RoboCop (2014)

RoboCop is a 2014 American science fiction action film directed by José Padilha. 

With a $130 million price tag on this film reboot , Colombia Pictures has hedged heavily on this reboot . 

With no stinger or extras during the credits , one does wonder about a sequel . But all $130 million is seen on the screen , special effects are good through out the film . 

Almost undetectable except in battle sequences between the hero and his large counter-part.

The story remains the same as the 1987 with some modern twist , the updates make the hero far more aware as they begin , but his awareness and emotions is faded in the middle by order of the evil bad guy , and a turn of heart leads to RoboCop rescue and victory in the end .

Does the story of man or machine , still ring through today ? In 1987 many could barely understand computers , far less dream of the Internet . 

In 2014 RoboCop is nearer to reality than fantasy , and this give far rise to the more moral questions that are scratch on the surface, and fail to have the deep moral discussion that could have been explored.

Actor Joel Kinnaman is the wounded police officer transformed into the Crime-Fighting Cyborg, to say the acting by him was emotional or wooden in parts , is only to say he did exactly what was required of him in the script.

Actor Gary Oldman is once again amazing , did not recognize him until after the film was over and the credits rolled. 

While Samuel L Jackson must have been pissed , spending days in front of a blue screen , only interaction was with Michael Keaton .

At the end of the day , the truth is , the special effects are the star of the film ,  and as a result the story feels like it suffered . In 1987 where more of the action was done in real , the 2014 digital special effects add to the excitement , and the dialogue to establish character and story-line was not there .

An opening sequence, with the occupation of Tehran by American force , don't expect a box office bump from it's release in IRAN.

With a run time of less than two hours , I felt a lot more could have been included , and I hope to see much more in an extended DVD . But definitely a must see on the big screen , if just for the roller coaster ride of action , car chases and special effects .

Digicel Imax, WoodBrook, Port-of-Spain

Rise of the Planet of the Apes ( 2011 )

Rise of the Planet of the Apes . ( 2011 )

Apes will Rise .


Such is the tag line of the movie , and the Apes do Rise . 

The Storyline is quite simple , through a series of unfortunate events ; and the development of a new drug , delivered with a virus . Apes Rise . Caesar , is the first , and then come the others , and the revolution beings .

The apes are real , Special Effects are NOT Noticeable at all . We have come a 1000 years from Arnold Scharwergger's horrible appearance in a Terminator 3 , or the Scorpion King in the Mummy 2 .  

Watch out for all the nods to the original films , the launch of the ICARCUS spaceship carrying Charton Heston in the original 1968 movie , as well as Heston appearing on a TV in the background . And Of course the infamous line is spoke "Get Your Hands Off Me, You Damn Dirty Ape"    

What is most interesting , and is not addressed directly in the movie , is not the demise of mankind , or the rise of the apes , but the story of the apes .

Caesar address the basics problem of revoluntary leaders everywhere , ape is weak , apes together are strong . And the true cynic in the film , state a fact , APES STUPID .

And this bring up a question , when was the script written ? The question arises when the revolution starts . One gets the sense that the recent revolution in the middle east Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria , stirred on the story . Did art imitate life , or did life imitate art ? Or has the revolution become so predictable , we can insert the template into a script .

In 1979 , the Shah of Iran fell to people power , protest in the streets . In 2009 those same leaders of 1979 , shot citizens in the street .

The Apes are not in fact Apes , they are  young people , the next generation . 
Who shall inherit the reigns of leadership ?
Where is our Caesar ?  






Twitter hash tag #apeswillrise

Paul ( 2011 )

Paul ( 2011 )

Two nerd from England go to the United States to attend a Comic Convention , and do a road trip to the famous UFO landmarks . They run into an alien , and help him get home .

The movie is a nerd / geek trip , and I being a geek , had a hard time following some of the stuff . Sure we all know Area 51 , and Roswell , New Mexico , but the "the Black Mailbox" was a little outside my field of knowledge .

For more on the Black Mailbox : 
Info : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_mailbox   
Location : http://wikimapia.org/68004/the-Black-Mailbox
Picture : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Black_Mailbox_Road.jpg

The movie maintains normal storyline , the heroes , the victim , the bad guys and the final showdown . Yet through it all , it becomes a buddy movie , discussion of friendship , girls , marijuana , alcohol , the size of one's own sexually organ ( you know penis ) , Paul quickly becomes one of the boys .

