12 minute read
Film
from Feb. 20, 2014
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RoboCop
There’s a slew of ’80s remakes getting thrown at us lately. Endless Love and About Last Night both got re-dos just in time for Valentine’s Day. On that very same day, a day of candy and heart-shaped cards, MGM released an updated version of a very different sort of film, that being Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 ultra-violent satiric masterpiece, RoboCop. by The idea to reboot RoboCop has been Bob Grimm kicking around for years. The last RoboCop, bgrimm@ the remarkably awful RoboCop 3, came out newsreview.com more than 20 years ago. At one point, director Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain, Requiem for 3 a Dream) was attached to helm, and that gave geeks and fanboys cause for rejoicing. Alas, Aronofsky dropped out to make Black Swan instead. Oh, well—a chance for legendary coolness got squandered.
“If I only had a heart ...”
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In stepped Brazilian director Jose Padilha (Elite Squad), who eventually received a mandate to produce a PG-13 RoboCop (as opposed to the hard-R original) so that more money could be made upon its release. After a tumultuous production, we have the result.
And that result? Not that bad … not bad at all.
Padilha and writer Joshua Zetumer wisely go for something very different this time out. The new RoboCop is still subversive, and perhaps satirical when it comes to its presentation of the media. Conversely, this one has a little more heart and emotion than the nasty original.
Now, normally, I’d cry foul at this sort of thing, because I do love my RoboCop bloody, but a strong cast and a visually sound presentation lead to a movie that is, at the least, worth watching even if it pales in comparison to Verhoeven’s insane incarnation.
Joel Kinnaman steps into the role of Alex Murphy, a Detroit cop in the year 2028 who gets himself blown up after causing too much trouble for a criminal kingpin. Murphy, with the permission of his wife (Abbie Cornish), has his life saved by being placed into an armored endoskeleton with the purpose of making him a law enforcement superhero.
In the original, Murphy (well played by Peter Weller) started his crime crusade not really knowing who he was, with memories suppressed. He eventually figured out his identity and solved his own murder.
The new film drastically diverts from the original, having its Murphy freak out upon waking up as a robot, fully cognizant of who he is. It’s only when his emotional stability comes into question that his doctor (Gary Oldman) decides to mess with his brain and shoot him full of dopamine, turning him into a robot zombie. I heard about this twist in advance, and I didn’t like the sound of it. Alas, the idea of a man knowing full well that he has been turned into a cyborg is a relatively scintillating cinematic topic, and it’s handled well. Murphy’s wife and kid play a bigger part in this story, and that turns out to be fine. This is still, very much, a RoboCop movie even with the emotional factor and decreased violence. Michael Keaton represents the evil corporation that creates RoboCop. His Raymond Sellars is evil in a more understated way than Ronny Cox’s Dick Jones from the ’87 film, but he’s just as sinister. Michael K. Williams essentially takes over the loyal partner role played by Nancy Allen in the original.
Jackie Earle Haley gets one of his funniest roles ever as a militaristic policeman, while Samuel L. Jackson gets to scream as a sensationalistic talk show host. I guess Jackson is essentially taking over the role played by Leeza Gibbons in the original.
The movie also contains some clever winks to the original, including an army of ED-209s—the cumbersome war machine that fell down the stairs squealing in the original— and a nod to the original look of the RoboCop suit before Keaton’s character switches it to a black model.
RoboCop is a remake that totally rewrites an original in a way that won’t piss off its legions of fans. One hundred years from now, if anybody is watching RoboCop movies, I imagine the Verhoeven film will still be the one most in favor. The new one amounts to a decent enough curio, but it’s not a classic. Ω
3About Last Night Don’t just file this one away as another unnecessary remake of an ’80s film, because Kevin Hart and company make the latest adaptation of David Mamet’s play Sexual Perversity in Chicago a wildly entertaining endeavor. Hart, who lights up any film he shows up in even when they stink, plays Bernie, a player who finds himself in a relationship with the fiery Joan (Regina Hall). While Bernie and Joan experience a wild rollercoaster ride of sex and spats, Bernie’s best bud Danny (Michael Ealy) winds up dating Joan’s best friend Debbie (Joy Bryant). The two have a one-night stand that turns into a long-term relationship replete with all the problems of a relationship that started up way too fast. The main reason to see the film is Hart and Hall, who are a crack up under the direction of Steve Pink (Hot Tub Time Machine). However, Ealy and Bryant make for an appealing and intriguing screen couple, so the movie doesn’t nosedive when the action switches to them. It’s better than the original, which starred Rob Lowe, Demi Moore and flippin’ James Belushi. Screw that movie.
