OBLIVION--a pygmy review: #TronLegacy is the sort of film I could watch again. And again. And again. And have. It remains one of my favorite films of recent years. I know it's not, by any stretch, a great film, but for a whole host of synchronized reasons, it worked inimitably for me. Director #JosephKosinski's directorial debut was bracingly slick, deliriously fun, audaciously realized and sexy as hell. The term "sophomore slump" was invented to describe those artists who drive one into the bleachers their first time at bat, but strike out the next time they step up to the plate. So does #Oblivion, Kosinski's second film, about the last vestiges of humanity after an alien attack, fall into that all-too common category? Indubitably, no. "Oblivion," while very different in tone and look to its predecessor, is nearly equal to its stunningly realized and impeccably fleshed-out world. Kosinski is not just an artist, he is a visionary. No matter how far his films dive headlong into the maelstrom that is heady science fiction, they always manage to feel staggeringly real and authentic on every level. Like a flower that opens slowly, unfolding its spectacular petals to track the rising sun, "Oblivion" takes its time and we are the better for it--we come to know this blighted and beautiful world inside and out. "Oblivion" is a film of stark grandeur and harrowing beauty, combining sweeping Icelandic cinematography with some of the most photo-realistic visual effects ever seen. And like "Tron's" bold yet eminently satisfying Daft Punk score, "Oblivion" likewise is powered by yet another terrifically unorthodox choice in M83. Equal parts cerebral and adrenaline, "Oblivion" is like a Rubik's Cube that begins impossibly out of joint, but by the film's end, comes together impeccably. It is a story of loss, both personal and corporate, as well as how we define humanity--is it our bodies, our invisible souls or our memories that make us who we are? In short, while the cinematic year is obviously just beginning, "Oblivion" rests easily and comfortably in the catbird seat. Like Kosinski's first film, I can already tell that "Oblivion" is going to be a film I will be watching again. And again. And again. I moved to LA to make films exactly like this.

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