566: Interstellar 10th Anniversary / Letterboxd Reviews / Top 10 Astronaut Movies

[Henry Faherty]:\nPeople are obsessed with this movie, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it's rare these days that when talking about movies with other people, this one doesn't come up as a favorite. Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Film Buds podcast. This is episode number five hundred and sixty six, and my name is Henry. This time around, I'm going to be tackling the I know it's a little late. Sorry. But the tenth anniversary seventy millimeter IMAX re release of Interstellar, and then I will be doing some letterbox reviews as always and then counting down my top ten astronaut movies of all time. So as always, thanks for joining us. Please make sure to rate, review, subscribe, like, share, all that good stuff right now if you haven't already. Visit our premium podcast page at filmbuds. Bandcamp dot com and our website filmbudspodcast dot com and all that is in the show notes. Follow us everywhere. Well, we got a lot to talk about, so let's go ahead and get into it. Let's get to Interstellar, and we do have a clip, so take a listen. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nIt's not a ghost. It's gravity. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nI'm dropping Tom then heading to town. You wanna clean that up when you finish praying to it? Alright. Interstellar came out originally in twenty fourteen. It's written and directed by Christopher Nolan, stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Mackenzie Foy, Timothy Chalamet, John Lithgow, and the synopsis is, when Earth becomes uninhabitable in the future, a farmer and ex NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper, is asked to pilot a spacecraft along with a team of researchers \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nto find a new planet for humans. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nI think one thing quickly about Christopher Nolan's movies is I would love to see all of his films re released. I would love to see Dunkirk, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Inception, again in theaters. Even if it wasn't in IMAX or seventy millimeter, I think he has this almost unparalleled strength of you wanna see his movies on the biggest screen possible, and I can't think of a lot of other filmmakers that have that pretty much across their whole career. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nSo even though he's sure it's a cash grab at the end of the day, I kinda hope that they do that with some of his other films. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nBut it had been a while since I had watched this all the way through. I've seen it maybe a half a dozen times over the years, and I did see it originally in theaters. I know it's also now the highest grossing rereleased film, if I'm not mistaken. And for any Letterboxd users, this is, I think, the second or third most fan favorited movie ever on that site, which is insane. Not to say it's not deserving, but there's something about this movie that connects it seems to connect with all different kinds of people. It was successful when it came out, but it's definitely had a shelf life that has only grown and grown and grown. And before I get into the movie itself, the IMAX seventy millimeter presentation was awesome. Just a massive screen, amazing sound, and then the seventy millimeter gave it even more of a sense of scale as well as that filmic grain that I love. And so it was an amazing experience. So if it is re released again or if you get a chance to see a film like this in theaters, I would highly recommend it. As for the movie itself, I would say it's maybe it's a hot take. It would be in my, I think, top five Christopher Nolan movies, but it's not my favorite. It wouldn't be in my top three. But at the same time, Christopher Nolan doesn't even have close to a bad movie, in my opinion, so that's not really saying a whole lot. I mean, his fifth, sixth best movie is still fantastic, so that's not really a big criticism. It's just personal favorites, you know, we all have those. What does set it apart in a lot of ways in comparison to other sci fi space films is it is an original story. I don't know how in a million years Christopher and Jonathan Nolan came up with this screenplay and were able to make any kind of sense of it, have things connect fairly rationally and realistically. There's nothing really that goofy in it, and I know that he did do as he always does, did a lot of research into the actual science of space, of black holes, wormholes, everything. So I can't speak to what's true or what's not realistic, but it at least comes across as very well researched. And end of the day, I don't really care that much because he does things so confidently and so cinematically that it could all be fiction and I wouldn't care \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nand is one of the better showcases for \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nChristopher Nolan's obsession with time and playing with time, not having enough time for certain characters or in a certain situation or for the world, you know, for our future. So it connects a lot of different dots, a lot of different timelines. Some major standout scenes because there's a lot to talk about. The opening where it's very much resembling the dust bowl of the Great Depression that feels very true to life and realistic in how they show that. Matthew