37. The Drop

This was an OnDemand viewing on Friday January 30th. Directed by Belgian Michael Roskam and starring Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace and James Gandalfini in one of his last roles before his untimely death. Hardy is Bob Saginowski, a bartender at a Brooklyn dive bar that serves as a "drop" location for unlaundered mob money. Bob works with Marv (Gandolfini), who used to own the bar, called Cousin Marv's, before being pushed out by a Chechen organized crime group. Suffice to say, Marv is a little bitter about being losing the bar and being relegated to a 3rd class citizen within the organized crime social structure.

The film opens at the bar with Bob and the regulars toasting an neighborhood guy Richie Whelan who was murdered 10 years ago (Richie's murder is an important plot point so bear with me).  As Bob is walking home after work, he finds a pit bull puppy in a garbage can of Nadia (Rapace). Nadia helps Bob care for the injured dog and Bob leaves the dog with her while he decides to either keep it or give it over to a shelter. The next night as the bar is closing, two masked gunmen rob the place of $5k in cash. Bob notices that one of them is wearing a broken wrist watch and actually mentions in to the police. Now Marv and Bob are not made men nor do the have the connections they once had but they still live by the mob code of omerta, which simply means don't talk to the cops about anything. It doesn't take long for the Chechen mobsters to show up and start asking questions and they're not too happy about the fact that Bob "cooperated" with the cops. They also want to see if Bob and Marv know a guy who's in the back of van (in not too good of shape) and that they want their money.

Bod decides to keep the dog and names him Rocco. He also starts to develop a nice relationship with Nadia. Bob runs into Eric Deeds and he tells Bob that the dog is his and he wants it back. While opening the bar one afternoon there's a severed arm, with a broken watch, sent to them and some bloody money. Bob casually preps it for disposal and Eric Deeds shows up again (asking for a Zima for crying out loud). Marv  lets Bob know that Deeds is a local thug who has taken credit for killing Whelan. The Chechens get their money back and they tell Marv that the bar will open up for drops beginning on Super Bowl Sunday. In the mean time Deeds is really giving Bob are hard time and demands $10k for Rocco.

Meanwhile, it turns out that Marv orchestrated the robbery at the bar and after killing the last person who knows he's involved, he decides to bring Deeds in to rob the bar after the Super Bowl. Marv calls in sick on super sunday which Bob finds suspicious. He gets even more suspicious when Deeds shows up with Nadia. With the bar empty, Deeds makes his move to rob the bar and even threatens Nadia. Bob then tells the story of Richie Whelan's death, it turns out that Marv was a loan shark and Richie was into him for a lot of money. Richie wins big at a casino and looks to pay Marv back but Marv has been skimming, so Richie has to go. Bob reveals that it was he who killed Whelan and took care of the body. Then he shoots Deeds. Marv, who prepped his car to dispose of Deed's body after the robbery, is executed. The film ends with the detective investigating the robbery informing Bob that Deeds had been taking credit or Whelan's death for years but he was actually in a mental institution for observation the night of Whelan's disappearance and that Deeds has gone missing. The detective turns to Bob as he's leaving and says, "no one ever sees you coming do they?"

Roskam did a nice job of painting a grim portrait of life around Cousin Marv's bar and the lives of everyone in this section of Brooklyn. AThings are dark, gritty and there's not a lot of hope but people carry on anyway. The pace is sometimes slow but never boring and with just enough intrigue to keep things moving along. Marv is not happy with his drop in status and his life is so terrible that he has to risk robbing the drop to get out. Gandolfini was excellent in his performance but was overshadowed by Hardy. Bob Saginowski comes off as a bit of a simpleton but it's not the case. He lulls you to sleep so you'll drop your guard. The Drop reminded me a bit of Killing Them Softly, except that this film was much better. I look forward to seeing more features directed by Roskam and will make at least a half hearted attempt to see his other films. 

36. American Sniper

January 23rd in Chicago. There's been a lot of controversy to say the least around this film. What I would like to do is judge the film on it's own. I read reviews about the film prior to seeing and I wanted to be objective, it was difficult. What I am not going to get into are the political ramifications. I expect films that are "based on actual events/true story" to be fictionalized to some degree. I also don't want to get into whether or not Chris Kyle was a gallant gentleman. First and foremost, he served his country in a time of war. That's admirable.

