Me...and My Shadow - Tron: Legacy

3 out of 5 Popcorn Kernels

See Trailer Here

First. This is a pretty good movie. Second...until the actors open their mouths.


It is rare that I experience a science fiction movie where the eye candy would give your pupils a serious cavity: beautiful and deeply rendered as a most unique landscape the likes I have not seen. This is truly a film grounded in its own world, and you feel that; but when the action diverted to the actual plot - it was hard to keep my eyes open long enough to really care about these people, let alone to sympathize that they were really in any danger.


Tron Legacy continues the story that began all this CGI maddness in 1982, when Atari and Pac-Man were the leading video games. At that time the plot was a bit heavy-handed and well before it's time, because Cyber, Downloading, Virtual...were all things uncommon to the public. Back then the story involved a computer hacker (Jeff Bridges) proving his ability to hack into a companies system, and in doing so, his friend creates a system called TRON that protects it better - but through this and that, the crew is accidentily drawn into the computer games within the companies system, and TRON is trying to protect itself from the ones that created it.


Okay...enough back story. Tron Legacy emerges, when Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) now the owner of the company ENCON, is missing, but he has fathered a son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) who's had to grow up without parents(and who I can't seem to separate from his character in Star Trek - which I loved him in too) and has become a renegade himself, traipsing the city on his motocycle, or parachuting off buildings, or hacking computers like dear ol'dad (running a company was not on his to-do list). But when a family friend Alan (Bruce Boxleitner - the original TRON creater who joined his father on that first foray) gets a page from Kevin, Sam goes to the office that the number originated - an office in an old gaming arcade his father once owned.

Waiting For The Blu-Ray

Actually, if that was all the plot we needed, it would have been great. But as Sam investigates the place, and discovers a hidden room of where his father used to work (or hack, you pick), he accidently transports himself as his father once did, back inside the game...and this is where it gets interesting.


The game recognizes him as a foreign object, or program, and brings him along to a section of the computer where the weak programs die while the strong survive, and considering that this is a gaming computer, it can only handle these corporate disputes by...you guessed it...putting on a game.


Sam immediatly has to fight for his life, and the action he is thrust into and the environment he views is magnificent. You can tell that the program within the computer has really undergone some property enhancements, and the characters we see each have a certain way they move, talk, speak - as seperate functions and programs that do what they do cause they were created that way. The thrills come at you quick and fast, with a music score that reminded me a bit of Pink Floyd's classic The Wall. But then the action stops, as it must, and Sam meets with Kevin - and I am like, "Really? Must we get all mushy and teary-eyed?" And the plot boils down to Son-Must-Get-Dad-Out...yet why does dad stay?


During the games, Sam is discovered as being a Human - or a USER, and one of the programs saves him, as she knows who he must be. Her name is Quorra (Olivia Wilde) - her performance is really light, and she fits well into this role. She's not taking none of this very serious. But I really wish the writers took this character very serious. Quorra holds a secret, and I really wish that this secret was the crux of the movie. You see, Kevin has created a code that can cause the human body to replicate itself when injured...but while he was caught in the game, he created a doppleganger of himself as a program, to watch and improve the environment while he was gone, who's name is Clu (also Jeff Bridges, himself rendered in CGI as a younger person).


Clu has been programmed to improve the world he is in, but that was his only program. So now that he has exhausted the computer game (it is a small space afterall), he now wants to improve the world his creater has come from, that being Earth. This is why the games against programs exist, so that he can build the best army. Kevin sees the danger in this, and has decided it was best to chill in OZ and not give Clu the chance to steal his secrets about his world, because afterall, what does a program know about Earth when your creator didn't provide you any details? He can't let Kevin leave until he knows what he knows.


Sam wants out, and he wants his daddy to join him. That is the plot. What I have revealed above I had to squeeze out of some very deadpan dialogue. In my mind I had created the movie I should have been seeing. But the movie does not focus on Quorra's secret, not Kevin's God-like image, nor the society that was created, nor the dictatorship of Clu, nor what the hell has TRON been doing since it has been protecting NOTHING for 28 years, nor the demise of the programs as they show human traits of fear, love, longing, and anger - which is really useless for a program dont'cha think? The holes in this plot just keep getting wider.


