Learning Is Fun

New Perot Museum exhibits amp up fun with James Cameron and Sherlock Holmes

Up to this point, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science has tended to release info about upcoming attractions piecemeal. But the museum just couldn't contain its excitement about the traveling exhibitions and films coming to the museum in 2014-2015.

Over the next nine months, the Perot will welcome two new additions. First up is 2theXtreme: MathAlive!, running September 27 through January 4, 2015. In keeping with the museum's overall theme of interactivity, the exhibit incorporates a variety of interactive elements to promote the endless possibilities of math.

The exhibition uses kid-friendly things like video games, sports, fashion, music and robotics to show that math comes into play in many of the things we know and love. MathAlive will be free for museum members, but non-members will be charged extra on top of general admission.

DeepSea Challenge 3D is a 40-minute film from director James Cameron that takes audiences on an underwater journey.

The Perot capitalizes on the current pop culture obsession with Sherlock Holmes with The International Exhibition of Sherlock Holmes, running February 15-May 10, 2015. The exhibit will show visitors how Holmes uses seemingly trivial information to solve mysterious crimes.

The exhibit features original manuscripts, period artifacts, props, costumes and investigative tools influenced and used by Sherlock Holmes. Both members and non-members will be charged extra for this exhibit.

To showcase the recently rebranded Hoglund Foundation Theater, a National Geographic Experience, the Perot will bring in four new 3D films. The most prominent of these is DeepSea Challenge 3D, a 40-minute film in which director James Cameron takes audiences on an underwater journey.

Currently in regular theaters, the film follows Cameron as he makes a solo trip to Challenger Deep, the deepest known point in the ocean, a feat that has been compared to landing on the moon. Cameron and his team built a new single-seat submersible named DeepSea Challenger to accomplish the Herculean task. The film, presented by National Geographic, will play March 6-September 7, 2015.

Other films include Galapagos 3D: Nature’s Wonderland (playing September 4 through May 21, 2015), a 20-minute film narrated by Jeff Corwin that vividly documents an expedition to the Galapagos Islands and surrounding waters; Robots 3D (November 21 – March 22, 2015), a 40-minute film that shows the latest developments — the success and the failures — from robotic labs around the world in trying to make a "humanoid" robot; and Tornado Alley 3D (January 9-May 21, 2015), a 20-minute film narrated by Bill Paxton in which storm chasers give viewers an up-close view of destructive tornadoes.

As a bonus, Jeff Corwin will speak and sign autographs at the opening night screening of Galapagos 3D on September 4 during First Thursday Late Night.

You can see films at the Perot without paying to enter the museum. Admission to the theater for non-members is $5 for 20-minute films and $8 for 40-minute films, while members pay $5 and $6, respectively. All children under 2 are free.

Director James Cameron took his custom-made DeepSea Challenge submersible to the bottom of the ocean, a quest you can see in DeepSea Challenge 3D.

James Cameron in DeepSea Challenge 3D

DeepSea Challenge Facebook

Director James Cameron took his custom-made DeepSea Challenge submersible to the bottom of the ocean, a quest you can see in DeepSea Challenge 3D.

Movie Review

The Magic Faraway Tree is a whimsical family lark that fails to take root

Andrew Garfield, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Claire Foy, Phoenix Laroche, and Billie Gadson in The Magic Faraway Tree

Photo courtesy of Vertical Entertainment

Andrew Garfield, Delilah Bennett-Cardy, Claire Foy, Phoenix Laroche, and Billie Gadson in The Magic Faraway Tree.

With kids and families always on the hunt for entertainment, it’s typically a safe bet for a movie studio to offer up something new, even if it is a film based on an old property. The Magic Faraway Tree, based on a series of books that started in the 1930s, is a very old property, one that its filmmakers have tried to liven up with a few stars, a lot of whimsy, and a boatload of CGI.

The Thompson family, led by stay-at-home dad Tim (Andrew Garfield) and breadwinner mom Polly (Claire Foy), are forced to move to a rundown country home when Polly gets laid off. The kids - Joe (Phoenix Laroche), Fran (Billie Gadson), and Beth (Delilah Bennett-Cardy) - are used to the perks of city life like wifi and electricity, and each of them rebels in their own way to their new lot in life.

Fran, enticed by a fairy named Silky (Nicola Coughlan), is the first to venture out of the house, making her way to a magic tree that transports her to a world full of strange characters like Moonface (Nonso Anozie), Saucepan Man (Dustin Demri-Burns), Dame Washalot (Jessica Gunning), and more. Her adventures there not only broaden the world she thought she knew, but may be the key to helping her ailing family.

Directed by Ben Gregor and written by Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2, Wonka), the film is a pleasant enough lark, but it fails to fully capture the imagination. The five-member family has a lot going on, from an initially-mute Fran to a domestic situation that raises more questions than it answers. The film tries to incorporate an anti-technology message through Tim’s hatred of a smart refrigerator (voiced by Judi Dench!) and the kids' addictions to devices, but it’s quickly shed in favor of other options.

Once Fran makes it to the Magic Faraway Tree, there’s a nice shift in the storytelling, but it’s unclear what the ultimate goal is. It’s a good idea to have Fran, the youngest of the children, convince her older, more cynical siblings about the virtues of the magic world, but the conflict in the real world doesn’t seem to rise to the level needed for the escape the tree provides.

There also seems to be a missing link in the storytelling for viewers to understand the importance of the fantastical characters. The visuals of seeing Moonface and his crescent moon-shaped hair, a man with a suit full of banging pots, and more are fun for a while, but not enough to carry the whole film. A last-minute revelation feels like it was something that should have been disclosed much earlier to help strengthen the emotions of the story.

A two-time Oscar nominee, Garfield is making his first foray into family movies (if you don’t count playing Spider-Man), and while he does a good job, he doesn’t make the best fit for the semi-goofy role. The same goes for the Emmy-winning Foy, who isn’t given much of anything to do. The movie puts the story on the shoulders of the three child actors, and while each of them acquit themselves well, none of them are so outstanding as to be noteworthy.

With nearly 90-year-old source material, The Magic Faraway Tree needed to be something truly special to stand out in the 21st century movie world. Unfortunately, it features a mostly forgettable story that features some fun visuals, a couple of cute kids, and not much else.

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The Magic Faraway Tree is now playing in theaters.

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