Sonic the Hedgehog 2 / ** (PG)

Sonic (voice): Ben Schwartz

Dr. Robotnik: Jim Carrey

Tails (voice): Colleen O’Shaughnessey

Knuckles (voice): Idris Elba

Tom Wachowski: James Marsden

Maddie Wachowski: Tika Sumpter

Rachel: Natasha Rothwell

Randall: Shemar Moore

Wade: Adam Pally

Agent Stone: Lee Majdoub

Commander Walters: Tom Butler

Paramount Pictures presents a film directed by Jeff Fowler. Written by Pat Casey, Josh Miller and John Whittington. Running time: 122 min. Rated PG (for action, some violence, rude humor, and mild language).

My 8-year-old son really enjoyed this movie.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (PG-13) ***

Walt Disney Pictures/Lucasfilm

Rey: Daisy Ridley

Kylo Ren: Adam Driver

Finn: John Boyega

Poe: Oscar Isaac

General Organa: Carrie Fisher

Chewbacca: Joonas Suotamo

General Hux: Domhnall Gleeson

Allegiant General Pryde: Richard E. Grant

Zorii Bliss: Keri Russell

Jannah: Naomi Ackie

General Calrissian: Billy Dee Williams

Emperor Palpatine: Ian McDiarmid

Luke Skywalker: Mark Hamill

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures presents a film directed by J.J. Abrams. Screenplay by Chris Terrio & Abrams. Story by Derek Connolly & Colin Trevorrow and Terrio & Abrams. Based on characters created by George Lucas. Running time: 142 min. Rated PG-13 (for sci-fi violence and action).

What has happened with the Star Wars franchise is unprecedented in movie history. There are franchises that have lasted longer and that have contained more episodes, although not many. But this is the first franchise to last over 4 decades following one storyline over 8 films and come to a form of a conclusion. Harry Potter ran 11 years to finish up its initial storyline. James Bond doesn’t follow an ongoing storyline. It never even had a direct sequel until it had existed for over 40 years. Now every franchise has an ever expanding universe of mythology, but in many senses Star Wars is the one that started that; and for the first time an audience is seeing a decades long storyline end.

As such, audiences have come to a place of confusion with their emotions. The generation that saw the original in theaters–of which I am a member–are seeing the ultimate culmination of their childhood dreams with a mix of emotions running from not wanting something they never imagined would last this long to end and having a hard time swallowing that it didn’t all play out as our 10-year-old selves imagined it would. Newer generations experienced the prequels or this finale trilogy in much the same way we did the original and have to deal with the original generation complaining about their appreciation for a franchise both were introduced to during very different times. 

Avengers: Infinity War / ***½ (PG-13)

Marvel Studios

Tony Stark/Iron Man: Robert Downey Jr.

Thor: Chris Hemsworth

Bruce Banner/Hulk: Mark Ruffalo

Steve Rogers/Captain America: Chris Evans

Natasha Romanoff: Scarlett Johansson

James Rhodes/ War Machine: Don Cheadle

Doctor Strange: Benedict Cumberbatch

Peter Parker/Spider-Man: Tom Holland

T’Challa/ Black Panther: Chadwick Boseman

Gamora: Zoe Saldana

Nebula: Karen Gillan

Loki: Tom Hiddleston

Vision: Paul Bettany

Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch: Elizabeth Olsen

Sam Wilson/Falcon: Anthony Mackie

Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier: Sebastian Shaw

Heimdall: Idris Elba

Okoye: Danai Gurira

Mantis: Pom Klementieff

Drax: Dave Bautista

Groot (voice): Vin Diesel

Rocket (voice): Bradley Cooper

Pepper Potts: Gwenyth Paltrow

The Collector: Benicio Del Toro

Thanos: Josh Brolin

Peter Quill/Star-Lord: Chris Pratt

Marvel Studios & Walt Disney Pictures presents a film directed by Anthony Russo & Joe Russo. Written by Christopher Markus & Stephen Feely.  Based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Captain America created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Star-Lord created by Steve Englehart and Steve Gan. Rocket Raccoon created by Bill Mantlo and Keith Giffen. Thanos, Gamora & Drax created by Jim Starlin. Groot created by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby. Mantis created by Steve Englehart and Don Heck. Running time: 149 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action throughout, language and some crude references).

