Document text
0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories ACCESS drive fights hunger, creates hope Miller write-in campaign lands Ashland Parks and Rec seat Prayers for snow in year's second Mount Ashland blessing Kiwanis club invites fifth-graders to write flag essay AHS club helps fill Ashland Emergency Food Bank Education Kiwanis club invites fifth-graders to write flag essay AHS club helps fill Ashland Emergency Food Bank Ashland High School: Students get schooled in interviewing The future of SOU's McNeal Pavilion doesn't include a pool AuCoin named to SOU Board of Trustees Environment Don't like weather where you are? Move a mile or two Salmon: A force of nature can be restored Students nurturing nature SOU eyes burning biomass instead of gas Navickas ordered to pay court filing fees Business Southern Oregon reports growth in lodging industry Ride & Drive: 2015 Honda CR-V Dear Monty: Violation of HOA rules creates conflict Standing Stone stands up for Emergency Food Bank Find your holiday spirit in Ashland’s Season of Celebration Politics and elections Miller write-in campaign lands Ashland Parks and Rec seat Granlund cartoon: GOP wrecking balls Oregon voters narrowly reject GMO labeling measure Kitzhaber wins fourth term Merkley wins re-election by wide margin State News Resent ballots, late results likely to trigger GMO recount Nation - World Obituaries Death Notices Death Notices Robert E. Johnson Death Notices In Loving Memory of Sports Latest Stories Raiders rout Pioneers, to play Carroll in QFs Southern Oregon men place second at nationals; women 18th Atanda's 16 kills powers SOU to first-round rout SOU men, women win Empire Classic openers SOU cross country teams aim to make splash at nationals High school Six Grizzlies voted MWL first-teamers Grizzlies roughed up at Silverton Upset-minded Grizzlies brace for undefeated Foxes Georgia Williams commits to Columbia Gabe Lehrburger, Grizzlies clean house in MWL all-star voting Southern Oregon University Raiders rout Pioneers, to play Carroll in QFs Southern Oregon men place second at nationals; women 18th Atanda's 16 kills powers SOU to first-round rout SOU men, women win Empire Classic openers SOU cross country teams aim to make splash at nationals Opinion Latest Stories Granlund cartoon: Thanksgiving and shopping Letters to the Editor, Nov. 24 Herb Rothschild Jr.: Greed, love and the Shmoo Frank Mulligan: They say fame is fleeting Granlund cartoon: Buffalo snow Editorial Our view: Keep it simple in OSF courtyard Our view: Expanding the season Our View: Our view: Generating a good idea Our View: Looking beyond the snow Letters Letters to the Editor, Nov. 24 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 15 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 11 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 10 Letters to the Editor, Nov. 3 Guest opinions Herb Rothschild Jr.: Greed, love and the Shmoo Guest Opinion: Save the SOU swimming pool Chris Honoré: Was the midterm election a mandate? Herb Rothschild: TPP agreement draws opposition from all sides Guest Opinion: A meaningful step toward political bipartisanship Revels Latest Stories Community blog: Oregon Poetry Association's fall contest winners Movie listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Best Bets: Nov. 20-28 Caleb Klauder Band and The Steel Wheels play the Unitarian Stewart crafts a fine film in 'Rosewater' Theater New design for Bricks takes shape Hard to keep a straight face with 'Red Noses' 'Red Noses' is a romp through slapstick and pathos 'The Drunken City': Bachelorettes meet bar-crawlers Music Peter Chianca: Top 40 songs even a dad could love The Farr Side: Different artists, common songs Longtime area musician Steve Read, 64, dies The Farr Side: CMA telecast was a disappointment Bass Clarinet Takeover Visual Art Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhibits by regional artists Movies Movie review: ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ stays true to form Interview: Jennifer Aniston continues to shed good-girl image Movie listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Stewart crafts a fine film in 'Rosewater' Interview: Steve Carell gets grim Food and Drink Blue bows out of Granite Street site, Agave moving in Chef count up at feast for the senses Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories It Is What It Is: Thanksgiving is wherever your heart is Ride & Drive: 2015 Chevrolet Colorado Kitchen Call: Both sides of the kiddie table Jeff Vrabel: Ms. Pac-Man makes Chuck E. Cheese more bearable Go Ask Alice: Black Friday shopping? It never dawned on me Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs NEWS NOW ACCESS drive fights hunger, creates hope ... Ashland Calendar ... AHS club helps fill Ashland Emergency