Adam Rogers' "Tron Legacy" article in Wired Magazine

I just read an article written by Wired Magazine's senior editor Adam Rogers entitled 'Tron’s Triumphant Return to Cyberspace'...and I have to say it seriously ANNOYED ME!!! You can check out the article in it's entirety right here.

I expected more from the senior editor of a magazine that is suppose to speak to the inner and outer geek in all of us. What I found in this article was a number of inaccuracies and some downright disparaging remarks toward the original "Tron" at the time of it's release and people referred to as 'nerds'. So we're going to take this mag-piece apart to see what's wrong with his whole approach.

First is the supposed 'fuzziness' about anyone remembering "Tron". To quote Rogers:

'Tron. The motive force behind this winter’s biggest cinematic event is a weird little sci-fi flop from 1982 that no one really remembers. Seriously: Try. You’ll get bits. Images, mostly. Jeff Bridges in chalk-white armor that ripples blue. Glowing Frisbee fights. Bubble-shaped motorcycles trailing walls of light. But the story? Something about a hacker, maybe? He gets beamed into a computer and fights a giant. Bruce Boxleitner is there. And… the villain is a computer program with a British accent.'

Where has this guy been living?! I'm sorry, I think MANY more people know EXACTLY what this movie is! Even if some of the story elements are perhaps not completely clear to everyone on the planet, the DVD (most notably a 20th anniversary special edition) has been on shelves and the movie on TV enough for more fans than he realizes to have embraced it over the years and decades. Next quote:

'This idea didn’t make much sense at the time, of course. It was utterly new and poorly expressed, and the technology to pull it off didn’t really exist...No wonder it fizzled at the box office.'

Yes, the concept of computers and users was fairly new back in 1982. But it was still knowledge within reach of a fair amount of people's understanding. I think the problem is he just wasn't 'there' when all of this was happening. Sorry to sound like an old guy who doesn't think these kids know what they're talking about, although having been 'there' myself is a much clearer perspective rather than doing online research. BTW, the movie didn't 'fizzle' at the box office as he seems to like to bring up repeatedly. It certainly was not one of the top movies of that year, but it was definitely one of the front runners while "E.T" and "Star Trek II" ruled the box office. Oh, and his mention of "Blade Runner' also ruling that year...another inaccuracy. "Blade Runner" faired moderately well when it came out, but didn't reach the stratosphere of complete appreciation until a few years later. Needless to say, "BR" still garnered marked appreciation from fans even at that time. And for that matter, so did "Tron".

If all of these filmmakers, writers, and actors remember "Tron", then it's not a forgotten movie. Far from it. In fact it's always been rather iconic, even if the initial box office numbers had it doing well but not overwhelmingly so.

'For Tron Legacy to succeed where Tron failed...'

There he goes again with the word 'failed'. This was the point in the article where I was outright vocal about my distaste for what I was reading. If this was a 'forgotten movie' that no one seemed to care about, then why is Disney betting everything including the kitchen sink on the new movie? Because A LOT OF PEOPLE GOT IT!! Apparently everyone except Adam Rogers.

When speaking about the inspirations for Encom, the giant laser which ultimately sends Kevin Flynn into the world of Tron, and the character of Alan Bradley played by Bruce Boxleitner, he has this to say:

'The lab at tech giant Encom, the company at the center of the movie, was based on (computer scientist Alan) Kay’s lab at Xerox PARC and the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Lab. Bruce Boxleitner’s buttoned-down programmer character, Alan, was based in part on (and named after) Kay.'

Sorry, not completely true. Alan Bradley's name is actually a nod to computer company Allen/Bradley which is owned by Rockwell Automation. They're a major computer organization and were around for some time before the original "Tron" debuted in 1982. I was never aware of the character's first name coming from Alan Kay which may be the case as well. However it was pointed out when the film was released that Allen/Bradley was the influence.

'Arcade and home console games based on "Tron" were successful.'

