It’s the year 2028 and this cutting-edge robotics company OmniCorp lead by a ruthless Michael Keaton has supplied the U.S. military with drones for use overseas. In the beginning of the movie we learn that they have run into problems with bringing their robotic police/ counter insurgency technology into the USA. OmniCorp decides that they need to court the public. They believe that if the public can get behind a product they can begin to flood the american markets with their technology. The powers that be at Omnicorp decide finally to transform a critically injured police officer Alex Murphy into a cyborg cop. After the first tests aren’t too promising, Detective Murphy is re-programmed to operate strictly on software and not human emotion. While this is initially successful, Murphy’s emotions interfere with his programming. He sets out to right some wrong and all hell breaks loose.
My Thoughts
I enjoyed this movie very much in part because Jack Daniels was running through my veins. The Plot Summary is no surprise especially if you saw the first RoboCop movie or like action flicks. If you are going to see the gratuitous killing and bad action movie on-liners you will be partly disappointed. There were no bad one-liners but there was an amazing amount of killing but not of the type that made me cringe when I saw the movie when I was 7 years old. In other words no one was shot in the dick this time around.
That’s what many people are complaining about. To be more specific:”Pretty much like the original but less funny, less violent and with political themes brought to the forefront. Box office gold!“The first Robocop movie was pretty prophetic. If you watch it again you may gawk at the technology and special effects but you see there the seeds of what blossomed into life today: militarization of police, a really fucked up Detroit, technocratic society where CEO can wield power unchecked. I think the greatest thing about this new reboot was that it wasn’t just a recasting of the old movie in a modern context. It is actually a dialogue. So much in our society has changed and that change has been taken into consideration in this movie. Instead of being a vision of the future there is an allegory for the present. here is an incomplete Dramatis Personae
Omnicorp – an almost ubiquitous company that can use their movie and subversive marketing to decide the fate of citizens.
There is the News Industrial Complex working in collaboration with whoever wields the most money. Samuel L Jackson does a great job, in his role in the movie. (He looks a little like James Brown though).
There is the conflict within between our humanity and our basal drives. I see this most in the character of Robocop. he’s existence is a conundrum. Is he a man or machine? Are we at this moment fully living our potentials as human beings or are we slaves to the lesser drives of material acquisition and seeking comfort and safety.
Of course there are some incredible blurred lines between right and wrong, free an entrapped. But for just this ‘dialogue’ itself between this movie and its predecessor between the America of the late 80’s and the America of the day made the movie worthwhile. It was fun to watch, there was action, some message, and that is more than I can say for most films in this genre. Check it out and tell me what you think
I don’t know how it started, but in my house the James Bond Moves are an institution. We have seen every last one of the movies, even the one with George Lasenby that no one likes to talk about. However as much of the fan of the movies as I am I had never seen a Bond film in the theatre. Of all the incarnations of Agent 007, Sean Connery is my favourite ! I love Sean Connery I used to actually do a pretty spot on impersonation when I was in high school. However this Daniel Craig plays a really interesting Bond, he ads a complexity to him that I haven’t seen before. There is a reserve, a kind of stoic-ness, a kind of introspective. I loved Casino Royale, and I actually really like Quantum Solace. Suffice it to say I had to see Skyfall on opening Night.
SkyFall Theme
The theme is sung by Adele and is extremely fitting for the movie. It is on the same level as:
Shirley Bassey‘s “Goldfinger”,”Diamonds Are Forever”, and “Moonraker”,
I like Adele’s voice in this theme’s it’s has that sorta deep throaty sound. It’s like she is saying I have a cold. I’m to tired I don’t want to, but that no is just a subtext for how much she wants it, you remember back on all those times that no meant yes in a good way and before you know it your sucked into the story. It is very dramatic, lots of build-up, denouement and it’s very climatic too. Uhm yeah its a very good theme.
Overall Review (No Spoilers)
Since we went to some nice Manhattan theatre it was advise that we should smuggle booze into the theatre. So far We have been smuggling Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey into the Movie Theatre. We each get a large coke mix it in our seat and can really enjoy the movie in ways we didn’t before. This made movies like Judge Dred enjoyable.
This was one of the only James Bond to memory that most of the action took place in The UK. I’m guessing after the Olympics in the UK there movie making machine thought it would be a great idea to capitalize of Nationalistic fervour in the country. There were some amazing shots of London and the moors of Scotland. The pace of the film was fast but not rush. I found this movie to be a deconstruction of other bond movies. It in many ways goes back to the original writings and depictions of Ian Fleming. I found this to be a wonderful rebirth of the franchise with of course many references to long time fans of the movie series.
