-
"I see everything."
The field of robotics took another giant leap forward recently, with the creation of Rex, a "bionic man" with fully functional artificial human organs and lifelike features, bringing science reality ever closer to the science fiction depicted in movies. As incredible as it sounds, humanoid robots, or androids (just "droids" if you're George Lucas), like Rex have been appearing on screen since well before Czech writer Karel Capek gave the English language a name for them in his 1920 sci-fi play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots), with the human simulacrum Hadaly a featured character in the 1896 French movie L'Eve Futur (The Future Eve). Hundreds of movies have included androids — and their part man, part machine, cyborg cousins — since Hadaly, but which ones were the best? Help us rank the movies with the coolest, the baddest, the sexiest, the deadliest, the most terrifying androids and cyborgs.
Rate the Top 10 Best Android & Cyborg Movies >>
Posted 03.06.13 by BrentJS -
"The force is strong with this one."
The new year has brought one piece of incredible movie news after another for sci-fi fans, but none has sparked as much debate as Disney’s plans for its recently acquired Lucasfilm assets and the Star Wars movie franchise. January was dominated by questions and rumors about who would be chosen to direct the sequel to Return of the Jedi, currently titled simply Star Wars: Episode VII, with the month closing out with fiery debates over whether the man who reignited the Star Trek franchise for Paramount, J.J. Abrams, was the right choice to reignite Star Wars for Disney. Only eight days into February and the internet is practically melting down over the news that Disney is also developing solo movies featuring a young Han Solo and the mysterious bounty hunter Boba Fett.
With Star Wars on our minds, we decided that this would be a fitting time to find out how you would rank the original trilogy of movies — Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi — against other sci-fi movies of the same era. Put down those sabacc cards, pour yourself a glass of blue milk and choose the best sci-fi movies of the 1970s and '80s.
Rate the Top 10 Best Sci-Fi Movies (1970s - 1980s) >>
Posted 02.08.13 by BrentJS -
Remakes. While plenty of moviegoers groan over the prospect of yet another remake or — as they're often called nowadays — "reboot," studios keep finding success with them... And the proliferation continues.
Likely many balked at the news of a remake of director Paul Verhoeven's 1987 sci-fi classic Robocop. Production is ready to go this September and actor Joel Kinnaman (AMC's The Killing), who is cast in the lead role, made a case to Collider about why fans shouldn't instantly reject remakes.
I used to be like “Why are we doing a remake? What are remakes being done for?” But then, we do that all the time in the theater. If we weren’t doing remakes, nobody would know who Shakespeare was. I’m not saying that Robocop is Shakespeare, but it’s a way to... we’re retelling. That’s what we do as human beings. We retell our favorite stories. That’s what we’ve done since we were sitting around campfires. It’s a part of the human spirit. It doesn’t have to be negative to creativity. It can be completely opposite. That’s how you can break new ground by rethinking something that’s already been done.
more from kinnaman about RoboCop >> Posted 06.04.12 by Ryan -
Now that Sony and MGM have a director (Jose Padilha, Elite Squad) and a lead actor (Joel Kinnaman, The Killing) ready to work on their upcoming remake of Robocop, the studios are making further changes to the script, now in the hands of its third screenwriter.
The original script was written by Josh Zetumer, who was hired at the same time as Padilha last March. Gran Torino scribe Nick Schenk, who is collaborating with Padilha on another project, was hired to do rewrites in January, but apparently it wasn't enough. Variety reports that Sony has brought in writer James Vanderbilt to do a "polish" on the script. Sony is very high on Vanderbilt after his work on The Amazing Spider-Man and reportedly outbid other studios for Vanderbilt's "Die Hard meets Air Force One" spec script White House Down.
What changes Vanderbilt will make are unknown, though fans can already expect that the latest RoboCop won't be a retread of director Paul Verhoeven's 1987 original. While fans may or may not have been pleased by Kinnaman's recent admission that his version of the armor won't include the visor used in the previous RoboCop movies, the 32-year-old Swedish-American actor told Collider that he will "fight" to keep the movie rated R.
more from kinnaman on RoboCop >> Posted 04.03.12 by Ryan -
In June, we and every other movie site reported that Julia Ormond (Legends of the Fall) was joining the upcoming Superman franchise reboot, Man of Steel, as Lara Lor-Van, Superman's biological mother. Turns out we were all wrong.
