Remakes! Remakes! Read all about 'em!

[eddievalient]

Well, we all knew it was going to happen sooner or later. Is it really so surprising that they're going to test the idea with the Beatles?

[EricJ]

In addition, casting was announced this week, sending shivers down our spines in that it looks like Zemeckis <I>IS</I> aiming for photo-realistic Beatles in his movie as opposed to making a mo-cap remake of the original.

How, exactly? All we've seen are the actors, have we seen any early concept designs?
(Eg., Cary Elwes as George was likely a bit of buddy-casting, as Elwes had already been in BobZ's Christmas Carol.)

There's just as much nostalgically-inaccurate memory of YS as day-glo and psychedelic-trippy in every scene (as anyone playing the X-Box videogame will note), and we know that BobZ loves inaccurate nostalgia over research.

[Ben]

Well, by going on the visual characteristics of the actors chosen, one doesn't have to stretch the imagination so far as to realize the direction BZ is going in here.

Nostalgically inaccurate? For most people who don't bother to look back on their disc collections, maybe.

But the 1968 Yellow Submarine was a VHS favorite back in the day that was in and out of our player as much as anything else, so the movie is imprinted on my brain. That MGM's DVD was one of the first ones I bought in the format and has remained on and off my playlist would help too, just as the fact that I re-ran it in the ol' home theater just before Christmas.

[ShyViolet]

Here's a second Karate Kid trailer:



I know it's a different story but he still seems way too young for the Daniel role.

[ShyViolet]

According to this interview, Breck Eisner will be directing Flash Gordon:

EDIT: replaced the link, I pasted the wrong one: (there was some brief adult language in the other one.)

Click

[Vernadyn]

Interesting to see what Michael's son is doing these days. I haven't seen The Crazies, but I did see Sahara. Being a fan of Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt books (at least until he started bringing on a co-author), I was disappointed with the film, though I don't know how much Eisner was to blame for that.

Another remake I'm curious about is Let Me In, opening October 1 and based on the book Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist. An acquaintance of mine is a fan of vampire films, and having an intense hatred of Twilight (a sentiment which I, for better or for worse, share), recommended to me the original Swedish film based on Lindqvist's novel, directed by Thomas Alfredson. It's a flawed masterpiece with great acting, but the novel is even better (though containing disturbing sexual elements that some may find too distasteful or offensive.)

Geek boards have been humming with disapproval with the news of this American remake, directed by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield). I feel mostly ambivalent about it, but two elements about it have piqued my interest. One is that it is going to have music by Michael Giacchino, my favorite up-and-coming composer. The other is that it is going to star the insanely talented Chloe Moretz. Time will tell if this remake will end up being worth it, or end up being another cash-in to the current Twilight craze by diluting the source material.

[Ben]

Giacchino, with his undoubted Pixar and Oscar winning success, an "up and comer"? I'd say he's well arrived, Vernadyn.

I've found that original foreign versions of movies are far and away better than their US or UK remakes. The Infernal Affairs trilogy? Exquisitely layered as opposed to Scorsese's watered down The Departed (how he won an Oscar for that I don't know).

And there are many more that I can't think of the titles to right now. Open Your Eyes was another, watered down for Vanilla Sky. Something I'm expecting them to water down next is the twisty Spanish thriller TimeCrimes, which probably won't beat Inception or its like for brain-melds, has an ingenious use of narrative structure.

I will say, though, that I find the US remakes of some Japanese horror movies to be more palatable...not from a "ooh, gory", factor, but just that they seem to iron out any bizarre kinks in the plotting. Dark Water, for instance, remains one of the most depressing things I've seen in a long while...

[ShyViolet]

Not exactly a remake, but more evidence that there's almost nothing new in Hollywood:





It looks like the books made into a Disney Channel special.

[estefan]

Well, in Fox's defence, this is the first time the Ramona books have been adapted into a feature film (and they have been around since the 1950s).

It also has been getting some decent critical reviews, though I'm not surprised it completely and utterly tanked this past weekend.

[Dacey]

Yes, it did, but it also cost just $15 million to make. So, at the end of the day, it could still be a win for Fox.

Btw, did any of you see the "Karate Kid" remake? It was actually pretty great. One of the best movies I've seen this year, really. Go see if you haven't already.

[eddievalient]

Sorry, but I can't get over the fact that the KARATE kid is actually about KUNG FU. They are not the same thing! They should have used a different title!

[gaastra]

This site lists 50 remakes in the works. (porkys, meatballs, short circuit, mad max, heavy metal)

The site lists honey i shrunk the kids as one of the remakes!

"Honey, I Shrunk the Kids’
Attached: N/A
Status: Not much is known about this hush-hush attempt to remake the popular Rick Moranis series about a nutty scientist who accidentally shrinks his family to microscopic proportions. Moranis has retired from acting, so we do know he isn’t involved, but otherwise the only information from Disney is that a script is being worked on.
Release Date/Year: Unknown"


Do we really need a remake?

[Dacey]

What site was this?

[Daniel]

Next Movie

Take with a grain of salt... it's a little outdated too, last I heard the Robocop remake was as good as dead.

One of the few from the list that I would kind of like to see, is The Birds. Great classic. Imagine the special effects on the birds! I would bet, at the very least, it would be a huge improvement over the sequel. Horrid film. I just hope if a remake ever becomes a reality, it retains that Hitchcocky vibe. (not like Psycho, which was more or less a duplicate)

[Dacey]

I thought I had heard that Naomi Watts was already attached to a "Birds" remake. But that was years ago when I heard that.