Hollywood Babble On & On #1120: My Robocop Confession & Other Stuff.

MY ROBOCOP CONFESSION

There's a Robocop remake coming out and folks are debating whether or not it's sacrilege or just heresy, and my reaction to all that hullaballoo is a big fat "Feh."

You see, I've always felt the original Robocop was overrated.

The film didn't have characters as much as caricatures, the satire was obvious and ham-fisted, saying more about director Paul Verhoven's prejudices than about society in general. Also the violence and sexual content seemed exaggerated or inserted into the story just to get an "R" rating and hence be the cool kid on the action movie block. It did have some good performances from the likes of Peter Weller and Kurtwood Smith, but I was otherwise left cold by the film.

I am of the generation that thought the original Robocop was so bad-ass, but I will admit to be the odd man out about that movie. Folks saw the botched sequels and TV series as aberrations ruining the franchise, but I saw them as the inevitable result of thin source material.

MORE HOLLYWOOD FATISM

This is the DC Comics super villain The Penguin.

This is the actor cast to play The Penguin in the upcoming Gotham TV series.

Notice something?

Another thin actor stealing the role of a portly character.

THIS IS BIGOTRY PURE AND SIMPLE!

Damn Hollywood bastards!

SHIA LABEOUF IS STILL AN IDIOT

Shia LaBeouf is still an idiot.

BBC GOES TO NOTTINGHAM

BBC America has green-lit the series Nottingham, a twist on the Robin Hood legend where Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham are actually THE SAME PERSON.

Meh.

I'd like to see a version where the Sheriff is trying to do real police work but is constantly cop-blocked by the corruption of the greedy Prince John, and the banditry of an obnoxious Robin Hood. Every time he makes a legitimate arrest the Prince either frees them after taking a bribe, or Robin Hood busts them out because he mistakenly thinks they're being oppressed. Then end the series with the Sheriff giving up, stealing the treasury, and fleeing to Italy with Maid Marian.