Robocop preview in new issue of Starburst Magazine

Issue 397 of Starburst Magazine is out now and available to buy online from the website or from loads of good retailers. This month there is a huge focus on the Robocop remake and and all the films (and TV shows) that have come in the franchise before it. I was offered the opportunity to write the preview of the reboot and just recieved my copy of the magazine in the post.

As always there is also loads more stuff in the latest issue including news, reviews and features on everything in the world of sci-fi, horror and fantasy so I hope you might be interested in going and picking up a copy.

No Fate But What we Make: Terminator Reboot

One of my two worst movie fears is coming true with the news that Terminator is getting a reboot that will (inevitably) be the beginning of a new trilogy. My other worst fear is that next in Hollywood's sights will be the Back to the Future trilogy. Robocop and Total Recall remakes I can handle but Terminator 1 and 2 and the BTTF trilogy are my untouchable sacred cows.

I can deal with endless inferior sequels to classics like Die Hard and I can handle remakes of some of Hollywood's output but I can't stomach a Terminator reboot. Every year I show students in my Film Studies class both Terminator 1 and 2 when we are studying how to analyse films from a genre and feminist approach. Each year some students grumble about Terminator 1 which occasionally looks very dated in places but then we get to Terminator 2 and I think pretty much every student loves it.

Some would argue the first Terminator is in need of a remake then if it fails to grab the youth and looks dated in terms of 80s hair cuts and some dodgy stop-motion scenes. I would argue otherwise. With Terminator 2 still looking relatively fresh and still dazzling in terms of its brilliant use of CGI, the pair of films perfectly complement each other and while the original might be a bit harder to stomach for modern young audiences, it is an inspiring example of what can be achieved on a modest budget.

I hear Arnie might be back for the reboot, no doubt shoe horned in by some dodgy bit of screen writing that introduces him as the creator of the Terminator programme or something. I also hear rumours of Paul Walker appearing which is worrying. No real offence to Paul Walker but I can't bear to see him as a new Kyle Reese. Admittedly though, he looks ok below. I guess as long as he's not John Connor.

I just don't see how a reboot can improve on the original stories or action scenes. Then again, I'm not sure reboots often even have the intention of improving on anything. I want to say boycott this reboot at all costs but on the other hand, I know as the stills, posters, and trailers start to roll in, I'll probably start getting excited about it. However if we can convince enough people to stay out of the cinemas for this one, perhaps we can stop the inevitable Back to the Future prequel which I can predict won't be far behind. (They're bound to try and get Fox and Lloyd in for cameos).

There are so many things I don't want to see ruined about these movies, I can't even begin to count them. I wish instead of rebooting, Hollywood could just take a chance on something original that could potentially be of the same quality as James Cameron's films. Before buying a ticket for the Terminator reboot, I urge you to please remember there is no fate but what we make for ourselves.

Upcoming Screenings: Evil Dead, Olympus Has Fallen, The Look of Love

Over the next three Mondays I have three screenings I'm very excited for; the Evil Dead remake, Die Hard in the White House Part 1 Olympus Has Fallen and Steve Coogan in The Look of Love.

Evil Dead should be a nightmare for fans of the original trilogy but with the likes of Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell producing this remake, this was looking good from the start. Juno and Young Adult fans will be pleased to note Diablo Cody is on writing duties and anyone who has seen the trailer will immediately be able to tell if this film is for them or not. The red band trailer below is certainly not for the squeamish. It looks absolutely mental, keeping a similar if perhaps slightly more serious tone to the original and whizzing tracking shots through the menacing woods still intact. Here is my review of Evil Dead at Filmoria. Check out the trailer:



Olympus Has Fallen is the first of two Die Hards in the White House of this year with Roland Emmerich's White House Down to follow later.This one has Gerard Butler as the one man army out to save Aaron Eckhart as his President. Next up by the way if you haven't already heard is Channing Tatum protecting President Jamie Foxx if that pairing takes your fancy. Either way, both of these sound like the ultimate movies for my 10-16 year old self. If no one dives in front of the Commander in Chief, saving them from a bullet while yelling NOOOOOOOOOOOO Mr Presideeeeeeeeeeeeeent, then I'll be sorely disappointed. Even Air Force One had a pilot throwing his plane in the way of a missile to save President Harrison Ford's own plane. I hope this is fun, check out the trailer:



A fortnight on Monday, I will be seeing Brit flick biopic The Look of Love starring Steve Coogan as controversial sleezebag entrepreneur Paul Raymond. It's got a pretty cool cast and is directed by Michael Winterbottom so could be good but it's probably the least of these three I'm looking forward to. Here's the trailer:



Any of these take your fancy?

