The New RoboCop Film, Released Today!!!

On January 12, I saw a trailer for the new RoboCop film for the first time and I gasped and my jaw dropped.  I had to cover my mouth closed with my hand to keep myself from breathing loud so I can hear the voice over.  That’s how excited I was.  I realized this was the RoboCop movie I was waiting for after seeing the original one two years ago.

I am very excited about this.  So excited!

I know there was a second and third film, but I will have to see those later, or not.  So to see a new RoboCop movie released this year…it’s as thrilling to me as when I found out about the I, Robot film in summer 2004.  That previous year I read Isaac Asimov’s collections Robot Dreams and I, Robot during and after my senior year of high school.  So of course, you may imagine how psyched I was to watch a movie based on the story collection.

Joel Kinnaman is the new RoboCop and he looks awesome!  By now, I’ve seen the two different trailers for the movie enough times that I even have a favorite part of the movie ad, like the part when RoboCop lands on the ground and then stands up, looking so bad-ass!  And then, what’s with the black paint job?!!  I don’t remember that happening in the original movie, but as this is a reboot of the RoboCop story, I am very curious to see what the darker suit will mean. I read the article about Joel Kinnaman’s RoboCop in the past Sunday Daily News, and now I have a better idea on when this black paint job is going to happen.  It is interesting, interesting indeed.  I wish I can say why, but I don’t want to be misleading just in case I’m wrong or inadvertently spoiling anyone.  I gotta see this for myself, you know?

The RoboCop reboot film will be released today.  I won’t see it today, but I’m so excited about it I’d like to see it soon after!  Did I mention I was excited?

And there is another robot-themed movie coming out later this year: the fourth Transformers movie from Michael Bay.  My sister got me into the Transformers franchise in the middle of last year, and now we have one more Transformers film to watch before we’ve caught up to where the fourth movie is next.


I have a bit of an itch to write my own review of RoboCop 2014, and if I do pursue this task I may have to wait at least two weeks after its release in theaters to post it on Cybernetic Dreams. As the film will be dealing with morality and ethics I am bound to have something to say about these in response/reflection after viewing the film. In the meanwhile I will try not to read other reviews of the film, although if there is a source or two I admire I might mention what they say and credit them to further illustrate my points.

Should I watch the original one again too?  I’ll have to rent it somewhere (iTunes may be my hope because Blockbuster is gone and I am NOT going to use Netflix gosh darnit!).

Who else is excited about the new RoboCop?

Almost Human: The Sci-Fi Show We Need Now, Part 1

So I’ve been watching Almost Human for the last several weeks and I have to say (needlessly) that it’s become my favorite live-action TV show.  I love Dorian; he is very funny and great and he looks like he can be my cousin (I am mixed and my hair is a short afro as well).  But generally, the show has a good mix of action, suspense, humor and soft moments.  It can get really intense, to the point where I don’t realize I am holding my breath for the entire segment of the show until commercial time.  The episode “Arrhythmia” was hard for me to watch without feeling a little angry, maybe even my blood pressure raised a little bit.  But I love this show.

Even more important to me about Almost Human besides great characters are the powerful issues it touches on:

• Civil rights, equality (MX’s priority to energy charging stations in an emergency, Dorian excluded)
• Ethics (especially robot ethics…)
• Derogatory words for robot (“synthetic” is neutral, but still offends Dorian in the beginning of the show because he is seen as fake).
• Fear (human fear and even Dorian’s fear)
• Crimes in the future (watch the show and see how scary crime is in this future!)
• Jobs in the future (such as the Recollectionist who helps people recall forgotten memories with the help of a machine)
• Money in the future (i.e. bit-coins)

I really enjoy Dorian and Detective Kennex’s car conversations.  They get to know each other, understand each other better during the drive and we as viewers get to learn about them both too…

When I think back about how they first worked together, Detective John Kennex has changed a lot.  In the beginning he called Dorian a “synthetic,” and Dorian responds “I am not a huge fan of that term.”  I can understand why: he feels human enough that being called a synthetic offends him, implies that he is not real and therefore his feelings and opinions don’t matter.

But they do matter because Dorian is not just an android cop, he’s a valuable friend.  Dorian saved John from quite a few tight traps so far.  Even volunteering to risk his functionality, his life, to save a human victim trapped in the middle of a crime.  He may be too altruistic for his own good.  It seems that in each episode that he gets into a fight, his injuries become more serious. 

I want to write a really good essay on Almost Human and the important issues and themes it brings up. It will have to wait a little longer. For now I want to say that that my guesses about the show (before I started watching it on its November 17, 2013 premiere) were fun to make and now I can enjoy the show as it is.  Of course I was wrong about the “experiment” thing…so far, I could be wrong and something might come up, right?  It repeats on Saturdays at 8:00pm if you can’t catch the regular airing on 8:00pm Mondays.

Please, I want to start a discussion!  If any of my readers want to say something about the show, your thoughts/feelings about it, share it in the comments or email me through Blogger.  Who else enjoys Almost Human?  Or who dislikes it?  I will be respectful of your opinions—just respect mine as well!   ;)

Cybernetic Dreams Update, 02-16-2014

The following has been added to the List of Favorites page:


Androids:
Axl, from the Mega Man X video game series
Dorian, from the TV show Almost Human


Cyborgs:
RoboCop, from the 1987 RoboCop movie...looking forward to the 2014 RoboCop film


NOTES: Fixed the spelling of the Japanese anime show Android Kikaider the Animation (spelled it wrong with "Kikader")