We're seeing the resurgence of quality hard, sci-fi and it looks fantastic. Great action and plot set-up, but it also looks very character focused, which is something that's been missing from previous efforts about the goal to explore Mars.
In the story, astronaut Mark Watney and crew make their way to Mars aboard the Hermes, the large spacecraft outfitted to endure the years-long-trek to the red planet. It's recognizable design is patterned after the very real International Space Station. Here's a look at the Hermes from the film:
Click to enlarge
A while back, the studio released a viral video to show off some of Damon's character and the interior of the Hermes.
Looking forward to October 2, 2015!
Cast: Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Jeff Daniels, Michael Peña, Kate Mara, Sean Bean, Sebastian Stan, Aksel Hennie, Donald Glover, Mackenzie Davis, and Chiwetel Ejiofor
Have you seen Ben Affleck's film ARGO about how the CIA staged a filmmaking ruse for a nonexistent sci-fi film in order to rescue hostages from Iran? Well there's plenty about that story left to tell--but less than 2 days to raise the money to do it justice.
Filmmaker Judd Ehrlich is working on a documentary entitled "SCIENCE FICTION LAND" based on the real concept that inspired the CIA cover...a sci-fi theme park! The parks creators hired the King of Comics himself, Jack Kirby to design the look of the buildings. From the Kickstarter page:
In the mid-1970s, before STAR WARS, an enigmatic young inventor named Barry Ira Geller options the rights to Roger Zelazny’s award-winning novel Lord of Light, writes a screenplay and sets out to produce a sci-fi blockbuster and the world’s first science fiction theme park – Science Fiction Land. Geller dreams of inspiring the next generation of scientists and bringing the technology of the future to everyone.
A complete unknown, through his passion and determination Geller enlists an all-star team: "King of Comics" Jack Kirby; Hollywood makeup and special effects geniuses John Chambers & Maurice Stein; world-renowned architect Paolo Soleri, visionary author Ray Bradbury; and legendary futurist Buckminster Fuller.
On the verge of success, the project collapses amidst scandal, fraud, and mystery. Years later, Geller learns that his script and Kirby designs were used by CIA agent Tony Mendez as a cover during the Iran hostage crisis – his film's title changed from LORD OF LIGHT to ARGO.
As of this writing, they're in the close-but-not-quite-there range of the $50k they need to finish the film. I pitch a little scratch their way because I'm dying to see what Kirby's designs would have looked like on a massive three-dimensional scale--and to hear one incredible real-life spy story. The CIA even went so far to create a phony production company and took out a full-page ad in Variety magazine to promote the film.
There's all kinds of great swag of course, but if you're a MEGA Kirby fan, you'll can fund the film AND get yourself a Kirby Museum membership, which includes MORE Kirby swag. (I asked and they confirmed.) I seriously considered ponying up on that one.
Alas, for a mere $5 you can help out, for $25 you get a download of the film (that's what I kicked in). Not a bad entry fee for the ultimate never-never-was-land!
This Haynes Manual for the Enterprise is one of my favorite new books--chock full of cut-a-ways and Trek tech, and written as if it were the actual users manual!
The blog The Invisible Agent has a great post on the original sell sheet used to pitch the show to advertisers and includes dropped characters from the main cast like Chief Medical Officer Piper (not DeForest Kelly as Bones), Communications Officer Alden (not Nichelle Nichols as Uhura), and Yeoman Smith (who was cast as Kirk's arm candy). Also George Takei was pitched as "Physicist Sulu". (Via Retro Thing)
TNT is showing Red Dawn right now--and plastering every free second of commercial time with spots for their new Falling Skies series. I haven't seen it yet, but the parallells are hitting me over the head like a giant cushy cartoon hammer. Here's a recap of last week's episode (the first one) in case you missed it like me.
Okay fine...I'll watch your alien invasion series!
This is little link I found over Christmas and meant to post during Flash Gordon month (let's just say 2011 is Flash Gordon Year!).
