RoboCop

I know I have seen the original RoboCop. I mean, I must have. Right? What I remember from it is...nothing. So I went to the new version of it with a fresh mind and not expecting anything.

First off, I don't really know who the guy is that plays the lead character, Joel Kinnaman. Yes, I am aware that he is in the US version of The Killing (did anyone need that?) but beyond that, no idea. Playing RoboCop is not really the best means to show your acting range, though, now is it? The rest of the cast is really high profile in comparison. I haven't seen Michael Keaton in a while (last time would have been in The Other Guys), Gary Oldman is apparently in everything now, the totally forgettable looking Abbie Cornish is there and the great, underrated, underapprechiated and underused Michael K. Williams.

So far, so good.

Then, of course, there is Jay Baruchel. Why the hell is Jay Baruchel in this to ruin an otherwise enjoyable, fast paced, action packed, sprinkled-with-jokes film? His voice has an annoying quality that would only work for a muppet and he is not much of an actor. *sigh*

But lucky for me and the rest of last night's audience there is also Samuel L. Jackson. His involvement alone makes this worth seeing. He plays a right-leaning, opinionated TV personality with his own sorta political show. And he very much approves of robots let lose to guard the streets of US cities. And he gets to swear. A little. At the end. He is awesome.

Sure, the film is no revelation. Neither is Joel Kinnaman. Some of the shootouts are very, very noisy. But the in-between jokes and irony make this entertaining.

5/10

This Is the End

Jay Baruchel flies to LA to hang out with his old friend Seth Rogan. After an evening of weed, munchies and video games, Rogan drags Baruchel to a party at James Franco's house. Baruchel is reluctant to go because he is not into the LA scene and doesn't like Jonah Hill, who is at the party, as well. And so, apparently, is everybody else - Craig Robertson, Mindy Kaling, Rihanna, Christohper Mintz-Plasse, David Krumholtz, Michael Cera, Aziz Ansari and - unbeknownst to the host - Danny McBride.

Baruchel, upset with Rogan because he did not stay by his side at Franco's place, gets his friend to go to a nearby convenience store. While the two are in there, the apocalypse kicks off. They rush back to the party but nobody inside has noticed anything awkward happening at all. As they try to piece together what the two are on about, the earth shakes so fiercely that even the party guests notice this time. They storm outside and stare at the staring Hollywood hills when a sinkhole opens up in the front yard, swallowing most of the onlookers.

Baruchel, Rogen, Franco, Robinson, and Hill make it back to the relative safety of the house, where they board up, check up on the limited food and drink supply and spend an uneasy night. When they get up the next morning, Danny McBride, who has spent the night in the bathtub and has no idea what is happening, has used up most of the supplies making breakfast. So, things do not look rosy for our survivors.

As they cannot leave the house they pass the time doing drugs and making cheap sequels to their previous films. Then suddenly, Emma Watson breaks her way into the house. At first, everything is rosy until Watson goes to rest in Franco's room and they guys outside discuss the weirdness of the situation and making sure that they would not come across as 'rapey' with only one woman in the house. Watson only catches part of the conversation, mostly the word rape and gets out of Dodge, keeping everyone in check with an ax.

When water dwindles, they try to get more either from the basement or a neighbor's house, which requires them to leave the building in ones and twos. They start to get attacked by a demon, possibly the devil himself (you know, this being the apocalypse and all), who also has sex with Jonah Hill, who for the remainder of his life in the film is possessed.

What follows is deaths, mayhem, the expulsion of Danny McBride, ascensions to heaven,  and the Backstreet Boys.

6/10