2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) vs. Interstellar (2014)

[Brundlefly 2,385]

15 hours ago, John said:

I recently rewatched The Dark Knight. [...] It doesn't have any glaring issues, but I feel it could've been better in lots of ways.

The term "perfecter" does not exist, for a reason.

[Chen G. 3,949]

Even though I really, really like it, its not a perfect movie. It has a glaring structural problem:

 

 

"Oh my god, there's more movie!"

- "Oh my god, there's more movie?!"

[filmmusic 1,829]

I find this poll insulting towards 2001.

There, i said it!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Is it a bit, I agree.

[karelm 2,913]

Interestingly, if any of you are in the LA area, Chris Nolan will be introducing a 50th anniversary screening of 2001 with a new print on June 11.  Tickets are here:

http://www.oscars.org/events/2001-space-odyssey-1968

[Naïve Old Fart 9,527]

"I dunno".

Not exactly Pauline Kael are you, @Holko 

More sort of Claudia Winkleman.

[John 2,032]

7 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

The term "perfecter" does not exist, for a reason.

 

For starters, I feel every actor other than Ledger gave thoroughly bland performances. The characters themselves feel very cold and emotionally distant.

 

A lot of the dialogue is pretty bad as well, particularly the Joker's lines. In my opinion, Ledger's performance singlehandedly saved what was on paper a pretty bland portrayal of the character.

 

I also thought the climax with the death of Two-Face felt tacked-on, and his descent to madness felt rushed and incoherent.

 

I don't hate the film, and I thoroughly enjoyed it while watching it the first time, but it's nowhere close to being in consideration for best movie of all time, or the best blockbuster of all time, or whatever it is people claim it to be nowadays.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

2 minutes ago, John said:

The characters themselves feel very cold and emotionally distant.

 

Its a Nolan film!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Dark Knight is just the kind of movie that 16 year old boys with pretensions call the greatest ever made.

[Bilbo 3,709]

23 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

I begrudge no one the art they respond to, but anyone who calls Dunkirk a genuine masterpiece.... well, they have very different ideas of aesthetic value from me.

 

Spitfires. 3 of them. 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

That movie is like trying to grab hold of steam.  It evaporated from my mind as soon as it was over.  A dull exercise.  As if Nolan gave himself the challenge of making a war movie that was pictorially beautiful and completely unengaging in every other way.  Pretty pictures and that's it.

 

But Nolanites, please "don't @ me" as the kids say.  It's cool if you love it.

[Bilbo 3,709]

Yeah but Spitfires. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

That movie is like trying to grab hold of steam.  It evaporated from my mind as soon as it was over.  A dull exercise.  As if Nolan gave himself the challenge of making a war movie that was pictorially beautiful and completely unengaging in every other way.  Pretty pictures and that's it.

 

But Nolanites, please "don't @ me" as the kids say.  It's cool if you love it.

 

I agree with Disco Stu!

[Bilbo 3,709]

I agree with Bilbo!

[Brundlefly 2,385]

6 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

Dark Knight is just the kind of movie that 16 year old boys with pretensions call the greatest ever made.

Not necessarily THE greatest, but anyone who denies its stellar quality, does not have no clue about movies or is a hipster who hates it because it's so popular.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Brundlefly is a star JWFan!

[Brundlefly 2,385]

I'm not even a hardcore Nolan fan, it's simply a congenial movie. In comparison Batman Begins is a good, but average movie.

[John 2,032]

On ‎5‎/‎31‎/‎2018 at 6:41 PM, Brundlefly said:

Not necessarily THE greatest, but anyone who denies its stellar quality, does not have no clue about movies or is a hipster who hates it because it's so popular.

 

This may be the single most pretentious post I've read on JWFan.

 

That's a ridiculous stance to take. I consider myself a pretty big movie buff, and I don't think it's a stellar film. It's an above-average superhero movie, but little more than that.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I’ve seen much smarter critics than I make genuine arguments that it is visually and editorially nonsensical.  I just thought it was uninteresting.

