TRON Legacy

I am of the geek generation that remembers and keeps the original “TRON” close to their heart. Yes it was the eighties. Yes the original is not an “A list” film. But who cares?

“Huh?”

I said, “WHO CARES?” It is TRON and it did far more to explain those new contraptions called “personal computers” than IBM ever did. You see with TRON there existed a world within a world. It was a world where programs were forced to fight for their lives on the games grid in hopes of surviving for the next battle and the chance of connecting with their User – you and I, Gentle Reader, here in the “real world”. I will be the first to say that YES the original was flawed. That being said I will also tell you that I LOVED the first film. I wanted to believe that those Basic programs that we were playing with had a life of their own. I wanted to believe that there was some connection, nay, some network out there where thought and idea and passion and creativity could live in harmony. I wanted to believe that communication could be free and powerful and available to the masses. TRON wanted to believe it too.

Fast forward about 28 years... It still wants to believe and so do I.

SPOILERS: If you wish to remain pure STOP READING NOW!

Still here?

Good.

Here is what I LOVED. TRON is back. It is not a reimagining – it’s a sequel! And, dare I say, to a film that deserved one. This film owes its existence to Comic Con. Two years ago a trailer was made and it shook the pillars of geek heaven. Disney took notice and BAM “TRON Legacy” became a reality. I loved seeing the Recognizers, the Light Cycles, the Tanks, the Grid and the Jeff Bridges as Flynn once more. Technically this is a beautiful and eye candy laden film. The battles on the Grid, the nostalgic scenes in “Flynn’s Arcade” and the Light Cycle stuff are banging enough to warrant the price of a ticket. If you are a child of the late seventies and early eighties you have a place at TRON.

That being said, here is what I would have liked to have seen. TRON. He’s there. You know that he is. It’s obvious. But this is (as with the first film) less about TRON and more about Flynn. TRON is delegated to a lackey in a faceless helmet. This time around I’d expect a little more. TRON is Darth Vader in this one. He is the program that NO ONE wants to face on the Grid. Clu, Jeff Bridges / Flynn’s ageless digital doppelganger and all around bad guy has enslaved TRON into being an unbeatable bad ass / enforcer figure that only a User (Sam – Flynn’s son) can almost challenge. There is a brief moment of faceless recognition and redemption but it is BRIEF! I want TRON!

Come to think of it I’d also like to see Yori. There are female programs out there too. Also there was a cameo that I was REALLY pulling for – I wanted to see the “Tron Guy” someplace – anyplace in this film! He would have been a VERY welcome little aside. Producers: if there is to be a third (and I am pulling for one) Do Not Overlook the Tron Guy. Hey Daft Punk got their cameo (Brilliant soundtrack BTW) why not Tron guy?

What else do I want? I want TRON’s world to be hooked into the our current understanding of the world of computing. I don’t want TRON on Flynn’s personal server; no I want him on the World Wide Web, Baby! I want TRON global. When you go to Facebook I want to know that programs lives are at stake! I want to know that there are programs fighting for every transaction you make in Farmville or in Mafia Wars. I want to see it. I want to see libraries of programs working for Wikipedia or Google or Bing. I want to see epic battles of Networks VS Viruses. I want to understand their world by understanding ours. I want to see some correlation between the world of TRON and our everyday – fact searching, internet using, Facebook & Twitter incorporating world. Bring it on.

NOTE: Remember when I said “SPOILERS”? Also, I want to understand the ending. Quara is here in our world. I can see Users being digitized into the world of TRON but having programs re-digitized into our world – the real world, needs a little explanation. Something. Anything.

Come to think of it why doesn’t Sam show her a sunrise?

I do not wish to leave you with the idea that I was completely disappointed. No, that is simply not the case. I dug “TRON Legacy” and the only issues I had were that ones that I have already discussed. To the creative talent and purse holders at Disney – Please, PLEASE, PLEASE! consider TRON 3.0. All of the questions could have answers and YOU guys are off to a wonderful Act III!

“So Evil Chicken, should I buy a ticket?”

Yes, Gentle Reader, do so. You will not be disappointed with the performances of Mr. Jeff Bridges as both Flynn and Clu or with the absolutely wonderful eye candy that the Grid will provide. Support this movie. I REALLY want a part III!

So will you, Gentle Reader, so will you.

End of line…

Oh The Things I Could be Writing About

Please let it be known, Gentle Reader, I have never meant to abuse this blog. Hey, I love Chicken Scratch! That being said there have been some pretty cool things that have come and gone without me even typing a peep of it. That's too bad really. What can I say? Life has a way of encroaching on the things that we would really like to be doing verses the things that must take priority as a means of getting things done.

Here is a brief list of stuff that I really should be writing about but, for one reason or another, have not...

1. The Christmas play, "Glorious Impossibilities" by Kathryn Ross is coming up at my church and I'm still trying to learn my lines. It is gonna be a blast this year - seriously. I get to unleash my inner Stooge. I am really excited about this one. If you can make it come on out!

2. Work. I make a clear effort to never discuss work here on Chicken Scratch. Let's just say there's been some interesting things afoot.

3. We, the EC-5 went to Washington DC for the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear on 10/30/10. I have a thing for John Stewart and Steven Colbert. They did not disappoint. I will be blogging about this at some point but until such time know that we had a blast, had some interesting adventures in Social Studies and would do it all over again.