4American Hustle David O. Russell continues his impressive directorial roll with this semi-comedic look at the notorious ’70s Abscam scandal. This is basically Russell shooting for Scorsese glory here, and while the style of the movie seems copied at times, there’s no denying the power of the ensemble cast. Bradley Cooper scores laughs as a pathetic FBI agent looking to make a name for himself, and Christian Bale looks great in a comb-over as the conman forced into an alliance with the law. Amy Adams gets one of the strangest roles of the year as a con artist pretending to be British, and she pulls it off quite nicely, while Jennifer Lawrence steals her every scene as a seemingly dim Long Island housewife. You also get stand up comic Louis C.K. as Cooper’s field boss. The film falls a little short of greatness due to its sometimes carbon copy feel, but the cast pulls it out of the fire. It also has the best use of Robert De Niro as a bad guy in many years.
3Frozen I have to admit I was more into the strange Mickey Mouse short that precedes this musical adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Snow Queen” than the actual feature. It features retro Mickey busting out of a black and white film and becoming 3-D as he battles a bad guy kidnapping Minnie. It’s worth the price of admission. As for the actual feature movie, Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel have wonderful voices, and the visuals are fun to behold in this middle-of-the-road Disney fare. It has a lot of music—some of it quite good, some of it, well, not—and a beautiful look to it. For recent Disney animation, my vote goes to Tangled for best, but that’s not to say this one is a letdown. It’s OK. Just OK. It’s about on par with Pixar’s latest, Monster’s University. It’s fun to watch, but not altogether memorable.
4The Lego Movie Fast paced, frequently hilarious, and visually fun, this is the sort of movie we’ve come to expect from Pixar, one that appeals to both kids and adults on many levels. It’s also notable that it isn’t a Pixar film, but a product of the still formidable but inconsistent Warner Brothers animation wing. The plot follows Emmet (Chris Pratt), a “generic” builder as he goes about his homogenized life, building structures under strict deadlines, listening to the same song (Tegan and Sara’s terrific “Everything is Awesome”) every minute of the day, and following the rules of the omnipotent President Business (Will Ferrell). President Business demands conformity in a decidedly socialistic way, but he keeps everybody at bay by promising Taco Tuesdays. Things change instantly when Emmet meets Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks), who reveals to Emmet that he’s living in a pre-programmed world, and there’s the possibility for real life beyond its walls (echoes of The Matrix and Terry Gilliam’s Brazil). Emmet joins forces with Wildstyle and her extremely cool boyfriend, Batman (Arnett) to take down the establishment and restore freewill. The Lego Movie is a bit exhausting at times, but at least the constant stream of activity is laced with super intelligence rather than bombastic, vapid visuals. It’s a cliché, but I’ll say it: “Fun for the whole family!” 4 Lone Survivor This is an explosive passion project from writer-director Peter Berg that takes an unrelentingly gruesome look at Operation Red Wings, the failed 2005 Afghanistan mission that claimed the lives of 19 American soldiers. Most of the movie centers on the four Navy SEALs dropped into hostile territory, and how an unfortunate civilian encounter and communications problems led to a massive gun battle of insurmountable odds. Mark Wahlberg plays Marcus Luttrell, the Navy SEAL who co-wrote the book this movie is based upon. Luttrell, along with Navy SEALs Michael Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch) and Matt Axelson (Ben Foster), were performing reconnaissance for a mission meant to capture or kill a notorious Taliban leader when a trio of goat herders stumbled upon their camp. The resultant ambush is filmed with many gory details, and will be a hard watch for some. The stuntmen who worked on this movie did an incredible job, and the cast is one of 2013’s strongest ensembles.