O.K. finally, something that's very true! The arcade game did much better than the actual movie did in theaters. I myself probably pumped several hundred dollars into that game while living in Boston.

'Tron, however, seemed destined to be forgotten.'

STOP IT!!!! Everywhere you looked in 1982 there were T-shirts, toys, and other accessories touting the movie. They actually sold well. The Gen-Xers who supposedly revived the original movie were not that far away from it's initial release. Therefore it was never really dead and gone as Mr. Rogers would have us believe. "Tron" was even nominated for Best Sound and Best Costumes at the 1983 Academy Awards. Ironically, The Academy refused to accept a nomination for best special effects because they felt the effects team 'cheated by using computers'. HA-HA! In hindsight, THAT was a highway robbery for a film that was the father of everything that came after it where visual effects were involved.

Regarding the producers thoughts about trying to woo Jeff Bridges back to the role of Kevin Flynn:

'And Bridges? He was on his way to winning an Oscar for Crazy Heart. Tron was a B movie from before he was famous.'

SERIOUSLY??!!! "Tron" was a B MOVIE from BEFORE he was famous??!! After my continual outbursts of how annoyed I was at this writing, I finally burst out laughing! L-O-FUCKING-L!!! First of all, "Tron" was NEVER a 'B' movie!! And Bridges career had already hit a major high with his Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for "The Last Picture Show" in 1971!! Not to mention such notable performances in films like "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" "Starman", "The Fabulous Baker Boys" and "The Fisher King". Jesus man, get your research shit together, huh?!

When talking about the teaser trailer for "Tron Legacy" created specifically as a surprise for an audience of fans at Comic-Con 2008 and to gauge whether or not the film was embedded enough in the popular culture for the studio to give it a green light, Mr. Rogers says this:

'It played. Oh, it played—and it deployed every tool (Disney head of production Sean) Bailey said the movie would need. The production design was original but clearly looked like the first Tron. (Jeff) Bridges’ appearance produced paroxysms of cheers from the 6,500 nerds in Hall H. Light cycles banged into each other. Disney gave the movie a green light.'

This is where I have a problem with his use of the term 'nerds'. Obviously a total put down, coming across in this writing like calling gay people 'faggots'. Sure, it's not enough to make me want to march on Washington or the offices of Wired Magazine, but still a minor thorn in the side in this ultra PC world of acceptance when it comes to things like gay rights, etc. Don't get me wrong, I totally support gay rights! That's the point. If we're being tolerant one way, we need to be tolerant ALL ways.

Is the original "Tron" a really good movie? Rogers' overall thoughts are that it was not. I can say that I've thoroughly enjoyed the movie since it's debut in 1982. No, it's not perfect and yes, advances in computer technology and visual effects in movies have far surpassed what was once an incredible achievement in motion picture history...let's not forget that last part especially!! Younger fans perspective on this iconic film may be a little tainted by today's sometimes overblown movie visuals. To some, "Tron" might seem slow and very dated, and sometimes I'm actually quite a bit surprised at how twenty-somethings are super fans of a movie I'd expect they'd find super cheesy. Yes, I am using that word because it describes their sometime views and not my own.

BTW, that 'giant' the computer hacker battles (as he puts it) in the original "Tron" is prominent character actor David Warner. To younger movie fans he's probably best known as Billy Zane's bodyguard in "Titanic". But in fact he's had a full and widely acknowledged film career going back to the 60s and 70s. Did he even ever watch "Tron", or just ask friends about the movie before writing this article? Seems like the latter.

After you've read Adam Rogers' full report, check out the comments. You'll find a lot more people who were equally annoyed at his handling of the legacy of "Tron" and the fans who have adored it from the very beginning. I'm proud to say that I am one of them!

"Somewhere in Time": 30 years in the past

Not to be outdone with the all-encompassing "Back to the Future" month we just finished, I want to give equal love to another of my favorite time travel movies, "Somewhere in Time".

