Green Lantern (2011)

A visual delight hampered with a plodding narrative, this hit-or-miss superhero origin story has cocky test pilot (is there any other kind) Hal Jordan unwittingly assigned to be a Green Lantern, a sort-of intergalactic patrolman with unthinkable powers. The film starts out great, with a terrific intro scene for the primary villain, Parralax, an exciting attack scene with another Lantern, Abin Sur, and a strong introduction to Hal Jordan as he accidentally destroys his fighter plane in an attempt to thwart two state-of-the-art stealth bombers during a test run. Abin Sur crash lands on Earth and is led to Jordan by the power of his ring, the key weapon of the Lanterns, which automatically seeks out whoever is worthy of possessing it. Jordan is then whisked away by the ring to Oa, the HQ for the Green Lantern Corps, where he is taught the basics of his newfound powers by three vastly different-looking Lanterns named Tomar-Re, Kilowog, and Sinestro. Meanwhile, back on Earth, an acquaintance of Jordan, Hector Hammond, is assigned to perform an autopsy on Abin Sur for the government, but, in the process, he is exposed to an alien organism that begins to both cloud his thoughts and provide telekinetic abilities. However, it is here the quality of the film starts to get a smidgen rocky; after being overworked in his training, and being told by Sinestro that he isn't worthy of Abin Sur's legacy, Jordan up and quits, keeping the ring, but returning to Earth assignment- and responsibility-free. We then get an alarming number of build-up scenes, with Jordan and Hammond dealing with their increasingly powerful abilities, along with their bouts with self-esteem and self-worth, before the third-act barrels in and saves the day with a plethora of action, colorful eye candy, and exciting hero moments.

If there are two huge flaws of this movie (I'll get to the other one later), one of them is the lack of Oa in the finished film. I do not know whether the filmmakers could not scramble the effects shots together in time, or whether the screenwriters actually didn't think the home planet of the Lantern Corps was that interesting, but after Jordan makes it to Oa, his elongated return to Earth seems relatively safe, unoriginal, and, occasionally, rather boring. Imagine if in The Last Starfighter, Alex never contacts Centauri to get back into the fight against the Ko-Dan Armada, and he remains in the trailer park wondering if he was worthy of being a Starfighter until Xur finally hunts him down and faces him mano a mano. The plethora of Green Lanterns we are briefly introduced to ends up coming off as a massive tease; it is not enough to promise more of them in a sequel after they have been introduced and then eschewed for goofy flirty scenes with Jordan and his love interest, Carol Ferris, played by Blake Lively.

Which brings me to the second huge flaw of the film which is, surprise surprise, a forced, lackluster, uninteresting, and underplayed love interest, poorly rendered here by Lively. I place the blame squarely at Lively's feet because a. she does not seem mature enough for neither her bureaucratic position nor her relationship with Jordan, b. her casting screams of a sort of contemporary cynicism that equates widespread fame over concentrated talent, and c. the script actually does try and give her a sense of professionalism and, later in the film, participation in the action scenes, which she deflates with her barely-trying performance. This is not necessarily an attack on Lively as an actress, for she was fairly solid in her white-trash role in The Town, but here, she is a rickety element of the film's foundation.

Which is a shame, because the rest of the cast is fairly awesome. Reynolds is able to coast through this thing on his effortless charm and movie-star good looks, keeping even the most ludicrous of situations grounded with his constant wisecracks; while he is too feminine and goofy to cut a truly badass, Han Solo-esque figure (like, say, Nathan Fillion, the voice of Green Lantern in a recent cartoon), he is well-suited for this superhero schtick. Angela Bassett, Tim Robbins, and Jay O. Sanders are dignified and respectable as various government members related to Jordan and Hammond, and Mark Strong, as well as the voices of Geoffrey Rush and Michael Clarke Duncan, make for killer alien Green Lanterns. But my favorite element of the film had to be Peter Sarsgaard's performance as Hector Hammond. Sporting a terrible haircut, a history professor's mustache, and his trademark snarky mumbling, Sarsgaard plays out Hammond's painfully tragic, well-presented arc with a surprising amount of seriousness and pathos. His character is not the casually dismissed, hot-to-cold mad scientist like Alfred Molina's Doc Ock or, dare I say, Arnold as Mr. Freeze, but rather the relative yin to Hal Jordan's yang; the great dilemma of his character is the question of whether, had he been chosen by the green-powered ring rather than his rotten, yellow-powered infection, he could have ended up as the hero. While his powers end up paling in comparison to those of Parallax, the film's central antagonistic force, his story is far more compelling than either Parallax's or Jordan's, and his screentime proves to be the most richly rewarding in the film. I must also mention the film's near-perfect rendering of Jordan's limitless ring-based powers. For a superpower that is limited, solely, by the extent of human imagination, the ring's intuition-based system is well-presented, and always stems from something we can extrapolate from Jordan's own psyche, rather than some sort of random, FX company-conceived deus ex machina. That was my main concern going into the feature, and I must admit, after noticing the hints at Jordan's future weaponry throughout the film, it seemed to be one of the easier hurdles for the filmmakers to conquer.

Recommended for fans of sci-fi/fantasy-oriented superhero flicks like Hellboy, Thor, or The Incredibles. In terms of the superhero flicks out right now, I'd say it ranks somewhere above X-Men: First Class, but not quite up to the character and world-building excellence of Thor. That being said, I'm definitely ready for Captain America to swoop in and put all three of these movies to shame.

