Dumb and Dumber To
Film Review by Kam Williams
It took the Farrelly Brothers, Peter and Bobby, two decades to bring back co-stars Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels for a follow-up to Dumb and Dumber, their hit comedy that netted nearly a quarter of a billion dollars at the box office in 1994. Far be it from this critic to suggest that the long-anticipated sequel was worth the wait, though I suspect it won’t disappoint fans nostalgic for more of the same from the bottom-feeding franchise.
Dumb and Dumber To again coalesces around the terminally-inane antics of Lloyd Christmas (Carrey) and Harry Dunne (Daniels), gullible dimwits with a penchant for both playing and being the butt of practical jokes. As the film unfolds, we learn that, for the last 20 years, Lloyd has been committed to Baldy View Mental Hospital, where he’s undergone shock treatments and a partial lobotomy.
Faithful Harry, meanwhile, has been a daily visitor, regularly changing the bag of urine waste attached to his pal’s private parts. Today, however, the wheelchair-bound patient giggles “Gotcha!” to reveal that his protracted stay in the asylum has all been a gag staged purely for his buddy’s benefit. After admiring the elaborate ruse, Harry rips the catheter out of Lloyd’s penis roughly, with the help of a couple of obliging groundskeepers. Ouch!
The reunited roommates immediately make their way home to their apartment where they proceed to pull a mean-spirited prank on their apprehensive, blind next-door neighbor (Brady Bluhm) by feeding Pop Rocks to his pet birds. (Don’t try that at home, kids!) Harry subsequently exposes the anus of their cat to explain why he refers to it as Butthole, another joke that merely falls flat. Equally unfunny is the introduction of a drug dealer (Bill Murray), whose crystal meth Harry mistakes for candy.
Such lowbrow fare serves as prologue and proves to be par for the course for the peripatetic adventure about to ensue. Yes, the farfetched road trip does revolve around the rudiments of a plot, though that’s ostensibly of less concern to the filmmakers than seizing on the flimsiest of excuses to gross out their audience at every opportunity.
To summarize the story in 25 words or less, Harry has his own medical issue and is in urgent need of a kidney donor. Fortunately, he has a long-lost daughter he’s never met (Rachel Melvin) who just might be a genetic match.
With that, our brain-damaged protagonists are off on a cross-country trek in search of Penny that provides this kitchen sink shocksploit ample opportunities to slap disgusting displays of depravity and vulgarity onscreen.
Fair (1 star)
Rated PG-13 for crude humor, profanity, sexuality, partial nudity and drug references
Running time: 109 minutes
Distributor: Universal Pictures
To see a trailer for Dumb and Dumber To, visit:
Nate Parker
The “Beyond the Lights” Interview
with Kam Williams
Brother Parker!
Actor and humanitarian Nate Parker first received critical attention for his starring role in The Great Debaters opposite Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker. Denzel handpicked him to play the troubled yet brilliant Henry Lowe who overcomes his selfish ways to become the team’s leader. Nate received an honorary Doctorate from Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, the school on which The Great Debaters was based.
More recently, he appeared in the action thriller Non-Stop, opposite Liam Neeson and Julianne Moore. Last year, he starred in Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, opposite Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, and Ben Foster.
In 2012, he was the toast of the Sundance Film Festival when he appeared in Arbitrage opposite Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon and Tim Roth. That year, he also starred as the lead in Red Tails, supported by Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding, Jr. It told the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, who were the first African-American military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps and were some of the finest pilots in World War II. George Lucas funded, produced and co-directed this feature.
Earlier in his career, Nate starred opposite Alicia Keys in The Secret Life of Bees, which featured an all-star cast of Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Dakota Fanning and Paul Bettany. Additionally, he’s been seen in Pride alongside Terrence Howard, in Dirty opposite Cuba Gooding Jr., in Felon with Stephen Dorff and Sam Shepard, and in Tunnel Rats with Michael Pare. And onstage, Nate appeared opposite Dustin Hoffman, Annette Bening, Rosario Dawson and James Cromwell in “American Voices” at the Broad Street Theater.