I struggle to find exactly what to discuss about Marvel’s latest epic cinematic enterprise, Avengers: Infinity War. Marvel is very good at building toward big events such as this one, and they’ve spent several movies worth over the past few years building to this movie in particular. Just look at that cast list. Don’t think I’ve listed the only faces you’ll recognize from other Marvel movies either. The subjects of those movies have their own unrelated adventures, and little details and credit cookies in them lend hints toward the greater story that they all are building toward. Now it is here. It is a good story and a fitting one considering the grandeur of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The set ups are done and the players play their part and to say any more than that would spoil everything they’ve built. So, I will leave you with this biblical verse, which in itself may be saying too much.

“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

                                                                                                                        Genesis 3:19

A Quiet Place / **** (PG-13)

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Paramount Pictures

Evelyn Abbott: Emily Blunt

Lee Abbott: John Krasinski

Regan Abbott: Millicent Simmonds

Marcus Abbott: Noah Jupe

Paramount Pictures presents a film directed by John Krasinski. Written by Bryan Woods & Scott Beck and John Krasinski. Running time: 90 min. Rated PG-13 (for terror and some bloody images).

Noise is something we take for granted. There’s always noise. Even in the darkest moments of night when the world at large is resting, our world is filled with noise. I can hear the hum of trucks from the interstate a quarter of a mile away at night when everything else is quiet in the house. However, nothing ever seems as quiet as it does when you are startled awake in the night by a nightmare. At that moment, silence can be stifling. And when all seems as still as it can be, with that nightmare lingering in your brain, the slightest little sound—a creak in the floor, a branch on a window, the fractional settlements of a house that occur throughout a structure’s lifespan—can bring an uncontrollable start. That moment when you suddenly think that the breaking of the silence will cost you your life, that is where the entirety of the new horror movie, A Quiet Place, exists.

Ready Player One / *** (PG-13)

Warner Bros.

Parzival/Wade: Tye Sheridan

Art3mis/Samantha: Olivia Cooke

Sorrento: Ben Mendelsohn

Aech/Helen: Lena Waithe

I-R0k: T.J. Miller

Ogden Morrow: Simon Pegg

Anorak/Halliday: Mark Rylance

Warner Bros. presents a film directed by Steven Spielberg. Written by Zak Penn and Ernest Cline. Based on the novel by Ernest Cline. Running time: 140 min. Rated PG-13 (for sequences of sci-fi action violence, bloody images, some suggestive material, partial nudity and language).

There’s an interesting trend going on in filmmaking today that I don’t believe we’ve ever witnessed in cinematic history. It seems to have started at the dawn of the superhero movie, but has been building to a crescendo as more and more filmmakers who grew up in the 80s are coming into their own in Hollywood and are turning modern films into a sort of meta homage to the films of their youth. One of the filmmakers primarily responsible for the great popularity of cinema in the 80s was Steven Spielberg, who directed many of the iconic films of that era. With Ready Player One, it seems Spielberg has been inspired to up the meta level of modern filmmaking by making his own homage to the era that he was in great part responsible for building.

Spielberg chooses the right material for his meta gambit in his adaptation of Ernest Cline’s novel Ready Player One. Cline is making a name for himself as an 80s enthusiast—his second novel Armada is also heavily soaked in 80s nostalgia. I can’t imagine the nerdgasmic feeling that must’ve come over Cline when he discovered that Spielberg himself was interested in adapting his 80s nostalgia-centric novel. Anyway, Spielberg’s many professional connections to all things 80s and Cline’s obsession with them makes this a near perfect teaming of creative minds. Spielberg brings in frequent superhero scripter Zak Penn, also responsible for the story behind the equally nostalgia-driven Last Action Hero, to shore up Cline’s own screen adaptation.

