A litte more about me

This Blog is just a personal film goer (Geeks) take on things, Its gonna touch on film , tv and maybe my other passion movie soundtracks from John Barry - John Williams, Star Wars to Mad Max. If In my geekness I have one passion its Bond, all things Bond. If asked the usual question my pecking order of Bonds would be

1. Sean Connery
2. Daniel Craig
3. Pierce Brosnan
4. George Lazenby
5. Roger Moore. 

So heres a few of the sites i use to keep up with regular film news.
Aint it Cool ( It goes without saying)
One Ring Net ( For all things Lord of the Rings) And Nolder Blog because I'm relatively new to NZ and this site contains local news and gossip with a strong emphasis on Lord of the Rings and soon to start The Hobbit.
MI6 for all things Bond
Dr Who ( Im a welshman from Cardiff, I left the UK during the second season of David Tennants tenurre and I have physically been to the Doctor Who exhibition in Cardiff Bay. I also have had the great pleasure of meeting then show runner Russel T Davies)

Tron Legacy

Well finally caught up with Tron Legacy after post Christmas celebrations. Its official i survived Christmas for another year. So biting the bullet visited my local picture house, donned a pair of 3D spectacles and took the ride.
     Tron is one of those little guilty pleasures from the eighties, I used to have the Wendy Carlos soundtrack, I had the movie poster on my study wall and an old well worn videotape of the movie. Its up there with The Black Hole as a valiant effort that just fell short of the mark.
      So did i enjoy this new chapter , well yes and no. If i was George Lucas I would take issue with one or two the character arcs in this new tale. Maybe even take issue with one or two scenes which reminded this viewer of Star Wars, Jeff Bridges Flynn is now the Obi Wan of this movie with a liberal dose of the Dude. Visually this movie is a massive step up from the first installment but then this is to be expected when considering the time elapsed between the two films. But some scenes seem virtual repeats of the first film. For example the  Solar sailor scenes. In all if I was to use a metaphor then this is a satisfactory burger , the meat patty tastes sublime but the support ingredients don't quite gel, the lettuce is a little limp and the cheese a bit overpowering and with an excess of ketchup.  So it fills a gap, keeps the hunger pangs at bay but never hits any real lofty heights of originality.
      So  in closing I did enjoy Tron but my expectations were not set that high prior to viewing went in wanting to be entertained and came away satisfied but not enthusiastic. This is the remodeled spaced out re-imagining of a flawed classic, View it in that context and you will at least come away reasonably happy whatever problems this film has it was at the scripting stage. The film lacks a clear plot, over enthusiastic use of exposition that at three specific points in this film bring events to a standstill.
     What action there is is handled well and background design and effects are suitably up there with the best.
There are a lot of loose ends left to be tidied up in a sequel but based on this viewing i do not expect a sequal to be high on Disney's cards. It might perform well initially on release but based on current figures on box office performance  I think it will die down about the third week. It will clear 100,000,000 but how far it will go over at the figure I hazard to guess. Depsite good use of 3D this is no Avatar.

Tron Revisited

Well our local press has described Tron Legacy as a weak performer. I cannot really agree with that sensationalist assessment of the sequel. 43 million dollars is not to be sniffed at in anyones book. The reall story is in a week or two when we will find out if the film has any legs.
  Ive yet to see the film, Christmas shopping taking precedence in our household but I will. You see having read most of the criticisms and reviews I will go into this 3D presentation with lowered expectations. It will not be the first time I had attended a screening expecting the worst, and if I am fortunate I will come away with a buzz.
  You see I remember Tron the first time around. It was different, it was sold as a new age of cinema. It wasn't the greatest story ever told, and in my youngish mind it didn't replace my love for all things Star Wars. But it was different and it had some bold idea's. Most of the reviews seem to me repeats of arguments made at the time of the original films release. Therefore I will not be put off. I might even post a favorable review. But I will be going in with reasonable expectation not believing the hype.
So watch this space.

Harry Potter

Well the lead up to Christmas and things get more exciting at the cinema. So far I have seen the latest installment in the Harry Potter franchise and found it to be a satisfying prelude to the big finale. It did require that I view the last installment again on blu ray prior to my visit to our local boutique cinema.
      The problem for me as a viewer is I am now in virgin territory having not read the books. Which means a multitude of plot points that will be omitted for the sake of filmic storytelling which might be vital to my understanding of the series. The last volume of his adventures i had read cover to cover was the Goblet of Fire. Order of the phoenix sits on my bookshelf part read. Im afraid that as the books have gone on I have found then more difficult to read. This is put down to excess padding. More brutal editing might make for a more satisfying read.
After revisiting the half blood prince I found myself primed for the latest installment, not only that but I found myself more fully understanding what initially was a confusing narrative and thank god. But because in this latest installment points raised in the Half blood prince become a primer for the events in this latest episode.
    I came away satisfied and eagerly awaiting the final installment. Thank god they didn't go 3D, having now seen the film I fail to see how with all the rapid inter cutting of fast paced action it could work. It would have been a migraine inducing experience. Also with a lot of scenes being intimate exposition between characters there would be a lack of spectacle and therefore nothing worthy of enhancement.