RoboCop 2 (1990) #BluRay

Robocop is undeniably one of the quintessential 80s films, a cinematic classic that stands not only as a timelessly enjoyable piece of sci-fi/action but a timely critique of the culture from which it emerged. Though it was only the second American feature from Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, he’d already gotten his thumb firmly on the pulse of a nation bursting at the seams with prosperity whilst simultaneously ridden with crime, a glitzy age whose neon aesthetics hid an underbelly of dank corruption and crippling selfishness. With its’ intersection of drug lords and evil businessmen, love/hate relationship with technology, pulsing discos and intrusive commercials, Robocop got the darker aspects of the 80s, in a way that other similarly executed films were able to wrap themselves around the era’s virtues.

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Firestarter (1984) #BluRay

As I’m writing this, countless fans the world over are going to say goodbye to the original X-Men Franchise with Logan, the story of Wolverine’s trek across America with a young mutant girl capable of great destruction. While it’s a fantastic film, and one that every superhero fan should definitely see, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that Logan is, in fact, the latest installment in a minor subgenre of sci-fi action films that’s slowly been trickling back to life: people-on-the-run-with-a-super-child. In addition to Logan, we saw it only recently with Midnight Special, which saw Joel Edgerton and Michael Shannon attempting to transport a psychic child to a special destination in Florida; and last year’s Netflix phenomenon Stranger Things was entirely built around this archetype, with the usual adult protector role switched out for the D&D boys.

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Bloodrunners (2017)

Bloodrunners just might be the greatest horror comedy yet unleashed on 2017. I don’t know if that’s a point for or against the movie, but, in either case, it’s pretty damn hysterical. Set in the dying days of prohibition, Bloodrunners nominally focuses on Detective Jack Malone, a hardboiled cop in a sleepy East Coast town whose main jobs seem to be collecting protection money from speakeasies and hanging out at the local whoremansion, where he drowns his memories of World War I in an endless supply of booze and flesh.

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Capture Kill Release (2016)

I’ve been married nearly a decade now, and occasionally someone will ask me what I think makes a successful marriage. Of course, I have a barrage of criteria--things you would probably expect like a sacrificial attitude, patience, shared political and religious sentiments. But for me, the biggest predictor of a couple’s longevity is the degree to which both parties take an interest in the other’s hobbies.

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At Midnight I'll Take Your Soul (1964)

After having too much fun celebrating Women in Horror Month here at CineDump, I’ve decided to keep that sweet thematic train rolling with my own mini-celebration of Hispanic-Latino films. To start things off in style, I bring you none other than Coffin Joe, the villainous undertaker, aspiring Nietzschean Superman, proto-Jigsaw torture master, and sharp dresser extraordinaire. That’s right, America, Brazil was doing misogynistic bastards with killer fashion sense long before Freddy “Welcome to Primetime, Bitch” Krueger and his iconic sweater.

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Logan (2017)

I like to pride myself in having a pretty accurate understanding of movies based off of their trailers. I will generally see the first trailer and know whether or not the movie will be good. I’m not always right; sometimes they’re better than I ever thought they would be, i.e.: John Wick or La La Land. 

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