Dell's Good, Bad & Ugly Movie Reviews

[dell71]

Tron
Directed by Steven Lisberger.
1982. Rated PG, 96 minutes.
Cast:
Jeff Bridges
Bruce Boxleitner
David Warner
Cindy Morgan
Bernard Hughes
Dan Shor
Peter Jurasik
Tony Stephano

Kevin Flynn (Bridges) tries to hack into his former employer’s network to find proof he created the company’s biggest selling video games. In the process, he is literally sucked into the system and has to fight his way out. It’s an odd watch due to a meandering plot and dialogue convoluted with pseudo-techno jargon. The actors are indeed afterthoughts to the special fx. All the bad guys simply keep a stern look on their faces while the good guys use an expression that says either “gee willikers,” or “holy moly.” Even future Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges just looks wide-eyed and goofy most of the time. It’s just another movie in which computers try to take over the world. Ironically, it crumbles under the weight of showing off its own technology.

Still, it’s the technology that makes Tron an essential movie. By today’s standards it looks primitive and can be outdone by any teenager with a desktop at home. However, it represents the cutting edge of its day. This is the first movie by a major studio to extensively use cgi. Summer blockbusters, as we know them are often traced back to Jaws. However, they were changed forever by this film. As a result, Tron’s importance far outdistances it’s actual artistic merit.

MY SCORE: 5.5/10

[dell71]

Tron Legacy
Directed by Joseph Kosinski.
2010. Rated PG, 126 minutes.
Cast:
Jeff Bridges
Garrett Hedlund
Olivia Wilde
Bruce Boxleitner
Michael Sheen
James Frain
Beau Garrett
Anis Cheufra

Kevin Flynn (Bridges) disappeared in 1989 and has been presumed dead ever since. In news flashes from that era, we learn that he put technology company Encom on the map and was working on the biggest, bestest thing ever when he vanished. This follows the events of the original Tron, a goofy but groundbreaking 1982 movie that didn’t do as well as anticipated at the box-office but has since developed a huge following. It’s following is huge enough Disney thought there was money in giving us a sequel almost thirty years later. In the original, Kevin accidentally finds a way to physically get inside the inner most workings of a computer. Once there, he finds programs to be like a group of very angry people. It’s like everyone’s hemorrhoids all flared up at once, or something. A few of the less angry folks became the good guys. So, of course, there were villains and Kevin had himself a grand adventure. It was so grand, he began to feel that the answers to all of mankind’s problems were in this world. I told you he was working on the bestest thing ever, right?

Mr. Flynn left behind a very young son who had already lost his mother. His name is Sam (Hedlund). Fast forward to the present. As you can imagine, growing up without either of his parents has left him with some issues. By the way, he was taken care of by his grandparents until they died a few years later. Of course they did, they looked to be in their early to mid thousands when they got him. Basically, what all this means is that Sam likes sabotaging Encom’s best laid plans even though he’s the biggest shareholder in the company. After his latest stunt, his dad’s old buddy tells him that someone paged him from Kevin’s old office from a number that’s been disconnected for over twenty years. Yes, I said someone paged him. For you young’uns who don’t know what a pager is, it’s a miniature version of that giant thing they give you at restaraunts when the waiting list is ridiculous. Only when someone dialed the number to your personal pager, you then broke your neck trying to get to the nearest phone and call them back. If you weren’t at home or work that actually meant resorting to finding a pay phone since most of us didn’t have phones in our pocket. Pay phone? Do they even have those anymore? Do doctors even use pagers nowadays? I dunno. Let’s move on.

Sam goes to check out dad’s old digs. Whaddya know? It’s the arcade from the first movie, only it is now abandoned and has been sitting there for two decades. Nothing has been touched, except for tarps being thrown over everything. Other than some dust, it’s all in tact. Even the electricity still works. Kevin must’ve wrote the power company a massive check before he got missing. Anyhoo, Sam wanders around, finds the secret passageway leading to pop’s still functioning computer. After a few tries, he guesses the old man’s password and voila! He’s actually inside the computer on “the grid.” I hate when that happens.

