Tron: Legacy

Stars Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, and Michael Sheen were in attendance for the packed session which also included an eight-minute preview of the film.

Tron: Legacy debuts in theatres on December 17, 2010, and will feature a score by electronic music legends Daft Punk.

Watch the trailer:

Leonardo DiCaprio in Inception

Inception
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Michael Caine
Director: Christopher Nolan
Rated: 9/10

There are very few people working in the film industry today capable of creating a movie like writer and director Christopher Nolan’s Inception. This is daring cinema at its best, and much like Nolan’s previous works, including Memento, The Prestige, and The Dark Knight, it leaves you wanting more.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays the wanted criminal, Cobb, a man who has mastered stolen government technology that allows him to enter other people’s dreams, which he is using for corporate espionage. Set in a very close future, where everything else looks the same, but certain people around the world have access to this strange technology, the film could almost be a heist movie, but it’s so much more than that.

After a trip in to the mind of a corporate giant fails, Cobb and his team of dream experts are given the task of doing something most people consider impossible: Inception. Saito, played by Ken Watanabe, wants Cobb to break into the mind of Robert Fischer, Jr., played by Cillian Murphy, the man who runs his company’s rival corporation, and give him the idea of dissolving the massive conglomerate.

Cobb’s right hand man, Arthur, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, insists the job can’t be done, but Cobb will do whatever it takes to complete the job. His motivation is simple, if he can pull it all off, Saito will make a call that will clear Cobb’s name, allowing him to return to his family back home in America.

All that’s missing is one person: a genius who can build the dreamscape that the team will perform within, and when they find psychology student Ariadne, played by Ellen Page, they start scheming the biggest job they have ever attempted.

Featuring powerful performances by the entire cast — an all-star team of some of Nolan’s favorite actors from previous films — Inception is a nearly perfect action thriller. The film is also far beyond the average summer popcorn movie, thanks to Nolan’s deft, daring, and driven tale.

I’m convinced that lesser writers and directors would have had a hard time making this story work because the concepts are well above the normal Hollywood threshold. Nolan makes this big concept work because he breaks it down to the essentials; he gives the dreamscape a set of basic rules, and fills his story, and that dream world, with the stories of the inhabitants.

While there are a few stories to tell, including how this heist can be pulled off, the major story arc revolves around Cobb’s issues with his dead wife, Mal, played by Marion Cotillard. Ariadne dives into Cobb’s story and quickly unravels him, but he won’t let her understand everything, like why he’s a wanted man in America, and why Mal lurks around every corner of his mind.

It’s Nolan’s attention to the story of Mal and Cobb that makes Inception truly a masterful work of filmmaking. As the story unfolds, the action intensifies, and everything builds to a huge peak that culminates with a truly satisfying ending for the story, and Nolan’s dream. The miracle of all this is that Nolan found a way to drive the thriller aspect of this story without losing the thread of Cobb’s underlying sadness, angst, and motivation.

After two-and-a-half hours I also left the theatre amazed that this fairly long film never dragged for a moment. It clipped along at the perfect pace, aided in part by Hans Zimmer’s breathtaking score, cinematographer Wally Pfister’s camera work, and editor Lee Smith ability to bring very complicated scenes together effortlessly.

Inception is near-perfect summer cinema, and I can’t recommend it enough. Nolan is in his top form with this rich story, maybe not to the peak we witnessed in The Dark Knight, but this is still a stunningly complex film that is no less brainy than it is action-packed.

Between the powerful performances from DiCaprio and Cotillard, not to mention strong co-starring roles from Tom Hardy and Page, this is no doubt going to be on a lot of people’s list as one of the year’s best films, and hopefully just one more step in Nolan’s incredible career.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, Toby Kebbell, Monica Bellucci, Gregory Woo, Ethan Peck
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Rated: 6.5/10

There is something powerfully strange about seeing Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina and Monica Bellucci in one film that also happens to be a reinvention of one of Disney’s most treasured animated classics. It’s a feeling that all is not quite right in the world, and yet I won’t deny that I was entertained.

Recreating Disney’s original Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which was a short in the classic 1940 film, Fantasia, director Jon Turteltaub walks on hallowed ground with the guiding help of producer Jerry “You Can Never Have Too Many Explosions” Bruckheimer.

Featuring an army of screenwriters, with no less than six writers credited for the overall story, this Sorcerer’s Apprentice is set in modern day New York City where a very young boy named Dave finds himself face-to-face with a real-life wizard named Balthazar, played by Nicolas Cage.

For hundreds of years, since Merlin was killed by the witch Morgana, Balthazar has been looking for what he calls the “Prime Merlinian,” a magician who will one day be able to destroy Morgana. Through a strange incident, Dave finds himself wandering into Balthazar’s store and not only claiming the ring of the Prime Merlinian, but also releasing Morgana’s minion, Horvath, played by Alfred Molina.

Unfortunately for Dave, the meeting leaves both Balthazar and Horvath trapped in an urn for ten years, and without any proof, everyone basically thinks he’s crazy.

Jump ahead ten years though, to the day, and young Dave has turned into teenage Dave, played by Jay Baruchel, and he’s about to find out the truth: he really is a wizard, and he’s got to help Balthazar overcome Horvath before the villain finds a way to release Morgana from her imprisonment.

Meanwhile, Dave also has to decide how seriously he’s going to take his role learning magic and helping Balthazar since he’s falling in love with the girl of his dreams, played by Teresa Palmer.

Earning his keep as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Baruchel is a surprising lead in this film, and he makes the film both fun and funny, while still managing to make the action scenes fairly convincing. The trouble is that Cage is good at this role of being a father figure, but even as he chews the scenery, the character ends up getting lost in the overall story.

