Holy Shit, Trons Out!

Holy Shit, Trons Out!

Two years ago at Comic Con they announced that they were going to make a sequel to the 28 year old nerdy computer graphics filled Disney's Tron. A film that no one saw. I mean, no one. You ask around and you'll get confused looks from folks who never saw it and who probably never will see it.

To say that the effects and the movie itself is a bit dated is an understatement. It really wasn't heavy on the plot to begin with. The story was as follows. Jeff Bridges is a computer engineer who creates some of the most successful games which propels a company to the main spotlight. But the only problem is that someone stole the games from him and took the credit.



So he goes to find out proof of this, gets zapped into a computer server and has to fight the MCP, Master Control Program with the help of a program named Tron. Yes, that's right. Jeff Bridges is not Tron. He's Kevin Flynn. The fact is that the film was not named after the main character of the film. How do you like them apples?

Jeff Bridges, way before his days as playing The Dude, was still being a completely awesome character. In fact, it's what makes Jeff Bridges Jeff Bridges. He has a way of carrying out a character, even if it's some adult man-child who works above an arcade... You know.. speaking of which, how could I expect you to get into the spirit of an arcade film when I haven't linked this..



There we go. Now you're in the arcade mood! You know, if you haven't seen the original, don't worry. It's really very basic. There was recently a South Park episode that made fun of Facebook as well as Tron. Watching this gives you everything you probably need to enjoy Tron Legacy.

Besides that, Disney's not making it any easier by putting the original DVD out of print. Yup. It may sound crazy, but Disney made sure that you can't get Tron on Netflix or at the local stores as the 2002 collectors edition has been long out of print. Their defense to that was that they didn't really want people to look at the clearly dated CGI and make up their mind not to see this movie. Let's be honest, the original was really lacking in terms of plot. But what it lacked in plot and story, it made up for in revolutionary computer graphics that immersed the actor in the digital world for the first time.



What's amazing here is that Disney took their internal property of Tron, a film that barely broke the 20 million budget the first one had, was given a close to 200 million budget for a sequel. Something that even I'm doubting it's going to be a success in the box office. Which is really sad since I would love to see a sequel of Tron Legacy, as it has all the makings of a franchise with a lot of potential.

Tron, in 1982, was way ahead of its time. People didn't have home computers, let alone hand held computers that I'm sure will annoy the hell out of you while you watch this film and someone is updating their facebook status. So to have actors in this digital world was something amazing. Oh yeah, Tron also had a video game tie in. Something that is common practice now, but back then was only limited to pinball machines.



The original film really kicked off the CGI era. But when you break it down, the story of Tron is much like the Wizard of Oz. Someone finds themselves in a strange new world by accident and they can only get back home by going to point B on the map. Hell, the parallels to Wizard of Oz really go pretty deep on this franchise. Even Roger Ebert enjoyed it and saw the potential.

While I'm not a big fan of the latest wave of 3D films that is flooding our market, I do acknowledge that films shot in 3D are made for that format very well. This film used the same cameras that Avatar used. Especially useful when you have the villain be a 1982 Jeff Bridges. I mean, this character really looks like the dude back when he was just that great looking actor.



Then again, you can't talk about good looking actors and not mention Olivia Wilde. You may know her as 13 on House. Yes, Olivia Wilde is the female lead in this film and well, I don't think you could ask for better eye candy in a film that is all about eye candy.

I love these two Mondo posters that were made for the film. It's a two parter that combines the old and the new. Just look at how the old film is depicted...



And then you go to the modern new look in the next poster....



You put those two together and you have something that looks so fucking amazing. In this instance, let's just show you so you can put it on your desktop..



Now if that isn't considered a thing of beauty, then you'll have to define beauty as something completely different.

I guess now after going into the wish list of things, given that the 240 prints of those poster sold out in a whole 3 minutes, that I should bring my expectations on what I could get down some. You see, maybe I should shoot for something I could get by making it myself.

So for Christmas, can anyone recommend to me somewhere or someone who can make this design get transferred and look good on a t-shirt? Any good shirt shops? Cause this is a cross of a few of my favorite things.



And with that, I go to see this film and I'm very excited. It's been a couple of years since it was announced and a couple of decades to get a sequel from this. Let alone, I've been following the Flynn Lives online Alternate Reality Game for the last year and a half or so and have been so immersed in this film. So you can't really blame me for wearing my Tron hoodie jacket and hitting up the local arcade to get even more excited about this flick.

So yeah, go and see it.

30 Dates Of Nights: 4

30 Dates Of Nights: 4

The L.A. Times released this article about eight dates under $25 in Los Angeles. While I was a bit surprised that I had already done a couple from that list without knowing it was such a normal date thing to do, I wasn't happy that they would only offer up eight ideas. So I'm making my own list. So far we've gone through 3 options of economically friendly fun dates. Some of these are things I've done and enjoyed. Some are just ideas of things that would be great date options.

Kogi And The Pier

If there's one thing I have admitted to being addicted to, it's Tacos. I love my street food like no ones business. There's something special about food being cooked right in front of you. As for health concerns, seriously, don't worry. They're there to try to make a living. Repeat customers are what they want. So while it may not look as clean, you shouldn't ask how sausage is made.