I first saw "SIT" during it's initial theater run in 1980 and was immediately mesmerized. Christopher Reeve's present day writer meeting a 1912 budding actress played by Jane Seymour was only made more emotional by John Barry's incredibly passionate score. The movie was directed by Jeannot Szwarc who brought a TV sensibility to the project, and the film certainly has that sort of non-theatrical look. But it's the performances of Reeve (fresh from his huge success in "Superman, The Movie"), Seymour, and Christopher Plummer as the overbearing manager, who rise this movie above being a one-off that everyone might have forgotten.

Aspects of James Cameron's "Titanic" would unwittingly and unintentionally mirror certain shots and situations from "Somewhere in Time". For example, Billy Zane's rich controlling socialite would echo Plummer's manner, and the epilogueal moment where Rose is reunited with Jack, in what could be taken as a dream or the hereafter, points to Elise waiting for and reuniting with Richard beyond their own lives.

And of course for the past two decades annual gatherings to commemorate the movie have continued at the Grand Hotel where the story takes place and was shot. The amazing thing about this location: it looks exactly like it did at the time of the filming and as it appears in the movie...just beautiful. Both Christopher Reeve (before his accident) and Jane Seymour have attended over the years. I was there in 1992, returning in 2005 for the 25th anniversary. It was really great to discover a whole community of fans who shared my love for this film. For those of you who haven't yet, check out photos of my trip from '05.

I really wanted to go this year being that it's the 30th, but at the point where hotel reservations needed to be made I was still coming off of the financial hell that was 2009. My hope is to return there in 2011, finances and schedule allowing of course.

Happy Thanskgiving!

To everyone reading this blog, from both coasts of the US to more recent visitors in Canada, Great Britian, France, Germany, Australia, and South America, have a Happy Thanksgiving!! And BTW, please feel free to post comments here everyone. Even if you don't know me personally, I welcome your input and views on anything and everything I'm putting out there!

The sentence on the Arclight website I didn't want to read about "Tron Legacy", even though it was pretty obvious: 'Hollywood will not be playing this film'. Frickin' Disney.

‎"Tron Legacy"...Arclight...midnight show...tickets purchased...DONE!

"Tron Legacy" tickets about to drop

Watching and waiting for "Tron Legacy" tickets to drop at The Arclight...could be late tonight. They're available at the Pasadena and new Beach Cities locations, but not Sherman Oaks where we'll ultimately see it. What's that you say? What about The Arclight Dome? Well you can blame that on Disney!

Because of the proximity of the Arclight Hollywood to the El Capitan Theatre just a short series of blocks away, there's a contractual agreement that says the Arclight can't show a major Disney movie at their Hollywood location. The Mouse House wants everyone to come to their flagship theater and doesn't want the competition. You know what I have to say to that...not acceptable!

The screen at the El Capitan Theater is good, but not big enough in scope to encompass the world we're about to enter on December 17. This is a cinema event and the movie should be allowed to show on the amazing Dome screen. Instead it will probably bypass that theater all together, with Arclight's closest big premiere at their Sherman Oaks location. It's still a fantastic theater with much better screens than the El Capitan. But I'll still be sad about it's absence from The Dome. Just not fair.

Flying to work this morning!

Today's drive-to-work buzz track: "Derezzed" by Daft Punk from the forthcoming "Tron Legacy" soundtrack. Perfect for the insanely easy ride on the 405; everyone's left for the holiday and the road was MINE!! Let's add Thanksgiving as one of my favorite freeway related days-off...right after Jewish holidays and when the Mexican immigrants march on Los Angeles. More of those, please!

New logo banner

LA Filmcutter has a new logo and top banner. I'd been working on a couple of different designs to not only re-brand this site, but to make a statement about who I am, inspired in part by Facebook. Most importantly to retain the spirit of why I live and work in Los Angeles.