The movie in essence deal with change. The world has changed from the 60’s. The Cold War is no longer upon is, technology is different people are different. There is indeed a tide in the affairs of men and how the characters responding to the shifting tides in their own lives in the state of the world is what drives this movie. Javier Bardem is really good at playing bad guys and aside from being the films villain is the reckoning in many ways of the past as represented by Judi Dench’s Character M, he is the catalyst that will move the Whole Mi^ and Bond himself into a new era. There is a scene that is really funny between Bond and Bardem. I don’t want to spoil it for you.
Highlights
Bond
Daniel Craig plays a very human Bond. I think seeing moments of vulnerability of introspection brings this incarnation of Bond down from the almost campy Bond we have seen before into a more accessible character. We explore the origins of James Bond the person in this movie and it’s really interesting to have that personal and psychological profile added; it fleshes Bond out in a way that hasn’t been done before
That Brown Suga man, “ya can’t fucks widdit”. I don’t know how to compliment her look without sounding crass and uncultured. But I love the dress, well actually the dress is whatever but her in the dress is awesome. Her acting in the movie was solid. Really great stuff, unlike a lot of women I know she can drive exceptionally well and can handle a gun like a boss. Her character really balances out that of Bonds in their scenes together; she adds a nice feminine touch which I wouldn’t mind on my
Bérénice Marlohe
Un éclair… puis la nuit! — Fugitive beauté Dont le regard m’a fait soudainement renaître, Ne te verrai-je plus que dans l’éternité?
Ailleurs, bien loin d’ici! trop tard! jamais peut-être! Car j’ignore où tu fuis, tu ne sais où je vais, Ô toi que j’eusse aimée, ô toi qui le savais!
The exotic beauty in the film. She is the iconic bond girl at the Casino who asks him of course his name. At first I though she was the reason why the sky Fell but I just spilled some soda on my lap.
She plays her part in the movie exceptionally well. I wonder what she could do with my part Your Classic bond girl, beautiful look that scream of inaccessibility, sensuality, and of course, la petite mort and non-petite . The greatest thing about beautiful is its ephemerality and the effect that that transcient-ness can serve as a bridge to the moment. It can project into an experience of the passage of time. Look at these words (completely off topic) by Borges
To look at the river made of time and water And remember that time is another river, To know that we are lost like the river And that faces dissolve like water.
To be aware that waking dreams it is not asleep While it is another dream, and that the death That our flesh goes in fear of is that death Which comes every night and is called sleep.
This is the reason why in myth almost every hero is guided by a women goddess or Mortal, Jason and Madea, Thesus and Ariadne. Ok sorry for going off tangent. Madame Marlohe is great and everything a beauty should be in a bond film
The Opening Scene
The opening scene is tremendous gripping, action packed and visually stunning. From the landscape I imagined this took place in Turkey. I called it before the movie gave us that information. I should be working for the CIA profiling fools.
The Villian
Very interesting villain as a hybrid computer and biology scientist. Javier Bardem really has an interesting presence on the screen and his interaction with Bond and M is very interesting.
Finally
As an action film this movie is great and very entertaining. A friends of ours went to the movie not liking the bond films or knowing much about it and he thoroughly enjoyed it. I think this one of best bond movies. It is exceptionally good. I really enjoyed this movie. Go out and see it.
MrMary
Poem below were referenced in the post. They are amazing in their original languages
Baudelaire’s A Une Passante
A lightning flash… then night! Fleeting beauty By whose glance I was suddenly reborn, Will I see you no more before eternity?
Elsewhere, far, far from here! too late! never perhaps! For I know not where you fled, you know not where I go, O you whom I would have loved, O you who knew it!
Jorge Luis Borges’ Arte Poetica
Mirar el río hecho de tiempo y agua Y recordar que el tiempo es otro río, Saber que nos perdemos como el río Y que los rostros pasan como el agua.
Sentir que la vigilia es otro sueño Que sueña no soñar y que la muerte Que teme nuestra carne es esa muerte De cada noche, que se llama sueño.
The trumpet call was sounded and like the four horsemen of the Apocalypse we assembled on Flushing Multiplex. It was only fitting that as we gathered together to exacerbate the end of the week, the tail end of the tornado that hit Queens hit the area as well.
The Plan
While the city at large was lambasted with the storm, the denizens of flushing were met with MrMary, Lil Rascal and el Viejo bearing the gifts of nihilism, inebriation, and male-pattern aggression. What this means is that since the movie was about prohibition we bought some rum and each bought large cokes and then the going on got a-going on. Then we walked around Flushing with brass knuckles eagerness, and rum.
The movie is based on real life happenings of the Bondurant brothers as depicted in the book The Wettest County in the World written by Matt Bondurant one of the descendants of the three brothers depicted in the movie. The book tells the story of a family of three brothers during the Depression in rural Virginia, who made a living bootlegging moonshine. This movie has many different threads that is weaves together into a fascinating study in character.