Apparently in the film, A Christmas Story, there was a deleted scene of radio show junkie Ralphie listening to a Flash Gordon broadcast and daydreaming a rescue of Flash from Ming the Merciless.
In the scene, Flash is lashed to a "cobra tree" with snakeskin bark while Ming monologues on his imminent doom. The tree is supposed to awaken and devour our hero. A perfect example of injecting a little homebrew "weird" into the story! Ralph arrives with his trusty Red Rider BB gun to save Flash and well...I don't want to ruin it, so head on over to the film's legacy site to find out how it ends. Sadly, the none of the footage survived to present day.
If you're ever in Cleveland, you can tour the house used in the film and to see costumes, drawings, and the script.
First off, SPOILERS. Let's just get that out of the way. Don't read the rest unless you've seen the film. Seriously, I don't want to spoil anyone's enjoyment.
Okay, ready? Let's begin.
Generally, I really enjoyed Tron: Legacy. It was a great popcorn flick. We saw it in an IMAX 3D, deeming it worthy of the extra scratch. The action scenes were 199% mind-meltingly cool. This is undeniable and I'm in agreement with Roger Ebert's take on how both this and it's predecessor are state-of-the-art snapshots of each era.
I'm also a huge Daft Punk fan, and I was impressed with the way they wove the electronic synth into an orchestral treatment for the score. The film's overall design and aesthetics are amazing, and this too, can't be soured upon.
What Didn't Click Into Place
There was one aspect though that really didn't sit well with me--and it is a major point that actually affected the entire film. In fact, I think all the film's shortcomings can be traced to this one aspect. For the most part, Clu (aka Kevin Flynn / Jeff Bridges) seems like a formidable heavy for a good chunk of the film, until we learn what he's really up to. As it turns out, he's doing the same thing that Emperor Palpatine is doing (and Ming the Merciless, and any other cartoony bad-guy) "...he's building an army!"
Let's talk frankly about this well trod trope. It's a waste. We've seen it so many times that actually seeing it/hearing it on screen instigates a volley eyerolls and groans. I recall that MCP in the original was trying to take over the human world by acquiring programs--a novel and believable route to supremacy.
In "Legacy", this cyber world is totally isolated from and had no ability to influence humans—even though the reality is that Clu could have done much more damage to humanity today than ever before.
Imagine if the prominence of the internet, the loss of individual privacy, the banking (economic) meltdown, breakdowns in international security—even slow reactions to environmental disasters—had all been orchestrated by Clu behind the scenes. He’s more than just a nefarious hacker—he IS the Internet!
THAT is the villain Tron needed. Not some, “I’m going to make an army and march into reality”. Maybe as a final step after softening us up. But that would have been in movie 2 or 3. In this one it just wasn’t believable feasible.
The result was that the world of Tron (my wife calls it "Tronlandia!") ends up being very disconnected from the world that created it--and that's something that we all know to be false. The fact is, we're more integrated with technology than at any point in history. If that weren't true, you wouldn't be reading this blog.
Clu was Flynn's architectural partner. It would have made more sense if their collaboration, falling out, and subsequent conflict should have been influencing human history "behind the scenes". Like somehow creating the tech boom of the 90s, and then Clu overtaking Tronlandia would be the burst of the Internet bubble (that's actually 10 years too late according to events in the film, but you get the idea).
But instead they existed in a vacuum where Clu only sought to invade and destroy the human world. Regardless of the physics of it, it's not believable from a story standpoint because he doesn't have an investment in that world like the MCP did. Why would he need to go there? It's never made clear.
This is why I feel like the Clu character was key--without a clear and believable motivation that ties to our "reality" he's lost, and the filmmakers spin their wheels trying to decide what to do with everyone else's plot points. By making Clu little more than cyber-Hitler we get end up getting bad subplots such as the Jedi-like "purge" of the Iso programs (of which Quorra is the lone survivor) and more sci-fi plot filler is unnecessarily added to the mix.