Also, the banner below that where I celebrate movies, events, etc. is now an all-in-one wall space unhindered by previously defined borders, allowing me to express a bit more freely. First up is the 30th anniversary of one of my favorite movies of all time, "Somewhere in Time". But more about that in the next post.

Comic-Con hotel reservations

I just made our reservations at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront for Comic-Con 2011....well, half of it.

Unfortunately the Hilton has taken the same route as the Marriott at the other end of the San Diego Convention Center; full payment for the entire stay in advance. I was hoping things would be different at the Bayfront but apparently this is a policy many hotels are now adapting. That doesn' t change the fact that it still sucks, and turns away many people who can't afford to put that much money down this far in advance, thus losing out on their chance to stay where they chose.

So, our reservation are for the three highest traffic nights during the event; Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. In a reasonably short amount of time I'll add the two nights before and one night after that is our customer stay length. Ultimately I'm glad we have this in place and already paid for. As always, we'll appreciate not having to spend this money later....and for the first time, everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, will be paid for well in advance with only spending and food money needed to be gathered leading up to next July. In comparison to the high-priced hotel reservations which is the bulk of the financial weight, that amount has always been a drop in the bucket in comparison.

Movie weekend

We're having a serious movie marathon weekend today and tomorrow. Just saw "127 Hours" which was excellent! One of Director Danny Boyle's best films. Incredible cinematography and editing. James Franco in an Oscar worthy role. "Megamind" was fun with some great superhero battles. Great Will Ferrell voice role.

"Tron" Pop-Up Store...quite a bit smaller than expected

Just got back from the Tron Pop-Up Shop. They certainly have some cool stuff on display and to buy, but the place is definitely MUCH smaller than anticipated. Probably about the size of a smaller second bedroom. We had to wait a few moments to get in because it was at capacity. We were told (Chris from Happy Hour went with me) that people lined up this morning starting at 7:30am.

I did pick up a couple of die-casts for both Rebecca and I: Flynn's Light Cycle and a Recognizer from the new movie. Plus they had some exclusive-to-the-shop items like the Tron disc T-shirt you see pictured that I bought as well. Although the actual shirt has a more faded blue-ish tone with a weathered look. Click the image for a larger view.

Heading off to the "Tron" Pop-Up Shop

We're just about to head out to lunch and opening day of the "Tron" Pop-Up Shop in Culver City, just a few blocks from Happy Hour. Check out an article about the pre-opening party last night along with a bevy of photos by clicking on the image. Based on what I've seen so far online, this thing looks like it's going to be much bigger than I could have imagined. Can't wait!!

My 1000th post!

I just happen to notice that the previous post regarding the start of week 10 at Happy Hour was actually my 1000th post since launching this blog in April of 2004!! Wow!

Six and a half years of career news, commentary and ranting, plus I'm just about to launch the first ever LA Filmcutter podcast. Did a few tests recently and am putting together a brief list of topics to kick-off the spectacular premiere of episode one. It's going to be fun, weird, crazy, and with just a bit more than your average dose of high energy observations.

Riding my 10th week at Happy Hour!

I'm just about to wrap up another great week at Happy Hour Creative and look forward to beginning my 11th as we head into Thanksgiving week. Beyond that I feel pretty confident that I'll be needed for a 12th week as December begins.

What an incredible run of work this has been!! Started in late August with the idea that I could be sticking around to cut two projects for about two weeks. Now here I am almost three months later and work keeps coming in! There are a couple of major studio films hovering at the moment, hopefully about to land. At any rate, I've been very blessed with being here so long. 2010 has definitely kicked scarily lackluster 2009 in the ass and elevated, yet again, my career with all of these trailer and broadcast spots I've been cutting.

Complete "Back to the Future" Celebration photo set NOW ONLINE!

