The Morning Watch: 'TRON Legacy' Updated With DeepFake, Looking Back At 'Small Soldiers' & More
The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fanmade productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows.
In this edition, watch the dated visual effects used to bring young Jeff Bridges to life in TRON Legacy given a makeover with DeepFake technology. Plus, take a look back at Joe Dante's darker, Gremlins-esque take on Toy Story with a retrospective on Small Soldiers. And finally, listen to Glenn Close take a look back at some of her most memorable characters, from The Big Chill to the live-action 101 Dalmatians remake and beyond.
First up, though the visual effects technology was innovative at the time, the digitally created young Jeff Bridges is nothing compared to the de-aging effects we've seen in movies like Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame. But YouTuber Shamook has applied DeepFake technology to the character of CLU to make the digital young Jeff Bridges look infinitely better.
Next, even though the idea of toys coming to life was turned into a heartwarming tale in Pixar Animation's first feature length computer animated movie, director Joe Dante took a different approach with Small Soldiers. When action figures are given artificially intelligent military computer chips, they come to life and wreak havoc on humans, making for a movie that seems like it should be mostly family friendly, but as Syfy Wire looks back at the movie, you'll remember it's actually kind of terrifying.
Finally, with Hillbilly Elegy now available on Netflix, listen as Vanity Fair has Glenn Close look back at her extensive career on the big screen, including thrillers like Fatal Attraction and Dangerous Liaisons, her incredible take on Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians, negotiating with terrorists in Air Force One, policing space in Guardians of the Galaxy, and much more.