Well, programs are still angry so as soon as he gets there, Sam is dropped into some gladiator type games. He survives and is taken to his father. Not so fast, my friend. He’s actually taken to Clu, the program his father made in his own image. Yes, there are lots of allusions to Christianity. Imagine a movie that examines religion, includes a guy with a God complex and pumped full of special fx. Wait a sec. How did you know I was thinking of The Matrix or Superman Returns, or Tron, or…n-n-nevermind. I want to get through this. Eventually, Sam is taken to his real father, often referred to as “The Creator.” See? Since Clu is the fallen angel type trying to take over things Kevin, Sam and Quorra (Wilde) trying to escape through the portal ensues. I haven’t mentioned Quorra, yet? She’s the sexy program that hangs around “The Creator” and does his dirty work. You see, Kevin is much more New Testament benevolence than Old Testament wrath so he prefers to avoid all the conflict. Besides, she not only completes the trinity, she reminds us a lot of Trinity, too. Yup, I’m referencing The Matrix again. The movie does this a lot, as well.

The rest of the film falls into many of the same traps as the original. The visuals are fascinating, often stunning and sufficiently drive the action sequences. Those action scenes can be lots of fun, especially the ones involving the light-cycles and later light-planes. What’s between those scenes is convoluted to the point of incoherence. It’s logic is often faulty and some things aren’t nearly transparent enough. For instance, it comes to light that Clu wants to take over the real world by escaping through the portal himself. Huh? Someone please explain how this works. When my pc repair guy pulls out a motherboard does he risk being attacked? To make matters worse, Legacy takes itself way too seriously. There’s no humor, the score is ominous and the landscape is bleak. By the way, I had no idea the inside of my computer looked like a post-apocalyptic wasteland somehow filled with neon lights. The overwhelming silliness doesn’t match the tone. The original does offer some humor, realizing its own inherent absurdity. Seriousness works in something like The Dark Knight, which actually did have lots of humor, because despite it being about a guy dressed as a giant bat fighting a psychotic clown, its world resembles our own. The world of Tron Legacy does not. This world is a mashup of a number of other sci-fi flicks through the years including its predecessor.

At long last, I’ve finally come to the end of this review but do so with much consternation. I’ve been clueless about what’s really going on with every keystroke I make. Wars may have been fought because I backspaced over characters I didn’t mean to type. My Microsoft Word may be mounting a revolt right now. I work it like a slave. Finally, my heart is heavy. I deleted a program this morning. Did it die peacefully in its sleep? Or did I unknowingly send my system’s stormtroopers to perform a violent killing?

MY SCORE: 5/10

[padman59]

Nice review. It looked good, sounded good, and Olivia Wilde is some nice eye candy. Not really much of a story though.

[tigstah]

graphics were great, dont understand why there was a 3d version. the movie itself...blah.

[dell71]

The Fighter
Directed by David O. Russell.
2010. Rated R, 115 minutes.
Cast:
Mark Wahlberg
Christian Bale
Amy Adams
Melissa Leo
Mickey O’Keefe
Jack McGee
Melissa McMeekin
Bianca Hunter
Frank Renzulli

Micky Ward (Wahlberg) has lost his last three fights and is at a crossroads in his professional boxing career. He is trained by his brother Dicky (Bale). Dicky is a local legend, having been a former fighter himself. He’s quick to tell anyone within earshot that he once knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard (who has a brief cameo as himself). Dicky is also extremely unreliable due to his addiction to crack. His pro career combined with his drug habit have brought him to the attention of cable network HBO. They have a camera following him around. He tells everyone they are making a documentary about his comeback, though he doesn’t seem to be working towards one. He is the center of attention, just the way he likes it. However, his demons threaten to sabotage his brother’s career.

Micky’s mom, Alice (Leo) also serves as his manager. She’s well meaning but not the best at either job. She’s often preoccupied with Dicky’s misadventures. With everyone except Dicky, she’s a domineering matriarch ruling her clan with an iron fist. In Dicky’s case, she’s a pushover. The entire family is this towards Dicky. This includes a litter of sisters. Micky’s dream of being a champion is in their hands.

