Into That Good Night: Interstellar

I went to go see Interstellar on Thursday.  It was a good movie.  It's a futuristic space film, where astronauts go very far into space to find humanity a new planet.  I was afraid it would be a bit out of my league, but it was pretty easy to understand, except for one scene near the end. Trust me, I was racking my brain trying to come up with some reasonable explanation.  And, I think I did.  Read on....

Matthew McCaughnahey, as Cooper, is a former engineer who has now been forced to farm for a living.  In the future, there have been serious droughts and dust storms worldwide, and certain crops have failed.  Wheat failed a while ago, there's one crop that's nearly gone, and corn will soon follow.

He and his daughter, Murph, stumble- literally- upon a very big and secret plan to hunt for worlds that might be good for humanity.

First, I am so, so, so sorry that I missed the IMAX boat on this one.  The special effects, especially the galaxy sequences are awesome.  Orchestration was a bit different from a standard film, it was mainly a pipe organ, so I could understand why people were complaining about the sound being too loud and unbalanced.

I loved the father-daughter dynamic between Matthew and Mackensie.  She was so good.  I had flashbacks to the locket scene before the battle between Bella and her daughter Renesmee in Breaking Dawn 2; especially when Cooper is saying goodbye to Murph.

I really loved the robot, believe it or not.  He was funny, and the design was great.  He was truly three-dimensional.

I was a bit worried that the plot would lean a little too much in the direction of  "2001: A Space Odyssey", and it did towards the end, but it wasn't too bad.  I also appreciated, at the beginning, the use of dust bowl testimonials.  You aren't sure at first if it's a cool parallel with history... or something else. If you get my drift.

Matt Damon does have a small but important part in the film that wasn't widely publicized. When you watch the film, you realize why they couldn't say very much.  He does have a sort of HAL-like streak. That's all I'll say about that. 

Going back to the sound issue.... I don't know if it was the actors just getting emotional, but there were a couple of instances where the dialogue got muffled, Anne Hathaway and Matthew, to note. 

The astronauts do visit a couple of planets.  Not really sure who thought they would be good planets in the first place.  The second planet at least has land.  Would days with longer hours really mean a shorter life span? 

About the issue of time...one could think of time as both physical and abstract.  At one point, near the end, you have to believe that time is physical.  And, if something is physical, it can be manipulated.  I'll leave it at that. 

My title, in part, reference a poem recited by Michael Caine: "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night."  It seems to talk about regret.  Perhaps, on another level, it implores the reader to change what you regret, and not going gently. 

That is what this film is about... trying to fight the hardest to change what seems impossible.

Mockingjay Roundup, etc.

Mockingjay Roundup, etc.

I'm honestly not trying to turn this blog into a Mockingjay fan blog... really.  I just haven't had that much to write about. I need ideas, badly.

That being said, I've bought my share of Doritos bags.  Lionsgate has been running a contest. People enter codes online to unlock each of the 12 districts, and eventually,  district 13. Each district represents a certain prize pack,  and 13 Is a trip to The premiere.

The cool news is that I actually won codes through that contest to use for the movie tickets.  It was a long three- week period of waiting, but they finally arrived in my email a couple of days ago.

About the soundtrack. .. I'm not really enthusiastic about it at all.  I've liked a bunch of songs from the previous two films, but not this one. I do like Lorde's song "Yellow Flicker Beat," but that's it. 

One fan site got the track listing for the score, and I'm interested in that.  But the titles- save one- sound kind of dull in general. I would have been interested in the job, really, haha. One job I'd love is to give titles to DVD chapter menus, but that position seems to have fallen permanently by the wayside.

One movie I'm really excited about seeing is Interstellar. I'm planning to see it the night before Mockingjay. 

I tried reading Gone Girl, but it's just too heavy for me. I might still try to finish it.

"There's that word again: "heavy." Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull?
" (Doc Brown, "Back to the Future")




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That Rocks!

I was able to go to the Houston Museum of Natural Science a few weeks ago, where they are having a minerals and gemstones exhibit.  If you've seen my Pinterest boards, you'll know I have a thing for gemstones and rocks.  It was really cool; I had a good time.

Along with all of the minerals, there was a rather lavish jewelry collection. 

Coming to a Theme Park Near You

Book equals theme park?

Your favorite book.... coming to a theme park near you! Ok, for one franchise this has already come true: Harry Potter, in Orlando. Well, recently, there's been talk of Lionsgate (the studio who does The Hunger Games) wanting to open a Hunger Games theme park.

Needless to say, this has gone over like a lead balloon with the fandom.

What would there be in this theme park, anyway? Archery? Survival skills? Baking?

Yes, these are great, but all of these separate things don't necessarily come together great.
This is not just thinking outside the box, this is way over the box.  The bottom line is, it just doesn't gel with the series' themes. 

Some people are suggesting, and I'm one of them, to just do a museum with costumes and props from the films.

No one mentioned doing a theme park for Twilight. Well, there sort of is, already. It's called the Pacific Northwest. 

E-Books: Dystopian Kids Club

Yes, I'm here. Abject apologies. I meant to do this last week.

I subscribe to a couple of free and reduced price e-book newsletters. A lot of times the books are available for more than one program, but I usually order them through the Kindle app. Just to save space.

So, I've really liked two of the recent books I've read. "Monument 14" is a cross between "Lord of the Flies", and "The Mist" (with no mutant insects). I really liked it. It's about a bunch of kids who get stuck inside a store when a disaster happens. My only complaint is that it's a trilogy. I have nothing against trilogies in general, it's just that I wanted a resolution! I'd like to read the others.

The second book I'm reading is "Banded." It's a lot like "Divergent," but not quite as sinister. At least not yet. I'm still reading it. Like I said, it's a lot like Divergent, but it's good so far.  There's also a concept in the story that could be interpreted as being similar to the film "In Time." The story is about children who must leave their families at 16 and live in different groups they are screened for.

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Mockingjay Trailer Theory

We got a couple of very interesting tweets this morning.  We''re getting something Mockingjay- related tomorrow. Commence the pins and needles. So, I came up with my own theory about what a teaser might include... 

Katniss thinking about Peeta, sad and morose, intro to 13, her needing to be the Mockingjay, maybe some cuts of the rebellion,  Peeta on tv, and his "dead by morning" quote to 13. And of course, the Mockingjay symbol. 

Of course, if anyone has their creative juices flowing at Lionsgate, they'd make it like one of Beetee's propos. That would be fun.   

If Lionsgate sticks to the MPAA guidelines, though, they can't release it earlier than Friday....

The Fault in Our Stars

After "The Fault in Our Stars, " I was sitting in a restaurant trying to process thoughts. I had called mom as I was leaving the auditorium.  She asked, "How was it?" I started bawling. That should tell you something.

 It's a sweet, simple story. Sad, but lovely at the same time.

 Wilem Dafoe plays a jerk, although he somewhat tries to redeem himself at the end. Kevin Bacon is no longer my most "hated" actor.

 I cried during the parent moments, mainly between Hazel and her Mom. Got teary when "All of the Stars" played at the end. (I love several of the songs off the soundtrack.)

 Gus pursues Hazel, and finally, she lets him in. Gus seems kind of pretentious, maybe even forward, but when you think about it, what does he have left? Besides time? And secretly, I think we girls want to be pursued like that.

 There is a moment where Hazel and Gus are in the Anne Frank house, and you hear a snippet of a quote from Anne: "Think of all the beauty left in the world and be happy." That is kind of what Hazel and Gus did, with the little infinity they had.