Emily St. John Mandel and the book ‘Sea of Tranquility: A Novel’

Imagine, if you will, the notion of experiencing a life moving through time and space on an emotional journey of self-discovery. Imagine further that life unraveling a puzzle of corrupted time tied to a specific point of time that intersects a specific place in western British Columbia, Canada. Just such a journey awaits in Sea of Tranquility: A Novel as written by Emily St. John Mandel.

(Emily St. John Mandel wrote Sea of Tranquility: A Novel).

That Sea of Tranquility: A Novel deals in time travel has been raised. Imagine too the notion of simulation hypothesis, which as defined on Wikipedia here “proposes that all of existence is a simulated reality, such as a computer simulation.” While the exploration here is much more tranquil than say the exploration provided in The Matrix (1999), Emily St. John Mandel ask similar questions about what reality is, how time is experienced, and what constitutes memory when our perceptions of what is real are blurred.

(An alternative cover for Sea of Tranquility: A Novel, which was first published April 5th, 2022).

The character Edwin St. Andrew opens Sea of Tranquility: A Novel by being exiled from England, across the Atlantic Ocean, into Canada. While enjoying the Canadian wilderness, Edwin suddenly becomes shaken when experiencing what he takes as the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal. Famous writer Olive Llewellyn, her home the second artificial colony on the Moon, writes of a man playing his violin on an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him. Gaspery-Jacques Roberts then investigates this and other items, focusing the story into a mystery and romance that set about answering questions of reality, the experience of time and memory in a sweet tale of attempts to do the extraordinary being disrupted by the human experience.

(Emily St. John Mandel also wrote the book Station Eleven, which was first published September 9th, 2014).

Sea of Tranquility: A Novel was written during the strictest movement restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. While get into the metaphysical, St. John Mandel maintains a sense of the ordinary with sprinkles of the grasp for meaning, connection, recognition and aspiration. The reach for these points mirrored the human experience during the COVID-19 lockdowns in a fictional way that gave meaning intermixed with beauty to the human experience. I give the experience of reading Sea of Tranquility: A Novel by Emily St. John Mandel 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5 stars.

Matt – Wednesday, August 2, 2023

John David Washington, Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki in the Christopher Nolan film ‘Tenet’

The cinematic feeling of the Christopher Nolan movie Tenet (2020) stands shoulder to shoulder with any movie he has made. This statement is made in the spirit of the filmmaking, the choreography and creativity of the action scenes, and the presence of a puzzle of a plot buried in abstraction lands Tenet in an arena with Nolan‘s signature style. Does the movie live up to the definition for tenet and work as a story that audiences like?

(From left, Dimple Kapadia as arms dealer Priya Singh and John David Washington as a CIA agent the Protagonist in Christopher Nolan‘s Tenet).

The movie Tenet plays in a world that borrows principles that sound scientific, and quotes actual science, in building a case that a plot from the future to bend the direction of time has been created to manipulate the present in a fashion that allows some to perceive the flow of time in one direction while others perceive it flowing in the opposite, reverse direction. John David Washington, starring as an unnamed man dubbed the Protagonist, is central to the audience’s unfolding awareness of the narrative.

(Martin Donovan as Fay, the Protagonist’s CIA boss, in the Christopher Nolan movie Tenet).

A stunning opening sequence at the Kyiv Opera House in Kyiv, Ukraine offers much of the key to understanding the full movie. The looping nature Tenet begins in the opera house, offering the first insight into the notion that the notion of time will run in two directions. Nolan also used the concept of indicating time moving in opposite directions in Memento (2000), to similar storytelling effect of offering relevance that will only be understood later.

(From left, John David Washington as the Protagonist, Himesh Patel as Mahir, a fixer, and Robert Pattinson as Neil, handler to the Protagonist, in the Christopher Nolan movie Tenet).

It is in the theater that we first meet Neil, the handler of the Protagonist, as portrayed by Robert Pattinson. It is in the midst of the confusing melee of the attack on the opera house concert that we meet the police, the team combatting the attack that included Neil and the Protagonist, and a third party that we learn about seemingly weeks or months later when the Protagonist is debriefed by the Protagonist’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) boss, Fay. Fay is portrayed by Martin Donovan.

(From left, Elizabeth Debicki as Katherine Kat Barton and Kenneth Branagh as Andrei Sator in the Christopher Nolan movie Tenet).