This could have been the next BLADERUNNER. I wanted it to be. But successfull science fiction stories have human elements and situations about society that we can relate to. What would have been great, would have been if during the 28 years, Kevin had become bitter and was wanting revenge on society and Earth, and Clu had become the hero trying to keep Kevin inside to save our world. It would have been Created against The Creator. Like in Star Wars, or on some level Avatar. But it didn't, and I was left very unnerved, because near the end, something happens that made me think..."And this couldn't have been done 28 years ago?" and then the credits roll.


I believe this movie will play better on video, with the biggest screen and best sound you can get...at least when the actors come on screen to actually talk, you can get up and go the fridge - instead of to the consession stand for another bank-loan in confections.


FYI - For those who remember even hints of the original, this movie will be a treat in nostalga as none other. The light-cycles, and other machines are here and better than ever!

I Believe I Can Fly - Black Swan

5 out of 5 Popcorn Kernals

See Trailer Here

Life Imitating Art.

That is the story of Black Swan; a story of such voluptuousness speed and magnitude that it shoots off like a runaway missile. This is a movie that will surely captivate anyone who loves a good performance, a good thriller, a good love story, and some good drama. Black Swan delivers.

Nina Sayers (Natlie Portman - in a performance that rivals her role in Closer), plays a ballerina who is up for the part of a new production of Black Swan, created by Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassell). Nina is a perfectionist, and lives with her mother: crazy and possesive (Barbara Hershey), who once had dreams of being a great ballerina, but became pregnant with Nina so now lives through her. Being a perfectionist allows Nina to perform the White Swan portion of the Black Swan tale: a tale in which a white swan falls for a prince but her black swan twin sister sabotages the prince to fall in love with her, and the white swan is destroyed and thus destroys herself. So Nina is good at being nice, but to be the black swan she needs to learn to be bad.

This Little Piggy Stayed Home

She is chosen for the part, but it is to the forced retirement of another ballerina, Beth Macintyre (Winona Ryder - amazing perfomance), who was at the top of her game but age (like Nina's Mother) has brought them to the end of their time. Then comes into the picture Lily (Mila Kunis - who will be forgotten for her role on Family Guy and That 80's Show, as she blossoms into one incredible actress). She drips all the sexuality that Nina lacks in this role, and soon comes very close to replacing her. When she arrives late for a rehearsal, and the coach says, "Take some time to warm up," and her response is, "I'm good..." I knew we were in for a ride.


This causes Nina to get in touch with her dark side...to actually BECOME the black swan. Her attempts seperate her psyche and the audience is introduced into a world where we are seeing Nina's reality and Nina's mind. The battle travels all the way to the stage unto the debut performance and this also affects the people around her.


I wont reveal too much on this film - it has a Momento/Inception/Sixth Sense feel to it. What I did notice in this film is the way the colors of black and white are used in this film. I'm not sure if this was the directors (Darren Aronofsky -The Wrestler) intent, but I noticed that the strong women (the black swans) in Nina's life, wore a lot of black - as opposed to her; with her white ballerina tights and white neck piece. Even the role of Thomas is done in grays which may account for his character being pulled in many directions by many of the women characters - keeping him neutral yet in control.

All the actors do an incredible job in carrying this role, and Nina (Natlie) wears this role as a second skin. It is known that she went through months of training and all the closeups are actually her performing. A dancer's life is not an easy one. These dances pit the body to do things that naturally it would never attempt. Her transition is fluid and believable as she struggles with creating then controlling her dark side. Thomas as well as Lily (Vincent & Mila) are able to turn on and off their emotions, are able to manipulate the people around them, and show equal talent at mastering the subtle nuances of human emotion through the slightest bits of body language.

The ending is almost expected, but not until the very end - because that is when your mind starts to instantly replay the film and put many things together. We are pulled into Nina's world so fast that we in parts become her, feel her pain, and understand her actions...and sometimes you're left in awe...with your fingers in the popcorn forgetting just where you are.