Check out the complete set of 172 pics, which include both my and Rebecca's best, from last week's "Back to the Future" 25th Anniversary event by clicking on the image of the DeLorean Time Machine. It's online NOW!! Man, did that take a LONG time to go through everything!! This is why it usually takes me forever to post photos...although now I'm kicking myself in the ass to be more timely. Incredible week that many of us will cherish for a very long time. Enjoy!

"Cowboys and Aliens" trailer

On your left I'm counting down to the release of the first trailer for Jon Favreau's much anticipated "Cowboys and Aliens" this coming Wednesday. Next summer can't come fast enough!

Dinner and a movie

We're at PF Chang's in Burbank right now having dinner, followed by a screening of "Red" at the Burbank 16. I just LOVE dinner and a movie nights!

Sorting, sorting, sorting...

In the process of sorting through photos and videos from the "Back to the Future" event. Also in the process of retrieving pics from some new friends I met during the locations tour, Universal tour, and the Enchantment dance. FB has certainly been ground zero for attending fans to come together and share thoughts and experiences.

Now all I need to do is open the BTTF trilogy DVD set, sit back and take everything in. Can't wait!

Amazing night!!!

Just a quick note for now because I seriously need to go...to...BED!

The Dance was incredible! I took a lot of photos and some extended video clips of some of the performances happening on stage, many people were dressed in 1950's dress attire along with several Marty McFly's in various incarnations from "BTTF" and "BTTF Part II".....AND....after sending Claudia Wells (Marty's girlfriend from the first movie) as friends on several people's Facebook profiles, I decided to send her one as well. Suddenly, as the event was heating up, I received a confirmation on my phone that she had accepted my friend request. WOOOWW!!! I was actually so excited that someone I've become friends with during the course of this past week's celebration took a photo of my iPhone's screen to kind of savor the moment.

O.K. NOW...off to go to sleep. Full report tomorrow!

Enchantment Under The Sea Gala tonight!

Rebecca has been wonderful with going to thrift stores this week to find all the components for our 1950's high school dance outfits. Tonight is the grand finale to the week long "Back to the Future" 25th Anniversary event, this time at the actual filming location of the Enchantment Dance; the gymnasium at the United Methodists Church in the heart of Hollywood.

We're very lucky to be attending thanks to Ken the coordinator; his gift for all the work I did on the locations tour clips for the bus, the 25th Anniversary trailer, as well as helping to get things in place for the screening of John's documentary at his house in South Pasadena. Regardless of the size and scope of tonight's event, it will certainly be amazing to finally step inside the place where George and Lorraine kissed for the first time on the dance floor accompanied by their future son, Marty, playing the guitar and slamming into 'Johnny B. Goode'. Not to mention the back stairs where Marty said goodbye to his future parents! I'm sure the entire place will be decked out like it was in the movie, plus this is the center point where all of the celebrities and people who worked on "Back to the Future" will be in attendance to mingle with the fans and sign autographs.

At 10:04pm there's suppose to be a speeding DeLorean which will hit a suspended cable to simulate Marty returning to 1985. Both Rebecca and I will be decked out in 1950's finery to hit the gymnasium dance floor, have the BEST time(!), and maybe even bump into George and Lorraine. But we don't want to bump too hard because they might not kiss and that would spiral everything out of sync once more....so we'll CAUTIOUSLY bump into them.

This weekend I'll be pulling together all of the photos and videos (yes, videos!) to post on Flickr in one gi-normous set. Wanna stay timely with getting these up right away so expect results! Stay tuned!

O.K. that was really disappointing

Wow...that's all I have to say.

So I went on the Universal Studios Tour today. The one that was suppose to be a V.I.P. event for "Back to the Future" fans highlighted by a stop at Courthouse Square on the backlot, the location of Hill Valley and the Clock Tower in the movie.

Guess what? We didn't even come close to driving by it! Probably within two blocks tops. What a MAJOR letdown!