It is in the debrief that Fay points out the test that Neil and the Protagonist had suffered at the hands of the third set of actors in the Kyiv Opera House, operated by a group of secret Russians led by Andrei Sator, as portrayed by Kenneth Branagh. Getting to Sator involves contacting British intelligence officer Sir Michael Crosby, as portrayed by Michael Caine. It is through Crosby that connections to arms trafficker Priya Singh from Mumbai, India and Katherine “Kat” Barton, an art appraiser and Sator’s estranged wife, are established. Singh is portrayed by Dimple Kapadia while Barton is portrayed by Elizabeth Debicki.

(From left, actor Michael Caine as Sir Michael Crosby with director and screenwriter Christopher Nolan on the set of the Christopher Nolan movie Tenet).

The story of Tenet itself became straightforward for me at the point I had the relationships among the characters clear. The visual quality of the movie borrows experience from Dunkirk (2017), a sense of scientific sounding abstraction from Interstellar (2014), and a sense of nesting from Inception (2010). In the sense of bringing these pieces together, a definite sense of cinematic experience are applied in a way that I appreciate.

Perhaps it was in the attempt to spell out a puzzle, using a lead character without a clear sense of identity or certainty, that I felt the emotion of Tenet came up slightly short. While Nolan tied the ending realization to the opening opera house introduction of Neil and the Protagonist, Memento offered something more than I received on an emotional level, than with Tenet. I appreciate and like Christopher Nolan‘s Tenet, which I give 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Paul Walker, Gerard Butler, Neal McDonough and the Richard Donner movie ‘Timeline’

Time travel in a movie can be a cool concept. Mixing in action, adventure and archeology can make for a nice mix of when heading to the past from Arizona. Mix in a fictional locale, castle and a supposedly decisive battle from the Hundred Years’ War set in the spring of 1357 in a made up town in France brings you a movie based on the 1999 Michael Crichton book Timeline. Richard Donner‘s Timeline (2003) brought these concepts to the big screen.

(From left, Rossif Sutherland as François Dontelle, Frances O’Connor as Kate Ericson, Paul Walker as Chris Johnston, Gerard Butler as Andre Marek and Neal McDonough as Frank Gordon in the Richard Donner movie Timeline).

The movie begins by introducing the audience to an unusual circumstance of a man showing up on a desert road in Arizona, incoherent and mumbling words the seemingly made no sense. The man dies soon after that introduction, and quickly is cremated in what clearly seems an odd turn of covering ones tracks.

(From left to right, Frances O’Connor as Kate Ericson, Gerard Butler as Andre Marek, Neal McDonough as Frank Gordon, Matt Craven as Steven Kramer and David Thewlis as Robert Doniger in the Richard Donner movie Timeline).

Place this next to an archeological dig in the hills of France, wherein we are introduced to archeologist Professor Johnston and his anti-archeology son Chris Johnston, played by Billy Connolly and Paul Walker, respectively. How the archeology might intersect with the man in a desert a few thousand miles away seems interesting. The notion for how the infatuation of Chris Johnston for archeology student Kate Ericson, as portrayed by Frances O’Connor, also intrigues. Character specific details were modified from the book.

(Marton Csokas as Sir William De Kere & William Decker in the Richard Donner movie Timeline).

François Dontelle and Andre Marek, portrayed by Rossif Sutherland and Gerard Butler respectively, are a pair of archeology students with relevant roles to be played in the supporting the main objective of pursuing the main intrigue introduced with the movie. A separate and interesting story emerges between Frank Gordon and William Decker, as portrayed by Neal McDonough and Marton Csokas, respectively.

(From left, Gerard Butler as Andre Marek as Anna Friel as Lady Claire in the Richard Donner movie Timeline).

The underlying notion for setting notions of right, justice and the main narrative of Timeline in motion are Steven Kramer and Robert Doniger, portrayed by Matt Craven and David Thewlis respectively. Their technology coupled with a scientific discovery helps us to explore the relationship between Chris Johnston and his archeologist professor father as well as Andre Marek and Lady Claire.

(From left, Billy Connolly as Professor Johnston and Paul Walker as Chris Johnston in the Richard Donner movie Timeline).

Anna Friel portrays Lady Claire, whose brother Lord Arnaut becomes a clear rival Lord Oliver in the landscape of France. Lambert Wilson and Michael Sheen portray Arnaut and Oliver, respectively. The rivalry in the context of the larger story offers interesting fodder for the playful action that comes to depict much of the charm in the movie itself.

(From left, Michael Sheen as Lord Oliver and Lambert Wilson as Lord Arnaut in the Richard Donner movie Timeline).

