Whereas the Golden Age of cinema was rife with thoroughly original stories, like Cleopatra, Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and Double Indemnity, right?
I really have to wonder: who cares? If you don’t like it, don’t go see it. But the fact of the matter is, lots and lots of great films are remakes or updates or adaptations. Scarface with Al Pacino is a remake. Take a look at the highest grossing films (adjusted for inflation) in North America. Top ten: Gone with the Wind (novel), Sound of Music (musical), Ten Comandments (book), Titanic (historical event), Jaws (novel), Doctor Zhivago (novel), Exorcist (novel), and Snow White (folk tale). That’s eight of the top 10 (the other two are ET and Star Wars, and you’d be hard pressed to find an element in Star Wars that George Lucas doesn’t acknowledge adapting from Kurosawa or Shakespeare or the moon Mimas.) Hell, Romeo and Juliet was an adaptation and that was 400 years ago. The quality of films coming out of Hollywood may be declining, I can hardly blame the executives. There was clearly a time when literate scripts and character development drew audiences (The Graduate, Gone with the Wind, Close Encounters of the Third Kind), but people obviously do not, by and large, have a problem with one-dimensional escapist pablum. If anything, this points to a drastic shift in the way we perceive the world. Critical thinking skills, an appreciation of the way we speak and write, the ability to focus for long periods of time, these things have all been sacrificed. I say we boycott parents who don’t read to their children, who use the TV and video games as babysitters, who don’t take an active interest in their children’s learning. It’s the same reason someone like Sarah Palin can be considered an authority on anything, or why people can be bullied and blindsided into making economic decisions counter to their own best interests. We’re given the culture (and economy and government) we as a society deserve.
/soapbox
James
From: neohiopal-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:neohiopal-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Brian Del Bianco
Sent: Wednesday, January 13, 2010 8:12 AM
To: NeOhio List
Subject: [NEohioPAL] time to boycott Hollywood
I've been long aware of the rapidly declining lack of imagination in Hollywood (turning Bewitched into a movie?!?) but THIS....
Broderick approves 'Bueller' remake
Jan. 12, 2010, 4:53 PM EST
Matthew Broderick has given Hollywood bosses the green light to remake his classic movie
"Ferris Bueller's Day Off," but doesn't want any involvement in it.
Rumors have swirled for months suggesting studio chiefs are nursing plans to bring the cult 1980s comedy back to the big screen
in either a sequel or a remake.
Broderick has now commented on the reports, insisting he would be "happy" with plans to bring back rebellious teen Ferris, as long as the project is handed to a completely new cast.
He tells Cinematical, "(A remake) would be fine. I would be perfectly happy for somebody to do that. I probably wouldn't enjoy (having a role in the film). I would rather leave what we did as our thing."
What is next?? Perhaps a Star Wars remake? Maybe "The Muppet Movie" with an all human cast?? I overheard talk at work about somebody seeing a trailer for an A-Team movie-when will the madness end?
-Brian
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