Turns out they were building sets for "Spider-Man 4". Why they were doing that on the Universal lot when the film is a Sony production, I don't know. The point is that so many people paid between $75 and $100 to go on this tour, quite a number coming from overseas just to see the beloved location where our favorite movie was filmed.

There were some moments on the tram, as we arrived at various other attractions like King Kong 360 3D and Jaws, where we all felt like our stop at Courthouse Square was going to be something truly special. At the very least an extended layover to take pictures and breathe it all in. Of course my hope was for all of us to actually be able to step off the tram and walk around, if only for a few moments. As we wound our way around the main street backlot, turning sharply back up the hill towards other attractions, we all started to wonder if maybe our extended stop there would be last. But as the tour began to come to a close and we headed back to the parking lot, it became soberingly apparent that we were NOT going to the Clock Tower AT ALL. In that moment you could hear a pin drop on the tram.

As we exited in the parking lot, Ken (the organizer) came over to explain about "Spider-Man 4". We really didn't get any apology for what didn't happen. Then when we went to the bottom of the very, very long escalator to arrive at the prop museum, turns out there were only a handful of screen-used items from "Part II".

At this point people were talking and exchanging frustrations. I'd been talking to two guys from Britain, plus two others who were also editors in LA, when people heard us going on about it. They'd walk up and say 'are you as disappointed as we are that we didn't go to the Clock Tower?' Ultimately the feeling was that this was a blemish on the event.

I certainly am not bashing Ken. He's done an amazing job so far of really wowing the fans. Between the awe-inspiring screening at the Puente Hills Mall on Friday and the incredible locations tour on Sunday, the ball's been hit out of the park a few times. Even though Saturday's Battle of the Bands was less than spectacular, it only felt like a bump on the overall scheme. Today was a definite misfire.

From what I understand his working relationship with Universal has been a bitch, and they didn't seem to want to get involved with the whole thing. Even though their presence would certainly bring more sales for the new Blu-ray and other promotional items that could have been sold. That situation just seems like a major misstep on their part. I'm sure Ken really went to bat to make this happen. But with people paying the big bucks there should have been some definite assurances from the studio that we would IN FACT stop and linger at the Clock Tower, regardless of whatever was going on down there at the time. The surprising thing is that they must have known in the morning that we weren't going to be heading anywhere near there and the fans should have been told just to quell anticipation. No such announcement occurred so everyone's hope's were dashed right at the end.

Hopefully by Friday night, when we attend the Enchantment Under The Sea Gala, there will be some type of acknowledgment for the real disappointment of today. We're all looking forward to that with GREAT anticipation!

Photo of us on BTTF.com!

There's a photo of the "Back to the Future" DeLorean with train wheels as part of an article on BTTF.com. Looking closely I noticed Rebecca and I are in the photo! Right to the left and right of Mr. Fusion. Check it out by clicking on the photo!

Sunday's locations tour was absolutely AMAZING and downright emotional!!! I'll have a full report shortly of the screening of "BTTF" at the Puente Hills Mall on Friday and the locations tour.

But wait, there's more!

One of the events this week I really wanted to go to but had been a little undecided about was the Universal Studios "BTTF" exclusive backlot tour. Due to the fact that it was scheduled during the day and I'm working all this week, it was near impossible for me to think about going. Even though I was starting to feel like I'd be missing out because Ken, the organizer of this 25th Anniversary event, seriously hit the ball out of the park this past weekend with so many incredible elements to the start of the "Back to the Future" Celebration.

But there's been a fast turnaround on all of that today. Yes, True Believers, I now have a ticket for the event AND the "all-clear" sign from work to come in late tomorrow! YES!!! I'm also hoping Rebecca might be able to take a little time off from work and head up to join me, being that it's right up the hill from her building. Tour starts at 10am at Universal, and the one thing I wish for above all else is to actually step off the tram and step onto the pavement on Main Street right near the Clock Tower. Here's keeping my fingers crossed. Whatever happens, I'm sure tomorrow will be another amazing day!!