Molina on the other hand plays a decent villain once again. This is not as mesmerizing a performance as his role of Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2, but it’s acceptable for what the film is: a big joke-filled popcorn-adventure, which should be enough to bring in the fans this weekend.

While my biggest problem with the film is the script itself, Turteltaub was not the best choice for this film. His direction is ambitionless, and overall the film feels rather jagged and uneven. Like National Treasure: Book of Secrets, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is filmmaking lite, with no real passion or flavour of its own – just a lot of borrowed sights and sounds.

Taking cues from superhero films, a little Harry Potter, perhaps, what I realized the most was that The Sorcerer’s Apprentice really wants to be like some of those fun and campy classic from the 1980s. The flavour feels like a partial ripoff of The Never Ending Story, and maybe just a little nod to The Princess Bride, but with very little character of its own. Even a stunning actress like Monica Bellucci as Balthazar’s imprisoned girlfriend is somehow lost in this odd little story that revolves around magic and electricity in some combination I never quite believed or understood.

Great as Baruchel was in this role, and bad as some of the scenes were, I earnestly hope that he gets a chance to play the role again in a sequel. But, I also hope that Disney realizes what a crumby director Turteltaub is and replaces him with someone more up to the challenge of bringing real magic into this still-powerful concept.

Woody, Buzz and the gang from Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles
Director: Lee Unkrich
Rated: 9/10

Quick, name the last decent Disney sequel that came out in theatres. If you’re coming up blank, it’s probably because there are hardly any worth naming, aside from Fantasia 2000.

Pixar on the other hand seems to have no problem with sequels, at least if you take Toy Story 2 and now Toy Story 3 as any indication. The epic film company has made a name for itself as one of the most reliable film studios of the last twenty years, and their latest movie just proves they can deliver a solid sequel for their parent company, even when it’s perhaps not altogether necessary.

Toy Story 3 revisits the gang, including Woody, Buzz, and Hamm, as their owner Andy is about to head off to college.

Sitting in their toy chest, the gang is getting a little worried because Andy never plays with them anymore, and they expect that once he leaves, they’ll end up either in the attic, gathering dust, or even worse, in the garbage.

Picking Woody out to take with him to college, Andy decides to put all of the toys in the attic, but thanks to a mixup the toys almost end up in a trash can. Not realizing that Andy meant to keep them, the toys unanimously decide to put themselves in a box destined for donation to a local pre-school where they hope they might actually find children who want to play with them again.

Little do the toys realize though that they’re headed for a prison-like new home ruled over by the pink teddy bear Lotso, voiced by Ned Beatty, and his gang of plastic cohorts. When Woody stumbles on the truth, it will be up to him to break in and save his friends before Andy heads off to college.

Thanks to the wonderful voice performances by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, as Woody and Buzz, not to mention the entire cast which also includes Michael Keaton as the hilariously effeminate Ken doll, Toy Story 3 is a magical film. Pixar has once again created something truly special for this 3D film, which uses the technology so well, you almost don’t realize you’re watching something in 3D. For me, that’s a complement because the 3D is immersive, rather than feeling like a cheap entertainment ride, or a gimmick.

Pixar breathes complete life into these characters, making every single toy and person matter to the story, right down to the characters who only appear for a few moments. They also manage to make this story, which could have been a throwaway at best, moving, action-packed, funny, and heart-wrenching. They push your buttons throughout the film, but never in a way that feels contrived as much as it just feels heart-felt and realistic.

The first half of the film is admittedly a slow build, but it happily doesn’t drag anywhere, and the second half of the movie absolutely flies. All of that setup is tantamount to riding a rollercoaster that has to climb the hill before it can take off, a process that’s necessary, but the whole story process doesn’t seem quite as effortless as we’ve seen in previous Pixar films.

Thanks to all of that setup, the film ends perfectly though, climaxing with a powerful scene that might be considered a little intense for some children, but still felt right to me. There were also very few dry eyes in the house thanks to the moving finale that probably left me, and probably most of the adults in the audience, remembering some of their favorite childhood toys and memories.

Toy Story 3 blew me away, left me wanting more, and was a clear audience-pleaser, but even while I’m rating it near-perfect, I can’t help but feel like this was an unnecessary sequel perpetrated by Disney for dollar signs. Pixar made an incredible film regardless, but I’m hoping the next film is a more creative effort.

Jonah Hex
Starring: Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Michael Shannon
Director: Jimmy Hayward
Rated: 5/10

What is there to say about a film that pretty much sums itself up with its trailer?

Jonah Hex is the latest comic book adaptation that frankly gives most of the other adaptations a bad name. For every Dark Knight, there’s a Punisher, a Spawn, or a Jonah Hex, and it’s no fault to the source material. Jonah Hex is simply a lazy adaptation that could have been a lot better, with the right team and motivation.

Directed by Jimmy Hayward, who previously co-directed Horton Hears a Who!, the story follows Josh Brolin as the cursed former soldier, Jonah Hex, who had to watch as his family was killed before his eyes by the scoundrel Quentin Turnbull, played by a sneering John Malkovich. Barely surviving with his life, the incident left him able to speak to the dead and survive almost any wound. Now, Jonah discovers that the man who he once thought was dead is planning to destroy the capitol on the night America celebrates it’s 100th anniversary.

Briefly teamed up with his prostitute girlfriend, Lilah, played by Megan Fox, the enraged Jonah packs as much firepower as he can onto his horse and sets off to make amends for a lifetime of pain that has left him warped and almost as bad as the man he’s trying to kill.

