Enough with the remakes!!!

jstate wrote:

The thing is they'll go for the hot face of the moment rather than someone who can pull it off personality wise. Kelly LeBrock was perfect in that role from both the looks and personality. It wasn't just that she was hot, but she was also so cool. My guess is the remake will forget about that part of it and only focus on the looks.

The only way for the film to work is to cast an actress with personality for the role, I'm sure they will take that into account.

They could improve on Kelly LeBrock who let's be honest...it was a stretch describing her as an "actress".

corplhicks wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

One remake I actually did like (which definitely surprised me) was Dawn Of The Dead.

Yeah, I liked that one a lot. The opening sequence was brilliant, with the girl and her boyfriend having no idea what was going on outside cuz they were having a romantic evening with no TV or radio... till that little girl zombie walked into their apartment in the morning and took a bite out of the boyfriend...

By the time she runs out into the street with all the chaos in full swing, it's become one of the best "You are completely shit outta luck" sequences ever put to celluloid.

This is an example of a remake that really wasn't a remake at all except for two things: name and location. It's nothing like the original masterpiece, and should have been called something else entirely.

That said, I did enjoy this one a bit, and to be honest I had forgotten until someone had mentioned it.

I thought it was great too, but I don't see why they had to keep Steve alive, the usual piggish male archetype mucking up the film..I realize it is "a zombie film" and we're to expect that seediness, it's just gross that you can't get away from it. Couldn't somebody else have had access to the friggin yacht.

Orion Crystal Ice wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Quote :

One remake I actually did like (which definitely surprised me) was Dawn Of The Dead.

Yeah, I liked that one a lot. The opening sequence was brilliant, with the girl and her boyfriend having no idea what was going on outside cuz they were having a romantic evening with no TV or radio... till that little girl zombie walked into their apartment in the morning and took a bite out of the boyfriend...

By the time she runs out into the street with all the chaos in full swing, it's become one of the best "You are completely shit outta luck" sequences ever put to celluloid.

This is an example of a remake that really wasn't a remake at all except for two things: name and location. It's nothing like the original masterpiece, and should have been called something else entirely.

That said, I did enjoy this one a bit, and to be honest I had forgotten until someone had mentioned it.

I thought it was great too, but I don't see why they had to keep Steve alive, the usual piggish male archetype mucking up the film..I realize it is "a zombie film" and we're to expect that seediness, it's just gross that you can't get away from it. Couldn't somebody else have had access to the friggin yacht.

I tend to think this was part of screenwriter James Gunn's runoff from writing for Troma films, where irony is the punchline and the epiphany. But Steve had to be the most annoying character too. At least he had a rewarding (for us) death.

I wasn't crazy about the Dawn Of The Dead remake, I think the original did a brilliant job of being social commentary hidden inside a zombie film but the remake was *just* a zombie movie. There were some good sequences but overall nothing that improved on the original or justified the reason why a remake was necessary.

S.D. wrote:

I wasn't crazy about the Dawn Of The Dead remake, I think the original did a brilliant job of being social commentary hidden inside a zombie film but the remake was *just* a zombie movie. There were some good sequences but overall nothing that improved on the original or justified the reason why a remake was necessary.

Yup. I thought the remake was handled with some nice flourish--hell, it was Zack Snyder's claim to fame--but the original was such a poignant piece of horror that had so much to say about consumerism, commercialism, and consumption. Not many gore films tend to have this quality.

And that Monroeville Mall was just awesome.

Aaaaand now 'Gremlins' is next in line for a remake...

http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2013/05/13/seth-grahame-smith-producing-gremlins-remake-for-warner-bros

This Seth Grahame Smith guy wrote the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter novel which was turned into a movie that bombed. He also had a hand in the writing of Tim Burton's Dark Shadows movie... which also bombed.

....So of course, rather than telling this guy to GTFO out of Hollywood, they're going to give him yet another beloved franchise to mangle.

Dammit, I'm in the wrong line of work. I wish I had a gig where I could set tons of other people's money on fire, and be rewarded for it by being handed even more money.

