“The love for movies is the one thing that transcends time and space”
INTERSTELLAR’s 10th anniversary, 🎟️ our very first Movie Club event, what makes film so special, the magic of 70mm, the art of movie trailers, & recommendations worth your time this holiday season
Hot off the press!
Welcome to the first edition of THE ULTIMATE BOON, a monthly newsletter exclusively for paid subscribers. Think of this as a sort of “behind the scenes” medley of movie musings and travel stories, quotes and cat videos… An informal smattering of culture and commentary to fuel your growth, inspire you, and make you smile*.
This time around, we’ll celebrate a sci-fi classic, demystify physical film, discuss how to cut a good movie trailer, and then finally roundup some film, TV, and book recommendations worth your time as you close out the year.
I’m also excited to announce our very first Movie Club event below...
Mark your calendars, and enjoy!
*Please note: This post was originally for paid subscribers only, but I’ve since unlocked it for everyone as The Lighthouse continues to evolve. My thought is to make all of my writing accessible to the entire community while offering deeper engagement and exclusive experiences for paid subscribers.
You can learn more about the different subscription tiers available HERE and discover how to join our exclusive Chats, Movie Club events, and more.
Enjoy the read! If this post resonates with you, consider becoming a paid subscriber to support The Lighthouse and connect more deeply with our growing community:
Get ready to go Interstellar
It’s safe to say we’re all Christopher Nolan fans here, right?
He’s one of Hollywood’s most commercially successful directors, and also one of its most original... Living proof that there’s audience appetite for more than the risk-averse storytelling formulas and soulless sequels that monopolize the box office.
Here at The Lighthouse, we recently broke down Nolan’s 2010 epic, Inception, peeling back its many layers to discover what it can teach us about filmmaking - and why it’s worth believing in the impossible as you make decisions in your life.
Without exception, Nolan’s films are technical masterclasses. They’re also intellectually stimulating and, contrary to popular opinion, full of heart.
Nowhere is that more apparent than in my favorite of his films, Interstellar, which was just re-released in cinemas in celebration of its tenth anniversary!
-Drumroll- Speaking of which:
🎟️ Our very first Movie Club event - LIVE!
I’m looking forward to our first-ever “watch party” here at The Lighthouse. To kick off the New Year, we’ll hang out, network, trade stories, and break down Christopher Nolan’s INTERSTELLAR together in real-time, in honor of the film’s tenth anniversary.
Join us for lively discussion and camaraderie with kindred spirits! I have no idea how many people will tune in, since this is the first time we’re doing this. But we’ll have fun whether we wind up with an intimate gathering or a full house!
This event is exclusively for paid subscribers. If you’ve already upgraded, then you’re all set - simply follow the instructions here at the appointed time below.
(Please note that you’ll need your own copy of the film if you want to watch along with us, but you’re welcome to tune in regardless).
WHEN: Saturday, January 04, starting at 09:30am EST. We’ll catch up for half an hour, then begin watching together promptly at 10:00am EST.
WHAT: A virtual “watch party” of INTERSTELLAR.
Passion is a good data point for deciding what to do
With our first-ever Movie Club officially around the corner, I wanted to share a few thoughts on Interstellar. I was lucky enough to see it in 70mm IMAX when it first came out, back in 2014. Actually, I was on a first date, and I’m embarrassed to admit that the screening made such an impression on me that I had to excuse myself after it finished to be alone with my thoughts. Suffice it to say that that relationship didn’t last!
In my view, the work itself is extraordinary in any format, what writer Lauren Wilford describes as “a Great American Novel of a movie… There’s the part of it that wants to be hard sci-fi, but it’s also a movie about the idea of destiny, and what the idea of destiny can guide us toward.” Her thoughts put words to my feelings so perfectly:
As I approach middle age, I've developed a taste for stories about someone crossing a threshold - stories of someone walking through a door that locks behind them. Interstellar is a very adult epic, in that sense. It's about the things you can't take back. It's about becoming prepared for the moment, and then realizing that nothing could have prepared you, not really.