The movie gives nods to , Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Star Trek , Star Wars , Aliens , Back to the future ,and Mac & Me . Many would be lost to normal people , but to the geekworld it is really cool . I found a list of all the inside the jokes at : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1092026/movieconnections

A read through before going to see the film would increase the enjoyable factor by at least three . Nothing mentioned in the movie connections would be a spoiler .

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost

Does the film work ? YES the general public can go and see a buddy movie , an action / chase movie , a comedy movie and a science fiction movie and come out feeling like they got their money's worth .

Then there are those of us who will recognize the music from the Canteen Scene in Star Wars : Episode IV , and lines like "Boring Conversation anyway." and " Get say from her , YOU BITCH ! " . For us the movie works on an entirely different level .

Paul will never fall into the category of a classic , but will appeal to the young and older science fiction fans , and the chicks that they drag along kicking and screaming will get a laugh out of it too.

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I am Number Four ( 2011 )

The movie opens with a hunt , and the victim is Number Three . The plot continues that , Number four is aware of the demise of the first three , and he knows he is next . With his protector's guidance, ( a Cêpan , for those of you wanting to learn the LINGO ) they are on the run to a new town , a new school , new friends and bad guys hot on their tails . So the chase is on and story is predictable .

When buying the tickets , the female cashier warned us , and told us not to bother . Her actual words were "A Big man like you would not want to see that " .

Then while inside , on the way in to the theater , ran into a friend , who say her friends walked out on the film .

So when I sat down , I was ready for a REAL BOMB , however I was satisfied after wards with the normal junk food movie produced by Hollywood .



The problem was not the story , or the special effects ; it was the thin story and cheap special effects .



The Good Guys and the Bad Guys are from planets far, far away . They were involved in a war between the races . A War scene that is never seen , and would have cost money . For reference pull out the T2 : Judgement Day DVD , and watch the opening sequence between mankind and the machine army . This could have setup in the audience minds , the ability to accept the story .

The absence of this sci-fi homeworld world war scene , gave the story a real thin layer . You had to really work to suspense your dis-belief .

Super-powers young person smacked of "Smallville" , and there is no KRISTEN KRUEK to help the story along , just some high-school blond .

Many friends and family of who I spoke to dis-liked the film . However . . . . the audience target is not in my friends and family range .

The release of the film , between Harry Potter 7.1 and 7.2 , and before the Twilight 4.1 and 4.2 , should be an indication of whom they are targeting : They are trying to past the torch , from one TWEEN book series movie franchise to another TWEEN book series movie franchise .




The listing says the book is the first of six , and by the time we reach the sixth movie , we may have a major franchise on our hands . Are story writers are going for a Space Age Harry Potter , will we return to Krypton and take revenge and liberate our world ?

There is a lot of story line to fill in , alot of background to go through . Special Effects companies be on the alert . We could go into a all out work horse here to give Star Wars a run for their money , action figures and all .

But this is not " A New Hope " .

The major thing as the credits rolled is the name "Micheal Bay" , With Transformers 3 in the can and due for release soon , if he seeks to role over this into s success full franchise , he better start planning from now .

TRON ( 2010 )

TRON ( 2010 ) : What do you write about a sequel done 28 years after the first movie ?

" POWER TO THE USERS "

After the first film , Kevin Flynn spends time going into "the GRID" and out in the real world . Building "the GRID" inside , but in 1989 , he failed to return .

Now his son is looking for him , Sam Flynn , naturally entering the "the GRID" .

So there is RINZLER , CLU , QUORRA , CASTOR , ZUSE , TRON .

Basically the USER , Kevin Flynn has lost control of "the GRID" and CLU has taken over . So much for storyline .

Special Effect , YES go see it in 3D , YES go see it in iMax , YES GO AND SEE IT .

Finally in the last 12 months, with the resurgence of 3D , this is the film that makes it worth while . I expect alot more from the science fiction in 3D and with this film , expect a onslaught of copycats .

Could the action sequences be better ? YES .

But the movie is a must-see on the large screen in 3D , the Blu-Ray or DVD is just not going to cut it this time around .

Trailer #1 and #2