Characters
Tom Hardy plays is the middle brother Forrest. He is a very quiet character in the fact that his action , even his silence speaks louder than his words. He is stoic and of all the brother he is the symbol of the rebellious nature of the South. He speaks through a lot of grunts which were at times comical, but really helped to make the character very iconoclastic. I think the wardrobe was very fitting for this characters. The clothes, gave the appearance of a someone almost stolidly stoic almost impassive. Then we see Forrest in Action. it is an interesting dichotomy.
This dichotomy is central to the movie really we see it manifest in the lives of the Bondurant brothers each in it unique way. For Jack the youngest brother played by Shia la Beouf he is really ambitious and wanting to prove himself but he doesn’t have the guts and stones to be as ruthless as his brothers can be when needs be.
Maggie Beauford is a very sultry dancer who escaped the insanity of gang ridden Chicago to work in the brothers bar. She has an attraction to Forrest, and she adds a much needed feminine touch to the environment.
Guy Pearce plays the antagonist. Though he is a man of the law he is sadistic in every sense of the word and enjoys it. Though Guy Pearce plays a special
The Setting
I have over the course o the years driven through most of Virginia. It’s a beautiful country. The scenes of the driving through the woods really take me back to memories. What is always interesting to me are these kind of films. That take clear protagonist and antagonist and place them in a very violent, sort of LAWLESS environment. In such an environment the labels we give to things like good and bad fall to the ground and we really see how far each character is willing to go in the pursuit of what they want.
Conclusion and thoughts
First off this movie was very fun to watch even without the copious amounts of rum its great to watch judging from the chattering during and after. It is a really engaging movie. I am happy top recommend this movie.
These type of movies really bring us back to the ethos of the mythic American history. The ambiguity between good and bad, order and lawlessness those themes are what fed the movies I grew up on i.e. the Spaghetti Western. Its a unique avenue to viewing our mythic past. Maybe Ill write about that another time.
Same Trio Me, Rascal and El Viejo with some other people who weren’t as important came out to see The Campaign the other day. I will say straight up that the movie was superbly funny but poignant as this is an election year. I will get to that later but first
Basic Plot Summary
When long-term congressman Cam Brady (Will Ferrel) commits a major public gaffe before an upcoming election, a pair of ultra-wealthy CEOs plot to put up a rival candidate and gain influence over their North Carolina district. Their man: naïve Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis), director of the local Tourism Center. At first, Marty appears to be the unlikeliest possible choice but, with the help of his new benefactors’ support, a cutthroat campaign manager and his family’s political connections, he soon becomes a contender who gives the charismatic Cam plenty to worry about. As Election Day closes in, the two are locked in a dead heat, with insults quickly escalating to injury until all they care about is burying each other.
This movie has sparked enough political debate for me to write about it. many parallels can be drawn between the billionaire industrialists The Motch Brothers in the movie and the Koch brothers , the big-timing, styling and high profiling billionaire supporters of the Republican Party. The pair of industrialists are expected to spend tens – if not hundreds – of millions on Republican causes this year.
This movie touches on a sore point currently namely that an election cna be bought as evidenced by this article by Julie Bykowicz on published on August 22, 2012
Democratic Group Attacks Koch Brothers in Secretly Funded Ads
A secretly funded Democratic group is running a $500,000 national television advertising campaign spotlighting the Koch brothers as the money behind Republican groups that also don’t disclose their donors. As a giant check reading “Billionaires’ Special Interests” and pictures of the brothers flash on screen, a male narrator says, “Billionaire oil tycoons Charles and David Koch and their special-interest friends are spending $400 million to buy this year’s elections and advance their agenda.”
My Thoughts
Many people will say many things about this movie. Some people say it is plea for campaign reform. Other say it is sophmoric and bad satire. other say is a caustic take on American politics. First and foremost to me it is a movie. It’s role is to entertain first more than anything. I was thoroughly entertained. It may or may not have a message beyond the entertainment but that is subject to one’s own subjectivity and vision and political leanings
To me I love satire and I found again the words of Jonathan Swift ringing true. The movie is just plain funny and still manages to say something after the laugh. I would recommend it
Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own. Jonathan Swift
Today was epic: The legendary MrMary, his Puerto Rican Brother Lil Rascal, and new team addition El Viejo came together to watch the Expendables. All the action stars from our youth in one movie Stallone, Van Damme, Chuck Norris, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, plus new ones like Jason Statham, the hysterical Terry Crews, Randy Couture and tons of extras getting beat down and shot whats better than that ? I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, the testosterone ran high and the pace was full of actions.
