The BIFF starts in just over a week and I am soooo excited. No I am not talking about any kind of fighting. It's the 20th year of the Brisbane International Film Festival, a 10 day long haven for movie buffs. I've been going on and off for around 15 of those years and every year without fail I see something that amazes me and usually there is at least one movie that bores me or I openly dislike. The thing about the BIFF is that it showcases a whole bunch of movies that you haven't heard of and probably will never see anywhere else, but therein lies the fun of it! You take the risk that the movie you've been drawn in to see by one little paragraph you've read, turns out to be something totally different than you expected. And usually it is different, sometimes wonderful, sometimes not. It's a glorious experiment.
Last year I was completely sickened by one of the movies I saw and wanted to walk out but didn't (never have left a movie yet) but I actually wish I did. It's the worst movie I ever saw by a mile. But I've also seen some movies that have become deadset faves, and the great thing about the modern age is that you can usually find them on DVD somewhere in the world to be revisited with friends in the future. I really encourage everyone to try to attend at least 1 or 2 movies at the BIFF each year. Even if not something from the "world cinema" or "shock corridor" selections, even if just a local or arthouse movie having its premiere at the festival before it appears in our cinemas next year. Just get along and soak up the atmosphere. And make sure you participate in the BIFF tradition of rating the movies as you leave (tear the sheet against your rating) as they keep track and let you know at the end what were the most popular movies. For some reason they never seem to be the ones I go to, year in year out. I must pick wrong!
The website for the BIFF is http://www.biff.com.au/ - it contains a description of every movie that is being shown (except 1 which is being labelled a mystery movie - you just have to go with it) plus details of ticket options. Spend a bit of time exploring to see what you might be interested in. Or, if you have been liking my film reviews so far you may like the same movies as me, so the guide to what I'm seeing below might be of interest.
This year my eye has been caught by the categories of films from the "La Mirada" spanish language film festival, and the "Fantastic Fest" mini festival from the guy who directs the largest genre film festival in the United States (fantasy, horror, weird action movies). My initial list of movies I really wanted to see or were strong "maybes" ran to 27 this year! I've narrowed it down to about 20, so I need people to come and see 5 movies with me to make it worthwhile to get a "Take 25 Pass". Here's what I'm seeing - look these up on the site.
Opening Night: Attack the Block - cool UK genre film produced by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim) with BMX teens fighting off aliens attacking their council estate. Opening night party includes drinks and some BMX tricks!
Friday 4 Nov: Comic-Con Episode IV A Fan's Hope - doco on Comic-Con geeks could be the closest I get to the legendary sci-fi and fantasy convention.
Friday 4 Nov: Helldriver - totally OTT Japanese weirdness in store and the director will be doing an intro! The director made the crazy "Tokyo Gore Police" a few years back which we loved.
Saturday 5 Nov: Let the Bullets Fly - chop socky with Chow Yun Fat
Saturday 5 Nov: Codependent Lesbian Space Alien Seeks Same - how can you go past that for the best movie title ever! B-grade awesomeness expected.
Saturday 5 Nov: Manborg - second best title of the festival, short but hopefully not sweet!
Sunday 6 Nov: Trailerpalooza + 50 Best Kills - this double bill pretty much does what it says on the packet.
Sunday 6 Nov: The Corridor - spooky cabin in the woods goings on?
Tuesday 8 Nov: The Zero Hour - Venezualan crime thriller intensity.
Tues 8 Nov: See How they Fall - French thriller
Wed 9 Nov: Revenge: A Love Story - violent Hong Kong genre cinema
Wed 9 Nov: Cronos - the directorial debut of Guillermo del Toro, who you may know from such classics as Pan's Labyrinth and Hellboy. Where it all began for him, a vampire story.
Thurs 10 Nov: Penumbra - Argentinian creepiness, another pick from the Fantastic Fest section.
Friday 11 Nov: Medianeras - a romantic comedy set in Buenos Aires.
Friday 11 Nov: Cairo 678 - Egyptian drama highlighting the level of sexual harrassment experienced by women in that country. Not a doco.
Sat 12 Nov: Another Earth - what if there was another planet like Earth where your exact duplicate lived? The guide refers to this as a redemptive drama and low-tech science fiction.
Sat 12 Nov: Tribal Cinema Trivia Night - I'm hoping I can make it along to this trivia night starting at 6pm and get a team together. However I have tickets to a concert that night so depending on the start time of that I may not be able to make it.
Sun 13 Nov: Policeman - should be a gripping look at the racial and class tensions in Israel via this cop drama.
Sun 13 Nov: TrollHunter - Norwegian fake doco in which film students following a guy on a bear hunt realise he's not really hunting bears, he's hunting trolls. Could be very weird and interesting.