Taking a page from the abhorrent Wild, Wild West, Jonah Hex is set in an alternate-reality America where these average men can get their hands on strange technology that puts most modern weapons to shame. That’s not such a bad thing though, as it gives the film a level of cool that works in its favour. As a summer popcorn film, that’s a must, but the film needed more than just cool ideas. It needed a better script.

And that’s where Jonah Hex falls apart. Written by Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine, the guys who wrote and directed the Crank films, Jonah Hex is a badly written mess that starts out well enough and ends ridiculously.

Taking a mere five minutes to build the character’s back story, Jonah Hex at least starts off with a bang before it falters into a lame subplot about some really old-school terrorists who still harbour a grudge after the south lost the American revolution. That concept feels incredibly cheap the way it plays out, and Malkovich’s villainy is more of the same for an actor who has fallen into a groove that is getting really old.

Taylor and Neveldine have the bones of something cool here, but their dialogue is, once again, a total joke. That worked for a film like Crank, but by the end of Jonah Hex it’s hard not to laugh at every other line that Brolin spits out, most of which are not meant to be as funny as they sound.

All of that said, I liked parts of Jonah Hex. It’s a bad film wrapped around a cool character that Brolin does a decent job of realizing, despite the faults of the script and direction. This is a popcorn film that satisfies most of the summer blockbuster requirements, but fails to be much more than a film teenagers are going to line up for and then forget by the first week of July.

For me, Jonah Hex is most notable because it’s another example of how badly DC comic book characters are generally rendered on screen. Hopefully they can turn that around at some point and maybe revisit this character who deserves at least one more shot, even if it is just between the eyes.

A scene from The Princess and the Frog

The Princess And The Frog
Starring: Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, John Goodman, Keith David, Jim Cummings, Oprah Winfrey
Director: John Musker, Ron Clements

There was a time, one that frequent readers will understand I’m often reminiscent of, when Disney was at the top of their game, releasing animated classics that have earned a place in many, many homes over the years. Since the 1990s though, Pixar has stolen most of the thunder from their parent company, which is exactly why The Princess And The Frog is such a wonderful surprise, proving once more that Disney still has what it takes to make enduring classics.

Written and directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, who previously made The Little Mermaid and Aladdin, The Princess And The Frog is a return to form for Disney, offering an age-old tale that has been updated to exist perfectly inside the city of New Orleans.

Living within the culture of New Orleans, the film features the voice of Anika Noni Rose as Tiana, a hardworking girl who wants to achieve her father’s dream of opening a fancy restaurant in the heart of the city. Living in the same house where she grew up, Tiana has been saving since her childhood, but she still seems a long way from realizing her dream. Her life suddenly looks like it is about to change, however, when the young and handsome Prince Naveen, voiced by Bruno Campos, arrives in town.

With the town preparing for Mardi Gras, and Tiana’s best friend throwing a gala party for the Prince, one fiendish witch doctor, voiced by the great Keith David, schemes his way into turning the prince into a frog. His plans start to go awry when the Prince escapes in his froggy form and the young Tiana gives him a kiss. Since Tiana isn’t a princess though, she ends up turning into a frog too, setting off a chase across the Bayou that everyone hopes will end in one marriage, or another.

Executive produced by Pixar’s great John Lasseter, The Princess And The Frog is unequivocally one of the best animated films of last year, and also one of Disney’s best films in three decades. Ranking right up there with Musker and Clements’ previous work, the film is a hilarious romp through the south, with loads of heart, and a fantastic collection of songs by Randy Newman.

Featuring the wonderful voice work of Rose, Campos, David, plus John Goodman, and Jim Cummings, the film is well worth picking up on DVD or Blu-ray, and parents will have no problem enjoying the film right beside their little ones.

Although this is a bit early to say, I also hope The Princess And The Frog signals a brand new era of classics from the House of Mouse.

Astro Boy
Starring: Freddie Highmore, Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Bill Nighy
Director: David Bowers

For as long as there have been stories there have been tales of creatures, made by humans, looking for acceptance and some hint that they are in fact somewhat human themselves. Whether you’re talking about Pinocchio, Frankenstein’s monster, or any number of other stories, the concept is remarkably similar, but none pull our heartstrings quite as much as the idea of a child-like creation.

With its roots in anime and manga, Astro Boy is perhaps one of the best modern examples of the fable, and with its origins set in the 1950s, it was probably overdue for its feature film debut.

Set in the futuristic realm of Metro City, Freddie Highmore voices the young Astro Boy, a robot created by the genius Dr. Tenma, voiced by Nicolas Cage. Powered by positive blue energy, Astro Boy is super-strong, super-fast, has x-ray vision, and of course, he can fly. But with all that power he wonders what it’s really like to be human, and what part he’s supposed to play in the world, which sets him off on a journey that will ultimately make him the hero of his city.

Reviewers were mixed down the middle for the film. Des Partridge of Australia’s Courier Mail wrote, “The feature-length film, modelled on Pixar films, merges the best of western and eastern animation styles. [The] result is an entertaining film that should satisfy both adults and children.”

Dan Jolin of Empire Magazine was otherwise not as pleased. “Aside from a few neat flourishes, this is attention-sapping stuff, lacking texture in both its visuals and vocal performances.”

The Twilight Saga: New Moon
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Dakota Fanning
Director: Chris Weitz

Vampires were once frightening creatures that only lurked in horror movies, but between novelist Stephenie Meyer and her moviemaking pals, Hollywood has found a way of turning these dark, blood-sucking creatures of the night into fodder for teen audiences, and to say that these fans have gone crazy for Bella and Edward would be an obvious understatement.