 

Here’s a writer I used to enjoy, Jim Emerson on why the opening sequence is edited and staged in a confusing way

 

https://vimeo.com/28792404

[Brundlefly 2,385]

13 minutes ago, John said:

It's an above-average superhero movie, but little more than that.

Is it even a superhero movie? If they didn't wear costumes, wouldn't the Joker be a normal but brilliant terrorist? The realism and the relevance hiding behind the fact that the characters are adapted from a comparatively simple comic, catapultes the film to a level which exceeds what most blockbusters are incapable to reach. The film is a reflection about the means and the limits of a constitutional state and whether/when it's appropriate to break the rules, which means for example to kill one person in order to save ten other persons. This is just one of several aspects which are covered on a high and complex level. I have to admit on first or second view the movie can be quite overstimulating, but after multiple views it was possible for me to process most of its potential. I'm not joking or anything.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

It has issues like every other movie, but I'd say it's pretty exceptional as a film and obviously made an impression, a lasting one.  Yeah, it's tiresome when people try to over intellectualize Nolan but it's just as tiring when people feel like they need to do the opposite.  I wonder what new forum ruler Indianagirl thinks though.  I'll have whatever opinion she wants me to have.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Nolan just continues to be not my thing.  Interstellar and The Prestige are the only ones I’ve liked at all.

 

Shrug.  I got no problem with people loving his movies.  It’s nice to like things.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Those are probably his best anyway.

[Indianagirl 298]

I like Inerstellar but it's no 2001 in any capacity. 

 

I like Christopher Nolan....but I don't love Christopher Nolan. I think his best film is Inception. I really liked Inception. I think Interstellar was miscast in a few places. Matt Damon showing up mid movie really threw me off. I also didn't love Anne Hathaway in this. Jessica Chastain however I thought was fantastic. 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Chastain is always great.  I kinda liked the subversion of what kind of character the audience expects Matt Damon to play, but I can see how others might find it weird or distracting.

[Indianagirl 298]

I think what threw me off is that half way through this adventure in space where there are no people....Matt Damon shows up. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yeah it doesn't work.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I didn't know Matt Damon is in Interstellar.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,527]

He's Dr. Mann. He's the guy who blows himself up, trying to dock with space station.

[karelm 2,913]

18 hours ago, Margo Channing said:

I didn't know Matt Damon is in Interstellar.

He's the guy that is the "best of us" and doesn't understand orbital mechanics, explosive decompression, the intensive psychological profiling and screening that all astronauts go through for a 15 minute flight let alone a potentially one way trip to another galaxy. He was that guy with that sociopathic episode given his isolation that all astronauts are extensively screened for.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Plot error!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,527]

4 hours ago, karelm said:

He's the guy that is the "best of us" and doesn't understand orbital mechanics, explosive decompression, the intensive psychological profiling and screening that all astronauts go through for a 15 minute flight let alone a potentially one way trip to another galaxy. He was that guy with that sociopathic episode given his isolation that all astronauts are extensively screened for.

 

Pardon my French, but he's an asshole! You hear me? An asshole!

[Quintus 5,399]

On 01/06/2018 at 1:34 AM, Indianagirl said:

I think what threw me off is that half way through this adventure in space where there are no people....Matt Damon shows up. 

 

Ruined the film for me. Laughably bad scenes, and I am a fan of Damon. 

 

That part of the movie is the one things holding me back from a rewatch.

[crocodile 8,012]

On 01/06/2018 at 8:55 AM, Stefancos said:

Yeah it doesn't work.

You should be used to Matt Damom being stranded on another planet by now.

 

 

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

3 hours ago, Quintus said:

Ruined the film for me. Laughably bad scenes, and I am a fan of Damon. 

 

I don't see the point of keeping Damon's role in the film a surprise anyway. It does work, because the moment you see David Mann all you think is "Matt Damon is in this film?"

[Quintus 5,399]

I think that's part of the problem. It's an unexpected movie star cameo and it's totally immersion breaking. Should have cast an unknown in that part, more of an average joe believable astronaut type. That'd be an improvement. But really, I could have just done without that whole subplot. There had been decent focus and anxiety engrossing me in the drama till that point.

