Cinematic déjà vu
OK, it's no secret that "Hollywood has run out of ideas," as they like to say on Fark. (I'm not linking to Fark because it's a crummy website and should usually be avoided.) But THIS cracked me up:
"Batman Begins" took in $26.8 million to remain the top movie for the second straight weekend, but it could not keep Hollywood from sinking to its longest modern box-office slump.DESPITE a rush of familiar new titles? How about BECAUSE the words "familiar" and "new" are, in fact, opposites?
Overall business tumbled despite a rush of familiar new titles — "Bewitched," a "Love Bug" update and the latest zombie tale from director George Romero.
Remake-mania has been going on for at least a decade, but it seems to have hit a really high point (er, low point?) this summer. Look at the top ten this week (from the same article):
1. "Batman Begins," $26.8 million.Four remakes. Three sequels. And a crappy Pixar knockoff. When "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" looks like the most original idea out there, Hollywood isn't just out of ideas, it has died and is rotting away in its bed while the neighbors wonder what that funny smell is.
2. "Bewitched," $20.2 million.
3. "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," $16.75 million.
4. "Herbie: Fully Loaded," $12.75 million.
5. "George Romero's Land of the Dead," $10.2 million.
6. "Madagascar," $7.3 million.
7. "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith," $6.25 million.
8. "The Longest Yard," $5.5 million.
9. "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D," $3.4 million.
10. "Cinderella Man," $3.3 million.
Sadly, the only two movies I've looked forward to this year are, yes a remake and a sequel. They'll probably both be good, but come on, people... is there no end to this in sight?
posted by Lee H. @ Wednesday, June 29, 2005
8 Comments:
Heh, I'm not even sure if Mr. And Mrs. Smith counts as original -- it basically seems to be an unofficial remake of Prizzi's Honor. (With the title of a Hitchcock film, though I didn't really like that particular Hitch film.)
But.. yeah. It's one of those things where I knew it was at insane levels, but wow. It's kind of amazing to look at it on an actual chart. The only originals are Smith, Sharkboy and Cinderella Man (which, well, whenever I see the trailer out of the corner of my eye, I think "what, Raging Bull rerelease?" but I think it's just because of that one slow-mo dude-gettin-hit shot (*mumble*and also the fact that I still need to see Raging Bull*mumble*)). And of those three, um, Sharkboy looks like it might be the best of the three. (Then again, I am not what you'd call an Opie fan.) And, well, that still holds even if you decide to be charitable and not count spiritual remakes like Madagascar. Blegh.
I am going to see Charlie when it comes out though, but I'm a little worried; it's one of those sorts of... stacks of pros and cons. Like "well, the original was perfect, but it is Tim Burton" or "Gene Wilder IS Wonka, but Johnny Depp is a good actor, but the trailers seem to make me worry if he didn't quite get the character or something, but then again, trailer cutting is so a lost art". And some other stuff that are kinda spoilery that I saw in a couple interviews with Depp (linked at least yesterday from the IMDB home page at the bottom; they were from MSNBC's site), that didn't do anything to put me on one side of the fence or the other..8) So, yeah. I'll probably see this opening weekend, even. Mainly because, I want to know.
Sad. What did I say about pop culture, earlier? Sad. America is rotting, eating itself hollow from the inside out. I'm not anti-America. But everything that America once stood for is eroding. And as your friends-- those intelligent, THINKING people you know-- and increasingly, they'll echo these sentiments and tell you that over the past decade, they increasingly feel like they're in the minority.
You might say, "Wait-- this post was about Hollywood, man!" but...
You might say, "Wait-- this post was about Hollywood, man!" but...
Actually, I'd say you've been stuck in this loop for awhile now, and it's getting pretty... repetitive.
Hmmm, well, I guess you're right. Maybe when Hollywood stops rubbing this open boil of mine with a cheese grater, I'll stop kvetching. :D
Oh yeah -- since I all referenced them without actually linking, here are those two articles on the new Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (some spoilerish stuff, so...):
One and Two (the first is more or less a writeup on Depp as Wonka, the second's an interview with him on being Wonka). Like I said, I'm not really sure whether or not the movie will be good, and pretty much everything I've seen, trailers/interviews etc. seems to keep me on the fence, so I'll just have to see it. Which is cool, since that was the plan anyway.
Ah, cool... I think I'm going to hold off on reading those articles, though, until I've seen the flick. I'm a huge fan of the original movie and the books, too, but I am really looking forward to seeing what Burton has done with it.
BTW, I did go see "Land Of The Dead" last night (at a drive-in, no less!) and it was a blast. :)
Heh, it's funny, because I was going to see Land of the Dead at a drive-in, too! (we didn't get there in time; we probably will still see it there, but we just haven't yet)
What BETTER place to see a Romero flick, eh? :D
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