Gizmo has something to say about that:

The only good thing about my current situation where I very rarely get to watch the movies I want, ie horror films, is that I have zero time to watch remakes.

Leave Gizmo alone, you hear Hollywood?!!

Fat Freddy wrote:

Aaaaand now 'Gremlins' is next in line for a remake...

http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2013/05/13/seth-grahame-smith-producing-gremlins-remake-for-warner-bros

This Seth Grahame Smith guy wrote the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter novel which was turned into a movie that bombed. He also had a hand in the writing of Tim Burton's Dark Shadows movie... which also bombed.

....So of course, rather than telling this guy to GTFO out of Hollywood, they're going to give him yet another beloved franchise to mangle.

Dammit, I'm in the wrong line of work. I wish I had a gig where I could set tons of other people's money on fire, and be rewarded for it by being handed even more money.

sounds like places i have worked - really jacked something up? Here is a promotion!!!

exact33 wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Aaaaand now 'Gremlins' is next in line for a remake...

http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2013/05/13/seth-grahame-smith-producing-gremlins-remake-for-warner-bros

This Seth Grahame Smith guy wrote the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter novel which was turned into a movie that bombed. He also had a hand in the writing of Tim Burton's Dark Shadows movie... which also bombed.

....So of course, rather than telling this guy to GTFO out of Hollywood, they're going to give him yet another beloved franchise to mangle.

Dammit, I'm in the wrong line of work. I wish I had a gig where I could set tons of other people's money on fire, and be rewarded for it by being handed even more money.

sounds like places i have worked - really jacked something up? Here is a promotion!!!

Sounds like certain people in our government.

DallasBlack wrote:

exact33 wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Aaaaand now 'Gremlins' is next in line for a remake...

http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2013/05/13/seth-grahame-smith-producing-gremlins-remake-for-warner-bros

This Seth Grahame Smith guy wrote the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter novel which was turned into a movie that bombed. He also had a hand in the writing of Tim Burton's Dark Shadows movie... which also bombed.

....So of course, rather than telling this guy to GTFO out of Hollywood, they're going to give him yet another beloved franchise to mangle.

Dammit, I'm in the wrong line of work. I wish I had a gig where I could set tons of other people's money on fire, and be rewarded for it by being handed even more money.

sounds like places i have worked - really jacked something up? Here is a promotion!!!

Sounds like certain people in our government.

as much as I dislike government, rewarding incompetence is by no means limited to them.

Just stating the obvious here, but there is no need...or want...for a Gremlins remake. The original is a product of its time in more than one way.

Question is, why can't they make a Gremlins 3? Look at what they did with the Muppets! Lot of potential there.

exact33 wrote:

DallasBlack wrote:

exact33 wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

Aaaaand now 'Gremlins' is next in line for a remake...

http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2013/05/13/seth-grahame-smith-producing-gremlins-remake-for-warner-bros

This Seth Grahame Smith guy wrote the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter novel which was turned into a movie that bombed. He also had a hand in the writing of Tim Burton's Dark Shadows movie... which also bombed.

....So of course, rather than telling this guy to GTFO out of Hollywood, they're going to give him yet another beloved franchise to mangle.

Dammit, I'm in the wrong line of work. I wish I had a gig where I could set tons of other people's money on fire, and be rewarded for it by being handed even more money.

sounds like places i have worked - really jacked something up? Here is a promotion!!!

Sounds like certain people in our government.

as much as I dislike government, rewarding incompetence is by no means limited to them.

Correct, but it's easy to make government jokes.

Not surprised by the Gremlins remake. You got a whole mess of youngsters now that grew up with CGI-saturated blockbusters featuring whiplash-inducing editing, that's the crap they are used to and they don't have time for "old movies" from the ancient 80s...they'd rather see the remakes.

It's part of being young, most of my teenage friends in the 80s didn't want to watch movies from the 50s and 60s so it's basically the same thing.

There was talk a little while back about a remake of the Sean Connery movie Outland. That would be interesting as I like the original from the 80s.

