Tron: Legacy, simply put, is this years Avatar… a true feast for the eyes but nothing truly groundbreaking story-wise. Yes, the visuals in this film are truly something to behold and the film really breathes new life into 3D, but the film experience was fleeting as I exited the theater.

Tron: Legacy is the much belated sequel to Tron, a film for some strange reason Disney hasn’t seen fit to pull out of the vault to capitalize on the countless families who will be trying to track down a copy of the long-out-of-print 20th anniversary collection. While the film doesn’t rest on you having seen the original, there is definitely benefit to knowing some of the relationships in the original before you put on your 3D glasses for Legacy, which puts some viewers at a slight disadvantage.

Tron: Legacy picks up a few years after the first left off, with a Flynn who has started to use The Grid he discovered from the first film, for research and the eventual betterment of humanity through technology. When one night after promising to one day take his son Sam into The Grid, the eccentric Flynn disappears.  The film then flash-forwards to show, thanks to his father leaving and making him an orphan, that Sam has become nothing more than an amalgam of bad web 2.0 CEO stereotypes and personas.

Sam is then mysteriously led back into The Grid, where he begins the quest to find out what really happened to his father all those years ago. I won’t say the story of Tron:Legacy is bad I will just say it could have been better. I will also say much like the original film, it seems to lose its way at times, wanders and gets caught trying to figure out what the next move should be. The film could easily be about 20-30 mins shorter and better for it, especially for something geared toward the younger audience that Legacy is trying to capture this holiday season.

More after the Jump!

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Looks like your favorite Geeks are doing another screening at The Troc, this time we will be showing Robert Rodriguez’s faux grindhouse masterpiece Machete. Where most grindhouse films promised the world in the trailers, Machete delivered. You can read my review of Machete here.

Machete will definitely go down as my one my favorite films of 2010 and it should be a lot of fun to see this film with the Movie Monday crowd. So if you missed out on our previous advance screening of Machete back in August, now is your second chance to check this great film out for a mere $3!

The event is 21+, doors open at 6:30, show starts at 8:00 and as usual get there before 7:00 and get a free beer or bag of popcorn.

I honestly can’t wait, this film is a lot of fun and it should be a great night out. See ya there!

Check out a very NSFW trailer after the jump!

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Guest Post by Sarah Solomon

Dave Vescio is an actor best known for playing the twisted villain in sci-fi movies. He goes above and beyond to emotionally connect with his character, and capture the dark persona on film.

His upcoming roles include an evil scientist in Gemini Rising, a DEA agent in Blood on the Border, and the supporting role in Showdown in Durango. In real life he seems to be a pretty nice guy.

How do you emotionally connect with your horror film characters?

I play the role of the villain in horror movies, and never forget that these people do exist in real life. If I do my job properly and play it as a real human being, then I’ ll scare the audience. I achieve this by playing the moment as truthfully as possible, and feel the same emotions my character. It s a necessary exercise if my character needs to be completely shattered. If I’m supposed to act scared, I’ ll think scary thoughts and go off script and do whatever is necessary to bring the character to life. Whenever I have to play an angry role it’ s not that difficult because I’ m ex-military.

After all is said and done, I hope the audience walks away disturbed enough to look out for themselves and their loved ones. There are horrible and villainous people out there, and we should always be reminded of that and look out for one another.

What is so appealing about playing the antagonist? Have you ever secretly wanted to play the hero?

When I first started acting, I wanted to play the hero…an Arnold Schwarzenegger or Charles Bronson type. But because of my appearance I’ ve always been cast as the villain. However, by playing the villain you’ re the hero of your own story, they don’ t regard themselves as the bad guy. You also have more leeway to do what you want in the film regardless of rules or boundaries. And the good guy usually can’ t curse whereas the villain is expected to.

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These days 3D is not the premium it once was, thanks to films like Clash of the Titans and Alice in Wonderland. A format that continues gain a foothold and command a well-deserved ticket price is IMAX. With the recent success of the format, more and more theaters are starting to find the much-needed space to install their very own giant IMAX screens to give theater goers an experience you definitely can’t get at home.