The result of these bad ideas in a good premise culminate with an climax that should have put kept philosophy major's flapping for weeks. Clu and Flynn (Bridges) inevitably reintegrate and annihilate (like matter and antimatter) destroying everything in Tronlandia. Wouldn't this in effect destroy the Internet? Wouldn't all data be erased? Nope, it's just an isolated incident that has no effect on the human world.
While, I'm not entirely sure if the film overcame these faults, I think it will continue to be remembered much in the same way as the original: cutting edge, perhaps to the point of falling off of it, but "oh, what a ride!".
More Positives
I really liked the Bridges-as-Zen Buddhist theme. It's believable--not because he's "The Dude" either. But because young Flynn (circa '82) was very carefree in an almost enlightened manner. I could see how being trapped would force a more mature Flynn to concentrate inward in order to protect his individuality in a world where identity is stripped away as a matter of doing business. I think Garrett Hedlund's turn as Sam Flynn was also well portrayed and he not only was he well cast (he looks and has mannerisms like Bridges did in his youth) but the scenes he shares with Bridges are essential to making the relationship believable, and they're able to pull them off in a sincere but rightfully understated manner.
Probably the best "idea" though, is the one that will likely get the least amount of credit. The notion of programs having their own DNA-like coding was a brilliant fusion of what's going on in programming today with the fantasy of Tronlandia. THIS is where the real magic of the world should have come from. It was beautifully depicted onscreen and the only issue I had was that I wanted to see more of it. Jeff Bridges pulling out tiny damaged flecks of code out of Quorra's "DNA" like they were pieces of lint was supremely cool and existential all at once.
Finally, I also liked the fact that Tronlandia was "wiped" like a bad hard drive by the Flynn/Clu reintegration. It had an air of Eastern philosophy in that by achieving "oneness" everything was destroyed--like a reversal of the Big Bang. The universe resets at zero in the process--at least everything except Tron himself who was safely underwater during the event (in case you forgot).
What Could Have Been, What Could Still Be
That might be the best chance Tron has for a comeback yet--the world will need to be recreated all over again and it doesn't need to cling to any notions held in the previous films. It can become something completely new. Imagine a Tron film that exists in realspace where Quorra (Olivia Wilde) is a new species of digital human and opens the doors to curing diseases by controlling DNA--even atomic structure itself--digitally. A world where our reality is controlled as efficiently and effortlessly as the digital one in which I'm now writing.
The program becomes the creator. The user and program are one.
That'd be something to see....but I don't see Disney making that movie any time soon.
It was 30 years ago today that Imperial walkers appeared on the north ridge, a scoundrel ran but he couldn't hide, a "great warrior" challenged us to door do not--and not waste our time with "trying," and even though we probably should have seen it coming a terrible secret took us completely by surprise.
I miss those days.
Happy Birthday ESB, thanks for showing us that kicking the good guys in the teeth could be so much fun.
Next week is going to be a blast because I'm venturing out into the cine-verse to see two wonderfully over-imaginated / under-funded sci-fi flicks. The first is DESTINATION: OUTER SPACE, (I feel like that title should always be in caps), a locally produced send-up of schlocky sci-fi from a bygone age.
From the film's website:
During a test flight of Earth's first faster-than-light-speed rocket, an incident occurs that throws test pilot Captain Mike Jackson (originally introduced in 2008's "Cave Women on Mars") halfway across the galaxy! Lost in deep space, Captain Jackson must use all his wits and derring-do to find a way back to his beloved home world. A film unlike any other, "Destination: Outer Space" is full of excitement and otherworldly adventure that includes mysterious alien planets, robotic lifeforms, beautiful space pirates, alien creatures hell-bent on galactic domination and much, much more!
Next on the film-going agenda.... Is a film I've neither seen nor heard of before. And I can't. Freakin. Wait.
The movie is Italian, but the poster in Spanish was the raddest.
It's called 2019 After the Fall of New York, but based on the poster and the trailer below, they should just re-title this: Mutant Future: The Movie.