A Norfolk, VA native, Nate studied computer programming and trained his way to become an All-American wrestler at the University of Oklahoma. He mentors twenty-four children from schools in central Los Angeles and spearheads projects and events with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He sponsors a Peace for Kids scholarship fund and works in their afterschool program.
Here, Nate talks about his new movie, Beyond the Lights, while waxing romantic about his career and his life philosophy.
Kam Williams: Hi Nate, thanks so much for another interview.
Nate Parker: My pleasure, brother.
KW: I really enjoyed Beyond the Lights. What interested you in the project?
NP: Before anything else, it was Gina. I think she’s one of the best directors on planet Earth. And her vision, and her work ethic, and attention to details are so inspiring that when a project comes up that she’s a part of, you want to be a part of it.
KW: She certainly devoted herself to developing and fleshing out her characters in this picture.
NP: Well, she had the time. You know what they say: “Cheap, fast and good. You can only have two.” This is a woman who takes her time. Four years for this project, four years for the last one. She’s been in the driver’s seat for so long, and been so passionate about it, and she’s never taken no for an answer. And it shows in the work. Not only did she write the perfect script, but she was so intentional about her vision coming across, that it made it easy for me to do my job.
KW: But you bring a lot to the table, too. I’ve seen you do reliably great work in picture after picture.
NP: Thanks, Kam. You and I will probably be on the phone a lot in the coming years, and you’ll always hear me say the same thing: I attribute everything that I’ve attained to my leadership. I am nothing without my director. I really believe that. I can prepare a character, and put myself in a position to deliver truthful nuance and put on the skin, but it’s the director’s job to usher me into a place that achieves the vision in way that’s understated and believable.
KW: What message do you think people will take away from the film?
NP: I think the first is that the language of love transcends all obstacles. I think the second is that in order to love someone else you first have to know yourself, and be comfortable in your own skin.
KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question:How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?
NP: Oh my goodness! That’s a good question. My first great heartbreak was losing my father. I was 11, when I lost my dad. It changed me, because I had to be the father for my family. My outlook on life changed immediately, and it became all about service. And that’s how I approach my craft, as if I’m a servant of the film. Losing my father was the biggest transition that affected so much of my life.
KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?
NP: Funny you should ask. Yes, A Place in the Sun. It’s one of the best films I’ve ever seen, and we’re developing a picture that’s very similar to it, thematically.
KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?
NP: I do my very best to be the same person. I always say I’m an “actor-vist.” All I do, I do for my people. I make no apologies for that, and I try to live my life as an example for young black men navigating the life space. I want to leave a legacy behind that, when you reflect about me, you’ll think, “Okay, there was a sacrifice made on behalf of people who looked like him.
KW: What do you think about the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri?
NP: I went to Ferguson. I think the problem is deeper than police brutality. I believe there’s an overall dehumanization and hyper-criminalization of black youth that affects everyone. It wasn’t a cop who killed Treyvon Martin. So, Ferguson was not an isolated incident, but emblematic of an epidemic that’s been around for over 400 years. The injuries and conditioning caused by slavery continue to live within us today. We’re constantly told that the value of a black life is less. There’s a certain level of white supremacy and black inferiority that’s entrenched in our society. Once you become desensitized to that truth, you fall right into the trap. And until we have an honest confrontation of those evils, we cannot heal as a country, and a Ferguson is going to continue to happen every other week. That’s why it’s so important that you, as a journalist, and that I, as an artist, pursue justice, and make it a strong thread of who we are as individuals.
KW: That makes me think of that famous saying by Faulkner, “The past isn’t dead. It isn’t even past,” and how Sugar Ray Leonard told me the toughest fight he ever had wasn’t Marvin Hagler, tommy Hearns, Roberto Duran on Wilfred Benitez, but his fight against a lesser opponent in Boston because of all the racism he encountered from the moment he stepped of the plane right through the fight. He said the relentless, palpable hatred sapped his spirit. I was stunned by that totally unexpected answer.
