Movies

Movie reviewers are a jaded bunch. I saw a review of the third Start Trek movie once that said, "More of the same...". The people who went to see it were saying, "Wow, more of the same!"
They are looking for deep, compelling, etc. I am looking for entertainment. I have enough drama in my life. I don't need to worry about someone else’s problems. I only watch comedy, science fiction, and fantasy. The best movies are a mix of all three. Fantasy is best when magic is treated as a form of science. (Arthur C. Clark said, "Sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic." More on his laws another time.)
I just saw Robots. I liked it. It was fun to watch, and I want to see it agin to see what I missed. There were funny signs everywhere, like an ice cream cart labeled, "Auntie Freeze's Ice Cream". In early computer animation, smooth objects were just smooth and perfect. In Robots, some surfaces were like fiberglass boats, with slight ripples, and some were rusty, or dirty, or patches of dirt over a shiny surface. Reviews said it had no story and no heart. Wrong. It had a predictable plot with corny sentiment. So what? Kids are not so familiar with the predictable plot, and there is nothing wrong with a movie that has the good guys staying good, and winning in the end. It felt like a movie from the 30's. There were little jokes all through it for adults, like when a damaged robot sings "Daisy" in slowed down audio (HAL in "2001, A Space Odyssey") I guess Robots won't be a great classic, but it is worth seeing.