James (Ryan O’Nan) is a returning soldier from Iraq who is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Everything seems fine at first as he readjusts to his old life in Texas with his young wife, Sara (America Ferrera). His memory of the Iraqi conflict, however, is spotty and he can’t seem to remember the details of a major engagement his unit was involved in. When James takes a job with his friend Michael (Jason Ritter) at the local slaughterhouse, the bloodshed seems to trigger something in James, causing him to attack his wife in his sleep as well as become hypersensitive to images of death. Growing increasingly uneasy with his behavior, James reconnects with fellow soldiers, like Ray (Wilmer Valderrama), to find out exactly what happened in Iraq that’s turned him into the walking time bomb he’s become.

The authenticity of The Dry Land is outstanding. James’ world is simple and small. He lives in a trailer with his loyal dog and his wife who is emotionally invested in reality television. After a long, physical day at work, there’s very little to do for entertainment except get drunk and shoot animals. It would be a cliché representation of the lives of the working class poor who make up the bulk of our soldiers if it didn’t feel so true. It’s from these dusty, sparsely populated towns and densely packed inner cities that our modern gladiators are borne. Writer and director Ryan Piers Williams thankfully presents James’ life with a non-judgmental eye.

This sober reflection on the life of one broken man, however, makes The Dry Land that much more depressing. The film is already dealing with a mirthless and sensitive issue; presenting James’ challenges without a point of view brings the subject matter into an almost tangible reality that will leave viewers feeling helpless to remedy the situation for our real life military men and women. The events that unfold in James’ post-war life are just a series of depressing moments with no hope for any kind of happiness – only coping with a persistent problem. The filmmakers made an attempt to include some levity to lighten the mood now and again, but even those scenes have dark undertones, like when James and Ray chug beers while driving and almost cause a head-on collision. “Let’s do that again,” Ray commands and the reckless behavior continues. It’s moments like this that endear the characters to audiences, but also remind them of these soldiers’ close relationship with death.

The entire cast turns in an impressive performance right down to the day players. All of the actors come off natural and believable and interact with each other as if they’ve lived together their entire lives. Ryan O’Nan as James carries the film exceedingly well and delivers his performance without political statement. He’s simply an average guy, dealing with a situation that he doesn’t quite understand and doesn’t know how to resolve. In many ways, audiences will see a bit of themselves in James.

The pacing of the film feels odd at times, with James’ life spiraling out of control much faster than viewers will most likely expect. Also, the story doesn’t seem as focalized as it could be. In a film like The Dry Land where a protagonist is looking for a psychological explanation, it’s important to illustrate his or her state of mind through the characters in his or her life. In this film, however, some of the characters feel extraneous in that they cease to propel the story or give viewers relevant information about James. At times they seem to exist solely to populate the universe of the film, which isn’t necessarily a criticism.

The only real criticism to take away from The Dry Land is that it’s sad without being cathartic. James’ life and the lives of real soldiers going through the same challenges seem hopeless – as presented here. A community can support their soldiers, doctors can prescribe medication, but nothing ever erases the reality of being responsible for another human being and failing. That guilt, it seems, can be just as destructive as war itself.

Ellen DeGeneres has decided to bow out from her role as a judge on AMERICAN IDOL next season.  DeGeneres served as a judge during the ninth season of IDOL, the No. 1 hit series on television.

“A couple months ago, I let FOX and the AMERICAN IDOL producers know that this didn’t feel like the right fit for me,” said DeGeneres. “I told them I wouldn’t leave them in a bind and that I would hold off on doing anything until they were able to figure out where they wanted to take the panel next.  It was a difficult decision to make, but my work schedule became more than I bargained for.   I also realized this season that while I love discovering, supporting and nurturing young talent, it was hard for me to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings. I loved the experience working on IDOL and I am very grateful for the year I had.  I am a huge fan of the show and will continue to be.”

“We love Ellen and understand and support her decision to bow out of IDOL,” said Peter Rice, Chairman of Entertainment, Fox Networks Group.  “We were fortunate to receive the humor, energy and love for talent that she brought to the show.”