Let me know if any of these interest you and you want company. Most movies have at least 2 screenings so if these dates/times don't appeal it may be on at a more convenient time. Best thing to do is grab a hard copy of the guide which should be available at the BIFF box office at the old Regent Cinema site in the mall. Wish the Regent was still with us, as traipsing around the Palace Barracks and Centro cinemas, plus Tribal Cinema, is a bit of a pain.
So yeah and after that I'm gonna be totally movie-d out for a while so don't expect any other film reviews around that time! Last year I think I saw 9 or 10 so this will be a big task.
Wednesday 26 October 2011
Sunday 23 October 2011
#27 Movie - TT3D (crazy motorcycle riders)
This is a really hard post for me to write. The movie that I went to see today has been shockingly underscored tonight by the passing of Marco Simoncelli, a talented rider in the MotoGP who died of his injuries in a crash on lap 2 of today's race in Malaysia. This is unbelievably sad for those of us who follow the MotoGP motorcycle racing, especially when you've watched for years and seen this young guy with so much talent rise through the ranks. Despite winning the 250cc World Championship a few years ago, he was yet to win a race in the MotoGP category, which was his big dream. In fact there was a strong rumour that his wild and crazy curly hair was being grown and not going to be cut until he won a race. He has had a podium, but no win, so that hair was getting bigger by the week. He was not without controversy for his somewhat foolhardy passing tactics in previous years and early this season, and his refusal to admit the danger he posed to his fellow riders and himself at press conferences. But he had tamed himself in recent races and was doing a lot of clean passes and he was a pretty likeable guy now that the controversy had died down. Right now I'm feeling shocked, sad, disbelief that this could happen and disappointed we won't ever see what he was capable of achieving.
The thing that links this tragic event to the movie today is the theme of "he died doing something that he loved" and how many of us can say that? But how many of us want to say that either? I don't want to die at all, and while at least he never held back, there are plenty of things you can enjoy in life without the chance of dying.
TT3D is a documentary about what is often referred to as the world's most dangerous motorcycle race. Held at the Isle of Man (part of the UK) each year, riders compete in 5 races over a week, culminating in one winning the final "senior race" which awards them the Tourist Trophy (hence the name TT although it's also a time trial form of racing rather than a "first past the line" style due to the danger). The danger comes from the fact that the race is a street race, riding at extraoardinarily high speeds along normal streets lined with bus stops, shops, houses and spectators - no safety barriers, gravel traps or runoff roads. This is gritty, dangerous stuff which really attracts the biggest nutters on the planet in my opinion. The race has claimed the lives of over 200 riders since inception in 1906 but has probably injured hundreds or thousands of others. And not only in the old days, as this documentary focusing on 2010's meet proves.
The documentary has been filmed in 3D which doesn't do much in the behind the scenes parts, but blows your mind with the on-track scenes. I have never ridden a motorcycle and never will (especially now) but I know lots who do and I've gotta say, you are all incredibly crazy even if you never go as fast as these guys and girls. This movie is a really good combo of giving you the history of the race itself, with a look at the rivalry between some current competitors in the race. Biggest nutter I've ever seen award goes to Guy Martin, a British rider and mechanic who has attempted the race many times but not yet had a win (as of the date the movie was made anyway). The movie mostly focuses on him and a few other riders mostly Brits.
What amazed me the most was the peek inside the minds of these people who live to ride in this really fast race, basically ignoring the fact that a fellow rider and sometimes friend has had an accident and passed away during the race. I, in my happily boring existence, cannot fathom how your mind can work that way. It seems to come down to something that is repeated often in the movie: the buzz. There probably aren't a lot of other (legal) buzzes like it. Even after some pretty horrific accidents, these guys just get back on and go again. I'm talking like 300km per hour in some cases - that is a pretty scary horse to get back on!
I still don't get how or why they do it, but I certainly enjoyed watching it. You don't have to be a big motorcycle enthusiast to enjoy it but I do think having a certain amount of interest and knowledge of racing would heighten your enjoyment.
I came out of this movie on a high, but now I end the evening on a low. Tonight a young guy's life was cut tragically short and his family and friends will never see him come home again. I know this can happen to anyone at any time as accidents do happen, but certain activities and jobs do increase the risk significantly. They all know what they're getting into when they start it, but I guess you don't ever think it's going to happen to you. And once the buzz takes hold, it is probably very hard to shake. As everyone has been saying "he died doing something he loved". I guess that thought gives us, the survivors, some comfort when a loved one does not return....but for the next couple of days at least can we all just take extra care on the motorbikes and when driving near motorbikes, and tell your family that you love them before you go out.
The thing that links this tragic event to the movie today is the theme of "he died doing something that he loved" and how many of us can say that? But how many of us want to say that either? I don't want to die at all, and while at least he never held back, there are plenty of things you can enjoy in life without the chance of dying.
