There is much discussion about ideas and amazement in Tomorrowland, the new Disney film directed by Brad Bird. And for all intents and purpose, this is an wonder driven movie. Wonder in different worlds, wonder in humanity’s purpose, wonder of technology, all of these come up in the film.However, these ideas never settle into more than words and the scenes in this film fail to cohere into a film. In short, Tomorrowland spends its time concerned about the concept of amazing without actually amazing its audience.
At what point does the credit you give a film for being progressive and different override a thin story and themes that feel on the surface? If you are like me and you have just seen Mad Max: Fury Road this is a question you feel yourself wrestling with.
Has there ever been a moment in your life where you felt the need to stretch the truth a bit and it turned into a bigger deal than you thought? The D Train, a fabulous film from Andrew Mogul and Jarrad Paul, uses this shared life experience and two wonderful performances by Jack Black and James Marsden to craft a bruising uncomfortable film that’s immensely enjoyable.
As if you haven’t talked about or heard enough about Avengers: Age of Ultron, here’s an hour long podcast! Spagettit and I once again gather on the floor of his room to discuss the mammoth blockbuster. Topics that were covered: what makes the movie work, what the issues were, what we think of the MCU going forward. I also give Spagettit a crash course in shipping. Enjoy!
If I had to pick a word to describe Avengers: Age of Ultron, it would be epic. The movie is epic in run time (2 1/2 hours), scope (we travel to three countries), characters (all the original Avengers are back plus 4 familiar faces and four new characters) and plot developments. And it’s not hard