Once Again Harry, I Must Ask Too Much Of Your Acting... - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part. 1)

3 out of 5 Popcorn Kernels

See Trailer Here

10 Things You Should Know Prior to Seeing Harry Potter (a cheat sheet) Click Here

The Set-Up Movie.

That is what Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows becomes. It is very hard to review a movie created like this: one that is created as a part of the whole. It is only half a movie, and like many of those movies (Star Wars, Lord of The Rings, Kill Bill...) you appreciate those films a lot better when they are seen in their entirety. What Harry Potter has done however, is split what was essentially a whole book on its own, and created two films - so this film seems a bit unfinished from the start, because in essence it is.

The Bond Of True BFF's 

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows begins where the last one subsequently left off, after the death of Dumbledore in The Half-Blood Prince. Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) is still after poor old (and getting older by the minute) Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), who is still with his friends Hermione (Emma Watson), and Ron (Rubert Grint). This time however, they have left Hogwarts, and are on their own in the world. We watch as they depart from their parents; Hermione's departure a bit more emotional than most, and begin to go into hiding - along with Harry of course. Harry is the main object of Voldemort's wrath; but those in league with him are in grave danger as well. Until he becomes an adult, Voldermort can find him, because his youth carries a trace which he can detect and also because of their cosmic likeness (or something like that). So it takes a village to save this child - with many characters from the series risking their life to make sure Harry is transported to a safe haven.

But things go array.
And in a small part, so does the movie.

From then on we are delved into each main characters quest. Voldermort needs to find a way to kill Harry Potter, so he seeks a power source that will do that (I won't say, but the answer can be obvious), and he sets his Deatheaters and many other villains on a search and destroy. Harry on the other hand, must attack his enemy from a different angle, by weakening him to a point that when they do meet, the fight will at least be fair: so he seeks to find the six horcruxes (gem stones) that hold parts of Voldermort's soul. I can only assume that this is why he is able to return from the afterlife as many times as he has, for without a soul, his death would be final.

I say assume because although I have not read the series, I am left with the feeling that there is much left out of this saga that only the book can explain in detail. Characters die, but their deaths are not seen, but come as news from other characters. The opening battle scene is fast and furious as they cart Harry off, with others also being disguised as him as decoy's, but that battle is short-lived to the viewer. It is sorely missed as the movie stays squarely on our young trio, and we come to terms with their sexuality, maturity, loyalties, and their continued trek from one destination around the world to another in order to evade Voldermort and his goons. So in this flee, they have not much to fight, and when they do, the battle is short as they must continue to flee again.

And although the ending is very emotional among Dobby (an elf Harry Potter freed from his service in Chamber of Secrets), and combines a great deal of action, comedy, and intrigue - it comes almost too late. What the film is missing is a standoff between Harry and his most high enemies, a definite win in his favor instead of a quest that gets him to some important answers in very slow ways. I really wanted to see what tricks he learned from that school that makes him worthy to fight Voldermort - and that it would be displayed in some smaller battles with those his enemy trusts.

But this is only half the movie - so the ending will be very anti-climatic for some, although for the book fans I sense they will enjoy it very much knowing what lies ahead. What keeps this movie interesting is the fact that we have grown up with these kids, we know them, we instinctively care for them, so our emotions are invested already. Any first-time viewer is sure to find it rather slow (but are there any of those really left?), but on the whole, it is very entertaining, has good moments of cinema delight, slow in the middle, but keeps you interested.

But so goes the Set-Up movie, it is the appetizer, setting us up for the main course - delicious, tantalizing, and very beautiful...but still leaving one hungry.

Help Cometh In The Morning - Morning Glory

4 out of 5 Popcorn Kernels

See Trailer Here

The Feel Good Movie...


There are very few movies that deliver on a much different level: no car chases, no CGI special effects, no monsters in the closet, no red capes or super-powers. They deliver good acting, a well-rounded story, and a smooth transition in character development and arching storyline.