All controversy aside, there were a lot of problems with this film. I never read Kyle's book and have no idea how he met his wife. But, it is such an overused cliche in a military film that soldiers meet their wives in bars. That's how "Maverick met "Charlie". The dialogue of the scene is also redundant, Sienna Miller says something along the lines like she wouldn't date a SEAL and naturally she goes home with him at the end of the night. I would have like to have seen a little more of his SEAL training and a little less of his courtship. In regards to his SEAL training, it mostly consists of instructors spraying recruits with a hose while hurling insults at them. Jarhead did a much better job of showing the training of an elite unit and American Sniper could have done the same.

Eastwood does some good things. I thought he did a nice job of showing the difficulty of military life in Iraq. The conditions were difficult at best. But the main plot line of Kyle's time in Iraq is based on a manufactured plot. There was no "Butcher" and there was no "Mustafa." Eastwood opted to go for a subplot similar to Ed Harris v. Jude Law in Enemy at the Gates. It was also hard for me to believe that Klye, a dedicated and disciplined soldier in an elite unit, would call his wife in the middle of a firefight. Twice. Maybe it did happen but it seems too much like Eastwood was trying to manufacture an emotional response from the audience. "Is he going to make?" Yes he is because the man was murdered after he had rotated back to the states. There's also the scene where Kyle finally gets Mustafa with an IMPOSSIBLE shot from an unbelievable distance under bad conditions. The shot alerts the insurgents to the American presence, not sure how they missed the convoy coming in but whatever, and soon the American position is under attack against insurmountable odds. ANother military film cliche. Despite that this particular incident did not happen, remember there was no Mustafa, things like this may have happened. Things like this did happen but it was made worse by the fact that a massive sandstorm came in to neutralize the overwhelming air superiority that American forces had. Again, something along these lines may have happened but it was too convenient for this film.

As far as Kyle's life at home in between tours was interesting about how PTSD, if that's what it can be called and I am not a doctor nor do I want to belittle something that combat veterans go through, is portrayed. Kyle just kind of ignores his family and Miller whines about how he's needed at home and even threatened to leave him. If Kyle suffered from some form of PTSD, Eastwood and Cooper portray his dealing with it through denial. Kyle is uncomfortable about being known as "Legend," for his legendary skills. To him he's just protecting his fellow soldiers. When he's getting his oil changed he runs into a marine whose life he saved in Iraq and it is an awkward scene. The marine suggest the Kyle come to the VA to talk to other recovering vets. By going to the VA, talking with other vets and speaking with a counselor, he starts to let go and the healing process begins.

The performances were good, especially Cooper but this is not Eastwood's best work. The film does come off as propaganda at times. As a film American Sniper is mediocre at best. See the film and judge for yourself. However, I would encourage people to see Sebastian Junger's documentary films Restrepo and Korengal about life in a combat zone. Thank you for your time.

Liam and Denzel - Films #34 and #35

In the Fall of 2014, Liam Neeson came out with A Walk Among the Tombstones and Denzel came out with The Equalizer. There was a time when I was interested in seeing Tombstone but it didn't spend spend a lot of time in the theaters. I had no interest in seeing The Equalizer but I knew if I saw one, I had to see the other. Then Keanu Reeves came out with John Wick. All three films deal with the same thing; the main character killing a lot of bad guys. Now John Wick is not available on Netflix or OnDemand so I may not get a chance to see it before the Academy Awards in February (the cutoff for seeing 2014 films and being I able to say I saw it during it's release year). On Saturday January 17th I rented both films and watched them back to back. This is what I found about Liam and Denzel's killfest films...

This film is based on the book of the same name by Lawrence Block. It's supposed to a crime thriller but it's really more crime boring. Given, I did not read the book and the trailer led me to believe that Liam would kill his way through NYC in a Taken style to bring kidnappers to justice. Watch and make your decision...