NP: That’s interesting. I can help but mention the irony of listening to you relate that story as I sit here looking out a window watching a huge American flag waving in the breeze. We are a great country, but we are sick, and we need to be made well. And America has a long way to go.
KW: When you mention the American flag and irony, that reminds me of an what happened to a good friend of mine, Ted Landsmark, a fellow lawyer, when we were both in Boston back in the Seventies. He had his nose broken by an American flag when a bunch of racists attacked him right in front of City Hall. The photographer who happened to capture it won a Pulitzer Prize for the photograph.
And: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Y2stTZU7nVg/SUQ4EPtoW6I/AAAAAAAAACk/E7ibSy9tajM/s1600-h/Landsmark.png
NP: Oh my goodness! I never heard about this incident. I’m googling it right now… I’m looking at it right now. How ironic! That’s incredible! This has been the plight of the black man in the U.S. Crushed by the very instrument that’s supposed to symbolize freedom.
KW: Are you thinking about entering politics in real-life someday, like your character, Kaz?
NP: No, not at all. Anything that’s been done for our people in the past, was done outside the realm of politics. Our greatest inroads were achieved with the help of leaders who were among the people. That’s not an indictment of politicians, it’s just that things don’t change quickly when you work within the political structure.
True revolution transpires on a grassroots level where change can occur very quickly.
KW: Let's say you’re throwing your dream dinner party—who’s invited… and what would you serve?
NP: I would invite Paul Robeson, and I would serve a vegetarian meal, something that’s healthy for us both.
KW: Have you ever had a near-death experience?
NP: No one’s ever asked me that before. Yes, in summer camp when I was in the 7th grade and had asthma desperately bad. I was kayaking for the first time when it rolled over and I didn’t know how to roll the boat back upright. I was zipped in and couldn’t get out. Fortunately, a friend, Isaac Paddock, swam over and saved me. I literally had an asthma attack while I was drowning. I don’t know how I survived it, except with Isaac’s help and the grace of God. If Isaac hadn’t pulled me out, I wouldn’t be here right now.
KW: Have you ever accidentally uncovered a deep secret?
NP: Sure, every family has its dysfunction, but I wouldn’t want to talk about it.
KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?
NP: “On Film-making,” by Alexander Mackendrick, because I’m about to direct a film in December called The Birth of a Nation. It’s a biopic about Nat Turner. Revolution is in the air. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0571211259/ref=nosim/thslfofire-20
KW: Where did you interest in Nat Turner come from?
NP: It’s pretty much all I care about nowadays. I grew up in Norfolk and Chesapeake, Virginia. Nat grew up about 40 miles away, in Southampton County. And of course, he led the most successful slave revolt in American history. I’m very much interested in aggressively pursuing justice for all people, especially during times of moral crisis. I’m less worried about my brand than about alleviating the plight of oppressed people. So, I speak my mind, particularly about injustices in my community, even though that can sometimes get you in trouble.
KW: Keep up the good work, Nate, and best of luck with Beyond the Lights.
NP: Thank you, Kam.
To see a trailer for Beyond the Lights, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rvgJ2WbDsc
Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain
Film Review by Kam Williams
On the night of December 2, 1984, a pesticide plant located in Bhopal, India spewed tons of toxic gas into the air as the result of a reaction of water with a chemical called Methyl Isocyanate (MIC). By morning, over 10,000 dead bodies lay in the streets of the city, while the manufacturer company responsible for the disaster, Union Carbide (subsequently acquired by Dow Chemical), proceeded to lawyer up.
In the end, the corporation settled the mammoth wrongful death lawsuit for just $300 per corpse without taking responsibility or publicly apologizing for the industrial accident. Instead, the firm claimed it was a victim of sabotage on the part of a disgruntled employee, an allegation which was ultimately never substantiated. Yet, despite the existence of evidence that Union Carbide had ignored warning signs of an impending calamity, the Indian government let it off with out any criminal consequences.
