I saw the original Tron for the first time this week.  Now, before you tell me that I need to hand in my geek card, it turned out I read the novelization in the fifth grade (my first novelization as I recall) and actually owned a copy of the DVD (I bought it in the early 90s) that was still in the shrink wrap.  I found the movie to be rather slow, and confusingly over complicated and simplistic at the same time, but still enjoyable.  I am not going to comment on the special effects since that wouldn't be fair to the movie as it is three decades old.  I will say that Jeff Bridges was fun as Flynn, although I found him mighty comfortable and accepting of his new surroundings.  All in all, the movie, like the Disney's other sci fi foray, Black Hole, is a worthy addition to my collection.

But, the quality of the original Tron is not what this discussion is about.  Several years ago, a sequel to the movie was announced at San Diego ComicCon and the fans went crazy.  Since then, there I have attended three ComicCons and three Tron panels.  I went to Tron parties and met the cast (I don't expect that they will remember me as I'm sure Olivia Wilde meets a lot incoherent people that sound like blathering idiots when they try to talk to her).  The film went from Tron 2 to Tr2n to Tron 2.0 to Tron Legacy and from 2D to 3D.   Disney World repainted a monorail and the company added an ElecTronica party to their theme parks.  There is also a Tron encore to the World of Color show at Disney's California adventure. Not to mention more low and high end merchandise than you can shake an identity disk at.  Disney even offerred a free preview last month that "sold out" in minutes (I couldn't get a ticket and was disheartened to hear the theater by me was empty with no shows.). It is clear that, regardless how the film does, Tron (and Tron Legacy) will be firmly entrenched in our pop culture subconscious.  

 But, is it a good movie?     

I wanted to find out before getting tainted by other reviews. So,  I trekked out into the snow to see the 12:01 3D IMAX show (I should note that before the movie, there was a disclaimer about how some of the scenes were shot in 2D, but I didn't notice the difference.)  The theater audience was a respectable size given the weather.  (Apparently a record breaking crowd saw the film.)

The lights dimmed. There was cheers for the Pirates 4 trailer, (to my disappointment) groans for the Thor trailer, and just general confusion and head scratching about The Eagle and Mars Needs Moms.

But, is Tron Legacy any good?

I guess that depends on what you are looking for.

Tron Legacy tells the story of Sam Flynn's search for his father, Kevin Flynn (the star of the original Tron), who vanished 20 years ago.  Sam search brings him into the world of the Gird, a visually stunning computerized world.

Given that the Tron movies deal with the world within a world concept, in many ways you might be tempted to compare it to the Matrix or Inception.  If that is your benchmark, you will be disappointed as the story has been done before and script is exposition heavy at times and there are needless characters that are introduced, but never followed up on (like that uncredited character played by Cillian Murphy that ties back pretty directly to the first movie and I thought would be a major player in this one).  But, if you are looking for a fun otherworldly scifi tale that has beautiful special effects and great action, Tron Legacy will not disappoint.  To put it another way, to see if I liked a movie, the criteria I set for myself when I see these midnight showings is whether I fall asleep or check my watch.  I did neither during the two hour movie. The action scenes are well done, the characters fun, and the plot, while filled with logic leaps and some holes, is a good enough Macguffin to support the movie.  Olivia Wilde's performance (and the costume department) has ensured that, should I ever meet her again,  I will be equally incoherent and twice as blathering.

I also should give a nod out to Daft Punk for the score.  I was so impressed with their music that I stopped on the way home and picked up the soundtrack (huzzah for the 24 hour Walmarts of the world).  I can best describe the score as having a Hans Zimmer Inception quality but done electronically. 

So, in summary, while I doubt Tron Legacy will go down in history as a great thinker's movie and not spark debates about reality, it is certainly worth seeing on the big screen (especially if you wear those goofy IMAX glasses and watch it in 3D.)   

Edit: I received three emails since this went live asking if you need to see the original Tron to enjoy the sequel.  You do not.  In fact, in some ways, it would have been better if I didn't just see the original Tron because some things from the original film are ignored (like the character of Dumont, played by the late Barnard Hughes, who was integral to the plot of the original Tron yet not even mentioned in Tron Legacy).  PS: thanks for the emails, it means someone is actually reading it :-)

Last night, we had our monthly Comics Experience book club meeting.  This month's book was Chew by John Layman and Rob Guillory.  Chew tells the story of Tony Chu, a cibopathic detective that solves food related crimes in a world where chicken is outlawed. (A cibopath is someone who gets psychic impression from the things he eats.).

As always, the discussions were interesting and insightful.  Rob Anderson used a power point to perform an in depth analysis of issue 3, which involved the introduction of a saboscribe (a person who can write about food so well that the reader can taste it) and potential love interest for Chu.  Others commented on the use of narrative, white space and lettering to convey the story.  My tongue-in-cheek presentation on whether cibopaths are real follows below. 

As an added bonus, we were joined by both Layman and Guillory, who talked about the book and their careers.   As a starving independent comic creator, I found some of the discussions about the business side of the industry to be insightful and fascinating.   We talked about everything from working with Image to marketing to dealing with Hollywood (the book is being looked at being adapted into a television show).  As usual, Andy Schmidt was able to add to the discussions with unique perspectives gained from his time at Marvel, IDW and through his own, creator owned book, 5 Days to Die.  In short, the story surrounding the green-lighting of Chew and the perseverance of the self-professed jaded Layman and Guillory to get their cannibal bird flu book picked up is one that gives hope to this creator. 

Both Five Days to Die and Chew are must reads.  The links to these books are below, if you are thinking about buying them, please use the link.

