Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner, & Beau Garrett
Directed By Joseph Kosinski
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1104001/
It doesn't matter if you're 6 or 90, there is something for everybody in Tron: Legacy. Reading all of the so called "critics" reviews you would swear that this was the new Ishtar. Why? Because this isn't a Fern Gully rip off with blue monkeys? Look people, this is NOT Avatar. Tron: Legacy is better, and has a TON of heart unlike Avatar. Plus, this isn't a remake. It's a sequel that took over 20 years to make. And I for one am very happy the studio took it's time, and yes it shows.
The story itself wasn't too contrived or bland, it actually flowed well, and kept me in my seat. Sam Flynn, the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn, looks into his father's disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 20 years. Along with Kevin's loyal confidant, father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.
Nearly everything about Tron: Legacy was epic. The CGI for the Cyber Universe was amazing. Having Daft Punk doing the score really added to the feel of the characters and the world they resided in. The highlight(s) for me was the revised light cycles and CLU 2.0. First off The light Cycles were awesome to behold on a big screen. These newer ones were more agile and seemed to flow at a hypnotic pace. I often caught myself drooling over the races, and was applauded for letting my inner geek show.
CLU 2.0 should be given a lot of credit. To take a younger Jeff Bridges face, and work it like a puppet to perfection on a digital level, AND make him a main character was epic! I've viewed this movie twice now, and am still amazed at how good of a job the animators did. Kudos to all of you involved with CLU 2.0, your hard work shows. At times you have to shake your head and go "damn, that's awesome".
I guess if I had any complaint against Tron: Legacy, it would be against the 3D. I really didn't see the need to add it, because for the most part the movie was 2D and really didn't need to be in 3D. That's it though, just that small gripe. As a fan for the original Tron I give this movie my utmost respect and admiration. I saw the First one as a kid in a Drive in, Then as an adult I was very lucky to see the sequel in a theater. I just hope it doesn't take 20+ years to film another addition to the possible franchise.
Do yourself a favor, and go see this movie.
Mr. What? ( * * * * )
Showing posts with label Disney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Disney. Show all posts
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Alice In Wonderland 3-D ( 2010 )
Starring: Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helen Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, & Matt Lucas
Directed By Tim Burton
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014759/
For all its visual panache, its clamorous storytelling, and its toy chest full of bizarre textures, Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” is a strangely passive film, dutifully ladling out its bits of filmic wizardry and expanding Lewis Carroll’s fantastical mythos in a promising new direction without any palpable sense of glee or verve.
It’s pure Burton, from the cluttered frames and grotesque characters and fiendish music to such thematic elements as an absent daddy and a golden-tressed heroine; clearly there’s a harmony of director and source material. But there’s also a sense that Burton has come to the film reluctantly and kept himself occupied with razzle-dazzle with none of the passion he brought to “Edward Scissorhands” or “Ed Wood” or “Big Fish” or even “Sweeney Todd,” all of which seemed to engage him more deeply.
“Alice” is, effectively, an updating of Carroll’s classic tale of mind-expanding journey into an alternative reality governed by strange laws of logic, grammar, play and peril. Its heroine is not a little girl but a young London woman of 19 years (Mia Wasikowska) being courted by a dim-brained but wealthy young man whose marriage proposal causes her to flee -- all the way, in fact, to the rabbit hole down which she tumbled as a child during adventures she recollects now only in haunting dreams.
Once in Wonderland -- or, more properly, as she learns, Underland -- she finds that the bloody-minded Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) has imposed a reign of terror, abetted by a court of sycophants, the vicious Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover) and a pair of homicidal beasties: the Bandersnatch and the Jabberwocky.
An underground cadre of loyalists seek to restore the rule of the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) -- including the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the Tweedles, -dee and -dum (Matt Lucas) and the animated White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat and Blue Caterpillar (the voices of Michael Sheen, Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman, respectively). But they all live in mortal fear of the Red Queen’s forces and wait for Alice to return and slay the Jabberwocky, an event that has been foretold in an oracular manuscript. Alice, though, assures them that she is no killer. Besides, it’s all a dream, isn’t it?
