivein.com

EZMM 2022 Day 8: Return of the Living Dead III (1993)

Return of the Living Dead III is, quite simply, one of the best examples of the genre.
---
Read more of Paul's review at the link in our profile!

#EZMM #EZMM2022 #EasterZombieMovieMarathon #EasterZombieMovieMarathon2022 #zombies #ReturnOfTheLivingDead3 #BasilWallace #BrianYuzna #JTrevorEdmond #KentMcCord #MelindaClarke #SarahDouglas
Today at https://psychodrivein.com EZMM 2022 Day Today at https://psychodrivein.com

EZMM 2022 Day 7: Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021)

While I really didn’t like Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City very much, I want to give it a fair shake.
---
Read more of Paul's review at the link in our profile!

#EZMM #EZMM2022 #EasterZombieMovieMarathon #EasterZombieMovieMarathon2022 #ResidentEvil #ResidentEvilWelcomeToRaccoonCity #WelcomeToRaccoonCity #JohannesRoberts #RobbieAmell #HannahJohnKamen #TomHopper #DonalLogue #NealMcDonough #KayaScodelario #AvanJogia #MarinaMazepa
Today at https://psychodrivein.com EZMM 2022 Day Today at https://psychodrivein.com

EZMM 2022 Day 6: Kingdom: Ashin of the North (2021)

Vengeance. That’s what Ashin is doing. That’s what she’s been doing from behind the scenes all along.
---
Read more of Paul's review at the link in our profile!

#EZMM #EZMM2022 #EasterZombieMovieMarathon #EasterZombieMovieMarathon2022 #Zombies #TheKingdom #TheKingdomAshinOfTheNorth #AshinOfTheNorth #Ashin #Netflix #JunJiHyun #KimEunHee #KimRoiHa #KimSeongHun #KimShiAh #ParkByungEun
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Latest Columns

  • Anything Joes: S01E37 – G.I. Joe #12 / Three Strikes For Snake-Eyes!

    Greg Engle
    May 11, 2022
  • Lost in Translation 412: Good Omens (2014 BBC Radio Dramatisation)

    Scott Delahunt
    April 29, 2022
  • Anything Joes: S01E36 – Lexington Comic & Toy Convention 2022

    Greg Engle
    April 27, 2022

TWITTER

My Tweets

Look Who's Talking

Oliver Ghingold
Oliver Ghingold - 2/18/2022
Muppet Madness: You’re the Director
Do you still have these tapes? I've been looking everywhere for them! I loved the Interactive Vision...
white swan
white swan - 12/22/2021
The Hills Have Eyes (1977) vs The Hills Have Eyes (2006)
I enjoyed the article though I would never call brutality gorgeous.
Shawn EH
Shawn EH - 10/26/2021
13 Days of Halloween Day 12: Halloween Kills (2021)
Very disappointing, it's true. And very mean-spirited murders of nobodies. And I don't even see how...
RSSTwitterFacebookinstagramtumblr

Archives

Large_rectangle_336X280
All work on this site is Copyright © each individual writer.
  • PDI Press
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
%d bloggers like this: