All Things:Science Fiction/Fantasy

Mr. Beaks Drops His Guard For REAL STEEL!
Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.

There are two types of people in this world: those who love ROCKY III, and those who won't allow themselves to love ROCKY III. Shawn Levy's REAL STEEL is for the unrepentant philistines in the former category. It's an Amblin-esque amalgam of every sports movie cliche known to man, all fused together for maximum uplift. This movie wants you to feel sensational; it wants to drown out the fury and sorrow of the outside world for two hours with robot-smashing spectacle and father-son bonding. It is mercilessly manipulative, corny as hell and rigorously upbeat. It works because it embraces 1980s-style garishness as a virtue. This is emphatic, well-crafted hokum. It is ROCKY III.

And I ****ing love ROCKY III.

Actually, it's a lot of other movies, too: THE CHAMP, PAPER MOON, OVER THE TOP, THE IRON GIANT and ROCKY IV. But it never feels cynically packaged - which is a shock coming from Levy, director of the loud and exhausting NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM movies. It's affectionate theft: close to homage, but not quite that fancy. REAL STEEL isn't commenting on genre; it is unabashedly of its critically-maligned genre. It is also, on the fringes, a quasi-plausible work of science fiction that posits a believable future in which humans - presumably jacked up on all manner of performance enhancers - can no longer safely participate in violent sports. In this regard, the film has a little in common with its source material: Richard Matheson's short story, "Steel" (which was turned into a classic 1963 TWILIGHT ZONE episode starring Lee Marvin). Just don't expect a conclusion anywhere in the dour neighborhood of Matheson's tale; a man stepping into the ring with one of REAL STEEL's eight-foot-tall bruisers would be nothing more than a swiftly successful suicide attempt.
Click to expand...

Sorry Doc...I just think this is going to be entertaining.
 
jerseydevil said:
Maybe it's selfish purposes that make it ok in my eyes but it's a far cry from making a movie about toy robots that turn into cars.
Click to expand...

Yes it is. No it isn't.

jerseydevil said:
Sorry Doc...I just think this is going to be entertaining.
Click to expand...

high-expectations-asian-father-meme-generator-so-a-you-re-dead-to-me-974c21.jpg
 
Hugh Jackman Trained With Sugar Ray Leonard & More You Need To Know About ‘Real Steel’ > The Playlist

However, buzz started early on the picture with test audiences apparently raving about the movie, and DreamWorks took the rare step of getting a sequel in development way back this spring, months before the first film’s theatrical bow. “Yes, well, the studio’s faith is very strong,” director Shawn Levy recently told us. “Even ‘Night at the Museum’ didn’t test like this. People were cheering in a movie theater. The last time I remember that happening was in ‘Rocky III’ with Clubber Lang or even against Drago in ‘Rocky IV.’ So we got that kind of visceral reaction from audiences, and the studio not only took the bullish move of developing a sequel and asking me to sign on, but then also didn’t deny it when it leaked in the press. That was a show of confidence that hopefully we will reward.”
Click to expand...
 
‘The Adjustment Bureau’ Will Now Wear Cool Hats & Open Doors In A TV Series On Syfy > The Playlist

But just how exactly the premise will be formatted for television show will up to former “Smallville” executive producers Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin who are writing the screenplay. No word yet on what their approach will be, but there is certainly more than one doorway they go through with the setup (sorry, bad pun). The project is set up over at Syfy, which isn’t just appropriate given the nature of the story but also because it’s branch of the mega Universal Films who released “The Adjustment Bureau” in the first place. Synergy, folks.
Click to expand...
 
jerseydevil said:
Too bad Syfy blows. Is it too late to dump TerraNova there?
Click to expand...

I can't really speak for them as a whole, as I've only ever watched BSG there, but I've heard good things about Stargate and a couple other long running shows there. It's just mixed in with all the lame **** they do.
 
The problem with SyFy is that most everything looks like the BigLots brand of tv. Crummy no name actors and really haphazard (I hesitate to even call them) effects. For every BSG there are 45 movies/programs that just look like dimestore wannabe's. I appreciate what they are trying to do, but unless you luck out(like f'rinstance Roger Corman) cheap is cheap, even more so when it comes to fx driven content.
 
Hot Scribe Dante Harper Takes On Isaac Asimov’s ‘Foundation’ For Sony And Roland Emmerich – Deadline.com

Sony Pictures has hired Dante Harper to adapt Foundation, the groundbreaking Isaac Asimov science fiction trilogy which Roland Emmerich is developing to direct.