Super 8 (2011)

An uncondescending, but remarkably unoriginal throwback to the Amblin Entertainment family films of the '80s, this children-centric sci-fi piece has a group of pre-teens accidentally capturing a mysterious train crash while filming a Super 8 zombie film. The whole film has that small-town vibe where everyone knows not only everyone's name, but their familial situation and behavioral tendencies. The main characters are well-rounded in that Stand By Me way where they swear and talk tough, while revealing their childhood naivete when on the subject of girls. There are two parallel central plots, one involving the Super 8 film's makeup man and his romance with the leading lady (played by Elle Fanning), and the other revolving around his father, the deputy, and his begrudging leadership of the town once the mayor mysteriously goes missing. Without giving too much away (although the secrets of this film don't really live up to their buildup), the film starts maintaining a sort of Jaws-meets-E.T.-meets-Close Encounters of the Third Kind vibe, cribbing imagery and moments wholesale from those movies, and keeping the kids at the forefront of the action in a very Stephen King's It sort of way.

J.J. Abrams greatest flaw is also his greatest attribute; he is a terrific showman. He is aware enough of pop culture to understand how to make something seem mysterious, interesting, and potentially, deep and engaging. In this age of "bigger is better," Alias, Lost, Cloverfield, and now Super 8 have all had the benefit of Abrams genius ability to leave just enough to the imagination to make something seem infinitely more interesting than it could have declared itself to be. However, all of those projects (save for Super 8) have another thing in common; they are all known as remarkable letdowns. From the last episode of Lost to the dismal box office numbers of Cloverfield, there is already plenty of evidence out there to show that J.J. Abrams is much better at setting things up than he is at actually following through on his grandiose promises. Super 8 is no exception. Remember that first trailer, showing nothing but the train crash, the camera, and the implication that something monstrous and alien escaped the train? Well, there's very little in the movie that expands on what is implied in the trailer, and the tricks they play with your preconceived notions of the films plot are embarrassing, hokey failures.

That being said, there is much of the film to commend. J.J. Abrams has a tendency to linger on quiet, schmaltzy moments, but usually casts well enough to pull those moments off; this film is no exception, and the greatest element of the film is its child cast. From the mousy, fireworks-obsessed scamp, to the overweight, tyrrannical director, to the flaky, consistently-vomiting leading man, the youthful characters are endearing, human, and consistently watchable. The central romance between the young, shy makeup man and the brave, caring leading lady is, surprisingly, cute and inoffensive (until the silly plot contrivances catch up with it). Unfortunately, the adult cast does not survive Abrams and producer Steven Spielberg's nostalgia-tinged vision; they all come off as hokey, Peanuts-style "wonk-wonk-wonk" caricatures who are inexcusably moody and prickish one second then inexplicably heroic and stalwart the next. Noah Emmerich, an actor who, since the Truman Show, has repeatedly impressed me with his sincere, naturalistic performances, is saddled with the worst role in the show, a merciless mad scientist/power-hungry Army type who is a mustache-twirl away from Snidey Whiplash. Ron Eldard also suffers a similar fate as Fanning's town-drunk father. The adult-centric stuff takes up a good %40-45 of the running time, so the gaping faults of that section cannot be overlooked; a shame, because, until the effects-driven, cliched cheesefest of a last act, the character work and nostalgic style actually render the film a rather endearing, family-friendly piece of cinema.

Slightly Recommended to families with tough kids (there are blood splatters in this film) and fans of Cloverfield which, in the end, the film shares remarkable similarities with (down to some of the SAME EXACT FX...God, what a disappointment). I definitely prefer this to E.T., but not necessarily Close Encounters. Honestly, I'd just rewatch Jaws.

P.S. There are definitely some killer jump scares in the film, but none better than the initial train-crash itself; even though the kids would definitely be killed by all the flaming debris that juuuuuuust misses them, the juxtaposition of the devastating carnage and the frightened kids in peril is terribly effective. Unfortunately, the rest doesn't really ever live up to that moment.

Thor (2011)

Ambitious, inventive, and ultimately satisfying, this oddball superhero movie revolves around the titular God of Thunder as he is cast down from his native realm Asgard (read: Valhalla meets Mt. Olympus) for betraying his father, Odin's, command. After a brief, gratefully grounding introduction in New Mexico, much of the first act of the film takes place in regal, vaguely viking yet strikingly foreign Asgard. The film's greatest achievement is in its realization of Asgard; its self-contained history, its architecture, its science, and its methods of transportation are all given a fair amount of attention, which, in this day and age of assembly-line studio tentpoles, is a real blessing, and gives the Asgard sequences a sense of wonder and delight. Once Thor arrives on Earth, the film naturally deflates a little bit; after a dynamite, eye-opening first act, Natalie Portman's astrophysicist, SHIELD's slow, already-seen discovery of Thor's lost hammer, and the obvious fish-out-of-water Thor vs. contemporary New Mexico comedy deflate the pic around its midsection a bit. However, as his villainous brother, Loki, makes his political stand for Thor's rightful place on the throne of Asgard, the film gains its momentum and, while never quite reaching the apex of the opening scenes, leads to a satisfying, surprisingly convincing climactic showdown.

I must say, I had doubts over the previously-untested skills of Chris Hemsworth as Thor, but they were thoroughly unfounded; while he is going to have to work to keep up with Avengers teammates Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans in the charisma department, he looks the part (much to my girlfriend's delight), he fights very convincingly (for someone formerly on Australia's Dancing with the Stars), and, most importantly, takes this stuff very seriously, that is to say he knows when to act regally haughty AND when to relax in the role a little. Among those backing him up on Asgard are Ray Stevenson, Idris Elba, and Rene Russo (as his mother), all of whom are appropriately tough, decadent, and Norse (Elba's badass gatekeeper character is a personal favorite). Anthony Hopkins is, surprisingly, effective and non-campy as the wise, tough Odin, and Tom Hiddleston makes for a complicated, volatile Loki, a stark contrast from Thor's stalwart beefcake. Inevitably, the human characters get the short end of the stick: Natalie Portman's Jane Foster is underwritten and goofy, Kat Dennings is essentially reduced to making one-liners about Thor's hot body and weird demeanor, and poor Stellan Skarsgard, clearly one of the more talented and experienced actors in the film, relegated to spouting out whatever benign dialogue the plotline saddles him with. None of them are ever even exposed to Asgard, keeping their realm of experience, and thus their interest quotient, to a minimum. However, as members of Shield, Clark Gregg is, once again, absolutely hilarious and deadpan as Agent Coulson, and Jeremy Renner makes a cameo as a certain Marvel character whose appearance is, at the same time, mercifully brief and perfectly integrated (his introductory shot elicited cheers from me and maybe a handful of other wise audience members).

