Tag: computers

TRON: ARES – Review

Did you think there’s no room at the multiplex for SF/fantasy tent poles during the “ultra-serious” end of the year awards season? Well, the “mouse house” thinks moviegoers still have a taste for at least a couple of big franchise flicks. We’re only two months away from a third trek to Pandora in AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH, but they’re releasing another follow-up, which now cements another trilogy, though this series started long before James Cameron’s blockbusters. Can it possibly be 43 years since that initial entry (which was a modest hit during that great “geek” movie Summer of 1982)? And it’s now been fifteen years since the middle flick (or the first “sequel”). Disney thinks it’s time to boot up the ole’ “mainframe” and take another plunge into the digital dimension with TRON: ARES.


The opening moments transport us into the original with an “archival” video interview with Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), the founder of the tech “dominator” ENCOM. From there, we plunge through “cyber-history” as various TV news people get us “up to speed”. Sam took over from his pop, Kevin, and the company changed hands again as the Kim sisters took ENCOM into the modern age. But the upstart Dillinger Systems is “nipping at their heels” as Ed Dillinger’s grandson Julian (Evan Peters) ruthlessly “steers the ship”. The “talking heads” then segue to a glowing data-filled metropolis where a digital knight in black and red armor named Ares (Jared Leto) destroys all the warriors that challenge him. Soon, he’s joined by his “second-in-command” Athena (Jodie Turner-Smith) as they gather their squad. Cut to the “real world” as Julian makes a big presentation to a group of potential “buyers” at his company’s HQ. Two massive mobile cannons become large-scale digital printers as they build a solid living Ares and his “battle vehicles”. After a demonstration of Ares’ abilities, Julian touts him as the perfect soldier. As the ‘clients” leave, his mother Elisabeth (Gillian Anderson) reminds him that these “products” will only function outside the mainframe for 29 minutes before they disintegrate into dust. Julian insists he’ll find a way to fix that. Meanwhile, Eve Kim (Greta Lee) has already found it. In a remote “off the grid” mountain in Alaska, she has located her late sister Tess’ “tent/research lab”. After countless hours combing through the outdated software and notebooks, Eve retrieves Kevin Flynn’s “Permanence Code,” which will give all digital creations stability indefinitely. But through Ares and his troops, Julian hacks into the ENCOM database and learns of Eve’s discovery. When she returns to the West Coast, he sends Ares and Athena after her. But as the duo dissolves, Eve is zapped into their cyber-home world. Can Eve, with the aid of a more enlightened Ares, keep the code away from Julian? And can she somehow return to this dimension?


Leto commands the often hyperbolic storyline as a modern cyber-punk Pinocchio with a dash of the friendlier Terminator and a splash of Star Trek’s Data. Yes, he’s a fearsome fighter, but a “glitch” in his system causes him to question his creator. So, is he sentient or has he acquired a touch of humanity, even empathy? In our world, Leto’s Ares is a wide-eyed newcomer who relishes every rush of discovery, while in the mainframe, he’s the ultimate digital bodyguard. And who wouldn’t want to protect the ethereal Lee as Eve? She radiates an intelligence muted with a consuming grief as she still misses her “lil’ sis” while fiercely clinging to Flynn’s legacy. And yes, we get to see Bridges as the “master” of his cyber-kingdom. Bridges plays him as an ultra-cool guru exuding gravitas just like classic movie “wizard” like Gandalf and Obi-Wan Kenobi. He brings some much needed warmth to the often cold tech. And bringing the villainy is Peters as the snarling tech bro Julian (if he had a ‘stash he’d be twirling it). Sure, he’s over the top, but the sense of fun Peters is having is most infectious. Ditto for the ferocious and very intimidating (and somewhat sultry) Turner-Smith, whose Athena is almost a spurned lover to Ares as he embraces that outer world. She defies you to look away during her intense pursuit. It’s always a pleasure to see Anderson in a SF project, though she’s relegated to wringing her hands over Julian’s antics as she tries to be the “good angel” on his shoulder (which he ignores). And there’s some sporadic comic relief by Hasan Minhaj as head of ENCOM PR (and cheerleader) and Arturo Castro as Eve’s over-excited and needy aide, Seth.