“It was a joy to work with Ellen,” added Mike Darnell, President of Alternative Entertainment, Fox Broadcasting Company. “She brought an incredible spirit to IDOL and was a great new addition to the team.  While we’re saddened by her decision, we are very appreciative that she gave us ample notice so that we could work through it together.”

“I loved Ellen’s passion for the artists and her nurturing skills,” said IDOL creator and executive producer Simon Fuller.  “She brought honesty and optimism to our judging panel and I will miss her greatly.”

“We will miss Ellen, she has been the consummate professional throughout her time on the show, and she’ll always be part of the AMERICAN IDOL family,” added Cecile Frot-Coutaz, IDOL executive producer.

AMERICAN IDOL is created and executive-produced by Simon Fuller, founder of 19 Entertainment; and executive-produced by Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO, FremantleMedia North America, Inc. and Ken Warwick, Executive Producer, FremantleMedia North America, Inc.

According to Nikki Finke over at Deadline, it looks like Jennifer Lopez will be replacing her.

As a film that touches on a sensitive subject that affects the military it was important to know how the presentation was received. “When we went to Iraq,” America opened, “we didn’t screen the film…. We talked about it a lot with the soldiers there. In some cases, we showed them a trailer so that they got an idea of what it was. Just a couple of weeks ago we screened the movie in the installation at Fort Carson for approximately six to seven hundred active duty soldiers and their spouses. Soldiers who just came back from Iraq or Afghanistan or were going within a matter of weeks…. The response was just amazing and sparked really interesting questions and conversations. [Soldiers] wanted to share their versions of the story with us. It was the ultimate reward to see the film do what we all believed it could do, which was really relate to the soldiers and their families and also spark a conversation and make them feel like it was a compassionate portrayal and not a judgment or a political skewed or driven film that had a certain agenda.”

“I’ve traveled the world visiting our troops,” Wilmer added. “I’ve been to Iraq. I’ve been to Afghanistan. I’ve been to over nine countries and I couldn’t be more proud to have met thousands of soldiers and heard hundreds of stories. And that kept fueling me more and more to find the right vehicle and the right character that somehow would shine the light on something that was important to them.”

Considering the subject matter all of the roles carry a certain amount of weight and it would be easy to assume that America’s character, Sara, is her most challenging role to date, but America doesn’t necessarily agree. “I don’t know,” she admits, “I don’t think I can really compare it to anything else I’ve done. Every role I take on because it’s a challenge to me. I will say that this probably the most grownup role I’ve gotten to play. It had its challenges, but in some ways I felt I could relate to Sara. I could understand her as a woman outside of the military context.”

Wilmer also shared about his character Ray and how he fits into the bigger picture. “When you grab a character like this…we’re not telling the story of every soldier. My role in the movie specifically was to show the audience that I was truly the one guy [the main character] could relate to. We went through the exact same situation, except we’re both coping with it very differently. One thing I’m really excited about this movie is that I really do believe these characters. I believe they live and breathe and that they are really affected by this hard-to-control situation.”

To prepare for their roles, the actors who played soldiers received a few days of military training. “It was amazing,” Wilmer says. “We were with the National Guard in New Mexico. We got to sleep in the same facility as them. In fact, the platoon we were training with was going to Afghanistan a month later.”

America actually has two roles in the film. The onscreen role is obvious, but America is also the executive producer of The Dry Land. “I signed on solely to be an executive producer on the project and didn’t have any intention of playing Sara. As an executive producer I got to look at the picture as a whole and I had to think about James – our lead character – and what we needed to feel from him…and so I kind of came from a macro point of view of who is [Sara] in this realm of this film to really falling in love with this strong female character that just had love and compassion and wanted to heal her partner with love and strength and be the sole thing to bring him back. I fell in love with the role [Sara] played in this story.”

Watch The Dry Land when it opens on July 30 and perhaps you’ll fall in love with these characters as well.

This time around I decided to just hit up my local Gamestop. Standing in line with this current generation of gamers has convinced me that I’m simply not one of them anymore. I guess I’m too old. It’s possible my generation of gamer now has adult responsibilities and can’t be up at midnight with a workday looming on the horizon. Nevertheless, the people I was standing in line with are still the people I’ll be playing Starcraft II with — and I hate them.