Enchantment Under The Sea: WE ARE SO IN!!!

While at John's house showing the documentary about fans who come to George McFly's peeping Tom tree from "Back to the Future", I had a private conversation with Ken who asked if we were going to the Enchantment Under The Sea event on Friday. He ultimately said the words I had hoped to hear; even though tickets were so expensive, we were invited to attend on Friday....FOR FREE! I am SOOO happy!!

More details about this shortly so stay tuned!

Marty McFly's house

At The McFly House with 100 "BTTF" fans!! Three DeLorean time machines on the street, everyone's taking a ton of photos, including the guy who owns the house taking photos of all of us! This is an incredible experience!!!

Battle of the Bands yesterday, locations tour today

Last night's "BTTF" event at the McCambridge Park Recreation Center in Burbank was good but a little more low-key than I expected. This was the location used in the movie for The Pinheads audition for Huey Lewis in the Hill Valley High School gym. The prop museum was cool with a lot of great screen-used items, and we had a chance to talk to some of the fans. They also had some cool fan-made films projected on the wall behind the stage.

We're sitting on the bus, one of two, right now and waiting to depart on the locations tour accompanied by my tour clips. This is going to be really cool for us to share this ride with the fans!

Last night's BTTF screening video part 2

Here's another fan's view of the events during last night's "BTTF" screening at the Puente Hills Mall! It even starts with my 25th anniversary trailer up on the screen and the crowd's reaction! Great Scott!!!

Last night's BTTF screening video part 1

Here's a look at the "Back to the Future" screening re-enactment last night taken by a fan with an incredible vantage point! JUST...TOO...COOL!!!

"THE LIBYANS!!!"

OH...MY...GOD!!! We're here, the movie's playing, and right when the Libyans showed up a REAL DeLorean and REAL VW van went speeding by in front of the outdoor screen!!! We and everyone else went NUTS!!! This is THE BEST night!!

Off to the Puente Hills Mall (Twin Pines)!!

Here we are at Day 1 of the "BTTF" 25th Anniversary Celebration! This weekend promises to be jam-packed with much coolness!

I'm about 10 minutes away from leaving work to pick up Rebecca, then head to the Puente Hills Mall, the filming site for the Twin Pines Mall in "Back to the Future"! Anticipation is high as they plan to do a re-creation of the complete scene where Marty finds Doc with the DeLorean time machine and is chased by the Libyans! After which there will be an outdoor screening of "BTTF". I have my trailer in hand and spoke with Ken about meeting up tonight to square everything away regarding video content. Hopefully they'll screen the trailer...THAT would be sweet! Updates and photos to follow!

Tomorrow: "BTTF" week BEGINS!!!

Tomorrow is the BIG day! The beginning of the week long "Back to the Future" 25th Anniversary Celebration! Looking forward with MUCH anticipation to Friday night's full re-creation of the events at the Twin Pines Mall followed by a screening of the movie at the actual filming site.

And the big news of today: my 25th Anniversary trailer is FINISHED! Uploaded it this morning for Ken to take a look at. Now all I have to do is finish the string-out of all the location tour clips and burn them to DVD. I feel confident right now that everything will get done in time, however I just need to keep my head down tonight and keep cranking away! Only stayed up until midnight last night polishing the trailer (I needed to catch up on sleep from the night before), but got up at 6am this morning, managing to accomplish a set workload goal before heading to Happy Hour for work.

Just as soon as the event is over next week I'll be posting my trailer here for all to see.

"Tron" Store opening in Culver City next Friday!!!

OMG!...a "Tron Legacy" Shop will be opening on November 19 in Culver City, CA for six week!!! Filled with all kinds of merchandise from the new and hopefully original film, I intend to head there on DAY 1 when they open! Particularly since I'll be working at Happy Hour all next week and I'm within blocks of where the store will supposedly be located.

