INTERSTELLAR (2014) – My rating: 9.5/10

When it’s your time, it’s your time.  Matthew McConaughey is on a roll.  His performance in Interstellar was fantastic.  Matthew played Cooper, a retired NASA test pilot, turned farmer, who has a passion for space, flying and discovery.  Anne Hathaway was equally magnificent in the role of biologist Amelia, the daughter of a renowned scientist named Brand, played by Michael Cain.  The special effects and the great attention to detail is nothing short of phenomenal. Interstellar is a blockbuster of a movie that is well suited for those with a scientific mind and a real sense of adventure.  I couldn’t begin to tell you of all the complicated jargon that went into Interstellar to complete this level of cosmic interest.  Interstellar is about a team of space travelers who must travel through a wormhole in search of a habitable planet.  It seems that Earth’s natural resources are at the brink of extinction, causing us to regress to an agrarian civilization, which is failing.  According to Brand, there are 3 planets on the other side of the wormhole that qualify as worthy candidates.  At this point, the story gets too complicated for this review but I will tell you that Interstellar has it all, from the “Endurance” that Cooper pilots, to the 2 robots (Case and Tars) that accompany the crew on their journey to the black hole called Gargantua.  There is time travel and time lines that are truly fascinating.  Cooper’s daughter Murphy, who is called Murph throughout the entire movie becomes a central character and is played by 3 different actresses.  In the end,  Cooper, who is raising his 2 children (Tom and Murph) must decide between seeing his children again and the future of the human race.  Exciting, interesting, entertaining and thought provoking are some of the words that best describe this movie.   Interstellar is 2 hours and 49 minutes well worth spending both your time and money to see but is not for everyone.  Some folks may find it too scientific!

[INTERSTELLAR is Nominated for Music (Original Score), Production Design, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects]

THE CORE (2003) – My rating: 8/10

High Marks for Imagination – *** This may contain spoilers ***
Is science really that good? First we have to recognize there is a problem. Next, we have to figure out what the problem is. Then we have to determine if the problem can be resolved and if it can, how? Who is so good as to determine the earth’s core has stopped spinning because of an unexplained electrical storm in California and an attack of birds gone wild in Rome. Who would just happen to have a vessel, named Vergil, that can actually surf through the earth’s core of over 9000 degrees without disintegrating. What team of the worlds far most scientific, master minds would volunteer to journey to the center of the earth to jump start the core and what computer geek could stop a top military project dead in it’s tracks within minutes of a request? Someone has an overactive imagination and was able to put it in writing and tastefully present it on the big screen.

I must say, Jon Amiel did an excellent job of directing this movie into a suspenseful, action packed, science fiction thriller. I was entertained every step of this fantasy of a movie. A lot of research went into this story – it’s almost believable as numbers are calculated, meetings are held by top brass, and billions are spent to turn a 10 year project into a 3 month project. Their plan to restart the earth’s core even has a contingency plan called Destiny, which could turn out to be the death of the planet or our hero.

The success of The core depends more on God than on science as we don’t have the know how, equipment or power to deliver the resolution outlined in this movie. The special effects were excellent and the acting superb. The Core turned out to be a better movie than I thought it would be. 2 thumbs up for imagination and direction. 2 thumbs down if they think we bought it!