Movie Trifecta!

Three movies.  Three days.

Kind of a new record for me!  At least a modern day record.

First up was Tomorrowland, which I saw with my son Benjamin.

I went to a writing seminar last summer that featured the award winning and New York times Bestselling author, Jack McDevitt.  One of the points of discussion with him was about the future direction of science fiction.  He felt like maybe the dystopian, post-apocalyptic thrust of much of our modern fiction. that was so dominating the market place, was finally playing itself out, and that there would be room for a re-emergence of a more optimistic. positive science fiction.

Tonorrowland represents that return to a more optimistic type of science fiction. Yes, there are adversities and warnings, but there is also a spirit that problems can be solved if people are inspired.  It certainly inspired my son, Benjamin.

Well acted and original, with imaginative set design and an exciting plot, I highly recommend this movie for the entire family.  Come and be inspired today!

Hard to believe that the best comedies made now are about college acapella glee clubs.  But they are.  I saw Pitch Perfect 2 with Alison, Benjamin and Doug.  

I am not a big fan of the TV show Glee, especially after the first season, but these are movies are everything that I hoped the TV show might be.

Yes, sometimes the humor is a little crass, but the whole spirit of the film is over-all infelicitous in ringing a smile to your face.   The musical numbers are great fun, especially a sing off in the middle of the film that includes as one of the competitors, the Green Bay Packers.

I had been in a glee club at the University of Michigan, one that had won an international competition the year before I joined.  So I suppose the film hits a little closer to me than it might with some.

I recommend this film to anybody who likes music and laughter.

Let me say right up front.  I'm not fond of car chase movies.  I've seen none of the Fast and Furious films.  But this movie, Mad Max Fury Road?  This movie is the grand exception that proves the rule.

I have rarely seen a movie as fast-paced as this one.  Yet you never lost the thread and purpose of what was going on in it.  The action was intense and close to the edge of going over the top, but never quite doing that.  Within the confines of the world that was created, it made the implausible seem plausible, allowing you to enjoy the film more.

And it was surprising for a movie with so much action, how much heart and soul was at the center of it.  In the midst of so much evil, chaos, and civilization's decline, you still saw the hope and promise of a more decent humanity.

Tom Hardy is very good as Mad Max, but what helps this film really rise to the top is the fabulous performance put in by Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa.  If there ever was a part where a woman wins the Best Actress Oscar for an action film, this one is it.

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The box office for the weekend went in the order that I have presented these three fine films.  Overall, it was the lowest amount made at the box office at Memorial Day weekend since 2001.  Tomorrowland, which finished first at 42 million, is being rated as a major disappointment, with the thinking that it should have made much, much more than that (it cost 180 million to make).  Sigh.  Maybe we aren't quite ready for a more optimistic science fiction after all.  But I hope not.  I encourage everyone within the sound of this post to give the movie a try.

Well, at least I know one thing that can't be blamed for the lack of box office this weekend - 

Me.