Kenneth Brangah has never directed a film of this magnitude, the closest being his remake of Frankenstein, but, as with Favreau's Iron Man, you'd never tell based on his work here. Aside from the perfectly realized and rendered Asgard, with the rich, unconventional iconography, the rip-roaring action scenes, the large-scale effects sequences, and his interesting, canted angle-heavy shot compositions, he more than steps up to the plate of this grand style of filmmaking. In many cases, his bravery is commendable; there are not many contemporary directors of big-budget comic book flicks who would have had the chutzpah to dress Ray Stevenson the way he looks here (and he sure looks great drinking and gnawing on bones in a banquet hall). The old-world dialogue is concise, and rings true, marking a decided contrast with the Natalie Portman- and Kat Dennings-speak, and the interplay between Thor and the humans is far less corny and obvious as it could've been. However, the latter contains some of the least intriguing moments of the film, and, without the magnetism of, say, Tony and Pepper Potts' scenes in the Iron Mans, keep the film from attaining the modern classic status of Favreau's original masterwork.

Recommended to fans of the source material, the current generation of Marvel-sanctioned flicks, or of high-scale, big-budget sci-fi fantasy such as David Lynch's Dune, 1980's Flash Gordon, or The Chronicles of Riddick. This is above the level of The Incredible Hulk and Iron Man 2, yet not quite to the level of the original Iron Man; it is yet to be seen whether this or Captain America will be the better-remembered of this year's Avengers flicks (alls I know is, Marvel will have enough footage for a teaser by the time late-July rolls around, so...definitely ready for that).

Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

Basically a very well-rendered, if not particularly imaginative, video game cut-scene, this actioner with sci-fi overtones concerns the military response to a hostile extra-terrestrial invasion, specifically on the coast of Los Angeles. While I disagree with Roger Ebert's half-a-star(!) review, I think he gave the movie too much credit by writing it a full-page review. This is not a full-page review type movie, because I doubt the execs ever gave a full page of notes during the whole show. This is a thin, thin, thin, thin movie, with terribly cliched dialogue, characters, and situations that even the most mildly educated cinephile will see coming a mile away ("Bye, Hoyt!"). The action is, until the end, pretty terrific, but it becomes obvious that the budget constrictions did not allow for ID4 or War of the World style carnage; even so, the more intimate battle scenes are nail-bitingly intense and well-choreographed. However, it does not fully redeem the grade-school scripting, and the movie is left to remain the cinematic equivalent of playing Gears of War for 2 hours (while being forced to watch the godawful dramatic cut-scenes, of course).

Slightly Recommended for action junkies, and fans of Aaron Eckhart, who is actually a badass and grizzled Staff Sgt. The rest of the cast is wasted, and if I see another movie where Michelle Rodruiguez pops up as a marine named "Santos," or anything similar, she will have fully lost her tough-chick street cred (although her "I got guns too, bitch" was a clear highlight in Avatar).

C.H.U.D. (1984)

Transcendent and fresh, this New York-set monster flick has a bunch of C.H.U.D. (Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers) breaking out of the Manhattan subways and bringing murderous carnage to the streets. We see several characters learning about, and dealing with, the eminent threat in various ways; the stalwart police chief attempting to bring it to the mayor's attention, the empathetic soup-kitchen worker (named "The Reverend") investigating his missing homeless familiars, and the seen-it-all photographer, who just wants to settle down with his girlfriend. I suppose I must credit the three not-yet-famous actors for supplanting this movie with a surprising amount of integrity: John Heard as the photographer, Daniel Stern as the disheveled humanist, and Christopher Curry as the Dennis-Franz-mustached cop (ok, two not-yet-famous actors). Along with Kim Griest as Heard's girlfriend, they render the potentially cheesy material to something strong and, dare I say it, human. The monsters themselves are not, particularly, terrifying; while they are shot in minimal, terse bursts, they do not prove as menacing as the city government that attempts to cover up the phenomenon. There is clever social commentary in how the C.H.U.D. only exist because the NYC mayor dumped toxic waste under the city streets; gentrification much? These elements are more than just filler and backstory, but provide a bulk of the movies substance, making it more nuanced and intelligent than your average mid-80's monster flick. That being said, there are gnarly deaths, some kick-ass make-up (a decapitated head, in particular, is impressively convincing), and a pretty terrific, tense climax. In the end, however, the low-budget renderings of the C.H.U.D. themselves ruin too many individual moments, and keep the film from being a true classic of the genre.

Recommended for fans of New York-set monster movies (this one was actually shot there, and it shows) or socially-conscious horror films in general; by the end, it's obvious that the political negligence, rather than the monsters themselves, is the true villain of the piece, not just a sideshow backstory.

Paul (2011)

Adorable, culturally savvy road comedy about 2 English geeks who, en route to Area 51, encounter, and befriend, a foul-mouthed alien as he attempts to flag down a spaceship home. Opening with our two heroes at Comic-Con, and riddled with referential dialogue, this is nearly a nerd-exclusive affair, with our protagonists being people who have always dreamt of the very adventures they end up going on. The two main characters are played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and, as in Shaun of the Dead, and Hot Fuzz, their relationship has a very bromantic, borderline-homoerotic feel, which may prove uncomfortable for many hetero males on this side of the pond. Personally, I found their interplay in this one hyper familiar and immediately endearing; these guys, with Pegg's as the stumbly romantic lead and Frost as the sweet, but obtrusive lovable oaf could be England's Hope and Crosby, going on fantastical adventures with their own signature comic tone. However, once Paul enters the picture and takes center stage, the film becomes less about them and more about him, and, inevitably, less specific and more palatable for mainstream audiences.