The family dynamic plays itself on a loop in Micky’s life. He’s at the gym, ready to work, but his brother is nowhere to be found until hours after they were supposed to have started training. Alice gets him bad fights with little or no strategy for actually building his career. Micky’s father George (McGee) tries to be the voice of reason. He clearly sees that what’s going on isn’t benefiting his boy. Unfortunately, he’s always shouted down by Alice. Eventually, Micky has to fend for himself. More accurately, he has to have better people fend for him. When this starts to happen is when the family suspects there is a problem. How dare he go outside their numbers for support without him?

We watch this drama unfold in a fashion that feels excruciatingly real. This is where the power of The Fighter lies. We’re either a part of, or have known families exactly like this. If we’re a part of such a family, our empathy for Micky is boundless. If we’ve only know families like this, he has out sympathy. We wish we could save him. We root hard for Charlene (Adams) because she is obviously trying to do just that. We cheer her every action during her run-ins with Alice and the sisters.

Carrying out such a display of not always humane humanity requires great acting. This movie has it in spades. Much has been made of Christian Bale’s work as Dicky. It’s well deserved, he’s magnificent. However, it’s the battle of wills between Alice and Charlene that drives the movie. Leo and Adams each play their roles with undeniable conviction. Every rolling of the eyes, raising of the voice, expressing of concerns, swilling of a shot and puffing of a cigarette rings true. More than becoming familiar with them, we really know them. We know that they both feel they are right beyond a shadow of a doubt. In the lead, Wahlberg gives a perfectly subtle performance. When he finally explodes emotionally, it’s not some overly showy display of acting. It’s completely within the realm of how we think he would behave.

For the uninformed, this is based on a true story. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying there is an eventual triumph. In this way, it’s much like hundreds of other sports movies. Rocky leaps to mind, for obvious reasons. So too, does Invincible, another Wahlberg flick and The Blind Side. They’re both football movies based on true stories. Those two are built one cliché after another until the inevitable feel-good finale. Invincible is more or less average in every way. The Blind Side has the benefit of a remarkable performance by Sandra Bullock. They both feel like a Hollywood version of what really happened, smoothed over and watered down. The Fighter utilizes many of the same conventions. Somehow though, it makes them feel much more real.

MY SCORE: 9/10

[Senser81]

Tron
Directed by Steven Lisberger.
1982. Rated PG, 96 minutes.
Cast:
Jeff Bridges
Bruce Boxleitner
David Warner
Cindy Morgan
Bernard Hughes
Dan Shor
Peter Jurasik
Tony Stephano

Kevin Flynn (Bridges) tries to hack into his former employer’s network to find proof he created the company’s biggest selling video games. In the process, he is literally sucked into the system and has to fight his way out. It’s an odd watch due to a meandering plot and dialogue convoluted with pseudo-techno jargon. The actors are indeed afterthoughts to the special fx. All the bad guys simply keep a stern look on their faces while the good guys use an expression that says either “gee willikers,” or “holy moly.” Even future Oscar-winner Jeff Bridges just looks wide-eyed and goofy most of the time. It’s just another movie in which computers try to take over the world. Ironically, it crumbles under the weight of showing off its own technology.

Still, it’s the technology that makes Tron an essential movie. By today’s standards it looks primitive and can be outdone by any teenager with a desktop at home. However, it represents the cutting edge of its day. This is the first movie by a major studio to extensively use cgi. Summer blockbusters, as we know them are often traced back to Jaws. However, they were changed forever by this film. As a result, Tron’s importance far outdistances it’s actual artistic merit.

MY SCORE: 5.5/10

I don't know how old you are, and perhaps you are too young to be from the Commodore 64/Apple IIe generation, but Tron is the perfect movie for its time. So much happens in the movie that I don't understand how you can call the plot "meandering". And to call the dialogue "pseudo-techno jargon" misses the strongest point of the movie. One, the dialogue and technical aspects of the movie aren't some Hollywood mumbo-jumbo - its actual terminology used correctly. Two, Tron doesn't "dumb down" everything so that every other scene is a basic explanation of computers. I agree that the actors are secondary to the setting of the film, but how could they not?

You also say the technology in Tron can be outdone by a teenager. Be that as it may, Tron is still one of the most unique movies ever made. No movie since has had the same look. And today's CGI technology is different...it can't really duplicate Tron.

[Senser81]

Much has been made of Christian Bale’s work as Dicky. It’s well deserved, he’s magnificent.