Suffice to say Liam doesn't go all Taken an anyone and doesn't start shooting bad guys until the end of the film. He mostly just walks around NYC talking to shady people. Not so much talking as grunting. The film is about a duo of kidnappers who kidnap the wives of rich men with drug connections. Liam is a disgraced cop who is now an unlicensed private eye. He's hired by a man who's wife was killed and he wants Liam to find them so he can take revenge. Liam retraces the police investigation and of course uncovers details the cops couldn't by putting 2 & 2 together and talking to witnesses. It turns out that the kidnappers were working for the DEA in some aspect and were targeting the wives of wealthy drug lords (who are off the DEA's radar when their loved ones are abducted, that didn't make sense to me but whatever). The kidnappers end up grabbing the daughter of a Russian mobster and Liam is brought in to negotiate her release. Things get all Proof of Life and they plan an ambush at the ransom exchange. The kidnappers escape but thanks to Liam's teenage sidekick, they find their location. In the end, Liam kills only one kidnapper.

Save yourself the time and don't bother with this one. It's boring and the the one real plot twist (if you can call it that) doesn't pay off. Neeson doesn't do much in the film and even seems bored at times. This film was disappointing all around. Let's just say I was wrong to think it be like Taken, but it was a dull thriller. Thrillers can move slow at times but this one moves slow for 90% of the film. Let's move on to Denzel's entry...

This is the film adaptation of the 80s tv show which ran from 1985-89 of the same name starring Edward Woodward as Robert McCall, a retired British agent turned private eye. In the show McCall would help out people who couldn't get help from the police...

Denzel plays Robert McCall and that's where the similarities end. Denzel is a retired government black ops operative, widowed and living in Boston. He works at a home improvement store where he's friends with a group of co-workers and helps them out with their lives (just like I believe Denzel does in real life). McCall befriends teenage prostitute (Chloe Grace Moretz) and tries to help when her Russian mob pimps rough her up. Sounds a bit like Tax Driver doesn't it? Well the film references don't end there. By help her with her pimp I mean brutally kill in a Jason Bourne-like manner. When he's not taking down the Russian mob, McCall is taking down corrupt cops. Does that sound a bit like Man on Fire? Denzel bringing down a kidnapping syndicate and corrupt cops piece by piece. The film's climax takes place in the Home Mart where Denzel works and where the Russians are holding some of Denzel's co-workers (the one's with speaking parts anyways) hostage. The ex-Spetsnaz mobster think they have Denzel where they want him. But the hunters are in fact the hunted. Denzel systematically whittles down there numbers and frees his friends. The store scene is lifted from many films but the one that came to mind was Mr. and Mrs. Smith. 

I'm not sure how much Denzel acted in this film. He doesn't show a lot of emotion and doesn't have a lot of dialogue either. Antoine Fuqua directed this film and he phoned it in. Fuqua is too talented to let this happen as everything is predictable and lifted from another film in an obvious manner. The acting isn't bad but there's nothing noteworthy. This film was more Taken than A Walk Among the Tombstones. 

The Equalizer was released 2 weeks after A Walk Among the Tombstones and Equalizer is the better film but that's not saying much. Tombstones was a box office disappointment as it failed to recoup is $28 million budget with a $25 million domestic domestic gross. Equalizer on the other hand made $100 million domestically on a $55 million budget. Let's recap:

A Walk Among the Tombstones: Bad. Boring.

The Equalizer: Not that good. Predictable and redundant.

Both Neeson and Denzel have played these roles before (Neeson has the Taken Franchise and Non-Stop. Denzel has Man on Fire and  Book of Eli) and will continue to play them (Taken 3 is due out soon). I mean if someone is going to pay them good money for the same role then why not take it. Who cares if both actors give uninspired performances. If the ticket buying public keep seeing these films then it's our own fault. I need to stay true to my word and see John Wick in order to compare the three films. 

33. Frank

This was a Netflix view on Thursday January 15th. This film is a bit of an indie darling. It got a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.5 out of 10 on the IMDB. Domhnall Gleeson is Jon, a wanna be singer/songwriter who lives at home with his folks, with a mindless office job and mundane life. One day he runs into an incident at the ocean where a man is trying to drown himself. It turns out the guy is a keyboardist in a band playing at a local club and with a little luck, Jon is "hired" to be the new keyboardist by the band's manager Don (Scoot McNairy). The band is called Soronpfrbs and their fronted by Frank (Michael Fassbender), a man in a papier-mache head.