There's no way you could have known, and you had to choose anyway. It's about the way that a sense of destiny might kill you - but that it might save you, too.
…The characters change their minds over whether they've made the right or wrong choices… But what Interstellar seems to propose is that passion may be as good a data point as any for deciding what to do. There's so much you won't know, either way. You may be in for pain, either way… There's something very rousing about watching characters launch themselves at something; want something; love something; rage against the dying of the light. A beautiful and morally serious film.
...It didn’t connect with everyone when it came out, but I’m thrilled to see more people appreciating Interstellar now, ten years later. It’s got such sincerity and soul. For me, thematically, the film is a powerful reminder that it’s okay to take big swings and miss.
Case in point:
Rishi, who runs the guesthouse where I’m staying here in Nepal, observed that I’ve been feeling down recently due to a loss beyond my control. “Life is shorter than your shoelaces,” he quipped. “The problem is that when we lose something, we become distressed - but you don’t know what’s around the next bend one, two, three months from now. So. No need to cut your shoelaces shorter than they already are, hm?”
Passion can point you forward.
Launch yourself at the thing, and accept the pain if you fail to achieve it.
Or as Lauren says of Interstellar: “Things can go wrong, very wrong, for years, but somehow be made right in the fullness of time.”
Why we should care about physical film
It’s not just the thematic ambition of Interstellar that floored me back in 2014… It was also the film’s glorious 70mm projection in the cinema.
I had the opportunity to study filmmaking at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where I was among the last classes to shoot and edit on physical 16mm and 35mm film - an experience that convinced me that there’s something inimitable about the medium that’s been lost in the industry’s transition to digital.
But don’t just take my word for it. “Film will always have this wonderful richness, the analog color, the superior resolution,” Nolan himself argues. “And when film is projected, the way it was originally intended to be seen… There’s a very unique experience for the audience there that they can’t get in their living rooms.”
What makes 70mm film so special is that it’s twice as large as 35mm film, the stock used for most films shot in the 20th century.
That means it contains twice as much detail, color, and depth. Think 18K in digital terms - even more if we’re talking about IMAX 70mm, since the film runs through the camera and projector horizontally, using more perforations per frame.
“It’s the highest-quality imaging format ever devised,” concludes Nolan. “It gives you an incredible sense of immersion in the image… It fills your peripheral vision… It is the closest to reproducing the world, the way that your eye sees it.”
It’s also expensive. Just one finished 70mm print costs north of $50,000 to produce. And because 35mm was the standard before digital, there aren’t many projectionists familiar with the format. On top of that, 70mm is difficult to store and transport… A single print of Nolan’s latest, Oppenheimer, weighs 300kg and stretches 18km long!
Thankfully, there seems to be a huge demand for this sort of all-encompassing moviegoing experience. Case in point, Interstellar’s recent re-release.
The film was so popular - especially in its 70mm presentation - that its run was extended through December 18.
Still, all 166 IMAX screens sold out.
Tickets on secondary markets went for up to $215 each.
This guy woke up at 4am to fly to NYC to catch a 70mm IMAX screening, “because the love for movies is the one thing that transcends time and space.”
According to Variety, the film made more than any new movie over the weekend and had “a higher per-screen average than top grossers Moana 2 and Wicked”.
…In the immortal words of Gandalf, “That is an encouraging thought.”
What makes a good movie trailer?
Shifting gears from Interstellar and the wonders of physical film, I’m pleased to report that popcorn and movie memorabilia fans have reason to rejoice this holiday season.
With A24’s upcoming The Brutalist scoring seven Golden Globe nominations, the film’s marketing machine is officially heating up 🔥:
…It made me keen to watch the trailer!
