Blog Archives
Wonder Upon a Star
As a warm front spreads across Ohio, it’s fascinating how our imaginations then begin to warm to ideas in our minds of the seemingly unthinkable. A strange sensation for sure, but it’s true. Before stepping down into my car to pick-up a pizza for dinner yesterday evening, I found myself gazing up at the crystal clear night sky that was illuminated by an infinite portrait of shining stars. The sight was utterly spectacular. There was not a cloud on the horizon in any direction, a first in what seemed like in months.
It was a feeling of things boundlessly opened up.
On this Friday (which carries with it no special meaning), this blog implores you to think with no limits. Look up and see and touch no ceiling.
Last night, in the few seconds of staring into the heavens, this video instantly started playing in my head. Thankfully, it won’t be the last time.
Only 244 days left until we all travel into the stars with Interstellar.
“For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream”
–Vincent Van Gogh
The Infinite Possibilities of the Unknown
Two things:
First, Matthew McConaughey has officially transitioned from a charming romantic comedy staple to a character actor that explores deep, complex and sometimes morally conflicting terrain and alleyways. To clarify, his transition is not necessarily permanent and is somewhat representative of a Game Show portfolio. He can pick Door #1 (serious), Door #2 (comedy) or Door #3 (sports/drama).
It’s not a bad hallway to walk through each day as an actor. However, it’s not yet clear which door he’s built or walked into with his most recent adventure with a relatively unknown, independent British filmmaker…
Some of his roles recently (Mud, Dallas Buyer’s Club, The Wolf of Wall Street) surely have taken McConaughey into new levels of the unknown. The same likely goes for some of his longtime fans. Will these more serious character portrayals shine a new light on a before darkened corner in the actor’s study to reveal a gold envelope containing a decorated card stock with his name written on it?
Time will tell…
Speaking of time, the second note today involves the recent release of a trailer for director Christopher Nolan’s latest mind-bender: Interstellar. From Memento (psychological) to Inception (dreaming) to The Dark Knight trilogy (pain, fear, chaos, belief), Nolan and Co. (& Syncopy of course) has now entered the world of science fiction with Interstellar.
Here is the first glimpse:
The question isn’t whether or not Matthew McConaughey can successfully propel himself into a new horizon in the stars that leads him to an Oscar, but rather if Christopher Nolan will have a good reason to invite him on another crazy road trip in the future, as the director tends to do with a select group of actors and actresses.
The better question today is will you take the ultimate journey to explore the unknown with McConaughey one year from now?
‘Take Me Back to This!’
I recently watched “Take Me Home Tonight” (again), which is the story of a recent MIT graduate, Matt Franklin (Topher Grace), and his decision to remedy his biggest regret in life: not asking out Tori Frederking (Teresa Palmer). She, in classic 80s slow motion fashion as this is when the movie takes place, starts to walk into the movie store where Matt is working. Upon this magical first glance, he hustles out the back door without her seeing while simultaneously ripping off his red work vest to casually stroll into the very same SunCoast Video Store from around the corner as a customer just moments later. Definitely choice.
This is not a scene by scene review, but instead a call to action from the past. Let’s set the scene for this movie: No cell phones, no texting, blazer sleeves were rolled up, sunglasses were worn at night, brightly colored clothing was proudly displayed, big hair with crazy twists filled the air, people acted wildly and had a blast, there was one-on-one conversing (what?), kids jumped on trampolines in a stranger’s backyard and embraced the thrill of being involved in a fight…a dance fight that is!
A house party in 2013:
(trueslant.com)
Versus
A house party in 1988:
(Movie Reviews by FAQs online)
So much has changed in just 25 some odd years. Here’s to hoping that history will soon repeat itself, complete with wearing ties at parties, movies about a time machine made out of an everyday product, like a car, and video rental stores (this one in particular! See The Pleasures of Past “Inconveniences”).
You think I’m alone in my wishes? Just in the past couple years, “Hot Tub Time Machine” & “Take Me Home Tonight” have sent us ‘back in time’ to that decade when MTV played music (weird, right?). Does this mean a movie about the 1990s will be made soon? “Whoa!”
Regardless of the fact this is a trailer for a movie, just ponder if your Friday night at all compares to this:
With our smartphones, perhaps it would be smart to put the phone down once in a while and drive to a massive party in your boss’s cherry Mercedes, pretend to work at an elite investment bank to impress a girl and possibly roll down a hill in a giant steel ball.
This generation, meet last generation.
Jimmy's Daily Planet 