While I agree with you, I’d much rather hear “remake” than the ultra-pretentious “reimaging.”
My preference is for Hollywood to start turning original scripts into films and stop rehashing crap.
Writers of America do need to think originally, but don’t all concepts or ideas deserve equal treatment, even in being remade? Yes, Hollywood does need to stop giving us the same movie twice (i.e. The Hangover Part 2), but at some point, not-so-good movies should be the basis of remakes.
I disagree, I think there are many “original” scripts go there that go no where cause studios have no balls. And so many writers have been mortally Wounded being shot down so often they stifle themselves. No country has the edge on creative writers, there is greatness everywhere, but finding acceptance to originality is greatly wanting all over the world.
My stomach churning came with the two throwbacks at Peckinpah that came out last year: the Straw Dogs remake (redundantly re-set in the U.S.), and the new adaptation of the book upon which Peckinpah’s The Killer Elite was based. I wouldn’t mind if the people involved weren’t so pedestrian and actually tried to elevate what had been done before into something more meaningful than merely tracing over the original or using the source material as means of doing what has already been done in other films hundreds of times before. The audience, say of them what you will, deserves far better, especially the part of the audience containing my generation. We’re smarter than this, we’ve far more potential than Hollywood bank vaults like to make us believe we have.
I am also getting tired of the number of sequels or reboots or adaptations Hollywood puts out, but I’m just saying that sometimes we just have to work with what he have, only selectively of course. I began thinking of this right after I saw the remake of The Crazies two years ago. It was so much better than the original Romero because it erased the political critic-ness and gave us straight-up horror. After watching it, I kept on thinking why can’t Hollywood give out better versions of not-so-good movies. Sure, we all need to think originally more often, but some adaptations do deserve a chance.
A Stop the Lists!-based thread
I thought one spam thread was enough.
Edit – turd
Spam thread? At least it’s not mailorder whores from India.
Take it easy Tommy, let’s not get racist here. I can write some nice abuses for you Americans as well if I want to, but I wont degenerate to your level.
I think it’s you that needs to take it easy. I’m not being racist at all. There Was a flooding of spam threads that popped up through the night that only a few were able to see and make fun of. They were more than likely moderated before many others were able to see.
I am sorry to say Tommy, but there were other ways to point out those spam threads. I am aware of which threads you were talking about, but the way you said it was clearly racist. You may deny it now, but whores from India is not a very neutral statement. Anyway, my original comment was simply a joke on the topic of this thread so I don’t want to hijack it. I am out of this.
Get a fucking grip dude.
I think we can all agree Tommy’s no rascist… come on now.
mailorder whores from India pretty aptly describes those spam posts. Maybe it isn’t PC enough for some…
^ I thought we established pretty clearly that they weren’t in fact mailorder.
What the fuck are you talking about? The whores are not the issue here, Dude. I’m talking about drawing a line in the sand, Dude. Across this line, you DO NOT… Also, Dude, whores are not the preferred nomenclature. Sex-workers, please.
Whoa, whoa people, settle down! I’m close to playing moderator.
@rohit: If you think that this is a spam thread, then clearly you don’t know what a spam thread is. If you think that the title A Stop the Lists!-based thread is spamming, then you don’t know what a spam thread is. I was gonna say A Stop the Lists!-inspired thread, but words didn’t come to me at the time; still, that’s not an excuse for accusing me of spamming. Besides, do you see one forum spam here? No.
@ari: are you talking to me? I didn’t say anything about mail-order whores/prostitutes/ladies-of-the-night.
^ YOU’RE OUT OF YOUR ELEMENT!
I once wrote a research paper on how this remake tendency is going to kill Hollywood, take a look at the great scripts they turned into movies on the forties and fifties! Stuff like IT happened tomorrow, Kansas city confidential and so many of the films directed by foreign filmmakers that most of the times came from UFA. All these Ophuls, Lang, Ford stories would blow everyones mind if they were made today, and if studios stopped making the same films over and over (not just as remakes, but everything that reaches theatres worldwide) and making super hero films.
People being prepared to watch non american films is another issue, but it is a fact that the audiences are growing tired of the kind of films they are watching today and looking for new sorts of enterntainment more than ever (series and online movies).
I love it whenever someone’s trying to quote The Big Lebowski around me, but Ari, I’m sometimes slow whenever someone does.
Let’s get back to remakes: As long as there are nice, gift-wrapped surprises, they’re fine.
No-Limb Joe
It’s time we stop calling some remakes “remakes”.
The term “remake” is for movies that change aspects of the original movie from which the material was based, and not for calling every single adaptation of a movie like so. For example, Breck Eisner’s The Crazies is a remake, because it changes the handling of the material radically. Fincher’s Dragon Tattoo is not a remake, but an adaptation of the (overrated) book.
I also want to voice out my opinion that Hollywood needs to slow down and think about their “remakes”. “Remakes” should be for movies that need to be re-made into a better movie. The Crazies mentioned above is a great example of this for it improves upon Romero’s average original. Why can’t Hollywood re-make Romeo is Bleeding or Hooper’s Eaten Alive but put out unnecessary stuff like Total Recall (still gonna see it though) and Arthur? Them greedy mongers.