Kind of resembles Davey from Davey and Goliath.

You can see the resemblance.

As Jon starts to loosen up on stage Clara's (Maggie Gyllenhaal) theremin blows up and she storms off stage ending the show halfway through the first song. Some time passes by and Jon gets a call a call at work from Don, Frank wants him to join the band, they're going to a remote island in Ireland to record an album and they're leaving tomorrow. Believing he's found his artistic calling in Frank, Jon joins the band. Jon thought he'd be back at work after the weekend but the recording session took a year. During that time, they jam, experiment but aren't recording songs. Jon and Frank take a liking to each other. Jon looks at Frank as a free spirit and wants to take the band to the next level. The other band members, especially Clara, don't like Jon and resent the fact that he is putting the recording session on Youtube. Don kills himself and the band holds an amateur cremation ceremony.

Things start to look up as Soronprfbs starts piling up Youtube hits and generates interest from SXSW. Frank is intrigued by this and wants to go in order to make "extremely likable music." Clara is dead set against going to Austin. The band gets to Austin after botched attempt to spread Don's ashes in New Mexico. It's mostly Jon and Frank who enjoy themselves at SXSW and they believe that they have a following. However Jon is informed that there isn't much of a following. Frank starts to become erratic and Jon tries to get Frank to work on the songs to make them more likable. The band tries to get Frank and Jon to leave but Jon refuses. Two of the band members leave during the night and Clara stabs Jon. Jon recovers and manages to get Frank on stage to perform Jon's songs. Frank has a breakdown on stage ending the show before it starts. The dream has ended. While in a motel, Jon tries to remove Frank's head and both are hit by cars. Frank escapes but the head was destroyed.

Jon searches for Frank but to no avail. He winds up running into the other members of Soronprfbs at some dive bar as a trio. Eventually Jon finds Frank in his hometown of Bluffs, Kansas. Jon learns from Frank's parents that he has always been musical but a bit off. He started wearing the head while in high school. Jon learns that Frank had no traumatic moment that caused his "genius" nor did his mental instability. This is where Jon realizes he'll never be like Frank. The film ends as Frank reunites  (sans head) with Soronprfbs for a song as Jon quietly leaves. 

The film is called Frank, but it's really about Jon and his dream of becoming a songwriter. Jon is a talented musician but he can't write songs for sh*t. When he meets Frank he sees this visionary genius that he wants to become. He feels that Frank's genius must derive from some trauma or from whatever reason he started to live his life with a giant papier-mache head. But that's not the case, a person either has it or they don't. Jon doesn't have it. Soronprfbs were happy being an unknown, quirky musicians that didn't really make music. Jon comes along and feels he can ride their coattails to fame. Clara, Nana and Baraque are musicians who just want to be musicians. They think Jon is a d*ck for trying to make them into a band that plays likable music. To them, everyone is a sellout. They play music (usually bad) for the sake of playing music. Heck, even jazz musicians need to pay the bills. 

This is a pretty good film, I don't think it was worthy of a 92% on rottentomatoes.com but it is different. It's apparently based on Chris Sievey, a British musician and comic who;s character Frank Sidebottom wore a papier-mache head. There are some problems with the film but to me it's a situation where the reality of the problem gets in the way. For example, Don's death. They just cremate his body and they don't have to explain to any authorities what happened. Don doesn't have a family who's going to wonder where he is? Where do these guys get their money? No one has any income as they're not playing any gigs or selling records. Jon had a regular job but he would've blown through his savings during the year long recording session. It's not that big a deal as the film needs to move along. This film isn't for everyone as there are stretches where it moves slowly. Solid acting all around and a good story. If you like independent films than you should view this film. 

32. The Canal

January 9th, On Demand. The Canal is an Irish horror film that was released in October and got some buzz at the Tribeca Film Festival. This one flew more under the radar than The Babadook. Written and directed by the little known Ivan Kavanagh, The Canal tells the story of a young couple David and Alice Williams (Rupert Evans and the Emma Watson-esque Hannah Hoekstra) and their 5 year old son Billy (who is not quite as creepy as the kid from The Babadook) who live in a house where a brutal murder happened back in 1902.

