"Toy Story 5" - I knew it!

Remember when you cried at the end of Toy Story 4 and thought it was a really good way to end the franchise? You were right - it was a really good way to end the franchise. The problem is the movie grossed over $1 billion dollars at the box office and no way was Disney going to pass up another potential billion-dollar Toy Story sequel. They've got kids to feed.

What you didn't realize while you were drying your eyes was that it was really only the end of Woody's (Tom Hanks) story. Not that they can't go right back to that well; there are plenty of lost toys for Woody and Bo Peep to help find owners for over the course of a future full-length animated feature. And Woody does play a supporting role in Toy Story 5. Let's not get ridiculous thinking they put him on the Toy Story 5 movie poster for no reason. But rest assured, Woody is not the main character in Toy Story 5.

Jessie (Joan Cusack) is the main character, now the leader of the toys owned by eight-year-old Bonnie. And everything is going well. The toys are being played with, Bonnie is being creative, and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) is trying to work up the courage to propose to Jessie. I know - I forgot that last one was a thing, too, even though it goes all the way back to Toy Story 2. I blame the Lightyear movie for erasing that plotline from my brain.

Jessie's chief concern is finding a way for Bonnie to make friends. Bonnie is really shy and "plays different" than other kids. Bonnie's parents recognize Bonnie's struggles and decide the answer is to get her a Lilypad (tablet computer) so she can more easily connect with other kids. Jessie becomes alarmed when some discarded toys in a backyard tell her that screens will be the end of Jessie's play time. That night, Jessie notices a screen glowing in the bedroom window of every house she can see and resolves to prevent Lily the Lilypad (Greta Lee) from taking over the room.

At this point, the story follows a similar path as Inside Out 2. A girl is trying to fit in with others by doing things that aren't necessarily healthy, but definitely familiar to every one of us who still remembers childhood. It also provides all parents with a bit of affirmation by showing typical behavior from kids when on their screens/devices. Kids staying up all hours of the night, can't leave a room without the device, have to answer text messages immediately, nodding that they heard you when you asked them a question. I looked directly into my son's eyes during this sequence and he looked right back, but with mischief in his eyes. Oh, he heard me alright. He heard me every...single...time.

In addition to the perceived evils of screentime, the movie also tackles a fear that we all can relate to - a fear of being useless or forgotten. This existential crisis drives Jessie to do risky things and causes her to get lost and end up at another girl's (Blaze) house. There, Jessie meets some discarded toys that she looks down upon because those toys are in fact devices. Just like Lilypad. Dun-dun-dun.

As a parent and former child, I can relate to all this and that is the power of the Toy Story franchise. In a word, nostalgia. In fact, that's what Taylor Swift wrote about in the film's featured song "I Knew It, I Knew You" (it plays when the end credits roll). It's not just about looking back and being afraid of being forgotten. It's about looking back and realizing you mattered to someone and they mattered to you. And boy does this song threaten to make you cry if the movie doesn't do it first.

Suffice it to say the storytelling is, once again, top notch, and that's not all. As with the entire franchise, the film delivers a ton of laughs, some fun action scenes, and sprinkles in toys we all remember or currently trip on in the backyard. There's also a new feature in the film that adds a fun dimension to the storytelling. When Bonnie or Blaze is playing with their toys, the animation style changes to the kind favored by the Spider-verse films. It looks like it's still sketchy, but also manages to be have some real depth and color to it. It's a great compliment to the typical animation that Pixar is known for. And all of which adds up to a movie that will definitely keep Disney's kids fed.

Rating: Don't ask for any money back, but maybe a tissue or three.

“Tron: Ares” - We used smaller words this time.

It's been fifteen years since Tron: Legacy came out and about a hundred years since the original Tron released, based on how much Jeff Bridges appears to have aged. So, if you forgot everything about both Tron movies like I did, that’s ok. I watched Legacy again prior to screening Tron: Ares and you definitely don’t need to. Not only is Ares a completely different story, but Ares even takes a moment to explain what you’re seeing using words with fewer than four syllables.

