Review: Interstellar ★★★★★

Chris Nolan has brought us some of the biggest and boldest 'blockbusters' of our generation. Moving past his earlier work in Memento and The Prestige, his first major blockbuster came in caped form. The Dark Knight trilogy re-imagined Batman in a manner which oozed class and took audiences and critics entirely by surprise. When Inception was released, therefore, we had seen what Nolan was capable of and expected big things; he certainly delivered on all fronts with a large-scale action film that was engaging both emotionally and intellectually.

Two years after Nolan hung up Batman's cape (or at least the one belonging to his costume department), he has gifted us a masterpiece, and a film which is arguably his best yet. It is certainly fair to say that the immense hype surrounding this film is owed entirely to the quality of work that Nolan has previously put on show. The cast is star-studded, as one would expect, but it is Nolan that proves the biggest draw.

Interstellar centres around a near-future struggle for Planet Earth, where its life expectancy has shrivelled to less than a generation. Whilst it is never explicitly explained, it becomes relatively obvious that the human race went through a resource crisis which prompted Michael Caine's Professor Brand and his  'new NASA' to put Earth on the market and take up residence elsewhere, Time is running out, so enter Matthew McConaughey: the best pilot there ever was, ever. Sadly, Coop (McConaughey) had to hang up his wings; there wasn't a need for pilots like there was for farmers, and his farm was relatively fruitful.

By some lucky coincidence, Coop stumbles across 'new-NASA' and is met with an almost instantaneous invitation to pilot their exploration mission. In that age-old dilemma of "the fate of the world" versus "but my family", Coop leaves his family faster than you can say 'alright, alright, alright' and starts navigating different galaxies in pursuit of a solution for the survival of the human race.

He doesn't set off alone, though. Anne Hathaway as Brand's headstrong daughter shares the scientific responsibilities at the core of the mission with West Bentley and David Gyasi. As a whole, the Interstellar cast is mesmerising throughout; not one performance feels under-cooked. McConaughey is at his best, with a powerful and heartbreaking performance - a performance that arguably trumps anything he has produced before, including Dallas Buyers Club. An honourable mention must also go to Mackenzie Foy, who plays ten year-old Murphy Cooper. Her performance for someone so young (she was born in the year 2000) is breathtaking.

The film itself is incredibly brave, and kudos to Mr. Nolan, times two, for their work on the script. Chris and Jonathan have produced a clever blockbuster, as Inception was, but with a very real emotional weight behind it. Inception's underlying storyline of DiCaprio mourning the loss of his wife was never as convincing as the engaging relationship Coop shares with his family, in particular Murphy. As such, his leaving is all the more agonising.

The Nolan brothers were so committed to the story that they turned to theoretical physicist, Kip Thorne and his work on gravitational physics and astrophysics has a clear influence on the film. However, you certainly cannot invest wholly in the scientific grounding of the storyline in places. It feels as though the Nolans wrote themselves into a place where the rule book needed to be thrown out, and this benefits Interstellar as a film rather than a factually accurate foretelling of our future.

It's certainly the mark of a great film where the credits roll and the audience sits in stunned silence, as they did in our screening. Interstellar blew me away for a number of reasons but above all, the message at its core was heartbreaking and wonderfully moving. Of course, t was magnificent to look at - its grandiose style and the magnitude of Nolan's undertaking were beyond impressive - and there was a sufficient level of action to claim its 'blockbuster' status, but don't be fooled by that label because this film is nothing short of a masterpiece.

Review: Wish I Was Here ★★★★

Zach Braff's career, post-Scrubs, has been one largely bereft of mainstream audiences. His latest project, Wish I Was Here, does not buck the trend.

Funded by Kickstarter, Wish I Was Here is a quirky indie comedy fused with a tick-list of emotional dilemmas. As well as directing the picture, Braff is Aidan Bloom: a perpetually out-of-work actor, father of two children and husband to Sarah (Kate Hudson), who seems destined to forever pay for his reluctance on giving up his dreams.