Debuting on DVD and Blu-ray this Saturday, March 20, we catch up with Bella Swan, played once more by Kristen Stewart, as she tries to drag herself through her now desperately sad life after Edward the vampire, played by the dreamy Robert Pattinson, picked up and left town to protect her from more blood-sucking drama. More drama awaits her though since Bella doesn’t immediately realize that the local Quileute tribe of hot young men, including Jacob (Taylor Lautner), are hiding a dark side: they can turn into oversized wolves at the drop of a hat.

As she gets closer to Jacob, and learns about the werewolves, Bella also learns about the real reason that Edward left her behind, and now she hopes for some kind of reunion, but the truth is that it may not be the one she has dreamed about.

Surely, if you made it through that description you’re a big enough fan to enjoy the film, so don’t let me stop you, but the critics have lots to say about the sequel, and very little of it is good.

Peter Howell of the Toronto Star wrote in his mostly-positive review, “The stakes are higher and the intensity deeper this time, despite a plot that approaches the ripest of melodrama – and which occasionally provokes unintended laughter, as does the terribly twee soundtrack.”

At the same time Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times, who actually gave the first film a decent review, railed against New Moon. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon takes the tepid achievement of Twilight, guts it, and leaves it for undead.”

Clash Of The Titans
Starring: Harry Hamlin, Laurence Olivier, Ursula Andress, Maggie Smith, Judi Bowker
Director: Desmond Davis

Coming out on Blu-ray nearly 30 years after it first debuted in theatres, director Desmond Davis’ Clash Of The Titans is a timeless action adventure that is wonderful to behold, even if the special effects are sometimes giggle-inducing.

Harry Hamlin stars as the hero Perseus, the half-human son of Zeus who gets caught in a squabble between the goddess Hera, Cassiopeia, and his own Olympian father. When Cassiopeia compares her daughter Andromeda’s beauty to that of Hera, the vengeful god tells the city that they must sacrifice Andromeda to the monster known as the Craken or face their city’s destruction.

Having already fallen in love with Andromeda, Perseus sets out on an adventure to save her, and defeat the Craken once and for all.

Starring Harry Hamlin as Perseus, Laurence Olivier as Zeus, and Judi Bowker as Andromeda, to name a few, the film and its cast more than lives up to the challenge of bringing life to these legendary tales of heroes and gods.

What will throw many viewers off are the special effects, which for the time must have been difficult to complete, but today, and in the pristine clarity of Blu-ray, make the film look a bit funny. The claymation monsters are actually still pretty good, but often the biggest problem are the actors who have been dropped into fake backgrounds and look like they have been pasted into some scenes with glue.

Heralding the remake that comes out later this year, the original Clash Of The Titans is worth a watch, especially if you want an example of great storytelling as we face a summer that’s bound to be knee-deep with poorly written sequels and reimaginings.

The Neverending Story
Starring: Barret Oliver, Noah Hathaway, Tami Stronach, Moses Gunn
Director: Wolfgang Petersen

Lastly, Wolfgang Petersen’s beloved film, The Neverending Story, also arrives on Blu-ray this week. In contrast to Clash Of The Titans, this is a film that still has all of its original charm intact, all the way from the story to the special effects, which at the time were cutting edge and utterly dreamlike in their execution.

For parents and the rest of us who grew up with this film on video tape, this is a great time to check the film out again as it looks tremendous on Blu-ray. Likewise, this is a great film to introduce to a whole new generation of kids, who may scoff at some elements of the film, but will no doubt enjoy the inspiring story.

Jeff Bridges in Tron Legacy

While no new details have emerged about the film, it’s interesting to note that Bridges’ is wearing an “Identity Disc”.

Here’s the official caption for the photo, just for kicks:

Jeff Bridges, winner of both a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award—and now an Oscar nominee—for his performance in Crazy Heart, stars in Tron: Legacy, a 3D high-tech adventure set in a digital world that’s unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (Bridges), looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the digital world of Tron where his father has been living for 25 years. Together, they embark on a life-and-death journey of escape across a visually-stunning and exceedingly dangerous cyber universe.

Tron: Legacy is set for release on December 17, 2010.

A scene from Disney's 'A-Christmas-Carol'

Disney’s A Christmas Carol (3-D)
Cast: Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Colin Firth, Bob Hoskins
Director: Robert Zemeckis

How many times do you think Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has been remade for film? Dozens of times? Hundreds? It’s hard to say, but director Robert Zemeckis has made an incredible effort with what I can only call a dark, resonant rebirth of this classic Christmas story. It’s also, and quite happily I might add, not what you might expect.

Jim Carrey leads the film as the voice of the one and only Ebenezer Scrooge, as well as the voices of all three Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Yet To Come. With only a few changes from the original novel and play, we are introduced to Scrooge as the penny-pinching owner of a London counting house, which he once ran with his partner Jacob Marley, who passed away seven years ago.

On the night of Christmas Eve, Scrooge begrudgingly gives his poor employee, Bob Cratchit, the next day off, before he goes to his silent home to hide away from the Holiday spirit. As we’ve come to expect he encounters the tormented soul of Marley, bound in chains and warning Scrooge that he too will face the same fate if he doesn’t change. Over the course of the night, Scrooge is visited by the three ghosts of Christmas, who will try to show him the error of his ways.

If you have seen Zemeckis’ previous animated films – The Polar Express, or even Beowulf – you’ll understand the one flaw with the motion capture process they use on their actors. Specifically, the character’s faces sometimes look a little strange or unnatural. This has been a huge complaint in the past, but I didn’t see the same issues in A Christmas Carol. The faces are not perfect, but they are quite good, and coupled with the tremendous voice-acting, the characters are top notch.

