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jof

@wordsbyjof.bsky.social

140 followers 280 following 1.1K posts

space pirate, robot whisperer, word wrangler, marteau sans maître, purveyor of weapons of mass deconstruction – formerly bylined at Birth.Movies.Death

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jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 12h

Purely on that basis, sure, and the production values are streets ahead of contemporary DOCTOR WHO. But UFO is where it’s at for the really wacky stuff

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 20h

Congratulations! Wishing you both every future happiness.

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 23h

How Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani DO this kind of visual storytelling at such a seemingly effortless yet incredibly high level of intensity and refinement is a total mystery, and one only has to look at Ben Wheatley's clumsy and underwhelming FREE FIRE to see how hard it really is.

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 23h

Been saving up a rewatch of LAISSEZ BRONZER LES CADAVRES as pregame for REFLET DANS UN DIAMANT MORT. That's happening tomorrow, so this is happening tonight, streaming on MUBI

Promotional image for LAISSEZ BRONZER LES CADAVRES. Against a deep blue sky a silhouetted figure with the sun bursting through their hair holds a scarified skull

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

Just got recommended a 1hr 52m YouTube video and that's a hard no from me, Bob

A meme image of the text reading:
i ain't reading all that
i'm happy for u tho
or sorry that happened

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

mfw Disney keeps fucking around with TRON when it could be giving the people what they really want

A still from Disney's THE BLACK HOLE. The robot Maximilian oversees the bridge of the spaceship Cygnus, looking pissed.

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

Just as the prophecy foretold.

Variety @variety.com · 1d

Disney’s sci-fi sequel “Tron: Ares” opened to a disappointing $33.5 million this weekend, falling short of projections of $45 million to $50 million.

For comparison, 2010’s “Tron: Legacy” debuted to $44 million (not adjusted for inflation).

variety.com/2025/film/bo...

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

We always and rightly laud the pioneering CGI of TRON, but let's not forget the movie's innovations in the area of farming out all the rotoscoping of VFX shots to an army of artists in the Far East and then not giving them any credit

An image of a Kodalith used in the production of the movie TRON with areas painted black by hand to hold out primary exposure of the rephotographed frame before a second exposure fills in those areas with the signature colours of, in this case, the interior of the tank

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

Anyway, most of it just feels like someone smashing their childhood TRON toys, er, collectibles together

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

There better be a drag artiste somewhere who goes by Count as Female

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

I remember there was someone back in the day who thought it was the best thing ever just because the Isos were representative of some quasi-philosophical concept they were deeply into, and could not be swayed by anyone pointing out that the movie does nothing of consequence with the idea.

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

And regardless of how good Daft Punk's score is on its own terms, more often than not it misses the tenor of the scene, particularly, again, during the action sequences. Also, CGI Jeff Bridges looks now more than ever like some PlayStation 2 cutscene shit. Olivia Wilde innocent, tho.

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

Watching TRON: LEGACY and I was right: NOTHING happens in this film, and very slowly: there's this inertia to every single scene, even the big action sequences, of which there are maybe 3 in total? It's a special kind of challenge to make an 87Eleven fight scene boring, one Kosinski easily rises to

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

Watched THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT, which skates just near enough to being a fascinating deconstruction of Nic Cage's career and perceived persona (which I believe he'd be up for) that it's deeply underwhelming when it... doesn't do that.

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

This is a great thread re: TRON, and I think one reason it's persisted at a cultural level is that for many of us who saw it back in the day it was the closest visual template we had for the cyberspace of cyberpunk that arrived a couple of years later, and we kind of projected one onto the other

Charlie Jane "Lessons in Magic and Disaster" Anders 🏳️‍⚧ @charliejane.bsky.social · 1d

Tron is such an 80s thing, it's hard to make relevant for the 21st century. It's all about arcade games and mainframes, and software that was written primarily by a single coder. The actual story of Tron is silly AF, which is one of its main joys.

But it should never have been revived.

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

See, a less classy person would go straight to the comedy well that is her transphobe ex-husband, who managed to lose not just a family but also a sitcom franchise in the divorce before crying about the alleged injustice of it all like a little bitch

My kids gave me enough material to write TV comedy. Where will the jokes come from now they’ve left? | Helen Serafinowicz

The inspirations for my BBC TV show have packed up and gone to uni, leaving me to rattle around on my own, says writer and television producer Helen Serafinowicz

www.theguardian.com

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

Gonna watch it tomorrow, natch

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

I haven't watched it in years, but I have the strongest suspicion that nothing actually HAPPENS in TRON: LEGACY. Partly this is due to Kosinski setting up a further instalment in the modern fashion making this film 100% SURF DRACULA, and partly due to Garret Hedlund's total charisma bypass surgery

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 1d

In no particular order, Everybody's Favourite Jared Leto Performances:
• Getting axe-murdered by Christian Bale for being a prick in AMERICAN PSYCHO
• Getting shot in the head by Dwight Yoakam for being a prick in PANIC ROOM
• Getting beaten to fuck by Ed Norton for trying to cuck him in FIGHT CLUB

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 2d

Every picture of him I see makes it readily apparent he's aware of this and it is eating away at his very soul

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 2d

But they're hella fierce...

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 2d

Between the Maras and the Fannings, who would win in a fight? Something tells me it would be a pretty even match, possibly too close to call.

A photo of Elle and Dakota Fanning, getting ready to totally wreck the Maras' shit

A photo of Rooney and Kate Mara, getting ready to totally wreck the Fannings' shit

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 2d

Also that tossed-in subplot about Alan's jealously and insecurity in his masculinity which is itself resolved in the computer world is the kind of thing we don't get enough of these days.

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 2d

Of course, the best way to do this from a visual fidelity point of view is to squeeze everyone into a mocap suit and give them a full CGI body replacement, but that would also just chisel away the humanity that has kept this thing so relevant for so long.

jof @wordsbyjof.bsky.social · 2d

I mean, you could probably go back in and fix all this stuff but it would take forever even if you had the original negative to work from, but given how the overall effect comes together while they were figuring out how to make this kind of movie from scratch, it's a forgivable part of the charm