Tron: Legacy

It's the second last day of 2010 but we've certainly got a contender for surprise of the year in Tron: Legacy .
The focus is on Sam Flynn (a stunning Garrett Hedlund), the son of Kevin Flynn who when Sam was a kid was one of the world's foremost video game innovators.
Flynn (Jeff Bridges) disappeared, assumed dead, and Sam was left to grow up without a father and left wondering what happened. He also inherited his father's company and enjoys playing pranks on the board of directors at unfortunate times.
He is encouraged by his father's friend to check out a message coming from Flynn's Arcade and finds himself transported into the world known as The Grid.
When he is reunited with his father not everything is as it seems and The Grid seems in the midst of anarchy.
Father and son, along with a mysterious 'miracle' being Quorra (Olivia Wilde) set out to restore order to the grid and return to our world.
It's a visually stunning film, one that rarely lets up and continues to raise the bar. Significantly, the effects don't overpower the movie. While some of the dialogue is a bit on the 'what the..' side, it's not so corny that you lose interest.
While there are some well known names in the cast, including Jeff Bridges, Michael Sheen (who was outrageous as the deceptive Zuse and a cameo from Cillian Murphy, the star of the movie is Garrett Hedlund. I must admit I wondered who he was, I have seen Friday Night Lights but he didn't stand out there, but he definitely carried Tron well and really commanded my attention.
That's a great sign from the lead actor/character.
As I said, this is a very surprising movie. While I don't think 3D really brought it jumping off the screen it did add a bit to the race/fight scenes on The Grid.

An enjoyable cinema experience with characters that are engaging and effects that are dazzling. A solid and surprising 8 out of 10.

Minor league wars

It has been an interesting 'holiday' period.
When I arrived up home I chipped away an old filling and was left with an uncomfortable hole in a tooth which required some work.
I was told I'd have no chance of getting a dentist's appointment at such short notice but, luckily, managed to get one 24 hours after I called up to inquire.
So one crisis averted.
After dealing with a nine-year-old nephew with a big case of the 'I want this's' while shopping (so not used to that), Christmas rolled around and I somehow managed to do a minor back injury.
It was just a recurrence of an old injury but was still pretty untimely. So I spent a fair chunk of Christmas Day in a bit of discomfort and laid up on the couch. Having a bunch of under 9s running around at lunch didn't help, but I suppose we weren't any different when we were that age.
With a couple of public holidays in the way I have to wait to get the back looked at by a physio. Fortunately it isn't too bad, and not as restrictive as it could be.
However, I have managed to catch up a bit on episodes of Dexter, what an awesome show, and Chuck.
I wonder what the New Year will bring?

Signals

I've had Signals, the debut solo album by Travis Caudle for a while and it continues to grow on me.
On first listen a few tracks stood out but having now had it on good rotation in my car this weekend I've started to get right into it.
Travis is the lead singer of WA band The Woodenelves, a band I discovered by chance a few years ago and that produced a stunning album called Trips Between Worlds.
Signals isn't quite as instantly listenable but it's a bit like hearing familiar songs and having pleasant memories of them. One thing that stands out is his voice. It stood out on the Woodenelves' album as well but Travis has stripped things back a little on most of the songs on Signals and his voice resonates.

Unlike a lot of throwaway pop that is around these days, Signals is a positive yet reflective journey about life.

Take the title track for example. The following is a quote from his website regarding the song and some lyrics.

''The title track, Signals, is all about getting to a point where you get rid of all the things which don’t work in your life, understanding that by giving away some of your security you actually gain freedom.''

''It’s just something you feel, A point you reach somehow
You’ve gotta take the life you have now and throw it all away
To reinvent the wheel, send a signal somehow.
You gotta take the life you have now and throw it all away.''

The first time I listened to Signals, the overall album, I put eight of the 12 songs straight onto my ipod. That's a pretty good indication of that familiarity the album has. And they have continued to grow on me. Away from the title track I very much like Out Of Your Depth and the last song, Rise.
Travis Caudle is an artist that there's a fair chance you haven't heard of before. It's a shame if that's the case. From the Woodenelves songs, which still get a lot of airplay at my place, to this lyrically fantastic and musically subtle solo effort, Travis has given me plenty of hours of entertainment. Well worth it, too.

Your wonderful life

If you want a bit of perspective, spend two hours watching It's A Wonderful Life.
Go away and think about all the people in your life and how you would be affected if just one of them were never there.
I don't think there is any doubt you'd be in a different place in some aspect of your life.
This is something we never consider.
For example, I've lived with the same friend for over seven years.
We met about 11 years ago. This person has been a source of great support in difficult times, has pushed me when I needed pushing and regardless off how we see it our lives have been intertwined in a way for much of that time. That just happens when you share a living space.
How different would my life be if we never met?
To be honest I hate to consider it. I don't see how I would be better off under the same set of circumstances.
And it's not the big things that are significant, it's the small decisions where you put other people in front of your own needs, hopes and dreams.
I'm guilty of not remembering that I have a wonderful life. Look around and appreciate everyone who chooses to be a part of your life - they are there for a reason.

The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

Going into the third Narnia movie, The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader I didn't really know what to expect because I didn't read this book when I was younger. From memory I stopped at Prince Caspian, if I got to the end of it at all.
I wasn't much of a reader then.
So with the knowledge that, at the end of Prince Caspian, Peter and Susan can no longer visit Narnia it is no surprise that we pick up with Edmund and Lucy.
They are staying at their aunt and uncle's house while their siblings are in America. To make things worse they are forced to endure their cousin Eustace (Will Poulter) who is pretty much a spoilt brat.

The trio are transported to Narnia through a painting of a boat that Lucy remarks looks a lot like a Narnian boat. Bingo!
They are picked up by Caspian, now King of Narnia, and his crew on board the Dawn Treader and in search of the seven swords that can rid Narnia of an evil presence.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Dawn Treader, especially given the solid pannings it had received from movie reviewers who were obviously caught up in the first film, which holds plenty of childhood good memories, but less fussed on the subsequent book-to-film transfers.
There's plenty of CS Lewis's take home message in here - made very clear by Aslan late in the film - but there are also important lessons to be reminded of throughout.
This film doesn't have the mystique of the Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe but none of the Narnia stories will.

The surprise packet was Eustace. You just wanted to give the ungrateful punk a slap around for most of the time. But, in true Narnia style, he grows. Think Edmund in the first one but not in an evil way.

Overall I enjoyed Dawn Treader, it had some light moments and enough action to keep you going. It will be interesting to see how they go with The Silver Chair. A 7.5 out of 10.

Standing and falling

We all have our ups and downs.
At the moment things seem to be on the up. I've just had an awesome weekend away, got to experience a few things I haven't done before (you know, how 'the other half' live) and hanging out with a great bunch of people I don't see often because of geography.
Now we're back to reality.
I've wondered quite a bit whether I'd like to live somewhere else, in a new city, and break away from what I've become used to.
And with Sydney I think it is a place you either relish or tolerate. Don't get me wrong, there are some great things about Sydney. But it's not exactly an easy place to live.
Perhaps that is the same of all metropolitan centres, I don't really know.
Maybe all this is just the hangover from an enjoyable time away in a place I find relaxing (somewhat) and certainly a nice change.

Sometimes there is still the sense of falling. Not so much literally, it's more like falling over as opposed to falling down.
Does everyone get that way from time to time? In a sense I'd like to think so. But I don't know how comforting that is because everyone's troubles aren't the same.
When I fall it tends to consume everything. Like I'm being sucked into a black hole that spits me back out periodically. The challenge is to stay out for as long as possible.
The even bigger challenge is to stay out indefinitely.
I'm not always good at picking myself up when I have fallen. I don't always let on that I have fallen. Maybe it's a guy thing, that you want to take care of everything yourself.
Maybe it is simply that I look in the wrong places or take the wrong approach to seeking help in those times.