Carrey in particular is quite a natural Scrooge, keeping the character reserved and angry for the early parts of the film, while indulging in the darker parts of this curmudgeonly old man later on.

Looking at the trailers, you might expect that the film would be something of an animated comedy, as we’ve seen so many times before in these Christmas Carol remakes, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Although there are some comic elements, Zemeckis has gone back to the roots of this dark story for much of the film’s mood, and it’s a wonderful reinvention in my mind.

Lastly, there’s the matter of the film’s 3-D presentation in both IMAX and Real 3-D. While I still look at this as a gimmick, and not much else, there are some wonderful 3-D moments in the film. Early on I had a hard time ignoring the cumbersome Real 3-D glasses (which are not nearly as big as the IMAX glasses, but the Real 3-D glasses are actually not designed that well if you ask me), but the effects are often very compelling in showing you the world that Scrooge inhabits. The whole presentation is handled quite well, and actually does add a little something to the story, particularly when we see the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come.

It’s a bit early to get in the Christmas spirit for me, but this is a wonderful film, even if I think it could have been a bit more revelatory and emotional. It will surely be a huge hit closer to Christmas, but I would just warn parents with very young children that some of the early scenes can be a little scary.

The Box
Cast: Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella, James Rebhorn
Director: Richard Kelly

When Donnie Darko was first released I was amazed at what writer and director Richard Kelly had wrought. This was a brilliant piece of indie filmmaking that surely deserved praise, and promised a bright future for its creator.

Looking at The Box, and the trailers for the film, I was somehow not feeling quite as hopeful. Perhaps it was the curse of working with a bigger project, or studio, but it seemed like Kelly had stumbled into cheesy territory this time out.

Starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as a struggling married couple with one young son, The Box is a retro-science fiction tale about morality, and consequences set in the bygone days of 1976. Norma and Arthur are simply given a life-changing opportunity by a strange man, played by Frank Langella. He offers them a million dollars if they decide to press a button, but the consequence is that someone they don’t know will die.

Obviously, they consider it a joke at first, but as they fall deeper into the story, they realize they may have stumbled into a horrific chain of events that promises to swallow them whole.

Were the film released 50 years ago, and polished a bit more, The Box might have been a powerful, genre-defining movie. There are elements that can be quite chilling, but in Kelly’s hands they come across as fumbled mistakes.

The core group of stars are quite good, and I was very impressed with Diaz for a change, but the background actors and non-speaking roles actually ruined a lot of this film for me, and elicited more than a few laughs during the screening I attended.

Laying it all on very thickly throughout the film, Kelly misses the opportunity to make The Box a tightly-wound dramatic thriller, and instead I was merely left with the feeling that Kelly ended the film perfectly, but really had a hard time getting to that point. There is genius at work here, to be sure, but it’s overshadowed by a clumsy approach, and cheesy acting that makes it ripe for lampooning by the old Mystery Science Theatre 3000 crew.

Also opening this weekend…

Men Who Stare At Goats
Cast: George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey
Director: Grant Heslov

In this political satire, Ewan McGregor plays a journalist looking for answers among a regiment of soldiers stationed during the Iraq War. The question? Why does the U.S. Military think paranormal abilities could help them at war?

Co-starring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, and Kevin Spacey, the film is filled with jokes about the strange concepts that have floated around the U.S. Military for years, and is actually based on Jon Ronson’s book of the same name.

Critics are mixed on the results by director Grant Heslov, who is a long-time collaborator with Clooney. Bill Goodykoontz of the Arizona Republic had one of the more positive reviews, writing that, “For a movie that searches constantly for a consistent feel, sometimes within the same scene, The Men Who Stare at Goats is remarkably entertaining.”

The Fourth Kind
Cast: Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, Will Patton, Hakeen Kae Kazim
Director: Olatunde Osunsanmi

And finally, if you want something a little scarier this weekend, Milla Jovovich stars in the horrifyingly bad looking The Fourth Kind, about a northern city in Alaska that seems to be overrun by aliens, who are kidnapping people left, right, and centre. Expect to be disappointed.

Light Cycle mock-up from Tron Legacy

Held during this year’s Fan Expo, the Tron preview was a complete surprise to many, and also a rare event. As far as I know only the assembled masses at the San Diego Comic-Con have had the same treat, and outside of that, I can’t recall the last time Toronto has ever played host to an advance preview like this, aside from during the annual film festival.

Tron Legacy was announced during last year’s San Diego Comic-Con, and is the first sequel to the 1982 cult classic Tron. In the original, Jeff Bridges played Kevin Flynn, a hot shot software designer who ends up encoded inside a computer system where he has to fight against a powerful entity known as the Master Control Program.

Although Disney didn’t allow recording of the event, not even during the Q&A with Springer, I kept a pile of notes as he talked. I also had the chance to interview Springer on the show floor where the studio was displaying their mock-up of the new light cycle from the film (watch the video at the end of this article).

With production wrapping up in Vancouver earlier this summer, Springer was quick to point out that what we were getting was a quick peek at their work so far. While none of the special effects sequences were ready, Springer had a number of concept art pieces to show us, in addition to some test stunt footage, the teaser trailer that’s all over the web, and a short early scene from the film.

Leading up to this, Springer had a lot to say about the why and the how of the project. Praising the original 1982 film for its landmark style, which he thought still held up all these years later, Springer said that the key to the project was keeping the timeless feeling alive.

Filmed entirely in 3D, he also said that the new film would be “darker, more realistic, and bigger” than the original, and then showed the assembled, and sufficiently impressed, fans artwork of what the computer world will look like this time around.

