This week at the movies: an adventure set in the future, and a horror show from the near past.
Tomorrowland
George Clooney stars as a reclusive inventor whose world is upturned when a girl named Casey (Britt Robertson) comes to his house, armed with a pin that used to send her time traveling around the world but no longer works. They go on some sort of secret quest to a future utopian dream world, far, far away from this regular, ordinary place. It’s not clear what the plot is from the trailer, nor does it become any clearer when you read the reviews. It’s entirely probable that the movie was never intended to make any sense at all, since Damon Lindelof (one half of the Lost creators) is also a co-writer on this film.
Perfect For: You like dazzling special effects and movies set in some future utopia.
What the Critics Say: Ambitious, visually dazzling, but ultimately, it doesn’t make any sense. Writes the New York Times: “And it’s important to note that ‘Tomorrowland’ is not disappointing in the usual way. It’s not another glib, phoned-in piece of franchise mediocrity but rather a work of evident passion and conviction. What it isn’t is in any way convincing or enchanting.” Writes the Seattle Weekly: “Though it's made with great energy and inventiveness, there's something ultimately muddy about ‘Tomorrowland;’ it's as if director Brad Bird got so caught up in the sets and effects and whooshing editing that the story somehow slipped away.”
Our Take: It might still be worth a trip to Tomorrowland if you have kids.
Watch the Trailer:
Poltergeist
Next to The Exorcist, if you are a person of a certain age, Poltergeist ranks as one of the scariest movies you saw as a youngster. The creepy haunting of Carol Ann who becomes entrapped in her television set was notable for her line, “They’re here!” In this remake she’s played now by Kennedi Clements, who, even though she is a brunette, oddly resembles the original actress. And judging from the trailer, the new Poltergeist hews very closely to the original (there’s the haunting through the TV set, the haunting expert who comes to save them, the house’s explosion), with a few of the set pieces from modern horror movies thrown in (the kind of scares found in Paranormal Activity, for instance).
Perfect For: Fans of the original, movies like Paranormal Activity, and not sleeping for a week.
What the Critics Say: A faithful remake; perhaps a little too faithful. Writes the Wrap: “‘Poltergeist’ ultimately plays like the most perfunctory of remakes, one born of rights ownership and title marketability rather than a burning desire on anyone’s part to do something interesting or provocative with a classic. The 1982 original remains unassailable, all the more so when stood side by side with its pipsqueak descendant.” And writes Variety: “[A] professionally executed yet bloodless film ... an act of homage that hews reverently to its source material while missing the essential spirit and vitality that once powered it.”
Our Take: Curious to see how it stands up to the original? Check it out.
Watch the Trailer:
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