Well, more like at home on my couch, but that's as close to "at the movies" as we get these days! RedBox and Netflix just make it too darn convenient to stay at home. Which is interesting considering the plot of my first movie review.
Despite mixed
Rotten Tomatoes reviews (only scored a 40%), Rob and I actually quite enjoyed
this film. It is a realistic science fiction movie about completely human-like "surrogate" robots that humans control with their thoughts and use to basically live their lives without fear of injury or death. Or in other, more eloquent words,
"a high-tech surrogate phenomenon that allows people to purchase unflawed robotic versions of themselves – fit, good looking remotely controlled machines that ultimately assume their life roles – enabling people to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes." The main twist comes when somebody figures out a way to kill the human operator by killing the surrogate, putting 99% of the human population at risk of simultaneous termination.The movie is kind of creepy to watch because you know all the "people" aren't real, and surrogates don't necessarily look like their human operators, so you never know who is behind the actions of the surrogates. (A fat, ugly, middle-aged man posing as a young beautiful blonde woman, for example).
It's like fake MySpace or Facebook profiles come to life. As one RT critic put it, "SF chillers of the past that warned about dehumanization -- 'Invaders from Mars,' for example -- posited an outside threat; now, in a 21st-century world of plastic surgery and online avatars, the danger comes from within: the dehumanization is voluntary."
It's kind of a mixture of
I, Robot and
Minority Report, which are two movies we also like (and two of the few we actually own). If you're into the Sci-fi genre, you should definitely give this one a try.
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Ghost Town, another movie we watched and enjoyed recently, was much better than I expected it to be, and received a well-deserved 85% on the
RT scale.
Think of it as a funny, or hilarious rather, rom-com version of
The Sixth Sense. It had me laughing unexpectedly at every turn. Funny-man
Ricky Gervais nails his role as an uninterested,
antisocial dentist who suddenly finds himself able to see and communicate with the dead who need his help resolving thier
unfinished business. Doesn't sound that funny, does it. But trust me, it is. The comic timing is spot on throughout the film. You should watch it. You will watch it. You'll watch it and you'll like it. And that's a promise. I also recommend watching the outtakes which are equally hilarious as the film itself.
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And there you have it. Two films, two completely different plots, both earning two-thumbs-up reviews from yours truly.
Go. Now. Watch them.