I was worried that Paul's entire character would be in his description: "swearing, culturally literate wiseass." Luckily, as written by Pegg and Frost and voiced by Seth Rogen, Paul ends up having a very clear, likable identity, void of cliche and full of genuine comic energy. The gags they blatantly vomit at you in the trailer (I'm quite bitter at the amount of gags that are ruined in the newest red-band trailer that seem STUPID in the ad but are HILARIOUS in the final film), such as Paul's powers of resuscitation, are, in the film, well-earned and contain substantial payoffs. The whole film has a strong sense of cohesion to it, from the running gags to the development of the human trio's (they pick up a third human, played by Kristen Wiig) relationship with Paul. The action/chase scenes are played straight, yet contain humor and hardly break the flow of hte film. And the villains are very cleverly thought out and presented.

As the primary G-man on Paul's trail, Jason Bateman quietly steals the movie away from its headliners. He dials down his trademark boyishness and lays on a cold, "Men In Black" vibe that perfectly complements his deadpan delivery. Part of the non-nerd side of the equation, Bateman's character nonetheless squeezes in several subtle cultural references that had me, in equal measures, howling in laughter and weeping. The supporting cast is peppered with comic talent: aside from Wiig, Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio play Bateman's naiive local assistance, John Caroll Lynch is Wiig's psychotically possessive Christian father, David Koechner shows up as a decidedly un-Anglo-friendly hick, and Jeffrey Tambor, Jane Lynch, and Sigourney Weaver (!) turn in fun cameos.
However, Seth Rogen's work as Paul is really what bolsters down the movie and keeps it from being a neat, geek-friendly concept piece. While we all know he can deliver half-stoned witticisms like it's nobody's business (and he does), Rogen takes it a step further and really plumbs the depths of his character. As interpreted by Rogen, Paul feels less like a laid-back, cool dude, but rather a kind of sullen, lonely, somewhat reserved outcast; he is thoroughly culturally literate, down to understanding the humor of asking the guys to buy him Reese's Pieces (more on that later), but it seems like he has adopted these cultural elements out of necessity and neglect, rather than any sort of spiritual affiliation. He wants to fit in and connect with people, despite how he looks, and the film achieves a distinct poignancy when exploring the various relationships Paul makes on Earth. Rogen's inherent everyman qualities make Paul especially endearing and identifiable, and, I feel, easily acceptable and likable by American audiences (alas, we'll see.). While it is clear that E.T. was the jumping off point for this project, with its candy-coated male bonding and the lobotomy-happy G-men hot in pursuit, it does not settle for that films underhanded sentimentality, and never devolves into nostalgic or schmaltzy dreck; in the end, it earns its more heartfelt moments because of its unwillingness to pander or to fully remove comedy from the equation, which many similar films end up doing in their third acts. As is, it is a hilarious, moving, and thoroughly memorable sci-fi/comedy, and another phenomenal, instant-classic (at least, for me) entry into the Pegg/Frost canon, which, I pray, does not end with this wonderful film.

Highly Recommended for fans of Pegg/Frost's earlier films, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, or of the comic cast in general. Director Greg Mattola has outdone himself here, topping his previous films Adventureland, Superbad, and, even, The Daytrippers in almost every way possible.

Robinson Crusoe On Mars (1964)

A showcase for then-stellar special effects, this silly, yet ambitious sci-fi film depicts a shipwrecked astronaut attempting to survive alone on the red planet. The most interesting moments are in the first 15 minutes, as we discover that (future Mayor) Adam West, one of the two astronauts headed for Mars, is not, in fact, the protagonist of the film. Other than that, any integrity the film has is fairly middled away as soon as they reach Mars, which is not only distinctly un-red, but has a shocking amount of treadable terrain, drinkable water, breathable air (with the aid of magical space rocks, of course), and, inevitably, an indigenous, humanoid civilization. Oh yeah, and there's a cute space monkey to keep our lead occupied until he finds his companion, a subservient Martian miner who is the last of his kind, yet harbors no ill will towards this space man who spends every waking moment trying to inundate him with Earth (read: American) culture, i.e. English, God, etc. There are alien attacks, but no actual, physical aliens; they send their death rays from the safety of their War of the Worlds-looking spacecrafts. The lead puts up a strong figure until the weight of the excesses of the narrative make any attempt at seriousness futile. However, the film does have a great many set pieces and special effects, which, for the most part, are on par or superior than any sci-fi coming out at that time. A lava flow, in particular, is surprisingly well-rendered for a production that, clearly, didn't have the first flipping clue about the REAL Mars. But the whole thing is ludicrous, cynically derivative, and uninvolving, and fails to provide anything in the way of provocative sci-fi due to its reliance on made-up characteristics of Mars and a lack of any strong story elements beyond its source material.

Skip It, save for hardcore fans of corny '60s sci-fi or practical/optical effects, which, admittedly, are pretty impressive here (save for fake snow that looks more ready to be sprinkled on Corn Flakes than a Martian terrain).

Nothing Lasts Forever (1984)

A surreal, thoroughly original comedy about a young man who goes to New York City to make it as an artist, only to discover that the Port Authority has hijacked the city into a repressive, function-oriented dystopia. Zach Galligan from Gremlins plays the lead, an amiable, fresh-faced small-towner who is determined unfit to be an artist, and is forced to work the tollbooth at the Holland Tunnel. He attempts to break through the art world by proxy, only to find it is a dense, insular subculture where absurdism is mistaken for poignancy, and superficiality dominates. Eventually, he discovers a society of divinely-wise homeless people, and is tasked with saving the moon. Oh, and the entire film is presented, in style and tone, like a Frank Capra film from the '40s.