Just about every day I drive by the building where they filmed Flynn's Arcade for the first movie. It's now a restaurant called Akasha which we've had dinner at because of that very fact. It's amazing...I'd been thinking wouldn't it be cool if they had some "Tron" event planned right before the new movie came out in or around that structure. Now my daydreams are coming true! Incredible! Click on the T-shirt for full details.

Nice! "Back to the Future" digital screening encore!

The special digital presentation of "Back to the Future" in theaters nationwide is returning for a third date! Saturday, November 6 @ 12:30pm. Of course we went to the second showing on October 25, and we'll be watching the movie in the ultimate venue this coming Friday at the Puente Hills Mall, otherwise known as the Twin Pines Mall! Can't wait!!

It's pretty awesome that the film showed so well during it's first two screenings, with audiences responding in large enough numbers to warrant a return engagement! Click on the image for ticket info.

Cutting 'round the clock!

Pretty exhausted after yesterday's marathon edit fest. Worked at Happy Hour during the day of course, then home to continue on the "Back to the Future" 25th Anniversary trailer and locations tour clips for the BTTF Celebration. Cranked through until 3am! Tonight will probably be no different.

Spoke with Ken, the coordinator of the event, at length last night. We talked about how I'm going to get all of the video content to them. I'm definitely closing in on completing everything; the trailer will be done tonight as will John's documentary, and the location tour clips will be burned to two DVDs by tomorrow night. All just in time for Friday night's Puente Hills Mall extravaganza!

New "BTTF" Celebration tickets purchased

Just picked up two tickets for the 'Battle of the Bands' event this coming Saturday, November 6. As of now we'll be going to the reenactment of the complete Twin Pines Mall scene plus a screening of "Back to the Future" at the Puente Hills Mall on Friday, Battle of the Bands on Saturday, and the locations tour on Sunday.

Spoke with Ken today about coordinating my editing contribution to the event with local logistic personnel. As always, click on the link under the countdown clock for more details. We're getting close!

My newest favorite App. for the iPhone!

Hey, now I can connect my own Flux Capacitor to the MINI and travel through time!

Click on the image to check out this new cool "Back to the Future" App. I just downloaded. When you hold your finger on the speedometer it increases to 88 miles per hour, activating the Flux Capacitor. After you've arrived, the plutonium chamber indicator needle sinks down to zero and you have to hit the reset button to refill it. Plus, when you turn the iPhone on it's side you can check out the dashboard time display, similar to the first version I downloaded, which shows you where you've been, where you are and where you're going. It's a clock/alarm clock/timer all-in-one with a GPS trigger device. Comes with all the authentic sound FX from the movie! It's AWESOME!

Halloween, work and "BTTF"

Halloween last night was awesome! Rebecca and I went to West Hollywood dressed as Consuela and Brian from "Family Guy". She looked EXACTLY like the Mexican maid from one of our favorite TV shows and I really want to thank her for putting so much work and effort into my costume as well. Thank you, Rebecca!!! Plus, a lot of people recognized who were were, especially Consuela who people were shouting out lines to from a couple of her most famous scenes.

This week begins my eighth straight week in a row (GOD BLESS IT!!!) at Happy Hour Creative. Continuing work on spots for that ABC series and more than likely bouncing back to a spot or two for "Unstoppable" to address notes from the studio.

This week will be wall to wall hectic once more as I continue to work on my "Back to the Future" 25th Anniversary trailer, make a few final additions to John's "BTTF" documentary AND put together a string-out of all the filming location clips that will play on the tour bus. This means some early mornings and very late nights in and around my schedule at Happy Hour. Despite the fact that sleep time will be shortened, I'm still extremely grateful for the major load of work with HHC and the opportunity to be a part of the "BTTF" Celebration!

The Terminator meets Marty and Doc Brown

As we approach the week long "Back to the Future" 25th Anniversary Celebration, now just four days away, Check out this really well done cross-universe animated short!