Christopher Nolan’s very big budget, big studio, big screen “Interstellar”: it’s three hours long, and completely insane. Some of it is a tribute to “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Some of it riffs Steven Spielberg’s later period — “Minority Report,” “A.I.,” “War of the Worlds.” Some of it is really cheesy. Some of it is incomprehensible. Ambitious? Oh yes. Does it stop when it should? (No, just like “A.I.”) Is it boring? Never. It’s a big, beautiful B movie.

First, you want to know: there’s formidable work by all the actors. It’s not exactly Oscar caliber because the story, and the dialogue, are often mad. But you know you’re in good hands with Oscar winners Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway, who have to advance the story while explaining it. Jessica Chastain and surprise player Matt Damon have showier roles, so they resonate a tad more– they’re more reactive. John Lithgow and Michael Caine are the steady sages–always great to see them. Ellen Burstyn, too, in old-old make up, very “Benjamin Button,” is a pleasure. Bill Irwin is the ironic voice of the “Lost in Space” type robot, R2D2 as the walking slab riffed from “2001.”

There’s a kid, too: Mackenzie Foy is outstanding as the younger version of Jessica Chastain’s character, McConaughey’s daughter.

Nolan and his brother Jonathan started with “Memento,” a movie told backwards. It was brilliant because it was fresh, even if it didn’t totally make sense. Is that 15 years ago? Increasingly, the movies have become tone poems that are impossible to understand. “Interstellar” is the pinnacle of this process.

After a while, you figure out enough to get by. You will make it to the end and kind of understand the main points. There’s some philosophizing on the order of Linus discussing Nietzsche in “Peanuts.”  The cinematography is stunning. Outer space really looks cool. The CGI is very good, although there are a couple of “Lost in Space” kind of moments. The music is a hodgepodge, and often way too loud. A key revelation is nearly drowned out by a mashup of faux Wagner and “Tubular Bells.”

Will it  be a hit? I think so. “Interstellar” if nothing else is the Big Movie Experience of the fall-holiday season. People will be talking about it. All the tech stuff will be up for awards. I mean, the film company says it grew a 500 acre cornfield in Canada just for the movie!  Plus, there are so many close ups of the spine of Stephen King’s “The Stand” that that book should get a big boost in sales. Plus Hamilton watches has a huge product placement. There’s too much riding on this film!

Kudos to McConaughey. He does his job very well. He’s the guide to a maze, and he keeps the audience in place. And he gets rewarded in scenes with Matt Damon that you won’t forget.

Hi ho! “The Lone Ranger” disaster wasn’t enough to stop Gore Verbinski from directing another movie. Word has it that he will shoot a new feature next winter called “Gregory the Nuisance.” The star is supposed to be Steve Carell, and the producer is Arnon Milchan. Carell, if he goes through with this, will be just fresh from the Oscars and a likely nomination for “Foxcatcher.” Verbinski is recovering from “Lone Ranger” and 35
“Pirates of the Caribbean” movies. Adam Merims, whose credits include Lee Daniels’ “The Butler,” is going to be executive producer. “Gregory” will shoot partially in Serbia, but is set in North Korea, where Carell’s title character goes as a filmmaker. I guess North Korea is now the setting for a lot of comedies. Can Gore Verbinski make a comedy?  That’s funny? This remains to be seen. Anyway, I just pass along the news. If something changes, let me know. But this does seem like it’s happening. An LLC for this production was set up last March according to public records. It might be good for Korean actors. You never know.

Not a great morning for “Interstellar” or Paramount. The review embargo just lifted. This is not “Gravity.” Reviews are mixed, even the good ones. The Christopher Nolan film is running at 60% so far on Rotten Tomatoes. Even the reviews that gave it a red tomato (meaning a pass vs. fail) read not so glowingly.

Paramount sort of did this movie backwards, creating antipathy before the film premiered. I’m not sure why it went this way. Even Anne Thompson is writing on Playlist that it’s not a likely Best Picture nominee. And she’s right. The Academy usually feels that big box office is enough of a reward for these kinds of space operas.

My favorite quote so far is from Devin Faraci, a blogger: “It’s a movie designed for people who watched the bedroom sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey and wished there was more exposition about who built the room, how, why and what thread count was on that bed.”

Stay tuned…