Christopher Nolan
2014
169 minutes
Finally you are going to watch Interstellar, the film your friends have been telling you that you need to watch because of the emotional impact it had on them. They assure you that you will like it, particularly because of your interest in linguistics.
One of your friends loves the soundtrack of this film so much that it nearly spoiled one of his intimate encounters when a song from it came on the radio and made him overly emotional, much to the horror of his date, as he tipsily confessed to you one night.
Your friend vaguely explains the plot to you without trying to spoil any of the major details. Apparently there are some sad-astronaut moments involving being away from their children. You're not usually big on blockbuster sadspace films, so you cautiously check in with another friend who has seen the film. That friend gushes about how much he enjoys the film too, and gives you another vague, spoiler-free discussion of the plot--though you are pretty sure you can guess the spoilery twist, which they both insist is very mind-blowing.
You go into this with cautiously high expectations and...it's okay, you guess. You do not find yourself overwhelmed or emotional upon hearing the soundtrack. The twists are more strange than unexpected. You find the scene with the gigantic tsunami wave on the water planet pretty horrifying, as well as the nerdy consequences of them dithering about what to do next while time is quickly and tragically wasting. It's not a bad sci-fi film but your friends' arcane descriptions of it didn't seem to match the expectations that they created.
You go back to your friends after watching it and tell them that you watched Interstellar. "Oh, good for you," they mildly enthuse in your separate conversations. You tell them you liked the scene with the big wave. "Yeah, I kinda remember that part I guess," they both claim. Their enthusiasm for this film has waned considerably since they tried to talk you into adding it to your watchlist weeks ago. You chalk it up to some combination of alcohol, flakiness, and waxing and waning interests over time--much like the massive tides of the water planet! You feel like a genius for making this tidal connection.
A few weeks later it dawns on you that both of your friends were telling you to watch Arrival, which is an entirely different blockbuster sci-fi film. Your wires got crossed and you are an idiot who is bad at pop culture.
Time to choose something different: