Tomorrowland is about a place that only a select few are allowed to go to, Frank Walker (George Clooney) went and was kicked out, now Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) gets her chance to go there. In Tomorrowland, events affect our world and vice-versa, but as to the extent… that’s up to our main characters. The film is co-written and directed by Brad Bird.
The Monuments is an ensemble movie that details the journey of a commissioned group of unexpected heroes within World War II. While most people know the Nazis for their horrific crimes against countless lives, you might be surprised to learn of their ruthless transgressions towards art of areas within Europe they occupied.
The good; the movie features some of Hollywood’s biggest names. The movie emotes a great range of feelings for viewers. At times it is comical, giving viewers clips that could stand alone if reworked for Saturday Night Live. Other times, we encounter truths about World War II that remind us how ugly man can get when led by the worst men. Through the thick and thin, we see the importance of camaraderie during war.
The bad; I straddled with how this movie was pieced together. There are a handful scenes, while entertaining, that seem of very little value. There are so many faces on the poster for this movie. They are all wonderful talents on their own and maybe that’s a double edge sword. We never really get to know each character as much as we hoped. This movie could have been an AMAZING mini-series.
Overall – Like most movies based on non-fiction, this may not be an ideal source to learn about the Monuments but it is entertaining. If you’re a fan of any of the actors, you should definitely check this out. For some, it may even be worth checking out just to see Cate Blanchett with a French accent.
Waited to see Gravity, worth the wait. This is a movie truly worth seeing in IMAX 3D. See it that way and see it often, well maybe not often cause it’s already made $50 million on its opening weekend.
The short of it, astronauts on a routine expedition get caught in a debris storm that leaves them stranded in space, dun dun dunnnnn…
The good; the visuals are amazing. the opening shot goes on for what feels like forty five minutes. Technically stunning. This is how filming a mostly CG film is supposed to be, not like those Star Wars prequels.
The only two on screen actors you have are Sandra Bullock, who plays the bio-medical engineer Ryan Stone, and George Clooney, who plays veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski. Other than that, everyone else is a voice over. It’s compelling that all you have on screen are these two actors and you’re still right there with them.
The soundtrack is amazing, very driving and atmospheric, pun intended. With a film like this where they do portray space as the vacuum it is, there’s no sound, leaving a lot of room for the soundtrack. It’s booming, almost deafening, and yet can be triumphant and moody.
Gravity leans more to the scientific aspects of what would happen in a space disaster. Reminiscent of movies like; The Perfect Storm, Open Water, Castaway, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. In its leaning to the hard science stuff, the film uses imagery from 2001, but doesn’t attempt to touch the philosophy aspects of it. An example is the shot where Bullock is curled up in the fetal position while in zero gravity, the tether line is the umbilical cord and the craft is the womb… I like the nod to 2001.
The bad; you should see this in IMAX 3D, there’s no way about it, seeing this film in regular 2D isn’t worth it. Allow yourself to be immersed completely in a movie.
The trailer… it portrays the film as more high octane action by using sound effects in space, the marketing is mis-leading here. Those morons expecting a big explode-y type movie shouldn’t be watching this film, so why market to those cavemen?
There isn’t much to put here, but I’ve got to put something. If anything, the story is nothing new. But it’s so well done.
Overall, Gravity is one of my favorite movies this year. It should be nominated for best picture as well as all the technical nominations that it’s eligible for. This is basically a disaster film but set in space, it’s man against the elements, in this case the lack of elements. It’s another technical feat brought to us by Alfonso Cuarón. Bravo!