Originally published as a short story series in Astounding Magazine in 1942, Asimov’s Foundation is the complex saga of humans scattered on planets throughout the galaxy, all living under the rule of the Galactic Empire. The protagonist is a psycho-historian who has an ability to read the future and sees that the empire will collapse imminently. He sets out to save the knowledge of mankind from being wiped out.

Harper broke onto the scene with a Timothy McVeigh biopic called Dreamland that Plan B is producing. He wrote Black Hole for David Fincher at Paramount and did the production rewrite worl in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, which stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton. Harper’s big sale came when his script All You Need is Kill was acquired by Warner Bros. The film is on a fast track, with Doug Liman directing.
Click to expand...
 
jerseydevil said:
The problem with SyFy is that most everything looks like the BigLots brand of tv. Crummy no name actors and really haphazard (I hesitate to even call them) effects. For every BSG there are 45 movies/programs that just look like dimestore wannabe's. I appreciate what they are trying to do, but unless you luck out(like f'rinstance Roger Corman) cheap is cheap, even more so when it comes to fx driven content.
Click to expand...

I don't pay attention to most of their movies, but I'm a pretty big fan of most of their series. Eureka, Warehouse 13 and Alphas are all pretty entertaining, and I will watch Haven, though it's not really a favorite. Sure, not the most high quality of work, but they've got some fun stories and entertaining characters, which is about all I'm looking for from a TV show most of the time. I'll certainly take them any day over most of the crap on network TV.
 
Nordling Says REAL STEEL Is The Real Deal!
Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.

The boxing matches are excellently done. Levy knows his action geography and there's never any question what is happening in each fight. As each fight escalates the stakes, Levy ratchets the tension and makes each fight matter. Saying this is Levy's best film isn't saying much considering his previous work, but this one feels like a passion project for all the love he puts into it. REAL STEEL genuinely entertains and excites kids of all ages. There isn't a cynical bone (or bolt) in its body. REAL STEEL pulls from those great 80s kids movies but doesn't feel like an homage, like SUPER 8 does at times. If you have children, they'll really groove on the robot bashing on display, but don't be surprised if you find yourself wiping a tear or two away at the ending yourself. REAL STEEL's a winner.
Click to expand...

Neener Neener Naysay!!!!!
 
Are you kidding...I have no intention of seeing this crap. :yo: At least not that i am willing to tell you about.
 
Real Steel: Review

Like the underdog movies that it emulates, Real Steel feels like a film worth defending – albeit with the caveat that it is exactly what you paid for. But that in itself is an accomplishment. It’s not a film where you have to apologize for the parts that don’t work, it doesn’t fall apart in the third act, and it doesn’t set itself up as a franchise to the point that it doesn’t feel like a complete thought. This is what Hollywood entertainment should be like: rousing, involving, with heart and a compelling story and performers.

Rating: 8.5/10
Click to expand...
 
Every positive review you guys post sounds like this....

"Sure it's Hollywood at it's trite cloying emotionally manipulative peak... but heck... we're dumb so we fell for it! FOUR STARS!!!"
 
At this point, I'm only posting positive reviews just so you can read them.

I don't give a **** about this movie either way. :)
 
Doc...just for a moment...would you consider that even though this is l.c.d. that is made well enough to rise above it's low bar? Yes, that is a horrible indictment of entertainment as a whole. I agree. In the grand scheme, relative to other tentpole crap, isn't it ok to maybe enjoy something that rises above it's limitations. I am not saying that this movie should have been made, couldn't have been better if it were closer to the source material, etc. Every once in a while it's ok to enjoy trash as long as their are small concessions made to originality. Suppose this movie makes money. Maybe studios decide...hey, perhaps people want something a little more satisfying that GI Joe vs the Transformers. In the end isn't that a good thing? You point out the hypocrisy in me liking this when i hate all the cookie cutter garbage and constantly complain about it, well, what can I do? In this day and age i have to pick from the crap that is offered and when i see something that isn't so patronizing and driveltastic I have to go in with lowered expectations and hope. Yes Doc...hope. You remember that don't you? All I am hoping from this flick that it is the cinematic equivalent of Chinese food...filling, but forgettable a half hour later. That's what it's come to.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Now Chirping

  • No one is chatting at the moment.

Share this page

Back
Top