Like I said, I'm standing now. I feel good. And it is okay to feel good.
As silly as it sounds.
Let the healing continue.

About to reboot

After a bit of thinking about my blog and my lack of contribution aside from movie reviews, I've decided to put a bit more effort in.
Stand by....

You'll never know

I went to church tonight for the first time in a while.
Fortunately, it was a very positive experience and I met some very nice people. That's encouraging to start.
I was quite taken by the guy leading the music in the way he was so open and just poured his heart out with the words he said. I admire that and took the opportunity to tell him that and how he responded was significant - we're all broken, there's no-one here who is perfect, but he's with 'family' and that love is brought out in various ways.
It wasn't a long conversation but hopefully there will be more.
Why did I go to church? It's been on my mind for a while now and I hope tonight can be the start of some change for me.
The message was an excellent one, about how you'll never grow if you don't push yourself (termed as 'go') and I think I only yawned once during the sermon (which would be a personal record I'd say).
I'll consider going again next week. I need some stability in certain areas and from what I experienced tonight I think there is a chance I can find it in this way.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

After what I regard as a disappointing sixth instalment, Harry Potter is back to its best with the penultimate film in the franchise - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 .
With Hogwarts now fading into the background following the death of Dumbledore in the previous movie, Harry and co are thrown into the real word (somewhat) as Voldemort increases his attacks.
If you didn't know they had split the final book (I have read none of them) into two movies you'd be hanging on the edge of your seat at the climax of part 1.
A lot of the focus is on the three young characters Harry, Ron and Hermoine and the dynamic between the three of them has never been so tense, in a number of ways.
Much of part 1 is about the search for the Horcruxes which must be destroyed to bring down Voldemort. There is infighting between the trio, some sexual tension and a number of light moments.
I even didn't mind Dobby in this film, though his third person talking is hard to listen to at times.

Possibly the highlight of Hallows part 1 is the animated sequence depicting the story of the Deathly Hallows and the realisation that they are what Voldemort is after to defeat Harry Potter.

With six months to wait and find out how the series concludes, I was a little disappointed that there wasn't a 'to be concluded' segment at the end a la Back To The Future III to give us a taste of what is to come.

One of the better Harry Potter films and a solid 8 out of 10.

Numbness

It's amazing what a good TV show can do to you.
I felt a strange sense of numbness as I watched Packed To The Rafters tonight, in the wake of the death of a major character last week.
For quite a while I wondered what it was about the episode that felt wrong. Different. And it wasn't until the end I realised it was because I felt the same way Ben Rafter (Hugh Sheridan) did throughout the episode. Numb. It was all surreal and the producers and actors did an excellent job of portraying that. And Hugh was a standout.
It was uncomfortable to watch. I really wanted to give Ben a big hug.
From the trailer for the season finale next week it looks like the emotions are going to be running high again.
To recap, last week we had shock (albeit a predictable one as it went on), this week we had numbness, it looks like next week we're going to have an emotional explosion.

I wondered....

There's a line from what could be considered an obscure movie from 1994 called Threesome, which starred Lara Flynn Boyle, Josh Charles and Stephen Baldwin, that has always stuck with me.
It seems that the older you get the truer it gets.

'I wondered how some people can be such a necessary part of one's life one day, and simply vanish the next. Isn't it supposed to last?'

I always suspected it would be like that with certain people I've come across and that's generally pretty easy to accept. Things change, people change and people move on. We all do that. But some people also stick around.

Red

I'm sure there are a lot better movies out there at the moment than Red but for what it is, this movie is very enjoyable.

Red focuses on a bunch of retired CIA agents, principally Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) who are considered dangerous and are being hunted by the government.

