How Had I Never Seen, 1987 Special: ROBOCOP

By Lynn Lee (with special guest Jeff Chen)

Until recently, I’d never seen RoboCop, Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 sci-fi classic about a viciously murdered cop who’s resurrected as a cyborg supercop.  I was too young to see it when it first came out and didn’t get around to it when I was older, partly because I’d heard it was gruesomely violent.  However, I learned it had passionate fans that included some very astute critics.  Among them is Jeff Chen, former writer for ReelTalk Movie Reviews and a fellow alum of the dearly departed online critics’ group Cinemarati (through which I met both him and TFE’s very own Nathaniel), who ranks RoboCop as his favorite movie.  As part of TFE’s 1987 retrospective, I finally saw RoboCop and invited Jeff to discuss my reactions as a first-time viewer and how the movie has remained in our cultural consciousness for over 30 years.

JEFF: RoboCop is indeed my favorite movie.  A lot of that has to do with timing.  I was already an avid movie watcher as a teenager, but I’d been mostly watching PG or (the new, at the time) PG-13 movies.  I was 15 when I went to my best friend’s house and he put on a VHS copy of RoboCop.  And I was traumatized and exhilarated...

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1987: Remembering "Maurice"

by Cláudio Alves

Director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant met in 1959, and quickly started a romantic and professional partnership. It lasted for 44 years until Merchant's death. Along with screenwriter, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, they made a name for themselves with the production of prestigious literary adaptations. Their first brushes with success came in the late 70s and early 80s, but it was in 1985 and 1986 that their lives changed. A Room With a View, their first E.M. Forster adaptation was a huge hit, both with critics and audiences. The picture even won three Oscars, including for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Following such a triumph, one would expect Merchant & Ivory to bask in their glory, perchance repeating the formula of their success. They did end up adapting another of Forster's works, though they chose what, at the time, was the author's least known and least respected book. The result of this unexpected turn was one of the pair's most personal pictures. In 1987, the movie was received with lukewarm enthusiasm, but, as far as I'm concerned, Maurice is one of their very best efforts…

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"Hello, it's me ♫ ♬ I was wondering if after all this showbiz history..."

7 random things that happened on this day (Nov 14th) in showbiz history

1941 Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion premieres. It reaps three Oscar nominations (including Best Picture) winning Best Actress for Joan Fontaine. (Olivia de Havilland was NOT pleased that her baby sister beat her to an Oscar... so she won two of them)

Network, Hoosiers, Adele, and more after the jump...

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HollyShorts 2 "Wonder Years"

by Tony Ruggio

Short films are the runt of the film community: small, sometimes slight, often ignored. They’re everything in film school and seemingly nothing on Oscar night, relegated so much to the fringes of discourse that some have suggested nixing them from the broadcast completely. But short films hold a special place in Hollywood’s machine, be it a training ground for future blockbuster directors or fresh voices in the constantly evolving indie scene.

The HollyShorts festival has several compilations. Ben covered the "Action" efforts so I hit "The Wonder Years," covering films set in high school or otherwise coming-of-age stories. Here are three that I think are worth a watch, whether due to their surprisingly famous cast or sheer quality...

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"Dear Comrades!" and Russia at the Oscars

by Nathaniel R

Russia has announced that Andrey Konchalovskiy's Dear Comrades!, a Grand Jury Prize winner in Venice, will be their selection for the Oscars. This is the third time Russia has selected Konchalovsky to submit them. The 83 year old director is deeply tied to Russian cinematic history. He's the elder brother of Russia's most Oscar-loved director Nikita Mikhalkov (Burnt by the Sun) and he began his career writing and working for the legendary Andrei Tarkovsky (on Ivan's Childhood and Andre Rublev) in the early 1960s before launching his own directorial career.  He even tried his hand at English language films in the 1980s making Duet for One with Julie Andrews and the underappreciated Shy People with Barbara Hershey. His first Russian submission House of Fools in 2002 was unsuccessul. His second submission, the hugely lauded Paradise  in 2016, got close to the nomination, securing a finalist spot for itself. Will the third time be the charm? The official synopsis goes like so...

When the communist government raises food prices in 1962, the rebellious workers from the small industrial town of Novocherkassk go on strike. The massacre which then ensues is seen through the eyes of a devout party activist.

Hot on the heels of that news NEON has announced that they're grabbed US distribution though no release date has been announced. Let's look at Russia's history with Oscar after the jump...

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