[dell71]

I don't know how old you are, and perhaps you are too young to be from the Commodore 64/Apple IIe generation, but Tron is the perfect movie for its time. So much happens in the movie that I don't understand how you can call the plot "meandering". And to call the dialogue "pseudo-techno jargon" misses the strongest point of the movie. One, the dialogue and technical aspects of the movie aren't some Hollywood mumbo-jumbo - its actual terminology used correctly. Two, Tron doesn't "dumb down" everything so that every other scene is a basic explanation of computers. I agree that the actors are secondary to the setting of the film, but how could they not?

You also say the technology in Tron can be outdone by a teenager. Be that as it may, Tron is still one of the most unique movies ever made. No movie since has had the same look. And today's CGI technology is different...it can't really duplicate Tron.

I'll be 40 this summer. I'm very much of that generation. In my opinion, it is a very important movie from a technological standpoint. I just don't find the story all that appealing. Part of my crime may be that even though I'm of that generation, I had never watched Tron until about a year ago. Shame on me. From that aspect, maybe I'm jaded by all that's happened since.

[Senser81]

I'll be 40 this summer. I'm very much of that generation. In my opinion, it is a very important movie from a technological standpoint. I just don't find the story all that appealing. Part of my crime may be that even though I'm of that generation, I had never watched Tron until about a year ago. Shame on me. From that aspect, maybe I'm jaded by all that's happened since.

What is more appealing than a guy trying to get proper credit for creating "Space Paranoids"???

[wingsfan77]

When I first saw the trailer for "The Fighter" I didn't even recognize Bale, he just looked very physically different than what he has in the past, I just got around to watching it last week and I'm sad that it took me that long haha.

[Senser81]

The Fighter
Directed by David O. Russell.
2010. Rated R, 115 minutes.
Cast:
Mark Wahlberg
Christian Bale
Amy Adams
Melissa Leo
Mickey O’Keefe
Jack McGee
Melissa McMeekin
Bianca Hunter
Frank Renzulli

Micky Ward (Wahlberg) has lost his last three fights and is at a crossroads in his professional boxing career. He is trained by his brother Dicky (Bale). Dicky is a local legend, having been a former fighter himself. He’s quick to tell anyone within earshot that he once knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard (who has a brief cameo as himself). Dicky is also extremely unreliable due to his addiction to crack. His pro career combined with his drug habit have brought him to the attention of cable network HBO. They have a camera following him around. He tells everyone they are making a documentary about his comeback, though he doesn’t seem to be working towards one. He is the center of attention, just the way he likes it. However, his demons threaten to sabotage his brother’s career.

Micky’s mom, Alice (Leo) also serves as his manager. She’s well meaning but not the best at either job. She’s often preoccupied with Dicky’s misadventures. With everyone except Dicky, she’s a domineering matriarch ruling her clan with an iron fist. In Dicky’s case, she’s a pushover. The entire family is this towards Dicky. This includes a litter of sisters. Micky’s dream of being a champion is in their hands.

The family dynamic plays itself on a loop in Micky’s life. He’s at the gym, ready to work, but his brother is nowhere to be found until hours after they were supposed to have started training. Alice gets him bad fights with little or no strategy for actually building his career. Micky’s father George (McGee) tries to be the voice of reason. He clearly sees that what’s going on isn’t benefiting his boy. Unfortunately, he’s always shouted down by Alice. Eventually, Micky has to fend for himself. More accurately, he has to have better people fend for him. When this starts to happen is when the family suspects there is a problem. How dare he go outside their numbers for support without him?

We watch this drama unfold in a fashion that feels excruciatingly real. This is where the power of The Fighter lies. We’re either a part of, or have known families exactly like this. If we’re a part of such a family, our empathy for Micky is boundless. If we’ve only know families like this, he has out sympathy. We wish we could save him. We root hard for Charlene (Adams) because she is obviously trying to do just that. We cheer her every action during her run-ins with Alice and the sisters.

