Topic: Movies & TVAs you may know, especially if you like to visit IMDb, Steven Spielberg is working on Jurassic World sequel, as well as some other exciting projects. But what will this new film be about? Well, obviously, it will be an epic crossover between Jurassic Park / World and Godzilla. After the events of Jurassic World, it just makes perfect sense. Think about it: Dr. Wu was working with Hoskins and military to weaponize the Velociraptors. Although Hoskins was killed, Wu was placed into military protection and, presumably, got away safely. What’s the logical (or perhaps illogical considering what happens in these movies) next step? The military hires Wu to breed a living weapon, i.e. Godzilla. A weapon so large and powerful it can decimate an enitre city. Possibly while fighting a giant moth, but that’s optional. Of course, the silly military will assume they can contain and control such a thing, but it will clearly escape and cause much more havoc than the tyrannosaur in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. ------ Okay, so maybe that’s not how things will play out in the next Jurassic World movie, but it makes sense, right? I would totally watch it, if it was better that last Godzilla movie. - James D. McIntosh Jr.
Topic: Movies & TVTRON and TRON: Legacy are fairly popular movies among geeks. They are also quite visually interesting. But the TRON franchise often leaves us with a lot of questions. This is especially the case when we consider the show TRON: Uprising in correlation with the movies. For example, why is Beck not in TRON: Legacy? What happened to him? How did Tron get caught? How did he get healed? Why do we never see Rinzler's face, other than because of the obvious fact that he is not played by Bruce Boxleitner? I have a theory. Rinzler is not Tron. In the TV show, which has unfortunately only put forth one season that left some large cliffhangers, Tron's health situation looks pretty hopeless. He is in terrible condition and continues to get worse. This situation, however, does not prevent him from training Beck. Although we never see much of it in the one short season, he surely must have taught Beck about the users and how to do some cool fighting moves, including his suddenly-signature two disc fighting style. To my point: Tron succumbs to his wounds and Beck is actually Rinzler. SIDE POINTS: Now, we do know that Beck and Tron did succeed in starting their rebellion. This is seen in two scenes in TRON: Legacy. At Kevin's secret residence, when he is talking to Sam about doing nothing, he says, "There's unrest out there. Even revolution." In the scene at The End of Line Club, there are rebels there who are trying to meet Zeus and end up fighting the soldiers who drop in. But there is no Beck. Beck could be Rinzler, and he could be going on to continue Tron's legacy in a similar way Aaron Cross continues Jason Bourne's legacy in The Bourne Legacy. Just as there is no Jason, there is no Tron. New guys now carry their banners, hence the use of the word "legacy." (I know Jason Bourne is coming back now, but that is beside the point.) ARGUABLE POINTS: Clu's Reasons and Rinzler's Voice: While Beck and Tron were working (and dying), Clu eventually captured Beck and made him Rinzler. You may then ask why Rinzler has Tron's voice and a covered face. Well, perhaps Clu wants everyone to believe he has control of the original Tron. He did not seem to go to any lengths to hide the Tron symbol on Rinzler's chest. Very few people know Beck. He does not have the same reputation as Tron. That's why he took Tron's identity in the first place. And Clu wants that reputation to be under his control. And how hard can it be to change a guy's voice a bit? There are all kinds of crazy voices in the movies. Additionally, Clu has a reputation of his own to manage. He will not even admit he failed to fully capture or defeat Kevin. First Clue says he is going to do the same thing to Sam as he did to his Kevin. This sounds threatening, but also ends up being humorously true. Clu loses Sam just as he lost Kevin. But before the loss, Clu gets the crowd and Sam riled up by bragging through Jarvis. He was the one who has experience defeating users. Except, of course, he has not actually ever defeating one in battle. Styles: Speaking of Rinzler's characteristics, let's get back to that point about fighting styles. Rinzler does not fight in any way we've seen Tron fight before. First of all, the two disc style is something Tron suddenly discovers in the sudden Clu attack (in one of the flashbacks). Because of this, I'm not really sure how Kevin recognizes Tron when he sees Rinzler capture Cora. Kevin was running away when Tron picked up that extra disc for the first time. And then, as I said, Tron could easily have taught some tricks to Beck. But never do we ever see Tron do all those crazy flips and other things that Rinzler does. It is like a completely different style. It might be a style Beck picked up. Seeing as how important fighting for users is to Tron, he must have also taught Beck about it. What kind of program would he be if he didn't? That is why Rinzler eventually says he "fight[s] for the users." Memories: The biggest flaw in my theory shows up towards the end of TRON: Legacy. As Clu and Rinzler are chasing the heroes through the sky, Rinzler and Kevin catch glimpses of each other. A memory comes back to Rinzler of himself as Tron yelling at Kevin to run from Clu's sudden attack. How am I supposed to explain that? I don't know. Is it possible Beck also got Tron's old disc and thus obtained his memories? We know how important the discs are because of the episode where Beck loses his. He very nearly completely loses his own identity. If this is the case, then that also helps explain everything else that I have already argued. Tron did not need to train Beck in everything. But then, why would Rinzler still fight differently? Maybe the style is not so different as I think. But what other complications arise? Whatever the case may be, this is still an interesting theory. Tell me what you think. - James D. McIntosh Jr. P.S. In TRON, Kevin Flynn has a good friend named Ram who gets killed. In TRON: Legacy, he has a son he calls Sam. Coincidence?