Well, there’s no questioning the beauty and dazzling visuals that bring this update to neon-soaked life. Director Joachim Ronning keeps the camera moving in a million or so different directions to immerse us in this fantasy light show (that makes great use of the music from Nine Inch Nails). It’s a shame that a bit more time couldn’t have been used to bring greater depth to the plot and the principals. It’s a given that Ares will turn on his creator (it’s hammered home by home video footage of teenage Eve holding Shelly’s Frankenstein novel). And Ronning makes excellent use of the IMAX format (the ads tout it as being shot in it), but the big finale showdown on the city streets feels like a rehash of giant monster/robot battles (though seeing a police car sheared in two by the “light cycles” and their “razor trail” is pretty cool). Lots of creativity went into all the nifty gadgets, but the human element and connection feel like an afterthought. Ah, but those fans of the 1982 and 2010 flicks will get their arcade-style thrills, but casual viewers may wonder why another dive into the concept after seeing TRON: ARES.


2 Out of 4

TRON: ARES is now playing in theaters everywhere

SWIPED (2025) – Review

Feels like it’s been a while since moviegoers have gotten a feature about a real-life invention that had a pretty big impact on the world, or society in general. Sure, they briefly touched on the origins of the kids’ toy superstar BARBIE in that recent blockbuster. Plus, we’ve gotten films about shoes (AIR), tech devices (BLACKBERRY), other toys (THE BEANIE BUBBLE), and a computer game (TETRIS). Predating all of them (can it be 15 years old?) is the Oscar-winning story of a website, THE SOCIAL NETWORK. So, when do we get another movie about an online “game changer”? And that leads into this new flick about another website that’s perhaps best known as a phone “app”. I’d tell you its name, but you can probably guess it from this movie’s title, SWIPED.


Now, the story’s real focus is actually a fast-talking (and fast-thinking) tech innovator with the “superhero alias” sounding moniker, Whitney Wolfe (Lily James). We first encountered her about a dozen years ago as she crashed a big “tech bro” bash on the Santa Monica pier. She’s trying to raise interest (and funds) for her website that matches volunteers with charities. After several “strike outs”, she makes a connection with Sean (another cartoony-but-real name) Rad (Ben Schnetzer), who tells her to drop by his development firm, Hatch Labs IAC Incubator. Naturally, she’s there a few hours later before Sean arrives. But he’s got a big meeting with a potential client for his restaurant rewards app Cardify. Sean figures she can pose as his “gal Friday”, but Whitney surprises him by helping “seal the deal”. She becomes part of his team, proving invaluable once again when Cardify “flatlines”. At a big pitch meeting, several staffers bounce around ideas for a dating site/app, but it’s Whitney who comes up with the perfect name for it: Tinder. But they need to spread the word, so she travels to her old college sorority at SMU with work pal Tisha (Myha’la) and due to her people skills, hustle, and quick thinking, the app sweeps the school. Back in LA, the company’s celebrations get a boost from Sean’s new hire, his old pal Justin (Jackson White). Despite her better judgement, Whitney begins seeing him socially. But her rising profile threatens Justin, as he and Sean squeeze her out of the publicity swirl around the company and the increasingly popular app. Things take a dark turn when the board ignores complaints about graphic photos posted, and when Justin becomes possessive after Whitney breaks off their relationship. Soon, she must make a stand and a decision: stay and fight for what she’s due, or leave and start over.

Ms. James is establishing herself as one of the busiest actresses working today. It was only a few weeks ago that I was enjoying her work in the little-seen gem of a thriller RELAY (really, catch it when it starts streaming). Here she gets a chance to really flex her skills in comedy, romance, and some heavy drama (with a few thriller elements this time, too). James has us rooting for Whitney from beginning to end, making us invested in very tough choices. She gets great support from Myha’la who encourages, but speaks up when “her girl” fumbles the ball in not helping her “sisters’ climb the corporate “ladder”. As for the fellas’, Schetzner is a cool, affable partner/boss until fame makes him “flip a switch”, surprisng us with his cool, aloof ‘tude. Ditto for his “bro” Justin, played with easy-going “puppy dog” charm by White until he’s threatened by Whitney and goes right into the “ex from Hell” mode. But Wolfe does encounter a nice “dude” outisde the office in Andrey Andreev played by Lily’s former “Downton Abbey” TV series co-star Dan Stevens. He’s a somewhat daffy ultra-rich tech mogul out of Eastern Europe who tries to “poach” Whitney for his dating site Badoo. not for her looks but for her keen creative input and expertise. A few other familiar faces pop up in brief supporting roles, including Joely Fisher, Clea DuVall, and that “silver fox” Dermot Mulroney.