Directed by Ravi Kumar, Bhopal: A Prayer for Rain is a historical drama ostensibly inspired by the book “Bhopal: Lessons of a Gas tragedy” by the New York Times reporter Sanjoy Hazarika. The picture stars Martin Sheen as Warren Anderson, the sloganeering CEO in denial fond of spouting company lines like “We set the highest safety standards in the industry” and “We are Union Carbide, united in our efforts to build a better future for everyone.”
This fictionalized account, which revisits the events leading up to the catastrophe, revolves mostly around the efforts of a couple of investigative journalists questioning Carbide’s commitment to safety, given the rumors swirling that the plant was leaking a very dangerous chemical. Both Motwani (Kal Penn), a local, and Eva Gascon (Mischa Barton), a writer for Paris Match, were stonewalled at every turn whenever they confronted executives and managers about whether an exposure to just one drop of MIC was lethal.
The picture inexorably leads to the unfortunate meltdown which scarred an entire country while the conniving culprits escaped unscathed. A sobering lesson about controlling the corporate message in this age of double speak where symbolic gestures have replaced sincerity, substance and any concern about viable solutions.
Excellent (3.5 stars)
Unrated
In English and Hindi with subtitles
Running time: 96 minutes
Distributor: Revolver Entertainment
To see a trailer for Bhopal, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw7dZiYzKBY
Isabella Rossellini
The “Green Porno” Interview with Kam Williams
The daughter of actress Ingrid Bergman and director Roberto Rossellini, supermodel/actress/director/singer/author/conservationist/feminist Isabella Rossellini grew up in Paris and Rome. At the age of 19, she moved to New York, where she became a translator and later a reporter for RAI-Italian Television. Her popular segments led to appearances as the New York correspondent for the weekly Italian comedy show THE OTHER SUNDAY, with Roberto Benigni.
At the relatively advanced age of 28, Isabella began a modeling career when she was photographed by Bruce Weber for British Vogue and by Bill King for American Vogue. She has since worked with the industry's most distinguished photographers - from Richard Avedon to Steven Meisel, from Helmut Newton to Peter Lindbergh, from Norman Parkinson to Eve Arnold. And she has appeared on the cover of such magazines as Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Bazaar and Vanity Fair. An exhibition of photographs of Isabella, Portrait of a Woman, was held in March 1988 at the Museum of Modern Art of the city of Paris.
Isabella wrote, directed and starred in a series of shorts called GREEN PORNO, about the reproducing habits of various bugs, insects and other animals. The shorts are comical, but insightful study of the curious ways certain animals “make love,” featuring Isabella in colorful, vibrant costumes. GREEN PORNO premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival and launched on Sundance Channel later that same year.
Isabella made her cinematic debut in 1979 in Paolo and Vittorio Taviani's IL PRATO (THE MEADOW). Her American film debut was opposite Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines in Taylor Hackford's WHITE NIGHTS. In 1986, she starred opposite Dennis Hopper as Dorothy Vallens, the tortured lounge singer, in David Lynch's haunting and controversial BLUE VELVET.
Her other film credits include, THE ACCIDENTAL HUSBAND, MY DAD IS 100 YEARS OLD, THE ARCHITECT, THE FEAST OF THE GOAT, HAVE YOU HEARD, THE SADDES MUSIC IN THE WROLD, ROGER DOGER, COUSINS, ZELLY AND ME, WILD AT HEART, DEATH BECOMES HER, FEARLESS, WYATT EARP, BIG NIGHT, THE IMPOSTORS and THE FUNERAL. Her portrait of the Jewish Hassidic mother in LEFT LUGGAGE directed by Jeroen Krabbe, won a special award at the Berlin Film Festival in 1998.