The film was written and directed by Tom Schiller, who contributed many short films to SNL over the years, and this film is somewhat in the style of his more bizarre, surreal work for that program. Although clearly well-versed in classic Hollywood, Schiller is not content with merely aping the era, but rather using it to portray his bizarre story in a way that carefully treads the line between camp and sincerity. If the film was an empty excercise in style, it would not warrant a feature film, but Schiller and Galligan provide enough genuine, irony-free substance that the narrative is simultaneously completely silly and thoroughly engaging. There is a climactic musical number by Bad Santa's Lauren Tom that achieves an obscure, fragile poignancy that very few films of the era evoked, especially the mainstream comedies. The presence of Dan Aykroyd and another classic SNL alum (he's credited, but I refuse to specify who due to the perfection of his opening moments) ensures some familiar, straight-laced comedy, but mostly, the laughs are in the sheer absurdism of Schiller's storytelling methods and 1940's sensibilities. It is a fantastical, dreamlike film, and warrants a greater appreciation than it currently receives from academia (though that is most likely due to its lack of DVD availability).

Highly Recommended for fans of more original, anarchic comedy, or of old 1970's SNL. The film can be seen here, or can be downloaded off of a VHS copy on Bittorrent. There is genuinely nothing quite like this movie; a true lost classic.

Tron: Legacy (2010)

Visually dazzling, yet somewhat contrived sequel to the 1982 classic, this time focused on Kevin Flynn's son, who enters "The Grid" in search of his long-lost father. First things first: the kid sucks. The idea of replacing Jeff Bridge's Flynn with a hot, young, blonde counterpart for modern audiences is immediately misguided, and shows how willing the film is to sacrifice fidelity and integrity for appeal to young audiences; not quite to Episode 1 lengths, but still offensively. Another aspect of the film that completely falls flat is a greater symptom than just the lead: it doesn't feel like a computer world anymore. Everyone has really expressive, vibrant emotions, there is loud, emotive techno music blaring, and the games, rather than being programmed into the system, are actually there for ENTERTAINMENT, with droves of screaming fan programs elated at watching fellow "rogue" programs be "derezzed" in the gladiatorial trials they are forced into. Olivia Wilde's Quorra character, while not only being far too spritely and animated while, simultaneously, being massively turned on by the arrival of Flynn's studly son, turns out to be from an ancient race of indigenous digital beings (spoiler alert! seriously, I just did you a favor, now you won't laugh out loud in a theater full of kids or fanboys or both), completely disregarding the construct-oriented nature of the world of Tron.

BUT!!!!!











Much of the film kind of rocks the house. Like an above-average anime, the dynamic, obviously expensive visuals prove to be so spellbinding, that there are huge chunks of the film where all the flaws of the plot magically disappear, and the visual elements of Tron that have been upgraded take over in a liquid-digital cloud of sensory bliss. The games themselves, while rendered completely nonsensical in this version, are exciting, fresh, and well-orchestrated; no shaky-cams or blurry digital rendering here. There is a club scene with Michael Sheen that takes the new, techno-oriented mindset of this Tron to the umpteenth level, with blaring music, dance-like fight choreography, and Sheen dancing around, reveling in the freedom of this untethered digital landscape. I figure if they were going to make this film about THIS Tron, and not the cold, calculating, emotion-devoid version of Tron from the original, they should've gone all the way and made it an absurdly sensational audio-visual experience, like Sheen's scene proves to be. I should also mention that not only does Daft Punk make a cameo in that scene, but they provided the soundtrack for the whole film; their contribution to the film cannot be expressed enough. Where Harold Faltermeyer's Cop Out score made a boring cash grab into a watchable film, Daft's Tron:Legacy score makes what is, essentially, a feature-length effects real into an emotional, immersive experience; their Tron Theme contains more feeling and power than any individual on-screen moment in the film. The action scenes are such a perfect marriage of sight and sound that they do end up making the film noteworthy, and completely worthy of merit, money, and attention. There should be more movies like this (and less like Avatar THERE I SAID IT!!), just made with more confidence and less concern with the affections of children (*cough* The Matrix *cough* *cough*).

Recommended to fans of high-octane, techno-oriented visuals, Daft Punk, or, to a lesser extent, the original Tron; it's a completely remade, reimagined version of the world, but there are enough bones thrown to fanboys that you can tell the filmmakers (including Steven Lisberger, who produced this one and directed the original) were fully aware of how important a 26-year-later sequel to Tron was in certain circles...but they were also aware, and wary, of how small those intimate, geek-driven circles actually were, which is a shame.

Inception (2010)

Unconventional, intelligent heist thriller about a team of "extractors," thieves that specialize in psychically removing information from unconscious, dreaming minds. The less that is known about this film, the better, for one of the great joys of the film is watching the various pieces of the patchwork plot come together; this is more Memento than The Dark Knight. The cast is terrific, with special mention going to Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy for their badass psychic operators. The visuals of the dream-worlds, ranging from bending cityscapes to gravity-void hallways, are masterful, although, surprisingly, not taken to the lengths I would have hoped; it feels like Nolan expected this to have a lower budget, and only wrote in more ambitious set-pieces once he started to have Cameron-like credibility at WB. Regardless of its intricate plotting and ambitious thematic content, the film is ostensibly a crowd-pleaser, using the oft-used elements of the heist and the "one last job" to keep the audience on a familiar level while challenging them at every possible corner. The crowd I saw it with walked out with a very resounding "what the fuck" reaction among them; after the obvious and contrived horseshit that's come out this year, I was very grateful to be one of them.

Highly Recommended for fans of Christopher Nolan and/or intelligent heist or sci-fi films. Among the titles that come to mind with this one are eXistenZ, Strange Days, and the Matrix; not a shabby list to be included in, by any means.

Predators (2010)

I'm not going to spend too much time on this one. If you have seen the originals (or original), this is a must-see, a throwback to a more stripped down, more primal action film with more brains than the 80s allowed. My girlfriend (admittedly not a sci-fi geek) actually said that she would have preferred it if it remained only about the characters and the "aliens," as she put it, never showed up. That's about the biggest praise I can heap on the film. Oh, and one scene involving the lone Japanese character and a predator is easily the most badass thing I've seen this summer; I'm waiting for The Expendables to beat it.

