The Hunger Games: Mockinjay, - Part 1

is the beginning of a fun and reasonable end to this series of movies, but it is just that:  the beginning of the end.  It is not the end, not any sort of conclusion at all.  The movie stops simply because a little over two hours have passed and something dramatic occurred; nothing comes to any sort of real resolution.

I knew that going in, so I didn't mind, but it is the key factor to consider in whether to see this one in the theater. 

As for the half of the final film that this installment is, as I said, it's a fun ride.  Jennifer Lawrence turns in her usual strong performance.  The supporting cast is generally good, though Julianne Moore, as the President of District 13, plays the role so coldly that it's hard to imagine anyone ever electing her.  We get action and sentiment in reasonable measures, with a just barely tolerable amount of angsting to fill the spaces. 

I'm glad I went, and I'll go see the final chapter next November.  If you are like me and don't mind waiting for the last film, check it out.  Otherwise, catch it on DVD next year right before you head to the theater for Part 2.

Interstellar, the Mr. Efficient take: "dumber than Lucy"

Mr. Efficient, a.k.a. Kyle, sent a comment about my review of this movie that was so long that rather than publish the comment, I am, with Kyle's permission, giving it a full blog entry. 


I think Interstellar does actually have pretty good (though highly improbable) science. My problem with the movie is that at every point every character does the most retarded thing possible. MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW.

1. The movie postulates a world in which farming monoculture has left human food production vulnerable to fungal blights resulting in mass starvation. Rather than invest in blight-resistent GMO research or improving crop diversity, humanity chooses to (a) raise all remaining children to be farmers, (b) eat nothing but corn, and (c) secretly construct a space colony.

2. As the movie opens, Matthew McConaughey discovers that gravity works differently in his daughter's bedroom than anywhere else in the universe. In the real world, this would be literally the most amazing discovery in the history of physics. This discovery upends everything we think we understand about the universe. Instead of summoning all the world's greatest physicists to study the phenomenon, McConaughey shrugs and drives to another state.

3. In that state, he finds NASA, who have constructed a launching gantry in the middle of their office space, where anyone opening a conference room door at the wrong time will die a fiery death.

4. NASA have discovered a wormhole to another star system with 12 potentially habitable planets. Instead of sending cheap probes to fly by those planets and return pictures, they've sent an expensive manned mission to each planet. Although NASA has a collection of fertilized eggs and an artificial womb that are the size of a wastebasket and could repopulate the human race on any world, they have not sent this with any of their astronauts.

5. McConaughey and three people he's just met go through the wormhole into the other star system. One of the 12 planets orbits a super-massive black hole rotating at nearly the speed of light. Unlike the other eleven planets, this one is subject to relativistic time distortion, wracked by tidal forces, and covered entirely in liquid. They decide to land there because, you know, IT MIGHT BE HABITABLE.

I could go on, but it only gets worse from there. This movie was dumber than Lucy and less fun.


Obviously, I disagree with Kyle about the movie as a whole, but there is little I would argue in the list above.  As I said in my review, how you feel about this movie will depend a great deal on what you want from it.  

Interstellar

How you will feel about this Christopher Nolan film will depend a great deal on what you value in a movie and where your tolerance thresholds sit.

If you want good science in your science-fiction films, Interstellar will just annoy you, maybe even piss you off.  Kyle can argue persuasively that it's the dumbest movie he's seen in 2014, a year full of dumb movies.  The film indeed ignores all realities about how scientists work, how people would really respond to some of its key events, all serious thinking about time travel, and many, many other science-related aspects of its story.

If you most enjoy subtle portraits of slowly growing characters, Interstellar will disappoint you.  Nothing about this film is subtle.  For nearly three hours, grand gestures and soaring soundtracks are the order of the day.

If, though, you enjoy those grand gestures and are willing to let realities slide away in the face of a story set on a grand scale, if you're willing to listen to the occasional speech about the power of the human heart in return for watching humans with great heart try to rise above their circumstances, then you will love Interstellar.  I did.  I couldn't help but notice the many egregious errors, and I winced a few times at the dumb speeches, but for almost all of its 169 minutes I sat transfixed, seeing some of the best renditions yet of space, feeling that sense of wonder that led me to SF as a child.

If you're the same type of moviegoer I am, do not miss this film.  If you're in either of the first two camps, either skip it or expect to be annoyed.

As for me, I'll watch it again when it comes out on Blu-Ray.

Holden and Cone Man discuss the night

Click an image to see a larger version.

Holden:  On such a cold night, I fear, Good Sir, for your health.

Cone Man:  Are you freakin' kiddin' me!  It's fantastic out here.  Dark and cold bring out the best in me.

H:  If I may be so bold, my fiberglass friend, your eyes appear to be losing their color, and leaves have fallen on your head.

CM:  Leaves have fallen?  You clearly need some glasses, because those aren't just leaves; they're part of my fall wreath.  It's decorative wreath season, motherfucker!

H:   I must insist, Sir, that you refrain from such profanity.  I simply will not have it.

CM:  Oh, you won't have it?  Well, bite my curly tip, you spoiled house dog!  You'd fuckin' curse, too, if you had to sit outside all the time, with only delivery people to admire your decorative wreath. 

H:  If you cannot engage in civil discourse, and you clearly cannot, then I must take my leave and return to one of my many luxurious pillow beds--all of which sit inside yon beckoning warm home.

CM:  Fine.  Go inside and lick your junk.  See if I care.  See if I let you wear my wreath!

The moral of this story is simple:  No one can please a cranky Cone Man.

Computer servers and cooking don't normally mix

but in the latest episode of Now with PT, very little is normal.



Enjoy.

I don't really know how to dance

but this song makes me wish I did.  When you need a cheerful tune, this one from Walk the Moon should do the trick.  (The video isn't as much to my taste as the song, but it's still fun.) 



Enjoy.

Big Hero 6

is an absolute delight, a movie that will make you laugh, applaud, and maybe even tear up now and again.  It's the story of a young genius, his brother, and a group of friends who become much more than just another collection of college students.  It's silly and serious, sometimes in the same scene, but it makes the combination work.  It dances on the edge of sentimentality quite frequently, and every now and again it falls over that edge, but I didn't mind at all.  For a change, both audiences and critics agree with me on this one. 

If you've seen the trailers, you might be tempted to believe the film is simply a silly animated robot comedy, but don't succumb to that temptation; this movie is much more.  It has genuine heart, but it also boasts plenty of action and humor.  The plot is nothing you haven't seen before, but as always, that's not what matters; it's the singer, not the song, and this film sings beautifully. 

Don't read more about Big Hero 6.  Just go see it.