Following the visual cues from the first film, the new art looks easily recognizable, and yet wonderfully advanced. He showed us samples of a few different Light Cycles, a Solar Sailor, a Recognizer, and a new off-road vehicle that he called a Light Runner.

During the chat he also confirmed that yes, Bruce Boxleitner will be back again, and Daft Punk really are doing the entire score for the film. He also said that the release date is 16 to 18 months away – in other words, at the end of 2010 (or at worst, the beginning of 2011). He also was big on pushing the fact that Tron Legacy will have “a lot of really cool new stuff.”

Next, Springer showed us maybe the coolest part of the presentation, which was sample footage of a loop-kicking stuntman showing off his moves. While loop kicking is not exactly unknown, I had a hard time finding any footage that lived up to the calibre of what I saw in this footage. To explain it though, loop kicking is a mixture of martial arts and acrobatics, and in this footage the guy kept doing full head-over-heels kicks in the air, without any wires or springboards while holding a disc. Very, very cool stuff.

Leading into the Q&A, Springer then showed us the only complete footage they have from the film so far – an early scene where Kevin Flynn’s son, Sam Flynn (played by Garrett Hedlund) discovers his father’s original arcade, and a secret passageway hidden behind a Tron arcade game.

With loads of passion for what he was presenting, Springer also reinforced the fact that the filmmakers are very confident in first-time director Joseph Kosinski.

While I’m generally unnerved by first time directors getting their hands on films like Tron Legacy, I have to admit, this may be the right guy for the job. As a former architect, and the man behind numerous amazing ads (like the original Gears of War ad with the music from Donnie Darko, or the last big Halo 3 promo, Starry Night), he is obviously very talented.

It also doesn’t hurt that the original Tron writer and director Steven Lisberger is on board for the sequel, acting as a producer.

You can watch my interview with Springer below, where he explains the steps being taken to make sure the sequel is as good as possible. Otherwise, stay tuned for more coverage over the coming months.

]]> http://www.thegate.ca/front-page/05255/sneaking-a-peek-at-tron-legacy-in-toronto/feed/ 0 http://www.thegate.ca/blog/rants/05252/pros-and-cons-of-disneys-marvel-buyout/ http://www.thegate.ca/blog/rants/05252/pros-and-cons-of-disneys-marvel-buyout/#comments Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:14:19 +0000 W. Andrew Powell http://www.thegate.ca/?p=5252 Iron Man, Spider-Man, and even X-Men.]]>

Marvel logo

Truth be told, it’s hard to look at this with any hope because Disney is simply not seen as the studio they once were. Whether it’s a misconception or not, the company is best known today for spitting out direct-to-DVD titles for the kids, endless family-oriented sequels, and films like Beverly Hills Chihuahua, or Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds.

Honestly, at first glance I was disappointed because I simply don’t trust Disney any more. Until recently Disney was a profound company in many ways, making films that captured people’s imaginations. Just since I was a kid I can think of dozens of great films, like Tron, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, and Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

Aside from Tron though, which is a bit of a hybrid, the list is thick with cartoons, and the best ones from the last decade are actually all from their subsidiary, Pixar.

So what hope is there that Disney will make a serious go with properties owned by Marvel? I’m still not certain there’s a lot of hope, but there is some. More than enough, in fact, and if we are very lucky it could work out to be the best thing that could possibly have happened to Marvel.

Here are just a few great things to consider when thinking about the future of Marvel under the thumb of the House of Mouse:

Pre-existing deals
The first good news is that there are a lot of pre-existing film deals for characters like Iron Man, Wolverine, the Fantastic Four, and many others. That means that it could potentially be a few years, at least, before Disney gets full control of their stable of characters and titles. It also means that films you have been eagerly awaiting will likely still happen with their current studios. (I’m thinking Spider-Man 4 in particular.)

Pixar
There is simply no better example of the positives of working with Disney than the entire Pixar deal. Pixar has made Oscar-winning films that have taken the box office by storm, and the company is completely owned by Disney. Some of Pixar’s top brass also hold positions within Disney. This suggests, as do a number of quotes from the studio today, that Disney will allow Marvel to do their own thing, as long as it’s not running the company into the ground. They may even be able to foster some growth and creativity if Pixar staff were somehow involved in Marvel projects.

Pirates of the Caribbean
Look no further than Johnny Depp starring as the rum-swilling pirate Captain Jack Sparrow and you’ll see that Disney has been involved with at least three great blockbusters films that were action-packed and not at all what you might label as an obvious mouse by-product. Think of the possibilities if Disney were to back a Marvel project as extensively as they backed the Pirates franchise?

Balance
Look back over the years of products Disney has put out, particularly over the last decade, and you’re going to see a lot of things that girls love: talking animals, cute animated toys, Hannah freaking Montana, and the Jonas Brothers. With this deal Disney will finally have something to sell to a different audience, and that could mean extending the development of Marvel products, which obviously means you could see more of your favorite characters. There’s an obvious downside to this as well, in terms of over-marketing, which Disney is majorly guilty of, but I’m still going to count this as a positive for now.

Common sense
Lastly, this one goes back to quotes from Walt Disney president Bob Iger today, who basically said that their idea moving forward is to follow the creed, “if it ain’t broke…” don’t screw it up. Disney has nothing to gain from leaping in and messing with well-established characters who have already proven themselves critically and at the box office. On the flip side, maybe this means they can find a way to revive the Wolverine and X-Men franchises after those last two horrific films…

All of this said, I’m still going to be cautious about singing my complete praise for this deal. When the bottom line is money, things can go very wrong, and Disney has many miles to go before they’re vindicated. All I can hope is that being a fan counts for something, and Disney actually respects the history and the incredible characters and stories that they have just bought into.