Franklin Mills is installing their very own IMAX, due to open to the public on December 17th, just in time for Tron: Legacy. To celebrate the christening of this new IMAX we are giving away 3 prize packs, consisting of a t-shirt, water bottle, pencils, a small flashlight, buttons and concession coupons for the AMC Franklin Mills Mall 14 theatre.

Want to win some IMAX swag? Simply comment with your favorite IMAX experience. The top 3 comments will get prize packs.  Good Luck!

We here at Geekadelphia prepared a nice holiday gift guide for you all, and I have a few book recommendations I’d like to add to that list.

Our friends at Quirk Books and Titan Books have shared a few of their newest releases with us. They’re all good reads and look good on any geek bookshelf.

So let’s get to it after the jump.

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Earlier this year, none other than Robert De Niro was in our fair city filming Limitless, a movie about a strange drug that boosts intellect.  Well an odd package arrived for me in the mail this weekend amongst my Holiday cards and Amazon Blu-ray fix for the week… and it seemed a little weirder than usual.

You can check out the pictures below. I thought… either this is some new drug aimed exclusively at film bloggers (we are an odd lot) or some sort of viral marketing. Well after some searches it turned out to be a bit of the latter and I thought I would share some pics and the trailer for the film after the jump.

I am actually pretty excited to see this just for the fact that it was filmed in Philadelphia. So check it out and decide for yourself.

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Naruto+Tron by: Satchell D

We received some really great entries for our contest to win passes to see Tron: Legacy in IMAX 3D tonight in Cherry Hill, NJ. I was surprised not only at the really eclectic mix of genres from which people decided to place Jeff Bridges, but also how they chose to do so as well. Here are some of the entries, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Thanks again to everyone who entered for your effort and I hope you enjoy the film tonight!

Harry and Dudedore by: Brittany T

More after the Jump!

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Best Worst Movie, the documentary about the cast and crew of the so-called “Best Worst Movie” Troll 2, details their epic adventure upon finding out their once dark secret has now become bona fide a cult phenomenon. The documentary is written and directed by Michael Stephenson who actually was the child star of Troll 2. I really think it is this perspective that really gives this film the heart and soul it has, and really makes the documentary into something more than just a talking head retrospective.

Now I should probably state for the record I remember renting Troll 2 on VHS the second week it was released, I was huge fan of the first one and upon watching Troll 2 I had only one thing to say, WTF! I also remember being compelled to endure the countless re-broadcasts on Cinemax, where I once again tried to comprehend what was going on with Troll 2, sadly to no avail.

See… Troll 2 not only has bad acting, horrible dialog, a non-existent plot and absolutely zero ties to the original film; it also doesn’t even have its namesake trolls either, just goblins! Which explains its status as one of the worst films of all time. But a strange thing happened to Troll 2 over time, it was embraced by the interwebs and a cult grew around this film due to the simply fact that it is so bad it’s good.

This documentary focuses on these points like one would expect, but where it truly shines is the intimate portrait it paints of what its like for the people involved with the film to find out that they now have the notoriety of being in a cult film. They also chronicle their journey as the cast and crew travel and meet the people who have not only embraced, but have been affected by Troll 2.  Best Worst Movie briefly made the festival circuit and honestly I am really glad more people can finally see this excellent documentary now that it is on DVD.

Check out the rest after the jump!

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If there is one film I am looking forward to this Christmas season… it is hands down Tron:Legacy. I was lucky enough to attend Tron Night back in October and we are not only in for a truly unique 3D experience, but a great film as well.

Tron: Legacy is the sequel to Tron, a film that came out in 1982. Some would argue the original did a pretty good job of predicting what eventually would become the future we live in today. Most of the general ideas and principals in the film have to come to fruition in our online obsessed world.

The fever pitch for this geekgasm has slowly been building over the years since a trailer was shown at Comicon for a film that hadn’t even been greenlit yet. Next was the choosing Daft Punk to do the soundtrack , which was not only inspired, it proved that there was something here that could really be awesome.

