Real Steel

Real Steel ~ I had seen parts of this one on television a few times and had never gotten to the theaters or had the time to see it all the way through. My bro-in-law insisted I had to see this one, and so lent me a copy. Now I'm kinda pleased he did.

Based on the old Richard Matheson story "Steel," which also inspired a "Twilight Zone" episode back in the day, this version is more of a father-son relationship movie than a 1950s speculative fiction romp, although that's not to say the special effects and science fiction aspects don't take center stage when they're happening.

It's 2027, and robot boxing is a thing, and has been a thing for a while, long enough for there to be has-beens in the game. Has-been boxer and robot boxer controller Charlie Kenton is played by Hugh Jackman, who while on the rodeo circuit trying to make a buck and running from debtors, learns his ex-wife has died and his son Max (Dakota Goyo) needs a guardian. To get back, Charlie makes a deal to watch his son for the summer in exchange for selling his parental rights, and buys a new boxing robot - Noisy Boy. He hopes to make all the money he needs with this robot, but his son insists that half the money is his. Yeah, road trip.

With son in tow, Charlie takes Noisy Boy to the underground robot boxing circuit. A cross between "Robot Wars" (or for those late to the party, "Battlebots"), the WWE, Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots, and Fight Club, Charlie, against his son's protests, takes the main event bout against a robot called Midas, the 'gold-blooded killer, programmed for pain.' Anthony Mackie (the Falcon to all us Marvel fans) is a master fight master and a joy as Charlie takes his medicine like a bitch.

After getting robots of his own destroyed, the kid finds his own, a sparring robot called Atom. More adrenaline pumping robot fights follow from the bottom to the top, a pounding soundtrack and 1980s style training montages included. All through it, the bond and relationship between Charlie and Max become stronger. We all know what's going to happen when the summer's over, but still we're digging the robot fights.

In the end we're treated to a battle with the world champion 'bot Zeus reminiscent of the best of the Rocky fights and don't be surprised if you get a bit misty. Also props to Evangeline Lilly as Jackman's sparring partner, and of course to Hugh and Dakota Goyo for terrific performances. This may have been a predictable drama, but the high spx action and happy ending bring it to another level. Excellent flick, recommended.

The Raven

The Raven ~ Vincent Price was my gateway drug to Edgar Allan Poe. I remember in tenth grade, Mr. Tomasello apparently didn't like teaching English all that much and we had movie days pretty often. Perhaps it had to do with him being in charge of the A/V department or perhaps he just needed naps, but we had movie days a lot. Trust me, no one minded, and sometimes we really dug what was shown. Case in point, Price and Poe.

Vincent Price did these terrific, dramatic, and scary readings of Poe stories. The movies were just him, a dark background, and the mad words of Poe. The most dynamic was "The Tell-Tale Heart" and I'm pretty sure there was also "The Cask of Amontillado," and a third lost to the ages, perhaps it was even "The Raven." No matter my memory, I loved it, that I do remember.

That said, I've never been much of a fan of the Hammer horrors, at least not the remakes of Universal monsters, but the Poe stuff is so much fun. Seeing The Raven with Roger Corman on the TCM Classic Cruise would be the first time I'd seen it since a long lost Saturday afternoon horror feature decades before. I couldn't wait.

Robert Osborne interviewed Roger for a few minutes before the showing of the film. They talked of the difficulties of dealing with Peter Lorre who winged it as an actor and constantly ad-libbed and Boris Karloff who was always on script. As far as the rest of the cast, it included an extraordinarily young Jack Nicholson and Vincent Price, who, to paraphrase Corman, could do anything. The director got everyone to a happy medium.

The decision, after a few serious horror adaptations of Poe to do a comedy horror like The Raven. Corman felt he'd played all the horror out of Poe, and went in another direction. Based on the middle tale of Tales of Terror, also comedic, he felt it would work. They also talked about The Terror, which was created and filmed in just a matter of days because Corman still had time with the sets of The Raven. Oh, that Corman ingenuity!

The Raven begins and ends with that amazing Vincent Price recital of "The Raven" but the story has bits from the poem, mixed in with a tale rival sorcerers, culminating in a magic duel that, while long, puts similar magician's duels - like in Disney's The Sword in the Stone - to shame. The mad limited special effects are marvelous. Richard Matheson provided the script under Corman's direction. This was a lot of fun. Now I want to go back and watch all the other Corman/Poe flicks!

Richard Matheson 1926-2013

We have truly lost one of the legends of the writing game. Celebrated multiple award-winning author Richard Matheson passed away this weekend, surrounded by family and friends. He was 87.

Even if you didn't know his name (shame on you!), you know his work. Here is just a sampler - the following movies are all based on his work - The Incredible Shrinking Man, Somewhere in Time, What Dreams May Come, Real Steel, Trilogy of Terror, The Box, Loose Cannons, The Legend of Hell House Burn Witch Burn, Jaws 3-D (hey, a paycheck is a paycheck), and the these last three, all based on the same novel, The Last Man on Earth, The Omega Man, and I Am Legend.

That's not all, all of the good "Twilight Zone" episodes that weren't written by Rod Serling, they're all Matheson too. He wrote hundreds of short stories and books, and countless hours of television in many different genres, including episodes for "Star Trek," "Combat!," "Have Gun Will Travel," "Thriller," and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour." Other than "The Twilight Zone," possibly his two greatest contributions to television were the Steven Spielberg-directed Duel and The Night Stalker, which became a fondly remembered cult TV series.

We have lost another legend.