Why do you hate modern film remakes?

[Orrex]

[TZ]

1. Because they suck

Name one that's better than the original...

[Orrex]

2. Cronenberg's The Fly

[EastTennesseeDem]

3. Psycho, for one

Hitchcock's cheapskate original needed an update.































































:hide:

[TZ]

4. Heh...made my point for me..

:)

[Orrex]

6. Also Ocean's Eleven

The original was good in its day, but it's dated, and almost all of its lingering appeal derives from the star-power of the cast. The story and plot of the remake are both tighter by a fair margin.

[WinkyDink]

11. The POINT of the movie is the RatPack and the whole "Vegas Lounge" scene. And

Clooney, Pitt, et al. are as self-indulgent without the cool.

[jobycom]

14. A lot of people said that about the original. Just self-indulgent fake coolness.

I liked it, but it wasn't close to the remake.

[WinkyDink]

35. WHO said that about the original? I don't recall anyone calling the Original Rat Pack "fake cool".

They EPITOMIZED 60's cool. Some of us were there!
And there was NOTHING fake-cool about Frank. He lived it, loved it, and sang it. Almost killed himself over it.
Sammy? Suffered for it, pre-MLK and with a white wife (he was the ORIGINAL "Yes, I Can", BTW). But FRANK made a VIDEO and SANG about brotherhood WAY before it was "cool", and made sure Sammy stayed in the same hotels as the rest.
Dino? OMG, NOBODY was cooler, not even Frank. Dean would simply tell the world to, well, you know, and walk off into his own world, with nobody daring to follow (literally). One take, baby; do NOT ask for more rehearsal.
Peter? The "IN" brother-in-law, supplier to the stars AND politicos. Never recovering after Sinatra dumped him for messing up a JFK visit that never came to pass.
Joey? The jokester, outliving all the other men.
Shirley? The Broad of Broads (yeah, when the term was one of endearment, pun intended), sister of Warren Beatty. Beauties, girlfriends, and wives came and went, but Shirley was eternal (heh).

No, there was nothing FAKE about the originals. Do you see anyone making a living today impersonating Brad Pitt or George Clooney? HA! And Angelina is no Ava Gardner.

[jobycom]

37. See? You just exposed yourself.

YOU think they were cool because you grew up thinking they were cool. My generation thinks they were phoney because we grew up thinking The Talking Heads were cool, and John Travolta was cool. The next generation thinks both of our ideas were wrong, and Billy Corgan and Brad Pitt were cool.

That's what I'm saying. People now don't get Frank and Dean and Sammy, so they don't get the movie. Fake cool. People in Frank's generation thinks the current generation is fake cool. Both are wrong, they are both cool, just to different eras, and by different standards. You know what I remember most about the original Oceans 11? The great historical look of Las Vegas at the time--how tiny it was, how quaint to think they could just rig an electric box and rob ALL FOUR of the casinos at once.

You know why no one impersonates Clooney (well, they do, but it isn't big business)? Because impersonators aren't cool anymore.

And I could look Ava Gardner up to remember, but I can't think of a film she's been in off the top of my head, and I know nothing about her acting ability or her skill or her politics. I know all that about Angelina Jolie. Nothing against Ava, I'd probably say "Oh yeah, she was good in that" if I thought of a role she played, but she's not my generation, so she don't impress me none. I remember Bacall and Bergman, and Katherine Hepburn to me was the most timeless figure in all of Hollywood. But I don't put one era above the others in Hollywood. Each appeals to, and reveals, the tastes of the audiences when they were popular.

And I'm not criticizing Frank, Dean, Sammy, or anyone of any era. I've given my kid lectures on Frank Sinatra, and she (15) can identify him by sight and by voice. As for Dean Martin, she has a crush on him, and the other day identified his voice on the radio in a song she'd never heard before. I get it, and my kid gets it, even though they aren't from either of our eras. But she's in love with Heath Ledger, not Frank. She admires Bernie Mac, not Sammy Davis, Jr. Not because she's defective, or because today's talent is better than yesteryear's, but because this generation speaks to her, whereas Frank's and Dean's is a history lesson on what people used to like. (And yes, she had a bad year last year, with two of her favorites dying :( )

Today's films aren't worse, that era wasn't better. They are just different eras, with different values and definitions of "cool." For her (and for me), the modern Oceans 11 is way cooler and way more real. I get the original, but it doesn't touch anything in me, except my love of history.

[Orrex]

16. Actually, the point is that the remake is a better film

[WinkyDink]

34. I'm too old to agree! I prefer the whole "Swingin' 60's--JFK---James Bond" film milieu.

[Orrex]

42. You know that they have talkies in color now, right?

:evilgrin:

[charlie and algernon]

7. the batman reboot (begins and Dark Knight)

[Orrex]

18. Certainly a better film by any measure, but not really a remake

[Forkboy]

8. John Carpenter's The Thing

I love the original, but the remake is pretty much horror perfection.

[geardaddy]

10. Agreed

and the Invasion of the Body Snatchers version with Donald Sutherland was a lot creepier.

[Orrex]

21. Yes indeed

The original was on just the other night. A great commentary for its political climate, but the Sutherland remake is better as a film.

