Watch Online Self/less (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

A dying New York real-estate tycoon undergoes a top-secret procedure to transfer his consciousness into the body of a healthy young man, but he discovers that his new life isn't what he expected after learning about the mysterious origins of his new body and an organization that is prepared to kill for its cause. Ryan Reynolds toplines this sci-fi thriller directed by Tarsem Singh (The Cell, The Fall, and penned by screenwriting duo David and Alex Pastor (Carriers).

Review:

They say that money can't buy happiness in life, but for one New York City tycoon, it might be able to buy life itself. That's the premise of director Tarsem Singh's new film Self/less, a muddled mashup of genres that makes the disastrous assumption that the audience will be too brain/less to notice its many preposterous plot points.

(Sir) Ben Kingsley plays Damian Hale, an impossibly wealthy NYC businessman who has devoted his life to making bank instead of raising his daughter Claire (Michelle Dockery), now estranged from him and the director of a nonprofit. Damian is dying from a quickly spreading cancer, the end rapidly closing in with every blood-spattering cough. When someone slips him a mysterious business card claiming to offer a solution to his terminal dilemma, he takes the bait and is soon touring a secret lab in New Orleans with a crazy-smart (emphasis on crazy) scientist named Albright (Matthew Goode). Albright explains that he has developed a way to implant a person's consciousness into a "host" body, thus allowing the dying person a chance to live on with a new identity and face. But this procedure is not for everyone; only the world's brightest minds, he says, are worthy of the process called "shedding." When Damian asks how the host bodies are created, Albright states that they are genetically grown in a lab, not unlike some plants. One can't help but picture a Frankenstein-like Chia Pet that, in addition to a full head of hair, also grows a perfectly functioning brain, complete skeletal system, and all of the muscles and organs necessary to be considered human. Okie dokie.

Despite possessing one of those aforementioned "brightest minds in the world," Hale agrees to the procedure with nary a speck of incredulity regarding the outlandish method of producing a host body. His cancer soon becomes more aggressive, and when the final credits of his life story are about to start rolling, the shedding commences. All it takes is about 15 seconds or so in an MRI-like machine, and Damian is now comfortably ensconced in his cool but rather unsteady new vessel (enter Ryan Reynolds as the host body). As Albright gives him the stats on his new life, one can't help but wonder why the guy would pay all that money just to look like a 35-year-old about to enter middle age instead of someone much younger. And that's just one of the many frustrating questions that the film never sufficiently answers.

While enjoying his new existence as a wealthy New Orleans retiree who plays basketball all day and trolls for chicks at the clubs every night, Damian is also plagued by strange hallucinations (seemingly of another person's life), which can only be controlled by taking a daily pill. His discovery of the real cause of these hallucinations regrettably transforms this film from a potentially intriguing sci-fi thriller into a rock-'em-sock-'em action flick, complete with car chases, shoot-outs, and more than one death by blowtorch.

The overriding problem with Self/less is the lazy storytelling by Singh and screenwriting brothers Alex and David Pastor, who forgo character development and narrative credibility in the arrogant assumption that multiple fistfights and insane car crashes will be enough to satiate the audience. We never really find out why Damian is so jazzed about continuing life on earth, considering that he made a miserable and lonely mess of his first one despite oodles of cash to comfort him. Kingsley's screen time is so woefully brief (he's basically making a cameo appearance) that he isn't given the chance to flesh out Damian beyond giving him a thick New York accent and inserting barely noticeable pauses into his speech. Not that it even matters, since Reynolds doesn't bother to adopt Kingsley's mannerisms or in any way attempt to remind viewers that, underneath those ripped muscles, full head of hair, and Canadian-tinged intonation, there lies a brilliant, cynical seventysomething New Yawker.

While the action scenes are fun to watch, one can't help but feel that Self/less is like sitting through two completely different movies at the same time -- and the better of the two abruptly ends with the shot of Kingsley's body being covered by a sheet following the shedding. Unfortunately, the only thing left for viewers after that is, well ... less.

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Watch Online Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) - MovieTimeUs

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Synopsis:

A war begins to brew between man and ape in this sequel to the 2011 hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It's been ten years since the Simian Flu wiped out most of humanity, and somewhere deep in the woods outside of San Francisco, Caesar (voice and performance capture by Andy Serkis) and his primate companions have established a thriving village built on the principles of peace and community. Shortly after welcoming a baby brother into the family, Caesar's son Blue Eyes (Nick Thurston) is walking through the forest with his friend Ash (Doc Shaw) when they cross paths with a human named Carver (Kirk Acevedo), who impulsively draws his gun and shoots Ash at the first sign of aggression. As it turns out, Carver is part of a human expedition led by Malcolm (Jason Clarke), who, along with the rest of his crew, races to Carver's side just as Caesar and the rest of the apes answer Blue Eyes' desperate call for help. An enraged Caesar drives the humans away after realizing they are no longer a threat, and decides to dispatch a small crew to follow them rather than yield to the pleas of his aggressive advisor Koba (Toby Kebbell) to launch an all-out attack. Instead, he decides to show the apes' strength by amassing outside of the humans' makeshift community at the base of an unfinished tower, making it unmistakably clear that the two species should remain apart. Meanwhile, the point of the human excursion was to get a dormant dam running again in order to power their community, which will soon be thrust into darkness should they fail to take action. Convinced that he could strike a truce with Caesar that would allow the humans to repair the dam, which is located on the apes' land, Malcolm gets permission from human leader Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) to set out on his mission. Incredibly, thanks to the help of his girlfriend Ellie (Keri Russell), his son Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and a few other key allies, Malcolm succeeds. Still, his truce with the apes is a fragile one, and just when it seems that the primates and humans have learned to coexist in peace, a shocking act of betrayal threatens to spark a war that will determine the dominant species.

Review:

A potent blend of sci-fi spectacle and substance, Matt Reeves' exhilarating interspecies-war drama Dawn of the Planet of the Apes may be the best film in the franchise since the 1968 original, thanks to a perceptive screenplay that delves deep into the tragic nature of conflict and cutting-edge special effects that constantly dazzle.

It's been ten years since the Simian Flu wiped out most of humanity, and somewhere deep in the woods outside of San Francisco, Caesar (voice and performance capture by Andy Serkis) and his primate companions have established a thriving village built on the principles of peace and community. Shortly after welcoming a baby brother into the family, Caesar's son Blue Eyes (Nick Thurston) is walking through the forest with his friend Ash (Doc Shaw) when they cross paths with a human named Carver (Kirk Acevedo), who impulsively draws his gun and shoots Ash at the first sign of aggression. As it turns out, Carver is part of a human expedition led by Malcolm (Jason Clarke), who, along with the rest of his crew, races to Carver's side just as Caesar and the rest of the apes answer Blue Eyes' desperate call for help. An enraged Caesar drives the humans away after realizing they are no longer a threat, and decides to dispatch a small crew to follow them rather than yield to the pleas of his aggressive advisor Koba (Toby Kebbell) to launch an all-out attack. Instead, he decides to show the apes' strength by amassing outside of the humans' makeshift community at the base of an unfinished tower, making it unmistakably clear that the two species should remain apart.

Meanwhile, the point of the human excursion was to get a dormant dam running again in order to power their community, which will soon be thrust into darkness should they fail to take action. Convinced that he could strike a truce with Caesar that would allow the humans to repair the dam, which is located on the apes' land, Malcolm gets permission from human leader Dreyfus (Gary Oldman) to set out on his mission. Incredibly, thanks to the help of his girlfriend Ellie (Keri Russell), his son Alexander (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and a few other key allies, Malcolm succeeds. Still, his truce with the apes is a fragile one, and just when it seems that the primates and humans have learned to coexist in peace, a shocking act of betrayal threatens to spark a war that will determine the dominant species.

For a while, it was starting to feel as if the best Planet of the Apes films were behind us; between Tim Burton's failed attempt to relaunch the franchise back in 2001 and Rupert Wyatt's commendable yet anticlimatic Rise of the Planet of the Apes a decade later, it seemed as if the original series would forever remain a relic of the tumultuous times when they were made. In Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, however, Reeves and screenwriters Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver, and Mark Bomback all display an acute understanding of the deeply humanistic themes that made the initial films resonate so strongly with audiences.

Working with the special-effects wizards at Exceptional Minds, Weta Digital, and Soho VFX, the director and writers create a compelling alternate reality that's not only a convincing extension of our own, but one that's inhabited by creatures that are every bit as expressive and believable as their human counterparts. The eyes of the apes in this movie contain a full spectrum of emotions, including heartache, fear, anger, compassion, and shame. In a story examining the complexities of warfare, it's crucial that viewers are able to identify and relate to those feelings, and there isn't a moment in this film when those emotions fail to ring true -- both on the human and simian sides.

The ability to recognize those emotions also enhances the impact of the battle between the two species, and each time conflict arises in the movie, there's a tangible sense of the stakes involved. Although the violence in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes at times tests the boundaries of its PG-13 rating, every act of aggression reflects important aspects of the plot and characters. While occasionally excessive, the violence is far from gratuitous, and director Reeves occasionally adds stylistic touches that give it added impact -- especially in a showstopping scene set on a tank. And as the catalyst for this brutality, the character of Koba is played with chilling, warmongering efficiency by British actor Toby Kebbell, who easily holds his own opposite the immensely talented Andy Serkis. On the human side,Clarke continues the solid streak he's been riding ever since his role in Zero Dark Thirty, and Oldman serves as the frightening personification of the power of fear.

