It’s the weekend again, and that means Film Focus. Here’s Mike Laidman with what’s new in local theaters.




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Science, action, drama, thrills, spills...you name it, and it’s here this week. And interestingly enough, both of this week’s movies feature strong female leads. If it’s an adaptation of a Japanese manga you’re after, you’re covered. Likewise if it’s a powerful political drama.

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Mike Laidman

Welcome to another edition of Film Focus. I’m Mike Laidman.

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Ghost in the Shell (2017, Rupert Sanders)
A human is saved from a crash and cyber-enhanced.

Ghost in the Shell has been long-awaited by many fans of the internationally-acclaimed Japanese manga of the same name for many years. Unfortunately, it has been the topic of whitewashing, which will make its reception performance at the box office all the more important.

In the near future, Major is the first of her kind: A human saved from a terrible crash who is cyber-enhanced to be a perfect soldier devoted to stopping the world's most dangerous criminals. When terrorism reaches a new level that includes the ability to hack into people's minds and control them, Major is uniquely qualified to stop it. As she prepares to face a new enemy, Major discovers that she has been lied to: her life was not saved, it was stolen. She will stop at nothing to recover her past, find out who did this to her, and stop them before they do it to others.

Ghost in the Shell is an imaginative, beautifully-filmed piece that takes a close, at times uncomfortable look, at the relationship between human beings and technology.

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Miss Sloane (2017, John Madden)
A D.C. lobbyist takes on the most formidable case of her career.

Let’s take a hard left and move back into the real world, where we find Jessica Chastain leading a powerful cast in Miss Sloane.

In the high-stakes world of political power-brokers, Elizabeth Sloane is the most sought after and formidable lobbyist in D.C. Known equally for her cunning and her track record of success, she has always done whatever is required to win. But when she takes on the most powerful opponent of her career, she finds that winning may come at too high a price.

The movie plays strong throughout almost its entire length, with a story that never ceases to be interesting. At the end, however, it breaks down a bit, becoming a little too unbelievable for its own good. Regardless, this is a fine example of a thrilling political drama.