Highlights
Action
More Action Senseless Violence Gratuitous Violence
Amazing Knife fights Funny One-Liner Sarcastic Quips Incomprehensible banter from Stallone Brass Knuckles Jean Claude Van Damme iconic spinning, kick twice!!!! Call of Duty, Halo style epic Kill by Chuck Norris scene through an X-Ray machine
Movie Review
What You’re Getting Into
Basically this movie is a homage like the First Expendable to 80’s early 90’s style action movies. These movies do not explore the psychological questions of what drives ordinary human beings to violence, the plot isn’t intricate, it is basic, and full of many of the cliches like good with triumph over evil. it is refreshing in many ways to have a movie like the expendables, lately a lot of movies I have seen seem to be obsessed with questioning the reality of events by bringing in a factor of dream. Inception did this very well, very artistically unlike some other movies. The Expendables is straightforward to the point. Clear delineation of good and evil.
Brief Synopsis
The opening few minutes starts with some South East Asian city , there is a high ranking military official coming through this poor dilapidated down to question/interrogate/torture a man with a sack over his head. a few scenes later queue Stallone and his team of bad asses as plow through the city to extract an important VIP from the military leader. This is an amazing sequence of high speed action, it sets the pace in many ways for the film.
The plot is simple Stallone and The Expendables are sent on a simple retrieve mission because of a debt owed to a man called Church , played by Bruce Willis. By Church’s orders they are joined by a female Assassin/mercenary who will help them retrieve whatever is in the downed airplane. It is so simple that you know something awful will happen. That awful thing that happens is Jean Claude Van Damme, he and his team ambush the Expendables kill one of their team, a new addition Billy the Kid, and of course takes what they came to retrieve. van Damme doesn’t know it, but he messed with the wrong crew. This is not a movie where vengeance is a dish to be served cold, it is served bloody and full of bullets. The final showdown is a thing of legend, OMFG everyone goes to town and there is complete destruction. I am not going to spoil this for you but fucking wow. I give the movie a 5/5 because I got my money’s worth, I got to relive my youth seeing all my fav action hero from my youth. Watching this was fun, the whole theater laughed at the funny one liners and sarcastic quips, and also at some scenes of gratuitous violence, which in retrospect was kind of odd
An apology To My Asian Friends
I went to a movie theater in Flushing, Queens. You may not know this but Flushing has a large Chinese population. larger that even china town in the City. Flushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City. Flushing’s diversity is reflected by the numerous ethnic groups that reside there, including people of Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, European, African American ancestry and Jewish peoples.
I was more in china town Flushing and wow, it is awesome you guys should visit one day. Why I am apologizing well a trailer for the movie Red Dawn. The premise of that movie is that Part of the USA falls under the Chinese or North Korean control because they use some weapon to decimate the North Eastern Seaboard of the USA. A rag-tag band of people lead by Chris Hemsworth are going to take this bad guys down. I could tell how the majority of people in the theatre who were understandable Asian where uncomfortable like a Russian immigrants/people watching American Action movies in the 80’s where ever bad guy was some russian dude.
Also there were really funny jokes in the movie that referenced Asian takeout and some other stuff. It was done very tastefully. The woman mercenary on the team is Chinese and Dolph Lundgren has a thing for her, there are a few comments about eating Chinese food. Funny Stuff cracked me the fuck up.
Side and Final Note
This Red Dawn movie is a remake. The original made in the 80’s after US President Ronald Reagan described the Soviet Union as “an evil empire,” the Red Dawn Movie came out. In the movie there is a Cuban-Soviet invasion of the U.S., and a bunch of jerk off teens prevail over those evil commie bastards. I found this interesting. During the Olympics I kept hearing about this competition between th USA ans China for most part for number of total medals. So now basically the news media will be spinning a lot of crap showing China and other Asians in a bad light I am sure. This film is the beginning of this subversive sorta of campaign.
lushing was one of the first Dutch settlements on Long Island. Today, it is one of the largest and most diverse neighborhoods in New York City.[citation needed] Flushing’s diversity is reflected by the numerous ethnic groups that reside there, including people of Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, European, African American ancestry and Jewish peoples. I
It’s the year 2028 and this cutting-edge robotics company OmniCorp lead by a ruthless Michael Keaton has supplied the U.S. military with drones for use overseas. In the beginning of the movie we learn that they have run into problems with bringing their robotic police/ counter insurgency technology into the USA. OmniCorp decides that they need to court the public. They believe that if the public can get behind a product they can begin to flood the american markets with their technology. The powers that be at Omnicorp decide finally to transform a critically injured police officer Alex Murphy into a cyborg cop. After the first tests aren’t too promising, Detective Murphy is re-programmed to operate strictly on software and not human emotion. While this is initially successful, Murphy’s emotions interfere with his programming. He sets out to right some wrong and all hell breaks loose.