3The Monuments Men Director George Clooney’s war epic about historians racing to save art from the Nazis looks and feels like it was just taken out of a time capsule buried in 1958. It’s quite breezy for a war movie, peppered with laughs provided by a strong cast including Clooney, Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin, Bob Balaban and John Goodman as men trying to thwart Hitler’s plan for a giant museum. It has one of those whistle-infused soundtracks, and it doesn’t hurt that Clooney and Dujardin look like Errol Flynn and Gene Kelly. The movie moves briskly, and is perhaps a bit too weightless for a movie of such heavy subject matter. It also has a useless subplot involving Damon and Cate Blanchett. Still, Clooney has great command of the camera here, the ensemble (especially Murray and Goodman) shines, and it’s fun to watch. This is an interesting piece of World War II history, and it’s good that somebody has made a decent movie to cover this chapter of Hitler insanity.
3Nebraska I can’t deny the wonderful acting work from the likes of Bruce Dern, Will Forte, Bob Odenkirk and especially June Squibb. They are all wonderful in this movie. What I can bemoan is the stupid, stupid story propelling that acting. Dern plays an old codger who becomes convinced that he’s won a million dollars because of a magazine subscription letter saying he’s a winner. So he starts walking from Montana to Nebraska, and his son (Forte) eventually helps him on his quest with an automobile. The premise is too improbable for a serious comedy movie. Still, it does lay the groundwork for some decent father-son dynamic between Dern and Forte, and Odenkirk shows up as another son and knocks his part out of the park. Of the six Oscar nominations this film earned, I would call Squibb the most deserving for her work as Dern’s droll wife. The black and white cinematography is also quite nice. As for Best Screenplay, Best Picture and Best Actor, I wouldn’t go there. The movie is good in a peculiar way, but far from great.
1That Awkward Moment This romantic comedy starring Zac Efron, Miles Teller and Michael B. Jordan has a promising start. It actually plays like a cool throwback to the romantic/sex comedies of the ’80s for its opening, until somewhere around the mid point of the movie. Then it takes a drastic downward turn towards comedic Hades and becomes a total garbage party. This ensemble of decent-to-great actors play Jason, Daniel and Mikey (Efron, Teller and Jordan respectively) as some New York City-dwelling 20-somethings dealing with modern day romance in a time of Facebook, texting and infidelity. When Mikey finds out his wife is cheating and he’s heading for divorce, the other two join him in a pact to avoid relationships and stay single. It’s dating and debauchery for the three, with no commitments allowed. The moment when Efron shows up dressed as “Rock Out with Your Cock Out!” for a cocktail party is jarringly stupid. Too bad, because the actors have a hint of comic chemistry, and Imogen Poots is sweet as Efron’s love interest. The fatal flaw of this movie is that rather than sticking to a plan and being a true film about the perils of dating and relationships, it wants to be the new American Pie. Striving to be something that already sucked and falling short means you suck more.
Think Free
NOTICE TO POTENTIAL AGGRIEVED PERSONS
On October 24th, 2013, a settlement fund was established to compensate persons with disabilities who encountered unlawful discrimination in connection with an assistance animal at Rosewood Park Apartments in Reno, Nevada. The Fair Housing Act requires that a landlord grant reasonable accommodation requests to persons with disabilities. This includes granting requests from persons with disabilities who rely on assistance animals to waive pet rules and “no pet” policies. An assistance animal is an animal that does work or performs tasks for the benefit of a person with a disability or provides emotional support or other assistance that alleviates one or more symptoms or effects of a person’s disability.
IF YOU ARE A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY AND HAVE AN ASSISTANCE ANIMAL, YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO A MONETARY AWARD IF: • You were denied the opportunity to live at Rosewood Park Apartments in Reno,
Nevada because of a “no pets” policy. • You were required to pay pet fees or a pet deposit for the assistance animal. • You were required to live in a certain section of Rosewood Park Apartments.
If you believe you fall into one of these categories, or if you have information about someone else you believe falls into one of these categories, please contact the United States Department of Justice, no later than July 11th, 2014, at: 1-800-896-7743 and select menu option 8. You may also write to:
United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Housing and Civil Enforcement Section 1800 G Street, N.W., Suite 7002 Washington, DC 20006 Attn: DJ# 175-46-135
Your telephone message or letter must include your name, address, and, if possible, at least TWO telephone numbers where you may be reached.
