Interstellar: Lose yourself (minor spoilers)

-
**Minor spoiler alert**

 I felt like I was in a cathedral, vast and dream-like, sitting on the edge of my seat. Hurtling through not just space and time, but another galaxy on the cusp of a raging black hole. My breath grew shallow as the actor was swallowed up and entered a place no one can explain with any real certainty. My popcorn was hot and the drink went down cold. The movies, my friends, are alive and well.

Along with horror movies, I await the best and brightest of film in the space genre. Give it to me any way you can - Armageddon, Event Horizon, Contact, Alien - I will take it and tuck it under my arm with wonder. I wish I could say I'm a Star Wars geek, but I am not. I like some science fiction but am mostly a straight rocket-ship-into-the-stars type girl. Throw in a few aliens or even better a 'life force' or 'beings' we're unsure of and I'm a goner. 

When I first saw the previews for Interstellar I nudged George and said, "We will be here on opening day for that." It looked big. It looked entertaining. And it looked able to take me on a trip I couldn't otherwise take. It starts off on our earth in the future, an earth that is slowly dying agriculturally, and centers on a family of farmers. Matthew McConaughey was a former NASA pilot who now farms - as farming is the only way to sustain life in this not-too-distant earth. Dust, and lots of it, abound and as they stumble onto anomalies in gravity and so forth, they also stumble onto a secret. 



I don't want to give away plot spoilers, but we all know that he takes off into galaxies unknown to find a place for the people on earth and future generations to live on. The ride is spectacular, and the special effects are phenomenal. I really did feel like I was in the cathedral of space hanging on for dear life, as we spun round and round on our way to Saturn and a mysteriously-placed wormhole. Because we all know that wormholes are man-made (or alien-made? I didn't know). 

Most days we get up, drink our coffee, and ponder what our to-do lists are for the minutes that stretch out before us. Work, menial tasks, and sometimes the scrubbing of a toilet. For nearly three hours, that world was totally blacked out for me. It took me on a ride that helped me to remember that the universe doesn't revolve around me and my day to day life. The vastness of the stars and the mysteries they hold, as unfolded in the movie, remind me of the great work of the unknown. The world, or our earth, wasn't the only thing created when God created the heavens. He created so much more - more than our minds could ever wrap themselves around. This movie takes you to heights, then plunges you back down again to ask yourself over and over, "What just happened?" 

Yes, there are questions. This article explains just a bit of the scientific aspects of the movie and the questions we all have: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/11/neil-degrasse-tyson-breaks-down-interstellar-black-holes-time-dilations-and-massive-waves.html

What I took away from Interstellar were several things:

1)  Our universe if bigger than us.
2)  We must be good stewards of our planet.
3)  There are times when the greater good comes before self.
4)  Space movies kick @$$.

I highly recommend Interstellar and give it nearly 5/5 stars. Lose yourself in it and let your everyday world go for three fast-moving hours. The actors are wonderful and give tremendous performances from Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, and Jessica Chastain to Michael Caine and John Lithgow. See this movie. See it on the big screen because a TV will not do it justice. Take in the cold beauty of the star-laden universe, its colors and time and gravity. Let them enfold you and take you to a place you've never been before. Let the unbelievable enrapture you. Isn't that what movies are made for? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Oaxaca // Following through

-
Image
The wild night sky out my window facing the city. Saturday, September 26th // 2015 The sliding of days into the past, like taking a sip of water until you find the glass empty, have overtaken my thoughts this morning. Today and tomorrow. That's all I have left here in this space, this small slice of found moments that I have put myself in the past fortnight plus seven. Urgency, though, hasn't found me here. The tranquility of this breeze hitting my face every morning, allowing me to write freely, has afforded no trace of urgency. Authors will tell you that any time the words find you that they must be written. This is truth. They have found me every day as the sun rises to its zenith and the afternoon sear settles over the land calling for a quiet rest. I move from my window at that time and sit on the bed and finish for the day until it's time for the afternoon comida. I've not found the words in the evening, or even at night. It seems I need to res...
Read more

The 8 essays I'm proud to have written in 2020

-
Image
You can now find me on Substack and Medium . I'll be keeping this blog up to look back and see my old work.  It's been one hell of a year.  I want to end it by starting this space. Something new. Something uncensored. I am a columnist for a rural paper in Ohio, an author who published her book in a pandemic summer, and a frustrated poet.  I'm glad you're here. But don't come back if you can't handle some spicy words. See you 2020, let's do something new. Here are eight pieces I'm particularly proud to have written in 2020: It's only a virus, they said Taking a knee for an injured world Inconvenience in the time of pandemic 10 Commandments for tackling racism Redifining the word 'freedom' Spiraling down the conspiratorial rabbit hole A distraction to what ails us is never the cure Faith over fear is nothing if we're not wise
Read more

Shaun Cassidy, Kenny Rogers, and my worn-out speakers

-
Shaun Cassidy, Kenny Rogers, and my worn-out speakers This question was posed by my daughter on Twitter yesterday and I decided to take the challenge: What song must you listen to every day without fail? I have long and varied playlists that run the gamut of many different genres: techno, house, old country, pop from the 70’s and 80’s, and metal. There’s a tab on Spotify, my platform of choice, that lets you see how often and who you play the most. I was sure what the top ones would be, but was semi-surprised as it went along. Call me eclectic, or just weird, because I won’t be offended:       1)    Shaun Cassidy: I make no apologies because he has been my favorite ever since he belted out “Da Doo Ron Ron” and “Hey Deanie.” He was also Joe Hardy on The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries in the late 70’s and that sealed the deal. I was an obsessed reader of the Hardy Boys books, and he came to life for me on that show. I had every one of his albu...
Read more