So while it's undeniable that Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is science fiction, it pays to remember that the most effective sci-fi holds a mirror to the surroundings in which it was conceived. By fully immersing us in a fantasy world that feels completely authentic, Reeves and his team not only succeed in recapturing the spirit of the original series (which is also echoed in Michael Giacchino's knowingly retro score), but in making its thought-provoking themes of sociopolitical tolerance relevant through skillful storytelling and stunning effects work. If we can just set aside our prejudice and arrogance long enough to recognize the value in this type of movie, perhaps we can learn to start building each other up again, rather than constantly tearing each other down.

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Watch Online San Andreas (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Nature begins rebelling against the state of California during the first scene of San Andreas, and she does not relent for almost two straight hours. The film itself is an onslaught of special effects, panicked citizens, and, of course, explosions. There is no subtext here: Chaos reigns supreme as rescue pilot Ray Gaines (Dwayne Johnson) tries to save his daughter from the constant barrage of mayhem brought on by a series of catastrophic earthquakes. Although it takes place in a real-life setting, San Andreas fits in the tradition of apocalyptic natural-disaster flicks like The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and 2012 (2009); it's an unapologetically bombastic exploration of Murphy's Law. This is a summer movie through and through, with zero subtlety and a ton of wide shots of buildings getting bashed, crashed, and mashed.

In terms of gratuitous destruction, the effects and camerawork in San Andreas are truly outstanding. Johnson may have earned top billing on the posters, but the demolition of the Bay Area takes center stage. The filmmakers clearly know what their audience are buying tickets for, and most of the movie is dominated by large structures toppling over in loud and aesthetically impressive fashion. Ray and his soon-to-be-ex Emma (Carla Gugino) journey through this calamity by land, air, and sea as they search for their daughter Blake (Alexandra Daddario).

Viewers will be mesmerized by the extreme carnage and the shots of buildings collapsing as the fault literally tears and splits the ground. Sure, it's not so much style over substance as style instead of substance; the results, though, are certainly something to behold for anyone who craves spectacle in his or her summer cinema. A considerable amount of credit and respect should be given to the sound-effects and production-design departments, which are largely responsible for making San Andreas' visuals a cinematic achievement.

During the dialogue-driven parts of the movie, however, the myriad special effects are not enough to overcome the lackluster character work and writing. Director Brad Peyton (previously best known for Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore) will no doubt get more chances to helm blockbusters in the future, but he is clearly too preoccupied with capturing physical wreckage in this film. That's to the detriment of the actors, who are forced to overemote in order to compensate for their characters' lack of depth. Everything we are supposed to feel and understand about the Gaines and those in their orbit is explicitly stated, including how the death of their first daughter broke up their marriage. None of these characters have any nuance, and as a result, there's a clear lack of authenticity in the actors' line readings and their emotional reactions to anything that isn't immediately hurtling at them. There's damage to the Bay Area, to be sure, but there is also a great deal of wreckage in any scene dominated by conversation. That's especially disappointing coming from screenwriter Carlton Cuse, one of the co-creators of the masterful and thematically rich television series Lost.

The lead in this all-flash, crackerjack thriller is Johnson, whose often-wooden acting is counterbalanced by his natural charisma, earned from his time as the hugely popular professional wrestler "the Rock." As a result, he is perfectly suited to deliver lines that wouldn't be out of place in a high-school creative-writing course (amusingly, the camera typically zooms in on his stoic face whenever he has to say another groaner). Johnson's presence reminds us not to take San Andreas too seriously, and to just sit back and be entertained. While he'll never win any awards for his acting, here's hoping that more blockbusters cast him to run around onscreen during disasters. Gugino, who worked with Johnson before in Faster and Race to Witch Mountain, does exactly what she's expected to with her boxed-in role: scream, look scared, and shed some tears.

Alexandra Daddario is serviceable as Blake, who has clearly learned a lot from her dad about disaster scenarios and how to be prepared. The presence of Ben (Hugo Johnstone-Burt), a prospective employee at Emma's boyfriend's firm, gives viewers at least one fully developed character beyond the Gaines clan. Ben and his adorable younger brother/skilled wingman Ollie (Art Parkinson) are genuinely sympathetic, especially as Ben begins to fall for Blake. Johnstone-Burt and Parkinson are two bright spots here, and audiences will hopefully see more of them in future films worthy of their acting chops.

But the acting honors in this movie go to Paul Giamatti, playing a Cal Tech professor and seismology expert who frantically tries to warn California's citizens of the impending doom heading for them. The former Oscar nominee is a pro, and he elevates every single scene he is featured in. Although the film often seems like the most expensive natural-disaster PSA of all time, his presence and commitment to craft allow the sound and fury of San Andreas to signify slightly more than nothing. Explosions become less thrilling the more viewers see them, and anyone expecting more than a sugar rush should search for other fare. As far as eye candy goes, however, San Andreas' visuals are pretty sweet.

