Minority Report - Minority Report is my favorite movie so far this summer, and the first to actually make me think and ponder the implications of the story I watched unfold. I don't feel compelled to give a synopsis of Report because so many others have already done it better than I could. PopMatters.com discusses how the film raises issues from "the ethics of taking predictions as 'facts' to the political and ideological ramifications of a society premised on surveillance." Salon discusses another analogy that can be seen in the movie, how "visions of murders-to-come...make possible a kind of Ashcroftian security state in which individuals are literally imprisoned within their own heads, without trial, for crimes they haven't (yet) committed." The film raises the issue of choice vs. fate, squarely coming down on the side of people being in control of their own destinies rather than a preordained state of affairs in the universe. The movie also asks the question about the nature of privacy, as the line between thought and action becomes ever harder to distinguish

Roger Ebert, praises the film, giving it four stars, making a point I agree with, seeing as how Report takes place only 52 years in the future, it's realistic and interesting to see "futuristic skyscrapers coexist with the famous Washington monuments and houses from the 19th century" rather than a completely high-tech Jetsons version of the future. Steven Spielberg brought together a group of noted futurists to brainstorm how things might be in the year 2054 in order to more accurately depict the types of technology available. One of the things that hasn't changed in the future is product placement and advertisments. I know many critics disagree, but I tend to side with the LA Times, the other from the LA Weekly.

Finally, one note about the previews I saw before Minority Report. God help me if I have to watch that preview for the Road to Perdition one more time! I swear I've seen it before every movie I've gone to see for the past two months. Enough! Every time I see the preview revealing the entire plot of the movie, it makes me less and less inclined to see the full-length feature in the theater. However, I am waiting with bated breath for the premiere of Swimfan. While it sounds like a bad rehash of an episode of Buffy or a generic "It's Fatal-Attraction-at-fill-in-the-blank," I'm sure I'll go see it. High school swim meets, Instant Messenger threats, Erika Christiansen from Traffic...what's not to love?