David begins to slowly lose his sh*t when coupled with the fact that he lives in a house that saw a husband brutally murder his wife then drown himself and his children in the canal and the that his wife is cheating on him. After he views the act of his wife's infidelity, Alice goes missing. Naturally the husband is the primary suspect but after Alice's body is pulled from the canal, the lame-ass coroner can't find any signs of foul play. This doesn't sit well with David nor Detective McNamara (Steve Oram), who likes David for the murder. David uses his skills as a film archivist to film what he thinks is a shadow (that he keeps seeing) coming toward the camera. Things come to a head around Christmas when he sees a figure in his son's hotel room. David flips out, grabs his son and the nanny and barricades them in the house. Nowhere is safe and David loses it and freaks the nanny out forcing her to go to the police and children's services.

Everything comes to a head when David's co-worker Claire (Antonia Campbell-Hughes) brings over the film that David shot to view. David is adamant about seeing the shadow but Claire doesn't see it until it's too late when the shadow grabs her as David watches helplessly. David grabs his son and flees the tunnels of the canal where he sees some serious and disturbing sh*t (trust me it's really disturbing). David tries to escape with Billy by jumping into the canal as a last resort. However, he is pulled down by a ghost and Billy is rescued by McNamara. Alice's mother now has custody of Billy. While getting ready to leave, Billy is alone in the house and hears his father's voice asking him if he wants to be with his mother and father forever (that's never good). Little Billy is seen unbuckling his seat belt and opening the car door. The last scene is of the realtor hearing a noise, looking up the stairs and catching a glimpse of Billy closing the door.

This was a pretty decent film. It did move a little slow but the end makes you forget about it. Kavanagh did a nice job with David's descent into madness. There is a truly disturbing scene in the tunnels that creeped me out and the scene with Billy inside the car was nerve wracking. The only issues other than the pace was that it seemed to me that certain big scenes were pulled from other films. David's ordeal was reminiscent of Mickey Rourke in Angel Heart (especially his blackouts and when the truth hits about what he's done) and his death was right pulled from What Lies Beneath and there's a bit of Amityville Horror as well. But, I can live with that as most horror films are pulling scenes from other films. The Canal is nice low budget horror film that is not quite as good as The Babadook but it got a 80% at Rotten Tomatoes so it's definitely worth watching.

Marvel's Phase Three

Marvel's Phase Three is no longer alleged. In November they announced the next group of films/franchises that will take us into 2019. There are a few changes however. Back in August of 2014, the titles of the "leaked" Phase Three were as follows:

• Captain America: Fallen Son (May 2016)
• Doctor Strange (July 2016)
• Thor: Ragnarok (May 2017)
• Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (July 2017)
• Black Panther (November 2017)
• Avengers: Civil War (July 2018)
• World War Hulk (November 2018)
• Inhumans (May 2019)

Captain America: Fallen Son has been changed to Captain America: Civil War. This may be a reference to a 2006-07 crossover where the heroes of the Marvel Comics Universe chose up sides in regards to the Superhero Registration Act (not to be confused with the Mutant Registration Act that first appeared in X-Men comics in the early 80s). Or maybe it's something else. It might be safe to pre-suppose the the Civil War aspect may have something to do with the aftermath of the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron due out this Summer. Other than shuffling the release dates, there doesn't appear to be any changes to the next installments of Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy and the 1st installment of the Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman to star in the title role).

World War Hulk has been dropped at least for now and replaced it with Captain Marvel. In my day, Captain Marvel was a dude...

Just your average space alien with California surfer good looks

This version came out in the late 60s as a Kree operative who never generated enough interest in his own title and even joined the Avengers. He eventually dies of space cancer in a 1982 graphic novel.

This is what happens when you're sales are down.

Hunky stud Mar-Vell was replaced by a new Captain Marvel, Monica Rambeau, who appeared shortly after Mar-Vell's death. This new Captain also joined the Avengers. Apparently she's still alive in the Marvel Universe under a different name. Which brings us to Carol Danvers. Danvers first appeared in 1977 and became Ms. Marvel as a result of an explosion that somehow implanted blonde Captain Marvel's kree DNA into hers, given her superpowers. She lost her superpowers in when ambushed by Rogue in 1981. She would take the mantle of Captain Marvel in her own title in 2012.