Isabella's modeling and acting career also led her into the world of cosmetics. Beginning in 1982, she was the exclusive spokesperson for the international cosmetics brand Lancome for 14 years. In 1990, Lancome launched the very successful fragrance Tresor, which was her first involvement with product development. In 1995, she began collaboration with Lancaster Group to develop her own brand of cosmetics, Manifesto, which launched internationally in May 1999.
Isabella's fictional memoir "Some of Me" was published in 1997, and her photographic book, "Looking at Me," is currently in stores. She also wrote a book about her father entitled IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, THE DAUGHTER AND THE HOLY SPIRITS: REMEMBERING ROBERTO ROSSELLINI.
Isabella is very involved in Wildlife Conservation. The Disney Conservation Fund just awarded her for her commitment to this cause by giving her $100,000 to donate to a conservation organization of her choice. She is also a volunteer for the Guide Dog Foundation and trains puppies for their program.
Isabella has been married to director Martin Scorcese, and romantically-linked to director David Lynch as well as actor Gary Oldman. She now lives in New York City with her two children, Elettra and Roberto, though she is currently touring the U.S. with the production of her one-woman show, GREEN PORNO, adapted from the celebrated Sundance Channel series.
With day-glo costumes, paper puppets, and text by legendary French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière, she acts out a panoply of reproductive oddities: the praying mantis that consumes its partner while copulating; the male bee who loses his penis in the act; and the shrimp, whose foreplay involves it shimmying seductively out of its shell. The play, which is part nature documentary and part DIY cartoon, is scheduled to continue its run into the spring of 2015.
Kam Williams: Hi Isabella, I’m honored to have this opportunity to speak with you.
Isabella Rossellini: Thank you for doing the interview, Kam. How are you?
KW: I’m great, thanks. In preparation for this interview, I did a little research, and I read that interview you recently did with a jaw-droppingly rude reporter from Vanity Fair.
IR: Thank God, I never read it. That’s good. [LOL]
KW: Don’t worry. I think you’ll have a lot of fun doing this interview. I always tell my readers who I’m interviewing ahead of time so they can send in questions. So, if it’s okay with you, I’ll be mixing in mine with theirs.
IR: Sure.
KW: Bobby Shenker says: I love you! Will you marry me?
IR: Of course I will, Bobby! I’m single, so there’s absolutely the possibility.
KW: Here’s another guy who’s gushing. Gil Cretney says: Kam, please tell Isabella from me… she is a goddess!
IR: [Laughs again] That’s very wonderful to hear. Sometimes I get called beautiful or kind. But a goddess has it all, supernatural powers. Thanks, Gil!
KW: Let me share one more message from someone with a personal comment.
IR: Not a nasty one, I hope.
KW: No it’s also very positive. Larry Greenberg simply says: You are so wonderful! I’m too smitten to come up with a worthy question.
IR: That’s very nice, Larry. And it’s very kind of you to read me all these comments, Kam.
KW: I’m just reading what was sent in. Editor Lisa Loving says: We just love Green Porno. She asks: Have you ever watched any of the John Lydon [of the Sex Pistols] Mega Bugs programs? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytkV9Fk-zKk
IR: No I haven’t. I’m not familiar with him. But I’ll write down his name and look it up.
KW: Lisa was also wondering whether, as one of the most beautiful women in the world, and the daughter of one of the most beautiful women in the world, and a lifelong inhabitant of circles of famous people in the news, you see anything new in how the public “consumes” celebrities?
IR: No, I don’t see anything new. Maybe it’s different in Los Angeles where they have more of a problem with paparazzi. That part of being a celebrity is not so pleasant. It all started in Rome long ago, you know, before spreading to L.A. and elsewhere.
KW: That makes sense, since paparazzi is an Italian word.
IR: It began in Italy with amateur photographers stalking celebrities. They would be so persistent trying to provoke something, and if you lost your patience, then they could get the sort of sensational photo they were after. It is more widespread in the U.S. in recent years than it used to be, especially in Los Angeles, not so much in New York yet.
