RoboFlop
The new "RoboCop" film is a sterling example of how runaway corporatism flattens and sanitizes satirical art, Ben Walters writes at The Guardian.
The new “RoboCop” film is a sterling example of how runaway corporatism flattens and sanitizes satirical art, Ben Walters writes at The Guardian.
Comparing the new adaptation with the first film, Walters laments:
It wasn’t just the satire that made Verhoeven’s movies such gems. They were witty and mischievous, with strong, clear storytelling, quirky production design and a vivid sense of the grotesque. They had giant, quivering grubs, nuclear-war-themed family board-games and Arnie dressed as a middle-aged woman in a fierce raincoat.
So far, their remakes offer little like that. Their scripts are po-faced and messy; they look like every other shimmery, machine-tooled SF action picture out there; and instead of engaging playfully yet seriously with the structural forces determining contemporary life, they offer straight-up sentimental heroism.
In other words, they’re in keeping with a studio blockbuster culture that celebrates turbo-charged techno-militarism and cashes in on audiences’ familiarity with established entertainment brands. Transformers and Avengers, I’m looking at you. By contrast, Verhoeven was an original and a provocateur. He wanted to make audiences squirm – to alienate them from the spectacle of fetishised violence even as he slathered it on. Good luck getting that greenlit today.
Read more here.
CBMTrailers:
— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.
Your support is crucial...As we navigate an uncertain 2025, with a new administration questioning press freedoms, the risks are clear: our ability to report freely is under threat.
Your tax-deductible donation enables us to dig deeper, delivering fearless investigative reporting and analysis that exposes the reality beneath the headlines — without compromise.
Now is the time to take action. Stand with our courageous journalists. Donate today to protect a free press, uphold democracy and uncover the stories that need to be told.
TD Original
Why a novelist gave the major Hollywood studios the brush in favor of a young first-time filmmaker with no money.
Courts & Law
Some say the ruling points to a disconnect between what it takes for survivors of sexual violence to be believed and what the legal system demands.
TD Original
A victim of the 1940s Reds-under-the-beds hysteria, the feisty screenwriter went into exile and held firm to her values.
Editorial Cartoons
Labor
"Workers stood up to Hollywood executives and held their ground to reach this agreement," said the president of the AFL-CIO. "ANYTHING is possible when we organize."
Editorial Cartoons
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.