McConaughey's strained relationship with Murph once he does accept to go on this mission and then the discussion of what are you willing to sacrifice more, are you okay with dying and then knowing that your daughter is living in a future that is going to crumble and she will probably die along with everybody else, or do you wanna sacrifice the life you could have around your daughter but making her overall life that much better even if she's not gonna be able to be with you and that really tough decision that he has to make. One moment that got me this time that really is kinda scary to think about is the scene when he goes to the school and he's talking with a teacher or a counselor, whoever, about them saying the moon landing was staged, \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nthat feels even more timely \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nfor lack of a better term now because in a world of AI and misinformation and so much overall distortion that I could easily see that becoming a reality because there are already so many other things in the world that people deny, you know, the Holocaust, this, that, and the other, and I could see a generation where someone posts on social media, oh, hey, this was staged, and this is why, and then it just spreads like wildfire, and so many people believe it. So that was, like, almost made me uncomfortable because I'm like, jeez, that is even more of a reality than it was when this movie came out first. The cornfield chase is iconic, and with Christopher Nolan's love of practical effects, he did actually have a whole cornfield planted for the movie, so that way he could have something practical to drive through, which is just crazy to think about. And one note on that, the song that's used, for one it's one of Hans Zimmer's best scores of his whole career. But for whatever reason, that song, the Cornfield Chase song, has become so oversaturated and used in TikTok videos and Instagram reels, Facebook. Like, I don't know what caught on about that, but whenever there's anything emotional, I feel like that song is used or another track from this movie. So that's just another way that this movie has invaded the cultural zeitgeist. The water planet is my favorite sequence when there's a huge tidal wave and then there's the score where the ticks in the music represent the time on Earth. And so you realize like, oh, crap. They're just wasting time going from one spot to another, like, ten feet, you know, and think about how much time has been lost, and that makes the suspense build even more. The ice planet where they meet Matt Damon randomly, and at first, he seems like he's on their side, and then he tries to betray them, and that all goes wrong. Honestly, one of the only things that brings it down some is the third act. I don't have an issue with the wormhole or the black hole or the tesseract, like, the alternate dimension. I like all that visually, but it does feel like it goes on a long time for me, and I'm just kinda ready for it to be over. At a certain point, maybe it gets a little repetitive. I do like the sequences within that where Matthew McConaughey is banging on the wall trying to get his younger or other self to stay, and he realized that the ghost, quote, unquote, at the beginning of the movie that was saying stay was him. And so there's a really cool twist there that still works and is effective emotionally on rewatch. But again, that runtime of that and just maybe how it's put together, I don't know, but I kinda start to phase out a little bit, and it gets so big. And there are little things like Jessica Chastain saying Eureka and Anna. It's just a little, at times, doesn't totally work for me. However, the final few moments are very effective when McConaughey does meet his daughter again, and she's now elderly. But she's had a wonderful life, and he's helped her to achieve that as well as many others. And then he realized that she was the one speaking on the little docudrama thing on the TV at the beginning, and then it ends with Anne Hathaway continuing on her exploration of space because McConaughey did what he set out to do, but Anne Hathaway still has unfinished business. So there's that open ended of where and what is she gonna do next. One of the more referenced and celebrated scenes is the video, the home video of McConaughey watching his kids do these videos as they grow up, and he's realizing that he's missed their whole childhood, and he's just sobbing uncontrollably. And I think that can hit anyone who's been away from their family, from their kids, whoever, \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nfor any extent of time, and you come back and they look different or, you know, you've missed some big event and it's heartbreaking. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nOne of the only other design elements that I don't love is the look and voice or writing for the robot. It's little I mean, maybe it's meant to be a little goofy, but I think it's a little too clunky. I don't like the constant humor percentage thing. I just feel like they need to have alright. This is a space, you know, sci fi movie. We need to have a robot sidekick in there. I do appreciate, though, that Nolan I mean, he always talks about very resonating themes and ideas, but his passion for space exploration and other life possibly out there in the universe and that mystery and that drive for people to find that and to find other places that could be our home. So yeah. I mean, it's a really good movie. I think it's gonna continue to have a massive fan base that will only grow more and more over time. It may very well appear on my top ten list that I'm about to get into, and I'm curious to see what you all think. So if you have a way to comment, please do. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nThat is a heavy four and a half \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nout of five. Alright. Let's get to some letterbox reviews of Interstellar, and if you have any that you want read on the show, let me know. Or if you have any suggestions as to what you wanna see reviewed, please reach out in whatever way you can. First one comes from Mike's Mike and gave it five out of five, says, seeing Anne Hathaway, queen out in space in IMAX, was a spiritual experience. Mitsy F gave it three out of five and says, every single conversation is exposition of some kind, and it's just so exhausting. Nolan is at his peak visually here, but the man needs help on making characters that aren't just cogs in his plot machine. Parts of this are so brilliant, and the score is so beautiful \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nthat I can't say I dislike it. It's just so frustrating. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nLucy gave it four out of five \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nand says, leave it to Nolan to turn love into a science. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nLast one comes from Keith, gave it two out of five stars, and says something about this didn't quite work for me the way it did for others. There are scenes and developments that are no doubt great and very interesting, but overall this felt like a jumble of different ideas and didn't feel like its own singular unique creature. More often than not, the film grasps for poignancy and only really achieves eye rolling pretentiousness. In short, it's trying a little too hard. Let's end off with my top ten astronaut movies of all time, and let me know your top ten, top five as well. Alright. Number ten. This might be a hot take, but I have a reason for it. Two thousand and one, A Space Odyssey. Yes. This movie is a landmark, one of the greatest, most influential movies of all time, and watching it is like a marvel, and you see how it's influenced every kind of movie, especially anything in space or sci fi or action. It's \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nforever gonna be a big part of film history. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nBut while I appreciate all of those things, watching it, I don't enjoy it that much. Unless I'm wanting to watch something because of a film history class or watch it with someone who hasn't seen it, I don't feel the need to watch it again even though I'm still fascinated by it and I love the discussion around the movie. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nNumber nine, Highlife \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nstarring Robert Pattinson and Meg Gough. I saw this one for the first time back when it came out, didn't love it, but it has grown on me a lot over the years. I think it's a grower, and I've seen it maybe three or four times. And even though it's not a masterpiece, it's very one of the only real, I'd say, horror space films or horror astronaut films, but it's still fairly low budget. It's an a twenty four film. It's character based. It's quiet. It's not super flashy or epic. It's mostly interior shots, but there's still great atmosphere, a great score, great performances, and while it's not one for everybody, it's worth at least a look. Give it a chance. Number eight, Sunshine, the Danny Boyle film. I saw this for the first time maybe early twenty tens because I heard all this crazy hype about it and so I was curious and I do really like it. There's a lot of interesting ideas, a great role for Cillian Murphy, and it's a good ensemble cast. There's a lot of great mystery and suspense, a lot of great visual splendor, if you will, and so it's worth a look if you like or you're trying to find more independent or lesser known space films, this is a good one to start with. Number seven, Spaceman from twenty twenty four. I know that the reviews for this are a little all over the place. I found it to be personally really and it's also similar to High Life actually in that it's partly a horror film almost because there's this sudden discovery of something else on the ship with Adam Sandler, and I knew nothing about the movie going into it. So that was even more of an unsettling shock. And just in case you haven't seen it, that's why I'm being a little bit more ambiguous with what it is, but I love Adam Sandler in it. It's directed by Johan Rinck, if that's how you say it, who did Chernobyl. He also directed some episodes of The Last of Us, a really good director. Paul Dano's voice performance is top notch, a really low key space film that I think has already gotten lost in the world of Netflix originals, but there's a lot to enjoy. And if you like Interstellar, it has some of the same ideas as that. It's a more small scale version, I think, of Interstellar. Number six, Apollo thirteen, the Ron Howard film about the real life event. And one of the strongest things about it is that despite if you know anything about the story, it shouldn't have a real suspense to it or drama to it because you know what happens, but it manages to do that. Like, it says, okay. Are they gonna make it out alive? Are they not? Oh, this is going wrong. We need to figure this out, and you don't know exactly how things are gonna go. And it's a really good Tom Hanks movie, very plainly shot, not in a bad way, but it's not pretentious or trying to do anything crazy. It's just trying to tell this \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\ntrue life, like, as much as it can story about these real astronauts. Number five, add Astra. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nLike Highlife, this one has grown on me a lot over time. When I first saw it, I did like it, but I didn't love it. It's so much more thoughtful and it doesn't rely on big action, but it still has a huge sprawling story. Brad Pitt is really good in it, very toned down, but very good. It's shot incredibly well. The color palette, the locations, the look of the moon, the origin story, I guess, you can say of this character and his journey into space and trying to find his father and these distant signals and, you know, just trying to figure out what all is out there and who's doing this. Honestly, we just need more like Interstellar, we just need more original space movies that whether they're super sci fi or not, but especially ones that try and keep at least some things in a way that could happen or at least a character that feels real enough to follow them or want to follow them through this very otherworldly \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nexperience. Number four, The Martian, the Ridley Scott film. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nI know that this one was a huge success critically and financially when it came out. It is a easy watch for the most part. It does do at least as much as it can to my knowledge of having Matt Damon's situation be realistic as to, okay, if you're stuck here, how are you gonna survive? How far can you go? What plants or crops can you grow within the system that you have? It's very much a problem solving movie, which I love personally. That's my favorite kind or one of my favorite kinds of stories. Okay. This is wrong. How do we get out? And it's a great standalone performance for Matt Damon, who he carries it. I mean, he has to. And then the rest of the cast is good, but they don't have that much else to do, but it's a very strong cast. Ridley Scott's beautiful sci fi aesthetic is on full display here, one of his best looking movies, I think, of all time. It's got good comedy. It's got good drama. The final rescue of Matt Damon is very well executed, even though I do find that the first half is a lot more interesting than the second half when he is just trying to figure things out as opposed to, okay, now this is a conventional rescue of getting him from one place to another. It's good, but I think \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nit does drag a little bit in that latter half. Number three, \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nFirst Man, the Damien Chazelle film with Ryan Gosling about Neil Armstrong. Of all the movies I'm talking about, I think this is probably the most underrated. It didn't do that well financially. You've know it did well critically, I think, and is a fascinating story and a very important story is the only Damien Chazelle film that doesn't deal with music or behind the scenes Hollywood stuff, like, all of his movies before and since deal with those ideas in one way or the other. So this is a very \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nbig departure for him, I think, in a good way. The sound design is incredible, great character piece for Ryan Gosling. \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nThe actual moon landing at the end of the movie is so powerful and poignant, but you see the danger that these pilots, these astronauts went through to get to the moon and how many lives were lost, how many resources were spent, the incredible uncertainty of achieving anything like this, and so you see the nuts and bolts, the not so pretty stuff as well as the glorious amazing stuff that this experience had on Neil Armstrong. Number two, \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nInterstellar, and I've already said what I needed to say so great movie all in all. And number one is Gravity \n\n[Henry Faherty]:\nby Alfonso Cuaron with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. I remember this one vividly in theaters. I saw it in IMAX, and to date, it remains one of the most intense, thrilling, wow experiences I've ever had in a theater. I didn't know what to expect. The cinematography and direction of Sandra Bullock being thrown around in space, going from one shuttle to another or different stations to another, the debris flying. Sandra Bullock is amazing, one of her best roles ever, as well as George Clooney, although he's not in it for that much. It's only about ninety minutes, but it shows you the different kinds of stories if you're creative enough that you can tell within a certain situation, in this case, space, and should be watched on the biggest screen possible with the best sound. It's one of those. And there you go. That is my top ten astronaut movies of all time. Again, let me know your favorites. Let me know what you think of my list, if it's good or if it sucks. Would be happy to hear your thoughts. Make sure to hit that subscribe button and rating on your way out. Thank you very much for listening. And as always, hope you enjoyed it even half as much as I did and see you next time. \n\n