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Soundtracks: Songs About Movies
At websites such as Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, Movie Insider, and Fandango you can find a list and short description of movies scheduled to be released in the near future; with a mouse click or two, you can also enjoy the annoyingly misleading trailers. Now since I rarely go to the movies and only occasionally watch them on DVDs, I feel particularly and singularly qualified to provide reviews of some of these upcoming distractions.
Ex Machina: This one wins in my category of best new title. Apparently the story line is that a young coder named Caleb wins a competition to spend a week at the private mountain retreat of the company's reclusive CEO. It turns out, however, that what Caleb has won is the opportunity to take part in some weird experiment where he must fall in love with a robot and then--I'm guessing here--rescue her from his evil boss, Nathan. This movie, which looks impressive, appears to be a fresh retelling of the age-old, "win golden ticket, take on boss, lose job, get mechanical girl." To give this film some credit, I suspect we're supposed to watch it with the question of whether dues truly can be realized through artificial intelligence. [See, Blade Runner.]
Adult Beginners: Okay, I'm only including this one because I like the title almost as much as Ex Machina. Here we have a young, hipster entrepreneur who somehow manages to screw up his life right before his company's big launch. Following the normal Hollywood arc of reason, he immediately leaves NYC and moves in with his pregnant sister (who he doesn't get along with), her husband (who he doesn't get along with), and their three-year-old precocious son (who he, of course, doesn't really get along with). But fear not, even as an outcast, exiled to the suburbs, our hero is able to eventually become a nanny, have some heartfelt but zany moments with all three family members, and learn the true meaning of responsibility and adulthood. And I think he learns to swim, which is a pretty good metaphor for "not drowning."
Avengers: Another blockbuster from Marvel Studios, I suspect, and winner of pithiest dialogue while under extreme stress and near death category. What we have here is Tony Stark (an arms dealer, for heaven's sake) bringing to life some mothballed peacekeeping program to help out humanity, of course. Although no one would have ever guessed that bringing machines in to keep us safe could be dangerous, turns out it just might be a stupid idea. No fear, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are here to save us from a folly of their own making. Although the trailer makes it seem just possible that Ultron might win, I suspect the machine is somehow unplugged in the end. [See, any Terminator movie]
Mad Max: Apparently "Charlize" is a real name (as is "Tom," but we all knew that), so I learned something already. I would almost say this is the same old same old, but there are hints of a romantic connection here between Max (played by Tom Hardy) and Furiosa (played by Charlize Theron) in this futuristic, dystopian world of subhuman behavior. Against hordes of certifiable lunatics with a wonderful sense of style and plenty of time to pimp their rides and fashion super cool head gear, Max and Furiosa have to rely on each other as they make their way back to her homeland in search of oil and water. I'm giving this two thumbs up just for the landscape.
Jurrassic World: This is lesson in not learning your lesson. The first Jurassic Park taught us not to mess with mother nature; this one reinforces that lesson. I mean, creating a new species of dinosaur out of various parts of DNA sounds like a perfectly great idea as a way to boost profits at the theme park. I mean, what could go wrong? This movie will bring us a kid in dire straits (don't worry, they never get hurt in movies) and a man and woman who are terrible for each other. But in celluloid world, a chauvinistic man will end up being respected by the career-oriented woman after he does some manly stuff to save everyone. And then the "happily ever after" begins as the credits roll. Like the geneticists in this movie, it seems movie producers don't learn from past mistakes; nonetheless, I have no doubt that this movie will be a huge financial success.
Terminator: The year is 2029, or at least at some time in the movie that is the year--but we jump backwards and forwards as the ever-clever SkyNet continues its hunt for John Connor ("JC," get it?), our fearless leader of the resistance. Having watched several of these movies, I'm still confused about what actually happens in the future and what exactly is changed by going back in time. Or maybe it's going forward in time to change the past? Even though I'm thoroughly confused, I am highly recommending this movie because we all need to be ready for when the machines come to take over the world.
Now, grab your coffee and join us.
Any movies on your "recommend" list?