Evil Dead Remake Looks Sick

Check out the brand new red-band trailer for the Evil Dead remake.  Anyone who has seen the original film will know why it is hailed as a video nasty classic but personally I find it a little too cheap and nasty.  The sequel on the other hand is a comedy horror masterpiece.  So it is with a little regret and shame that I have to admit that this is a remake that I actually don't mind at all.

While these glossy horror remakes from the likes of Platinum Dunes usually make me nauseous with their smoking hot cast of teens that look as if they are airbrushed in every shot, this trailer is so bloody nasty that the slightly sexy looking cast can be forgiven. 

Be warned this is extremely violent, brutal stuff and for fans of extreme horror, looks like a bloody fun night at the cinema.  Who said Cabin in the Woods was the final word in horror movies?



What do you reckon?  A remake worth getting excited for or what?

Inbetweeners Remake: Big Mistake?

Fans of British comedy, do you despair at the news of the US remaking The Inbetweeners?

Check out these new photos of the cast.  Looks like Will the briefcase wanker just got a whole lot more tall, dark and handsome.  Jay's gotten podgy but at least still has a goofy grin.  And Neil has turned into a hairy hippy.  Well at least they still have that crazy yellow car?

Will this be as good as the US version of The Office?  Or is this a disaster waiting to happen?

Salivating for Sequels: Top Gun and Chucky

A sequel to Top Gun?  A remake and a sequel of Child's Play?  Today is my lucky day.

Completely hetrosexual

No I'm not making it up.  Over 25 years after the original gave us an awesome soundtrack, topless men all greased up and playing volleyball on the beach to a song called 'Playing with the Boys', Tom Cruise riding a motorbike and flying the crap out of super speedy jets, fretting about his Dad, shagging Kelly McGillis in an impossibly blue, slow and sexy, sex scene, Goose getting an all time great death and some karaoke lovin' feelin losin comes this news:

Well...

'in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount executive Adam Goodman has confirmed that Top Gun 2 is in pre-production' http://entertainment.stv.tv/film/304999-tom-cruise-gets-jet-set-for-top-gun-sequel-as-pre-production-confirmed/

Well it's about time.  The US Navy needs another big, dumb, cinematic recruitment advert.  Hmmm.  Shame Tony Scott's back.  I wish he could dial back that attention deficit editing.  The writer of Bad Boys 2 is involved which suggests extremely dumb but fun action scenes that will... wait for it... TAKE YOUR BREATH AWAY!  I hope Val Kilmer can make an appearance.  And the ghost of Goose.  Heck why not?

Wanna play?

 Then I hear (two weeks after the news breaks but better late than never) Chucky from Child's Play is going to be back!  Now if this was just another sequel I would be concerned after the attempted horror comedies of Bride and Seed of Chucky.  But I still hold the original Child's Play trilogy in high regard.  I loved those movies as a kid so it pleases me to hear:

'original creators Don Mancini and David Kirschner are cooking up a remake that will stray from the more satiric leanings of recent sequels - the last one featured John Waters, after all – and go for "a darker and scarier retelling of the original film, but one that will offer new twists and turns."'
 http://www.nextmovie.com/blog/chucky-childs-play-remake-sequel/

Still terrifying?

However then I read over at Total Film:

'This new episode in the long-running franchise will be titled Revenge Of Chucky, and will again focus on the killer doll's immediate family, in a similar vein to Bride Of Chucky and Seed Of Chucky.

As for the remake, Dourif indicated that original writer Don Mancini is still working on  script, with the theme thought to be a lot lighter and comedic than the original.'
 http://www.totalfilm.com/news/childs-play-remake-and-sequel-on-the-way

Well I hope they're wrong about the remake.  I want to see Child's Play back to it's dark roots.  I know it seems silly and ripe for comedic treatment but to me Chucky is still a little psycho and a terrifying alternative to Woody and Buzz coming alive when you're not watching.

