By Ceri Turner, ’12
Tron: Legacy
Release Date: Dec. 17th, 2010
Starring: Jeff Bridges and Garrett Hedlund
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
MPAA Rating: PG
In 1982, Walt Disney Pictures released Tron, a movie based on a dystopia in our computers’ circuit boards. Close to 30 years later, Tron: Legacy was released. Like its predecessor, Legacy is visually striking. Despite gloomy and undeveloped story line, it can be entertaining to watch. The film opens with the 1989 disappearance of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), CEO of ENCOM International. Twenty years later, his son, Sam (Garrett Hedlund), is transported to the virtual world known as The Grid. While there, Sam is reunited with his father and learns that The Grid is under the control of Clu. It is Clu, a digital copy of Kevin, who has kept Sam’s father locked in his own world for two decades. Father and son set out to escape The Grid and delete Clu. The film is visually dazzling, but lacks overall substance. The enjoyment is in the special effects.
True Grit
Release Date: Dec. 22nd, 2010
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Josh Brolin
Genre: Drama, Western
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Based on the beloved 1968 novel by Arkansas writer Charles Portis, True Grit is an American classic featuring scenes of dynamic action befitting a true Wild West tale. Narrated by Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), the film describes Mattie as the 14-year-old girl she was when she solicited the help of a rough, one-eyed U.S. marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), to avenge her father’s murder. Mattie and Cogburn, along with a tagalong Texas Ranger named LeBoeuf (Matt Damon), set out in the fall of 1877 to track down the man responsible, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). After a rough start, the threesome embark on their journey across the plains in search of the evasive criminal. “True Grit” is beautifully articulated through wonderful performances and a well-written script.
The King’s Speech
Release Date: Dec. 25th, 2010
Starring: Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: R
Albert, Duke of York, grew up with a speech impediment. His dreadful stammer makes for lackluster speeches that, far from uniting and exciting England, serve to unsettle the crowd. After the death of his father, King George V, and the abdication of his brother, King Edward VIII, Bertie (Colin Firth) is suddenly crowned King George VI of England. He seeks the help of countless speech therapists before he finds Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). Logue’s methods are controversial and his interpersonal skills are questionable, but the heart of the film is truly the relationship that forms between Bertie and Lionel. The film works beautifully because of these two performances. The King’s Speech will make you laugh more than you can imagine and touch you more deeply than you expect. •