Month: February 2014

ROBOCOP (2014) MOVIE REVIEW

I’ll be honest. I went into this movie expecting a terrible, gimmicky, bastardized version of Robocop. I can safely say that with out a doubt, I was completely mistaken.

For starters, I love the original Robocop it’s one of my favorite movies directed by one of my favorite directors . Back in the 80’s Paul Verhoeven took a script that no one wanted and quite honestly read like a campy B-movie and made it into an ultraviolet, sci-fi crime drama. Simply put It’s a cult classic, whats not to love? Ok, maybe the sequels it spawned weren’t all that great, lol whatever lets stick to the original for now.

From the opening title (complete with signature theme music) Robocop has a serious “real world” tone to it. It deals with crazy science and technology that feels like it could become reality in the not too distant future.

 brought his own unique and refreshing flavor to the character of Alex Murphy and managed to pull off the iconic Robo-walk and the familiar overall presence of Peter Weller‘s performance. The antagonist of the film is Raymond Sellars played by , a stereo-typical megalomaniac, cooperate douche-genius a-la Steve Jobs but pulls it off surprisingly well with an over all, collective and eerie calm about him.  plays Murphy’s wife Clara Murphy and does a great job at delivering just enough drama to the story when it was needed without it getting too melodramatic plus she’s a hottie and that never hurts.

Here’s a perfect example of taking a piece of beloved pop-culture and bringing it up to date with out swearing off the original material. Robocop was a total homage to the original all while being it’s own movie. It was a perfect balance of cop drama, serious science fiction, and big budget action flick. The Acting was all spot-on, the story never dragged and watching it on the RPX screen (Regal Theaters version of IMAX) was so awesome (and so loud!).

When you go see this movie (AND YOU WILL!) don’t go in juxtaposing every detail with the original. Trust me, there’s plenty retro-love for the original Robocop sprinkled through out the film, all the way up to the end scene. Now if I were to nitpick I would say that the only thing that was missing from this version that the original 1987 film had plenty of, is Ultra-violence BUT at no point did I feel like it lacked violence, there’s plenty of deaths and gunshot wounds to keep the most jaded of action-movie goers satisfied. The film was surprisingly dramatic and gritty for its PG-13 rating. I’m glad the filmmakers didn’t take the cliche route by simply churning out another overly “dark”, big budget, anti-hero movie.

I’m totally happy with this take on Robocop, it was entertaining and because of it’s well balance approach to it subject matter, it’s suitable for a younger audience who now have a damn-good Robocop to call their own.

Director  and screenwriter Joshua Zetumer couldn’t have made a better Robocop reboot! So rest your retro-doubts and forget your pre-misconceptions of this film. Go out and see this movie you will not be disappointed!

“A Band Called Death” NETFLIX-IT MOVIE REVIEW

A year or two ago I was listening to a SMODCAST episode where Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier were discussing the premise of a documentary film that Scott was producing and it caught my attention and sorta stuck in the back of my mind. So tonight I was strolling through the documentary section of Netflix on my Wii U and I saw that they had it available for streaming and I finally got around to watching it.

A Band Called Death is the story about 3 blood brothers growing up in Detroit, Michigan and with the support of their mother they formed a band by the name of “Death” in the 1970’s.

The film takes us from the brothers early years showing us the strong family bond they share, the bands inception, the early struggles they faced trying to land a record deal with what was considered at the time a commercially unviable name, even facing the social stereo-type within their own community for producing “white boy music” and ultimately having the tiniest problem of creating an unusually loud, “a head of it’s time” protopunk-sound. The 3 members that make up the band are David Hackney (guitar), Bobby Hackney (bass, vocals), and Dannis Hackney (drums).

I was fascinated with all 3 brothers and found myself relating to them emotionally on an artistic, family and faith level. Throughout the film we see the dynamic of their upbringing taking an ever larger and important role in their lives, holding them together through some pretty hard times. Ultimately this film shows us how David Hackney had the foresight to see what they were doing was revolutionary, fresh and mind blowing; and not to mention the faith he had in his musical vision regardless of any pressure or temptation they faced to change the bands image and sound for a record deal. Something that most of us would-be artists wouldn’t have the strength to do in our respected fields.

A Band Called Death is unforgettable, spiritual, real and as close as you can get to following artists on their life long pursuit of fulfilling their dreams. The filmmakers behind this film do a phenomenal job at telling the bands story but also managed to poetically interweave the cryptic message of why David Hackney decided to name the band Death in the first place.

“Death isn’t the end, it’s a spiritual begining.”

I could not recommend this documentary enough, if you’re into good docs, good flicks then don’t cheat yourself out of this gem. So what are you waiting for #NetFlixit!!!

STUMBLE UPON: You’re on Punishment with Waka Flocka Flame

waka-flocka-youre-on-punishment-250x179A MUST WATCH video about the consequences of trying to sneak your way around punishment. Thanks to the awesome people at PitchforkTv we found a hilarious video featuring rapper Waka Flocka Flame telling a story about when he was under punishment and had to suffer the discipline under his Grandmother’s hand… Check it out!!!

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