Remake virus

I left Hollywood for a lot of reasons... beginning to get more ill was not one of them (well, not really).
This kind of attitude, but not this specifically, is primary among them. No, I was not a failed/bitter actor, I was working fine & still get offers to teach and work in indies without auditioning...

There are so many great screenwriters out there it is ridiculous!
However, the #1 emotion that is prevalent in that town/industry is cowardice.
At this point, the idea of risking money on something that does not have a built-in audience (translation: sure thing $) gives producers hives and hemorrhoids, no matter how great, epic, touching, and beautiful it is.
The last of the integrity, what little there was, has left that town in the past ten years.
Most are not scholars of film, so they are unaware of the hack jobs that have been done recently of some truly great films.
It is a travesty.
BTW, Puff Daddy just did A Raisin In The Sun.

Oh, I am NOT a snob... I love silly, just as long as it is original silly.
Also, I have no issue with a remake if the first film sucked and they are making a good version of it (this is RARELY the case).

[wolf]

In agreement with you on this one ... Psycho II was bad enough, but the idiot director who remade Psycho as a scene-for-scene hommage, what a moron.

I also never understood the remake of Night of the Living Dead.

I don't even hold with remakes when the original was of less than sterilng quality, such as the recent batch of remakes of the William Castle Horror films.

[cowhead]

I agree fully. and then there's this new re-make of the Hitcher.. geez... Rutger Haur (sp?) scared the crap out of me in the original. and the last thing the american consumer wants is something new or challenging! geez!

[Shawnee123]

They remade that movie "When a Stranger Calls" and everyone knew the ending...it was even blurbed on the jacket! Yet, the whole thrill of seeing the original for the first time was the twist at the end that I wasn't expecting. I'm sure they added lots of scary effects...puh.

I thought Flint (or someone) said once they were going to remake Harvey. That should be punishable by death.

[Flint]

Originally Posted by Shawnee123

I thought Flint (or someone) said once they were going to remake Harvey. That should be punishable by death.

That was you! I did mention the remake of The Wicker Man, though. About as puzzling as this:

Originally Posted by cowhead

and then there's this new re-make of the Hitcher.. geez... Rutger Haur (sp?) scared the crap out of me in the original.

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by Flint

That was you! :

Oh, duh.

(It's just that I attribute everything that happens on earth, every flower blooming, every wind a-blowin', every raindrop falling, to you.)

Originally Posted by cowhead

I agree fully. and then there's this new re-make of the Hitcher.. geez... Rutger Haur (sp?) scared the crap out of me in the original. and the last thing the american consumer wants is something new or challenging! geez!

Incorrect... now, every time something worthwhile is made it does very well.
Mirimar has made it's fortune on it.

[ferret88]

Preface - I've never been to Hollywood and I've never been involved in filmmaking. Well, there was that one time in Elementary School, but I needed the grade.
It seems to me that most of what's put out is formulaic, especially stuff put out by BuenaVista/Disney/etc. It's rare that I find a movie that (pleasantly) surprises me with something new, or at least new to me (Sixth Sense.) OR someone comes up with a novel idea that gets poorly developed (Stranger Than Fiction.)

[Elspode]

I watched the remake of The Wicker Man. It wasn't that it was *bad* actually. Nor was it actually *good*. It was just completely unnecessary.

[Shawnee123]

Originally Posted by ferret88

It's rare that I find a movie that (pleasantly) surprises me with something new, or at least new to me

That's why I love indie films. They aren't all good, but there are a lot of good ones and some great ones...and most don't rely on formula.

Originally Posted by Elspode

I watched the remake of The Wicker Man. It wasn't that it was *bad* actually. Nor was it actually *good*. It was just completely unnecessary.

Exactly.

[zippyt]

I agree RK , thats why I love haveing IFC , we don't go to the movies or rent dvds , we have direct tv and a big screen tv ( 42" ) ,
just beter when you can tivo a flick , pause , rewind , etc,,, get tired of it , them blow it off or burn it to dvd ( a DVD burner is next )


RK did you ever see Bubba Hotep ??

[Perry Winkle]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only straight man who loved The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

[cowhead]

alright, I was just being pissed off at the movie making machine in general.. allow me to re-phrase. it seems that the movie making industry is afraid to diverge from the formulae that is well established and known to be profitable. most of the people I know love new and exciting movie concepts/scripts there seems to be a serious lack of them in the making (or perhaps just what I have seen offered by the mainstream). and yes, when something good comes out it goes over like gangbusters (as it should). however, when something new or good comes out it doesn't spawn more new ideas merely poor copies of the same storyline.

[Elspode]

Originally Posted by grant

Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only straight man who loved The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

No. Not even. Terence Stamp was *awesome* in that. I am also a huge fan of "To Wong Fu - Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar". Never has a film been cast with more unlikely stars who did such a superb job. Hard to imagine anyone else having been the trio of girlymen in that. Priceless. Classic.

In fact, now that I think about it, I'm a big fan of pretty much all the major gay-themed comedic or seriocomic films. Selene often comments that I'm the gayest straight man she's ever met.