A Whole New World

Since The Dark Knight trilogy, Nolanism has become a word to describe realism in the fantastical. It defines worlds in which Batman's adventures would not be out of place on the news and where travelling into dreams can be a conceivable form of extracting or planting ideas. But now the word stretches its definition to the realms of space and the extended universe. This is Interstellar.

Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), an ex-NASA pilot turned farmer, lives in a future where that career transition is a necessity as the world's food supplies are running dry. The governments need farmers, not explorers. His daughter, Murph (Younger: Mackenzie Foy, Older: Jessica Chastain), is convinced a ghost is trying to communicate with her and upon analysing the messages, Cooper begins to believe gravity is forming co-ordinates in the dust that has engulfed the world and his house. They follow the co-ordinates and stumble on the biggest secret on Earth: a mission to save all of humanity. Cooper gets invited to pilot on the mission to explore the discoveries of the Lazarus Project, a previous expedition to find planets capable of supporting Earth's population. Three planets, on the other side of a wormhole, show promise and Cooper, with his team of fellow scientists Brand (Anne Hathaway), Doyle (Wes Bentley), and Romilly (David Gyasi), as well as robots, TARS and CASE (both operated by Bill Irwin, though CASE is voiced by Josh Stewart), are going to have to battle time and gravity in order to preserve their resources and get home to their families and Professor Brand (Michael Caine) to send the human race to the stars.

A pretty cool planet.

A star studded plot needs a star studded cast, and Interstellar provides just that. After winning an Oscar for Dallas Buyers Club in February, McConaughey has wasted no time in picking up further ambitious acting projects, and he does not disappoint here. Flicking effortlessly between fun-loving dad, deadly serious pilot, and emotionally driven missionary, Cooper is a hugely diverse and opinionated protagonist that the audience cannot help but root for. Hathaway's Brand creates a powerful contrast to Cooper who also, paradoxically, perfectly compliments his aims, ambitions, and ideas. The relationship between the two builds tension and disjuncture, but ultimately creates an important and entertaining bond. Most memorably, though perhaps this is is arguable, is Bill Irwin's TARS. Not only voiced, but physically controlled by Irwin, TARS steals almost every scene he is in, not only as a looming presence, but as a hilariously funny and accessible character. Irwin's comic timing is impeccable, delivering TARS' humour settings in a gloriously deadpan voice. Minor spoiler warning. Move on to the next paragraph to avoid: Matt Damon's Dr Mann is a wonderful addition to both the cast and plot, His initial joy to see another human face is both heartbreaking and overwhelmingly happy. His brief development, from Earth's best hope to biggest coward, is some of the strongest and most powerful in the film.

'That must have been one really small step for man...'

Interstellar boasts a scientifically fantastic script - no doubt helped by executive producer Dr. Kip Thorne's scientific knowledge. Not only is it fully engaging from the get go, it is intelligent and based very firmly in scientific theory. The creativity and originality of the Nolan brother's screenplay creates a moving, dramatic, powerful, and, most of all, visually stunning piece of cinema. Importantly, the film is from the perspective of a father and a daughter rather than of astronauts and scientists; it creates an emotional core for the film that is grounded in the family rather than the intellectually or masculinely superior heroes. Accompanied by a stunning and original score by Hans Zimmer, the film is a gift to the senses. Aesthetically, the new worlds and the deep realms of space are portrayed beautifully, capturing an almost childlike sense of wonder in the frame of the camera. Waves as tall as skyscrapers, frozen clouds, three dimensional worm holes are just a few of the breathtaking designs in the film. Prepare to be completely absorbed into the Nolans' worlds.

Ambitious, astonishing, and outstanding. A visual masterpiece full of intellect,laughs, sorrow, pain, and love. With constant references and homages to other great science-fiction (namely 2001: A Space Odyssey), Interstellar is a must see for all. Nolan continues his stream of great films with, arguably, his most fully formed creation.

Best Bit? A multitude of options in this film, but for me it has to be the first planet in which huge waves come hurtling towards the ship and its inhabitants as they look for data from the Lazarus Project. A thrillingly suspenseful series of events.

Everyone Has AIDS

This awards season has brought a lot of intimate, personal stories, and many of them from history. Today we dive back only a few decades to a story that speaks of something extremely important. But how well does it do it? This is Dallas Buyers Club.

Ron (Matthew McConaughey) is just your average rodeo bull riding electrician. The kind of guy that hires hookers to bang him behind the gates of the bull ring after he has done his dealings as a bookie, but before he goes to drink and snort cocaine with his friends. The normal. One day, however, that all changes when he is diagnosed as HIV positive - the disease of 'faggots' - saying he only has thirty days to live, and so naturally his homophobic friends abandon him. The doctors cannot give him AZT, the medicine he really wants as it is only in the trial stages, so he finds a way around the system after meeting a Mexican doctor, Dr. Vass (Griffin Dunne). Teaming up with transsexual Rayon (Jared Leto), Ron begins to smuggle in drugs to help himself, but eventually realises he is not the only one who needs help. He sets up a system for other AIDS suffers, despite arguments from Dr. Sevard (David O'Hare) and Dr. Eve Saks (Jennifer Garner), and calls it the Dallas Buyers Club.

The title 'Hugs and Drugs' did not test well with audiences.