Highly Recommended for action or sci-fi junkies and fans of the originals. Adrian Brody deserves mention to; he ain't no scrawny li'l bitch no more, and the moments where his character shows how straight-up EVIL he was in his life before the narrative are among the best in the film.

Despicable Me (2010)

Fun, well-crafted animated film about a supervillain named Gru whose plans of stealing the moon from its orbit are sidetracked by 3 surrogate children he adopts. Regardless of the cutsey throughline, the film does not betray its villain-centric premise; most of the adult characters in the film are nefarious in some way, and that helps create the world where this film exists in. I was surprised to see Universal's logo before the film, rather than a Dreamworks or Disney, but their signature touch is evident in the distinct, insular production and character design of the film; these characters could only exist in the world the filmmakers have designed for them. The voice work is also very indicative of a desire to deviate from convention; filled with celebrity names, the only ones that are readily obvious (besides Steve Carrell) are Danny McBride and Jack McBrayer, and their roles are so background (and well-designed) that the recognition does not distract from the story. While all the voice actors are fairly note-perfect (with special mention going to Julie Andrews, Jason Segel, and Russell Brand), it is Steve Carrell that holds this movie down. While creating a thoroughly original and distinctive character design for Gru, the animators made the brilliant decision to give Gru Carrell-esque eyes and eyebrows, allowing Carrell to subtly sneak in his patented form of awkward humor at every given opportunity. Hearing him in such a radically different role from Michael Scott while still recognizing (and, repeatedly, appreciating) his signature style was one of the real pleasures of the film.

Recommended for fans of Steve Carrell and family films with a looser, more interesting vibe; this primarily French-animated film is way more Land of the Lost than Toy Story 3. There is a moment toward the end involving Gru and the moon that is almost as moving, in its own way, as the notorious furnace scene in Toy Story, and all the more rewarding because it is an animated moment reveling in the happiness of the villain; not as common as one would hope.

On The Beach (1959)

Dark, thoughtful Stanley Kramer classic about a community of survivors living out their last days in Australia after the Cold War has escalated to the point of irradiating the rest of the planet. The message here is written on its sleeve; there are many scenes of long monologuing about how inevitable the planet's nuclear devastation was and how it was in our nature, and blah blah blah, but it's actually all written very effectively. The characters in the film are thin, but archtypal; of the four leads, Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Eva Gardner, and Anthony Perkins, Astaire and Perkins make the most sympathetic impressions while Peck and Gardner's romance is more interesting than either of their separate performances. There is a lot of submarine work in the film, due to Peck and Perkins' characters Navy ranking, and it looks fantastic and legitimate; a long sequence where the sub looks for survivors and/or methods of dispersing the global radiation proves to cause tension even when the planet seems globally doomed from the start. The gloom over the whole thing proves to be the defining factor of the film; in an era, clearly represented by Peck and Gardner's presence as leads, where films were basically legally obligated to be cheerful, this film has a one-two punch of having an unbeatable foe (nuclear radiation brought on by winds) and very uncompromising personal struggles. The last shots of the film are incredibly haunting and provocative.

Highly Recommended for fans of Sci-Fi with a more realistic, down to earth vibe a la Children of Men, which this film shares similarities to. Of the three Stanley Kramer films I've seen (so far), two of them have been very powerful social, moral tales; of the two, this is the lesser film (Judgement at Nuremberg being the other, superior film), but still wholly successful at conveying its message in a thoughtful, dramatic manner.

Cypher (2002)

Thrilling, terse cyber-thriller about a man who trains to be a corporate spy, but, in the process, begins losing his identity and sense of reality. Vincenzo Natali, the wonderful filmmaker behind Cube, Nothing, and, most recently, Splice, directs, but doesn't write, this thriller that creates great tension out of the idea of two tech conglomerates using their massive means to spy on each other, by any means necessary; one thinks it is not unrealistic to think that Microsoft and Mac relations operate at least somewhat like Digicorp and Sunways, the two corporations at odds here. Jeremy Northam is the lead, a mild-mannered man named Morgan Sullivan who is convinced by Digicorp to act as a spy for them at Sunways keynotes and conventions, under an alias with specific character traits. Immediately, Northam begins having headaches and memory lapses, and begins to become far more like his alias than his normal self, and begins to lose focus over who his employers are, what their agenda is, and who HE is. Lucy Liu enters into the equation as a woman who meets Sullivan in a bar, and seems to lead a parallel life to his. Both leads' performances are impeccable; Liu is wonderfully mysterious and sexy, while Northam succeeds in the more challenging task of being a protaganist that's an enigma to both the audience and the other characters. The production (I'm guessing Canadian like Natali's other projects) has Natali's highest production values (other than Splice), and portrays its lofty sci-fi concepts in full fidelity. But for all the sci-fi techno-babble, the emotion and humanity in this movie is quite strong; we accept the fantastical things Sullivan encounters as real because he seems to be just as perplexed by them as we are. Even though Natali didn't script this one, the script contains his trademark lofty ideas, and he executes them just as proficiently as if he had written it himself.

Highly recommended for sci-fi nerds and appreciators of the phenomenal work of Vincenzo Natali. In an age of regurgitation and repackaging, Natali has made four movies (Cube, Nothing, this, and Splice) that not only completely defy conventions, but contain enough originality to seem ignorant and FREE of them. He has my undying attention.

