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3 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Budget committee nixes solar farm, AHS-to-SOU scholarships Ashland downtown beautification project underway on Lithia Way Memorial Day rites set for Monday Grizzly earns prestigious UO academic scholarship Police Reports Education Grizzly earns prestigious UO academic scholarship The battle for the Earth Bowl Principal Zundel looks to next challenge Youth Activities and Academics Levy rolls in early returns It takes a village to raise a child Environment Demonstrators hope to save tree Documentary 'When Giants Fall' tells tragic story of elephant poaching Mt. 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Budget committee nixes solar farm, AHS-to-SOU scholarships ... Memorial Day rites set for Monday ... GOP's war on the poor ... Budget committee nixes solar farm, AHS-to-SOU scholarships ... Memorial Day rites set for Monday ... Movie review: Disney takes us to 'Tomorrowland' By Ed Symkus More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted May. 22, 2015 @ 12:01 am By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted May. 22, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2324,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> When writer-director Brad Bird made the move from animation (“The Iron Giant,” “The Incredibles,” “Ratatouille”) to live-action films with “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol,” he also changed his target audience. While the first ones pleased both kids and adults, the Tom Cruise entry left very young viewers out of the equation. With his second live-actioner, “Tomorrowland,” he invites both audiences back. This one certainly has lots going for it, including a wholly original plotline, terrific visuals and surprisingly good performances from its young actors. It’s a fast-moving film that jumps right into its tale of some differences between youngsters and adults, and of how optimism can turn to pessimism, then takes off on a mind trip that crosses time, space and dimensions. But in putting together this adventure in science fiction and fantasy, Bird lets things get too convoluted and, toward the end, the script seems to be rushing to fill in all sorts of explanations that wouldn’t have had to be there if things were kept simpler. Let me explain: The film opens with Frank Walker (George Clooney) announcing, right into the camera, “This is a story about the future,” and being interrupted by the off-screen voice of a young girl. “When I was a kid,” he continues ... but we don’t hear about it, we see it, as the film flashes back to the New York World’s Fair of 1964, where young Frank (Thomas Robinson) is entering his self-designed – and comically faulty – jet pack in a contest. He and his invention don’t interest Nix (Hugh Laurie), the man in charge, but do catch the eye of young Athena (Raffey Cassidy), who initially appears to be Nix’s daughter, but is someone – something – quite different. When she slips Frank a lapel pin with a big “T” on it, he unwittingly embarks upon an adventure that will change him forever. Back in the present, we look in on the exploits of smart, stubborn, feisty Casey Newton (Britt Robertson), who’s upset that her NASA engineer dad will soon be out of work because with new budgets, “there’s nothing to launch.” She, too, is soon slipped one of those pins; she, too, sets out on an adventure. Both of these kids go somewhere and see something that boggles their minds: a sleek, shiny city of the future. At least they go and see it when they’re touching that pin, and when they let go, they’re home again. That back and forth provides some of the film’s funnier physical comedy moments. But “Tomorrowland” also ventures to some wild and dark places and moods. There are others, and they’re not exactly human, who want those pins, and they go about evaporating anyone who gets in their way, signaling that this is going to be a film with a steady supply of bloodless violence. Casey, determined to find out what’s going on, tracks down and eventually meets the now-adult Frank, once wide-eyed and cheerful, now reduced to a bitter man whose dreams have been dashed. All of that changes when Athena, still a little girl (or something), suddenly appears at Casey’s side, and reappears, all these years later, at Frank’s side. Bird’s film carries themes of being hopeful about the future and never giving up, even when our protagonists manage to return to that other (future?) world – which may just be in their minds – and find that things have gone terribly wrong. But it’s wrapped up in an exciting, action-packed, kind of confusing climax – the part where all of that explanation comes roaring through – in which young and old, optimist and pessimist, come together and figure out a way to save, well, everything. Ed Symkus covers movies for More Content Now. TOMORROWLAND Written by Damon Lindelof and Brad Bird; directed by Brad Bird With George Clooney, Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, Hugh Laurie Rated PG By Ed Symkus More Content Now DailyTidings.com By Ed Symkus More Content Now Posted May. 22, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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