His Zen Thing, Man

The itinerant 90's. I carried with me, from state to state, nation to nation, a copy of the Tao Te Ching. In hindsight it wasn't necessary, it was really one passage that hit home every time:

The Tao is like a bellows:
It is empty yet infinitely capable.
The more you use it, the more it produces;
The more you talk of it, the less you understand.
Hold on to the center.

I take these words to heart, and consider them with the Gospel of John the finest examples of spiritual wisdom produced by our race. Because I'm qualified to make such assertions. Back off.

Something else on which I'm an authority, and I think readers will agree, is TRON. The main character in both films knows a little something about spiritual wisdom.

Zen hacker Kevin Flynn is unique in the annals of science fiction. Nowhere else can you find a guy so actively indifferent to his circumstances. Zapped into the computer? No problem. Improvise a solution and don't sweat the small stuff.

Trapped in the computer for twenty years? Pfft. Catch up on yoga. Grow a beard and wear white Zen-appropriate robes. Do the Yoda thing, man. Don't play by the so-called rules of the game and remove your self from the equation.

Of course, any resemblance to Jeff Lebowski is pure coincidence. Played by the same actor, true, but Jeff Bridges has played many kinds of dudes and Kevin Flynn just happens to be the top of the pig pile.

I went through my dude phases. I'm not an actor, in the theatrical sense. Usual stuff people do, stumbling around trying to grab onto something, anything that makes sense. Even came up with a word for myself: idiosyncretic. A funky portmanteau, I know. What do you expect from a blog called zeitheist? This is where language comes to be mangled. Like Stephen Hawking's theory of black holes, where information is sucked in and spit out in a state of violent rearrangement. That's this blog all over.

Idiosyncretic is what today people think of as the mashup, in spiritual rather than musical terms. Silly word, representative of piling up wisdom from every corner of every belief system you get your hands on. Sooner or later that pile starts to make sense and you realize that you own it. Takes some dude phases (and phrases) to do it, but you get there.

Anyhow.

Flynn takes it all in stride. Whatever misfortune falls his way, he goes with the flow. Chips are down, he leaps to do the right thing. "You're messing with my Zen thing, man," but he goes to it. Things calm down. Flynn goes back to meditating, to "knock on the sky and listen to the sound." Not many sci-fi heroes talk like that.

Knock on the sky and listen to the sound. Probably sounds like a pile of mixed-up something. That's what is so weird about Kevin Flynn: he's not trying to tell you what you want to hear, not like every other hero you encounter. How many of them talk in such a way it makes you think?

How many people talk like that?

TRON: Legacies

The countdown is over. Have you seen it? After decades of anticipation I found TRON: Legacy entertaining, thoughtful and, with the exception of a computer-generated face that looked like a computer-generated face, everything I hoped it would be. Travelling hundreds of miles to see it with my oldest friend and his son skewed my objectivity and in all honesty it would have had to be an unmitigated disaster to rate any less, but I liked it. A lot.

It was the Year of the Geek when we met, my friend and I, the same year of the original TRON's release, yet 1982 seemed a long time ago in a galaxy far away as we stood at the front of the line for its sequel. His seven-year-old son brought an identity disc along, a toy replica from their summer visit to the elecTRONica exhibit at Disneyland, and afterward as we ate dinner and digested what we had seen kept it close at hand like he was ready to dive back into the game grid at any second.

For sights and sounds a peerless spectacle, were it not for one glaring problem we'd have unanimously embraced TRON: Legacy right then and there as the first great sci-fi classic of a new generation. It doesn't cross the uncanny valley. Common to animation, the uncanny valley is what you get when a face doesn't look real. The more animators attempt to realistically render a face, the steeper the valley wall. Pixar manages to climb out every time, but they are alone in this category.

The adversary in TRON: Legacy wears a computer-generated face that looks uncanny as can be. Every time he appears, you want to reach up and slap that stiff mannequin face. Every movie has its flaws and this one's has cartoony eyes and a stiff upper lip that imitates a gumming action when rubbed against its stiff lower lip, like the villain just put his dentures out. Weird. Distracting. Less Grandpa Tron and more light cycles, please!

Was that all we talked about over dinner? Of course not. Between bites of taquitos and tacos, we griped briefly about the uncanny valley problem and then got back to remembering the movie's many fantastic scenes. It was a great movie. The legacy of 1982 lives on.

TRON: Legacy has so much that is entertaining and fun. The breathtaking light cycle sequences could go on forever. Jeff Bridges is terrific as an aged Zen hacker. Balletic scuffles with discs flying hot and furious are dazzling. Great stuff. Honestly, I can't wait to see it again.

Three More Days

On top of ending twenty-eight years of anticipation for the TRON sequel, what I'm looking forward to most this weekend is celebrating Thanksmas with family. My sister and cousin live in the Bay Area and I'll be flying down from Seattle to have a holiday celebration with them that is a little bit country, a little bit rock n' roll. Whatever it is, I can confidently say it won't be traditional. We're planning to gather at my cousin and her husband's lovely pad in Oakland and watch 70's kung fu movies whilst dining on delicacies -my cousin is an excellent cook and whatever we eat, it will be delicious. The best part is that none

of this was discussed in advance, it was automatically agreed upon.

With there being such a small number of us, the possibilities of a psychic network are not totally in the realm of fantasy; it doesn't hurt either that we've known each other since infancy. That kind of connection runs deep; it also apparently excites a deep-seated and irresistible desire for chop socky cinema.

In short, I've got a lot to look forward to this weekend -and so do you: an end to my TRON rantings! It is, after all, the Season of Miracles.

One Week!!!

13 Days and Counting

Look carefully at the right edge of this still frame from TRON. Can you see what Mr Red Antenna sees? Here's a hint: he's yellow and lives on a steady diet of ghosts.

I've always thought this is one of the more unique cameos in film history. In 1982, when TRON came out, it was definitely not cool to be a geek, not like it is now, what with the booming popularity of The Big Bang Theory and so on. Little inserts of geek culture like this were few, if they occurred at all. Part of the abiding charm of that year for a science fiction fan. It was the year that every month brought a new classic of the genre. Blade Runner, the second Star Trek movie, E.T., Poltergeist, The Road Warrior, The Thing... a seminal year for geekdom, without a doubt.

We're watching an odd double bill today, TRON and Die Hard. Originally just intending to watch the one, when word got out that one of the gal's friends has never seen the greatest christmas action movie of them all, we decided to double down. Should be fun. We'll watch 40 Stories of Sheer Adventure (Die Hard's tagline), break for an intermission supper and then fire up TRON himself, which nobody present will have seen before; or if they did, it was long ago and is now a distant, barely perceptible memory.

That's why I'm here: to create good memories.

Legacy vs Lebowski

What's Your Definition of Cool? My attempt at machinima polemic tackles the timeless question:

24 Days and Counting

This early effort at TRON getups is amusing and I'm so very grateful they went with something else (though some might question the aesthetic sensibility of frisbees with bike helmets). Our hero wants to play keyboard in Duran Duran, while Yori has this cyber-Pocahantas vibe going that might play well at the Renaissance Fair.

I used a website to tweak the image for my Facebook profile, but they call it Obama-izing the image. Obama-izing. That doesn't sound natural or right. And for such a brutal neologism, totally inaccurate as well. You can sanitize, patronize, and weaponize, but Obama-ize? Change your birthplace to Hawai'i and we can talk. Awful, vile word. The President should be ashamed.

26 Days and Counting

-and tomorrow begins 25 days of Tronmas. I'm really milking this, aren't I? You bet your grain-fed Holstein, I am. And speaking of cash cows, see if you can peep one in the still below:

Clever programmers, eh? Then again, Disney has always been at the forefront of animation and Mickey Mouse serves as herald of the future in TRON just as he did in Steamboat Willy. Stay tuned for more hidden prizes like this in weeks to come, as the countdown continues for TRON:Legacy.

I've already laid out what I'm looking forward to in the sequel, and since posting that, though in a more sober frame of mind, there's been even further ruminating on the subject. Just yesterday it hit me that, with all the videos and articles I've scoured about TRON:Legacy, I know too much about the blasted movie; too much, that is, in relation to your average moviegoer, who'd prefer I think going into the theater knowing as little as possible. Not this guy. When it comes to spoilers, I'm pure teflon. They bounce right off. Additionally, with such a long gestation period as this sequel has had, I've no doubt there will be surprises a'plenty when opening day arrives.

My expectations, contrary to how it must appear, are actually quite low. Why, you might ask, gush so frequently about something that in any reasonable estimation is certain to be another bad sequel? Excellent question, and one to which (you saw this coming) I have an answer. A well-rehearsed reply, I might add, that hopefully doesn't sound too defensive. Because I don't care if the movie is good or bad, it could be pure trash and I'll still be glad I put down my coin (yes, I've had my ticket for over a month now); the simple fact that a sequel to my favorite film exists and was made with full participation of the folks who made the original is sufficient cause to get my heart racing with anticipation.

Okay, that was totally defensive. Apologies. I've got a chip on my shoulder, what can I say.

Anyhow, you'll only have to put up with my TRON froth a bit longer. Meanwhile I've got my eye on the prize that's less than a month away, and counting....

30 Days and Counting

Twenty eight years later, my anticipation of the sequel to TRON is reaching a fever pitch. It's ridiculous, I know. When has a decent sequel come so long after? This could be The Phantom Menace Redux -but who wants to be negative?

Asked what I'm looking forward to most in TRON: Legacy, some reflection was needed. Great visuals, sure, and sound design; the soundtrack by Daft Punk hopefully won't be some ear-scorching techno hybrid. These leapt to mind, then I started thinking about Yori and had my answer.

Our man Tron had a girlfriend in the original film. People forget. Her name was Yori, and Tron saved her from a soulless existence of solar sailer customer support. Good god, what a fate. He even kissed her, very un-PC. That's got to be a gateway drug in the antiseptic, analog world of programs that could develop into all kinds of drama. So, obviously we have to wonder what Tron and Yori have been up to all these years.

Well, obvious to me, at least.

33 Days Till TRON: Legacy!

Speechless TRONday

The trailer is here -and it is magnificent.

Saturday at the Cinema

TOMORROW
I didn't see the new Alice in Wonderland just to watch the TRON LEGACY trailer... but it was tempting!

TODAY
No, instead we saw the new Sherlock Holmes. (Everything old is new again, have you noticed?) If there is justice in the world, Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law will grow old together playing Holmes and Watson.

YESTERDAY
Buckaroo Banzai is an 80's anomaly. It's got all the weird lo-fi neon-lit trashiness you could hope for. The dialogue is genuinely funny. What hero can you recall who wears red-rimmed glasses and responds to bad news with, "The deuce you say." He's a nuclear physicist/brain surgeon/rock star. He's nattily dressed and has a zinger for every ocassion. "Do you think I'm beautiful?" asks Penny Priddy, the twin sister of his dead wife. "I think,"
says Buckaroo, "you're the queen of the Netherlands."

Then there's the heavies.

Lectroids from Planet 10 by way of the eighth dimension (got that?) are having a civil war and Buckaroo Banzai and his Hong Cavaliers are caught in the middle. Lord John Whorfin, John Small Berries, John Many Jars, and John Big Bootey ("Boo-TAY!") will stop at nothing to win -or make us laugh. These guys are the funniest villains ever. For real, I wouldn't lie.

New TRON LEGACY Visuals!

A year is too long to wait, but here's some tidbits to tide us over, plus a preview of the videogame that promises to bridge the original with the new film, TRON EVOLUTION:

Olivia Wilde and Garrett Hedlund looking all shiny:


The one-sheet, appearing on the walls of theaters soon:


I presume this is an upgrade of the Solar Sailer Simulation:

TRON update

Continuing in the vein of tech fables, there is news about TRON:LEGACY populating the web almost daily. The film won't hit IMAX theatres until 12.17.10 (3D, of course) but Disney is doing a fine job of releasing tidbits on a regular basis to stoke the fires of anticipation in our hearts.

Steven Lisberger, the writer/director of the original film, was recently quoted saying what he thinks will carry over into the sequel:

I think that one of the themes in the story being expressed is where Flynn's allegiances really lie. He created breakthrough technology in the day, so it means something very special to him. But he also has a real world family, and he's being asked to decide who he loves more. Then it gets really tricky because there's a tendency for people to say, ‘The best thing I could do for my kid is bless them with the best technology,' and maybe the kid doesn't really want your technology, he just wants you... I think that's sort of an interesting metaphor because we're sort of in the race with the Devil.

Aspects of the world are going to hell, and we think if we can get to the point where we can simulate it, then we'll understand it and we'll solve the problem. We're struggling with AIDS and global warming, but if we can simulate it correctly, then we'll understand it and we can fix it. It's a classic sci-fi problem. Is technology gonna be your best friend or at times is it gonna be your best friend who turns out to be your worst enemy?

One of the virtues of TRON is that it offers layers of substance that perhaps don't come across at first viewing. More than a simple-minded adventure, it explores our relationship with machines in ways that continue to have significance a quarter century later. That's the kind of shelf life, you ask me, that merits a sequel. If only the Wachowski Brothers had waited so long to further explore the Matrix, we might have had something with similar value.

Okay, that was a cheap shot. The sequel is still over a year away and already I expect it to be better than The Matrix Reloaded. Hope abides.

One of these days I'll get around to formalizing my theory that The Matrix is essentially a remake of TRON. Actually, it doesn't take much to see the many parallels.

TRON I/O Forums

For the latest news on TRON:LEGACY, take a look at the TRON I/O Forums. I was told by the administrator that this is "where we get into the nitty gritty of what's going on with the film, far more than can be accomplished on the limited Facebook forums." Check it out!

Who is Joseph Kosinski?

Beyond being named the director of TRON: Legacy, there isn't much known about Joseph Kosinski. I did a little digging and was delighted to learn that he created one of the best videogame commercials in recent memory, for Gears of War. Contrasting the violence of the shooter against Tears for Fears' Mad World grabbed my attention the first time I saw it:



Though this tells us something of the restraint we might expect from Kosinski, it tells us altogether nothing of what kind of director he will make. Like my friend Andy, however, this does not concern me too much: there is a great tradition of quality directors coming over from the realm of commercials, David Fincher, Ridley Scott, and Tarsem among them.

I have to admit feeling a little giddy. When googling "Joseph Kosinski", the first page of search results includes his LinkedIn account! Being an optimist at heart, I hope we are getting in at the ground floor of a great director getting his start.

Here's some other tidbits about the film, taken from an encounter with Kosinski last October:

1) Steven Lisberger (writer/director of TRON) is involved as a consultant. Kosinski couldn't be happier about this. He mentioned that Lisberger (and, presumably, Syd Mead) initially wanted the light cycles to have external riders, but they couldn't convincingly pull it off with the technology of the early eighties. So the light cycles you see in the San Diego Comic Con footage reflects Lisberger's original design.

2) The Comic Con teaser was shot in stereoscopic 3D, and the film will be, too. Kosinski is particularly excited about the look of the game grid in this format.

3) Shooting TRON: Legacy will be a "twenty-four month" process, but Kosinski's already been at it for a while now. He didn't give me an exact date, but he seems confident that the movie will be ready for late 2010.

4) WATCHMEN's Michael Wilkinson is designing the costumes.

That last bit doesn't exactly thrill me, and from the footage we've seen so far it looks like characters are in pseudo-leather jumpsuits, a long way from the skinotards and bike helmets of the first film. So long as they don't look too much like X-Men refugees, my complaints will be minor.

Also noteworthy is the sequel's writers, Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. This writing team has made a good mark on the television series, Lost, having authored some of my favorite episodes. What I've enjoyed most about their teleplays has been the strong dialogue and character development, and I'm hoping these will be prominent features of the film.

TRON: LEGACY

The sequel to TRON has a title: News of San Diego antics can be read here, involving no less than a recreation of Flynn's arcade and a life-size light cycle!