If you were seeking something as playful as an Indiana Jones movie, something as historically relevant or moving as Braveheart (1995), or something as action packed as Gladiator (2000), then Timeline will disappoint in comparison. There are redeeming things to Timeline that simply don’t rise to the level of the listed franchises. I reflect an enjoyment in something that made me think of other movies in rating Timeline at 3.5-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Review of the SyFy television series ‘Eureka’

The SyFy Channel series Eureka (2006-2012) depicted a “U.S. Marshall who [became] the sheriff of a remote cozy little Northwestern town of Eureka where the best minds in the US…secretly [were] tucked away to build futuristic inventions for the government.” The series ran for five seasons of charmingly humorous science that frequently would have things “go disastrously wrong.”

(From left, Trevor Jackson as Kevin Blake, Felicia Day as Holly Marten, Erica Cerra as Jo Lupo and Colin Ferguson as Jack Carter in the television series Eureka).

The central humor of this story is the storyline of characters intermixed with the mayhem where science runs comically amok. Colin Ferguson as Sheriff Jack Carter is the everyman at the center of saving the day for whatever dilemma the individual series brought. Part of the early series focused on the sheriff’s relationship with his rebellious daughter Zoe Carter, as played by Jordan Danger.

(From left, Colin Ferguson as Jack Carter, Debrah Farentino as Beverly Barlowe and Joe Morton as Henry Deacon in the television series Eureka).

Jo Lupo, as played by Erica Cerra, plays the combative deputy to Jack Carter, first as a rough and tumble competitor. Lupo becomes romantically attached to Jim Taggart, as played by Matt Frewer, and Zane Donovan as played by Niall Matter, through the course of the series. The antagonistic yet playful relationships among these characters serves the irreverent stories of the five seasons well.

(From left, Salli Richardson-Whitfield as Allison Blake and Niall Matter as Zane Donovan in the television series Eureka).

Central to the storyline of Eureka is the character of Allison Blake, as portrayed by Salli Richardson-Whitfield. Allison tangles at first with the complicated relationship between her ex-husband Nathan Stark, who is played by Ed Quinn. It feels like the original plan was for Nathan Stark to last in the series longer than he did, as Stark and Allison parent Kevin Blake as played first by Meshach Peters and later by Trevor Jackson. Nathan fathers a second child with Allison during the series, yet his character leaves the series with Trevor Grant and Jack Carter becoming love interests at different points in the series. James Callis plays Trevor Grant in one of the more satisfying yet short lived storylines in the series.

(From left, Chris Gauthier as Vincent, Jordan Danger as Zoe Carter and Neil Grayston as Douglas Fargo and S.A.R.A.H. in the television series Eureka).

Beverly Barlowe, as played by Debrah Farentino, is written as one of the more complicated characters through the course of the series. In offering a character whose narrative arc follows a logical yet emotionally complicated path across a fascinating storyline across the series, my only clue in this review is to articulate that her angle is personal, ethically misguided, yet of a compelling human quality to make her story interesting. Barlowe’s tale stands out as interesting, too, in comparison to the story of Henry Deacon as played by Joe Morton. Deacon parallels Jack as an everyman of the scientific community yet with a complicated history that at first intersects with a deceased wife and then with a wife he grows to care for through complicated means named Grace Monroe. Tembi Locke plays Grace Monroe.

(From left, Joe Morton as Henry Deacon, James Callis as Trevor Grant and Tembi Locke as Grace Monroe in the television series Eureka).

Douglas Fargo, also the voice of the automated intelligence for Jack Carter’s house S.A.R.A.H., is played by Neil Grayston. In many ways, Fargo is the comic relief first for Nathan Stark and later for the full storyline Eureka. Douglas comes into a friendly rivalry with Isaac Parrish, played by Wil Wheaton, as both have a scientific rivalry and ultimately a rivalry of the heart when it comes to Holly Marten, as played by Felicia Day. Deputy Andy as played by Kavan Smith along with Carpe Diem proprietor Vincent, as played by Chris Gauthier, add comedic value through the course of the series as well.

(From left, Ed Quinn as Nathan Stark and Kavan Smith as Deputy Andy in the television series Eureka).

As mentioned with a partial review on Rotten Tomatoes, Eureka kept an “assured sense of humor and game [that kept] it afloat, though an increased sense of stakes and willingness to switch up its formula [in later seasons] add[ed] some welcome excitement.” A pair of disjointed holiday episodes aside that did offer entertainment value, the full narrative of the Eureka series entertained me to the point of recommending you view the series. I rate the series Eureka at 4.0-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta and the film ‘Field of Dreams’

Perhaps the best baseball movie ever made was the film Field of Dreams (1989). The film is based on the W.P. Kinsella book Shoeless Joe (book), which uses baseball romantically and metaphorically to tell a story of magic, redemption, the bond across generations through sport, and a bit of literary panache.

(Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson, James Earl Jones as Terence Mann, Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella, and Amy Madigan as Annie Kinsella in Field of Dreams).

The movie itself begins in an Iowa cornfield where Ray Kinsella, as portrayed by Kevin Costner, hears the first of three messages. That message “Build it, and he will come” convinces Ray, with the agreement of his wife Annie Kinsella (Amy Madigan) to build a baseball field. The second message is “Ease his pain.” The third message is “Go the distance.” It is after Ray plows under a portion of his cornfield for the first voice that long deceased Shoeless Joe Jackson, as portrayed by Ray Liotta, appears in the field.

(Timothy Busfield as Mark, left, and Gaby Hoffmann as Karin Kinsella in Field of Dreams).

The magic of seeing a personal hero, as well as a hero of his father, inspires Ray and Annie to pursue the crazy notion that allowed them to plow under their corn and risk foreclosure on their farm. Annie’s brother-in-law Mark, as portrayed by Timothy Busfield, plays the heavy in Field of Dreams by being the loudest voice of facing reality against any concepts of dreams, redemption, or the romance of baseball. Shoeless Joe author W.P. Kinsella would have liked to see the character Mark drawn as a more forceful character in the movie. The sweetness of Mark’s niece Karin Kinsella, Ray and Annie’s daughter as portrayed by Gaby Hoffman, helps bring the movie’s conflict to a satisfactory resolution.

(W.P. Kinsella, the author of Shoeless Joe, left, and J.D. Salinger).

The second voiced message Ray Kinsella hears is “Ease his pain.” This leads Ray to a baseball game with the fictionalized Terence Mann, as portrayed by James Earl Jones. The book called upon the Terence Mann character to be J.D. Salinger, known for The Catcher in the Rye and other writings. Ray Kinsella accosts Mann, kidnapping him to a baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston. As this Mental Floss article about Field of Dreams confirms, the movie’s portrayal of Mann getting kidnapped to a game was intended to be Salinger getting kidnapped by a fictional character, Ray Kinsella, he had created.

(Burt Lancaster as Dr. Archibald ‘Moonlight’ Graham, left, and Frank Whaley as Archie Graham in Field of Dreams).

It was at that Oakland Athletics versus Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park where Mann and Ray Kinsella learn about Dr. Archibald ‘Moonlight’ Graham along with the third message, “Go the Distance.” Going the distance means Mann and Kinsella traveling to Chisholm, Minnesota. Burt Lancaster portrays the older Dr. Archibald ‘Moonlight’ Graham, whereas the younger Archie Graham as portrayed by Frank Whaley travels with Mann and Kinsella back to Iowa. Much magic existed among Ray Kinsella, ‘Moonlight’ Graham, Terence Mann, and Shoeless Joe Jackson. I give Field of Dreams 4.25-stars on a scale of one-to-five for romanticizing baseball, the speech by Mann, a saved mortgage and farm for the Kinsella family, telling the core of the Shoeless Joe Jackson story, and offering a redemption tale between father and son. For that redemption tale, I offer you a watching of the movie.

Matt – Saturday, June 29, 2019

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis and the movie ‘Looper’

The Rian Johnson written and directed movie Looper (2012) represents the film that rose the director’s acclaim and profile in Hollywood profile significantly in the American movie making industry. The Turner Classic Movie profile of Johnson largely describes the film as “a mind-bending sci-fi action thriller,” which in a slightly involved plot stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis as the same character.

(Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Joe, top, and Bruce Willis as Old Joe in the movie Looper).

Looper sets out with the beginning of the film to introduce the audience to corporate assassin Joe in the year 2047, as portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Joe serves as the central protagonist and narrator for the film, as much of the background is not easily revealed without the sharing of this backstory. We as the audience learn that time travel is invented sometime after the “present day 2047,” and that it immediately is made illegal and used as a black market means of committing murder in the future and disposing of the evidence in the past. We learn that Joe, our narrator, is a looper who performs the illicit deeds involved of murder and disposal. Upon occasion, a looper must close a loop, which means kill and dispose of his or her elder counterpart. Bruce Willis plays Old Joe from 30 years in the future.

(Jeff Daniels as Abe, top, and Paul Dano as Seth in the movie Looper).

Jeff Daniels as Abe lives in the same era as Joe, as portrayed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Abe was born in the future and sent back to the present era portrayed in the movie to serve as the head of the organization running the looper enterprise. Abe aims to select and manage the loopers, which includes having cultivated Joe. Fellow looper Seth, as portrayed by Paul Dano, comes to Joe for aid when he could close his loop and allowed him to escape. In showing us the demise of Seth and the interplay between the current day and the effect it has on Old Seth, Looper writer and director Rian Johnson foreshadows what could happen if and when Joe’s loop is called.

