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Transcendence (2014, dir. Wally Pfister): Nolanesque grand concept sci fi with promising premise, but falls short

Transcendence2014PosterHelmed by Christopher Nolan’s director of photography, TRANSCENDENCE is Nolanesque grand concept sci fi that has a promising premise and high production values, but ultimately falls short. The script doesn’t do justice to the story’s central dilemma, nor to its moral implications. Instead major characters end up doing nonsensical things with unclear motivations, and the ending, instead of being intriguing and – well – transcendent (like Nolan’s better films), is instead confusing and trite. Entertaining, up to a point.

Coda: for sci fi geeks expecting a film that intelligently explores the fun ideas of singularity and transhumanism, unfortunately, you need to look elsewhere

 
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Posted by on April 19, 2014 in Film Reviews, Passive Media

 

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Pirates of the Carribean: On Stranger Tides (2011, dir. Rob Marshall): time to retire this tired old franchise

image“Ho-hum, ho-hum, I’d rather have a bottle of rum” than watch this snoozefest! Director Rob Marshall (Chicago) has fashioned something better than Pirates 2 and 3, but that’s not a high bar. There’s one action scene that is half-exciting (Jack Sparrow’s (Johnny Depp) escape from the London palace) but the rest seems to drag, which is a problem for an action flick. The plot’s not as convoluted as the prior 2 installments, but it still doesn’t make sense …

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Posted by on May 30, 2011 in Film Reviews

 

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