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Watch Online The Martian (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Led by Commander Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain), the Ares 3 space mission has been tasked with collecting soil samples and data on Mars. An unexpected dust storm launches debris at the crew, impaling botanist Mark Watney (Matt Damon) with a rogue satellite and cutting their mission short. Lewis and her crew (Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sebastian Stan, and Aksel Hennie) have no choice but to leave the presumed-dead Watney behind and escape the planet before the storm irreparably damages their spacecraft. Watney awakens the next day, injured but still alive, and treks back to the crew's home base. All contact to NASA has been lost in the storm, and Watney soon realizes that not only is he stuck on the Red Planet with limited supplies and infrastructure, but that it could be years before the next manned mission will arrive to save him.

Watney immediately begins work on developing sustainable sources of water and food, using his remarkable set of scientific and botanical skills to create a functioning greenhouse. He also determines that, in order to be spotted by NASA, he must fix the Rover left behind so that it can travel to the area of the planet that will host the next mission. Meanwhile, on Earth, NASA scientists notice the movement of the Ares vehicles and pods left on the planet, and determine that Watney survived the storm and is modifying the base to provide extended shelter. They make contact with him using a buried signal transponder, and shift the attention of the entire agency toward mounting a rescue mission.

The brain trust at NASA weigh their options for saving Watney, all while considering the potential PR disaster that could come with any decision they make. NASA head Teddy Sanders (a measured Jeff Daniels) clashes with Mission Chief Vincent Kapoor (the always wonderful Chiwetel Ejiofor) over possible strategies, as well as whether to inform the remaining Ares 3 crew that Watney is indeed still alive. Kapoor works closely with developers to quickly build a spacecraft filled with life-sustaining supplies, which will keep Watney alive until the Ares 4 mission reaches him in four years' time. Foregoing safety precautions due to time constraints, this unmanned mission to deliver provisions is a disaster, which forces NASA to reach out to the Chinese government for technological help. Eccentric astrophysicist Rich Purnell (Donald Glover) eventually devises a last-ditch plan for the Ares 3 crew to save Watney by using an orbital slingshot as they approach Earth -- a risk that Sanders is unwilling to take. When secretly informed of the idea via an encrypted e-mail, Lewis and her crew immediately change course to follow Purnell's plan, forcing NASA's hand in aiding this improbable rescue mission.

Staying true to Andy Weir's 2011 novel, director Ridley Scott's surprisingly light flick is a science-heavy study of one man's determination to return home. Watney is far more focused on technical wizardry and cracking wise about his predicament than the existential crisis of being stranded alone on Mars. Even during his video-diary entries, which he knows will likely never be viewed by another human being, he relies on his sense of humor as a defense mechanism to deal with the crushing odds stacked against him. It's a clever way to sidestep the usual characterization you'd expect from a character in this situation, allowing The Martian to opt out of the emotional turbulence of a movie like Cast Away, or even the desperation of Damon's turn in Interstellar.

However, while it might be true to the source material, it also leaves the main character feeling half-realized. Watney has a brief breakdown after a disaster involving his crops and his Rover, but his unflappability and devotion to methodical problem solving keep any negative thoughts safely out of view. Screenwriter Drew Goddard gives the ancillary characters in this story the same treatment; their dogged determination to figure out a plan to save Watney outweighs any individual motives, emotions, or even viewpoints. The Martian isn't particularly concerned with the psychological toll of isolation or guilt, but instead focuses on the triumph of human ingenuity under duress. A balanced account of both the emotional and logistical aspects of the rescue mission would have made this feel like a more complete picture.

Regardless, the movie is a great example of crowd-pleasing cinema. Scott is undeniably a master of spectacle, and as a result, The Martian contains plenty of great popcorn-flick moments. With the help of cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, Scott even utilizes subtle 3D imagery in order to deepen his already breathtaking environments. At the same time, so much of the film is firmly trained on Damon, and the veteran actor injects his magnetic charm and braininess into the everyman protagonist. Despite a lack of psychological depth, The Martian succeeds as a tribute to humanity's collective resolve, as well as the problem-solving skills of one hell of a botanist. 

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Watch Online Tomorrowland (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) loves science and the promise of the future. She loves them so much that she's willing to sneak onto NASA property at night in order to sabotage the cranes dismantling a shuttle-launch platform. This endeavor eventually lands her in the slammer, and after being released on bail, she finds among her returned possessions a small enamel "T" pin that she swears isn't hers. It doesn't take long before she discovers that touching the pin immerses her in a vision of an ideal future, full of amber waves of grain and a metropolis that's like the Emerald City with monorails. The fervor of this hallucination leads her to the doorstep of Frank Walker (George Clooney), an embittered inventor who nevertheless believes what she saw. Why? Because when he was young, he saw it too -- and he knew what it was trying to tell him.