Somewhere along the line the gaming community took itself way too seriously. I remember walking into a Net Cafe for the first time and having to press through a small crowd of Online Gamer Toughs gathered around the front door. One of them — the toughest of them all, apparently — broke away from the group to step to me and try to stare me down. He was 5’4″ if I was being generous and weighed 90-lbs. wet and sported menacing Coke bottle spectacles and a cap too big for his skull. The Net Cafe had become the place where scrawny guys who were usually beat up could go to be hard.

The group waiting outside of Gamestop tonight definitely has an element of the hard gamer, but it’s mostly made up of myopic miscreants and teenage boys still grappling with the awkwardness of their age. The staff is composed mostly of surly guys who are only a few years removed from their own awkward phases and have come to realize just how repulsive their customer base is. Never mind the fact that they’re also working until midnight. A few people ahead of me is a group of young boys who think their opinions are somehow important and their observations witty enough that everyone around them will appreciate their comments. So they speak quite loudly, but trail off at the end of the sentences like drunks who suddenly realize their inner monologue has escaped. Right behind me was a quiet guy with a half shaved head. The rest of his hair hung down the other side of his face and he practiced what can only be described as a mild form of Capoeira while listening to his iPod. He stopped at one point to adjust his shoelaces which he carefully positioned into a painstaking checker pattern. The group of guys directly in front of me, of course, made fun of him under their breaths, occasionally running a hand through their feathered hair that no doubt took them an hour each morning to blow dry sufficiently, but never to the point that their hairdos distracted enough from their zit-riddled faces.

I stepped out of my body for a moment and wondered what the hell I was doing there and then stepped out of line entirely. I went home, fired up the blog and now I’m going to head back to a presumably much shorter line.

The store looks to provide “…a new layer of gameplay, allowing players to purchase items to boost performance and personalize gameplay across a range of Shockwave’s free online games.” Which, in a nutshell, is the same sort of downloadable content you would find on next-generation gaming consoles and computers. New levels, customizable options for in-game characters, and other miscellaneous enhancements are purchased with “Shockwave Cash” a la Microsoft Points on Xbox Live. Also in a similar fashion to next-generation consoles, Shockwave.com has come to provide an achievement system, which provides the player token and trophy style awards. Thus far, only three titles take advantage of the “virtual goods,” Hungry Hungry Hippy, Let’s Get Grillin’ and Sara’s Super Spa Me, all of which were recently created to do so. Although a recession in America might mean fewer jobs, with over 10 million people playing games on Shockwave.com each year, one has to believe the site’s new “virtual goods” will provide the workforce still-withstanding more opportunities to make the daily grind a little more enjoyable.

Synopsis

TRON: Legacy is a 3D high-tech adventure set in a digital world that’s unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (GARRETT HEDLUND), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (JEFF BRIDGES), looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the digital world of Tron where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin’s loyal confidant Quorra (OLIVIA WILDE), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey of escape across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.

The cast and crew of TRON: Legacy returned to Comic-Con for another year to give eager fans an insider look into the upcoming film. On the panel was director Joe Kosinksi, producers Sean Bailey and Steven Lisberger, as well as the cast. Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen and Bruce Boxleitner were all happy participate in the conference. Moderating the event was comedian Patton Oswalt.

Look for TRON: Legacy in theaters this December.

From the press release

“Dark imagery is an integral part of the Walt Disney legacy.  After all, Disney himself was the father of some really chilling moments and characters – think Chernabog from Fantasia or Maleficent as the Dragon or the Evil Queen in Snow White,” said del Toro.  “I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of my own adaptation of the original theme park attraction Walt envisioned and that remains- for me- the most desirable piece of real estate in the whole world!”

“Millions of people from around the world visit The Haunted Mansion each year, but no one has ever had a tour guide like Guillermo del Toro,” said Rich Ross, Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. “Guillermo is one of the most gifted and innovative filmmakers working today and he is going to take audiences on a visually-thrilling journey like they’ve never experienced before.”

Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion has been chilling guests since 1969. The southern style mansion can be found in New Orleans square, but other versions can also be found at the other Disneyland theme parks located in Orlando, FL., Tokyo and Paris.

Director Guillermo del Toro - Comic-Con 2010

Details are scarce, but the plot of the Stranger Tides follows Jack Sparrow as he seeks the fabled Fountain of Youth — no doubt with Hector Barbossa hunting him down. During his search, Jack reconnects with a woman from his past (Penelope Cruz) who forces him onto the ship of the pirate Blackbeard. Where the story goes from there is anyone’s guess. Whatever happens it involves a missionary played by Sam Claflin and a mermaid played by Astrid Berges-Frisbey.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. The film will be presented in Disney Digital 3D.

Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) is a CIA spy. On the day of her wedding anniversary, as Salt is leaving the office with her boss Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber), they’re both recalled to interview a crusty Russian defector to test his credibility. He reveals to Salt that the Russians are going to put into action a decades-old plot to strike against the United States by first assassinating the visiting Russian President using sleeper agents that were planted within different American agencies. Startlingly, he claims that the name of the agent who will carry out the assassination is Evelyn Salt. This revelation piques the interest of CIA counter-intelligence officer Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) who wants Salt interrogated. Meanwhile, Salt can’t get a hold of her husband and, seemingly fearing the worst, escapes custody. Questions remain about her allegiances, however, and her actions constantly keep all parties involved guessing.

The choice to have the truth about Salt’s motives and intentions kept ambiguous is a novel idea; however, it’s a dissatisfying convention for a main character. For most audiences, feeling like they’re rooting for the bad guy won’t sit well. As a result, viewers become less invested in the character and care less about him or her succeeding, which is a shame because Salt is placed in many perilous situations that should be creating tension, but don’t. As Salt beats up good guy after good guy, viewers hope that she’s doing it for the greater good and not the greater evil, but won’t really care if she gets killed since she might be a bad guy. No one likes being tricked into sympathizing with something they are morally against, which is why treachery by secondary characters is so frustrating and the hero’s revenge upon that treachery is so satisfying.

Salt is timely, considering the recent news about Russian spies, however, the concept is taken to fantastic levels here, with images of children being brainwashed by a Russian Spy Master who, among other things, forces the children to kiss his ring. As such, the film should have planted its tongue in its cheek as with other stories penned by Kurt Wimmer. Unfortunately, director Phillip Noyce – who has a history of directing political thrillers – presented a film that took itself very seriously. Set pieces are set up exceedingly well, from high profile funerals to daring car chases, and capture the right amount of verisimilitude. But then these realistic backdrops are coupled with superhuman feats, like jumping down elevator shafts, a hundred-pound woman physically besting larger, heavier male opponents and walking away from vehicle collisions unscathed wearing a sassy scowl. There’s even a MacGyver moment where Salt manufactures a makeshift bazooka out of cleaning material and parts from an office desk. The conflict of style won’t consistently go over well with audiences.

The cast all do a fine job with the material they’re working with. While they don’t always have enough to say and do to craft a character that goes beyond the archetype, everyone utters their lines with enough believability to keep audiences engaged. Angelina Jolie, of course, has no problem carrying the film. She looks amazing and displays the adequate amount of range to guide audiences intellectually from scene to scene. Audiences will know a scene is shocking because Angelina looks shocked, an action is important because Angelina looks determined, and so on. Unfortunately, there’s an emotional disconnect, but that’s not a fault of the acting.

Moviegoers looking for action will find it here. There are plenty of shootouts, car chases and old fashioned martial arts. Some of the action is actually quite fresh and clever, like when Salt uses a stun gun to control a driver’s foot to accelerate a vehicle or when the environment is used in clever ways. Other times, however, the action stretches believability very thin so mileage may vary.

Salt is a bit odd in that it’s better in retrospect, but not as enjoyable while watching it. It has all of the elements of a satisfying film, but in the wrong order. Fortunately, there appears to be room for a sequel, so perhaps the storytelling shortcomings here will be rectified in the possible future film and perhaps the filmmakers will also explain just why Salt is such a badass.