McConaughey, an actor whose name, when attached to a movie, meant you should probably avoid whatever the project was. Here he is now with an Academy Award nomination. (He's also in the nominated The Wolf of Wall Street.) Why? Because he is fantastic. As Ron, McConaughey shows that there is a lot of power in his performance. Unlike some recent performances that leave subtlety in the past and prefer the explicit, McConaughey understands Ron and all he is feeling, from the desperation for suitable medicine, to the need to help others, to the fear of death, McConaughey gets it right. But the real stand out is Leto. As transsexual Rayon, Leto is completely unrecognisable. He is completely absorbed in his role and sucks the audience in too. A loving, and loveable character, with the social skills that Ron fails to possess in the gay community, Leto's Reyon is easily one of the finest performances of the year. He is very similar to the famous Angel, from the musical Rent. The two leads hold the film, their supporting cast to little to add much. Fortunately, the pair at the front need little help.

That security man is missing the point.

A cleverly constructed tale of the good and bad sides of humanity. The darkness that is how much can be achieved when desperation is the driving force, but also the hope that comes with that. One man finds a solution for his problem and unlike the money-centric companies that control the medicine, he tries to make a difference. With some of the best editing of the year, the film never feels like the two hour runtime that it is and along with such an engaging script and fantastic direction from Jean-Marc Vallée, Dallas Buyers Club is an important story of struggling with the American healthcare system. It is, as some other critics have stated, possibly being told too late to pack the punch it could have 20 years ago, but it is still an inspirational tale. 

A story that has a lot of everything. Some happy bits, some sad bits, some bits that will make you angry. It is a tale that shows the dangers of greed and hate and the benefits of caring for others. 

Best Bit? Ron dons a priest outfit as he smuggles drugs across the border from Mexico to the USA. He's stopped. Perhaps it is our sympathetic relationship with Ron, but c'mon. Who stops a priest?

(Note: I've seen claims that the only reason McConaughey is getting attention is because he lost a lot of weight. I've not spoken about his weight loss because, whilst it advances his character, he is truly talented too.)

I'll Huff And Puff And Sell You Stocks

Despicably wild sex, Drugs and Money. Is your eye caught yet? Well this true story about stock brokers has all of the above. Really? Stock brokers? Yes. This is The Wolf Of Wall Street.

Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a young confident stock broker. Fresh to the floors of Wall Street, he is ready to make money. Briefly mentored by (Matthew McConaughey) before the company they work for goes under, leaving Belfort out of a job. However, the discovery of how much money can be made through penny stocks inspires him. Within no time, himself and his partner, Donnie (Jonah Hill), have more money than they know what to do with. Was it all legal? Well, as the trailer tells us, absolutely not. But with a several serious drug addictions, especially Quaaludes, an obsession with sex, a model wife, Naomi (Margot Robbie), and an FBI agent, Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler) surrounding his daily life, who can help but caught up in a roller coaster of a rock and roll life style? It is time to beat your chest, hum, and make some money.

Belfort discusses phoney accounts with his partner. 

DiCaprio at his finest is a difficult expression to use, especially here, for two reasons. Firstly, when is DiCaprio not at his finest? He is one of the modern greats and has been since he first appeared on the silver screen, so it really goes without saying that he is 'at his finest'. Secondly, Belfort is such a disgusting person that 'fine' is never really a term that can be used to describe him, especially when he is drooling and slobbering from his drugs. However, it is DiCaprio's fantastic performance that perfectly balances Belfort's horrid nature with enough charm and charisma to make us sympathise with him. In someone else's hands, Belfort could easily have become a monster, which would have cleared a lot up for those who thought that the film glorifies Belfort's actions, but who wants to watch that film? The ensemble around DiCaprio, too, are excellently cast. Hill, as Donnie, uses the acting skills he showed in Moneyball and his famous drug-loving comedy persona in one character to hilarious effect, creating a truly loveable character, despite the law-breaking and things. Robbie, as Naomi, connects brilliantly with DiCaprio's Belfort but at no point does she become like the other women in the film - dependant on men and money. She is a loving mother as well as a (mostly) strong woman, fully in charge of her sexuality. (Helen O'Hara writes excellently about the women in the film for Empire Online.)

When you are rich, you can eat, literally, anything you want.

Scorsese has changed a lot over the years, but perhaps the last two years show the biggest jump. Hugo, the film for the children, to The Wolf Of Wall Street, the sex, drugs, and greed based adaptation of the memoirs of a multi-million dollar criminal. But what a jump it was. Scorsese's clever condemnation of all thing Belfort, and on grander scale, the whole of Wall Street, is a packed three hours that draws to light the problems of living life to the full and the corruption that greed can cause. Combined with Terence Winter's screenplay, we are let into a world that most of us will never experience. The world with too much money. But we are shown how it can destroy a soul as it did Belfort. This is never glorification of Belfort's lifestyle, but rather an experience of it. We simply tag along for the ride whilst Scorsese takes us on a trip, excuse the pun. With an incredible use of the soundtrack, which jumps between emphasising a scene and completely juxtaposing it, The Wolf of Wall Street oozes its gritty yet charming atmosphere out into the world and you cannot help but get sucked in with it.

The film is like the cocaine that Belfort snorts. It hypes you up and when the high it causes is over, you will be begging for more. One of the few films that runs around three hours that you would want to watch again straight after. The ensemble are magnificent and Scorsese is back on his best form. Not for those who dislike foul language. There are 506 uses of the varieties of 'fuck', as well as every other curse word under the sun

Best Bit? There are plenty of moments, but DiCaprio and Hill are revolutionary in a sequence that involves driving high and wrestling over the phone. It is one part hilarious, one part horrifying, but most of all, DiCaprio provides some of the finest physical acting in recent years.