Black Panther / **** (PG-13)

T’Challa/Black Panther: Chadwick Boseman

Erik Killmonger: Michael B. Jordan

Nakia: Lupita Nyong’o

Okoye: Danai Gurira

Shuri: Letitia Wright

Everett K. Ross: Martin Freeman

W’Kabi: Daniel Kaluuya

M’Baku: Winston Duke

N’Jobu: Sterling K. Brown

Ramonda: Angela Bassett

Zuri: Forest Whitaker

Ulysses Klaue: Andy Serkis

Walt Disney Pictures presents a film directed by Ryan Coogler. Written by Coogler & Joe Robert Cole. Based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Running time: 134 min. Rated PG-13 (for prolonged sequences of action violence, and a brief rude gesture).

You’re going to read a great deal about the box office of Black Panther. You’re going to read many quotes from critics calling Black Panther “ground breaking.” You’re going to read that Black Panther is the best comic book movie ever made. For most people, none of this will really matter. For most people, Black Panther will just be a good time at the movies. It accomplishes this with a predominantly black cast in an international story that includes only two white supporting characters. That right there is the biggest reason why all of the previous things I listed are true. However, what is most remarkable about Black Panther is that all of those things said about it would also be true even if most people didn’t go to see it.

Star Trek Beyond / ***½ (PG-13)

Captain James T. Kirk: Chris Pine

Commander Spock: Zachary Quinto

Doctor ‘Bones’ McCoy: Karl Urban

Lieutenant Uhura: Zoe Saldana

Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott: Simon Pegg

Sulu: John Cho

Chekov: Anton Yelchin

Jaylah: Sofia Boutella

Krall: Irdris Elba

Paramount Pictures presents a film directed by Justin Lin. Written by Simon Pegg & Doug Jung. Based on the “Star Trek” television series created by Gene Roddenberry. Running time: 122 min. Rated PG-13 (for sequences of sci-fi action and violence).

I overheard a critic speaking recently who said that nostalgia doesn’t belong in criticism. I’m not so sure I agree with this, which is no surprise since I write from a very nostalgic point of view. I understand what this critic was saying. There is an objectiveness that is necessary in criticism and getting too nostalgic runs the danger of adopting the false entitlement of ownership that so many fans espouse these days, leading to much of the illegitimate criticism felt by franchises, such as the “Ghostbusters” reboot. However, I think it’s impossible to critique these franchises without acknowledging their reliance on what has come before. Of course, the best franchise films work just as well if you’ve never seen any entry in the series before, but most are made with the notion their audience is familiar with the franchise characters, tone and mythology.

Ghostbusters / **½ (PG-13)

Erin Gilbert: Kristin Wiig

Abby Yates: Melissa McCarthy

Jillian Holtzman: Kate McKinnon

Patty Tolan: Leslie Jones

Rowan North: Neil Casey

Kevin: Chris Hemsworth

Columbia Pictures presents a film directed by Paul Feig. Written by Kate Dippold & Feig. Based on the 1984 movie by Ivan Reitman, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. Running time: 116 min. Rated PG-13 (for supernatural action and some crude humor).

The new reboot of the “Ghostbusters” franchise comes with a load of baggage, mostly having to do with the quite progressive idea of recasting the lead characters as women instead of men. I’ve never seen a beloved franchise so maligned by advance anti-buzz as this film. I’m a big believer in seeing the movie before forming an opinion about it. I guess it goes to show you how little progress we’ve made in this country in terms of equality that so many people have an issue with female heroes. People even criticized the editing of the first trailer as a negative point to avoid the fact that they were upset that their franchise had lost a Y chromosome. I’ve never seen the editing of a trailer criticized before. First trailers are usually poorly edited because they’re trying to tell a story before all the filming and effects have been completed.