Ms. Marvel.

 Another blonde Captain Marvel.

It's the Carol Danvers version of Captain Marvel that will be the subject of the 2018 film. It seems like Marvel is taking a big chance here. Black Widow would be the more logical choice for the 1st female superhero film but so far Marvel has made the right choices so knock them dead. It also looks like this film will be theaters before DC can get Wonder Woman in her own film (though she is alleged to be in next year's Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. The other change is that 2018's Avengers: Civil War has now become 2 films; Avengers Infinity War, Part 1 & 2 (part 2 in 2019). The title may refer to a 1992 limited series with multiple title tie-ins and a convoluted plot involving the already Easter Egged Infinity Gauntlet and gems.

So that's what we have to look forward to. The confirmation alone probably sent fanboys into a tizzy. I can take or leave Doctor Strange (mostly leave) but I'm all in for Captain America, Black Panther (f*ck yeah!), Inhumans and the Avengers films. Given. I have reservations about the next chapters of Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy but I'll probably be in line at the cineplex to see them. I just don't know enough about Captain Marvel to get excited but as we get closer to its release date, then my attitude could change for sure. It is high time that a female superhero got a chance at the big screen on her own. Black Widow would have been the obvious choice (possibly very successful) for Marvel but we got Lucy instead. DC blew their chance to get Wonder Woman to the big screen but they should use the time to concentrate on the finished product. Things look interesting in the Marvel Film Universe. Avengers: Age of Ultron should be awesome but I've got my doubts about Ant-Man. We'll see what happens. Thank you for your time.

31. Interstellar

December 24th in Chicago. Since this film is directed by none other than Christopher Nolan, it is a must see. Nolan directed, wrote and produced this nearly 3 hour film. There's a lot of science and physics involved. It's actually based on the theories theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, who served as a scientific consultant to the film and received an executive producer credit. My standing rule about science fiction films is that I try to stay away from the science aspect.  Since the filmmakers went to great length to try to keep the science real, so much so that Neil deGrasse Tyson and Dr. Michio Kaku have said some positive things. There were detractors given but this type of stuff always brings about debate. My goal will be to briefly describe the film without giving too much away. To be honest, I didn't understand the ending. I had to read this blog (I encourage checking it out) to at least say "oh, well that makes sense," but still not completely understand it. Here we go...

In the not to distant future, a worldwide crop blight has put humans in a bit of a pickle. Crops are failing all over the world and in the United States, only corn is growing and it's days are numbered (the blight aspect of the plot was criticized as it would have taken a really long time for this to happen). Enter Coop (McConaughey) a former hot shot pilot for NASA now a reluctant farmer. Coop lives with his father in law (John Lithgow) and his children; 15 y/o Tom and 10 y/o Murph (Mackenzie Foy). Murph thinks that her room is haunted by a ghost. After a dust storm, Coop and Murph deduce that there is "something" communicating with Murph through gravitational waves using a binary code. The binary code turns out to be coordinates to a secret NASA facility. Coop and Murph (who stows away in the truck) go out to investigate.

The facility is run by an old acquaintance of Coop's, Professor John Brand (Michael Caine), who fills Coop in on the fact that there were several Lazarus missions sent into a wormhole near Saturn to try to locate a new planet capable of supporting life. The wormhole was placed there by a mysterious "they." Ideally, Brand would like to see the Earth's population transported to the new planet but as a back-up, there are fertilized embryos for the repopulation of the species. Brand is planning a new mission to send a team for a follow-up on the beacons of 3 Lazarus missions (there were 10) that are sending back positive reviews of planets. It just so happens that Brand needs a pilot so he recruits Coop (here's where one can ponder the probability of a secret NASA facility so close to a former pilot's farm. The former pilot finds the secret facility and they just so happen to need a pilot, think about that one for a minute) and Coop agrees despite the fact that it will take him away from his family. Coop says goodbye to his family and Murph is none to pleased and she tells him so. It doesn't go well and Murph is really bitter.

