Nolan November

As summer draws nearer, we moviegoers start jabbering on about the summer flicks we’re dying to see. The same even goes with pre- and post-summer films, but the point is there’s something out there we all look forward to.

This year is a big year for comic book films with two additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe – Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 4) and Guardians of the Galaxy (Aug. 1) –, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (April 16 intl, May 2 U.S.) and the highly anticipated X-Men: First Class sequel, X-Men: Days of Future Past (May 23).

 I, for one, am especially looking forward to Days of Future Past. It’s been more than 10 years since Bryan Singer was at the helm of the X-Men film franchise, and I must say it’s a relief to finally have him back. Now, of course, First Class wasn’t a bad film by any means; it was the best X-Men film, in my opinion, since X2 (2002). Plus, Singer was involved with First Class, so there’s that.

 Other big films this year include, but aren’t limited to, Divergent (March 21), Noah (March 28), Transcendence (April 18), Godzilla (May 16), Maleficent (May 30), Transformers: Age of Extinction (June 27), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (Nov. 21) and The Hobbit: There and Back Again (Dec. 17).

 Some of these I’m looking forward to, and others I won’t even think about. Two films I didn’t list, however, are at the top of my list – I Origins and Interstellar.

I Origins, an independent sci-fi mystery film by Mike Cahill, tells the story of a biologist and his lab partner uncovering significant evidence with the potential to change society. These details are, of course, vague, but what I’ve taken from interviews is the film touches on a man yearning to disprove the existence of God. It stars Michael Pitt, Brit Marling and Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey.

 I Origins premiered at the Sundance Film Festival Jan. 18, and has since been picked up by Fox Searchlight Pictures for worldwide distribution. Reviews I’ve seen so far, few as they may be, have all been favorable. I’m curious to see what bigger critics and audiences have to say once the film receives a wide release, the date of which is still unknown.

Now, my reason for wanting to see I Origins actually has nothing to do with the director, the fact that it’s an independent film or even the story for that matter. I simply want to see the movie because Berges-Frisbey is in it.

 I’ll go ahead and admit I’ve had a thing for Bergès-Frisbey since I first saw her as the mermaid Syrena in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011). Due to her work primarily consisting of French and Spanish films, and Pirates being her first and only U.S. film up until I Origins, it’s been difficult for me to see her in anything else. I managed to see The Well-Digger’s Daughter (2011) (La Fille du puisatier) two years ago, my first non-English-speaking foreign film, but just that.

Left to right: Michael Pitt and Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey in I Origins

 Actually getting to see Bergès-Frisbey in another English-speaking film, in a theater I might add, is something I’ve been longing for since Pirates. I can only hope the film delivers in terms of plot and performance, but it sounds intriguing enough for me at least, and Berges-Frisbey will only be a bonus.

Now, while I’m excited to see Bergès-Frisbey in another U.S. film, my most anticipated film this year is without a doubt Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.

Promotional title card for the film

Moviegoers are no strangers to the name Christopher Nolan. His successful Batman adaptations – Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – gained him a vast fan base and the ability to take on virtually any project he wishes. I love his Batman films as much as the next person, but I’m fonder of his films set outside the realm of the Dark Knight.

 Memento (2000) and Inception (2010) are definitely my favorites of his works, as well as two of my all-time favorite films, but Insomnia (2002) and The Prestige (2006) also have a lot to offer.

 Nolan has also demonstrated his ability to effectively pull off twist-endings, particularly with Memento and The Prestige, which I feel can be an upside to his films because audiences don’t quite know what to expect. This trend combined with a deep space setting, alternate dimensions and possibly time travel is something I’ve been longing for since I saw Inception.

 Several other reasons stand for my desire to see Interstellar, and make it difficult to wait for the Nov. 7 release date.

Plot

 Inception, to me, was a refreshing way of presenting science-fiction to audiences accustomed to a wealth of extra-terrestrial-related stories. Of course, we have unique sci-fi films like The Matrix, but only once in a blue moon, or so I feel.

 A Nolan film about scientists exploring a wormhole in space delivers endless possibilities of what to expect. If Interstellar is anything along the lines of a hybrid of Memento and Inception, but set in space, yeah…I’m sold.

  Writing

Left to right: Christopher and Jonathan Nolan

 Nolan’s brother Jonathon is lending his writing talents for the Interstellar script. J. Nolan is the one solely responsible for Memento, as the film was based on his short story Memento Mori. He also co-wrote the latter two films of the Dark Knight trilogy. C. Nolan is co-writing the Interstellar script with his brother, and he already demonstrated his solo writing abilities with Inception.

 Given these two, I would be surprised if the story is disappointing by any means. Then again, this varies on one and their interests, as the world is full of people without a care for Nolan’s works.

Cast

 Nolan’s films are well-known for excellent performances. Interstellar presents a cast featuring Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Michael Caine, among many others.

 McConaughey, whom I’ve always been fond of for his humor, is becoming one of my favorite actors due to his recent undertaking of serious work. Killer Joe (2011) forever changed the way I’ll look at him as an actor, in a good way. He was beyond incredible in the HBO series True Detective (2014), and his recent winning Best Actor at the Academy Awards for Dallas Buyers Club (2013) is taking him to new territories in his career. Now, he may just be exploring entirely new dimensions in Interstellar.

 I can only imagine what McConaughey will bring to the story, and I’m certainly looking forward to seeing him in the film. That being said, Hathaway has never disappointed me either, and because it looks like she’s the film’s female lead, I’m all the more anxious to see her and McConaughey play opposite one another.

 Chastain is another up-and-comer in the world of film, receiving two Academy Award nominations for The Help (2011) and Zero Dark Thirty (2012), and Caine is never a disappointment, nor a stranger to Nolan’s works.

Left to right, top to bottom: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain and Michael Caine

 The rest of the cast at this point includes Casey Affleck, Wes Bentley, Ellen Burstyn, Leah Cairns, Matt Damon, William Devane, Mackenzie Foy, Elyes Gabel, Topher Grace, David Gyasi, Bill Irwin, John Lithgow and David Oyelowo.

Score

Hans Zimmer at the 2014 Golden Globe Awards

 The musical score is the critical element that delivers 50% of a film. It delivers the extra boost in emotional depth and pace within the story.

 Hans Zimmer is one of the most well-known film composers next to John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Thomas Newman and Alan Silvestri. His scores for The Lion King (1994), Gladiator (2000), the Pirates of the Caribbean series (2003-present), the Dark Knight trilogy, the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes series (2009-present) and Inception have shown audiences his knack for supplementing both action and emotion.

 Like Caine, Zimmer is also no stranger to Nolan. Of Nolan’s eight films, not including Interstellar, Zimmer has scored four. His score for Inception is my favorite of the four, and I’m excited to hear what he has to offer Nolan’s new sci-fi journey. That being said, this is still the one area in which I have some disappointment.

 I was hoping to see Nolan reunite with David Julyan, the composer of Nolan’s first three films and The Prestige, for Interstellar. Interstellar would have been Julyan’s first project with Nolan in eight years.