KW: Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks, purely hypothetically: How do you think your father as a director and your mother as an actress might ‘comment’ on Green Porno?
IR: I think they would like it, quite frankly. They both loved animals. We certainly shared that in the family. And they were also interested in science, especially the new science of animal behavior, which Jane Goodall founded. And as you know, Kam, most of my films and my studies are in animal behavior. So, I think my parents would be happy about Green Porno. It’s comical, why not? [Chuckles] They were entertainers, too.
KW: Children’s book author Irene Smalls asks: How did you come up with the idea of using paper penises in Green Porno?
IR: The reason why we used paper costumes is because we had a very limited budget, and it seemed to be the cheapest way to go. So, we managed to make something stylish out of our weakness by creating all of the costumes out of paper.
KW: Irene has a follow-up: What led you to develop this one-woman play?
IR: The success of my short films, and the encouragement of friends. Also, this wonderful, Oscar-winning writer, Jean-Claude Carriere, agreeing to help me write the monologues was very tempting. That’s what did it.
KW: Irene has one more: Which of your many roles as a supermodel/actress/director/singer/author/conservationist/feminist do you enjoy the most and which do you think expresses the essence of who you are?
IR: I sort of divide them in my head. Some of those roles are professional, like modeling or acting or writing. But being a feminist is not a job. What I think has been wonderful about my life is that it has been diverse, and that I’ve been able to do so many different things. I was able to evolve from modeling into acting. And then when acting opportunities became limited because of my age, I was able to become a writer and director and author. So, I am grateful to myself that I didn’t just sit around and become nostalgic about the past that has been and can’t come back, but that I instead decided to move on.
KW: But if you could only be remembered for one thing, what would that be for?
IR: As the mother of my children.
KW: Cynthia Groya says: I am a huge admirer of yours! All the unexpected and courageous moves you have made in your life. What was it like working with Dennis Hopper and David Lynch on Blue Velvet?
IR: Well, it was actually, a very, very nice set. We all became very good friends, and remained close all our lives. The film is very scary, very serious but it was very pleasant on the set because of our friendship. We all met filming, and hit it off very well. And it was also one of the most important films I have done in my career.
KW: Cynthia also asks: What was the best thing about growing up Ingrid Bergman's daughter?
IR: Well, she was really “mom,” whether or not she was Ingrid Bergman the actress. She was a very warm, charming, funny, tender, entertaining and playful mother. That was the best. The fact that she was famous came along with those qualities was a bonus, although we might have liked for her to be less famous so she’d stay home more.
KW: Filmmaker Ray Hirschman says: Isabella, you are so multi-talented. But if you had to follow only one artistic road, which would you choose?
IR: I would probably pursue the one I’m doing now, because that’s the one you can control the most, writing, directing and performing your own pieces. It’s the best, because I can create jobs for myself.
KW: Yale grad Tommy Russell would like to ask: How much time do you spend in the United States?
IR: I’m a U.S. citizen and I’ve lived here since I was 19. I spend a total of about 4 or 5 months a year in Europe, but the majority of the time I’m here.
KW: Tommy also says: I hope she gets a kick out of this question. Can I have your love life? Tell her I'd take the ups and the downs.
IR: [LOL] I wonder why. Tommy must like some of the husbands and boyfriends he knows I’ve had. [Laughs some more]
KW: Kate Newell says: I loved you in your role on 30 Rock! What was the best piece of advice your mother gave you?
IR: My mom was very down to earth, very concrete, and I think her biggest lesson was setting that as an example, rather than giving me a piece of advice.
KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks: What advice do you have for aspiring female filmmakers, given that there is still a scarcity of women in that field?
IR: Keep doing it. Persevere! It’s hard to make a living in any of the arts. When most people think of artists, they think of the stars and the celebrities. But that’s such a tiny minority of the elites who are able to make those millions of dollars. The reality is that it’s very hard for the rest to make a living as an artist. So, you really have to persevere and understand that achieving the sort of success where you’re making the big money is like winning the lottery.
