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02-14-2014, 10:43 AM | #661 |
Half-Boiled Lifestyle.
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Bonn, Germany
Posts: 5,623
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Just saw the Lego Movie...damn I would have never ever imagined that this movie would be THIS awesome.
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02-14-2014, 10:46 AM | #662 |
Big Bad Wolf.
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Raiding tombs.
Posts: 9,529
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Watched the RoboCop remake yesterday:
RoboCop is a film that strives for greatness, and at times it reaches its own ambitious heights in moments that truly outclass the original. Given what this film is about, it's beautifully ironic that the marketing for this film itself was so incredibly poor. I know there'll be lovers of the original who'll go to see this just to crap on it but I ironically think they'll gain the most enjoyment out of this, when they realise it isn't a downright disaster like some other modern Sci-Fi remakes. It fits awkwardly between the realms of a loving companion piece, as the film features pretty much every key moment and idea and spins them in new directions, with a thoughtful appreciation and attempt at modernisation and the obnoxious sort of remakes which want to bombast, outdo and undermine the original like an insecure piece of shit. Luckily though more often than not the sheer strength of the ideas makes the concepts land, even as the poor execution seems destined for it to miss. The original was a satire, and a good one at that, but it never really felt like it wanted to be anything more than that. There is nothing wrong with that, it was an extremely entertaining piece of entertainment, but this RoboCop however really has greater ambitions, it wants to be about something and for the most part, it is just as intelligent as it thinks it is. It's basically the same old story but now RoboCop has gotten an upgrade. Translating the story across to modern times, but reshaping every moment to see how it would look, feel, work and react now this story is existing in our modern post-9/11 world of paranoia. It also has lots to say about focus groups and marketing 'he transforms, kids love that!' and it's all very sharp, accessible and on point, featuring an America that is happy to throw away its very soul for the person who says the nicer sounding words. Better still is between this much more straight faced political critique of the future just beyond the horizon, is also an increased focus into Murphy himself. This is something that would never be caught dead in the original, but is here the central jumping off point for some of the movies best tweaks to the original formula. So although the new RoboCop suit is hideous, thanks to the black draining out all the detail of the suit in what I can only assume is a thinly disguised cost saving measure, he is actually a much more interesting character and a much more fleshed out human being. The original RoboCop was, ironically, almost unimportant to his own story despite the fact that the film was named after him. Him being a robot cop was really more of a cool novelty, than something the plot hung on, he could have just as easily been Pirate Cop with little narrative adjusting needed. Here however the film is both much more about what being RoboCop MEANS both to him as a person - and in harrowing fashion I must say - and also the wider world around it. RoboCop in his very existence is a critique of our world in a way that just didn't work so completely in 1987 and thus he actually feels integral to the plot, as they both manage to up the ante - one of the few times the film ups the ante successfully - without losing any sight of the its humanity, providing a RoboCop both as a character and a film with all the heart and soul the original lacked. Biggest surprise though goes to Abbie Cornish. She looks lovely, and seeing her in her bra on the big screen is always a treat, but I also assumed that'd be all she'd be here for and was ready to add this to the list of new additions to RoboCop we didn't need. What her character, Clara, turns out to be though is perhaps the most progressive element of the whole film. In the original Murphy's family were practically written out of the film, but Clara here is a fiercely strong woman, independent and active who is trapped in a moral grey web of the shared knowledge between her and the audience, that she signed the consent forms and got this ball rolling in the first place, even if the ultimate trajectory for the ball is a good one, it takes a long time before it gets to that good place. She is almost, ultimately, as crucial to the proceedings as RoboCop is and that made a refreshing change for this kind of character. Although this film lacks the originals extreme violence, don't feel too downhearted. Sure one bullet in the original spilt enough blood to go around in this film, but there are key moments of gloriously extreme violence here, that hark back to originals best moments. There is one moment, fairly early on, where an ED 209 spots a child holding a kitchen knife, when the kid doesn't put the knife down, ED guns him down in a moment so brutal and from the marketing, so surprising, I'd love to see the reaction from unaware Mums and Children in a full screening. Similarly are the scenes of RoboCop beneath the suit, which is imagery so disturbing, I'm pretty sure this film will be giving kids (and adults!) nightmares for weeks. Sadly though, despite these brief moments, most of the action is just too poorly constructed to really praise. It wants to feel gritty and urban, when in reality it embodies the worst tropes of modern action construction. The camera refuses to stay still leaving the action feeling cluttered, incoherent and pretty much impossible to follow. Further problems still, given what this film is about, it wants to provide a RoboCop in "realistic" warfare scenarios which immediately falls flat because basically all he fights are robots, like he's in a cartoon. Honestly, even despite how dated the original now looks, this features action sequences so ridiculous (and so over processed in all of its hideous CGI gratuitousness) they feel completely out of place and clash with the films otherwise utterly serious tone. I guess that is probably the most ironic thing, this new RoboCop, both despite how the original played out and how the marketing showed this one off, is actually much more satisfying cerebrally than the action romp you probably expected to get. I'm not sure whether to complain or not.