The Santa Monica Pier is a bit of a cliche date but it's cheap and has a lot of fun date potential. Parking is about $5 in the beach side parking or you could just park on Ocean somewhere and walk down the ramp onto the pier. It has been going through a lot of changes lately.

On the Pier you'll find an old style Arcade with plenty of fun games for the two of you to enjoy. Ski Ball and Air Hockey. Tickets dispense in that old fashion way after games but who's going to spend all that money for a plastic comb or fake mustache? Best to just enjoy the friendly competition with each other. Make a bet on the games. It'll add a little kick to things.



I'm a sucker for Photo Booths. They're great and their dirt cheap. $3 for a couple of silly faces. The arcade has one and it's typically forgotten by the youth today. It's really cliche, I know. But it's cute in a way. So let yourself go and you'll have a picture that captured the evening.

Also on the pier is Bubba Gumps. A really generic chain restaurant but it has a good advantage - It serves alcohol without a cover. Head on over after or before (if you want to make ski ball even more interesting) the arcade experience and you'll put a little sauce into your systems.

To round out the evening you can take advantage of what a pier is all about, extending land over ocean and walk to the end of it. Look over the edge and see nothing, then look over at the smile on your date and things will be pretty peachy.



While you're in the Santa Monica area, the second part of this date is more of a game of Where's Waldo in search of the Kogi Taco truck. Kogi is a Korean Taco truck that was so good I had to write about them. They're sweeping the scene as a new hip 2.0 taco truck. Not many taco trucks can say they have their own website and not many taco trucks offer something completely different and good all at the same time.

To sum them up, they make tacos with a Korean kick. Using short ribs and spicy chicken and pork the taste is out of the world. Finding them is also an adventure in itself as they have a few spots they go to. It's sort of like a puzzle you'll have putting together. If you want some clues you can follow their exploits on twitter to find their latest locations.



Once you do track them down, for the sake of this date, I'd advise for the Venice location most nights after 10pm at the Brig, you'll have a good time trying to come up with how you're going to tackle the meal. Get your order in, get your food and go sit by the curb, you'll be surprised how good hot food on a cool night with a beautiful date can be.

You wont even care if the breath smells of kimchee from the kimchee quesadillas. The food will hit the spot and since this is an up and coming craze, you'll both share something that will eventually be as big as, say In-N-Out. Ok, maybe in 40 years time. But hey, it's the time shared and the good food and moments treasured



A walk on the boardwalk and some new fusion tacos. Total cost comes to a low price depending on if you get the alcohol on the pier or not. Taco truck shouldn't be more than $15 and the games on the boardwalk are a couple of bucks. You'll treasure the late night moment together and have filled bellies.

Meet Sakura

Meet Sakura



Arcades and I have a history together. I've grown up in them. What kid hasn't though? I remember the days of Pac-Man Arcade in Pasadena. I was young. Street Fighter 2 just came out and it was insane. The place was like a Chinese heroine den. Dark. Smokey. Gritty. You had the feeling that at any moment you could get stabbed and if you happen to throw one too many times at a game of Street Fighter, you would have. Don't believe me? I have the image of someone getting stabbed for less scarred in my mind.

It was fun and over time the fighting games changed but my love for Street Fighter never did. My character of choice was Ryu. Even with all the new challengers in Turbo. None captured my attention. I wont lie, I was good with Ryu and while it was still fun winning, the thrill was slowly fading into the mundane tired feeling. So when the Street Fighter Alpha series came around and gave me a handful of characters to pick from I leaned towards an a very unlikely character.



Here in the mix of back story characters and kabuki linebackers I ended up picking the small Ryu-lite school girl named Sakura. She presented a challenge. She didn't have the fireball reach of Ryu, she did this sort of hybrid hurricane kick that wasn't as effective and every time she won she would make the funniest character animations mocking the other person. Not to mention she was a school girl in a fighting game dominated by muscle bound men. It was a strange juxtaposition.

Soon I was kicking some major ass with her which was really funny to add insult to injury when people were losing to against me left and right. Something humiliating about losing your quarter and losing in front of your friends by a character like that. It was fun times.



Flash forward to this year. Street Fighter finally gets into the fourth installment. Well, not counting all the alpha, turbo, strikes and puzzle games they made for the franchise. And the moment an arcade within 50 miles had a unit I was there trying out the new game play and seeing it in action. I have to admit, I was like a kid in the candy store playing as Ryu again. But it was missing something. It just didn't feel right and I couldn't put my finger on it. As if it was missing something.

Then I get word from the Tokyo Game show, which I'm dead set on going to next year. I know I always say that, but next year is time for it. Oh yes. But yes, word from the TGS is that Sakura is coming home with me when the game is released on PS3 and Xbox. I had to do a spit take when I found out this news. Holy hell, I get to beat up people again with a school girl and look like a strange pervert for picking the school girl in the process? Double score!
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Would it be gay to say that I got as giddy as a school girl? If it is, I don't care because I'll say it anyway. Holy shit am I excited to kick someones ass again using a school girl.