I got a text from my sister in the morning saying "Last chance to walk while its nice!" MJ, Katie and I were going to book around the lake before snowmaggedon.
We got as far as all congregating at Katie's house, only to have our plans upended. I got a call from my daughter, saying she was in the neighborhood and wanted to go see the movie 'Interstellar', did I want to join her?
When you become the parent of adult, or even teenage kids, a very strange thing happens.
You behave like a love struck tween, willing to drop all other plans for the rare opportunity to hang out with these people whom you adore but who treat you like an afterthought. I'm not complaining; this is the way it should be. You raise them to become the sort of people who strike out on their own, taking on the world with confidence and vigor. The last thing you want them to be is dependent on you for even their entertainment. But it's really cool when they actually want to hang out with you.
Which is why, after bundling up in my warm winter coat and hat, driving to my sister's house and preparing to walk Lake Harriet, I told my daughter I'd meet her at my house in five minutes, looked at my sisters and said "I'm out! See ya!"
They understand. Katie's kids are old enough to have abandoned her this Halloween. Halloween is Kate's favorite holiday and she does it up right: decorations all over the house and yard, big pot of chili on the stove, bonfire in the front yard; spooky music piped out to trick or treaters...
This year two of her three kids opted for parties in different neighborhoods.
The rest of us showed up for her party and we had a great time. In previous years, however, we've had a dozen or so kids to T&T with around the neighborhood. Every year, the kids get a little older and one by one they've grown up and gone to college...
This year we had Bananas, Punkin and Bones. That's it. Even Bones' nine year old brother accepted an invitation to a friend's house party instead of rounding the block with us.
Two years ago, there were so many crowds of T&Ter's in Katie's neighborhood that Bones got caught up in the wrong crowd while leaving a house and didn't realize it until he'd trick or treated down the block. At that point, the five year old informed the lady at the door "I'm lost. Trick or treat!" It took us about a half hour to discover he was missing and find him by going house to house. It was the longest half hour since Wacky Zacky was a toddler and the scariest Halloween I ever want to have.
The result of all that is this year, when Bones wanted to continue going door to door after his cousins conked out, we were happy to accompany him. There he was, one seven year old trooping down the street, followed by a secret service detail of seven adults.
I don't know if I feel sorrier for Bones or us.
Hey, we all had a great time!
Anyway...
Katie and I went to the movie and it was fun. First of all, I need to stress that we both enjoyed it. We both like sci-fi and fantasy books and movies and despite having heard some negative reviews, we were excited to see this. We both like Christopher Nolan's movies and hey: Matthew McCaughnehey has actually become a pretty good actor.
The movie is far from perfect. It's too long, the plot rambles into a few places it doesn't need to go and there are one or two scenes that could have been eliminated completely and no one would miss them. The score is a bit heavy handed: I would have understood the seriousness of some situations without the music swelling quite so ominously or loud. Like most sci fi movies, there are holes in the logic big enough to drive a stegosaurus riding on the back of blue whale through but as all fans of genre, Katie and I are more than willing to overlook such things. My only real objection is that the movie is twenty minutes too long. You know what I mean. A movie is too long, if at any point while watching it, you find yourself thinking "This is a long movie." Lots of movies are too long at 90 minutes. Gone with the Wind is not too long. You may need to eat a meal in the middle of it, but it is not too long.
BUT
We both thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Visually, it's spectacular! The best depiction of a worm hole I've ever seen, both from the outside and inside. The land and seascapes of the planets they visit are beautiful and horrifying. The performances are universally good. There is a scene in which M. M.'s character gets a chance to watch 27 years of messages from earth. McCaughnahey doesn't speak but the expression on his face while watching his kids grow up before his eyes in two minutes is better than his entire Oscar winning performance in The Dallas Buyers Club. And I'm not disparaging that performance at all!
Overall, I'd say Interstellar was 75% great and 25% stupid. Go see it, depending on your personal great/stupid ratio tolerance. I've always been willing to embrace the stupid, as long as it's balanced by something great and in this one, the visual effects were totally worth the ticket.