Since the theme-park-ride-turned-movie-franchise concept worked so lucratively for Pirates of the Caribbean, it's not surprising that Disney is now mining the rest of its amusement parks for inspiration. And considering the recent successes of space-themed properties like Guardians of the Galaxy (created by Marvel, now owned by Disney), Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear (Pixar, now Disney), and Star Wars (Lucasfilm, now Disney), Tomorrowland certainly makes more sense to green-light than, say, It's A Small World After All. Also in the film's favor: Director and co-writer Brad Bird (famous for The Iron Giant and The Incredibles) is a contrarian who prefers space-age optimism to our current love affair with dystopias. Bird excels at moments filled with awe and magical possibility, and the early scenes of a young Frank (Thomas Robinson) testing out his homemade jetpack will trigger the same kind of tingling glee people feel when they're flying in their dreams.

Unfortunately, Tomorrowland is also full of the unvarnished elitism critics found in The Incredibles: Its utopic vision is one populated exclusively by "exceptional people," who can devote all of their time to prototyping the world's problems away without having to bother with the petty and annoying rabble. This Übermensch philosophy, melded with Disney's blue-sky, pixie-dust cheerfulness, leads to the explicit message that simply dreaming of better things is enough of a start in the right direction -- a theory quickly disproven by the endless credits, which are filled with the names of hundreds of special-effects technicians who certainly did more than dream while hunched over their workstations. (And cynics will have a field day spotting all of the product placements, right down to a glucose-starved Casey guzzling down a recommended Coca-Cola -- the primary vendor of soda at Disney's theme parks -- as a cure for teleportation sickness.)

Tomorrowland does have one standout element, and that's the performance of young British actress Raffey Cassidy as Athena, a preternaturally poised 12-year-old first seen in a flashback at the 1964 World's Fair. Possessing steely-grey eyes, an enchanting spray of freckles, and the same precocious child-woman bearing as prodigies like Jodie Foster and Saoirse Ronan, she is the most fascinating part of a movie packed with explosions and martial-arts mayhem. Scenes between her and any of her co-stars -- including Clooney -- aren't even a fair fight, as her acute, austere grace quietly steals every scene she's in. Tomorrowland tries to fill our heads with theme-park visions of the future, but the only prognostication worth hoping for is a long and fruitful career for Cassidy. 

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Tags:
future, mission [quest], project [plan], quest, time-travel

Watch Online Star Wars (1977) - MovieTimeUs

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Bursting with excitement, and throwing in one wild chase, life-threatening dilemma, and dazzling effect after another, George Lucas' Star Wars packs a remarkable amount of story into 121 minutes; if the characters and dialogue sometimes lack depth, they have plenty of flash and boundless energy, and the film keeps just enough of its tongue in cheek to acknowledge an undercurrent of sly, low-key wit without snickering at either the characters or the audience. In a decade in which cynicism was the order of the day in the film industry (and American culture), Star Wars dared to be hokey. With its wise old men, dashing young pilots, spunky but virtuous princesses, and bad guys who were either deliciously evil or downright slimy, the movie had the courage to take a truckload of Hollywood archetypes, present them with smarts, humor, and no apologies, and make them work for a new generation of filmgoers. The movie in this way forged a totally original amalgam of myth, marketing, and movie serials to become one of the biggest cultural phenomena in movie history. Commercially, Star Wars opened new vistas in merchandizing toys and other movie tie-ins, as it helped transform science fiction from a fringe market into one of Hollywood's dominant genres. 

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Watch Online The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 (2014) - MovieTimeUs

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The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 marks a major departure from the first two films in both setting and tone. Finally out of the arena and into a full-blown rebellion against the Capitol and President Snow (Donald Sutherland), heroine Katniss Everdeen, played with constant authenticity and just the right amount of gravity and humor by reigning Hollywood prom queen Jennifer Lawrence, faces a new battle in her reluctant role as the face of the uprising. More importantly, the series has evolved from its first installment, when no amount of blood and guts could stop the declarations of Team Gale and Team Peeta in the fight for Katniss' heart. While the core of the story has always been Team Katniss, she is no longer the central character in the Hunger Games, even as she is the central character in the war effort. Josh Hutcherson is finally able to shine as his own character: gaunt, tortured Peeta Mellark continues to fight for his survival and protect Katniss while being held captive by Snow; Gale (Liam Hemsworth), having escaped to District 13, struggles to reconcile his rage towards the Capitol with his own humanity. Both young men still carry a torch for Katniss -- as she holds one for both of them -- but this is arguably the best installment in the franchise because the love triangle is put on the back burner in favor of deeper themes.

