RoboCop
I’m . . . on the fence about this one. On one hand, this movie has a ridiculously talented cast. We’ve got Joel Kinnaman, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Abbie Cornish, Jennifer Ehle, Michael K. Williams, Jackie Earle Haley, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and Miguel Ferrer . . . which is doubly awesome because Ferrer is in the original. Also, I kind of love Samuel L. Jackson’s little propaganda ads.
On the other hand . . . who needed this remake? I know I didn’t. I only watched the original for the first time a few years ago, and it held up perfectly fine for me. It’s a really fun movie, and the changes in this new version aren’t exactly blowing my skirt up. You know, RoboCop’s inner humanity battles his evil robot protocols! Free will versus engineered destiny! Blah blah blah. There are ways to make this kind of thing interesting, but what’s on screen here is coming off as pretty generic.
Besides, it was way more awesome when they actually brought RoboCop back from the dead.
Divergent
I haven’t actually read this series yet, and I probably won’t before the movie comes out, so I can’t comment on how this looks as an adaptation. As a film, though . . . I don’t know. I’m not exactly wowed by the trailer, but I could watch it. I don’t really care one way or the other about Theo James, but we’ve got some very strong women here: Shailene Woodley, Kate Winslet, Maggie Q. I’m mildly interested for them. Especially Kate Winslet, who looks sort of deliciously evil.
Man of Tai Chi
Keanu Reeves’s directorial debut . . . I’m not expecting much from it. (Not because he’s directing it, but because . . . well, because I’ve seen the trailer.) Still, I’ll probably watch it eventually. I mean, it looks fun. I’m not exactly sure why Evil Reeves needs to turn a pure-hearted man of Tai Chi into a killer — like what exactly do you get from this diabolical plan — but hey, it could be entertaining.
Neo is gonna get his ass kicked.
Kill Your Darlings
I am surprisingly kind of interested in this. I may have a Batman lanyard decked out in nerdy English flair — no one at work ever gets the Chekov’s gun reference, unfortunately — but I’ve never been particularly huge into the Beat poets, and I’ll take Louise Glück over Allen Ginsberg any day of the week. But I find the story here kind of intriguing, and the cast is fantastic. Daniel Radcliffe and Dane DeHaan are both great young actors, and I like Ben Foster and Michael C. Hall a whole lot too.
I won’t see this in theaters or anything, but there’s a decent chance I’ll rent it at some point.
And finally . . . All The Boys Love Mandy Lane
This movie was actually made way the hell back in 2006 and apparently is only now getting a limited release. I wish I could be excited about it, but . . . I don’t know. I’m not seeing much to get excited about. I enjoyed the hell out of Amber Heard in Drive Angry, and I want to see more work by Jonathan Levine — I really liked 50/50 and have heard good things about Warm Bodies — but if this doesn’t have some surprise Cabin in the Woods like twist layering, I’m not seeing anything worth watching. A bunch of guys invite a Super Hot Virgin to their party, presumably so one or all of them can have sex with her, and then people start dying. I mean, yay? The virgin trope is old as hell. I want to see something new with it. And if we’re going to keep it hanging around, I really need more interesting virgins.
My Geek Blasphemy 
Robocop: He will shoot you, and he knows RoboKarate. The only thing beyond the reach of his fists is humanity!
I’ve seen All The Boys Love Mandy Lane. It isn’t anything approaching Cabin In The Woods’ level of twisty insanity, but it isn’t quite the perfect final girl scenario it appears to be, either. I can’t say anything more without spoiling you, though. Anyway, I thought it was okay. Mostly I enjoyed Amber Heard and the lovely sun-soaked look of the movie. Generally, though, it’s an easy watch but there just wasn’t a whole lot else that stood out to me, except maybe the ending and one or two scenes with the supporting cast.
Weird random trivia – Amber Heard, I think because of this movie, came up in some amusing list I read a couple of days ago of people they should’ve cast for 50 Shades Of Grey. Along with Ryan Gosling, Matt Bomer, and a couple of Game Of Thrones actors.
I desperately wish “the only thing beyond the reach of his fists is humanity” was the actual tagline. Desperately DESPERATELY wish. I cracked up so hard reading that.
I didn’t know about Amber Heard or Ryan Gosling, but I have seen Matt Bomer’s name pop up a lot lately for Should Have Been Cast in 50 Shades of Gray lists. (Which is weird because I haven’t even been reading these lists. Where am I picking this shit up? I’ll blame Facebook.) As I haven’t read it, I don’t have much feeling on the matter one way or the other . . . although I cannot deny that Matt Bomer is very, very pretty, and I’m far more attracted to him than Charlie Hunnam. (Not that Hunnam is bad at all — Matt Bomer is just the very definition of my type. Slender, dark hair, pretty eyes, and as unavailable as humanely possible, as he’s an actor I will never meet, in a committed relationship, and also gay.)
I’ve read 50 Shades Of Grey (spoiler alert – it’s horrible) and I do have to say that I can picture Matt Bomer in the role much more than Charlie Hunnam. I didn’t get the impression Edwar- I mean, Christian – was supposed to look like a football-playing surfie bum. Of course, I’m just glad that it’s him instead of an actor I care about at all. Matt Bomer was good in his scene from In Time, I don’t want him to get dragged down with this shit! Let alone Amber Heard or Ryan Gosling, both of whom I’m a little more familar with. Not that I could see Ryan Gosling having any reason to accept the role beyond blackmail or them driving a dump truck full of $100 notes up to his house.
Robocop – why armor all the rest of his body but leave part of his face exposed? (And no one ever seems to try to shoot him there.)
I agree the remake is unnecessary.