My Own Little World

I have loved Aaron Sorkin for a long time. I first encountered his writing with The Social Network and fell in love with it watching The West Wing , The Newsroom , and Moneyball . He has a very unique style with fast, witty dialogue that says a lot in very little time; when combined with the walk-and-talk technique of The West Wing , it becomes an incredibly effective tool. I have never disliked his writing, even though it does get a little soapboxy from time to time. When I heard Sorkin was going to sit in the director’s chair for the first time, I got incredibly excited. I didn’t know what kind of visual style to expect from him, but I did know that the same writing that I fell in love with would be back in full effect. With Molly’s Game , Sorkin proves himself to be a competent but not (yet) adventurous director. There are parts of this film that definitely prove there is a lot of potential, but it’s not fulfilled here. Most of this I see through the film’s length: at two ...

You know, I was going to begin this review with some little quip about Interstellar 's similarities with 2001: A Space Odyssey  or some note about why I love Christopher Nolan's film-making. And, to be fair, those would have been perfectly sufficient ways to capture your interest in this film. However, both of these methods don't seem very fitting after seeing it, so I'll start by saying this:  Interstellar  is, quite honestly, the best movie-going experience I have ever had. There are so many things about it that make it great, but it all comes down to this: it melds its impressive visuals perfectly with its emotional impact. This is so important for many films today, as they repeatedly entice us with their stellar visuals while sometimes falling a hair short on the emotional front (or vice versa). Let's start with the story. Interstellar 's plot largely operates around a 2001 -type setup: multiple movements in the same grand symphony. However, the move...