He's struck up a relationship over the phone with Sarah (Mary Louise Parker) and, much to her surprise, arrives in her house and kidnaps her (to save her life) as he is being hunted and sees it as a threat to her.

It does take a little while to get going but from this point Red really hits its stride.

Moses tracks down his old comrades Joe (Morgan Freeman), Victoria (Helen Mirren) and Marvin (John Malkovich) and, as Joe says 'gets the band back together' to take on the current CIA led by William Cooper (Karl Urban).

There's a fair bit of entertainment going on here but you can't ignore Malkovich who completely steals the show as the paranoid 'everyone is out to kill me' Marvin, who we meet in very silly circumstances.

Malkovich has always been a classy actor and this performance is no exception. You just have to laugh every time you see him, whether it is from a wisecrack or just a look on his face.

Overall Red is pretty standard action/comedy with the twist that all the main characters are 'retired' and in Joe's case a rather unbelievable 80 years old.

But you're going to have fun. A 7 out of 10.

The Pros and Cons of Change

We all like to think that we can adapt to change when it happens, but sometimes I wonder when it comes to the really big changes.
Continuity and consistency is hugely under rated, I think.
But what happens when you wake up one day and realise that the comfortable little world you exist in is actually slowly suffocating you?
I reckon that when it comes to life's big changes I an horribly unprepared. Sure, it is hard to prepare for something that you don't know is coming but I think you know what I mean.
My reflexes tend to take a bit of time. When I hit a speed bump it can slow me down. There are times that I feel like a deer staring at the headlights, stunned, when something comes up.
Rarely do I take things in my stride. Minor things, changes of plan for example, are no issue at all.
We all like to think things will stay the same forever, particularly if life is just swimming along nicely. That is an incredibly naive outlook, though.
What if you actively want to change something? Initiating change is still a bit scary because even though you may desire something to be different once it is different how often do you want things back the way they were? I know that's happened to me a few times.
But if you don't do something how are you going to experience a whole bunch of wonderful things out there in the world?
Makes you think....

The Social Network

What is really ironic about The Social Network is how disconnected Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) is when you consider he established a social networking website.
It's actually very unsettling, even from the first scene where he is dumped by his girlfriend and told girls won't like him ''not because you are a nerd, but because you are an asshole''.

Yes, The Social Network is the story of how Facebook came to be and as lame as that sounds on face value this is a really enthralling and entertaining movie.

Zuckerberg and his only friend Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) co-found the site after Zuckerberg, spurned by being dumped, unloads on his ex and decides to create a site that rates girls against other girls. This eventually morphs into an idea about a site where you can socialise.

Ths Social Network is essentially the story, told in flashbacks, of Zuckerberg being sued by Saverin and also by some Harvard boys who claim had the idea first and had it stolen from them.

The revelation of the movie is the performance of Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker, the man who established Napster and who befriends Zuckerberg and gets involved in Facebook, much to the disdain of Saverin. What the heck was he doing singing, this guy can act!

This is not a movie about Facebook, despite what appears on the surface.

This is a movie about friendship and betrayal. Zuckerberg is extremely annoying yet mesmerising, no doubt due to an amazing performance from Eisenberg. I sat there wondering how someone who has no idea what it means to be a friend came up with a site connecting people and made it work. He is an absolute jerk and you kind of want to punch him.

But at the same time you kind of feel sorry for him because he had a friend in Saverin who was there for him but totally couldn't see it. He could only see himself. It's actually kind of chilling. Plus I think he's too smart for his own good.

The Social Network is a high quality film and one worth at least another look. A solid 8.5 out of 10. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Buried

At a time when there are far too many remakes and sequels and no originality it is refreshing when a film like Buried comes along.

Having said that, its originality is the only refreshing thing about this tense, disturbing and harrowing thriller with only one person on screen for the entire 90 minutes.

Ryan Reynolds is Paul Conroy, a truck driver who has been working in Iraq who awakens bound, gagged and buried in a wooden box that is slightly longer than he is tall.

