Return to the Grid (Tron: Uprising Prelude Review)

This week’s review is going to be a little different as there is not a single film being released this week that I’m a) interested in or b) available in my area. The wife and I are waiting to see what the reviews are for What To Expect When You’re Expecting, Samuel L. Jackson’s The Samaritan doesn’t appear to be screening nearby, and you couldn’t pay me to see Battleship. Some friends went to an early screening and had nothing good to say except that the fight scenes were incredible. The throwback references to the board game, while amusing, aren’t enough (for me) to spend what little movie money I have on schlock. Well, at least Michael Bay schlock – I do own Meteor Man and Tank Girl, so I don’t mind some schlocky-ness in my film experience.

So instead, this week, I’ll be diving into the Grid to discuss the upcoming Disney XD cartoon Tron: Uprising. Designed to take place between Tron and Tron: Legacy, the story follows a young program named Beck as he takes up the mantle of Tron to become the protector of the Grid.The prelude episode, “Beck’s Beginning”, airs tonight at 9:30p ET on Disney XD, but it can be downloaded in advance for free in both HD or Standard from iTunes or viewed on Youtube.

Borrowing from the previously successful Batman Beyond model, Uprising features a young man (Beck) who wants to make a difference being mentored by a retired hero (Tron). Beck’s call to arms occurs when his home, Argon City, is occupied by the oppressive General Tesler (Disney clearly didn’t get the memo that Edison is the jerk, not Tesla) and he sees his friends paying the price for insurrection in the land of tyranny.  (Ok, I’m making it sound a little more dramatic than it is, but the premise is simple and I don’t have the cool animation capability that they do to fill in the gaps between brooding conversations.)

SSX DLC: It’s (Finally) Tricky

Yesterday EA Sports released the Mt. Eddie DLC for SSX (2012), and it’s what fans of the series have all wanted. No crevices to fall into. No need for wingsuits, ice picks, pulse goggles, armor, or any other reality-based equipment. Like in the beginning, it’s just you, your board and all the jumps, rail grinds, and fun you can handle.

Let me take a step back for a moment. The latest edition of SSX, released back in March, was heralded as the second coming for the SSX series. When the title was unveiled as “SSX: Deadly Descents”, the most vocal of fans decried it as an enormous step away from what made SSX great – odd characters, fun slopes, gravity-defying tricks. Though “Deadly Descents” was dropped from the title, it wasn’t dropped from the game. In fact, EA utilized creative-commons satellite imagery of the Earth to create 9 distinct peaks to race, trick, and survive. I’m not a big sports gamer, and the only new-gen racing game I own is Split/Second, but there is a harmony to the SSX series. Once they tried to make it based in reality a LOT of the fun went out the window.

It’s a long story…

The last month has flown by and yet, seemed much MUCH longer. A month ago I told you about the job leads I’d found, the slight traveling I’d done, and a few movies I’d seen. Since then, I’ve applied to more jobs, gone on 1 trip and seen a few movies.

This is the monthly update.

Hello, Apollo. Where should I begin?

This last month has been BUSY. Since last time I got to try out being a full-time parent to a 3-month old (pup), drove to Pottsville, PA for an extended “vacation” and went to my first engagement party. This post is going to be a doozy – you’ve been warned.

Where to begin? Well, in case you hadn’t met, this is our little Kaylee and she can be a handful.

We got her from the Charlotte Humane Society in mid-May and it has been both rewarding and a challenge every day. As a Labrador mix, we don’t know what she is which makes it difficult to predict what behaviors or health issues she may have, but thus far she’s completely healthy and incredibly smart. Within a month she understood the command for sit, recognized Crystal and I as her parents (or pack leaders) and demonstrated an incredibly sweet demeanor. She rarely barks, loves to lick faces and has no sense of her own size – which tends to become a problem when she meets dogs that are exceedingly smaller than her or exponentially larger. At the time we got her, I was working at my internship, so my interactions with her were limited to afternoon and evening walks, whereas Crystal got the whole shebang. As you know, the internship didn’t last, so when Crystal left town to be with her family while her mother had surgery, it was just me and Kaylee.