The Remake Game

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Is it a remake?

No. Studios won’t admit it’s a remake anymore. It’s a re-telling, a re-imagining, a re-visioning, a re-tread, a modernization, an interpretation, a redux, it’s the same story but set in a contemporary setting, it’s not a direct remake because it will be my interpretation (I’m talking to you Jonathan Demme!), it’s the same story but with different characters, and a different plot, and it takes place before the timeline, but after the sequel. What? When the fuck did creativity and originality become out of style? Can someone please give me the answer?

Studio execs will tell you, no it didn’t go out of style, there’s just a lack of creativity in Hollywood, well why isn’t it being-addressed? Obviously there is a lack of creativity, a disturbing and shocking lack of creativity, especially when studios won’t admit that their movie is a remake, yet make up pompous terms to hide what it really is. It’s a remake. And most of the time, it’s not a good one, and almost always is unnecessary.

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My Life Without Me (2003)

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my_life_without_meThis is a beautiful portrait and character study of life and death, and is pleasantly heavy with symbolism. It also observes one persons attempt at achieving personal goals she never could do, or have the guts to do in their life. The lovely Sarah Polley plays Ann, a workaday woman who is a janitor for a school and goes home to her trailer with her husband and two daughters living a mostly simple life with her overbearing mom and life she’s pretty comfortable with. One day during work she starts getting sick and goes to the hospital where her doctor tells her she has an inoperable tumor and is slowly dying. Somehow Ann seems prepared to face death and the concept of death here, and it doesn’t take much time for her to accept her death and that her daughters may grow up without a mother, thus she begins to really live life while she begins dying.

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Saw (2004)

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“Saw” is quite possibly the horror film I’ve been waiting for for years. It’s sick, twisted, disgusting, tense, gory, shocking, and claustrophobic. This does not start off with comforting the audience and easing them into the story, it opens in which one of the men named Adam (Leigh Wahnell) emerges from a bathtub of water screaming and meets Dr. Lawrence Gordon who is basically in the same boat. Playing like a “Sunset Boulevard” meets “Se7en” we see the story of both men and what led up to their capture and why they’re there.

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Coffee and Cigarettes (2004)

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This movie has a lot of quirky, funny moments. Iggy Pop Meeting Tom Waits, for instance, and just jawing about whether they’re on the jukebox or not, and the White Stripes talking about Tesla coils and the resonance of the earth. It’s an arty film, and if arty films are your bag, you’ve found the right place. If you like Jarmusch, you’ve also found the right place. There are a number of recurring themes that resound nicely. Certain cups, certain patterns on tables, and certain lines of dialogue are mentioned.

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The Grudge (2004)

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2004_the_grudge_009The remake of “Ju-On” now called (sigh) “The Grudge” is the perfect example of faulty westernization in which the translated work suffers in the translation and completely misses the point of the original. The original had the surprise ending which makes you re-assert your thoughts on the characters, while the remake has the “You thought the monster was dead, but its not!” ending that I yawned at.

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Gothika (2003)

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gothika-2“Gothika” is never sure if it wants to be a supernatural thriller, a psychological thriller or a murder mystery, and that’s pretty difficult to discern through the clichés and obvious plot devices given to the audience non-stop. Every bit of scenery is murky, dim, dull, bland, and dreary to create the effect of suspense, and while scenery matters with setting a mood in horror films, it’s also up to the director to set it, and here it seems the director relies only on scenery, scenery that is so predictable and hard to swallow. There’s the dark and stormy night (check), the cheap shocks that will presumably keep the audience more annoyed than actually scared (check), the very loud score intent on keep the audience in suspense when nothing follows (check!), especially in one really stupid moment where Berry’s character etches her way down a dark basement, and as she opens the door, the score goes slowly up higher! And higher! And higher! Until–! Nothing.

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Battle Royale (Batoru rowaiaru) (2000)

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Battle_royale_pochetteI’d heard about “Battle Royale” in the underground film circuit, and this Japanese thriller has become an instant cult classic amidst the masses of true movie fans. Violent, disturbing, and controversial, this is one hard to find movie, but it’s worth it once you find it. You can’t get it at a chain store. Adapted from the novel written by Koushon Takami, In the not too distant future, kids basically rule over the adults, terrorizing them and banding together to rebel against them. One day on a field trip, a group of students, oblivious to what is happening, awake in a classroom, when their teacher who quit after being cut by one of them appears. Confused and frightened, they’re surrounded by armed guards and soldiers and discover they’re being trapped in a game. The game is really a secret law that has 42 students captured and collared and they’re pitted against one another on an island where they must kill one another in three days.

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