The Martian Chronicles (1980)

Impressive, if compromised mini-series adaptation of Ray Bradbury's classic book about mankind's colonization of Mars and its literal and metaphysical implications. The through-line, created for the film, involves N.A.S.A. higher-up Rock Hudson as he launches two (of the novel's three) Mars expeditions, and then as he heads up the final, successful attempt to settle on Mars. The rest of the series involves adaptations of several of the anecdotal short stories contained in Bradbury's work, but relating them through the viewpoint of Hudson's astronaut character. While the stories that are adapted are, for the most part, fairly faithful to the source material, relaying our experience through a singular character removes some of the mysticism and parable of the novel, reducing it to a collection of odd occurrences and happenstance. The metaphysical and philosophical implications of mankind's unwanted presence on Mars are present, but diluted due to Hudson's hammy, unwarranted appearances. Even the 1980 TV-grade effects support the backbone of the stories more than the script, which was surprisingly written by Twilight Zone vet Richard Matheson (he might have had execs looking over his shoulder, which would account for the compromised structure). The cast ranges, for the most part, from competent to pitch-perfect, as Bernadette Peters and Bernie Casey perform.

Recommended for fans of Ray Bradbury or high-minded, philosphical sci-fi. Fans of the source material: if you understand that this is a crappy, early-80's TV version of the book, then it is actually an enjoyable, relatively reverent adaptation.

The Final Countdown (1980)

Sweet, if fleeting, Twilight Zone-esque flick about an aircraft carrier that gets warped back to 1941 Pearl Harbor, a day before the attack from Japan. The story is set up almost like a late 70s disaster picture; everyone has their own little defining character quirks, and the ensemble stands out more than any one lead. That being said, I don't have to tell you that Kirk Douglas plays a fat, swinging dick of a captain, whose concern for his crew overrides any grander notions of power. Martin Sheen plays a DOD suit charged with analyzing the crew and reporting any misconduct. James Farentino is the stalwart pilot, who happens to be writing a nonfiction book on WWII. Ron O'Neal is Douglas's loyal, but hot-headed second-in-command. Charles Durning and Katherine Ross play a WWII-era Senator and his secretary, respectively, who get caught up with the drama. The story mostly involves the ethical implications of launching a pre-emptive strike against the approaching Japanese fleet; should they take the initiative, and avenge an attack that hasn't been made yet, or rest and let history safely play out as it should? That central conceit holds the movie afloat, and keeps the tension and character work interesting for the running time. Still, there is nothing here that matches the cerebral musings of the best Twilight Zones, and the military hardware, although impressive, takes up far too much screen time. The same cannot be said for Troma President Lloyd Kaufman, who has a tragically small role as a communications officer on board.

Recommended for fans of sci-fi parables, a la Zone or The Outer Limits, or strong naval stories. Or, of course, people who can't get enough of Mr. Douglas's gloriously inflamed cleft (like me).

P.S. There is an interview with Kaufman on the DVD, where he admits that he believed, as a production manager, that the movie was dead in the water due to a cantankerous cast and crew, and the only things that saved it were the efforts of producer Peter Douglas, and Kirk Douglas, whose professionalism seems unbelievably strong for when he was at this point in his career. Kaufman lovingly recalls Kirk's reaction after watching him do his cameo: "You're a better actor than you are a producer, and you're not a good actor." "That was Kirk," Kaufman says. I believe it.

Moon (2009)

Wow. Not like this movie blew me away...it was thoroughly entertaining, but no classic. But wow...the thematic material in this material is so fresh, so provacative, that I cannot help but wholeheartedly recommend this one to anybody even moderately interested in good cinema.

The less known about the plot, the better. All one has to know is that Sam Rockwell plays Sam Bell, the operator of a Moon base that provides all solar energy for the Earth. His only company aboard the station is Gertie, a somewhat HAL-esque robot with a multi-functional arm (that can even trim his hair). Gertie's voiced by Kevin Spacey, who, as in Usual Suspects, once again straddles the fence of being sympathetic or, possibly, sinster. The intricacies of the story, and why it deserves to be thought about and analyzed for years, begin laying themselves out very quickly, and the movie keeps you engrossed for its running time.

A big part of that is Sam Rockwell. This resides with Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and The Assination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford as the finest work I have seen from this wonderful, eclectic actor. There are so many layers to his performance, so much that has obviously been carefully thought out and rehearsed, that I will be truly disappointed when he is inevitably snubbed at the Oscars for Morgan Freeman's Nelson Mandela impression. He has this amazing ability, even in his supporting work, to distinguish his character in the context of the world around him; he never feels like a supporting character, only like the focus of another movie. His intellectual dedication to this story is inspiring; I hope this leads him to the roles, if not the stardom, that he rightly deserves. Hopefully his work in Iron Man 2 will contain the intricacy and fun that I expect of him.

Highly Recommended. If there is this and District 9 in one camp, with Star Trek and Avatar in another, I'll take these flicks any fuckin' day of the week over that glistening, tepid regurgitation horseshit.

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

Fun throwback to the serials of the 1930s and, more obviously, a great showcase for then-modern digital compositing and greenscreen technology. Gwenyth Paltrow plays Polly Perkins (if you are already turned off, avoid this film), a spright New York reporter who stumbles on a nefarious plot to destroy the world. Jude Law is Joe Sullivan, a.k.a. the titular Sky Captain, Polly's ex who happens to be mankinds last hope at saving the day. Considering they spent most of their time running around in front of a green screen, their chemistry is what holds up interest in the film and, luckily, it works. Gwenyth displays the eye-rolling cynicism that got her a similar gig in Iron Man, and Jude Law actually shows some reserve for once; it could've been his most smiley role ever, but luckily, he keeps the cheekiness to a relative minimum. The rest of the cast is serviceable, with Giovanni Ribisi and Omid Djalili as reliable sidekicks to "Cap," as they call him, and late cameos by Anjelina Jolie (worthless, but her lips are among the films most impressive effects) and, in a very nice touch, fucking Lawrence Olivier. Again, if that last bit turned you off, avoid this film, but it evokes the time period like a motherfucker.