 

It's a pity that the lasting image I have of Interstellar is McConaughey and Damon rolling about like a couple of dicks on another planet. I thought it was just Captain Kirk who got into those sorts of shenanigans.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It might have worked if Damon had somehow nailed the role, bit it's not in his wheelhouse.

[Nick1Ø66 4,714]

You lot are nuts. Interstellar is one of the best movies of the last decade, Damon is well cast, and Dunkirk is brill.

 

 

 

[Quintus 5,399]

I really wished I could have loved Interstellar. I pine for a new seminal science fiction movie for thinkers.

[Nick1Ø66 4,714]

10 hours ago, karelm said:

He's the guy that is the "best of us" and doesn't understand orbital mechanics, explosive decompression, the intensive psychological profiling and screening that all astronauts go through for a 15 minute flight let alone a potentially one way trip to another galaxy. He was that guy with that sociopathic episode given his isolation that all astronauts are extensively screened for.

 

The total sum of all human knowledge on the effects on an individual being isolated for an extended period in deep space: 0

 

And don’t talk to me about psychological screening. Ten years ago an astronaut was charged with attempted murder after driving across the US in a diaper to confront her victim.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

24 minutes ago, Quintus said:

I think that's part of the problem. It's an unexpected movie star cameo and it's totally immersion breaking. Should have cast an unknown in that part, more of an average joe believable astronaut type. That'd be an improvement. But really, I could have just done without that whole subplot. There had been decent focus and anxiety engrossing me in the drama till that point.

 

It's a pity that the lasting image I have of Interstellar is McConaughey and Damon rolling about like a couple of dicks on another planet. I thought it was just Captain Kirk who got into those sorts of shenanigans.

Without that subplot we wouldn’t have the superb “No Time For Caution” scene. 

[Quintus 5,399]

That's a good scene alright and I'm sure they could have repurposed it, but coulda woulda shoulda.

[karelm 2,913]

3 hours ago, Nick1066 said:

 

The total sum of all human knowledge on the effects on an individual being isolated for an extended period in deep space: 0

 

And don’t talk to me about psychological screening. Ten years ago an astronaut was charged with attempted murder after driving across the US in a diaper to confront her victim.

 

I can't talk to you about one criminal out of the 700 astronauts since 1959 being pretty damn good psychological screening? 

[Chen G. 3,949]

6 hours ago, Nick1066 said:

Interstellar is one of the best movies of the last decade, Damon is well cast, and Dunkirk is brill.

 

I find both kind of empty. The former in particular I have no desire to revisit.

 

I'm not the biggest fan of 2001, but at least it got me thinking and I certainly was impressed with the vision enough to want to learn about its behind-the-scenes. Very interesting!

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Even if you could agree that psychological screening is enough to ensure that nobody will ever go nuts - and I don't - the whole point of the character is to show someone pushed past some very extreme point into irrational hysteria despite how well balanced and trained he may have been.  Hardly seems like something worth complaining about, but ye gods if we haven't been over all this before!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

At the cinema now. Nolans version of 2001 looks less sharp than the previous 70mm restoration. The colours slightly less popping. It comes from a 50 year old piece of celluloid.

[Wojo 2,453]

I've watched both of these movies exactly once. That was enough. 

[Kasey Kockroach 2,344]

I voted for Critters, both the movie and the David Newman score.

[Naïve Old Fart 9,527]

2 hours ago, Stefancos said:

At the cinema now. Nolans version of 2001 looks less sharp than the previous 70mm restoration. The colours slightly less popping. It comes from a 50 year old piece of celluloid.

I take it that that's a good thing?

 It's touring the UK, at the moment. I'd see it, but, unless it's to my local bar to watch footie, I really don't like going out in the evening, any more.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It looks like a print of a splendid camera negative that should have been tweaked a bit. The white of the Discovery One isnt quite as white. ("Nolan pissed on Stanley's print"). The contrast seems a tad...off at times.

 

Still stunning to see on the big screen