Gamer (2009) - Okay so with Ready Player One coming out, I got kinda curious about previous cinematic forays into VR/gaming sort of things. This was a movie who’s premise interested me at the time, though the reviews kept me away. Turns out, yep, the premise is amazing, but the movie is… not quite that. It has a lot of great ideas and portrays them in consistently the dumbest ways possible. Which, I guess at least makes it fun, here and there. C-
The Lawnmower Man (1992) - Another VR movie, let’s just say the premise of this one is not quite as good. Occasionally becomes so bad it’s good, which is probably the only redeeming factor. D
War Games (1983) - It occurred to me that I had never actually seen this movie all the way though, only chunks here and there on TV. It was actually better than I remembered, more suspenseful and also more fun and lighthearted than I had thought. A good watch. B
Pacific Rim: Uprising (2018) - Ehhhhh this is a bit of a shame. I feel like there’s a good story here that’s hidden under the scrap heap, but it never gets a chance to lift off. Enjoyable moments and an always great Boyega make this watchable, but it does really get quite boring after awhile. C
Tron: Legacy (2010) - I was trying to figure out why it took me so long to see this movie, and honestly there’s no explanation. Wanted to see it when it came out, never got around to it. Better late than never. Music’s great, visuals tend to be pretty good (though after awhile they verge on monotonous), some cool set pieces. Buuuut characterization across the board is pretty weak here, which I guess wouldn’t have been a problem if they weren’t trying to make everything so dramatic. But they did. B-
Short Circuit (1986) - Amusing if slight story. Doesn’t do much to make me care all that much about anything going on. Cool robot I guess. C
Ready Player One (2018) - If it’s Spielberg, I’m there. Been excited about this for awhile, at least until recently when it became clear that this would be some sort of reference fest. Fortunately, the references are mostly background stuff, but occasionally they are legitimately distracting, and with little purpose to the narrative. Still, an incredibly fun trip with some really cool set pieces. If it didn’t fumble its final message, I would have really loved it. Alas. B