Interstellar Press Conference

Interstellar Press Conference

Last week, the cast and crew gathered in London for the Interstellar press conference. Here is what cast members Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Michael Caine, Jessica Chastain and Mackenzie Foy, plus director Christopher Nolan and producer Emma Thomas had to say about the film…

On making Interstellar…

Christopher Nolan: My interest in Interstellar was a couple of key things. First was the relationship between the father and the children. I am a father myself and I related to it quite a lot; I found it very powerful. And I liked the idea of combining that with this story that speculates about a potential moment in human evolution where mankind would have to reckon with its place in the wider universe.

Emma Thomas: The thing I love about this film is that it is many things rolled into one. So whilst we were doing the more intimate character stuff, we also had these massive, disparate locations to shoot in. Iceland is an amazing place but a lot of the places that we were in were incredibly remote and incredibly challenging. But I think it really paid off; it’s a lot more fun to watch it than it was to be there in some cases!

On science fiction cinema…

Christopher Nolan: I grew up and what was really a golden age of blockbusters. If you look at Close Encounters [of the Third Kind] and they way it addressed that idea of this inevitable moment where humans would meet aliens, and address it from a family perspective. I really liked the idea of giving today’s audiences some sense of that… One of my earliest movie-going memories is going to Leicester Square to see 2001 [A Space Odyssey] when I was seven years old, and I have never forgotten the scale of that. I saw my first IMAX film when I was fifteen, and immediately I wanted to make features that way at the point. Really for me working on this scale, it’s a long-held dream of mine.

Interstellar QUAD

On working with Christopher Nolan…

Matthew McConaughey: It is a compliment to the process that even though this went on for five months, and there was a much larger scope and scale, when you are acting in a Christopher Nolan film it feels just as intimate and just as raw and natural as most independent films are forced to feel because you don’t have the time. But we had the time and the money on Interstellar, but when you are actually shooting, it is very intimate, and very raw and natural.

Jessica Chastain: I don’t normally do big movies, I’m kind of new to this world. I had always been afraid that jumping on a big budget film, you would lose the relationships in favour of special effects. But the great thing about working with Chris is that it is all practical sets, so you actually have things to react to as an actor, which is awesome. We would do three or four takes, and it’s so incredible because he would let me get it out of my system, try what I wanted to without trying to impose on me something that wasn’t natural. With a very delicate hand, he would come over and just say one sentence… and with that tiny, exquisite note, he would open up my performance in a way I would never have imagined.

Mackenzie Foy: Christopher Nolan is awesome! I want to be a director when I get older, and just to be able to watch him work is amazing and it meant a lot to me.

Michael Caine: You spend your life as an actor making a picture saying “is it going to be going to be a hit? Is it going to be a miss?”. I’ve had six pictures working with Christopher, and every one has been a hit. So whenever he says “do you want to do a movie?”, I say “yes”! He said “do you want to read the script?” and I said “no”! It’s quite extraordinary working with him because he also writes it, and nothing is what it seems. I remember the first time he came to me with a script, he came to my house in the country, he said “I’ve got a movie”. I said; “what is it?” and he said “Batman”, and I thought to myself “well I’m too old to play Batman, what does he want me to play?”. He said; “I want you to play the butler” and I thought about the type of dialogue I would have, what do I say; “dinner is served”? And of course I read the script; it wasn’t the butler, it was the foster father.

On favourite science fiction characters…

Christopher Nolan: It’s got to be Darth Vader…

Emma Thomas: I would have to say Sigourney Weaver’s character in Alien.

Mackenzie Foy: Either Darth Vader or Spock.

Matthew McConaughey: Chewbacca and Murph [from Interstellar].

Anne Hathaway: R2D2 and Ripley.

Michael Caine: Sandy Bullock in Gravity.

Jessica Chastain: Mine would be Princess Leia and HAL.

Anne Hathaway: Can I add a science fiction character? Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica. But I am speaking specifically of the new version.

On saving the environment…

Jessica Chastain: I’m vegan, and I don’t think everyone should be vegan, but I do believe that something like meatless Mondays. If everyone in the world gave up meat for one day it would make a huge difference in terms of the carbon footprint.

Michael Caine: I was so poor for so long that I didn’t use anything, I didn’t eat very much, I figured the world owed me a debt so… I am eating very well and have had a big car for a long time!

Anne Hathaway: I try to do a lot of little things in the hope that they are going to add up. I time my showers, I try not to overly consume things, or blindly consume things…

Christopher Nolan: Communal resources, like gathering people in one place, like a movie theatre. So if you go and see Interstellar every evening, you’ll save an enormous amount of energy!

Interstellar is released on Friday 7th November 2014.

Film Review: Super 8

Super 8 is the best blockbuster of the year so far. J.J. Abrams homage to producer Steven Spielberg is utterly charming.

