Ocean’s 8: Proof Reboots Can Be Fun

Many of the summer blockbusters you’ll see this year are superhero flicks – fun, even when they’re animated, but not everyone’s cup of tea. Alongside those movies come a series of reboots and sequels, which is a bit dry in its own way, since we know at least a little bit about the stories as we walk into them. So, how to combat this? Well, the reboots and sequels must do their best to bring a fun, fresh twist to the story in order to keep us entertained, since that’s really what we’re asking for in a summer blockbuster. Ocean’s 8, an early contender for the summer movie crowd, is a great example of this. Not only is the reboot of Steven Soderbergh’s heist film a twist on the original story – a team of women committing the crime – but all the elements of a good heist film are played to perfection. The plan is complex but fun to follow, the characters form a seamless and amusing team as they execute the heist, and no matter how you may expect the story to end, the film will still keep you on edge wondering how the ending will come about. Summer blockbusters are there for you to have fun indoors, and you will definitely have fun sitting through the antics of the newest Ocean team.

A Wrinkle in Time’s Confusing Beauty

As it turns out, A Wrinkle in Time was destined to be a Disney film long before Disney bought the rights – producer Catherine Hand, when she was ten years old, began a letter to Walt Disney and asked him to turn the book she loved into a movie. She believed Mr. Disney was the only person who could do the book justice. Fifty-four years later, she actively worked on the film that is now working its way through theaters. Way back in third grade, my class was one of the ones who didn’t end up reading the novel A Wrinkle in Time (by Madeleine L’Engle), even though it seemed like every other class in the world cracked the novel open at some point. With movies based on books that make their way into theaters (which has, sadly, become commonplace), I always have a bit of a conundrum – do I read the book before I see the movie? I try to judge the movie for itself, and not for the expectations the book has placed on me, but am I missing out on something important? For A Wrinkle in Time, I’m starting to think that reading the book may have been important – it’s wonderfully created with stunning visuals, but the story? I can’t tell if the movie did it justice or not.