(Emily Blunt as Sara, top, and Pierce Gagnon as Cid in the movie Looper).

Looper as a movie gets little into how history may have changed due to present day 2047 injuries to Seth, yet the story quickly moves into the story for how Joe interacts with Old Joe and the farming family of Sara and Cid, both possessing a telekinetic ability that we learned of from the narration of Joe earlier in the movie. Emily Blunt plays Sara and Pierce Gagnon plays Cid. The narrative of these two are relevant and satisfying to me as a reviewer, though I choose to leave their role a mystery for those choosing to view the film.

(Qing Xu as Old Joe’s wife, top, and Piper Perabo as Suzie in the movie Looper).

The narrative of Old Joe’s wife and Joe’s female interest Suzie, are relevant yet less satisfying to me as a reviewer. These two offer something of a different nature than do Sara and Cid, yet I am less satisfied with the way the larger arc of their stories are resolved. I too choose to leave their role a mystery for those choosing to view the movie, though share these two for those who might need an R-rating to be attracted to Looper as a movie.

(Rian Johnson wrote and directed the movie Looper).

The movie does offer an emotional punch of an ending that leaves you feeling sympathy for the moral stake taken by characters operating from a large sense of moral depravity largely through the movie. Part of what makes the central characters sympathetic is that we see people making their best with a difficult and degrading situation and metaphorically playing the hand of cards they were dealt. In any meaningful context where you think about things deeply, this dodges a larger and relevant point about decency. Since Looper is a movie designed for entertaining adults for a period of time, my view of the film is taken at the level of conceit through which the movie views itself. Therefore, my rating is 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five stars.

Matt – Saturday, June 8, 2019

 

Top 20 Movie “Interstellar.”

Top 20 Movie Interstellar (2014) ranks 12th in Matt Lynn Digital’s Top 20 Movies in ranked order listing. This gem as directed and co-written by Christopher Nolan also holds the distinction with Calvary (2014) as the second published in the 21st century to be distinguished by a Matt Lynn Digital listing.

Beyond being a fantastic movie with complicated science and science-fiction theming aligned with overcoming environmental threats to planet Earth, we at Matt Lynn Digital are impressed with the notion that brought Christopher Nolan with “his cerebral, often nonlinear storytelling” to this project. As indicated by Michelle Lanz with Cameron Kell in The Frame:

Christopher Nolan “said it was actually the family themes in “Interstellar” that attracted him to the project, one that he hopes will bring back the glory days of the classic family blockbuster and inspire its audience to dream big.”

It’s interesting to hear Nolan frame the movie in those terms, for the movie delves into some emotionally intense themes. For one example, the movie depicts a future Earth full of dust storms and a worsening food shortage; the storytelling implies a frightening scale of human death.

Ostensibly in response to that, you see Cooper (as portrayed by Matthew McConaughey) leave his father (portrayed by John Lithgow) and kids (15-year-old Tom and 10-year-old Murph) behind to pursue a long shot attempt to save humanity by flying into a black hole. Later, the fight between Cooper and Mann (as portrayed by Matt Damon) results in one astronaut breaking the helmet visor of the other. Further, one of these two pushes the other off a cliff on a foreign planet, betraying the mental harshness of deep space.

Family is certainly at the center of the Cooper and Murph storyline. The dynamic between Brand (played by Anne Hathaway) and Professor Brand (portrayed by Michael Caine) further cement the notion that Christopher Nolan isn’t wrong in saying that family feelings are relevant to Interstellar. In fact, I think that these story lines are central to providing some emotional pull to the quality of the story here.

The truth is that in the Christopher Nolan universe of movies, Interstellar is perhaps the most family-heavy movie he has offered us. The remaining quality is the science fiction themes of invoking a very cerebral notion of applying Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity in invoking multiple notions for experiencing the passage of time. The further notion of extending the use of worm holes is intriguing. The essential resolution of the film partakes in a notion that Nolan articulated for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), namely that (in Nolan‘s view) as shared in The Frame:

both movies have “a lot of complicated science…that you don’t need to understand when you first watch…You really need to go along with the emotions of the characters and follow the emotional story…”

Interstellar is not a family movie in the sense that Matt Lynn Digital reviewed Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or Toy Story would be, for sure. The Sci-Fi theming is particularly pleasing for me, as is the overall cinematic quality. Consider seeing, or rewatching this movie.

Matt – Thursday, March 16, 2017