Hmm, haven't I seen this movie before?

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By gigi , at 01/04/2010 11:56 PM to Pop Culture

Reputation Level: 46 - Post Count: 11

Location: NJ USA

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Today, thanks to the vortex-like draw of Wikipedia, I ended up reading a lot about the DeFeo family, and the Lutz family. Sound familiar? They are the subjects of the first 2 or 3 Amityville Horror movies. In my reading, I re-discovered the fact that Amityville Horror was re-made in 2005. I'd completely forgotten about that.

So that brought to mind the question -- why do they keep remaking movies?!

I can't think of any real reason to remake a movie. You have sucky movies -- and who the hell wants to see them again in any form; then you have awesome movies -- movies that were essentially perfect -- so WHY WHY WHY? Who's sitting around saying, 'Ya know, I can do better that Hitchcock did on this one!'. And then who's in the studio saying, 'Yeah, I think you really could! Let's go for it!' Are you kidding me?!

Since I mentioned Hitchcock, I'll go ahead and say remaking Psycho was the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. Not only was it completely unnecessary -- because why the hell would anyone think they're good enough to remake one of the greatest movies of all time? -- but to do a frame-for-frame remake, adding essentially nothing to the movie, no new angle, no different perspective. It's mind-boggling.

And then there's The Omen. I grant you, The Omen -- though my favorite horror of all time -- is not one of the greatest films in history... but it's at least damned good enough that it should've been left alone! Same thing for Amityville Horror. Come on - they are CLASSIC horror movies. We didn't need updated versions of either one.

And while on the subject of remade horror movies, I present a pardon to Rob Zombie... because when he did Halloween, he actually ADDED to it. He gave depth to the story, and finally explained what happened to Michael Myers, why he was so fucked in the head. That, in addition to the fact that Rob Zombie is just a kick-ass director, gets this one a pass. (I've yet to see his Halloween II, but I would like to.)

My other pardon goes to Tim Burton --- NOT for Planet of the Apes. I love the original Planet of the Apes. I love the cheesiness of it, the Charlton Heston dramatics, the skewed sci-fi-of-the-'60s view of how things would be in the future (aside from the apes, I mean... more like the space capsule they're in, the equipment they use before they're captured). Burton's "reworking" took all of that away -- and that made the whole thing lose it's charm. So my pardon for Burton, perhaps surprisingly, is for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Much like Zombie did for Michael Myers, Burton gave Willy Wonka a background. He gave him a story, and I liked that. And Johnny Depp - who can save almost any movie - brought a creepiness to the character that I enjoyed. Don't get me wrong - Willy Wonka of the 70s will always come first, if I'm asked to make a list... but Burton's take on it didn't disgust me.

I'm really scanning my brain, going through every movie I've ever seen or heard of, trying to think of a really awesome remake. I can't come up with anything. One movie I loved, 3:10 to Yuma, was a remake, but since I never saw the original, I can't really compare the two.

Unfortunately, Hollywood likes to go with the safest bet, the familiar (if not identical) story. And when they run out of American movies to remake, they just take a popular foreign film, water it down, and film it in English.

Despite the fact that it's probably all been done, and every story has been told, I do believe there are still people with creative, original ideas out there. Hopefully, they'll find a way to make their voices heard!

Tags: movies

3 Shoutbacks so far

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By:

gigi , at 01/07/2010 1:47 PM
Reputation Level: 46

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Quoted Shoutback:
The 15th version of Robin Hood is coming out.

A general would become a slave.
A slave who would become a ruler.
A ruler would die, but then be OK and become a ruler again.
A ruler would become a general.
A general who would return from war to become an outlaw.
An outlaw would become a ruler.

Russel Crow, is Gladiator, is Robin Hood.

So we saw the preview for this remake last night, and I have to say, it looked incredibly familiar. Ridley Scott seems to have recycled the props and costumes from Kingdom of Heaven and Gladiator for Robin Hood. Could be an awesome movie. I certainly loved Gladiator and the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven (the cut they released really detracted from the story)... but once again, we've seen it all before.