Food Bank ... ACCESS drive fights hunger, creates hope ... Ashland Calendar ... AHS club helps fill Ashland Emergency Food Bank ... MOVIE REVIEW 'Interstellar' is a complex journey to the stars By Chris Honoré for Revels DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré for Revels Posted Nov. 13, 2014 @ 12:01 am By Chris Honoré for Revels Posted Nov. 13, 2014 @ 12:01 am » Social News “Interstellar" is predicated on a familiar genre, one that has gained enormous popularity in the new millennium and seems to touch latent-but-ever-present anxieties: fears of an impending worldwide apocalypse. Call it the End Times. Most popular are those films that illustrate how those who are alive post-pandemic/catastrophe are able to survive, finding refuge in abandoned towns and cities, often inhabited by mutants or the walking dead ("World War Z" "The Postman"; "I Am Legend"; "The Book of Eli"; "Mad Max"; "The Road"; "Waterworld" to name just a few). Regarding “Interstellar , ”the apocalypse is not biological or a singular cataclysmic event but environmental. There has been a global ecological collapse (something that could have been occurring for decades — it’s never made clear — but is now cresting) and the planet is dying. The only viable and resilient crop is corn, and most people have turned to subsistence farming to avoid starvation. The first 40 minutes of the film are reminiscent of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s; everything is layered with dust as billowing sandstorms fill the skies, forcing everyone to wear masks and take shelter. It’s a grim, futuristic reality. The response to this imminent threat is posed by a cohort of NASA astrophysicists who have managed to cobble together the funds to build one final rocket that will hook up with a rotating space station thousands of miles above earth. Using that as a platform, the crew will search for a wormhole, detected decades before but never successfully penetrated. The idea being that as the Earth ceases to be able to sustain life, another home must be found and colonized. That’s the desperate solution; there is nothing else that can be done for the planet. Serendipitously, a farmer (once an ace NASA pilot), Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), and his daughter, Murphy (MacKenzie Foy), find the small cadre of NASA scientists who immediately recruit Coop to fly the mission. Man’s salvation, they’re convinced, lies somewhere in the stars instead of Earth. There is a rub: The journey will involve “gravitational time dilation,” which is somehow connected to Einstein’s theory of relativity (if you travel at the speed of light, the space-time continuum is altered and those on Earth grow older while you remain essentially the same age). And actually, the film is filled with quantum physics jargon and time-travel arcana, most of it so abstract that it’s almost unintelligible. In other words, Coop will be gone for a relatively short time as he searches for a host planet. Those on Earth may all be deceased when and if he returns. Including his much-loved daughter, Murph. While “Interstellar” is a visual treat, with some spectacular moments as the rotating ship enters a massive wormhole, and the vistas on two distant planets breathtaking, every real relationship and human connection in the film are back on Earth. The astronauts themselves are enigmatic and distant, their skill sets dominating all interaction. There is no character establishment (as might have happened if they had trained together), no backstory of any kind, other than Coop’s. What haunts the film is the decision by Cooper to make the journey in the first place. To risk all in the hopes that he and his fellow astronauts will indeed find the improbable. It’s an act of regretful hubris. One final comment: The film was written by director Christopher Nolan and his brother, Jonathan. And not unlike Stabley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey , ” they write themselves into a corner regarding how to end the film, necessitating a deus ex machina of sorts, meaning the end seems not only unexpected but contrived by the intervention of some never-explained being/puppeteer. Ultimately, it’s a head-scratcher, with references to a fifth dimension in a third dimension, all of it laden with wormholes of mysticism. Having said that, the first two acts of "Interstellar" are sensational.   Interstellar 168 min Rated PG-13   By Chris Honoré for Revels DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré for Revels Posted Nov. 13, 2014 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2014 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Local Media Group Publications Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted. DailyTidings.com | P.O. Box 1108, Medford, OR 97501