{"id":152,"date":"2014-03-18T14:15:34","date_gmt":"2014-03-18T14:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/?p=152"},"modified":"2026-03-09T02:49:39","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T02:49:39","slug":"dna-testing-the-men-of-the-robinson-clan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/?p=152","title":{"rendered":"DNA testing the men of the Robinson clan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Gattaca\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Gattaca<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(1997)<\/p>\n

In this version of the\u00a0future, genetic\u00a0testing determines everything. Vincent Anton Freeman (Ethan Hawke), wants to be an astronaut, but is denied this opportunity because his genetic code indicates weakness and a limited lifespan.\u00a0 In order to pursue his dream, he assumes the identity of Jerome Morrow (Jude Law) who has a perfect genetic makeup, but an accident has rendered him lame.<\/p>\n

Roger Ebert gushed\u00a0this was a “thriller with ideas<\/a>,” and while it has ideas<\/em>, they’re not original. The man vs. science motif reached its apex in the\u00a01970s, and this film does nothing to add to the genre.<\/p>\n

There’s an attempt at a twist involving Freeman’s genetically superior younger brother and a simmering romance, but with\u00a0a cast\u00a0including Uma Thurman, Dean Norris, Tony Shalhoub, Xander Berkeley, Maya Rudolph, Ken Marino, Alan Arkin, Ernest Borgnine, and Gore Vidal, I expected more.<\/p>\n

If you want a movie about the power of the human spirit try. Forrest Gump <\/em>(1994).\u00a0 If you want a science fiction film about the beauty of humanity, try Blade Runner <\/em>(1982).\u00a0 If you want to be mildly entertained for\u00a0two hours, watch this.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"165)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Men and Dust<\/a><\/em>\u00a0(1940)<\/p>\n

Sheldon Dick’s short documentary about the effects of silicosis on miners near Joplin, Missouri was added to the\u00a0National Film Registry<\/a> in 2013.<\/p>\n

It’s not particularly memorable, although it does have a fun, kinetic energy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Meet_the_robinsons\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Meet the Robinsons<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>(2007)<\/p>\n

Lewis invents a memory scanner to find his mother who abandoned him as a child, but is inadvertently prevented from demonstrating it at the science fair by Wilbur, a time traveler from the future.\u00a0 In exchange\u00a0for Lewis’s help in recovering a stolen time machine, Wilbur agrees to take him\u00a0back in time to meet his mother.<\/span><\/p>\n

As is usually the case in time travel films, the plot gets messy with a lot of narrative threads fighting for attention.\u00a0 <\/span>Sadly, the movie\u00a0is overwhelmed by the competing stories and leaves way too many questions unanswered:\u00a0Why does Bowler Hat Guy\u00a0slink away\u00a0after he’d been forgiven?\u00a0 Why does Lewis choose not to\u00a0meet his mother when he goes back in time?\u00a0 If Bowler Hat Guy never existed then the experience which molded Lewis never happened, right?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to these narrative struggles, the film suffers from the behind the scene chaos at Disney following its 2006 merger with Pixar.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Disney animated movies have tended to be about the individual. Either the individual discovering themselves\u00a0in\u00a0Pinocchio<\/em> (1940)\u00a0and\u00a0Dumbo<\/em> (1941), or overcoming adversity in Alice in Wonderland <\/em>(1951), Sleeping Beauty <\/em>(1959), and The Sword in the Stone <\/em>(1963).<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, Pixar movies are about families, showing us how families form in Toy Story<\/em>(1995) and\u00a0A Bug’s Life <\/em> (1998),\u00a0or how individual needs dovetail with the demands of a family in The Incredibles <\/em>(2004) and Brave <\/em>(2012).<\/span><\/p>\n

Both sensibilities are present here, but\u00a0the film\u00a0never decides which is more important and suffers for it.<\/p>\n

This film had promise:\u00a0Bowler Hat Guy<\/a> is one of the best and most fully realized Disney villains, and the seeds of the fruitful Disney \/ Pixar merger are evident, but this is a difficult movie to really love.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Gattaca\u00a0(1997) In this version of the\u00a0future, genetic\u00a0testing determines everything. Vincent Anton Freeman (Ethan Hawke), wants to be an astronaut, but is denied this opportunity because his genetic code indicates weakness and a limited lifespan.\u00a0 In order to pursue his dream, he assumes the identity of Jerome Morrow (Jude Law) who has a perfect genetic… Continue reading DNA testing the men of the Robinson clan<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[41,227,1324,267,1325,439,516,577,639,708,853,1323],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-progress","tag-alan-arkin","tag-disney","tag-ernest-borgnine","tag-ethan-hawke","tag-gore-vidal","tag-jude-law","tag-maya-rudolph","tag-national-film-registry","tag-pixar","tag-science-fiction","tag-tony-shalhoub","tag-uma-thurman","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14605,"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions\/14605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/tenkmovies.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}