This is what they would normally call, "A good night at the movies."

The Little Producer That Could

Those nights rarely exist anymore, but they are the movies you end up buying in the video stores and you can share with your whole family, and remind you of a time when good writing and good cinema went hand in hand. They also used to be in black and white. Morning Glory is that type of story. I wasn't overwhelmed, but I also wasn't disappointed either. This is a nice behind-the-scenes story that I enjoy from time to time, and I am sure you will too.


Morning Glory is the story about Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams), a TV producer who is asked to leave one firm of high standing, to take the job of a lesser successful television network's morning show called Daybreak, owned by the always-funny-even-when-he's-not (Jeff Goldblum) playing Jerry Barnes. He takes on Becky, impressed at first at her references, and she starts off as a lion, making changes within the network to prove her worth - including the firing of a co-anchor. Fine - but then she meets the other morning host, Colleen Peck (Diane Keaton), who blends the right about of bitchiness and the right amount of arrogance to her role. She wants to be the star now, at least while the show is on the air. She is aware of the many TV producers that have attempted to raise the standards of the show, and isn't the least bit impressed with Becky. She challenges her in her attempt to get a real reporter to join her as co-anchor - perhaps the great Mike Pomeroy (Harrison Ford) an almost-out-of-his-contract newsman who does only the serious stories. Becky eventually wins that challenge.


Becky also has a lukewarm affair with an evening news producer, Adam Bennett (Patrick Wilson), who lights up the screen with his charm, but could really have not been there. He is the only element of the movie that I thought was really not moving the story. And the story is a simple one, where a young woman has the chance to prove herself, and in that attempt, she shows others that they can improve and evolve as well. She tackles the many problems of the network, including the many attitudes within, and ups the ante on her skills, what she can do, what the audience wants, and where her loyalties lie.


Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton are great together, and I was always eager to see them on the screen. They have an amazing chemistry, and you love the banter they have with one another - just as their viewers seem to have. They are rather seasoned, and in the land of real television they would have long been replaced by a younger demographic, but their spirit is very youthful, and infectious.


Morning Glory has great actors doing what that they do best, in a story that allows them to have fun and enjoy their craft. I could begin to explain how the characters relate to each other in this film, and what they do to light up the screen, but really, you have seen it before - in some other film where they excelled in.


This movie could be seen when it comes to video, but I think if you want the experience of Being At The Movies, you should see it in the theatre - where you can at least feel that you have had a good night out, with a movie that you will like - come morning or night.


...and isn't that what going to the movies is all about.

I WISH the sky was the limit - SKYLINE

1 out of 5 popcorn kernels

See Trailer Here

What Was That...?

Usually those words follow a car crash, or a strange loud noise, or a discolored skin growth, or an insect bite, or some odd taste of a food you've accidentally swallowed.

It was also my reaction the next day after seeing this movie. Why did it take a whole day? Because while watching Skyline, my eyes were thrilled and my brain was kept busy (kinda like what happens to the actors), but like a Jerry Springer episode, nothing was really going on...and like the ending of that same show, there was an ending (in Jerry's case a monologue) that totally bewildered me - even as the credits were rolling. So as I began to process the movie beyond the special effects and the One Hill Street looking

cast, I realized I had actually watched the making of a bad accident.

Skyline is about a group of friends the day after a party, who wake up in the middle of the night by bright lights outside their windows. One of them gets up to investigate,
only to be dragged into the abyss by the source of the lights as he stares into it; and undergoes a transformation that coaxes him into the light in question. There is a scream from an actress who notices this, and as another actor goes to investigate this mystery, he too looks into the lights and is almost drawn into it, but is forced back away from the light...and then we flashback.