Carrying out such a display of not always humane humanity requires great acting. This movie has it in spades. Much has been made of Christian Bale’s work as Dicky. It’s well deserved, he’s magnificent. However, it’s the battle of wills between Alice and Charlene that drives the movie. Leo and Adams each play their roles with undeniable conviction. Every rolling of the eyes, raising of the voice, expressing of concerns, swilling of a shot and puffing of a cigarette rings true. More than becoming familiar with them, we really know them. We know that they both feel they are right beyond a shadow of a doubt. In the lead, Wahlberg gives a perfectly subtle performance. When he finally explodes emotionally, it’s not some overly showy display of acting. It’s completely within the realm of how we think he would behave.

For the uninformed, this is based on a true story. I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying there is an eventual triumph. In this way, it’s much like hundreds of other sports movies. Rocky leaps to mind, for obvious reasons. So too, does Invincible, another Wahlberg flick and The Blind Side. They’re both football movies based on true stories. Those two are built one cliché after another until the inevitable feel-good finale. Invincible is more or less average in every way. The Blind Side has the benefit of a remarkable performance by Sandra Bullock. They both feel like a Hollywood version of what really happened, smoothed over and watered down. The Fighter utilizes many of the same conventions. Somehow though, it makes them feel much more real.

MY SCORE: 9/10

Great writeup. I really enjoyed this movie, and I didn't think I would because how many movies about boxing can you make? On a side note, I was more sexually aroused when Amy Adams was doing the high jump than her "beddie" scene with Mark Wahlberg. Does that make me gay?

[dell71]

On a side note, I was more sexually aroused when Amy Adams was doing the high jump than her "beddie" scene with Mark Wahlberg. Does that make me gay?

I'm not sure what that makes you, lol.

[Palooza]

Great writeup. I really enjoyed this movie, and I didn't think I would because how many movies about boxing can you make? On a side note, I was more sexually aroused when Amy Adams was doing the high jump than her "beddie" scene with Mark Wahlberg. Does that make me gay?

gay...ish.

[Maynard]

I don't know how old you are, and perhaps you are too young to be from the Commodore 64/Apple IIe generation, but Tron is the perfect movie for its time. So much happens in the movie that I don't understand how you can call the plot "meandering". And to call the dialogue "pseudo-techno jargon" misses the strongest point of the movie. One, the dialogue and technical aspects of the movie aren't some Hollywood mumbo-jumbo - its actual terminology used correctly. Two, Tron doesn't "dumb down" everything so that every other scene is a basic explanation of computers. I agree that the actors are secondary to the setting of the film, but how could they not?

You also say the technology in Tron can be outdone by a teenager. Be that as it may, Tron is still one of the most unique movies ever made. No movie since has had the same look. And today's CGI technology is different...it can't really duplicate Tron.

agreed. I was not a fan of tron or its story, but the film, for its time and for what it was trying to do back then was great.

[dell71]

Tangled
Directed by Nathan Greno and Byron Howard.
2010. Rated PG, 100 minutes.
Cast:
Mandy Moore
Zachary Levi
Donna Murphy
Ron Perlman
M. C. Gainey
Jeffrey Tambor
Brad Garrett
Richard Kiel

Once upon a time, there lived a girl at the very top of a very tall tower, controlled by a very evil woman and a very handsome man comes to rescue her. In a post-Shrek world, you’d think Disney wouldn’t be so lazy as to go with that exact setup. Yet, here we have Tangled. It’s the latest version of the classic fairy tale “Rapunzel.” She (Moore), of course, is the girl in the tower. The evil woman is Mother Gothel (Murphy) who kidnapped Rapunzel from her parents, the king and queen, when Rapunzel was just a baby. She does so because the girl’s impossibly long hair has special powers, providing the old lady with everlasting youth among them. Flynn Rider (Levi) is the handsome man. He gets into the tower by accident, but his role is pretty clearly defined. He is to rescue Rapunzel and make sure she lives happily ever after.

There is nothing else here, narratively. Everything simply plays out as it must. What it lacks in creative storytelling, it makes up for in comedy, action and modern sounding dialogue. It mostly works. It’s funny and in some spots, exciting. The style of dialogue and the musical numbers make it easier for its target audience to relate. For them, it’s exactly what they expected and what they wanted. For them, it’s as golden as Rapunzel’s hair. For the rest of us, it’s a fairly enjoyable time-passer. Tangled doesn’t really do anything wrong. It just doesn’t do anything original.

MY SCORE: 6.5/10