Anyway, I think it is wonderful that this franchise was taken over by women. It is a great step forward to see women depicted as heroes while remaining women, instead of becoming over-sexualized props for the men they accompany. The main cast is wonderful. The Ghostbusters are just as iconic portrayed here by Kristin Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. They’re funny. They’re capable. They aren’t “real” because they exist in a fantasy, special effects laden universe of the paranormal; but they are women, with thoughts and actions unique to them and not existing in the service of men or even necessarily the plot of the movie. The new Ghostbusters are a shining example of where women in mainstream entertainment should be.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice / ***½ (PG-13)

Bruce Wayne/Batman: Ben Affleck

Clark Kent/Superman: Henry Cavill

Lois Lane: Amy Adams

Lex Luther: Jesse Eisenberg

Martha Kent: Diane Lane

Alfred Pennyworth: Jeremy Irons

Perry White: Laurence Fishburne

Senator Finch: Holly Hunter

Diana Prince/Wonder Woman: Gal Gadot

Wallace Keefe: Scoot McNairy

Anatoli Knyazev: Callan Mulvey

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by Zack Snyder. Written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer. Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Running time: 151 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action throughout, and some sensuality).

“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” has been critically reviled. I expected to be in the critic’s camp on this one. I hated, hated, hated Zach Snyder’s “Man of Steel”. I revisited it a couple of weeks ago. It did not improve upon a second viewing. I’ve rarely approached a film with such dread as I did BvS. I have rarely been so pleasantly surprised. Ben Affleck is all the Batman and Bruce Wayne I wanted him to be. Henry Cavill is given a little more to do with Supes this time. Amy Adams’ Lois Lane even receives a little character development. And, I think even the critics who hated the movie think Gal Gadot kicks ass as Wonder Woman.

Horror Thoughts ‘15—It Follows (2015) ****

R, 100 min.

Director/Writer: David Robert Mitchell

Starring: Maika Monroe, Kier Gilchrist, Lili Sepe, Olivia Luccardi, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary

It’s always a bit of a cheat for a critic to come to a movie after both sides have had their chance at it. As is often the case with underground hits, after an initial wave of incredible praise for the project comes an almost equal wave of disparagement against it. With the indie horror flick “It Follows”, initial reviews hailed it as the most original work of horror in the past ten years or so. It has since been reduced to “meh” is many circles. The most public of the charges against it came from director Quentin Tarantino, who praised its originality, but accused writer/director David Robert Mitchell of breaking his own mythology. Perhaps the greatest praise I can give the movie is that while I watched it, all of these opinions from others dropped from my mind and I was immersed into a narrative that I never could have foreseen.

Jurassic World / *** (PG-13)

Owen: Chris Pratt

Claire: Bryce Dallas Howard

Gray: Ty Simpkins

Zach: Nick Robinson

Hoskins: Vincent D’Onofrio

Simon Masrani: Irrfan Khan

Lowery: Jake Johnson

Vivian: Lauren Lapkus

Barry: Omar Sy

Dr. Henry Wu: B.D. Wong

Universal Pictures presents a film directed by Colin Trevorrow. Written by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver and Colin Trevorrow & Derek Connelly, Based on concepts created by Michael Crichton. Running time: 124 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of science fiction violence and peril).

The whole concept behind Hollywood sequel making is counter to the notion of criticism. While a critic tries to guide and educate an audience on what will entertain and enlighten them, the purpose of a sequel is generally to make money off of fulfilling an expectation of the exact same approach to the exact same effect as the previous—or best—film in a franchise. So it is left to the critic to merely report whether the filmmakers have achieved a repeated effect or have failed. When you get a tent pole film like “Jurassic Park” that is filled with spectacle and thoughts, it becomes problematic for the studios, which inexplicably feel the need to reproduce the spectacle but rarely the insight.

Spectacle minus the insight was certainly the problem with the previous two movies in the “Jurassic” franchise. In fact, “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic Park III” were so lacking in any sort of science fiction themes and insight that the latest in the series—the long-awaited reboot “Jurassic World”—totally ignores the existence of the second and third films. In doing so it returns the story to the roots of its science fiction foundation. Once again the characters are dealing with the themes of the original film about the dangers of playing God with science, the impossibility of containing nature and even some new ideas about the need of some humans to push every scientific development toward weaponization.