KW: Patricia also asks: Is there a biography of an icon you dream of adapting into a movie?
IR: No, I have never thought about that.
KW: Marcia Evans says: As a woman of color, I appreciated your conscious decision to not continue your Lancome campaign contract. Was that due to a personal stance on not supporting a beauty campaign whose message about beauty by societal standards can only be reflected by youthful skin? I wasn't surprised to learn that you did not want to represent that message/mentality that beauty only exists with youth. Bravo! I would like to see among the faces of a campaign championing the beauty of mature women of all ethnicities.
IR: You’re right, Marcia. There’s still this problem that hasn’t been resolved. We are working towards that goal of having women of all ages and ethnicities well-represented in the industry.
KW: Thanks again for the time, Isabella, and best of luck with Green Porno.
IR: Thank you, Kam. Bye.
To order tickets for the Philadelphia performance of Green Porno, at 8 pm on November 14th, visit:
http://tickets.worldcafelive.com/event/617715-isabella-rossellini-green-philadelphia/
Interstellar
Film Review by Kam Williams
Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite directors, and four of his pictures have made my annual Top Ten List, including Memento, The Dark Knight, Batman Begins and Insomnia. However, I hard a hard time understanding exactly what was going on in Inception, an inscrutable mindbender that I found to be a little too hip for the room.
The same could be said about Interstellar, an over-plotted, post-apocalyptic sci-fi with a few too many layers for its own good, in this critic’s humble opinion. Clocking in at a patience-testing 169 minutes, the movie had me harking back to 7-time Oscar-winner Gravity, a similarly-themed outer space adventure which managed to resolve its loose ends in about half the time.
At the point of departure, we find the Earth devastated by drought and dust storms that have brought it to the brink of famine. With the planet almost uninhabitable, NASA decides that the last hope for humanity rests in finding another capable of supporting life.
To that end, the agency is mounting a mission, codenamed Lazarus in order to search for a place with a compatible environment. The reluctant hero is Coop (Matthew McConaughey), a man understandably torn about being coaxed out of retirement to captain the Spaceship Endurance.
On the one hand, the veteran test pilot is eager, since he never got a chance to experience a real spaceflight during his career. On the other hand, as a widowed dad, he hates the very idea of leaving behind and possibly orphaning his already motherless kids.
Sure, 15 year-old Tom (Timothee Chalamet) might be able to man-up, but daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy) is only 10 and proves particularly clingy when he informs her of his imminent travel plans. Her angry reaction is perfectly reasonable, given the blight on Earth and the odds of ever seeing her papa again.
But with his father-in-law’s (John Lithgow) blessing, Coop nevertheless opts to depart, which affords him an opportunity to belatedly pursue his lifelong dream. Joining him in that endeavor is a crew comprised of brainy scientist Brand (Anne Hathaway), astrophysicist Romilly (David Gyasi) and intergalactic cartographer Doyle (Wes Bentley), as well as a couple of very sophisticated robots (Bill Irwin and Josh Stewart).
After blastoff, they head for a distant wormhole near Saturn rumored to provide a portal to a parallel universe. At this juncture, the picture turns terribly talky, relying on pseudoscientific claptrap to explain every farfetched development from black holes to unusual gravitational pulls to time slowing down. Eventually, Endurance rendezvous with a NASA space station stranded on a remote planet where they rouse the sole survivor from a cryogenic sleep only to discover it’s Matt Damon. How cool is that?
I’m not too proud to admit I couldn’t follow the convoluted storyline anymore from about this point forward. At least the panoramic visuals remained absolutely breathtaking. Think, a remake of Gravity with a bunch of polysyllabic brainiacs borrowed from The Big Bang Theory.
Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for intense action and brief profanity
Running time: 169 minutes
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
To see a trailer for Interstellar, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vxOhd4qlnA