P.P.S. You may know this already, but the shapes of both Pac-Man and Mickey Mouse make special appearances in TRON. Topic: Movies & TVStar Wars woke up while Star Trek went back in time. The same director responsible for reviving the Star Trek movies, J.J. Abrams, was responsible for reviving the Star Wars movies, but the outcomes were different. Why is this? A LITTLE BACKGROUND: If the filmmakers had gone back and rebooted the Star Wars story like they had the Star Trek story, the large fan base, which is comprised of several generations, would have been very upset. According to Cinema Blend, the next Stark Trek movie is being written in a way that appeals less to the original retro style and fan base, but seems to appeal to a newer audience. On the other hand, the new Star Wars movie embraces its retro foundations, which may have caused George Lucas some disappointment, according to Polygon. THE REASON: Trekkies and Warsies can go back and forth all day about which franchise is better and why. Warsies will stay Star Wars is better and that's why things turned out the way they did, but I am not going to get into that argument. I have another theory about what may have played a role in this outcome. Although it has put out many different shows and movies through the generations, Star Trek has not appealed to all the generations the way Star Wars has. This is perhaps because of the timings. While Star Trek continuously put out product after product, there was a large gap between the original Star Wars trilogy and the prequel Trilogy. Star Trek captured one generation and just kept pressing its content upon the public. It did not give anyone a break. Star Wars, on the other hand, released an incomplete trilogy of groundbreaking movies to a couple generations that discovered the series together (i.e. my grandparents and parents). When the prequel trilogy was finally released, those generations were still craving more, and they brought the next generation (mine) along to discover the galaxy. This provided an opportunity to hook yet another generation with fresh material, and it worked. It was George Lucas' timing that perhaps got all of the generations interested in Star Wars and has kept them interested, so that the story has remained very relevant and must continue even after all these years. With this in mind, is Disney's plan to release a new Star Wars movie every year for as long as possible a good idea? (See Polygon.) Will my children enjoy it the way the rest of my family does? - James D. McIntosh Jr. P.S. The other planned Star Wars post coming soon!
Topic: Movies & TVChristopher Nolan has made quite a name and following for himself in the movie business. His creative narratives and deep concepts captivate the minds of millions. But I have noticed that there is a recurring theme in Nolan's feature length films. A theme other than the use of Michael Caine that is. In this post I am referring to full Nolan projects that he both wrote and directed. This excludes such films as Insomnia, Man of Steel, and Transcendence. Now, let's take a look. In his first movies outside of The Dark Knight Trilogy, Nolan makes viewers confused with his interesting and complicated use of nonlinear storytelling. These examples include Following, Memento, and The Prestige. The narratives bounce around in time more than a toddler on eight Red Bulls bounces around in space. In Inception, the storytelling is pretty much linear, but still very complicated. It's the content of the story that plays with time. As the characters enter the different dream levels, the speed of time changes. Various things happen all at once, affecting everyone in all the levels, but they happen at different speeds. Most recently, Interstellar played with time in a similar manner and made the time theme much more obvious. The characters experience time differently in different locations. Again, various things happen all at once, but at different speeds. But there is also a certain amount of time travel involved, as when Cooper finds himself in the fifth dimension and interacts with his own past. The Dark Knight Trilogy seems to diverge from Nolan's usual film making styles. The films are still very good, but they do not have as complex of content and they do not play much with time. Of course, there are spaces of years during and between the movies in which we see how people change, so perhaps that is how Nolan slipped his theme in there. Obviously, Nolan finds something appealing about messing with time. We will see if this continues in his next movie coming out in 2017. (See IMDb and Cinema Blend.) In conclusion, I have a question I really need to ask. If he were to manage an episode or the whole show with his signature style and interest in time, what would Christopher Nolan's take on Doctor Who be like? P.S. Interesting fact: Following and Inception each have an important character named Cobb. Additionally, each Cobb is a thief of some sort. Coincidence? P.P.S. Sorry for the delay between posts over the holidays. I have plans for several posts, I just have to gather my thoughts and materials together. And don't worry. The Star Wars post is still on the way. - James D. McIntosh Jr.
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