Mad Max: Fury Road / **** (R)

Max Rockatansky: Tom Hardy

Imperator Furiosa: Charlize Theron

Nux: Nicholas Hoult

Immortan Joe: Hugh Keays-Byrne

Slit: Josh Helman

Rictus Erectus: Nathan Jones

Toast the Knowing: Zoë Kravitz

The Splendid Angharad: Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a film directed by George Miller. Written by Miller and Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris. Running time: 120 min. Rated R (for intense sequences of violence throughout, and for disturbing images).

They say it is a fine line between genius and madness. When I was in college, we had a professor that might’ve proved this adage. He was a brilliant teacher and director known for sometimes spectacular behavior to get what he wanted out of his casts. As a teacher he loved to ask his students each Monday which movies we had wasted our money that weekend. He chortled at the latest “artistic” cinema we’d consumed as some sort of deep commentary on society, but… get him talking about George Miller’s post-apocalyptic adventure “The Road Warrior” and you’d hear him extemporize about the genius of modern cinema.

Avengers: Age of Ultron / *** (PG-13)

Tony Stark/Iron Man: Robert Downey, Jr.

Thor: Chris Hemsworth

Steve Rogers/Captain America: Chris Evans

Bruce Banner/Hulk: Mark Ruffalo

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow: Scarlett Johansson

Clint Barton/Hawkeye: Jeremy Renner

Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver: Aaron Taylor-Johnson

Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch: Elizabeth Olsen

Ultron (voice): James Spader

J.A.R.V.I.S./Vision: Paul Bettany

Nick Fury: Samuel L. Jackson

Walt Disney and Marvel Studios present a film written & directed by Joss Whedon. Based on the Marvel Comis characters created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. Running time: 141 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of sci-fi action, violence and destruction, and for some suggestive comments).

POW! KRACKOOOM! KCHOW! BAMM!

These words typically associated with comic books could easily fill in for the sound effects in the opening sequence of “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, the second film in the “Avengers” franchise and eleventh overall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, these and similar words could fill the soundtrack of almost the entire nearly 2 ½ hour running time of the movie. It is wall to wall to ceiling to floor action. It even has a little bit of the science fiction themes and soap operatic elements that sold so many of the children of the 80s on comic book culture.

For those who are doing their best to consume everything MCU they possibly can, the plot picks up the moment where this past week’s TV episode of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” left off. I was disappointed not to see at least a brief cameo by Agent Coulson, however. For those of you who just want to kick off your summer with a balls-out smash blockbuster action spectacular, don’t worry, you don’t need to have seen one second of the television show to understand and enjoy what’s happening on the big screen.

Home / ** (PG)

Featuring the voices of:

Oh: Jim Parsons

Gratuity ‘Tip’ Tucci: Rihanna

Captain Smek: Steve Martin

Lucy: Jennifer Lopez

Kyle: Matt Jones

DreamWorks Animation presents a film directed by Tim Johnson. Written by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember. Based on the book “The True Meaning of Smekday” by Adam Rex. Running time: 94 min. Rated PG (for mild action and some rude humor).

“Home” is a perfectly entertaining movie for children of a certain age. It lacks—as more and more CGI animation efforts do these days—that vigor to press the animation boundaries once shattered by Pixar. I suppose DreamWorks Animation has always been the poor man’s Pixar, but its ambition seems to falter more with every successive effort. “Home” is just the most recent in the diminishing vibrancy of family centric CGI animation.