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02-16-2014, 10:31 AM | #663 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 277
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I saw the LEGO movie last night, and I couldn't believe how good it was.
This movie is in a nutshell, a love letter to anyone who played with LEGO as a child. You combined themes, you built your own models, and most importantly, YOU DID WHATEVER YOU WANTED. The LEGO Company has done an excellent job in crafting a PSA in the disguise of a 90 minute movie. Batman effectively steals the movie from the minute he shows up on screen, and same goes for Superman to a lesser extent. This leads to one of my minor complaints. Where were the Marvel characters? I realize that this is a Warner Bros. movie and DC got top billing, but it would have been nice to see a couple of the Marvel LEGO minifigs at least make a cameo. We get TMNT, Simpsons, LotR, Harry Potter, and another DIsney property (which I'm not going to spoil here). Bottom line, GO!!! |
02-16-2014, 06:10 PM | #664 |
Big Bad Wolf.
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Raiding tombs.
Posts: 9,529
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Saw Lone Survivor.
Lone Survivor has proven to be my most challenging review to write, since I started properly reviewing films in 2009. It isn't because it's some perfect vessel of filmic nirvana, actually as far as films go it isn't a particularly good one and I don't want to argue that the true events should cloud your judgement of the film version...but honestly it was pretty much impossible to keep the movie events separate from the real events themselves. This is a tale of true heroism, a story of real people and whenever it feels like the political statements are too heavy handed, when it feels the movie may be tipping into all out jingoism, when you feel like the macho action beats are perhaps detracting from the actual point of the film or when it feels like another tale of the magical white man you're reminded once again - this actually FUCKING happened. This is a story human limits, human spirit and is grounded in harrowing futility of life itself. Any flaws are pale in the comparison to what actually happened to the real men this film is based around and it's pretty much impossible to stay angry at a film that chronicles something this downright incredible. Are the characters thinly drawn, is the pace downright terrible, are the tones and messages all over the map? Correct to all of them, but as a basic human being, a creature with a heart and a soul and a chemical imbalance in your brain that makes you cry at the end you just can't physically do it to yourself to say anything bad about this film. This ultimately, for me at least, basically makes the film bullet proof. And I just find it ironic that so many other people seem to be able to turn off their emotions, and in turn entirely miss the point of the whole film. I've seen people make statements like 'war porn' which are so completely and utterly wrong in every single regard that I can't even accept that as an opinion. This isn't a glorification of what happened during this operation, glorification of the men perhaps, but DAMN RIGHT. Are you saying the film should do otherwise? Considering why and how they ended up in the situation they did, if you do think otherwise, you may as well go get fucked. War isn't a clean cut down the middle black and white battle of good and evil, it's just as dirty and complicated as this movie presents it and I just love that. Stylish enough to be visually interesting, but grounded enough to pack a serious punch. These are just four guys, and in the real world, no matter how elite you are - numbers are everything. Even though we know no one is going to survive but one, it's how they go down that matters. And it does matter to us, and that is the key to the magic of Lone Survivor, and the reason why I think it's a bona fide masterpiece of cinema.
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02-17-2014, 07:36 PM | #665 |
Mild-Mannered Reporter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Everywhere and nowhere, according to String Theory.
Posts: 5,462
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The LEGO Movie is awesome. Stop reading this post and go watch it.
... What the flying, flaming, flamingo-legged $%@ are you still doing, reading this post? GO! GO NOW! |
02-17-2014, 08:06 PM | #666 |
Go beyond...PLUS ULTRA!!!
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Higher than you'd think, but lower than you'd hope.
Posts: 7,044
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I want to...but I don't have anyone to see it with...
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02-17-2014, 08:11 PM | #667 |
Amateur Procrastinator
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Colombia
Posts: 7,491
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Ditto... T_T
Hug? |
02-17-2014, 08:12 PM | #668 |
Mild-Mannered Reporter
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Everywhere and nowhere, according to String Theory.
Posts: 5,462
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Print this out and take her with you:
Or ask KamenRiderOOO to meet up with you in a theater halfway between your dwellings. |
02-17-2014, 08:14 PM | #669 |
Go beyond...PLUS ULTRA!!!
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Higher than you'd think, but lower than you'd hope.
Posts: 7,044
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*Quick Hugs*
Quote:
Maybe...
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02-17-2014, 08:18 PM | #670 |
SHF Buying Fool
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Florida
Posts: 3,586
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Why do you need someone to go to the movies with you? Honestly curious, not trying to be a tool. I generally prefer to see films on my own so I always find it odd when people insist they need others to go.
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