When his father - the wonderful Mandy Patinkin - falls ill, reality hits Bloom like a freight train. He has to juggle home-schooling his two children with his auditions, his marriage, his father's illness, and his responsibility as an older brother to Noah (Josh Gad): a man with enormous 'Dad' issues.

It is an unfortunate fact that life has a cruel habit of 'kicking one when one is down'. Thus, it doesn't ever feel as though Braff's multiple struggles have been shoe-horned into the story to add weight. In fact, Wish I Was Here is a grounded film that takes a very honest look at emotional suffering.

The acting is excellent; Braff is very likeable and Gad stands up to be counted with a performance that moves. A mention should also go to young Joey King, playing Bloom's daughter, who steals the spotlight from Patinkin and Braff in a few wonderful scenes.

In short, Wish I Was Here is a lovely film. It verges on saccharine but it's funny and it's touching. For that, Braff deserves congratulations.

TOY STORY 4: LIFE AFTER ANDY

Last night, Pixar announced that the world's favourite toys will be back on our screens. June 2017 will see Toy Story 4 arrive at cinemas, 22 years after the first outing of Messrs Woody, Lightyear, Jessie and Potato Head.

It is an announcement that has taken the world entirely by surprise. Of course, with the revelation that there will be a sequel to The Incredibles and Finding Nemo, one reasonably suspected that Pixar weren't perhaps finished with a franchise that raised them over $1bn at the box office - not to mention the $10bn it drew in purely from merchandising.

You have to hope - although it would be naïve to think otherwise - that this is a decision not motivated by money; that Pixar feel there is a story left to be told with these characters. It would even be nice to hear that, perhaps, their affection for these characters is so strong that they do not wish to put them in a box in the attic and leave them to gather dust. However, reasoning dictates otherwise.

Toy Story 3 was a masterpiece in climactic story-telling. It took the characters that a generation had grown up with and brought them back to life just as that same generation stared 'growing up' in the face, mirroring Andy's problems in the narrative. Aside from the classy script writing that has become a ubiquitous feature of all Pixar productions, the final scene in which Andy offers up his collection of childhood friends to Bonnie is crushingly moving. It is also, without doubt, the perfect ending to a trilogy that had resonated with a generation of children-cum-young adults.

The announcement of Toy Story 4 filled me with pure and unadulterated excitement in the first instance; a knee-jerk reaction to the thought of catching up with old friends. Slowly, however, the dawning realisation that the perfectly wrapped trilogy will now be torn apart in an attempt to squeeze more life, and money, out of these characters is somewhat distressing.

Andy, surely, cannot feature any longer: his story arc is complete. Does this mean there will be a new story arc with Bonnie? Should we expect Toy Story 5 and 6 to wrap up any plotlines they set in motion? It is unlikely, of course, but who can say it is not possible, now?

One of the major selling points of this announcement seems to be the return of John Lasseter to the director's chair. Director of both Toy Story and Toy Story 2, and winner of two Academy Awards, Lasseter now sits as Chief Creative Officer at Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios. He is a genius and his return to directing is both wonderful and a monumental pointer to how important it is that they get this film right.

So, do not for one second think that I am not excited to enjoy another Pixar masterpiece. John Lasseter made it very clear that their fondness for the characters will result in a film that can be nothing short of spectacular -

“We don’t want to do anything with them unless it lives up to or surpasses what’s gone before. Toy Story 3 ended Woody and Buzz’s story with Andy so perfectly that for a long time, we never even talked about doing another Toy Story movie. But when Andrew [Stanton], Pete [Doctor], Lee [Unkrich] and I came up with this new idea, I just could not stop thinking about it. It was so exciting to me, I knew we had to make this movie—and I wanted to direct it myself.”

- however, I think this re-addressing of a perfectly packaged trilogy is something to be mourned.