What do you think readers? Does this news spell the end of the world or are you as excited as I am?

Footloose (Craig Brewer, 2011) Review

I admit I went into this rehash expecting to hate it. I watched the trailer and cringed. I watched the 1984 original trailer and my heart went out to all the fans of Kevin Bacon and his classic 80s rendition of the film. I thought of how I would feel if some hack director for hire dared to remake 1985’s The Breakfast Club or The Goonies or Back to the Future.

Just think… if 1984’s Footloose can be remade in 2011, all these classics could be despoiled for 2012 audiences. That’s next freaking year! So if you want to avoid this (and the unleashing of Armageddon with it), don’t, whatever you do, pay to see this remake in the cinema. It will only encourage Hollywood to keep sacrificing originality at the altar of making a quick and (relatively) easy buck.

That said, I have a few admissions to make:

1. I’ve never seen the original Footloose. Kevin Bacon is great but dancing movies just aren’t my thing so it was never really on my list of missed classics that I had to watch.
2. Like I said I don’t particularly like dancing films or even musicals or teen romances. So I’ve never seen Save the Last Dance, Honey, Stomp the Yard, You Got Served or even West Side Story.
3. I actually thoroughly enjoyed the Footloose remake.

Why? Well I’m sure most of these reasons extend to the original. The dancing’s great. The story (though a little ridiculous) is involving and the characters engaging. The forces of religion and the law versus the kids of the small town make for a compelling and righteous battle between order and chaos. In this age of the curtailing of civil liberties under the guise of protecting us from evil, perhaps this remake is actually rather relevant.

Dennis Quaid is always very good value, no matter how poor the script but his character here is well-rounded and sympathetic even when banning dancing and public gatherings.

The two leads look pretty and dance like pros and while Julianne Hough (how’s that pronounced???) spends much of the film looking like she’s on a modeling shoot, emotions run high in climactic conflicts with her father (Quaid).

Comparing the two trailers, it looks like the remake has slavishly stuck to the original’s template in terms of characters, narrative and even specific shots so this is probably another ridiculously pointless remake along the lines of Gus Van Sant’s Psycho. However audiences like me who have never seen the original will no doubt be sucked in by the good story, great dancing and even better music.

If your toes aren’t tapping by the finale, you’re either a fuming fan of the original or your feet must be nailed to the floor. It’s out October 14^th and is definitely worth a watch. But before you shell out… please heed my warning. The Breakfast Club could be next.

Pointless or Perfection?

David Fincher. Director of classics Fight Club and Seven. Director of multiple academy Award winner The Social Network. Director of great films Zodiac and Panic Room. Director of um... other films, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Alien 3 and The Game.

But now comes Fincher's remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo:



Why remake a film from 2009? Because it's Swedish, subtitled and you've got to read it! Like Let The Right One In/ Let Me In and Infernal Affairs/ The Departed before it, this is another Hollywood cash-in to piss off fans of the original and delight people who don't read films.

Wierdly, Fincher's even kept Swedish accents in this one. Rooney Mara looks as though she may be as cool as Noomi Rapace when playing icon Lisbeth Salander but still, isn't this completely pointless to people who can read?

This is an outrage! Why must Americans remake anything with foreigners in it? Can they really not stand the sight of the rest of us?

But Fincher's a legend, a genius, a perfectionist. Does this mean he wants to perfect the 2009 Swedish version? Is he going to put his own stamp on it? Is he going back to the source book? It doesn't look like it. It looks beautifully shot (as you'd expect from Fincher and his obssessive and controlling collaborations with cinematographers) and the score sounds like a treat (continuing his collaboration with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross). But the original was dark enough and I can't see how much darker Fincher can make it. The poster is sexed up from the original and the cast look great but no better than the original cast.

With all the projects Fincher has circled in the past, including Fertig and Rendevous with Rama, it seems a shame to be wasting all us Fincher fans' time on a pointless remake. I hope this wasn't the biggest pay cheque. I hope this is Fincher trying to bring us something fresh out of a story he thought needed to be told perfectly. I hope this lives up to the promise of the trailers and finally gives us some indication of why it needed to be remade!