Raise your hand if you know what an isomorphic algorithm is or means. One of you, maybe? Unless you have a degree in computer science or memorized a dictionary, Tron: Legacy was very confusing. How about this - when you watched Tron or Tron: Legacy, did you understand that everyone and everything you saw in the grid (the computer world) was anthropomorphized computer software and hardware? You’re lost again, aren’t you? Well, I’ve got good news for you. Tron: Ares still features software depicted as humans and machines and stuff, but now you don’t need a background in programming to understand it.

Ares (Jared Leto) is a security program designed by Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters), CEO of Dillinger Systems. Julian’s company has figured out how to bring anything from the grid into the real world using lasers. Tanks, airplanes, guns, Ares...anything. Think 3-D printing, but way cooler. Dillinger is hoping to convince the military to give his company contracts to create an infinite supply of weapons and soldiers. The catch is that those same weapons and soldiers disintegrate after twenty-nine minutes. To resolve this problem, Julian needs the permanence code. Yes, that code does exactly what you think it does.

Also searching for the permanence code is Eve Kim (Greta Lee), CEO of ENCON International. Eve’s company has also figured out to bring anything from the grid into the real world using lasers. Eve is trying to find the code in order finish her sister’s work (her sister died from cancer), which was to use the code to cure cancer and solve world hunger (also using that laser technology). In case you’re not sure who the good guys are, the bad guys are the ones wearing red.

Well, except Ares. He starts out as a bad guy, but it’s pretty obvious early in the film that Ares will become a good guy. You see, this movie is mainly about artificial intelligence because all the Tron movies are about artificial intelligence. And in movies, artificial intelligence always evolves beyond its original programming. In this case, Ares evolves to understand empathy by observing Eve and Dillinger. Eve shows empathy and Dillinger shows a lack of it. Ares agrees to help Eve in exchange for Eve adding the permanence code to Ares so he can escape from Dillinger’s grid forever.

Got all that? It might sound a bit complicated, but it boils down to a race for a MacGuffin to turn Pinocchio into a real boy, cure cancer, and feed the hungry or...make lots of money by promoting war. And it’s a really fun race because Tron movies are quite entertaining when you get past all of the philosophical mumbo jumbo.

Like Legacy, Ares features great special effects, great action sequences, and a killer soundtrack (this time from Nine Inch Nails). Visually, the coolest thing Ares does is mix some of the digital world stuff into the real world. Picture one of those flying, blocky arch things crashing through real-world buildings. Or a lightcycle battle through the streets of a real-world city. Don’t worry - there are also some fantastic action scenes inside the grid. And for you weirdos that loved the look of the first Tron, Ares even includes a sequence of scenes that take place in creator Kevin Flynn’s (Jeff Bridges) original grid, 1982 special effects and all.

Even better is the music. I enjoyed Daft Punk’s music in Legacy, but Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails created something really special for Ares. Every bit of music seemed to perfectly fit each scene and hearing and feeling it in IMAX was exquisite. It’s the kind of thing that makes you want to tell your parents “I told you so” (if, like me, you grew up when Nine Inch Nails peaked in popularity).

Given how long it’s been since Legacy, it was a bit of surprise to find out a new Tron movie was even coming out. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I’d be lying if I said my expectations weren’t very guarded. I’d also be lying if I told you I didn’t notice a couple of flaws. Even in this much more streamlined and simplified story, there are a couple of plot holes that are worth an eyebrow raise. And Gillian Anderson (playing Dillinger’s mother) choosing to affect a thick English accent despite nobody else joining her was worth raising both eyebrows. Not that I blame her - her role is almost comically thankless.

But the film as a whole more than made up for those things, including supporting performances from Jodie Turner-Smith as Ares’ subordinate Athena and Arturo Castro as Eve’s fellow programmer (comedic relief). By focusing and improving on the things people really liked in previous films and dispensing with nearly all of the computer jargon, Ares is a neurologically pleasing technical and aesthetic achievement. Or to put it in words you (and Kevin Flynn) would understand, the film is rad, man.

Rating: Don’t ask for any money back, digital or analog.