Tron: Legacy (2010) ****

There's an episode of Family Guy where Peter asks a group of people if any of them have ever seen Tron. Most say no. It's a cult movie, released during the summer of E.T. and before Return of the Jedi the original film made more of an impression in video arcades than movie theaters. I distinctly remember playing the video game at the arcade behind Pizzans (how many of you remember that joint?). The movie, however, remains a vague memory. 

Before seeing Tron: Legacy i wanted a little refresher. Everyone I talked to had seen the original, but like me Ronald Reagan was still President at the time. I tried to rent it. I tried to buy it (out of print copies are going for $100+ on Amazon and ebay). I was amazed that Disney didn't re-release the original before the sequel came out since everyone had been out of the Tron Zone for close to three decades. I assume I'll have to wait for the eventual two pack on Blu-Ray.

The first good thing about Tron: Legacy is that you don't have to know the original film inside and out to enjoy it. The film picks up in 1989 with Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges, whose face is digitally time warped back to 1989) disappearing, leaving his son Sam (Garrett Hendlund) the majority stockholder of Kevin's software company, which has become the kind of evil empire that most companies become or are seen as epitomizing. After getting a vague message from his father's arcade, Sam takes a look around the old Donkey Kong and Galaga machines to discover his fathers workshop. Through an accident Sam is sent to the Grid, a computerized world full of programs and their leader Clu (also played by Bridges sans twenty years), whose program goal of creating a perfect world has turned him into the computerized equivalent of Adolph Hitler. Sam's goal becomes finding his father and bringing him back home after all these years.

Visually Tron: Legacy is a feast for the eyes, light years ahead of the original film and, dare I say, on par with Avatar's 3-D effects. This is a beautifully designed film that really pulls you into the world of the Grid. Usually with movies like this that are full of eye candy, the story sucks. I'm not saying this movie has the greatest story known to man and there are cringe worthy moments, but for the most part the story keeps you in the film and combined with the visuals creates an exciting film that also has very good 3-D effects. That's right, I liked the 3-D in this movie. I generally hate 3-D, but when my head movies with the action on the screen I have to say someone did a good job. I could discuss the actors, but let's be honest: the effects are the real stars.


As a follow up to a film that's almost thirty years old and no one remembers, Tron: Legacy delivers as an awesome popcorn flick. There's no deep meaning (unless you're really gullible), but it's an entertaining two hours that won't disappoint a soul. It may not be a classic, but it's effects will allow it to be a stepping stone to the future just like the original film.

Machete (2010) ***1/2

Based on the awesome trailer during the Grindhouse double feature (rumor has it that Thanksgiving and Werewolf Women of the S.S. could be showing up on screens soon) Machete follows our title character (Danny Trejo) as a left for dead Federale that ends up a day laborer in Texas. When a man in a Mercedes (Jeff Fahey) shows up and offers Machete $150,000 to kill a Texas state senator (Robert DeNiro) out hero decides to take the deal, to a point, but a screw job leads to an over the top comic book orgy of violence that explodes on the screen.

Machete isn't much on story. It's your basic stock story of revenge, and implausible espionage, and hot ladies that Machete scores with over and over again. Remember, the roots are in Grindhouse films and this gives us a better representation than Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror, the film that hosted the germ that became Machete. Most of the cast hams up their roles, which is OK because this is a roast pig dinner of a film. It's a movie that's larger than life, but you can enjoy it without it going into corniness. It's a good group film because you will be yelling "Holy shit! That's a (fill in blank with instrument of destruction or body part)." Machete is as basic a movie as they come and is great because of it.