4. Netflix. Brick and mortar is quickly becoming obsolete. That being said, some of the people who work at MY local Blockbuster are simply wonderful individuals who love film and are doing their best to keep things together and going. I will continue to rent my Blu-ray discs and video games from my local Blockbuster BUT Netflix is just the shape of things to come. In an instant gratification world they deliver - instantly. No longer does one have to wait until their Blockbuster queue is depleted to see that samurai, gangster, ninja, zombie flick that they have had a hankering to see - no, that sometimes month long wait has been replaced by the press of the button on my remote, X-box, laptop, Nintendo Wii, smart TV, or even Blu-ray player. Bickety-Bam; instant gratification. I don't have time to wait on movies. Now I don't have to. My middle aged attention span is longer than some others but is not designed to handle the onslaught of all the other things screaming for my attention. This being said, I am not giving up on Blockbuster; there are some great people there and that is the only source of Blu-ray and video games in South Jersey. Netflix, however, cuts the price more than HALF ($8.99 a month VS. $20.00). That's a lot of cabbage.

5. The progress of our Turtles. We have two turtles; Van Goff and Sheldon/Bertha. I could be writing about their progress and how they came into our home but NO! I have not done so.

6. NANOWRIMO? I have no time for National Novel Writing Month this year. I'd write and tell you about it but I simply don't have the time.

7. Downed Trees. A cherry tree limb snapped off and hit a maple tree limb in my yard - both of which collapsed in my driveway. Thanks to my Ford I was able to pull them onto my front lawn. Thanks to a friend (Thanks Rich!) and his chainsaw the gravity challenged limbs are no longer an issue. I could have written about this but the time just did not materialize.

8. Weight loss. I don't want to but I must. I'm too fat but I have a taste for butter, egg yolks, red meat and salt. I would write about it but I'm just too busy. Let's just say that I'm gonna be eating a LOT of salad and veg in the future; I may even write about it.

9. The Christmas movie season. There are some decent offerings this holiday season. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I", "True Grit" and the one I'm really waiting for, "Tron Legacy" will all be hitting theaters in the next month and a half. Yeah, if I had time I'd be writing about those too.

10. Injustice and false representation. I don't like to wallow in this for too long since the stench sort of follows you around. Just like... Well ya know, Thumper's mother was right, if you don't have anything nice to say about someone it's best to not say anything at all.

Gentle Reader, please forgive me. Also let me just say that these days my life is NOT my own and I am actively looking forward the END of the holiday season when I can relax with my family, play some video games with the girls and do some geocaching with Mother Hen - oh yes, and spend some quality time right here at Chicken Scratch. I am happy to be busy and a part of things greater than myself this time of year but I'm looking forward to a time when the wheels are not spinning as fast as they are right now.

Stay tuned, Gentle Reader, the best is yet to come.

Hope for the Abysmal Summer of 2010

It has been an abysmal summer when you think about it. I’m not talking about the tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico (Thanks BP!), the heat or about the wars and rumors of wars that we find ourselves in these days; no. I’m talking about the mediocrity of what has been released to the multiplexes from sea to shining see during the summer of 2010.

Abysmal.

For my dollar there have been two films that have actually made me want to get off the back of my front and head to the theater; “Iron Man 2” and “Toy Story 3”. Both of these films are worth the price of admission and, I have a sneaky sensation that both of them will worm their way into my Blu-ray collection. “Iron Man 2” was a fun time at the movies and “Toy Story 3” is about the best film I’ve seen all year. I have not been able to truly be excited about any of the other summer cinema fare – “The Last Airbender” will be a rental for me, “Twilight – Eclipse” will be a free rental… perhaps even a wait for cable. No, probably a wait for cable. It’s been abysmal with little to look forward to in the field of storytelling through cinema.

With little to look forward to what’s a geek to do? Look for the sleepers that’s what! That being said, “Cyrus” and “Inception” look to be films that may actually be worth the time and drive to the theater.

Here is the plot synopsis for “Cyrus” from my favorite second brain, Wikipedia, “John is seven years divorced from his wife and is having trouble adjusting to his new life. After meeting Molly at a party, he thinks that maybe he has found the perfect person again. There's just one problem: Cyrus, Molly's grown son. John must find a way to make his romance with Molly work despite intentional and unintentional interference by Cyrus.” John C. Reilly is John, Marisa Tomei is Molly and Jonah Hill is Cyrus. That happens to be an amazing cast. Spin is really good. I just might have to sneak out to see this one.

Then there is “Inception”. Once more as described through my favorite second brain, “Inception was first developed by Christopher Nolan, based on the notion of "exploring the idea of people sharing a dream space - entering a dream space and sharing a dream. That gives you the ability to access somebody’s unconscious mind. What would that be used and abused for?” Furthermore, he thought "being able to extract information from somebody’s brain would be the obvious use of that because obviously any other system where it’s computers or physical media, whatever – things that exist outside the mind – they can all be stolen ... up until this point, or up until this movie I should say, the idea that you could actually steal something from somebody’s head was impossible. So that, to me, seemed a fascinating abuse or misuse of that kind of technology.”

Sign me up. That’s just a great concept for a story. Christopher Nolan, by my humble opinion, is one of the premiere storytellers that we have making movies these days. “Memento”, “The Prestige”, “Batman Begins” and a little film called, “The Dark Knight” cemented his ability. This concept is aching to be mined too. The last time that I recall a good dream movie was a film in the eighties called, “Dreamscape”. It would be cheesy by today’s standards by I dug it (I’ll have to put it in my Blockbuster cue).

But I digress. Let’s get back to the last hopes of the summer of 2010 and what may be worth a look-see on the horizon. I’m pulling for “Cyrus” and “Inception” for the remainder of the summer. Thanksgiving will bring “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part I” and Christmas will bring, “TRON Legacy”.

Now I’m getting my GEEK up again!

See you at the multiplex.