…Now I’m almost as excited for the film as I am for the popcorn bucket. 😆
Joking aside, what works so well here is how it captures the epic atmosphere and builds hype without giving away anything essential. Plot-wise, all we really know is that Adrien Brody’s character arrives in America, and that architecture is involved.
It reminded me that the best trailers tease and evoke emotion, often with restraint.
So many trailers reveal too much about the story, in a desperate bid to cut through the noise. But that’s rarely as effective as a trailer that leaves you feeling like you just witnessed something designed not only to market, but also to stand on its own.
Remember the trailers for The Force Awakens? They’re brimming with mystery and nostalgia, promising a triumphant return for the franchise, all without spoiling anything. It’s pure magic - so much so that this hilarious Interstellar parody went viral:
My eyes were opened to the art of the trailer when a friend of mine who worked in a trailer editing house brought one of his favorites to my attention. For as much as I love David Fincher, I don’t remember this film. But I sure as heck remember the promo!
Murakami, Harari, & 5 things worth watching
What’s worth your time and attention as 2024 winds down? If you’re on the hunt for a good story or two, I’ve got some recommendations to help cut through the noise!
📚 I first encountered this short story by Haruki Murakami some 15 years ago. It found its way back to me recently, as I struggle to let go of a life that could have been.
No one blends love, metaphysics, and fate quite like Murakami.
📚 I’m also deep into Noah Yuval Harari’s latest book, Nexus, which traces the history of information networks all the way through to AI. It’s a testament to the power of story to bring people together, and it synthesizes thousands of years of technological progress with the same sweep and accessibility as Harari’s 2014 classic, Sapiens.
Of course, AI is increasingly relevant to filmmaking and, well, pretty much everything. If you have even a passing curiosity about its implications, Nexus is essential reading.
Speaking of which, did you catch Google’s announcement of its latest quantum computing chip, Willow? It’s pretty mind-blowing. Willow achieved in five minutes what would take a classical supercomputer 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years - that’s not a typo - a timescale way longer than the age of the universe.
Can you even begin to imagine…? What are the implications to the development of AI?
And by extension, to the future of cinema?
Wondering what films & television to check out this holiday season?
My own Watch List includes five picks, in no particular order:
🎬 Megalopolis: Look, I have a soft spot for films with outsized ambition that unapologetically take big swings. Francis Ford Coppola spent $120 million of his own money to make this thing. That alone makes Megalopolis worth a watch.
🎬 Alien: Romulus: Not the most festive film, but the Alien franchise rocks. I’m keen to turn off all the lights, hit “play” late at night, and soak up the atmosphere.
🎬 The Wild Robot: From the moment I saw the film’s trailer - another example of one that successfully teases, evokes, and stands on its own! - I was onboard. There seems to be a deep reverence for nature and love of animation under the hood, here. The film’s Rotten Tomatoes score sits at 97%, so I’m optimistic.
📺 Dune: Prophecy: I love Dune. Like, love. Frank Herbert’s book is a part of my creative DNA, and I saw Dune: Part Two four times in theatres this year. I have (unreasonably?) high hopes for HBO’s prequel to the Denis Villeneuve films.
📺 Arcane (Season 02): The final season of the most expensive animated series of all time, adapted from the videogame League of Legends. The breathtaking art style is reason enough to tune in. You can feel the team’s passion in each and every frame of the first season, and I’m expecting the same for Season 02.
…I know, I know. It’s not holiday-themed, but there’s just so much to catch up on!
Much more importantly:
And to get us in the spirit of the season:
…Merry Christmas to all those celebrating!
I’ll likely spend it huddled around the fireplace in my guesthouse here in Nepal, warding off the Himalayan cold, sipping raksi with Rishi, his family, a British writer who grew up in Tibet, a Canadian photographer, and some other fellow strays.
How will you spend the holidays? What traditions do you observe? Are there films you revisit every year to get into the spirit of the season? I’d love to hear from you!
🎄 Until next time,
Foxie's contributions were essential, I'm sure!