Tron Returns

Sometimes, the strangest movies get sequels.
I'm not going to go off on a tangent expressing my love for 1982's Tron (there's time for that later.) But, come Dec. 17, 2010, we'll be getting a movie that appears to be a gorgeous bit of cyberpunk escapism that will wash the taste of The Matrix series from our collective palettes.

Tron Legacy.

There's a viral site online called Flynn Lives, not to be confused with Gregory MacDonald's Flynn series of mysteries (nor the Chevy Chase movie Fletch Lives, also based on MacDonald's character.) The site follows the fictitious career of computer designer Kevin Flynn, played in both Tron and Tron Legacy by the great Jeff Bridges.

Flynn Lives recently sprouted a branch. If you visit www.flynnlives.com/zerohour/, you'll be taken to a Flash animation that appears to be a countdown clock to the film's release date. The timer is spelled in binary code using the Yes/No messages from Bit, the R2-D2 character from the original film.

If you haven't seen the demo reel that showed at ComicCon last year, I've pasted it below. It's amazing. And did I mention that Daft Punk is doing the film's score?