The next book is Captain America, Winter Soldier.  Information about the Comics Experience Book Club can be found here.  If you are interested in working on comics, they also have a lot of great courses from writing, to drawing to lettering to coloring to production.  The list of newly announced courses can be found at comicsexperience.com.

I should also mention that John Layman is presenting a class on "The Secret to Pitching Comics" this Saturday for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.  (I'm actually driving down for the day from Northern Virginia.)  He is an engaging speaker with a lot of to offer.  Information can be found here.

Here is my slide show on "Cibopath: real or fake." (I should note that the word "cibopath" is pronounced as both chee-bo-path and see-bo-path, depending on Layman's mood. 

As I see yet another cheesy  Christmas movie is on the Family Channel and Lifetime.  Let us take a moment to honor the unsung hero of the holiday season--the theme episode. We all know that every television show has a very special holiday episode: Fonzie fixed the Cunningham’s tree and Alex P. Keaton repented his right wing republican ways for one day, and Glee has their episode next week. But, The Holiday episode on Sci Fi and Fantasy shows are tricky business.  Due to the genre specific nature of Sci Fi and Fantasy TV, it is very hard to shoehorn the spirit of the season when many take place in space or the past or involve demons.

 So, grab your eggnog and we will reminisce some of my favorites.

The Star Wars Holiday Special

The prize, of course goes to The Star Wars Holiday Special.  And you thought Jar Jar Binks was George Lucas’ most embarrassing moment.  This story featured a visit to Kashyyk, Chewbacca’s home planet. It is Life Day (a holiday analogous to Christmas). Chewbacca is on his way home to see his family (Mallatobuck, Lumpawarrump, and Attichitcuk) to celebrate the holiday, accompanied by his friend, Han Solo.   The first five minutes are in wookie. But, what follows more amazing: is a hodge podge of musical numbers (Diahann Carroll, Jefferson Starship, and Bea Arthur), a cross dressing  Harvey Keitel (as a futuristic  Julia Childes), and a cartoon (with, as far as I know, the first appearance of Boba Fett).  Lucas has been reported as saying, "If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it."  So, let’s see a clip of an admittedly stoned Carrie Fisher singing “Life Day” to the Star Wars  theme. 

 
Smallville: Lexmas

Okay, don’t groan.  This one is serious.  Smallville gets a bad rap, but sometimes it gets it right 9and wrong).  This episode is an example of both.  In Lexmas, Lex Luthior is shot, he falls into a coma and is visited by the ghost of his mother, who shows him what his life could be like if he frees himself from his father. Meanwhile, Clark helps deliver Christmas presents.  The bad of course, is the hackneyed plot idea of that ambiguous Santa Claus that Clark is helping to deliver presents—it has been done to death.  But, what is great is the end of the episode, which takes the hackneyed Dickens tale and gives it a unique spin.

Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Before there was a Smallville on the CW (nee CW), ABC aired Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.  As the title implies, the show focused more on the Man and less on the Super.  They had a few holiday episode, but two notable episodes stick out in my memory.  The first occurred in the First Season.  Seasons Greetings featured A toymaker (Sherman Hemsley, who is reunited with Isabel Sanford) invents a pheromone that makes adults act like greedy children. (Atomic Rats!) .  The highlight was the quiet moment when Clark and Lois share a tender moment holding hands as they watch some carolers.  In the Fourth Season, they aired “'Twas The Night Before Mxymas”, which featured a still funny Howie, Mandel as Mr. Mxyzptlk, an imp from the fifth dimension, who does a Groundhog Day-like- thing to Christmas Eve to make people lose hope.  Of course, they don’t and Clark says “No Deal.”   The full episode is available here. And Seasons Greetings is below.

The X-Files

In “How the Ghosts Stole Christmas” On Christmas Eve, Mulder and Scully go ghost-hunting in a supposedly haunted house full of Christmas spirit. On Christmas Eve, Mulder and Scully go ghost-hunting in a supposedly haunted house full of Christmas spirit. 

Here is a really crappy video clip.

  And a fun video

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Although famous for it’s Halloween Episodes (and a great Thanksgiving Episode), Christmas came to Buffy in Season  Three.  In Amends, it's Christmas time in Sunnydale and like Scrooge, Angel  is being haunted by the ghosts of his past victims, namely Jenny Calendar.  I should also note that this episode also his episode introduces us to a new formidable foe known as The First, who will later play into the final season.

Here is a crappy quality  video of the end:

And I remember entering this:

Justice League/JLU “Comfort and Joy”

In this episode of the animated Cartoon Network series, the Justice Leaguers go their separate ways to celebrate the holiday season. After saving a distant planet, the League returns in time for Christmas. Clark and J'onn visit Smallville for a Kent family Christmas, Green Lantern and Hawkgirl have a snowball fight and visit an alien bar while comparing holiday traditions, and the Flash and Ultra-Humanite have a season's fight and are forced to ally together to save orphans' toys.

And let’s not forget this goodie from Batman and the Animated Series.

 Xena

Finally, we have the Warrior Princess.  This one was creative since it is hard to have a Christmas Episode that takes place before the Birth of Christ.  But, in “A Solstice Carol" Xena and Gabrielle try to bring the warmth and spirit of the holiday season to a cold-hearted king who has outlawed the annual winter-solstice celebration.

And the song (This was before their Musical Episodes):

That’s all.  I know I skipped a whole bunch, including Dr. Who and MST2K, who have annual episodes (although I see the Dr. Who one in July).

Add you favorites in the comments section.

 Happy Holidays

Joe