I Guess The Party's Over

Who are these actors...does it really matter? The way they are presented to us makes them come off as really pretentious and self-centered.So who cares what happens to them? We have Jarrod (Eric Balfour) who is our hero - and was much better in Six Feet Under as Claire's boyfriend, is flying into Los Angeles with his girlfriend Elaine (Scottie Thompson), to visit an old friend who he had dreams of having a rap group with - only thing is his arrogant friend Terry (Donald Faison, much better on Scrubs), who has actually made it big time as a rapper and is married to a spoiled blonde named Candice (Brittany Daniel, much better on The Game); and Terry's horny mistress Denise (Crystal Reed). Then there is the apartment lobby guard Oliver (David Zayas) - who has the keys to every locked stairwell, so when our group tries to venture outside, only to encounter the aliens, he is the one who leads them up the stairwells back to their apartments safely.

And the Aliens...who start the movie on a positive note of mystery, with these fiery balls raining from the sky around Los Angeles. And the light that wakes everyone up is cool too. And then morning comes, and they can see that the balls of light were small space ships, but upon closer inspection with a telescope, we see that those space ships are hoovering above Los Angeles and sucking up humans like lint through a vacuum. They look like a cross between a dog and horse when they finally scavenger the streets for more humans. Our group peers out the window at all of this, and they are scared, and then they speak, and then the movie goes all gooey and gloppy, and confusing and weird, and the plot shoots off in all directions, and the movie starts arranging idiot ways for this group to leave the building, only to be chased back into it, only to plot to leave it again, only to be chased some more, only to finally have some become alien food (or brain food - cause the aliens want our brains), only to have the hero become even more of a hero...or because of the light, something changes in him, or he changes himself, or he finds himself which is not himself...or OH MY GOODNESS! I give up!

And then there is an ending that may or may not be the ending, because while the credits are running - we have some sort of Fore-Story projecting us into some events that may or may not be the future and were found on the cutting room floor. Don't worry, I have given nothing away. But that ending had me scratching my head and wondering if the directors (Greg and Colin Strause) forgot about linear plotting structure, and really wanted to make 3 or 4 different movies (and maybe really did) and forgot how to cut & paste properly.

Nothing was really solved, and yet I was glad the movie was over - but it took me a day to realize why I had watched the whole thing in the first place. I had no answer...

...and that is when I looked SKYWARD and asked...What Was That?

From Here to Eternity - Hereafter

3 out of 5 popcorn kernels

See Trailer Here

The concept of life after death is an old one (shameless plug* it is also the theme of my next novel),and I think it is because it is such a mysterious aspect of life that the freedom to write about it leaves one open to many forms of imagination.

Hereafter is interesting for two reasons: One, it does not bring a religious aspect to the question of life after death - and Two, it manages to hold a very dull plot together with amazing special effects and good actors.

Hereafter weaves together three different stories and pulls them together in a rather amusing and unexpected way. Clint Eastwood - who's directing I am loving with each movie Grand Torino being one of my favorites (although I believe he has directed more than 20), keeps our attention from the beginning of the film when we are introduced to Marie (Cecile de France), who is swept up by an island tsunami, in a scene that swept me away. She is a newsreader in France, and her life changes after her island experience. George (Matt Damon) who can connect with the dead and once made a living at it, but now has taken a blue-collar job and some cooking classes to escape what he called a curse, "Sometimes it's best NOT to know EVERYTHING about a person."Then we meet Frankie and George McLaren (playing themselves) twin brothers helping out there mother in England, when one of then is killed in an auto accident and the twin who remains must adjust.

Love My Mind Instead

So we have one brush with death, one dealing with loss, and a man who has experience with both. Although each of these stories are good, the one with Matt Damon has the most range, and subsequently is the more interesting. It is the only story line that most people can't relate to, thus it forces us all to ask the question, "If I had super powers to help others, but as a result I cannot help myself, is it worth it?" George is a man that must struggle with a gift, and he runs from it, because no one wants to be associated with a person that knows your darkest secrets without having built a relationship of trust with you first. All George has to do is touch you - and BLAM - the trailer of your life is revealed.

The other storylines give way to being familiar, not in their plots, but in their emotions. We understand what the characters are going through, and are not surprised with the outcome. Their lives, and how others react to their grief (for lack of a better word) is what makes this a passable film. It keeps you watching, but doesn't keep your attention. I'm glad they left any religion aspects out of the film, because it didn't get preachy with sin vs. sinner, or church & state - but it does give insight that we all are connected whether in life or death, and how our impact on people can be far reaching.

