Hollywood, that is. Of course, it frequently does seem to be, and in this list of 75 movie reboots, I found evidence that the 'film industry' is in one of their periodic slumps.
I assume they're working on the theory that something someone liked once upon a time must still be a good idea, regardless of why that someone liked it fifty years ago and whether or not plans include trying to duplicate that circumstance today.
Some of these things are good ideas. The Phantom Tollbooth is a good idea, although it would be better entirely animated than a live-animation mix.
Remaking The Rockford Files (this one's for tv--I don't know why it's in a movie reboot list) is a good idea, if they stay true to the original flavor.
Remaking Hawaii 5-0, well, that might work.
More Johnny (Number) Five in a new Short Circuit is a happy idea.
Other than that, the list seems to be composed largely of remakes of horror movies. (Trust me, people. If you're not Hitchcock, you should leave Hitchcock's material alone. If you were smart enough to remake it decently, you'd be smart enough to come up with your own storyline.)
I personally feel that most contemporary horror movies rely too heavily on special effects for blood and gore and on someone jumping out from a dark corner every thirty seconds. I generally assume that these moviemakers are trying to disguise the fact that they don't actually know what a good horror movie should look like.
Some of the ones that aren't horror remakes are new sequels to some of the Dumbest Movies Ever, including Police Academy and Porkys.
The remaking of Conan (as in Barbarian) gets a bye for casting Jason Momoa.
I don't disapprove of more Alien, if done well, but without Sigourney Weaver, I won't be lining up for popcorn.
The one that really has my brain whirling, though, is the plan to remake Gilligan's Island. I cannot imagine how you could translate the dopey (no pun intended) charm of the original into a move for the 21st century.
Someone go see it for me (if it ever reaches release) and tell me about it, okay?
I saw a Phantom Tollbooth movie at some point which, to be honest, stank beyond words. I'm not really sure there's a good way to take that exceptional -- and very verbal -- work to the screen without destroying it.
I think there's a bit of a fallacy, though: Hollywood has always been derivative, self-cannibalizing, cliched and money-driven. It's just that we remember the stuff that wasn't. Some people just made the same movie over and over -- Shirley Temple, Gene Kelly, the Stooges and Marxes, Durante, etc. -- but we give them a pass because it was fun, and often high-quality work. But there were dozens of sequels -- we used to call them 'serials' -- and knock-off works every year that nobody remembers now.
posted by: Jonathan Dresner on 04.02.10 at 04:17 PM [permalink]