Director/co-screenwriter Rachel Lee Goldenberg has crafted a mostly inspiring true tale for young women trying to break into the male-dominated tech industry. But it’s also a cautionary tale, which shifts so abruptly in tone in its second act, that some viewers may get a touch of cinematic “whiplash”. The lead-up and launch of Tinder plays much like a light-hearted romp, as Wolfe works the college kids and charms her open-minded boss in a frothy modern workplace comedy. This even extends to the sweet at first) flirtation with Justin. Then the d#*k pics flood the servers, and the darkness begins. Almost all the fellas seem to have drunk from a water cooler filled with Dr.Jekyll’s old “Mr. Hyde mix”. This leads to the big nosedive as we wait for Wolfe to “pull up” and stick the landing. Really, the soured office romance often plays like a made-for-cable-TV Lifetime flick. Of course, we do get a token “good guy” to not paint every male as a leering, abusive goon (and yes, I know that women in past office-set films were either bubble-headed bimbos or shrews, but this still stings a bit). These tonal shifts and pacing problems ultimately take the needed zip and good intentions away from the true life story of SWIPED.

2 Out of 4

SWIPED streams exclusively on Hulu beginning on Friday, September 19, 2025

THE HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT – Review

Here’s an interesting movie hybrid, a flick that’s both a wall street drama, a family character study, and a chase thriller. Really, that’s because in the financial world, speed is everything (or perhaps the only thing). It’s the old adage, “he who hestiates is lost”, though in split-second trades and deals, the hestitant can lose a fortune. Hold up, a split-second is too long, it’s now down to a millisecond, or (as one character calls it) one flap of that teeny bird’s wing. That quest to be a jump ahead of your competitors forms the family scheme known as THE HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT.


After a brief prologue detailing the ins and outs of “high frequency trading” (older info for fans of the WALL STREET flicks), we’re in 2011 as “idea man” Vincent Zaleski (Jesse Eisenberg) is meeting (and selling) with the silver-haired veteran exec that will bankroll his plan. Soon after, Vincent is back at the financial consulting firm where he toils away, a cog in a big wheel, with his tech-savvy socially awkward cousin Anton (Alexander Skarsgard). At lunch the two of them meet with engineer Mark Vega (Michael Mando) concerning the logistics of “the plan”. Basically they want to run an underground fiber-optic wire right from the Kansas City nationwide financial data processing center to their offices in the NYC area (bypassing the satellites and towers). If they can get the landowners to sign exclusive NDA deals to run the cables (a foot or so wide) under their property, then it can be done. The cousins head back to work and promptly resign, enraging the company’s CEO, the ruthless Eva Torres (Salma Hayek), who vows retribution if Anton uses any of the proprietary codes he created for her. Vincent tells Anton not to worry and soon they are on the road, though Anton is working out of a Pennslyvania hotel near the line in order to trim a millisecond of the data speed. But the idea runs into some snags as the line must pass through a mountain inside a national park and the hard-charging, chain-smoking Vincent deals (or chooses not to deal) with a serious health issue. Even worse, the sensitive Anton is rattled by the threats of prison tossed at him (like a dagger) by the vengeful Eva. And she’s got a high-speed scheme of her own. Can she beat the boys to the punch (and the big, big bucks)?


With this role, Eisenberg puts a harder edge on his fast-talking, intellectual screen persona. His Vincent has a touch of the tech savant from THE SOCIAL NETWORK, warped into a desperate, sweaty hustler rattling off any bit of deception in order to meet his needs. That frustration intensifies as his body begins to shut down, as Eisenberg gives us a man barely able to function, only awake through sheer force of will (and frustration and greed). Vincent’s a complex, complicated character who only shows affection to his family particularly his partner in chaos, Anton who Skarsgard plays with a hyper-focused intensity and, with his shaved head and glasses, is a stark contrast to his leading man roles (hey, he was Tarzan remember). Anton is hunched-over, mentally distracted (here’s that word again) savant with little patience for those lacking his tech skills. With his quirks, Anton could be “on the spectrum”, as he only emotionally connects with his wife and daughters (a real doting dad) and his cousin. Together on the road the two do have a bit of the RAIN MAN vibe, especially when they board a plane (of course Anton has issues). They find strength in that familial bond in battling the story’s villain (or villainess), former boss Eva played with great energy by the formidable Hayek. With her jet black and platinum silver streaked hair and big purple-tinted goggle glasses, Eva is a modern siren/sorcerous shifting from cool seductress to fiery vengeful demon (a touch of Medusa perhaps) who targets Anton for her full fury and manipulations (she can’t pierce Vincent’s armor). Hayek brings a real sense of urgency and a touch of sexy fun to this big “race”, while Mando as “hired muscle” Mark brings a bit of the everyman and working class compassion to the big “idea” (it takes brains, but somebody’s gotta’ get their hands dirty to run the pipeline).