The story of the film is cute, but sometimes its thinness catches up with it, and you are left to wonder why you are watching this crazy fuckin thing. But then one of the many charming moments occurs, and you remember that, while it is light as air, this is a successfully entertaining film, and, surprisingly, the script is strong enough to warrant the effects budget. In the trailers, I thought the weird white sheen on all the surfaces would turn me off, but the visuals all work well in the finished product; very evocative, interesting work.

Recommended to fans of old school cinema (a la Indiana Jones), effects junkies, and those who dig movies that open with flying robots invading New York and lasering the shit out of everything.

Lifeforce (1985)

Pretty badass, if nichey Sci-Fi click about an alien vampiress/zombie/plague carrier, and her unfortunate relationship with her enslaved human mate as he tries to hunt her down. The cast is mostly unknowns, with only the lead, The Stunt Man's Steven Railsback and Patrick Stewart having any familiarity with me. The performances are servicable, with particular mention going to Peter Firth's stalwart soldier, Caine. Tobe Hooper, director of Texas Chainsaw Massacre I and II, has a filthy fucking blast mixing genres in a way that makes the central threat become, ostensibly, having your soul sucked out through your mouth by a gorgeous, naked brunette. The plot, as it unravels, has lots of fun providing you with a lot of familiar or archetypal scenes, often with a different outcome or intention than one you were expecting. In this sense the film does not achieve much; there is not nearly enough original about it to be a true work of art, but what it does, it does well. The scares are intense, the effects are reminiscent of, but superior to those of Hooper's Poltergeist, and the plot is just convoluted enough to be simultaneously self-awarely goofy and provocative; there are many parallels provided in the slave and the demonesses relationship, and their passionate pseudo-sex scene, along with Railsback's intensity throughout, make this dynamic more unique than the traditional vampire-victim relationship.

Recommended for fans of Hooper, sci-fi/horror, or '80s movies with names like LIFEFORCE. The mere fact that the blue, luminescent "lifeforce" of a human is the prize of contention here makes this at least somewhat worthwhile, right? Actually, when you put it like that...I guess you need the stomach for it. But if you do, and this pops up on cable, peep it for a bit, see how it sticks.

Avatar (2009)

James Cameron's Cinematic Output, Best To Worst

(Excluding Piranha II and his documentary work):

The Terminator

Aliens

True Lies

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Avatar

The Abyss

Titanic

This was not the end all be all of modern cinema. This was not our Star Wars, as some had promised. This was certainly not indicative of the limitless possibilities of 3D. This was what the trailers looked like; a mildly badass hodgepodge of Dances with Wolves, The Matrix, and a little bit of Dune (how DARE they, I say!).

Sam Worthington, contrary to his surname, is worthless yet again. It is one thing to watch a CGI Big Blue Thing fly around a CGI rainforest like its supposed to mean something, it's another thing when the CGI Big Blue Thing represents a character we could give a shit about. The man's a cripple...hope that's as much as you need for character development! Sigourney, Stephen Lang, and J.P. from Grandma's Boy are decent, but too broadly portrayed to be anything other than background filler. Giovanni Ribisi, on the other hands, nails his scenes as the Paul Reiser-esque company man only interested in mining the jungle planet for all its worth. With his delivery clearly patterned after Jeremy Piven's Ari Gold, he refers to the Na'vi as "blue monkeys," and generally tears apart the mystic hoobajoob that Cameron's mythos banks on. Zoe Saldana is also somewhat effective, despite her CGI handicap, in her portrayal of a native warrior woman with the hots for studly Big Blue Thing Worthington.

To argue that the man was not, at one point, a genius is moot. He has given us some of the best genre fare we will EVER receive as fans, and for any one of his true classics (i.e. the first 4 movies on the list above), we owe him our undying gratitude. But he's been underwater for the past 10 years (13+ if you count Titanic), and it shows. The dialogue, characterizations, and plot mechanics here are not much better than Episode 1, as far as I'm concerned. The visuals are what you are paying for with this film, and on that front, he delivers in spades. While no individual sequence is particularly memorable, there are moments scattered throughout that are exciting enough to warrant the multi-hundred million dollar price tag...maybe. I still would've liked to have given a shit about the characters that do things that I would of course love to do myself, but don't really wanna watch someone else do.

If you gotta see it, you gotta see it, and ain't a damned thing I say's gonna stop you. Just know that there is nothing here that will make you forget James Cameron's earlier work, or even the last big movie about indigenous people and invading military forces.

P.S. RANT: This film, and more specifically, the response to it, follows a trend I have noticed recently of movies not necessarily needing to be any good to be considered audience pleasers. Along with Star Trek earlier this year, many advocates of Avatar seem to believe that the visuals overwhelm the necessity for a clear or decent plotline, and accepting the contrivances that allow the spectacle to take place is appropriate for the experience. Having grown up with Cameron's films above, the original Star Trek and Star Wars series, and the old and new Batman films, I don't accept that for a second. The films Avatar gleefully steals from are some fantastic, original films; even those who understand the extent of the inspiration The Matrix derives from Asian cinema acknowledge that it is a well-constructed, revisionist interpretation of those ideas. However, to keep it in a relatable, human world, it stays very grounded: the villains are the machine-gun wielding U.S. military, the primary conflict is over corporate control, and Sigourney's character, unfortunately, asks for a Xanax in one scene. With all the inventions and fancy gadgetry and wildlife that he came up with for this shindig, would it have been so hard to conjure up original villains, motives, or conflicts? Why is it so hard to create an original plot these days? Or are the studios, producers, and filmmakers so scared of alienating their audience they are willing to pander to their increasingly juvenile tastes?

Whatever the answer, I really am getting sick of feeling gipped by the films I see in theaters these days. I wasn't the biggest District 9 fan in the world, but I totally buy that the film had more than one script meeting to come up with the plotline. With Avatar, once again, I feel that the preproduction meetings focused on things they could build, and design, and not on story, character, or dialogue, things that would make the film as timeless as the movies that Cameron blessed us with once upon a time.