The movie succeeds where many other adaptations (including its own predecessors) have faltered. In the books, readers glean subtleties through internal dialogue and the narrator's inferences; in the film, director Francis Lawrence offers viewers sly asides and subtle glances that pay off later. Although President Alma Coin (Julianne Moore), a woman of few words, appears to ignore the advice of expert propagandist Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) when he tells her to reevaluate her "salesmanship," her subsequent speeches to District 13 become increasingly verbose -- and a final, rousing cry for justice is offset by a shot of Heavensbee lip-synching the statement he had clearly penned. While it's unclear whether Coin is selling something for the greater good, her own benefit, or a combination of the two, her oration is a stark contrast from Katniss' speeches for the war effort. In a rare display of (purposefully) bad acting from Lawrence, Katniss reveals herself incapable of delivering prewritten dialogue of any kind; on the other hand, she musters a spontaneous battle cry outside of a bombed-out refugee hospital within the ruins of District 12 that inspires the rebel forces throughout the other districts.

The overarching themes of the book shine as well. No longer obligated to fabricate an epic love affair between herself and Peeta Mellark, Katniss begins to realize that her need to rescue Peeta is nonetheless born out of a very real love -- a conclusion that she would have never reached were it not for the constant battle for survival within District 12 and two consecutive Hunger Games. As Katniss' worldview expands to include normal questions about relationships and young adulthood, Finnick (Sam Claflin), Gale, and Peeta must come to grips with the long-term effects of how the Capitol has exploited them. Similarly, Katniss' sister Prim (Willow Shields) is no longer a 12-year-old terrified of being reaped for the Games, but a doctor-in-training with her own brand of toughness, and an awareness of her sibling's power and potential (which Katniss herself hasn't quite discovered). Even Effie (Elizabeth Banks), now a political refugee, fosters a growing spark of rebellion as she mourns the loss of access to fabulous wigs and couture duds.

Mockingjay, Part 1 is in many ways the bleakest offering of the series to date. Yet Lawrence has managed to infuse this piece of author Suzanne Collins' trilogy with enough humor and hope to offset the despair and devastation of war, all without playing down the danger. He also allows the supporting actors to shine enough to demonstrate that this is a story about the many faces of Panem, but without diminishing the importance of Katniss, the Mockingjay herself, as the face of Panem. 

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Watch Online The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Young Adult dystopian films are apparently here to stay. Divergent, the first book in author Veronica Roth's best-selling YA trilogy, was adapted for the big screen in 2014, and the series is back almost exactly a year later with the sequel. The Divergent Series: Insurgent picks up immediately after the events of the previous movie, as the series' teen heroes Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) flee a walled-in and bombed-out future Chicago.

Insurgent jumps straight into the action, and assumes the viewer has seen the first film -- very little ancillary exposition is provided. While Divergent seemed bogged down by the need to explain every detail of its far-fetched world, Insurgent bypasses that for a more driven story. Tris, Four, and the other Divergents are fugitives from the oppressive faction system, which segregates society according to individual character traits. The society's leader, Jeanine Matthews (Kate Winslet), is hunting down Divergents with a vengeance, believing that one of them possesses the ability to open a mysterious box that has been passed down by the founders of the faction system. Teaming up with other societal outcasts, the Divergents fight back against the oppressive regime.

There's a considerable amount of depth to Woodley's performance as Tris this time around -- much more so than the rather one-dimensional character she inhabited in the prior installment. Tris is haunted by the decisions she made at the end of Divergent, including playing a large role in the deaths of numerous people close to her. A reoccurring image throughout Insurgent is the simulation-induced appearance of her mother (Ashley Judd), who was killed in the first film. Tris is burdened with guilt, but still has the ability to express love, empathy, and honesty -- which is fitting, given her class-system-defying status of being Divergent.

A notable trend in these YA film adaptations is the presence of accomplished older actors playing authority figures (think Donald Sutherland in The Hunger Games or Patricia Clarkson in The Maze Runner). Insurgent is no different, and benefits greatly from performances by Kate Winslet and Naomi Watts. Winslet is a holdover from the first movie, and her role as the relentless despot Jeanine Matthews remains an important cog in the overarching story. Watts appears as Four's assumed dead, but actually alive mother, who turns out to be the leader of the underground "faction-less" clan.

Despite the ensemble cast and some inspiring performances,Insurgent treads water for the majority of its 119 minutes. The action scenes are well-crafted and frequent, but the near-ridiculous concept of the story tends to invalidate the best aspects of the film. The majority of Tris' hand-to-hand combat scenes take place inside simulations, with the character unconscious from a serum. The bulk of the movie is an awkward dance between reality and replication, but surprisingly, it pulls itself together for an effective (albeit convoluted) ending. Teens will love the defiant lead characters and the shoot-'em-up action, but critics should pay special attention to Woodley. She's a tremendous young talent, and while she's tied to the Divergent series for another two films, she seems ready to explode into superstardom soon. 

