Remarks on Remakes
I'm going to begin this post by responding to Janet's Tell It To Me Tuesday question. What are some of your favorite remakes? Nothing immediately sprang to mind but as I continued to ponder the question, a few remakes I've enjoyed did manage to surface for me. The first was "Faith", originally recorded by George Michael in 1987 and remade by Limp Bizkit in 1997. Both versions remind of where I was when they were popular. A sophomore in high school in '87 and slogging through my third of four years in the Navy in '97. The tone of both versions sort of fit my mindset at the time as well: all full of adolescent lust in the George Michael version and feeling a bit angry and rebellious for the Fred Durst & company rendition ten years later. That was the only remade song that really resonated with me that I could think of.
I did think of two movie remakes that were very cool to me. The first is Great Expectations in 1998, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke. I was originally going to say that this was probably stretching the definition of a remake as it is a modernization of Charles Dickens' novel and not a remake per-se, but then discovered that the 1998 version could be said to be a remake of a 1946 movie based on the novel.
Something about that movie was just so haunting to me. I could relate to Pip's unrequited affection for Estella only too well. I read the book some time after seeing the movie and was surprised at how closely that movie followed the novel in spite of the modernization of the setting. The book held me in thrall as much as the movie. Come to think of it I could have mentioned Pip as someone in the movies I could really relate to from Janet's last TITMT.
The other remake that came to mind was also a modernization of British literature: the 2001 film, O, starring Mekhi Phifer, Josh Hartnett, and Julia Stiles. It is a teen modernization of the Shakespearean Tragedy, Othello and could also said to be a remake of two previous movie versions of the play: a 1952 version starring Orson Welles and a 1995 one starring Laurence Fishburne. I didn't see either of these two movies, and to be honest haven't read the original play either, but I certainly got the point that it was a dark and disturbing work from seeing O. I remember being horrified that all these kids were allowed to really die at the end. Dark and disturbing always appeals to me when it comes to movies for some reason although I don't know if I could put myself through the emotional strife inflicted by O more than once. The message seemed to be that jealousy is the basest of human emotions and nothing but destruction comes from it.
While we're on the subject of remakes, I can think of a few remakes that really seemed like stinkers to me compared to the original. The remake of The Amityville Horror comes to mind. The remake just fell flat for me while the original had my hair standing on end. The Adam Sandler version of the The Longest Yard also didn't measure up to the original for me. A lot of people I know thought that it topped the Burt Reynolds' original, but I have to adamantly disagree on that one. I didn't think Sandler's ridiculousness worked in that one.
So the moral of this blog entry is that some remakes are bad while others are good. Pretty profound, huh?
I did think of two movie remakes that were very cool to me. The first is Great Expectations in 1998, starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke. I was originally going to say that this was probably stretching the definition of a remake as it is a modernization of Charles Dickens' novel and not a remake per-se, but then discovered that the 1998 version could be said to be a remake of a 1946 movie based on the novel.
Something about that movie was just so haunting to me. I could relate to Pip's unrequited affection for Estella only too well. I read the book some time after seeing the movie and was surprised at how closely that movie followed the novel in spite of the modernization of the setting. The book held me in thrall as much as the movie. Come to think of it I could have mentioned Pip as someone in the movies I could really relate to from Janet's last TITMT.
The other remake that came to mind was also a modernization of British literature: the 2001 film, O, starring Mekhi Phifer, Josh Hartnett, and Julia Stiles. It is a teen modernization of the Shakespearean Tragedy, Othello and could also said to be a remake of two previous movie versions of the play: a 1952 version starring Orson Welles and a 1995 one starring Laurence Fishburne. I didn't see either of these two movies, and to be honest haven't read the original play either, but I certainly got the point that it was a dark and disturbing work from seeing O. I remember being horrified that all these kids were allowed to really die at the end. Dark and disturbing always appeals to me when it comes to movies for some reason although I don't know if I could put myself through the emotional strife inflicted by O more than once. The message seemed to be that jealousy is the basest of human emotions and nothing but destruction comes from it.
While we're on the subject of remakes, I can think of a few remakes that really seemed like stinkers to me compared to the original. The remake of The Amityville Horror comes to mind. The remake just fell flat for me while the original had my hair standing on end. The Adam Sandler version of the The Longest Yard also didn't measure up to the original for me. A lot of people I know thought that it topped the Burt Reynolds' original, but I have to adamantly disagree on that one. I didn't think Sandler's ridiculousness worked in that one.
So the moral of this blog entry is that some remakes are bad while others are good. Pretty profound, huh?
posted by Charlie at 2:38 PM
2 Comments:
Ugh. I was so mad when Limp Bizkit remade Faith. I hated the way he shouted that whole song. I didn't like his smirk either. Come to think of it, I dont miss Fred Durst that much:)
I have to be in the right kind of mood to listen to Limp Bizkit. Haven't been in that mood in about a year probably. Anyway, that song was a good one to work out to. Thanks for the comment.
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