Television Thoughts ‘15—Agent Carter (2015) ***

TV-PG, 8 43-min. episodes

Creators: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

Directors: Stephen Cragg, Louis D’Esposito, Peter Leto, Christopher Misiano, Vincent Misiano, Joe Russo, Stephen Williams, Scott Winant

Writers: Stan Lee (characters), Jack Kirby (characters), Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Eric Pearson, Lindsey Allen, Andi Bushell, Tara Butters, Chris Dingess, Brant Englestein, Michele Fazekas, Jose Molina

Starring: Hayley Atwell, James D’Arcy, Chad Michael Murray, Enver Gjokaj, Shea Whigham, Lyndsy Fonseca, Bridget Regan, Ralph Brown, Meagan Fay

Guest starring: Dominic Cooper, Kyle Bornheimer, Lesley Boone, Alexander Carroll, James Frain, James Landry Hébert, Devin Ratray, James Urbaniak, Kevin Cotteleer, Patrick Robert Smith, Neal McDonough, Leonard Roberts, GlennTaranto, Jack Conley, Rick Peters, John Prosky, Pawel Szajda, Ray Wise, Ashley Hinshaw, Toby Jones, John Glover, Andre Royo, Richard Short

So I read an interview with Richard Dreyfuss the other day in which he questioned the interviewer’s use of the term “the new golden age of television”, referring to the current renaissance happening on television today. (Read the Indiewire article here.) Dreyfuss claimed that the only Golden Age of television was in the early 50s when it was the new form of entertainment in everyone’s household. While I agree that perhaps a new term other than “Golden Age” might be in order to describe an era 70 years down the line, I’m not so sure Dreyfuss quite understands what the interviewer was talking about, because he went on to describe the current television market of consisting only of police procedurals, courtroom dramas and family sitcoms. I suddenly realized that Dreyfuss’ television provider only carries CBS, ion and Nick at Nite.

Chappie / **½ (R)

Chappie: Sharlto Copley

Deon Wilson: Dev Patel

Ninja: Ninja

Yolandi: Yo-Landi Visser

Yankie America: Jose Pablo Cantillo

Vincent Moore: Hugh Jackman

Michelle Bradley: Sigourney Weaver

Hippo: Brandon Auret

Columbia Pictures presents a film directed by Neill Blomkamp. Written by Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell. Running time: 120 min. Rated R (for violence, language and brief nudity).

I’ve always been of the belief that expectation is an enemy of art. It closes off the mind to possibilities the artist may have envisioned that the viewer may not if they’re anticipating something else. As such, I’ve become pretty good at turning off the grand expectations movie studios are so insistent on instilling in their audiences through trailers and the buzz movie media outlets provide before a movie’s release. It’s not that I don’t pay attention to these things, because I am a fan first and a critic second; but once I’m there in the dark awaiting the start of a movie I let it all go and simply take in the movie.

That being said, I’d like to talk about the expectations behind the new science fiction movie “Chappie” a little before I delve into my expectationless opinion of it. This is the third movie by South African sci-fi wunderkind Neill Blomkamp. His debut film “District 9” was a summer sleeper hit and a rare science fiction Best Picture Oscar nominee. His follow-up “Elysium” was not as special—although I felt it was enjoyable—and recently Blomkamp has revealed some disappointments he had with that project.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Jurassic World trailer & Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer

The first time I met Roger Ebert I totally embarrassed myself by criticizing one of his colleagues, long time Today Show film critic Gene Shalit. I took a light-hearted shot at Shalit, suggesting that I could do his job, not realizing that Shalit was an alumnus of The University of Illinois along with Ebert. Ebert gently defended his friend and colleague without really demeaning my opinion.

I never really liked Shalit’s shtick of clever wordplay in his reviews. He never really seemed to get to the meat of the movies that way. Of course, his very short form television format hardly afforded him any depth to begin with. But it really ticked me off when instead of reviewing a new movie one week he reviewed the first trailer of the first Harry Potter movie. This was the week before I met Ebert, so it was fresh in my head. How insulting to the filmmakers who did have releases that week that their chances of promotion would be preempted by a review of a trailer.

That being said, the were two very high profile trailer releases this week, that I’ve decided not to let go by without dedicating one of my Penny Thoughts columns to them. The second was such a big deal that people might have already forgotten about the first.