This story, inspired by Carroll and credited to screenwriter Linda Woolverton, recalls Steven Spielberg’s contemplation of a grown-up Peter Pan in “Hook,” which seemed at least partially the director’s effort to reconcile his own youthful enthusiasms with grown-up responsibilities. Here, though, Burton seems absent, unless you count Depp’s goggle-eyed, psychologically skittish Hatter as his stand-in (it wouldn’t be the first time for those two, of course). Indeed, Alice’s story as told here rather closely resembles the story of Wendy Darling in the original “Peter Pan,” another heroine who hoped to avoid maturation by flying into fantasy. In that light, there’s little wonder that Burton, now in his 50s, with children of his own, can’t find a way to make the story ring emotionally.
He does, however, make it into something of a razzle-dazzle movie, at least intermittently. Clearly Burton’s visual aplomb and ease with special effects mesh with Carroll’s imagination. The gardens of Underland, with their horseflies and dragonflies and chatty flowers, the now-he’s-here-now-he’s-not Cheshire Cat, the arrayed armies of playing cards and chess pieces, the neurotic energy of the Hatter’s speech and behavior: it’s all delightful and
exactly what we want from Burton. Among the performers, the director’s stalwarts Depp and Bonham Carter dig into their roles with such infectious relish that not even the hammy Glover can equal them.
(A word on the film’s use of 3-D seems apropos here: There are moments of imaginative use of the technology scattered throughout “Alice,” but you never once have the sensation of complete immersion that “Avatar” provided almost constantly. It feels like it will be years -- decades, even -- before anyone else catches up to what James Cameron and company achieved.)
Absent a sense that Burton is connected at a personal level to the material, much of what’s good about this “Alice” feels like window dressing or ambient clatter. “Alice in Wonderland” is one of the most filmed and staged stories of all time, and you could feel genuine excitement in imagining Tim Burton bringing new life to the material. Strangely, and unfortunately, among those who seem not to have shared that sense of anticipation was Tim Burton himself. He’s present in this film, sure, but he never feels truly invested.
Overall Rating: ( * * * 1/2 )
Mr. What?
Directed By Tim Burton
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014759/
For all its visual panache, its clamorous storytelling, and its toy chest full of bizarre textures, Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” is a strangely passive film, dutifully ladling out its bits of filmic wizardry and expanding Lewis Carroll’s fantastical mythos in a promising new direction without any palpable sense of glee or verve.
It’s pure Burton, from the cluttered frames and grotesque characters and fiendish music to such thematic elements as an absent daddy and a golden-tressed heroine; clearly there’s a harmony of director and source material. But there’s also a sense that Burton has come to the film reluctantly and kept himself occupied with razzle-dazzle with none of the passion he brought to “Edward Scissorhands” or “Ed Wood” or “Big Fish” or even “Sweeney Todd,” all of which seemed to engage him more deeply.
“Alice” is, effectively, an updating of Carroll’s classic tale of mind-expanding journey into an alternative reality governed by strange laws of logic, grammar, play and peril. Its heroine is not a little girl but a young London woman of 19 years (Mia Wasikowska) being courted by a dim-brained but wealthy young man whose marriage proposal causes her to flee -- all the way, in fact, to the rabbit hole down which she tumbled as a child during adventures she recollects now only in haunting dreams.
Once in Wonderland -- or, more properly, as she learns, Underland -- she finds that the bloody-minded Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) has imposed a reign of terror, abetted by a court of sycophants, the vicious Knave of Hearts (Crispin Glover) and a pair of homicidal beasties: the Bandersnatch and the Jabberwocky.
An underground cadre of loyalists seek to restore the rule of the White Queen (Anne Hathaway) -- including the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the Tweedles, -dee and -dum (Matt Lucas) and the animated White Rabbit, Cheshire Cat and Blue Caterpillar (the voices of Michael Sheen, Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman, respectively). But they all live in mortal fear of the Red Queen’s forces and wait for Alice to return and slay the Jabberwocky, an event that has been foretold in an oracular manuscript. Alice, though, assures them that she is no killer. Besides, it’s all a dream, isn’t it?
This story, inspired by Carroll and credited to screenwriter Linda Woolverton, recalls Steven Spielberg’s contemplation of a grown-up Peter Pan in “Hook,” which seemed at least partially the director’s effort to reconcile his own youthful enthusiasms with grown-up responsibilities. Here, though, Burton seems absent, unless you count Depp’s goggle-eyed, psychologically skittish Hatter as his stand-in (it wouldn’t be the first time for those two, of course). Indeed, Alice’s story as told here rather closely resembles the story of Wendy Darling in the original “Peter Pan,” another heroine who hoped to avoid maturation by flying into fantasy. In that light, there’s little wonder that Burton, now in his 50s, with children of his own, can’t find a way to make the story ring emotionally.
