Spoiler-free Thoughts on TOMORROWLAND

I was able to go on a date with my awesome wife yesterday to a screening of Brad Bird's latest film, Tomorrowland. I can safely say that before the reviews for it were released earlier this week, this film was my most anticipated of the year, outside of Star Wars.  Brad Bird has made some of my favorite films of the last 10 years and has written/directed two out of my top three Pixar films.  The Incredibles and Ratatioulle are cinematic masterpieces, and Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol is an amazing film as well.  So, with that in mind, here are my spoiler-free thoughts of Tomorrowland. 

• This is a very inspiring film. Its message can be pretty powerful and it resonated with me. It made me rethink a few things, which is what a movie like this should do. 
• I liked the acting in this film MUCH more than many of my critical colleagues.  I was very moved by Clooney's performance. Also there is a child actor who plays a character named Athena that does an absolutely stellar job.  She is not in the trailers, but I think that she really adds a lot of depth to the film. 
• The script is REALLY clunky in parts.  Bird does his best with what is there, however there is only so much he can do with Damon Lindelof's story.  
• With that being said about the script, there are some very authentic and moving moments in the film.  
• I think the best way I can describe this movie is that it's like a really good episode of Once Upon a Time or even LOST. It has some amazingly compelling, emotional moments, but the in-between parts are just 'so-so.'  
• The score is pretty good; it sounds very much like John Williams could have written it, which gives me some great hope for the new Star Wars, as it's the same composer (Michael Giacchino). 

I went in with pretty tempered expectations, so I can't say that it was a disappointment.  If I had seen it before I had read the reviews, I certainly would have been.  But I can't say that it isn't a misfire for Bird, especially compared to his other films.  I give it 3.5/5 Disco Balls. 

Thoughts on Avengers: Age of Ultron

Summer movie season has commenced with a bang, as Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron has finally been released here in the USA.  I attended a double feature last night of both Avengers and Ultron and I wanted to jot down a few thoughts.

SPOILER-FREE Thoughts

• It was delightful to watch the first Avengers in the theater again. I love that movie so much and watching it in 3D was a fun experience, although I did use my new 2D conversion glasses part of the time. 
• There were only 40ish people in our theater, so it was a very relaxing event. My friend John and I had an absolute blast and we got prime seats. 
• Age of Ultron was a good and satisfying movie, although I do think there were some significant flaws in it:
• It felt rushed to me. Joss Whedon had a truly Herculean task of putting this many characters on screen together and do a few other things.  I think that Kevin Feige put a lot of constraints and requirements on what he could and could not do in this movie, and I think it shows. 
• The movie could have easily been split into 2 movies and would have had more room to breathe. There really weren't enough breaths for anything to settle in my mind. 
• The acting was fantastic
• The action was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.