Tron Legacy on Blu-Ray

Tron: Legacy on Blu-Ray: 28 years after the original pushed the visual boundaries of film, the second installment shows up on Blu-ray aiming to do the same. In the digital effects age we live in, this is a rather lofty goal. However, I think they accomplished that goal – this is one Awesome looking movie! Not only is this eye candy from start to finish, but Tron Legacy will also give your home theater sound system a work out. Now the question is did they give us a story with enough substance to keep up with the dazzling sounds and visuals? Sadly the answer is No. Sam Flynn, the son of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) goes looking for him in the digital world, which has now evolved as it tried to become a utopia of sorts. The speed bikes are back as is Jeff Bridges, who comes off as “The Dude” stuck in a video game….the only thing he was missing was a white Russian. Once reunited, the mission becomes trying to get out of the digital world. The story fails to give us a reason to care about the characters and that reduces the joy of the main action sequences near the end. That said this is still a movie to have some fun with, it is a real treat for your eyes and ears……..just not so much for the brain.

2.5 Jaws / C+

2010 top 10 !!!!

Better late than never - I apologize for the lack of reviews over the past year, however it was not from a lack of movie watching. My concentration has been on my podcast - CinemaJaw (A weekly podcast where I give all my reviews and more). I still went out to the theater and spun DVDs just as much if not more than I always do. Yesterday we posted the latest episode of CinemaJaw which was a celebration of the year in film - 2010. We cover our top 10 lists - explaining why we liked each film, pick our worst movie of the year, play trivia and more. Give it a listen when you have time or download it at itunes. As for my favorite films from 2010, I have listed them below and as always I have included a second opinion. Jen,who I am lucky to enjoy all these movies with, has her top 10 listed as well. Enjoy and check out the Jaw - http://cinemajaw.com/wordpress/

10) Rabbit Hole

9) The Kings Speech

8) The Social Network

7) True Grit

6) The Ghost Writer

5) The Fighter

4) Blue Valentine

3) Inception

2) 127 Hours

1) Black Swan

A Second opinion - Jen's top 10

10) Catfish

9) Temple Grandin

8) True Grit

7) 127 Hours

6) Black Swan

5) The Social Network

4) The King's Speech

3) Rabbit Hole

2) The Fighter

1) Inception

The Social Network Review

The Social Network:...a.k.a. The Facebook movie: In the fall of 2003 Mark Zuckerberg, a student at Harvard, sat at his computer in his dorm room and created a site that changed the way the world would communicate forever. If the story was that simple we would not have much of a movie and Mark Zuckerberg would not have been sued for 600 Million dollars by his best friend. The film opens up with Zuckerberg (played by Jessie Eisenberg) sitting with his then girlfriend at a restaurant on campus. The dialogue exchanged by the two characters is hilarious, fast paced, and insightful. We instantly have an understanding that Mark Zuckerberg has a yearning to be accepted. When he is approached with an opportunity to help develop a website for some classmates a light bulb goes off. Zuckerberg asks his best friend Eduardo Saverin to fund a new project of his called "The Facebook". Once the website takes off there are question marks on who deserves credit for what.....hence some major lawsuits. The movie jumps back and forth between the two lawsuits against Zuckerberg and to the time when he was creating the website. Eisenberg does an excellent job of portraying a young man who is emotionally disconnected from his friends and obsessed with creating something larger than life. He carries this film from start to finish and is ultimately the reason the movie works so well. The script is also superb, with humor laced throughout....I found this movie to be much funnier than expected. The score is done by Trent Reznor (yes, Nine Inch Nails Trent). The music supplies a dark undertone to the story and conveys the idea that something is being created that is larger than anyone expects. The only element I wanted to see explored more was the impact Facebook has had on society. This is an interesting and poignant story that is well told and entertaining......I think I will hit the "Like Button" on the film's fan page.

Rythemovieguy's Grade: B

If This Movie Had Parents they would be: War Games & Real Genius

Iron Man 2 Review

Why It's Worth Seeing: Iron Man is back and this time he brought some friends with him. The first film was a huge success with both fans and critics. Knowing this, the filmmakers did not change the formula too much, just added to it (this is not new Coke, it's Coke Classic in a bigger bottle). Tony Stark has come out to the public as being the man behind the suit. I find this refreshing compared to the typical "secret identity superhero scenario" we normally see. The U.S. military wants Tony Stark to give them the secrets behind the Iron Man technology, but Mr. Stark thinks this could only lead to inappropriate use. Meanwhile, in Moscow Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), the son of a scientist who worked with Tony Stark's dad is hard at work harnessing similar technology to use against Iron Man. Besides some spectacular action scenes the film is filled with perfectly written characters and witty dialogue. Sam Rockwell in particular shines as Justin Hammer who is working for the Defense Department. I must also note that Gary Shandling shined in his small role as Senator Stern (I'm a closet Shandling fan). Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson both pop up as characters that the comic book fans will enjoy even more than the casual fan.

Why It's Not: To be honest the movie does very little wrong. The only knock against it would be that the story and characters do not feel as fresh as they did the first time around. They did not take too many risks with pushing the Iron Man story-arc in a new direction.

Verdict: The summer movie season gets off to a fantastic start. This is a pitch-perfect summer blockbuster that mixes high octane action with fun, well written dialogue.

Rythemovieguy's Grade: B+

If this movie had parents they would be: Iron Man & Rocky IV