Vampires face off in a small town while a celebrity “super” dog fights to make his way home in this week’s new releases.

Twilight
Despite what most of the under twenty crowd might have you believe, Twilight is probably not the “best. thing. ever.” The novels have been breaking records, and the fans are going crazy, but it’s still hard to see it as anything more than a weak soap opera for teenagers.

Not that such a thing will stop it from taking in millions at the box office.

Kristen Stewart stars as Bella, a social misfit who discovers a new, mysterious boy at her new school. Robert Pattinson plays Edward, said mystery boy, who is actually a vampire who doesn’t drink human blood. When the two of them find themselves falling in love, Edward has a tough time controlling his instincts, but far more trouble is in store for the duo when a clan of fresh vampires strolls into town.

Based on critical reception, the film is unlikely to win any acting awards, or draw in many people who haven’t already read the books. There have even been complaints that the story has lost a lot in the translation to screen.

“While the movie attempts to find an compelling middle ground between gothic supernaturalism and teenage romance,” Genevieve Koski wrote for the Onion AV Club, “it usually winds up stumbling into the inane territory implied by both descriptions.”

Mirroring Koski’s thoughts, although with a bit more optimism, Hank Sartin of Time Out New York wrote, “[Hardwicke's] earnest, moody approach to Stephenie Meyer‘s tremendously popular novel may be just the thing for the 14-year-old girl in all of us.”

Meyer’s novels are legitimate hits, whether most people like them or not, and there will be more films coming down the road, but it’s a fine example of how often vampire stories end up getting really cheesy treatments on screen. Bram Stoker’s Dracula stands out as one of the few compelling vampire movies that has been made in the last couple decades, and even it has its moments.

As a fan of vampire films and stories I have to wonder when we will finally see a new vampire movie worth the price of admission, because Twilight seems like another drop in the bloody bucket.

Bolt
Special effects go a long way to making a hero, at least on television, but for the super-dog Bolt, it’s a hard to realize where those effects end and where he begins.

So when Bolt is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood studio to the mean streets of New York City, Bolt has a hard time realizing that he may not be the hero he thought he was. Travelling with a cat named Mittens and Rhino the hamster, Bolt will try to make his way back to Hollywood, and find out how to be a real-life hero at the same time.

First-time director Byron Howard leads this fun and fresh looking animated movie, with the voice talent of John Travolta as Bolt, and Miley Cyrus as Bolt’s owner, Penny.

Most of the critics agree that Bolt will never make it into anyone’s collection as a classic, but it is getting good reviews.

“Funny and heartwarming, if not entirely original, Bolt is bound to charm audiences of all ages,” Claudia Puig wrote in her USA Today review. While Michael Rechtshaffen of the Hollywood Reporter wrote, “Although it will never be mistaken for Pixar pedigree, this genial production is a notable step up for Walt Disney Animation Studios.”

Coming out next week, November 26:
Australia
Four Christmases
Transporter 3

Another week, and another huge stack of DVDs arrive in stores, and in my mailbox. Topping the list is a gorgeous new edition of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty, The Visitor starring Richard Jenkins, and a restored version of Alfred Hitchcock‘s Vertigo. Also out this week is Adam Sandler‘s You Don’t Mess With The Zohan, M. Night Shyamalan‘s The Happening, Beetlejuice, and season two of 30 Rock.

Sleeping Beauty
Marking its 50th anniversary, one of Walt Disney’s greatest films returns to DVD this week a mere five years after it was first released in the format. For the real keeners though, the film is also being re-released on Blu-ray, and comes with numerous extras to celebrate one of the greatest animated classics.

The story is one that many people know off by heart, especially after Disney’s Enchanted so lovingly re-invented the story. Princess Aurora is born into a magical kingdom, and set to be blessed by her three fairy godmothers. But when the evil Maleficent appears, cursing Aurora to die on her 16th birthday, the fairy godmothers can only lessen the curse by making it so she will just fall asleep until her one, true love can revive her with a kiss.

Hidden away in the woods with the fairy godmothers, who raise Aurora secretly as Briar-Rose, it seems that she will break the curse, until on her 16th birthday, one of Maleficent’s minions happens upon the princess. Maleficent will do all she can to destroy Aurora, and the prince who can save her.

Inspired by the classic fairy tale of the same name, Disney’s Sleeping Beauty is about as perfect as a film could be. With music by Tchaikovsky, and some of the most incredible animation ever put to film, the story is simply beyond perfect. Even fifty years after it was first released, Sleeping Beauty is an endearing, dare I say, heart-warming tale. With the re-release, parents and adults have a chance to relive the story, while giving a whole new generation a chance to see what all the fuss is about.

The special anniversary platinum edition comes with a huge assortment of extras that show how the film was made and how it was restored. There are also games, a commentary track featuring Disney/Pixar’s John Lasseter, and deleted music.

The Visitor
In this emotional drama, Richard Jenkins stars as Walter, an aging professor, still recovering after the death of his wife, who returns to his second home in Manhattan to discover a couple living there. Haaz Sleiman and Danai Gurira play Tarek and Zainab, an undocumented couple with nowhere else to go who were conned into “renting” the apartment without realizing it was Walter’s.

In an act of kindness, Walter realizes they have nowhere else to go and offers to let them stay. Tarek and Walter quickly hit it off, especially after Walter takes a liking to the African drum Tarek plays. But when Tarek is randomly stopped on the subway and arrested as an undocumented citizen, Walter is drawn into the couple’s lives even more to try and save Tarek from deportation.

