G-FORCE

Adventure 20090711

Kathy and I were lucky enough to be invited to an advance screening of Disney's new movie G-FORCE 3-D, and I have to say that I was quite impressed. I'm not a movie critic, and frankly would never want to be one, but what I look for in any movie is a sense of immersion. It seems to me that too often the gimmicks available to the movie industry distract and subtract from the experience rather than draw the audience further in. I generally gauge a movie by how often my attention wanders from the screen and using that measure G-FORCE did surprisingly well. Now don't get me wrong, this is definitely another movie targeted at the family audience with the intention of making large profits off of toy sales, but is that really a bad thing? Frankly, my life is complicated enough right now, and a little break for some mindless entertainment was greatly appreciated. My suggestion is that you see this one in the theater, pay the extra for the 3-D, and let yourself revel in the ability to take your mind off of the hook for two hours.

Valkyrie screening

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Kathy and I were lucky enough to be invited to attend an early screening of Tom Cruise's newest movie last night and I found myself surprisingly entertained. I personally am not a Tom Cruise fan, and WWII dramas have not generally appealed to me but I found myself wrapped up in the story and the marvelous performances by Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, and Tom Wilkinson. I walked into the theater only knowing that Valkyrie was going to be a dramatic retelling of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg's plot to assassinate Hitler at the end of WWII, but even knowing the story would have to end poorly I couldn't help but be enthralled by how well the characters were portrayed as fighting against their destiny. I was particularly pleased by how the inevitably depressing ending was handled, and walked out of the theater buoyed by the characters strength. I strongly suggest going to see this one on the big screen.