[Orrex]

19. An excellent film.

I haven't seen the original in ages, though, so I wasn't able to make the comparison.

[jobycom]

15. Thomas Crowne Affair.

[jobycom]

17. The Maltese Falcon and Ben Hurr were remakes.

http://www.texperts.com/2008/11/21/11-remakes-better-than-the-original/

[Orrex]

43. I wasn't aware of that, but...

I'm tempted to call you out for cheating! Google is not your friend!

[jobycom]

46. yeah, well, I knew it without googling.

:smoke: Yeah, that's the ticket.

[Orrex]

47. Oh, in that case I believe you

:rofl:

[jobycom]

20. The Bourne Identity. nt

[Orrex]

22. Red Dragon is a bettter film than Manhunter

But it's not quite a remake; it's a re-filming of the novel.


Of course, I know that this will invite a chorus of Manhunter apologists who love the earlier film. YMMV, as always!

[Common Sense Party]

28. Manhunter was FAR better than Red Dragon.

I'm no apologist. It's just an undeniable, objective truth.


(Didn't want you to be let down that no chorus showed up.)

[Orrex]

33. Thanks for being there for me!

What's weird is that Petersen, Farina, and Cox are all fine actors, but together they achieved a big bowl of tepid vanilla nothing. Even the Harris book, which wasn't great, was better than Manhunter.

[Common Sense Party]

36. I liked it. And Shriekback on the soundtrack MADE the movie. n/t

[Forkboy]

39. Manhunter was good, but changed the best scene in the book.

Where the blind girl has to feel her way through the bits of brain and skull to find the key to get out of the house.

Red Dragon was better, but even though I really like Ed Norton he seemed too young for that role, imo.

[Crunchy Frog]

31. The Pink Panther movies. Peter Sellers was such a hack.

[Orrex]

44. Cape Fear, maybe?

[bigwillq]

5. I don't hate all of them.

It's just that most are not as good as the original. Some are still enjoyable though.

[WinkyDink]

9. Because today's actors are blander and less talented, and attempts to make older scripts au

courant ("Hey, kids! Let's use CGI!") are weak.

Re-make Hitchcock? Seriously?! Ummm, you'd need Hitchcock's BRAIN and VISION. Why not have John Grisham re-write "Crime and Punishment"?

[BuelahWitch]

24. +1

:thumbsup:

[Common Sense Party]

29. What you said.

9 times out of 10, you are exactly right.

Also, I wouldn't mind if only 1 out of every 50 movies were a remake or sequel. But when 1 out of every 5 is some unoriginal retread claptrap, it tends to be annoying.

[jobycom]

12. So far it looks like three is winning, hands down.

Not the voting, maybe, but certainly the responses.

[XemaSab]

13. I think remakes should be reserved for GOOD films, but not GREAT films

If a film is great, why bother trying to improve on it? :shrug:

The question is where to draw the line. Why would "Sound of Music" be a good candidate for a remake, but not "The Wizard of Oz?" :shrug:

[tigereye]

23. because the remakes are usually HORRIBLE compared with the originals

[fishwax]

25. Hollywood has been running out of ideas for almost a century now

The first feature film made in Hollywood was The Squaw Man in 1914, and then they shot a remake in 1918 (and another in 1931) :)

Remakes are fine. As with adaptations from other texts, some are good and some are bad ...

[LostInAnomie]

26. The only time a remake is warranted...

... is if the original was based on a brilliant idea but was poorly executed.

A basic rule of thumb for me is that if the original so fantastically done that it gives you the idea "Man, I'd really love to remake that movie" you probably shouldn't.

[XemaSab]

27. That's exactly what I was trying to say

"The Sound of Music" is a good film, but I don't think it's a great film in a lot of ways. Basically, they made a PG-rated version of World War II, and it shows. A remake could kick some serious ass. :D

[Common Sense Party]

30. Let's remake The Princess Bride! Or The Godfather!

I'm sure we can update those for the new millennium. Maybe add more fart jokes...

[Orsino]

32. Remakes are cheap-out attempts by Hollywood, usually...

...with little new to say. These are just remakes. Ditto for most of the the little-to-big screen translations, which come across as weak excuses for nostalgic cameos by former stars.

Show me an old tale in a different light, though, and you may catch my interest.

[ghostsofgiants]

38. They tend to be awful.

If the remakes were actually good, I would have no problem with them. (Aside form the laziness that goes into writing them.)

[cemaphonic]

40. Yeah, if all remakes were on the level of "The Maltese Falcon" or "The Magnificant Seven"

people wouldn't complain.

I do like the idea of Hollywood remakes of foreign films, simply because it gives Americans exposure to some great films that they have likely not even heard of, let alone would consider watching. Unfortunately, most of them turn out pretty poorly too, although Insomnia was decent.

[rucky]

41. Because Zak Efron will never be the half the man that Kevin Bacon is.

just kidding. I loved HSM3 and I'm not afraid to admit it.

[Initech]

45. Because most of them generally tend to miss the point of the originals.

Exhibit A: Steve Martin Pink Panther

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JigAX2Q5n9A

Exhibit B: Peter Sellers Pink Panther

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek44tW0Dqig