Robocop 2

If Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop is a Jesus story – with Robocop being an industrialized, American Jesus – then Robocop 2 is about Christ’s perversion. This second installment in the Robocop series, directed  by Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back), does contain some of Verhoeven’s intentions but is a different beast altogether. Comic book creator Frank Miller (Sin City, Batman: Year One, Hard Boiled, 300) penned this sequel and his brand of humor and writing is apparent – Robocop 2 is enjoyable and clever at times – but it’s missing the outsider’s perspective (Verhoeven is Dutch) making Robocop such a clever and insightful film.

Kenner’s Star Wars toys

Oh childhood. How many of us lament for the days past, yearning to go back and recreate a time where things like rent, mortgages, or employment weren’t even a consideration. A time before puberty when girls seemed weird and masturbation wasn’t the only pastime we enjoyed. Wait, this only applies to the boys out there reading this – for that I apologize to any female readers.

Moving on, this is a post about old Star Wars toys. Lately I’ve been on a big Star Wars kick. I haven’t watched the film again and I probably won’t but after my friend Justin posted an old PSA where C-3PO catches R2-D2 smoking a cigarette (click here for that post) I can’t stop looking for old Star Wars spots. Today I found a bunch of old commercials for Kenner’s line of Star Wars toys. Below are my favorites.

The Empire Strikes Back read-along storybook

While hunting around for old commercials for Kenner’s Star Wars toys I came across this: a video recreating the old Empire Strikes Back read-along storybook using vintage Star Wars figures. It’s not amazing but it made me laugh, especially since I used to have this old record

Star Wars Public Service Announcements

My friend Justin posted a Star Wars PSA on Facebook yesterday and I looked to see if there were more. I found a couple which are featured below. They’re a hoot.

Vader Sessions

A buddy sent me a link to this video where somebody dubbed Darth Vader with James Earl Jones. The thing is they used dialogue from other Jones films. I thought it would be pretty stupid…and it is. However, there are some truly funny moments. Apparently people like it – when I accessed it over four million people had already watched it. Enjoy.

Foreign Commercials

Product endorsement and celebrities go together like shit and a toilet. However, there are myriad moments when companies approach these personalities with gobs of money to do advertisements in foreign lands – moments which could potentially ruin a career stateside. Everybody’s heard the rumors about Woody Allen doing some tacky commercial in Japan for millions of dollars (I couldn’t find this on Youtube) and he’s not the only one our Asian buddies have enlisted to hock products. Below is a list of my favorite commercials from foreign countries featuring either celebrities or characters from popular visual media. Thanks to Rick for pointing out the great Robocop commercials from Korea.

Also, my character study on Nomi from Showgirls should be done by the end of the week. Thanks.