Deadline reports that Ayelet Zurer (Angels & Demons) has been cast instead, with no reason for why Ormond is no longer in the the part. Zurer is reportedly shooting her part in the movie this week.
Zurer joins a cast that includes Henry Cavill in the title role and Lor-Van's son Kal-El, a.k.a. Clark Kent, a.k.a. Superman; Russell Crowe as Lor-Van's husband, Jor-El; Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Superman's adoptive parents Jonathan and Martha Kent, respectively; Laurence Fishburne as Daily Planet Editor-in-Chief Perry White; Amy Adams as Lois Lane; Michael Shannon as Zod; and Antje Traue as Faora. Zack Snyder (Watchmen, Sucker Punch) is directing Man of Steel, which is scheduled for release on June 14, 2013.
more on these casting news stories >> Posted 09.26.11 by Ryan -
It appears as if MGM is looking to revive its long-dead RoboCop movie franchise by borrowing a page — and an actor — from Paramount's Star Trek-revival playbook. According to Twitch, MGM is looking to inject some youth into the franchise and the actor that is "the studio's top choice" to do just that is Chris Pine, the young actor who re-embodied James T. Kirk in director J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek prequel-reboot.
more about the RoboCop remake >> Posted 07.13.11 by BrentJS -
As recently as three weeks ago, acclaimed director Darren Aronofsky (The Wrestler, Black Swan) said that he was still interested in directing MGM's Robocop reboot, a project he has been attached to since at least January of last year. It's unclear how or why Aronofsky was dropped or dropped out of the project—it likely had to do with a scheduling conflict with his next movie, The Wolverine—in the past couple weeks, but Deadline reported last week that MGM was "negotiating with" Brazilian director Jose Padilha (Elite Squad) to remake the 1987 original helmed by Paul Verhoeven that told the story of a deceased cop who was given new life as a cyborg in a crime-ridden near-future world. Now, Deadline has reported that Padilha has been hired and that MGM has brought in Josh Zetumer to write the screenplay.
Who is josh zetumer? >> Posted 03.11.11 by BrentJS -
Even though concept artist Jason Hazelroth's redesigns for MGM's planned Robocop reboot have been online for a year — and the project is on indefinite hold in the wake of MGM's bankruptcy and subsequent restructuring — several entertainment sites have been revisiting the designs following the news that a statue dedicated to the fictional cyborg crimefighter in director Paul Verhoeven's 1987 R-rated movie will be erected in Detroit thanks to a Facebook campaign that generated more than $50,000 in donations.
Darren Aronofsky, acclaimed director of such movies as The Wrestler and Black Swan, was once attached to direct the Robocop reboot, and he recently told ThePlaylist that he is still interested in the project.
what else is aronofsky up to? >> Posted 02.18.11 by BrentJS -
Wow, Mr. Stark, you're such an innovator. Wounded and held hostage (with a makeshift electromagnet stuck in your chest), you take a couple of sardine cans and a used vacuum cleaner and build battle armor to get out of your predicament. A couple of revisions later, and you're now Iron Man, a metal hero the likes of which humanity has never seen.
Problem is, you ain't so original. In fact, the world is so overrun with shiny, clanking people that we had no problem working up a list of 10 others who have opted for the alloy life. Better equip your elbows with a set of battering rams, Stark. It's getting kinda crowded around here.
See our list of Top 10 Guys Gone Metal >> Posted 05.05.10 by reelz -
In Repo Men, Jude Law repossesses your artificial organs if you fail to keep up with your payments. Creeps you out, right? Just like any movie that suggests that your body, your mind, might not completely be yours to command.
In the following video feature, our Mighty Movie Geek takes a look at our five favorite "we own you" movies.
What'd you think? Did we miss your favorite? Drop us a comment below.
Posted 03.21.10 by reelz