Tomorrowland

Review by Matt Finley

There's a climactic moment in TOMMORROWLAND, Brad Bird's (RATATOUILLE) latest live-action Disney adventure, in which characters discuss the possibility of "zapping an idea" into someone's mind. It's a beguiling notion, especially for a film that's otherwise content to transmit it's themes via sledgehammer.

Given the ponderous shroud of secrecy draped over the film by the house of mouse, I went in with only one solid expectation: Fun. Bird's past features THE IRON GIANT and THE INCREDIBLES are among my favorite animated films of all time, and both demonstrate the director's ability to create smart, heartfelt, visually audacious science fiction. While TOMORROWLAND is certainly a thoughtful, ambitious, and occasionally thrilling project, it never realizes the joyful promise - and graceful simplicity - of retro-futuristic skyscrapers glittering against an open sky.

The Iron Giant (January 17th at the CWRU Science Fiction Marathon)

[THE IRON GIANT screens Friday January 17th at 10:30 pm as part of the CWRU Science Fiction Marathon.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

When THE IRON GIANT made its debut in 1999, I worked for a newspaper then, a real one, complete with paychecks. Kind of hard to imagine now… Anyway, I published a rather lukewarm (or luke-cold) opinion of the Warner Brothers cartoon, which was a big rollout for the studio’s amped-up animation division. Then I sat back and watched as every other critic in the country declared the family flick a masterpiece beyond words.

I did feel rather sheepish and lonely in my minority stand, until meager ticket sales ensued. And mighty Warner Brothers got less than…giant…results in their big bid to be an animation powerhouse. Could the American people have shared my cynicism? Or were we all too vulgar and spoiled by the likes of Marvel Comic's Iron Man to appreciate the finer qualities of this robot-monster fable?