I also enjoyed how the stories came together...I believed it, and the ending was a surprise I was comfortable with.

I also thought about Jesus...and to not get preachy, but I wondered if Jesus was a carpenter by trade, and used his hands to heal when he grew up, did he think it too was a curse when those hands had the talent to build his cross, but those same hands could not save him when he was crucified?

Yep...this movie gets you to thinking, and isn't that what a movie is suppose to do?

Somewhere Over The Rainbow - For Colored Girls

3 out of 5  Popcorn Kernels

See Trailer Here

One thing is for sure - Tyler Perry can be commended for always thinking outside of the box. With his Madea franchise and his multi-ethnic & Social Status movies, I can see he is on his way to becoming an innovative film maker. For Colored Girls is no exception.


I must admit, in film, I never really admired Tyler Perry - his early movies seemed on the verge of slap-stick mixed with a touch of melodrama, sprinkled with a spoonful of morality. They followed the standard Hollywood script - thus many of them were un-reviewable and the only audience that appeared to actually understand his point of view was the African American audience. But with his union with Lionsgate Films he has had the money to not only branch off, but has enough standing to allow for a film as complicated as For Colored Girls must have been to undertake.

Color Me Pissed

I enjoyed this film...although it has some flaws, the underlying method is quite good. For some it will seem confusing, and it is, for this film was based upon a play, choreographed to a set of poems. In the play "For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf", is told by a different women, each wearing a different color of the rainbow, discussing a deep issue that dealt with being an African American (or coloured) woman. And in this film, the actors are designated certain colors to wear as their rainbow color.


What flaws this movie is the juxtaposition of creating a dramatic movie, with a dialogue flow - only to have it interrupted by the prose used in the play. I liked the idea, and could understand these mini-monologues as thoughts or ideas that really should be happening in the actors heads, but are spoken out loud instead. It breaks up the action to such a degree that your mind has to realize..."Oh, this is the part that must have been in the play." But these actresses handle this so professionally, so amazing in their talents, that you are mesmerized by their performance alone - and that helps.


From  Kimberly Elise (Crystal/Brown), Janet Jackson (Jo/Red), Loretta Devine (Juanita/Green), Thandie Newton (Tangie/Orange), Anika Noni Rose (Yasmine/Yellow), Kerry Washington (Kelly/Blue), Tessa Thompson (Nyla/Purple) and Whoopi Goldberg (Alice/White). Then there’s Phylicia Rashad as the apartment manager - we are introduced to them coming together as family, friend, boss, employee, associates, and business partners of a New York tenant complex which reminded me a little of Oprah's "Brewster's Place," and Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City." Also are so many issues covered: religion, abortion, sexual promiscuity, loyalty, safe/not so safe sex, death, rape...just to name a few - that Tyler Perry keeps you rapt in attention.


I also have to compliment him on his handling of this material, and at least having the ability to create a story around what most people think was unfilmable material. I also noticed a great improvement in his direction, his staging of the scenes, his handling of how the characters move and act together - it was very fluid, and refreshing to see; instead of his past efforts at too many close-ups, stiff camera movements, uninspired set designs, and predictable character plots.


If you look past the switches in dialogue from standard to poetic, you will enjoy this film. I for one, was very glad to see these African American actors working their craft and it reminded me of all the talent we have not seen this year. I could deal with us being stuck in comedy side-kick movies numerous times a year if only we had more serious dramas that deserve our dollars. 


I hope Tyler Perry does more out-of-the-box thinking - because while his previous movies lacked enough fresh dialogue, this one was created from different source material, so it moved him in a different direction and I am sure it will help his own writing improve - and I really look forward to seeing that growth progress. *And as a side-note, I hope he creates more women characters who aren't so throughly victimized. Even at the end of this movie you feel they have come to terms with their issues, but haven't overcome what brought them there.


However, this was truly one rainbow that produced a pot of gold in the end.