True Grit (2010)

Jeff Bridges is always an awesome actor, even when he talks like a dog barking, and his portrayal of Rooster Cogburn, the role made famous by Western legend John Wayne is no exception. He's the quintessential grizzled old gun-slinger, and spends the entirety of this film swinging between the poles of "cool as a cucumber" and "laugh-out-loud hilarious", throwing gruff insults at Matt Damon and being blunt to the point of amusement. But there is someone in this film who threatens to steal every last scene from Bridges; young Hailee Steinfeld, who after a series of supporting roles in teen film and TV landed her first major role as Hattie Ross, and has already landed a well-deserved Oscar nomination, all at the tender age of 14. And unlike many Academy choices, this pick could not be more deserved. Indeed, I'll be shocked if she doesn't win, despite the other big names in that category. Steinfeld has to be one to watch, as in every single scene she has a maturity far beyond her years and delivers barbed comments with pinpoint accuracy, reducing most of the adults she meets to quivering piles of insecurity. Her litigious nature can be trying at times, but generally she is completely at ease, despite sharing scenes with a legend like Bridges, and a Hollywood A-lister like Matt Damon. Finally the helmsmen, the Coen Brothers, show once again that they can perfectly balance action, story and comedy within a genre that is generally not know for being funny. But True Grit is cuttingly funny, mostly thanks to stinging comments thrown back and forth between the protagonists. Westerns of old can seem formulaic and stale, but this film breathes new life into the genre and shows the feasibility of making this aged type entertaining still, even without adding extraterrestrials, as with this year's upcoming Cowboys & Aliens.


"The eyepatch is to give y'all a fightin' chance."

Tron: Legacy (2010)

From the first trailers, we all knew that over 25 years of advancement in computer technology would at least allow for a Tron sequel to dramatically out-shine its predecessor in terms of visuals, and at most would give a much wider range of computer functions for the film to explore. And while Tron: Legacy sadly fails to explore these advances, from social networking to Wikipedia, the visuals are stunning. The landscape is dark, but within the boundaries of the Grid, the digital city resembles a techno-Gotham, aided by the booming and dramatic musical score. Many of the aspects of this film seem more like updates of the original, though it could be argued that the proliferation of video-gaming was the reason for scaling up the disk-battle and light-cycle scenes to spectator sports taking place in a colossal stadium. The story isn't anything ground-breaking, essentially boiling down to another rogue A.I. trying to ruin things, though with the nice twist that it is the original Kevin Flynn's creation serving as the villain, despite appearing as an incredibly unconvincingly de-aged Jeff Bridges. Sadly the film twice attempts to surprise the audience with the revelation of the identity of a masked character, and each time it comes as no surprise at all. That being said, Garrett Hedlund does well as new hero Sam, and my hope for a better female lead is fulfilled by Olivia Wilde's Quorra. Really, this is a very solid science fiction film, with great action, some of the best 3D I've seen, and a kickin' soundtrack. Great for a belated sequel.


It's right there on his frigging chest!

Tron (1982)

In light of the imminent release of the long-awaited sequel, I decided to take a look back at one of the most iconic science fiction movies of the 1980s, Disney's Tron. Despite reputation, only around twenty minutes of this movie are actual computer-generated images, with the rest merely being extremely convincing traditional animation, combined to create the eye-catching and instantly recognisable style of the computer world of flat grey and bright, colourful lines. Every character (with the possible exception of Yori) is interesting to watch, whether it's the stoic Tron, the unlikely hero Flynn, or the surprisingly sympathetic villain Sark, pressed into service of Skynet's wireframe precursor, the M.C.P. The elements of faith are quite clever, with the M.C.P. looking to establish his absolute digital control by asserting the non-existence of the world outside the computer system, and denouncing anyone who still believes in the "users" as a religious zealot. Seeing the trailer for the upcoming Tron: Legacy, I was taken aback at the massive scale and epic locations on display, but going back to the original, the locales are really no less spectacular (considering the time). Hopefully the sequel can surpass the original in more than just special effects. And hopefully the passage of nearly thirty years of social progress can render a greater gender equality for the new film, and have a female character who doesn't just fill the role of "arbitrary female character".


We can only hope...