May 22 2015

Tomorrowland

In another dimension on earth the land of Tomorrowland exists, a place where the world’s greatest minds and artists have converged to create possibilities we haven’t even imagined yet. At the helm of Tomorrowland is Governor Nix (Hugh Laurie), at his side is the insightful and adventuresome android recruiter Athena (Raffey Cassidy). As a result of Athena’s watchful eye Frank Walker (George Clooney/Thomas Robinson) is brought to Tomorrowland only to be exiled years later under great duress. Now, present day, with the help of Athena, Casey Newton (Britt Robertson), a young hopeful and thinker is brought to Tomorrowland with the hopes of saving everything that’s been created but it will take the co-operation of Frank to get things right, what if that’s too late? tomorrowland Lots of moving parts in this latest offering from Director Brad Bird. Time periods shift, character storylines jump, new technologies are introduced, and earth’s survival hangs in the balance, that’s a lot to digest; and yet, it somehow all still manages to come together in just a shade over two hours of runtime. Playing out somewhere between The Last Starfighter (1984) and Interstellar (2014), Disney seems to have chosen to back a horse that will handily capture the imagination’s of the 10-12 year age range and not make mom and dad feel too worse for the wear. But, blink and you might just miss something, packaging and explaining this story in a simple elevator pitch might be beyond the reach of the actual product. Still, all the nuts and bolts are here, so, A for effort, it will be interesting to see how and if Disney manages to open the world’s eyes to this film. Worthy of the theater if you’re hauling the right age group with you, otherwise perhaps a rental. Tomorrowland is rate PG.


May 22 2015

Good Kill

Having flown in multiple tours of battle in the Middle East Major Thomas Egan’s (Ethan Hawke) role in the U.S. Air Force has been transitioned to flying drone aircraft in the same region but from a control chair based in Las Vegas. Closer to home and his wife Molly (January Jones) Major Egan’s mind is still thousands of miles away at war, a strain on their relationship. Now questioning the ethics of war and his job, doing what is right for god and country will be a bigger strain than ever, how will he hold up?GoodKill Written and Directed by Andrew Niccol this relevant examination of the U.S. government’s actions and choices in wartime, drawing attention to how drastically war can change a person’s psyche, potentially spinning a moral compass in many strange directions; and, how the face of combat has changed dramatically since the deployment and use of drone warfare, reducing the understanding of wartime consequences to video game carnage, humanity lost. Strong concepts and clever cinematography to further drive the message, Niccol has come up with an interesting and important film, and while Hawke and Jones are strong characters, supporting cast and the way they are written on the other hand seem to lack depth or the richness to make the overall film amazing. Maybe a matinee or a rental, Good Kill is rated R.