The crew that's going into the wormhole consists of Coop; Amelia ( Anne Hathaway), also Brand's daughter; Doyle (Wes Bentley) and Romilly (David Gyasi). So here's the group that's been entrusted with the fate of humanity...

Wooderson

Catwoman 

The creepy neighbor kid from American Beauty

The guy most likely to die first because he's black. 

Through the wormhole, there are 3 planets to investigate. For some reason the choose the 1st planet that carries the greatest risk. The planet is very close to a giant black hole affectionately known as gargantua. One hour on this planet will be the equivalent of 7 Earth years. Wooderson, Catwoman and creepy neighbor kid from American Beauty will go to the surface, easy in easy out. No muss no fuss. Bad news, this planet is covered by water and is prone to giant tidal waves which hits the landing craft, kills Doyle and causes a huge delay. When they meet back up with Romily, 23 year Earth years have passed and Romily's old. There are also 23 years of messages from Earth. Coops kids are grown up (Tom is now Casey Affleck and Murph is now Jessica Chastain who now works with Brand back on Earth). After a debate, they decide that they will go to Mann's planet (Mann was considered the best of the Lazarus mission leaders) since his beacon is still emitting positive reviews. Turns out that Mann's planet is not all the great. Think Hoth from Empire Strikes Back. Turns out that Mann (Matt Damon) deliberately sent positive reviews over the beacon in order to get rescued (so much for his reputation) and sabotages his computer to cover it up killing Romilly in the process. While trying to kill Coop, Mann tells him that Brand's Plan A theory was never going to happen and Plan B was humanity's only chance.

Mann is unable to kill Coop (never send a scientist to do the work of a henchman) but does take the landing craft back to the Endurance (that's the craft that took them through the wormhole). Brand gets Coop and they chase after Mann. Not being a pilot Mann botches the docking procedure and damages the Endurance killing himself in the process. Coop is able to bring the Endurance under control. There's only enough fuel to explore the last planet and they'll also send the robot, TARS, across the black hole to transmit crucial data back to Earth that I don't understand. In order to lighten the ship and conserve fuel, Coop sacrifices himself and eventually gets sucked into gargantua. This is the part where you need to read the blog I referenced earlier. Let's just say that Coop is able to manipulate the time stream back on Earth and when the black hole spits him out, over 80 years have passed since his departure. He wakes up onboard Cooper Station, a space station (like the one from Elysium) named after Murph because she solved gravity, which allows for a successful Plan A.

Murph is over 90 years old and in failing health. She and her father have the goodbye they didn't have 80 years ago. Murph forgives him for leaving and tells him that Brand is still out there by herself. Coop, reunited with TARS, steal a ship head back through the wormhole to meet up with Brand, who is getting her colony started. Below is a chart that explains the adventure...

Hopefully that didn't give too much away. Some of the stuff I didn't like too much (like the fact that Coop more or less writes off his son because he's just a farmer) are things that probably didn't matter so much. It's a given that the secret NASA facility was going to be near Coop's home. If the "ghost" didn't tell Coop where the facility was then I'm sure that Brand would've paid him a visit when he was ready for a pilot. Who else was going to become

I liked this film a lot and I enjoy films that make me want to learn something or have discussions about it. This film did that. The visuals, the sound editing were spectacular and the acting was nothing short of excellent, McConaughey continues his run of brilliant performances dating back to 2011's Killer Joe. There's a lot of imagery that's similar to 2001 and that's not an accident. Nolan was noted as saying that Star Wars, Alien, Metropolis, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and even Blade Runner were also influences. I also couldn't help but notice that hope plays a big part in the decision making process. Much like Matrix: Reloaded, "Hope, it is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength, and your greatest weakness," hope forces rational logical people to make irrational decisions (Coop and Mann's desire to go home and Brand's hope that she'll meet up with Edmunds, a Lazarus mission leader who has a beacon still transmitting and her lover). Gravity came out last year, I liked that a lot but I think I like Interstellar a little bit more. If you're going to see this film, make sure to see it in the theater. We saw it in a theater that had assigned seating with the ass kickers in the seats. It was a cool experience. This is not the best film I've seen this year but it's in the top 5.