Cattle Rustlers From Another Planet

Now that the BIG movie of the season has dropped, the time of transition has begun, from Summer to Oscar. This is the time where we start to see a decrease in the explosions and an increase in drama and carefully planned character development. Usually, this is the time where we say goodbye to the likes of Transformers, GI Joe, and other dumb, action movies of that ilk, and we say hello to the likes of District 9, (500) Days of Summer, and films that, while maybe not the sort that will be recognized come the Academy Awards, nicely allude to the level of quality to come. Cowboys & Aliens is such a film, a truly masterful character study of men pushed to the edge, up against overwhelming odds, with wonderful redemption to be found and... 


Haha, had you going there for a minute, didn't I? No, what Cowboys & Aliens really is, is a a rip-snorting, action packed, genre mash-up that has an awesome concept, but fails to actually live up to it. Performances are passable at best, and the action doesn't do any more than it has to. The whole project seems like it came out because one studio head said, "Pourquoi pas?", which is never a good sign. 

Six shooters vs. lasers. We can do that.. right?

Bio Digital Jazz, Man!

I know we're adverse to facing the music, but let's just be honest! The fanboys are running everything! Don't believe me? Fine! Chew on this. Video games are a fast growing form of legitimate entertainment. The most profitable movies are the ones that involve mystical worlds, monsters, magic, and lots of digital spectacle. Oh, and Tron: Legacy got made! Convinced? The first Tron didn't make much of a splash, didn't do all that well at the box office, and, let's face it, does not hold up at all today. But, it amassed a cult following and is now considered a tentpole of the beginning of the CGI movement. Then, something happened. The fanboys that made up the cult following of Tron took over the world, and now, 28 years after the fact, we have a sequel.

Ok, I'll admit, I've seen this twice. I would say I saw it once to get the story, and then again to get the meaning, but such a lie has never been uttered... on this blog. No, the truth is that I fell asleep in the first viewing. I know. That's bad, but I had just arrived back home in SF and had not slept at all the night before. Don't hate on me! Now that the full thing is comfortably swimming around in my system, I finally have an opinion. It's good, not great, with the best use of special effects and 3D since Avatar, but carries all the story and script issues that plagued that eye-gasm. If anything, it's a testament to how far CGI has come! This is a visually stunning, but shallow and pointless, tour de force!

Game On!