From IMDB:
After a nuclear war, society breaks down into two groups, the evil Euraks and the rebel Federation. A mercenary named Parsifal is hired by the Federation to infiltrate New York City, which is controlled by the Euraks, to rescue the only fertile woman left on Earth.
The film is apparently in both English and Italian, (it's original title is Dopo la caduta di New York, just to make things more confusing). Here's the original poster, which is obviously, also totally bitchin.
This one's showing at the Trylon Microcinema, which has quickly become my favorite new theater--you might recall my posts on their Ray Harryhausen series a few months back. Anyway, this new series titled "Trash Film Debauchery," (seriously, is there any wonder why I love the Trylon so?) is all about cheesy sci-fi from the 80s, and the moment I read the synopsis for 2019 I was hooked.
2019 is showing the very next night on Wednesday, May 26, at 7:00 p.m. If you see a grown man hopping up and down and giggling like a tribble on ecstasy, feel free to say "hi", but for your own safety you may want to keep a healthy distance!
It's true--Godzilla is back in 2012. And, no, Roland Emmerich will not have anything to do with the big guy's return. I refer you to the estimable Monster Island News on the matter, which sounds like a news program on Monster Island. Oh, how I wish it were!
The Ray Harryhausen film series at the Trylon Microcinema here in the Twin Cities kicked off this weekend. I'd blogged earlier that I've seen most of the fantasy films he's done, but none of the sci-fi ones. I corrected that oversight this afternoon with a viewing of Earth vs. the Flying Saucers! It's definitely one of the all-time great B-movies, from the height of the cold war and UFO craze of the 50s. The film shares a lot of plot devices similar to War of the Worlds (Earth is invaded by a technologically superior race, etc.) but instead of conquering them through micro-organisms, lead scientist/hero Dr. Russell A. Marvin played by closet-werewolf and crackerjack actor Hugh Marlowe (if you've seen the last scene of the film you'll get that joke) devises a weapon to fight off the aliens. Of course, conventional artillery and firearms are useless because the aliens are using SCIENCE! So we have to use our own to even the odds. Let's just say it's definitely overdue for a Mystery Science Theater 3000 skewering. :)
The Trylon lives up to it's "Microcinema" name with just 50 seats and provides an intimate, cinema-going experience. It's nestled in the back of the XY and Z gallery at 3258 Minnehaha Avenue in Minneapolis.
The proprietors let me snap a few shots of the lobby and box office/concession area:
As you can tell by the photos, the theater is quite small and really gives the impression of a private theater. Now, I'm all about the multi-plex (usually). As my wife often endures us getting to the theater early--like an HOUR before the doors open just so we can get prime seating. I'm at home hanging out at the cinema, so this isn't really a problem (for me). But when you're angling for your favorite spot, stupid mistakes will get you bad seats (waaaay up front, or waaaay in back). And then there's the rules of theater-going with Jay:
Buy tickets online
Get there EARLY
Seats before treats (find prime seats before visiting the concession stand)
I'm really not this much of a freak with anything else, but I hate sitting in bad seats at the theater. We've been known to swap our tickets if we get to the theater too late--just to avoid neck strain, motion sickness, and a crappy experience. (And believe me, it's worth it.)
At the Trylon, there isn't a bad seat in the theater--there really can't be in a space this size. In fact, after watching the movie in such a cozy set-up I promptly told the box office manager that this was my new favorite theater. I'm seriously looking forward to the rest of the series--next weekend is It Came From Beneath the Sea. I can hardly wait!
So I'd posted this over at my other blog Spellcard! and thought I should at least mention the sci-fi angle here. The Trylon Microcinema, a tiny indy filmhouse here in the Twin Cities is showing several of Ray Harryhausen's classic films every weekend in March. I'm quite familiar with this "Sinbad" fantasy series, as well as "Island" and "Argonauts," but I've not seen any of the science fiction ones on DVD let alone the big screen, so I'm hoping to get a chance to finally correct that oversight. This being GINORMOUS FOES weekend and all, I thought a prep for next month would be appropriate. Here's the sci-fi schedule:
