Knee-jerk review: "Tron Ares"

1. There's a curious amount of negative buzz out there, but the movie is not bad at all.  For what it is, it gets the job done.
2. We did find it odd, however, that for a movie called Tron, almost all of the action takes place in the real world.  That makes for a novel approach (when we saw a Recognizer patrolling the skies over a real world city in the trailer, we were 100% sold), but the fun of Tron movies are the scenes on "the grid."  We were particularly disappointed when Greta Lee's kidnapping to the grid was cut so short.
3. Bonus points for retro 1982-era lightcycles.
4. Jeff Bridges... is he playing a wizened old Kevin Flynn here or the Dude from The Big Lebowski?
5. This movie looks really, really expensive.  Not just the digital effects,  but there's a lot of practical stunts and car crashes as well.
6. Gillian Anderson doing a British accent, presumably because she's playing David Warner's (for the original movie) daughter?
7. Bummer not even a Bruce Boxleitner cameo.
8. We were worried at first because the first five minutes or so is a huge information dump recapping a very convoluted background of the Tron universe, which is mostly just corporate backbiting and tedious business intrique.  But in the end, you get the gist.
9. Pundits have correctly noted it's a strange choice for Disney to bet hundreds of millions of dollars on a second sequel to a rather niche 1980s nerd property, especially given the so-so reaction to the last one (Tron Legacy - which was 15 years ago!).
10. There's some pretty cool action stuff in here, especially the extended chase in the first hour.  Top notch.
11. Jared Leto is definitely a solid character actor.  Quirky, smart... but also a little creepy.  We're not sold on him as a leading man hero.
12. Cool to see that the evil Dillinger family still likes to use the flat desktop glass computer keyboard and monitor.  Some things should never change, no matter how impractical.
13. Fantastic music by Nine Inch Nails, as you may have heard.
14. All of the business with the "particle lasers" (which can zap you to the grid or bring grid things to our world because... technology) is completely illogical, but it's consistent in its illogic so it mostly works.
15. The movie tries to be hip with some Depeche Mode and Frankenstein references, which is the right idea in a movie that's mostly way too serious and grim, but those moments are a little cringey.  
16. We're scared to go back and watch the first Tron again.  We suspect is has not aged well at all.
17. Derezzing is still way cool.
18. How many people will get the 1982 movie Sark reference at the very end?  In theory, that moment points to another Tron movie, but the box office results thus far suggest this is, as they say in Tron, "end of line."
19. Space Paranoids is still a terrible name for a video game.
20. Overall, it's totally fine, people.

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Knee-jerk review: "Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale"

1. We admit that's a pretty stuffy, arrogant title for a movie.  Let us decide how "grand" this finale is, okay?
2. If you liked the show and the last two(!) movies, you're certainly going to like this one.  A wonderful immersion in this fascinating world, like putting on an weathered, cozy coat on a blustery day.
3. What is it about Americans that makes period English stories about class and station so interesting?  That's also part of what made Game of Thrones so fun - the royals scheming concurrent with drama among the peasants. 
4. As usual, everyone makes a huge fuss over Mary (Michelle Dockery).  Good grief.  So much hand-wringing and furrowed brows about making sure she's okay and she doesn't need anything.  Between the two Crawley sisters, the real catch, of course, has always been Edith (Laura Carmichael).
5. Not much plot, really, other than more of the same as everyone worries about how the world is changing and ending their way of life.  Sort of been the background theme since the show started all the way back in 2010.  It's more like a TV show - little storylines that bump along (some funny, some serious) with only this broader thread involving a character who may be a con artist trying to worm his way into London society tying it all together.
6. Without a traditional storyline, then, the real fun comes from these characters interacting.
7. We call this production design porn - you can entertain yourself just by soaking in the layered, detailed 1930 period costumes and sets and exteriors.  Downtown London, a horse race, a carnival?  Yes, please.
8. If you step back and really look at this... franchise?  [Is this a franchise?  A long-running television show and now three movies.  That's a franchise, right?]  If you step back and really look at this franchise, it's a little awkward to realize you're rooting for A) a wealthy aristocrat family always concerned they may soon be a little less wealthy and B) a fleet of servants so fully shaped and indoctrinated by the culture that they can imagine no other worthwhile life than running around catering to the silly social whims this aristocratic family.
9. It's rare that we have an issue with casting in a Hollywood movie, but Alessandro Nivola simply isn't as charismatic and charming in his performance (not by a long shot) as the film needs him to be for the story to make sense.
10. It took us a moment to realize that - per number 8 above - the Crawleys not only have this huge mansion called Downton Abbey, but they also have this sprawling, posh house in London called Grantham House.  Seems like every house needs a name.
11. We didn't know there was a mid-credits scene until after we left the theater.
12. We wish we could speak with the polite charm and dry wit of these people.  Truly.  In fact, when the villain gets a comeuppance, the insults and threats are so totally cloaked in London niceties that we as an audience member felt wholly unsatisfied.  Did he even understand that he's been told off?

Favorite Downton Abbey characters:
* Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville is especially good in this one as the dad who's totally getting left behind by progress)
* Edith Pelham (smooth where Mary is sharp)
* Bertie Pelham (smart, clever guy but his wife Edith is totally out of his league - good for him)
* Charles Carson (the stuffiest of stuffy butlers but if you need a butler who knows his stuff, he's your guy)
* Tom Branson (you always need a guy like this who shows up from out of town and knows exactly what to do)

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