He does, however, make it into something of a razzle-dazzle movie, at least intermittently. Clearly Burton’s visual aplomb and ease with special effects mesh with Carroll’s imagination. The gardens of Underland, with their horseflies and dragonflies and chatty flowers, the now-he’s-here-now-he’s-not Cheshire Cat, the arrayed armies of playing cards and chess pieces, the neurotic energy of the Hatter’s speech and behavior: it’s all delightful and
exactly what we want from Burton. Among the performers, the director’s stalwarts Depp and Bonham Carter dig into their roles with such infectious relish that not even the hammy Glover can equal them.
(A word on the film’s use of 3-D seems apropos here: There are moments of imaginative use of the technology scattered throughout “Alice,” but you never once have the sensation of complete immersion that “Avatar” provided almost constantly. It feels like it will be years -- decades, even -- before anyone else catches up to what James Cameron and company achieved.)
Absent a sense that Burton is connected at a personal level to the material, much of what’s good about this “Alice” feels like window dressing or ambient clatter. “Alice in Wonderland” is one of the most filmed and staged stories of all time, and you could feel genuine excitement in imagining Tim Burton bringing new life to the material. Strangely, and unfortunately, among those who seem not to have shared that sense of anticipation was Tim Burton himself. He’s present in this film, sure, but he never feels truly invested.
Overall Rating: ( * * * 1/2 )
Mr. What?
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Earth (2007)
Director: Alestair Fothergill & Mark Linfield
Starring: James Earl Jones
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0393597/
Documentary made by Disney being re-released today to celebrate Earth Day.
Fun documentary with James Earl Jones doing the narration. Beautifully shot. Interesting and fun enough I don't think the kids will get too bored with the hour and forty minute run time. Besides... it's Earth Day. Go check it out.
Verdict: * * *
- Al B. Damned
Starring: James Earl Jones
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0393597/
Documentary made by Disney being re-released today to celebrate Earth Day.
Fun documentary with James Earl Jones doing the narration. Beautifully shot. Interesting and fun enough I don't think the kids will get too bored with the hour and forty minute run time. Besides... it's Earth Day. Go check it out.
Verdict: * * *
- Al B. Damned
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Race To Witch Mountain (2009)
Director: Andy Fickman
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, Alexander Ludwig & Carla Gugino
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1075417/
The Rock is a cabbie in Las Vegas and in the middle of a sci-fi convention some alien kids crash land near sin city and enlist his aid to get back to their ship.
I don't really remember much of the originals, so I can't say how much this re-make holds true to them, but this was a fun family friendly kind of film. Lots of action and laughs. Worth checking out.
Verdict: * * *
- Al B. Damned
Friday, February 27, 2009
Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience (2009)
Director: Bruce Hendricks
Starring: Joe Jonas, Kevin Jonas & Nick Jonas
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1229827/
I came in with an open mind, wanting to give this movie an honest chance, because there is obviously a target audience somewhere... far, far from being me. That was out the window in the first few minutes...
It's your basic concert video that cuts between some behind the scenes b.s. and concert footage. From the get-go all the behind the scenes style footage seemed obviously scripted. Then it has them running down the streets of New York while being chased by thousands of girls, as if they are the Beatles. There is even a reference to them being like the Fab Four later in the film. They are far from it.
This consists of a lot of poorly constructed pop songs and sped up cut scenes reminiscent of Menudo. These guys have the looks the little girls go for, but lack the talent. It's kind of sad... little girls are creaming their panties over these little boys who actually probably like boys.
Taylor Swift also made an appearance with the boys singing her "Shoulda Said No" song. That just was too much for me. I really hate these pop singers claiming they are country music. A fiddle and a banjo does not make you country. Sorry. Stop trying.
I've been trying really hard not to rip into this film... obviously I have not been doing to well at keeping from that. On the plus side the guys did write most of their own songs. So I guess they have more talent than I thought... it's just a shame that even for pop songs they fall flat. The best of the bunch only being "ok" and the worst... well... you don't want to know. I give this one *, only because I can't give it lower.
- Al B. Damned
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