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A tattooed man flicks a knife between his fingers. The man puts down the knife and exits his trailer only to be lost in a crowd of carnies, customers, the night's life. The man approaches a tent of roaring spectators waiting for a show of minimal thrill. The man puts on a helmet while sitting on a motorcycle. The man drives his motorcycle into a cage. The man's motorcycle is lost within the rising roars of an audience.

This is the opening scene of "The Place Beyond the Pines". The scene is so wonderfully crafted and lyrical one would think they are seeing a Cormac Mccarthy novel being projected into instant images. Although this scene(as well as some other scenes) seem to promise a great sense of craft, their level of ingenuity cannot be said for the rest of the film.

Make no mistake, in its structure "The Place Beyond the Pines" is an ambitious movie and because of this ambition the movie could very easily be considered great. The movie attempts to paint a canvas of the relationship between fathers and sons within three segments while by the end trying to make them all seem coherent. While on paper the idea of building a movie in such a way may have sounded enticing the final product ends up a bit disjointed and tedious.

Director Derek Cianfrance has a knack for writing engaging characters.(As also seen in "Blue Valentine") As to the notion of Cianfrance's characters being likable is an idea worth debating, but what can be said is he has a craft for establishing people one would want to know more about. Yet where Cianfrance seems to fall short is finding ways to keep his story constantly fluid after introducing such interesting characters.

It is understandable why themes of parenthood and the repercussions of parenthood would be ideal for a film revolving around interlocking characters. In a recent interview Derek Cianfrance mentioned he looked to films such as "The Deer Hunter" as inspiration for "The Place Beyond the Pines". What "The Deer Hunter" has is a coherent sense of direction and where each character harbors their emotional beats while covering enormous themes within its lengthy time frame. "The Place Beyond the Pines" on the other hand seems to freeze in its own massive structure, not knowing what to do with its simple theme for two and a half hours. Perhaps if Cianfrance chose to refine his vision for his film's repeating theme he would have had a poetic masterpiece on his hands, instead what he has is a movie that is crushed under its own weight.

Also an extra star for Ryan Gosling's abs.

What is there to state that has not already been proclaimed about Alan Ball's "Six Feet Under"? Repeatedly, the show has been marked as one of the greatest television shows to ever grace people's homes along with the triumphant, and flawless, series finale that redefined character send offs for years to come. Moreover if any aspect should be illuminated within the show it should be the way Alan Ball makes every character feel unceasingly existing, veritable, and even sometimes present.

By "present" I do not mean relevant, rather the characters will eventually reach a vital point in plight that will inevitably coincide with the viewer. While watching the series I was withstanding a grievous time with my mother and felt no outside sense of reliability, until I watched "Six Feet Under". While I wouldn't consider the show therapeutic, as in performing some cheap sense of yoga on one's mind, it gives characters that feel like your best friends that are simultaneously facing everyday problems with you.

Rest assured, "Six Feet Under" has enough themes and motifs to even keep the biggest Shakespearean suck up satisfied. Yet "Six Feet Under's" artistic mosaic becomes an after thought in the viewer's mind once they've accepted the Fischer family as their own.

Its been a near 30 years since the initial release of the original Tron. A film that at the time split the opinions and beliefs of it's many viewers. Some found it revolutionary and others found it to be complete sci-fi jargon which led to its inevitable cult following. Has the sequel delivered only to it's cult or has it also delivered to what could possibly be a mass success?

The answer is simple; Tron: Legacy will be a massive success. The reason for this? In an age where special effects rule the box office, Tron is absolutely full of them. And some pretty damn impressive effects at that. But sadly, the story is a complete mess. Its a lot of checkpoint non-sense. "Lets go here and find this, then go here" etc etc. But what it lacks in story it makes up for in technical splendor. From the 3D, to the effects,sound, and fantastic action sequences.

The acting all the way around is expectedly mediocre with the exception of Jeff Bridges whom is always entertaining. His dual role as the elder Kevin Flynn and the corrupt version of himself, Clu is quite impressive and always interesting to watch. A lot of his performance is fresh due to the uncanny motion capture that went into Bridges' Clu who looks like twenty something version of Bridges.

Tron: Legacy may not be the epic sequel die hard fans were waiting for all these years. But one thing can be said, Legacy is spectacular visual entertainment. But if I were to highlight my one major complaint it would be this; in a Tron film where in the world is Tron himself? Though he is in the film, and without spoiling anything, I was highly disappointed with the amount of screen time and the role he had to play for the story. Maybe this bothered me because Tron was always my favorite character from the Grid.

With a few reservations aside, Tron: Legacy is truly worth shelling out a few bucks to turn off your mind and just watch some awesome visuals invade your mind.