In case you missed it, the beginning of this Thanksgiving week brought us the premiere of the first “Jurassic World” trailer. The fourth “Jurassic Park” movie has been in the oven so long, I figured the studio would eventually throw it out, or if they did finally make it, it would be burned to a crisp. Well, They did make it, and I was surprised to find that it actually looks pretty good.

Penny Thoughts ‘14—Snowpiercer (2014) ***½

R, 126 min.

Director: Joon-ho Bong

Writers: Joon-ho Bong, Kelly Masterson, Jacques Lob (graphic novel “Le Transperceniege”), Benjamin Legrand (graphic novel “Le Transperceneige”), Jean-Marc Rochette (graphic novel “Le Transperceneige”)

Starring: Chris Evans, Kang-ho Song, Ah-sung Ko, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, Jamie Bell, John Hurt, Ewen Bremner, Ed Harris, Allison Pill, Luke Pasqualino, Vlad Ivanov, Adnan Haskovic

So, it’s the future. The world has been thrown into a frozen state following an ill-conceived solution to global warming. The only survivors of the human race have been living on a supersonic train that traverses the planet once very year. The train is sectioned off into social orders with the poorest passengers stationed at the back of the train, eating protein bars provided by the train’s administrators, while the upper class citizens live in luxury in the train’s front cars. The back passengers plan a revolt to gain control of the train.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay—Part 1 / *** (PG-13)

Katniss Everdeen: Jennifer Lawrence

Gale Hawthorne: Liam Hemsworth

Plutarch Heavensbee: Philip Seymour Hoffman

President Alma Coin: Julianne Moore

President Snow: Donald Sutherland

Peeta Mellark: Josh Hutcherson

Haymitch Abernathy: Woody Harrelson

Beetee: Jeffery Wright

Boggs: Mahershala Ali

Primrose Everdeen: Willow Shields

Finnick Odair: Sam Claflin

Effie Trinket: Elizabeth Banks

Caesar Flickerman: Stanley Tucci

Lionsgate Films presents a film directed by Francis Lawrence. Written by Peter Craig and Danny Strong and Suzanne Collins. Based on the novel “Mockingjay” by Collins. Running time: 123 min. Rated PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence and action, some disturbing images and thematic material).

We’ve seen to two Hunger Games now and it is time for the revolution of Panem. But, before we get to that let’s pause to consider just what we’ve done and what it is we are calling upon ourselves to do. It is rare that an action franchise will take the time to consider its own ramifications, however, this first part of the exciting franchise finale might just be more about making money from four movies instead of three. I believe if its final chapter weren’t split into two parts, Katniss probably wouldn’t have quite this much of a chance to prepare herself to be the symbol of change she becomes here, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Interstellar / ***½ (PG-13)

Cooper: Matthew McConaughey

Murph: Jessica Chastain

Murph (10 Yrs.): Mackenzie Foy

Murph (older): Ellen Burstyn

Brand: Anne Hathaway

Professor Brand: Michael Caine

TARS (voice): Bill Irwin

Donald: John Lithgow

Tom: Casey Affleck

Tom (15 Yrs.): Timothée Chalamet

Doyle: Wes Bentley

Romilly: David Gyasi

Getty: Topher Grace

Dr. Mann: Matt Damon

Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures present a film directed by Christopher Nolan. Written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan. Running time: 169 min. Rated PG-13 (for some intense perilous action and brief strong language).

“You're familiar with the phrase ‘man's reach exceeds his grasp’? It's a lie: man's grasp exceeds his nerve.”

                                    —Nikola Tesla, “The Prestige”.

In 2006, Christopher Nolan released a movie called “The Prestige”, about how magicians create their illusions. Real life electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla appeared as a character in the fictional film as a mentor to one of the magicians. While Tesla was a legitimate innovator in science, he gained a reputation as a “mad scientist” through his showmanship and some of his more outlandish experiments that never gained mainstream support. He provides a science-based version of the magicians work in that movie in a way that somewhat bridges the gap between art and science. This could describe much of what Nolan seems to do as a director. His latest epic space adventure “Interstellar” could be his grandest work of art and science yet.