So the wait is almost over and next Friday December 17th we will finally get to see The Grid yet again.

We have 15 passes for 2 to a screening in Cherry Hill, NJ on December 13^th to give away. Wanna win a pair? Since we don’t have that many and this is Tron:Legacy in 3D IMAX, so we are going to ask for a little more work this time around.

In honor of Jeff Bridges “virtual” performance in the film where they CG’d a younger version of him to play the villain, we want you to take it a step further and Photoshop young or old Jeff Bridges in another film of your choosing that could use more “Dude.”

Our top entries will not only win passes and geek bragging rights at seeing the film almost a whole week early; but they will also be featured here on the site in a future post. Email your entries by Sunday, December 12^th to Dan@geekadelphia.com with the subject line “Tron Contest Entry”.

Good Luck! If you have been living in a cave for the last three months and have no idea about this Tron film I speak of check out the trailer below.

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The BBC is well known for their awesome selection of unique science fiction. From massively successful programs like Doctor Who and Torchwood, to the incredibly underrated Primeval, the network managed to produce some great programming.

… so really, it only makes sense that we’d team up with them for a little holiday giveaway, right?

Right now, the BBC is in the middle of promoting a huge holiday sweepstakes event via their BBC America Shop. They’re giving away two $500 gift cards to one lucky winner. All you have to do is check out their Facebook Fan page and install the BBC app to enter. You can read up on all the details, here. Runners up can score a $250 gift card and a $100 gift card respectively.

As for our contest, we’re dishing out an EPIC prize pack provided by the BBC. What’s inside the box (what’s in the box, what’s in the box!), you ask? The winner of our contest will receive DVDs of Being Human, Top Gear, Doctor Who, and a Dr. Who / UK flag inspired light switch cover. Awesome! To enter, simply leave a comment detailing your favorite BBC sci-fi show and why. We’ll choose one of you at random at the end of next week.

And remember, make sure you enter the BBC’s contest as well. Because winning $1k in gift cards would be pretty damn awesome. Good luck!

BBC’s Holiday Sweepstakes [ Facebook ]

The Warrior’s Way is a hyper-surrealistic ride that is part Kung Fu Hustle, part Ninja Scroll and part Lone Wolf & Cub. I hadn’t quite made up my mind about the film when I sat down to view it. On one hand the film promised cowboys versus ninjas but on the other hand the trailer seemed like the film might be trying to take the insane premise a little too seriously to truly be enjoyed. But in a rare instance the trailer was wrong, but for once in a good way.

The film never decides it is going to take itself too seriously, and also has heart, which is a painfully hard thing to do with films that deal in the lone swordsman genre, where the crux is looking angsty and cutting up as many people as humanly possible. The film has some great slice and dice moments, as well as a lighter side.

The film is the story of the world’s greatest swordsman (and how he comes upon that title is a bit that yelled Scott Pilgrim to me) who is about to achieve his clan’s goal of eradicating their rival clan once and for all; only the final member is a baby girl. In a scene that set and really changed the tone of the film, this life long killer decides to hang up the sword “for a new life” and takes the child and goes on the run.

He makes his new home in a small troubled town in the middle of the desert populated by kind hearted circus folk and learns to how to create instead of simply killing. Of course his past finds him, and you get plenty of cowboy verses ninja action, but that isn’t all this film has to offer. The film manages somehow to take characters that even in their own country have turned into simple stereotypes and make them simply more than cardboard genre cutouts. The film also manages to make you laugh as well and even manages to throw in a love interest as well.

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Recently, a reader introduced me to the joys of Living In 8-Bits, an online web series produced by South Jersey production company Mixed Nuts.

I… I really don’t know what else to say, save for WATCH THIS. Hilarious, and I’m absolutely loving this series. Catch up on the various episodes, and make sure you watch the Paperboy one I’ve embedded above. It’s by far my favorite.

Living in 8-Bits
www.livingin8bits.com