Some Movies to See This Weekend, May 22, 2015

We have a couple new releases this weekend that make it really feel like summer. There's the horror-adventure remake people weren't especially clamoring for but looks pretty good anyway and an original concept meant to probably spawn a franchise, featuring one of the biggest movie stars in the world and some top notch talent behind the camera. Let's see what we've got in store for us.



Poltergeist
Director: Gil Kenan
Writer: David Lindsay-Abaire
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Saxon Sharbino, Kyle Catlett, Kennedi Clements



The original Steven Spielberg-produced (and probably directed) Poltergeist is superb. It's scary, sure, but the Amblin sense of wonder is all over it, as well. It's rollicking. This new version seems to go harder in the horror direction, which could pay off as it seeks to distinguish itself.

There's a lot of hope that it will carve out its own path, with an especially adept cast including two of our finest character/lead actors, Sam Rockwell (Moon) and Rosemarie DeWitt (Mad Men, Kill the Messenger) as the heads of the Bowen family. Rockwell's easy charm and DeWitt's ability to appear calm despite every kind of inner turmoil should pay off well as the supernatural wreaks havoc on their family.

Tomorrowland
Director: Brad Bird
Writers: Damon Lindelof, Brad Bird, Jeff Jensen
Starring: Britt Robertson, George Clooney, Hugh Laurie



Brad Bird has made some of the finest blockbuster movies of the last two decades, with The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol all reaching classic status upon release. He also worked on the heyday of The Simpsons. He is a filmmaker who knows how to wow. His writing partners on his newest project are Damon Lindelof, co-creator of Lost, and Jeff Jensen, who wrote obsessively intricate Lost reviews for Entertainment Weekly. Despite my “it's the journey, not the destination” love for the stories of The Island, these two guys haven't had nearly the success as Bird. The hope is that his voice shepherds the question asking tendencies of Lindelof into a place of answers.


Relative newcomer Britt Robertson heads the cast as a young girl in some sort of legal trouble who meets George Clooney's genius inventor. Clooney holds the key to a secret futuristic city called Tomorrowland, and they go on an adventure there. Sounds pretty cut and dry. Works for me. 

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