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Chosen One | Future Dystopias | Heroic Mission | Lovers on the Lam | Misfits and Outsiders | Out For Revenge | Post-Apocalypse | Virtual Reality

Watch Online Jurassic World (2015) - MovieTimeUs

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Brothers Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins) are too young to remember the opening of the first, doomed Jurassic Park. Maybe that's why they're not terribly concerned when, one winter vacation, their parents shuttle them off to a visit with their Aunt Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard). She's the operations manager at Jurassic World, the Costa Rican island resort financed by New Agey CEO Masrani (Irfan Khan), whose philosophy of "embrace uncertainty" is a lot more unnerving when he's piloting the helicopter you're riding in. His vision for the revamped and rebooted Jurassic World includes an on-site gene-splicing laboratory headed by Dr. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong, reprising his cameo role from the original movie), as well as a behavioral-science facility where raptor whisperer Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) is examining the intelligence of animals previously thought to be untamable.

But despite the scientific high-mindedness and the triceratops-calf rides in the petting zoo, Jurassic World is primarily a theme park whose theme is carnivorousness, where the big-ticket attractions involve copiously toothy behemoths chomping down on tethered goats and gutted sharks (the latter bait possibly a dig at Jaws, executive producer Steven Spielberg's other vacation munch-fest) And just as your average theme park needs to upgrade its premium roller coaster from season to season, Jurassic World has decided that its next big draw is Indominus rex, a mammoth new species engineered from genetic this 'n' that. (Their specimen is female, a choice that might have less to do with gender politics in Hollywood and more with the difficulty of animating a Full Montysaurus while keeping a PG-13 rating.) They've built her a fortified pen she can't escape, which makes one afternoon's discovery of claw marks all the way up and over the concrete barrier somewhat alarming.

After a series of increasingly anemic sequels, the Jurassic Park franchise has roared back to life, even though nothing in director Colin Trevorrow's prior work indicated a knack for big blockbuster fare (his only notable credit, aside from some web shorts and a documentary that's been pulled from distribution, is helming 2012's oddball indie comedy Safety Not Guaranteed). But his vision forJurassic World is enchanting, gratifying, and sure-handed in a way that's uncannily like Spielberg's early period, back when Spielberg was the '80s king of the gee-whiz blockbuster and movies likeRaiders of the Lost Ark (1981) were massive, four-quadrant hits. His Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom inspired the creation of the PG-13 rating, an attempt to create a classification for films that were neither for all ages nor adults only; ironically, Jurassic World finds the perfect balance within that rating between excitement and terror (with the exception of the unjustifiably prolonged -- and arguably misogynistic - death of one female character toward the end), creating an experience that's appropriate for all but the youngest viewers.

Why haven't there been more blockbusters as good as Raiders? Well, Spielberg had Harrison Ford in his prime at his disposal, which is a hard act to top. But Trevorrow has Chris Pratt, and that's almost as good. With The Lego Movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Jurassic World already under his belt,Pratt has won the Triple Crown of Summer Flick Leading Men: He's the dude you want as your boyfriend or your dad or you just want to be, a Navy scientist who rides motorcycles, devastates the ladies with his lopsided grin, and charms velociraptors with nothing more than a dog trainer's clicker and a measured stare. After one close scrape, a panting kid turns to Pratt and asks, "Can we just come with you from now on?" You said it, kid.

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dinosaurs, scientist

Watch Online Interstellar (2014) - MovieTimeUs

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It's a rare occurrence these days to see a blockbuster that deals in ideas rather than plot contrivances, but in Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, sci-fi fans are treated to a true cinematic anomaly: an impeccably crafted slice of escapism driven by scientific concepts that fascinate and thrill in equal measure. The screenplay balances heartfelt drama with heady concepts like wormholes, black holes, and five-dimensional beings, while the outstanding cast sell both the humanity and the science with total assurance. Meanwhile, breathtaking special effects transport us to distant worlds, making Nolan's first post-Batman directorial effort an intense, occasionally heartrending voyage into the great unknown that never feels bloated (despite its intimidating 165-minute runtime).

The story opens on Earth in the distant future, as Mother Nature is waging war on humanity. Famine is widespread, and all of mankind's resources are now dedicated to farming in a desperate fight for survival. A former NASA pilot and engineer named Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) has become a homesteader in order to support his teenage son Tom (Timothee Chalamet) and 10-year-old daughter Murph (Mackenzie Foy). Unfortunately, even that begins to look like a futile endeavor after a sandstorm ravages their close-knit community.