Charles enlists the help of his friends, including Joe Lamb, to shoot a short movie. Hoping to enter the film into a competition, Charles seeks production values. Shooting a scene at night, the young teens witness a terrifying train crash. Following this, mysterious incidents take place in the town, as Joe and friends try to investigate what has occurred…

Super 8 is a fantastically well constructed film. Like the best blockbuster movies, Abram’s film effectively combines action-adventure, comedy and science fiction. These elements work well together; Super 8 has the ability to shift between comedy and tension seamlessly.

The film displays some sentimentalism. This is not particularly surprising, given Spielberg’s involvement. Moreover, these moments are well executed and are in keeping with the overall feel of the film. The sentimentalism never really veers into cheese territory.

The sense of mystery works well in Super 8. The contents of the train is not revealed initially, leading the main characters and the viewers to question the army’s involvement as well as the strange occurrences. It is a significant way into the film before more details are revealed, which keeps viewers guessing as to if or how the supernatural comes into play.

The influence of Spielberg’s films from the 1970s and 1980s is made very apparent in Super 8. The mystery over the cause of events is reminiscent of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The camaraderie of the group of kids harks back to E.T. and the Spielberg-produced The Goonies. The references are visual as well as thematic, with the running in the train crash sequence harking back to an infamous Raiders of the Lost Ark scene. Furthermore, the references to George A. Romero are a nice touch. Abrams pays homage to his influences in the best possible way; overtly and slightly in awe, but blended seamlessly into the action.

The effects used in the film are first rate. Super 8 has a polished overall look, again harking back to Spielberg’s earlier blockbusters. The sound is suitably consuming. Michael Giacchino’s score is apt, although a section sounds very similar to Danny Elfman’s Nightmare Before Christmas theme.

The comedy in the film is effective thanks to Abrams’ script and the very natural interaction of the young teens. Performances are great all round, with Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning and Riley Griffiths standing out in particular. Kyle Chandler, meanwhile, looks every inch the late-1970s dad as Jackson Lamb.

Abrams’ film is highly recommended, and will likely be remembered as one of the year’s best movies. Super 8 is simply a delight.

Film Review: Monsters

Monsters’ 94 minutes feels about three times as long in this science fiction drama. Devoid of any real sense of threat, the film is not engaging in the least, opting for shallow symbolism and ample screen time for two of the most boring protagonists imaginable.

Six years after a probe carrying samples of alien life crash landed in Mexico, have the country is quarantined as an ‘Infection Zone’. An American photographer is tasked with getting his boss’s daughter safely back across the zone to America. With limited travel options, the pair must avoid the monsters that the military struggle to contain…

The main problem with Monsters is that it functions neither as an effective science fiction film, nor as an engaging drama. For a film titled ‘Monsters’, there is no feeling of danger despite the protagonists frequently being placed in situations that call for a sense of precariousness. Coupled with this are two protagonists who are not well crafted enough for the audience to care about their fates, let alone their motivations.

Gareth Edwards wrote and directed the film, as well as acting as cinematographer, production designer and special effects supervisor. If the energy he spent on the visual aesthetics of the film could have been replicated in the narrative department, the film may have been fairly decent. Instead, Monsters is slow moving, which would not be a problem if the protagonists were not so dull.

Kaulder, an ambitious photographer, supposedly sees the light during the course of the movie; photographing dead children, which apparently would be his meal ticket, is just too horrifying when it comes down to it. Sam, meanwhile, contends with the absolutely thrilling issue of whether or not she should marry her fiancé. Performances by Scoot McNairy and Whitney Able are not terrible, yet they lack the impetus to engage viewers.

Monsters brings to mind Close Encounters of the Third Kind to a certain extent. Although Edwards may see this as a compliment, it really is not meant as one. Both films have a slow build, but only Close Encounters has the acumen to reward the audience’s patience with a big pay-off in the finale. Monsters falters even at this last hurdle, offering something visually attractive, but lacking in tension, drama or surprise.

Some may argue that Monsters is a different type of science fiction film. Yet, its use of symbolism (building a wall at the US border to keep the ‘monsters’ of Mexico out) simply shows a continuation of one of the pivotal conventions of the genre. Furthermore, the allegory here is so superficial it eradicates any thought-provoking potential. Edwards may have thought he was doing something different with his climax, but it is hardly groundbreaking or highly original.

Visual effects are very good, especially considering the film’s low budget. Edwards captures some beautiful imagery in Mexico, as well as some effectively dystopian shots later in the film. This, however, is not enough to save Monsters. Vertigo Films may wish to play up comparisons to District 9, but Monsters lacks the charm and energy of Neill Blomkamp’s fantastic 2009 film.