******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ********************
#1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
#2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived.
#3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern.
*****************************************************************
"Interstellar:" Sensationalism In Search of Sensibility
Lost in Space With Christopher Nolan
by LOUIS PROYECT
Regular readers of my film reviews are probably aware that my focus is
on works that follow in the humanistic tradition of classics such as
Satyajit Ray’s Apu trilogy or Akira Kurosawa’s “Seven Samurai”. As such,
I generally have little reason to write about the typical Hollywood
blockbuster except toward the end of the year when I have a
responsibility as a member of New York Film Critics Online (NYFCO) to
vote on exactly such films.
For NYFCO, something as crude as a Michael Bay movie would never pass
muster. But like most film critic societies that are tied by umbilical
cord to the Hollywood studios, there is a place at their table for
something like “Gravity” that received best director and cinematography
awards in 2013, even though it was nothing but Michael Bay adapted to
the carriage trade.
Since I have a suspicion that Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar” that is
opening at theaters everywhere this week will have the same sort of
middle-brow appeal as “Gravity”, I thought it was worth my time to
attend a press screening a couple of days ago. Since the film was being
screened on IMAX, the medium that Nolan considers optimum for the sort
of thrills he seeks to impart, it would be my introduction to an
experience that like 3D seeks to substitute sensationalism for sensibility.
As I sat before the immense screen at the AMC Lincoln Square being
assaulted by the loudest sound system I had ever encountered in a
theater, I was reminded that no amount of technology could replace an
intelligent plot and character development. If there is anything that
Christopher Nolan represents as a filmmaker, it is the belief that
technology trumps just about everything else.
full:
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/11/07/lost-in-space-with-christopher-nolan/
_________________________________________________________
Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm
Set your options at:
http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