Leatherface wrote:

There was talk a little while back about a remake of the Sean Connery movie Outland. That would be interesting as I like the original from the 80s.

That was a fabulous movie, even though its science was way off. While a remake sounds again unnecessary, what we do need more of in the theater are space westerns, a la Firefly/Serenity. A very minor subgenre that needs more attention, and to be done right (i.e. Cowboys & Aliens is a bad example).

corplhicks wrote:

S.D. wrote:

I wasn't crazy about the Dawn Of The Dead remake, I think the original did a brilliant job of being social commentary hidden inside a zombie film but the remake was *just* a zombie movie. There were some good sequences but overall nothing that improved on the original or justified the reason why a remake was necessary.

Yup. I thought the remake was handled with some nice flourish--hell, it was Zack Snyder's claim to fame--but the original was such a poignant piece of horror that had so much to say about consumerism, commercialism, and consumption. Not many gore films tend to have this quality.

And that Monroeville Mall was just awesome.

I agree with all of this and that's why fast zombie's were such a mistake! The original zombies were a slow, creeping yet unstoppable force, just like consumerism, commercialism and consumption. This all got lost by speeding up the zombies!

Leatherface wrote:

There was talk a little while back about a remake of the Sean Connery movie Outland. That would be interesting as I like the original from the 80s.

Outland was a remake of High Noon. Great movie though.

I loved the Dawn of the Dead remake. It was a different movie than the original and loads of fun. I don't even mind fast zombies.

I find the commercialism message in Romero's work to be a load of crap. Not just that, he has the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

Aren't all zombie movies just a metaphor for the inevitability of death? Like the zombies, death always gets you in the end.

corplhicks wrote:

Just stating the obvious here, but there is no need...or want...for a Gremlins remake. The original is a product of its time in more than one way.

I used to get all worked up over these pointless remakes too, but I've since given up caring. Since I see almost none of them, it doesn't really bother me anymore. They ain't taking any money out of my pocket.

This remake stuff reminds me of a bit from the Red Dwarf episode "Better Than Life":

The Cat: Look! They remade Casablanca!
Lister: The Philistines! The version with Myra Binglebat and Peter Beardsley was definitive!

The other reason Dawn Of The Dead had minimal impact with me is I thought Danny Boyle had nailed a new variation on the zombie film with 28 Days Later (released 2 years earlier) and he managed to make it both visceral and artistic. It set the bar really high as far as I'm concerned.

Witchfinder wrote:

I loved the Dawn of the Dead remake. It was a different movie than the original and loads of fun. I don't even mind fast zombies.

I find the commercialism message in Romero's work to be a load of crap. Not just that, he has the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

Aren't all zombie movies just a metaphor for the inevitability of death? Like the zombies, death always gets you in the end.

Here's my take on zombie movies: Night is classic, Dawn is epic, Day is confused, Return is hilarious, Dead remake is decent, 28 Days is flawed but looks great, Shaun nails it; all the others can go to hell. Oh, and Night of the Comet is also epic. Anyway, when I was younger I would walk around "F*ck yeah, zombies!" before I started to realize it as an oversaturated market with very little creativity and tons of ennui.

As for Romero, he's really a limited, flat, and inconsistent director, much better as a writer and conceptualist.

Lastly, I can't help but say that the Walking Dead is not--to me--a zombie show, but a survival show that just happens to have boilerplate zombies.

corplhicks wrote:

28 Days is flawed but looks great,

Story of Danny Boyle's career! I can still watch Sunshine or The Beech and spend all of my time going Oooohhh!! at the visuals before I realise that the films aren't very good in any other way!

Don't get me wrong, he's made some fantastic films (my fav is A Life Less Ordinary) some crummy ones, but they all look great.

Boris2008 wrote:

Story of Danny Boyle's career! I can still watch Sunshine or The Beech and spend all of my time going Oooohhh!! at the visuals before I realise that the films aren't very good in any other way!

I love Sunshine, not sure if the "villain" in the film is really necessary but overall I think it's one of the better intelligent sci-fi films of the past 10 years.