With vivid, but simple storytelling, stand-out performances by the entire cast, and a keen appreciation for music, The Visitor is one of the most memorable dramas I’ve had the fortune of seeing in a while. Jenkins is heart-wrenching in this role, and director Thomas McCarthy brings Walter’s life into amazing focus with a thoughtful precision.

There are only a couple of DVD extras, but they are all well worth checking out. I particularly enjoyed Playing the Djembe, which looks at the work that was put into teaching the actors how to play the African drum. The commentary with McCarthy and Jenkins is also a very interesting look behind the story.

Vertigo
Alfred Hitchcock’s most complex and mesmerizing films arrive on special edition DVD this week as part of Universal’s Legacy Series.

In Vertigo, James Stewart stars as former detective John “Scottie” Ferguson. Suffering from vertigo after an incident where he nearly fell from a rooftop, which actually resulted in another police officer’s death, Scottie is now a retired bachelor when an old friend asks a favour.

Gavin, played by Tom Helmore, is concerned about his wife Madeleine, played by Kim Novak, who has been wandering the city in a haze. As Gavin explains, Madeleine seems to be obsessed with her ancestor Carlotta Valdes, but he says she would have no idea that she is related to Carlotta. As Scottie follows Madeleine, he quickly becomes enamoured with her, even as he realizes she is either losing her mind, or as Gavin believes, possessed.

Aside from one short scene that I would like to see cut from the film, Vertigo is a masterpiece of filmmaking, rich in detail, mood, and incredibly stylish. There is also no missing Hitchcock’s tell-tale thumbprint on the film, and his iconic way of building a mystery with characters that feel at once familiar, and disturbing.

The extras on the two-disc set are almost as incredible as the film itself. There is a very detailed film that shows the process of remastering Vertigo for DVD, a commentary from director William Friedkin, a documentary with archival footage and interviews about the film’s production, and my favorite, an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that shares a common theme with Vertigo.

In addition to Vertigo, which is considered one of Hitchcock’s most important films, newly restored versions of his other films also come to DVD this week, including Rear Window, Touch of Evil, and of course, Psycho.

You Don’t Mess With The Zohan
Beneath its silly, and repulsively sexual exterior, there is a clever satire moving beneath the surface of Adam Sandler’s funny, albeit crazed, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan.

Sandler helped write the script with Judd Apatow and Robert Smigel, and also stars as Zohan, the Israeli super-soldier who has tired of the constant bickering with Palestinian forces and fakes his own death so he can escape to America to be a hairstylist. Once he arrives in New York though, the troubles of his home country aren’t far behind, and no one will take him seriously as a hairstylist.

What makes Zohan so funny is the constant slapstick comedy, and hyper-stylized, cartoonish action. Zohan can do push-ups without using his hands, he can catch bullets with his mouth, and he has a perverse sexual desire for women of the elderly variety. It’s one of the silliest films I’ve seen in ages, but I’m still impressed with the way it handles such a big topic.

The Happening
It is hard for me to imagine a film I dreaded more than The Happening. Knowing just enough going, in to realize that writer and director M. Night Shyamalan had finally lost the ability to create interesting stories, I still tried to watch this train wreck with an open mind.

But, as I’ve already made quite clear, The Happening is, in fact, a disaster and I’m not talking about the plot.

Mark Wahlberg stars as a science teacher set loose into the wild with his wife (Zooey Deschanel), and best friend (John Leguizamo), not to mention his friend’s daughter (Ashlyn Sanchez). They escape from the city after an attack, possibly by terrorists, leaves countless people dead and no one safe.

Following cheap, distorted B-movie style logic, The Happening is one of the most laughable big-screen fiascos I have ever witnessed. Shyamalan suggested countless times that the effort was to achieve a modern B-movie, but whatever he wanted it to be, it’s a sad, silly waste of time.

Beetlejuice
After calling Sleeping Beauty a classic, it would seem a bit cheap to put Beetlejuice on the same pedestal, but the film is nevertheless an incredibly fun, inventive movie courtesy of director Tim Burton. Starring the rarely-been-better Michael Keaton as the ghastly “bioexorcist” Beetlejuice, the film is a rapid-fire comedy about a dead husband and wife who are trying to evict the new residents from their beloved home. While the special effects are looking a bit tired after twenty years, the film is still a blast, most obviously because of Burton’s madcap, weird style, and Keaton’s like-minded performance.

Alice Faye Collection, Vol. 2
Five of Alice Faye’s musicals from 20th Century Fox are bundled up for the second volume of films in the prolific actress’s career. Spanning a few of Faye’s films from the Golden Age of Hollywood, the collection includes Rose of Washington Square; Hollywood Cavalcade; The Great American Broadcast; Hello, Frisco, Hello; and Four Jills in a Jeep.

New television on DVD this week…

30 Rock: Season Two
Tina Fey’s Emmy award winning series debuts season two on DVD this week. Starring the incomparable Alec Baldwin, along with Fey, Tracy Morgan, and Jane Krakowski, the series is a show-within-a-show storyline with Fey playing the main writer for a sketch comedy show, and Baldwin as the weird, but ingenious boss.

The set includes a whopping ten commentary tracks, hilarious deleted scenes, a short-but-sweet backstage video, and a discussion about the show with the cast, hosted by Brian Williams.

Plus, among the piles of new seasons arriving on DVD this week, check out season five of Corner Gas, season three of both How I Met Your Mother and Robot Chicken, season two of Beverly Hillbillies and Meerkat Manor, the eleventh season of The Simpsons, and for sci-fi fans there’s the re-release of Lexx, season one.