Tag Archives: Dredd

MOV124: “I Am The Law”

In this reel of COL Movies, the boys head back to 80s to resurrect “Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo”. From there, it’s off to the theater for the new take on the comic character “Dredd”. In the category of coming soon, we hit the GLBT Film Festival circuit’s “Gayby”. It’s a slow news week, so we just say hi to Facebookers and hit the show. It’s the 124th Reel of COL Movies…”I Am The Law“

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News:

  • Nada!

Recent Facebook Likes: Savas Abadsidis

The Past: Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo (1984)
Rotten Tomatoes No Critic Score ; 63% Audience

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Director: Sam Firstenberg

Starring: Lucinda Dickey, Adolfo Quinones, Michael Chambers

Trivia:

  • To film a scene where dancers breakdance on walls, the makers borrowed the rotating room from Nightmare On Elm Street, A (1984). To show thanks, a picture of Freddy’s glove is hanging on the wall.
  • The phrase “Electric Boogaloo” has passed into common usage as the sub-title for any facetious sequel. The usual connotation suggests a sequel that is ridiculous, absurd, unwanted, unnecessary, formulaic, or obscure.
  • Sabrina García actually did not speak Spanish so all of her lines were dubbed by another actor.
  • Movie was inspired by true events. The Radio-Tron was a youth center located in the MacArthur Park area and faced demolition. Youth director, Carmelo Alvarez, rallied the youth and community to march to Los Angeles City Hall in the effort to save the Radio-Tron.
  • Lela Rochon, who was Adolfo Quinones’ wife at the time once again has a small role in this film in which she plays one of Brenda’s friends. Just as she did in her role prior to the last film, she has no dialogue.
  • Christopher McDonald was offered the chance to reprise his role of James from Breakin’ but he turned it down.
  • Though most critics rated the film poorly, New York Press film critic Armond White considered it to be “superb” and Roger Ebert gave the film a three-star rating.
  • Like its predecessor, much of the film’s soundtrack was provided by Ollie & Jerry, comprising the duo Ollie E. Brown and Jerry Knight. The title track, “Electric Boogaloo,” did not appear in pop charts and reached place #45 on the R&B chart.

Talking Points:

  • Acting – or lack thereof (girl who spoke no English…for example)
  • Perfect movie for a Mystery Science Theater 3000 type treatment
  • Interesting to see some moves that are still out there today
  • Soundtrack
  • Rays Electric Boogaloo Story

What We Learned:

  • Gotta have the honey if you wanna make the money.
  • Mimes are scary, but mimes in super-tight jeans are scarier!
  • Girls are whacked
  • In Hollywood, everybody sues everybody.

Trailer:

Recommendations:
Jeff: This movie is the epitome of the 1980s. It was definitely not a good movie, the acting was poor, the story wasn’t that interesting. The music, dancing and hair was a very 80s flash back which gave it at least a little bit of charm. It was an okay movie. Something to MST3K with some friends or if you just want to watch something stupid. It’s ok.
Ray: Some call it the best worst movie ever.. It is pretty bad, I guess it would be a fun movie to watch with a buncha people if you were gonna go all Rifftrax or Mystery Science Theater on it.
Steve: Wow…just wow. I just didn’t get off to this jive movie. Quite honestly, could have lived without ever seeing it…now or back in the 80s.

The Present: Dredd
Rotten Tomatoes 77% Fresh; 85% Audience

Director: Pete Travis

Starring: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey

Trivia:

  • Duncan Jones was offered the film, but turned it down, not because he didn’t like the Alex Garland script (Jones said it was great), but because he had such a strong idea of what he wanted to do with a Dredd movie, that he felt he could not bring himself to take it on and not do it his way.
  • Unlike the previous Judge Dredd movie, Karl Urban has confirmed that the helmet will never come off to keep true to the comic book character.
  • The Peach Tree block is named after a restaurant in Shrewsbury, the place where screenwriter Alex Garland and Judge Dredd creator John Wagner first met to discuss the film.
  • Judge Joe Dredd is a fictional character whose comic strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine’s longest running, having been featured there since its second issue in 1977. Dredd is a law enforcement officer in a violent North American city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner. Dredd and his fellow Judges are empowered to arrest, sentence, and even execute criminals on the spot. The character was created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, although editor Pat Mills also deserves some credit for early development.
  • The graffiti throughout Peach Trees contains the names of characters that appear in the Judge Dredd strip, such as Chopper and Kenny Who?
  • With the exception of Peach Trees, the city blocks are named after notable 2000ad creators and characters.
  • In the Judge Dredd comic strip, all blocks are given names relevant to some form of connection to the creators, the inspiration for the characters/story or current affairs at the time of writing. The nearest block to Peach Trees, where the film is set, is ‘Sternhammer’- which is visible in the opening scenes and at the end of the film. It is also referred to as being where one of the Ma-Ma clan’s rivals are based. Wulf Sternhammer was a popular recurring character in the Strontium Dog comic strip in 200AD, which shared many writers to Judge Dredd and has even had cross over stories.
  • Karl Urban’s voice for Dredd is comparable to that of Clint Eastwood. Judge Dredd is in fact partly based on Eastwood’s character in the TV series Rawhide, and to reference this the Block in which Dredd lives is called Rowdy Yates.
  • The Chief Judge is not referred to by name in the film. In appearance she is a combination of Chief Judges MacGruder and Silver, and the setting (the boundary wall and the Fergee memorials are both referred to) would place the time of the film in Mega City history as Macgruder’s first period in office.
  • Judge Dredd creator John Wagner had been critical of the 1995 adaptation, but positively received Dredd. He said: “I liked the movie. It was, unlike the first film, a true representation of Judge Dredd… Karl Urban was a fine Dredd and I’d be more than happy to see him in the follow-up. Olivia Thirlby excelled as Anderson… The character and storyline are pure Dredd.”

Talking Points:

  • 3D or not? Hard to find a non-3D screening here in Chicago.
  • Violence & gore
  • The “voice” again
  • The Look of the movie
  • “Slo-Mo” and slo-mo
  • Intentional Comedy or no?
  • Ma-Ma = Channeling Sandra Bernhardt?

Critic Notes:

  • Positives: Gorey, Action-packed, Gritty, Pure Entertainment; Sets the atmosphere perfectly; Irreverently humorous; A solid adaptation of the comic
  • Negatives: We’ve seen all this before; “Shoot bad guy” movie; 3-D was unnecessary and muddy; Too late – the story is old; At least Stallone wore the helmet – but Urban let the helmet wear him

What We Learned:

  • The perps were uncooperative.
  • It’s all the deep end.

Trailer:

Recommendations :
Jeff: This was definitely better then that Sly Stallone piece of crap. Nice being a basic story and Dredd doing his “I Am The Law” thing. Just not as melodramatically as Sly. It’s a decent watch. Sound was great in the theater that I was in so I recommend seeing it in a theater with good sound.
Ray: I can appreciate this movie, but it feels like it’s definitely been made with the Hard Core fan’s in mind. Don’t expect much back story or a complicated plot, but there are some amazing visuals during the slo-mo scenes. 3D was ok, And you get your money’s worth.
Steve: I thought it was OK. I wasn’t wow’ed by anything and perhaps it was a lack of knowing the source material and only having the 1995 movie to reference. However, it had a video game movie feel, some strong, memorable characters and lots of action. Worth a look, but don’t feel obligated to rush out and see it.

The Future: Gayby

Release: Unknown – on Film Festival Circuit

Director: Jonathan Lisecki

Starring: Jenn Harris, Matthew Wilkas, Charlie Barnett

Summary:

Jenn and Matt are best friends from college who are now in their thirties. Single by choice, Jenn spends her days teaching hot yoga and running errands for her boss. Matt suffers from comic-book writer’s block and can’t get over his ex-boyfriend. They decide to fulfill a youthful promise to have a child together… the old fashioned way. Can they navigate the serious and unexpected snags they hit as they attempt to get their careers and dating lives back on track in preparation for parenthood?

Talking Points:

  • Could you do it?
  • Would you do it?

Trailer:

Excitement:
Jeff: Okay, so the title was the only reason why I pick this one. This doesn’t even look interesting at all to me. Total pass for me.
Ray: Seems like a cute little rom-com. Yes I’m calling it a Rom-com. This would be a netflixer for me though.. unless I was going on a date and they wanted to see it.
Steve: Interesting take on the child bearing issue. Seems cute. I’d see it if it’s at the Tampa Film Festival – otherwise it’s one that will eventually show up on Netflix that I’ll watch.

The Past: The Shining (1980)

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The Present: Looper

The Future: Red Dawn

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