Meanwhile, a seemingly supernatural mystery begins to unfold when the "ghost" that dwells in Murph's room uses the power of gravity to send her a mysterious set of coordinates -- which lead the curious father/daughter duo to a clandestine underground base housing the remnants of NASA. There, renowned physicist Professor Brand (Michael Caine) has been working with a team of astronauts and scientists to find a new planet capable of sustaining human life. Having recently lost contact with a crew who were sent to investigate a wormhole that inexplicably appeared near the rings of Saturn, Brand quickly persuades Cooper to pilot a second mission carrying the seeds of human life though that space-time rift, which will hopefully lead to another galaxy that contains potentially habitable planets.

Although the prospect of leaving his brilliant, beloved daughter for such a desperate mission is a difficult one for Cooper, he agrees; soon, he's on a space station bound for Saturn with Brand's daughter Amelia (Anne Hathaway) and researchers Doyle (Wes Bentley) and Romilly (David Gyasi). Upon reaching the wormhole, the crew and decommissioned military-security robot TARS (voiced byBill Irwin) prepare to pass through. What they discover on the other side could be the key to saving all of humanity, if Cooper and his team can use their resources wisely and accomplish their mission while there's still time to save the loved ones they left behind.

If you spend enough time at the multiplex, you've probably noticed a curious trend -- somewhere along the line, science fiction became less about the "sci" and more about the "fi." Sometimes it feels as though killer robots have hijacked the genre, making it more of a delivery system for action or horror than a tool used to explore some of the universe's greatest mysteries. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule, but for every film like Neill Blomkamp's socially conscious District 9 or Shane Carruth's perplexingPrimer, there are ten flicks like Transformers: Age of Extinction. With Interstellar, Christopher Nolanand his brother Jonathan (the pair wrote the screenplay together) take the genre back to its roots, exploring complex questions about space travel, theoretical physics, destiny, and, yes, even the transcendent power of love, all within the context of a gripping tale of survival out amongst the stars.

By allowing the viewer to live alongside the desperate protagonists on a dying Earth in the movie's opening section, the Nolans take a major gamble that thankfully pays off. Sure, this first act could have been easily condensed into a stylized credit sequence, but the filmmakers seem to realize that that would rob the story of its humanity. Instead, they simply drop us into this dust-blown world, giving us the opportunity to be fully enveloped in humanity's suffocating desperation. It's an approach that requires a certain amount of patience, to be sure, but also one that gives us an intimate glimpse into the lives of these characters as we learn what's at stake for them. In addition to dwelling on small details (like the way people turn over plates at the dining table in order to avoid gathering dust) that give the impression of a historical drama based on things yet to come, these scenes also provide the film with its heart by presenting Cooper as a father focused on nurturing his daughter's thirst for knowledge, even in the face of smug bureaucracy and total oblivion. While McConaughey effectively brings Cooper's internal conflict to the surface, it's Foy who surprises us the most with her portrayal of a believably intelligent, yet vulnerable ten-year-old girl faced with the trauma of losing a second parent.

Another aspect of the screenplay crucial to the film's success is that, once the mission is presented, it doesn't waste any time in getting Cooper and his crew out of the atmosphere. The countdown to liftoff commences right after Cooper speeds away from his farm, trying to keep his emotions in check, and we rocket into space on a blast of inspired storytelling shorthand that serves to get us better acquainted with Cooper's traveling companions, their motivations, and their fears. Though confidently executed, it's this section of the film that feels the most predictable, save for some unexpected comic relief from TARS (whose humor settings seem to have been set a bit too high for Cooper's comfort).

None of that matters, however, once the crew awaken from stasis and set course for that unexplained wormhole. From there on out, Interstellar frequently inspires awe with its vivid depictions of alien planets and mind-bending plot developments. To reveal any more would be unfair for first-time viewers, though it can be said that Murph and Professor Brand face their own unique set of challenges on Earth as they race to solve a mystery in time for the astronauts' return, which creates a compelling parallel to the events unfolding light-years away and inventively ties the story back to that mischievous "ghost" in Murph's bedroom. And while the screenplay here could have used a bit more nuance in order to make a late development truly resonate, Caine and Jessica Chastain are both in top form, and that minor misstep is easily forgiven once things really start to unravel for our intrepid explorers. Once that happens, the story comes together quite beautifully, ensuring that our patience and attention are richly rewarded.

But what truly sets Interstellar apart is Nolan's talent for flooding us with adrenaline during the movie's more intense scenes, then promptly stimulating our intellect without missing a beat. It all adds up to a singular, visually dazzling experience that can take its place among some of the most exhilarating and ambitious science-fiction films ever produced.

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Tags:
astronaut, astrophysics, black-hole, daughter, father, galaxy, intergalactic, mankind, NASA, outer-space, physics, Saturn, scientist, solar-system, space-travel, time-warp, dimension-travel