Writer/director Kim Nguyen gives us a great insider’s view of the high stakes business world while making all the machinations accessible to the “non-economically enabled” via the family dynamics and the competitive element (if they were reporters Eva and the duo would be racing to be the first to print the “scoop”). There’s the typical study of greed out of control, turning “good guys” into callous jerks (Vincent’s negotiations with landowners, especially an Amish elder, take a nasty threatening turn), but Nguyen pops in elements of a ‘caper’ thriller with several twists and unexpected turns. And with his excellent cast, the conflict has real power as do the smaller intimate scenes of the intense bond between the cousins (who seem more like brothers) as Vincent gently prods Anton into solving the time element (much as in “Of Mice and Men”, Anton is assured of a remote country home, rather than Lenny’s idyllic rabbit ranch). All of the conflicts and competition make THE HUMMINGBIRD PROJECT a unique high tech, big bucks unique “chase” flick.

3.5 Out of 5

UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB – Review

Okay, so last Friday was the thirteenth, but that doesn’t stop the studios from releasing a new horror/thriller into the blockbuster-heavy Summer movie marketplace. Well the film itself is new, but it’s a follow-up to a modest hit from way back in 2015. So, is this set in a creepy old castle, or in a decaying and crumbling moldy mansion? No, those settings are passe and a tad tame for modern scary stories and their fans. The really terrifying backdrops aren’t “Camp Crystal Lake” or even the “House on Haunted Hill”. Here’s a hint: you’re there at this moment. Of course, the new hang-out for goons and monsters is the internet. It’s not a huge stretch to think of a web portal as a long hallway leading to a dungeon with tabs and ads popping up like zombies and ghouls. In this sequel (in name only), the forces of evil are streaming (and screaming) through your router in UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB.

Actually the whole story is told on the screen of a laptop. First we see an unseen user trying to access the laptop by making several password guesses. After a fairly short time, he’s in. Soon a video screen tab pops to reveal the person at the keyboard, Matais (Colin Woodell). He makes a Skype call to his hearing-impaired girlfriend Amaya (Stephanie Nogueras). He’s eager to show her the voice to type chat program he’s rigged up (she has trouble reading his lips and he washed out at learning sign language) with this great laptop he bought on Craigslist. When the program stalls, frustrating Amaya, she starts to click out, but Matais reminds her that it’s game night via video chat with their old college buddies. Suddenly the small video screens begin popping up. From England there’s the bespectacled hunk Damon (Andrew Lees). Back in the states, there’s the conspiracy theory motormouth Aj (Connor Del Rio). Music mixologist Dj Lexx (Savira Windyani) chimes in. Finally the final tab contains the newly engaged couple of Serena (Rebecca Rittenhouse) and Nari (Betty Gabriel). As they begin playing “Cards Against Humanity”, Matias continues to try and get a response from Amaya, but he’s also curious about the laptop’s former owner. He’s still able to access the Facebook account of “Norah”. Once he logs on, Matias is bombarded by urgent messages from woman around the globe. Then the more threatening messages begin. Seems that Matais is not quite telling the truth about his new acquisition, which soon draws him along with all his online pals into a shadowy world of Bitcoin-base butchery and vile video voyeurs.

Well kudos to the producers for at least footing the bill so that the real world apps aren’t replaced by distracting fictional brands like “Facegroup” or “Skyview”. This does help to add a sense of reality to many of the fantastical goings-on. As for my “sequel” comment, this has nothing to do with the events and characters of the 2015 original. There are no vengeful ghosts going after cyber-bullies. The one thing in common is that everything we see is on the desktop screen, so the “Unfriended” refers to the story-telling method and setting rather than a continuing cast of characters and locales. Screenwriter Stephen Susco in his feature film directing debut ably amps up the tension, juggling the myriad of popping tabs and video screens (which get just enough of the action), while fiddling with sound (no real score other than some current top 40-style tunes) to hammer the shocks. Unfortunately the in your face tabs, flickering arrows, and spinning color wheels get very repetitive and claustrophobic. We hope for a “break-out” from the tech tube that never occurs. Still, some of the actors are able to shine, making them more that thriller type “cannon fodder”. There’s a nice cozy chemistry between Rittenhouse and Gabriel (in her second Blum House flick after her powerful work in GET OUT), plus Del Rio is a a loopy and oh so smug “s*%#-stirrer”. And Woodell is all sweaty panic as the flawed hero. Still, it’s tough to really get to know them in the split/screen “real time’ constraints of this extremely downbeat, nearly hopeless tale of cyber-cruelty and crime. The baddies really seem to be able to do anything technically (even making themselves into scratchy specters on any monitor) and are literally everywhere at once. Perhaps the next in this “series” will delve more into the inner workings of these underground overlords. As for this one, I can’t hit the like icon for UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB, though I’ll not click the brown, “swirly-headed’ guy either.

1.5 out of 5