Remaking Hollywood Classics
Hollywood must be in need of new writers because a slew of classics have been remade recently: Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1973) as Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), Romero's Dawn of the Dead as novice director Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead, Big as 13 Going on 30 and my recent view, Risky Business as The Girl Next Door. I have to say, The Girl Next Door was a really good movie. Funny and fresh. You'll even catch some of the soundtrack from Risky Business in this flick. Not to mention the train scene remade in a limo. But this begs, why remake? Risky Business was such a Tom Cruise launch pad to Top Gun, his rocket to stardom. It had classic lines like "Sometimes you just have to say, 'what the fuck?'" He drives his dad's porshce, he gets it on with a prostitute, he runs a prostitution ring, makes mad cash and ends up getting into Princeton with his pathetic SAT scores. Well, probably to appease the next generation, give them contemporaries they can relate. Most kids can't relate to Tom Hanks and probably only know him as Forrest Gump or that Castaway guy. So, let's deliver Jennifer Garner of Alias fame who is, yes, mighty hot, and someone the kids see on a regular basis. Plus, we can joke about boobs in this one. Probably would've been really awkward joking about Tom Hanks's member throughout Big.
The Girl Next Door replaces Tom Cruise with Emile Hirsch, Rebecca De Mornay with Elisha Cuthbert, Curtis "Booger" Armstrong of Revenge of the Nerds fame with Chris Marquette, Joe Pantoliano's pimp with Timothy Olyphant. The changes were rather refreshing to the whole story, and (no I won't give it away) the ending had a nice little twist to it. Go watch it--probably put you in a better mood than The Passion.
But should all classics be remade? Uh, hell no. Are we going to see Damascus instead of Casablanca? There is only one Wonderful Life. In 20 years, I hope they don't remake Donnie Darko. That's a great film that could be sorely ruined by someone trying to inject something into it. Some movies just make that mark that cannot be added to or changed. Risky Business isn't like Casablanca by any means, and it really was addressing the issues of pressure and how to deal with them, throwing out what you think is right and replacing them with what is realistically going to get you what you want. Easy to transplant that as opposed to Hitler's Nazi regime and the flawless Ingrid Bergman.
Tonight, I'm at the theatre to catch Caroline, or Change. I'm not a fan of musicals, but I like Tony Kushner's work. This one is quite a departure from Angels in America as it is set in the south in the 1930s. If my cough persists, perhaps the music will be kind enough to disguise it. Lots of water to watch this two and a half hour show!
The Girl Next Door replaces Tom Cruise with Emile Hirsch, Rebecca De Mornay with Elisha Cuthbert, Curtis "Booger" Armstrong of Revenge of the Nerds fame with Chris Marquette, Joe Pantoliano's pimp with Timothy Olyphant. The changes were rather refreshing to the whole story, and (no I won't give it away) the ending had a nice little twist to it. Go watch it--probably put you in a better mood than The Passion.
But should all classics be remade? Uh, hell no. Are we going to see Damascus instead of Casablanca? There is only one Wonderful Life. In 20 years, I hope they don't remake Donnie Darko. That's a great film that could be sorely ruined by someone trying to inject something into it. Some movies just make that mark that cannot be added to or changed. Risky Business isn't like Casablanca by any means, and it really was addressing the issues of pressure and how to deal with them, throwing out what you think is right and replacing them with what is realistically going to get you what you want. Easy to transplant that as opposed to Hitler's Nazi regime and the flawless Ingrid Bergman.
Tonight, I'm at the theatre to catch Caroline, or Change. I'm not a fan of musicals, but I like Tony Kushner's work. This one is quite a departure from Angels in America as it is set in the south in the 1930s. If my cough persists, perhaps the music will be kind enough to disguise it. Lots of water to watch this two and a half hour show!
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