At The Movies

TRON: LEGACY - I was 11 when the first TRON movie came out, and while I didn't really understand it I absolutely loved it. Now...28 years later...I'm 39 and the TRON sequel has finally arrived - TRON LEGACY. Jeff Bridges returns as Flynn, the former video-game developer who now resides in a virtual computerized world he himself created. Also returning is Bruce Boxleitner who plays "Tron," a computer program who is regarded as a Herculean hero in the computerized world. The main thrust of the story in LEGACY revolves around Flynn's son, Sam, who somehow enters the computer world in order to find his long lost father. But while there Sam and Flynn encounter "Clu," the young-looking Jeff Bridges "clone" who wants to take over the world. I'll end here as far as explaining the story (I can see I'm boring you.) But I will say I really enjoyed this movie. It's a modern, suped-up version of an old classic (complete with a "techno" soundtrack from the band Daft Punk.) Several classic "TRON vehicles" make their return, like the famous "light-cycles, the "recognizers," and my favorite "the solar sailer." It was cool to see all of those on the big screen again. But what entertained me the most was seeing Jeff Bridges play his older self, and his younger self. "Flynn" is supposed to be Jeff Bridges' current age, but "Clu" is supposed to be a perpetual 28 years old. So they digitally tweaked Jeff Bridges' face to make him look young again. It's simply amazing to see. Another interesting thing I noticed was seeing a lot of guys my age in the crowd. I thought I might be surrounded by younger people, but for the most part they were all guys like me (maybe that's a bad thing.) Anyway, outside of Jeff Bridges the acting here is pretty poor, and the story is very confusing and bogged down. But the visuals here are incredible, so I guess you can say TRON LEGACY is a lot like the original...short on story and long on eye candy. It's definitely worth seeing.

THE GHOST WRITER - A ghost writer (played by Ewan McGregor) gets a lucrative job offer - to write the memoirs of the British Prime Minister (played by Pierce Brosnan.) However, when he begins his research he uncovers a major skeleton in the prime minister's closet - that he was possibly involved in a murder and cover up...and to make matters worth his own life might be at stake. Directed by Roman Polanski this is a classic murder/mystery drama. The performances are solid and the pacing is methodical. The film drags in some areas, and the plot gets a little too heavy at times, but overall I thought this was an interesting film. It's got a certain "Hitchcockian" vibe to it that I really dug. The second half of the film is a bit more interesting than the first, so show some patience with this one.

PREDATORS - Robert Rodriguez directed this follow up to the original "Predator" films from the 80's. This is not to be confused with the ridiculous "Alien Vs. Predator" franchise which is flat out terrible. Rodriguez intended this film to be included in the original category, and to hopefully "reboot" the franchise (much like "ALIENS" did after the first ALIEN film.) This time around the Predators somehow transport criminals and tough guys to THEIR planet...to hunt. Adrien Brody stars as Royce, the unofficial leader of the stranded humans. Having never seen Brody in an action role, I was rather impressed. He brings a certain "every man" to a role that would normally go to a muscle-bound Stallone or Schwarzenegger. The plot here is irrelevant, and the action is mindless fun. But there's enough entertainment here that makes it worthy of a recommendation (at least for a rental.) I liked how Rodriguez tried to "expand" the storyline and give us some background on where the Predators come from. Anyway, it's not as great as the original PREDATOR film (which was truly great) but it's pretty good.

TANGLED - Once again the folks at Disney bring you another princess fairy tale, this time it's the reimagining of the classic "Rapunzel" story. Rapunzel is locked away in a tower by her wicked mother, who vows to protect Rapunzel's secret - her magical hair. Along comes Flynn Rider, a mysterious thief on the run who bumps into Rapunzel while hiding out from the King's guards. Rapunzel then asks Flynn to help her escape the tower and craziness ensues from there. For a Disney fairy tale this isn't bad. There's plenty of magic, fairy tale kingdoms, catchy songs, and cute creatures. The animation is crisp and clear and the voices are pretty good. Megan totally loved this movie, and she keeps saying she wants to see it again. In fact, Ben liked it a lot as well. My only complaint is I'm getting a little tired of the same ol' story from Disney. Just once I'd like to see Disney make a "fairy tale" movie for boys. Just my 2 cents.

DATE NIGHT - Let me begin by saying I didn't expect this movie to be great, but still...I was shocked that a movie with Steve Carell and Tina Fey could be SO bad. Carell and Fey play Phil and Claire Foster, a couple who are need of a little excitement in their lives. One night they decide to have a date night in New York City. While at dinner they take another couple's dinner reservation...and somehow later get confused for professional thieves (or something like that) and gangsters start chasing them. For a comedy the jokes here are not funny (despite the talent on the screen.) But what ruins this movie is the story. It starts off as "mildly humorous"...then goes to "not funny"....and then finally ends up as "can we turn this off?" At the end of the movie the Fosters wind up at an "underground bordello" and you are literally asking yourself "is this the same movie I started off with?" Very bad movie!