His memory of what happened to him is sketchy and time, aside from being buried in a box, is his biggest enemy.

All he has on him is a lighter, a flask and some anti-anxiety pills. Soon he discovers there is also a mobile phone in the box and he uses it to try to raise some help from the world above him. He soon also realises the phone is there for a reason.

The mood from the opening scene, which is black, is very tense and claustrophobic and the lighting is excellent, and largely very believable, considering the confined space.

Reynolds is brilliant, and he has to be, in carrying this movie. He's the only character in the film with the plot moved by voice actors as he makes contact with the phone.

Without going any further with the plot I'll say this is outstanding, it's so good to see something original even if it is uncomfortable to watch. In a way it reminds me of Moon from last year where Sam Rockwell is pretty much the only actor on screen for the whole film.

It just goes to show that risks can be taken with movies, it doesn't have to be all formula, 're-imagining' and sequels. This works through a tight script, a stunning performance and the fact that for the entire movie you're grateful you aren't in that box.

A 9 out of 10. Must-see - if you can stand it.

Circles

I've just been reading some things I wrote a few years ago now and it struck me how, for a large part, things are still the same.
Going around in circles again.
This has got to stop, I have got to find the right way to break the cycle.
I know all the theory, pretty well too, but I have (obviously) found it difficult to put into practice.
It's incredibly frustrating to know that after all this time I may only be a few steps forward from where I was, instead of miles ahead.

Things change

I've noticed a change in dynamic lately.
Whether I like it or not I'm not completely sure at the moment.
Some things remain the same.
Other things have changed.
More thought is required.

The Other Guys

I was really looking forward to seeing The Other Guys based on what looked a promising trailer.

While I'm not a fan of Will Ferrell, aside from his awesome turn in Stranger Than Fiction, I am partial to what Mark Wahlberg does and I was anticipating a witty action-comedy.

I didn't get one.

Sure there was action, especially brilliant early on with the ridiculous antics of hero cops Highsmith (Samdel L. Jackson) and Danson (Dwayne Johnson). But once the two police idols met an untimely, and pretty ridiculous, demise the comedy didn't really continue.
Ferrell plays forensic accountant and reluctant cop Allen Gamble while Wahlberg is his desperate-to-be-a-real-cop partner Terry Hoitz. Despite having all the skills of a competent cop, Hoitz's career stalled when he shot a pro baseballer, leaving him frustrated and eager to get his chance.

When Gamble stumbles upon a 'real case' involving a conman billionaire (Steve Coogan) and a plot to embezzle a fortune he brings Hoitz along for the ride.
The closer they get to some hard evidence the more reluctant their Captain (Michael Keaton) is to help them out as all sorts of heavyweights put pressure on him. The Captain also has an inexplicable habit of quoting TLC lyrics.

Anyway, it's all pretty much a shemozzle from there. You meet Gamble's wife (Eva Mendes), whom Hoitz slobbers all over and pretty much hits on in front of him, and find out that Gamble was once a pimp at college and that's why he such a straight lace these days.

There are some laughs, but it all seems disjointed and someone, I'm not sure which one, is miscast. It looks good on the trailer but I can't go higher than 5.5 out of 10.

Hiatus

Time for a break.
A week should be long enough.

Definitions

It occurred to me today that I've been working really hard to ensure others don't define me in a particular way and, in the process, have ended up defining myself in that way.
It's not helping.
It relates to something that has been an issue for the past five years and one that I have spent a while in denial about. I'm sure most people will know what I am talking about.
Those who don't we're not talking about orientations of any kind, in case you were thinking that.
So I discovered that by defining myself by this particular issue is a good part of what is holding me back, I'm sure of that.
How do I get around it?
Of course I have to stop looking at myself as a fragile, like glass if you will, and toughen up. Mentally as much as physically.
It's all easier said than done but a big part of making progress is defining what the problem is.