TT3D is a documentary about what is often referred to as the world's most dangerous motorcycle race. Held at the Isle of Man (part of the UK) each year, riders compete in 5 races over a week, culminating in one winning the final "senior race" which awards them the Tourist Trophy (hence the name TT although it's also a time trial form of racing rather than a "first past the line" style due to the danger). The danger comes from the fact that the race is a street race, riding at extraoardinarily high speeds along normal streets lined with bus stops, shops, houses and spectators - no safety barriers, gravel traps or runoff roads. This is gritty, dangerous stuff which really attracts the biggest nutters on the planet in my opinion. The race has claimed the lives of over 200 riders since inception in 1906 but has probably injured hundreds or thousands of others. And not only in the old days, as this documentary focusing on 2010's meet proves.
The documentary has been filmed in 3D which doesn't do much in the behind the scenes parts, but blows your mind with the on-track scenes. I have never ridden a motorcycle and never will (especially now) but I know lots who do and I've gotta say, you are all incredibly crazy even if you never go as fast as these guys and girls. This movie is a really good combo of giving you the history of the race itself, with a look at the rivalry between some current competitors in the race. Biggest nutter I've ever seen award goes to Guy Martin, a British rider and mechanic who has attempted the race many times but not yet had a win (as of the date the movie was made anyway). The movie mostly focuses on him and a few other riders mostly Brits.
What amazed me the most was the peek inside the minds of these people who live to ride in this really fast race, basically ignoring the fact that a fellow rider and sometimes friend has had an accident and passed away during the race. I, in my happily boring existence, cannot fathom how your mind can work that way. It seems to come down to something that is repeated often in the movie: the buzz. There probably aren't a lot of other (legal) buzzes like it. Even after some pretty horrific accidents, these guys just get back on and go again. I'm talking like 300km per hour in some cases - that is a pretty scary horse to get back on!
I still don't get how or why they do it, but I certainly enjoyed watching it. You don't have to be a big motorcycle enthusiast to enjoy it but I do think having a certain amount of interest and knowledge of racing would heighten your enjoyment.
I came out of this movie on a high, but now I end the evening on a low. Tonight a young guy's life was cut tragically short and his family and friends will never see him come home again. I know this can happen to anyone at any time as accidents do happen, but certain activities and jobs do increase the risk significantly. They all know what they're getting into when they start it, but I guess you don't ever think it's going to happen to you. And once the buzz takes hold, it is probably very hard to shake. As everyone has been saying "he died doing something he loved". I guess that thought gives us, the survivors, some comfort when a loved one does not return....but for the next couple of days at least can we all just take extra care on the motorbikes and when driving near motorbikes, and tell your family that you love them before you go out.
Movie #26 - The Thing
Okay, I'd pegged this as a prequel, not a remake. But after catching part of the original The Thing (1981) on telly last night, I have to admit this is both a prequel and a remake rolled into one. The events in this movie take place one week before the events of the original movie, with different characters, but there is a very high level of similarity to the structure and action of the original.
This movie opens with the discovery of a spacecraft under the ice in Antarctica by a group of Swedish scientists and, nearby, a 'thing' trapped in the ice. Two American scientists are recruited by the Swedes to assist with the extraction and investigation of the thing from outer space. One of these is Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead who was Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim) who quickly becomes our protaganist after the thing comes back to life and starts picking off the crew one by one, by taking over the bodies and copying their DNA.
The movie ends with a direct link to the 1981 film which takes place at the Russian base rather than the Swedish base. No spoilers allowed so I won't say any more on that.
I think the test of a good thriller is how much the audience is into the movie. When the guy behind me actually said out loud "Oh no" (which was exactly what I was thinking) when an unexpected person turns out to be hosting the thing really early on, that's when I realised that this movie had its audience in its grip. And it didn't really let up. The middle part of the film was the most effective, building a huge amount of tension through wondering exactly who was currently hosting the thing but controlling its murderous urges. I was chewing my nails while the crew were all looking suspicious at each other. This was dissipated a little as the thing busted out and started to chew through the crew members quite quickly, but the ending picked back up with a tense showdown between monster and the last remaining humans.
What I liked best about this movie was the special effects - they were top notch believable and horrific. I'm very surprised I did not have nightmares that evening! Effects have really come such a long way and at least one friend is going to kill me for saying so, but it does stand up really well compared to the original/next film. It's hard to be into something when you're laughing at the special effects. Good tension and not too much cheesy dialogue. A classy horror movie, perfect for giving you a bit of a chill this Halloween.
This movie opens with the discovery of a spacecraft under the ice in Antarctica by a group of Swedish scientists and, nearby, a 'thing' trapped in the ice. Two American scientists are recruited by the Swedes to assist with the extraction and investigation of the thing from outer space. One of these is Kate Lloyd (Mary Elizabeth Winstead who was Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim) who quickly becomes our protaganist after the thing comes back to life and starts picking off the crew one by one, by taking over the bodies and copying their DNA.
The movie ends with a direct link to the 1981 film which takes place at the Russian base rather than the Swedish base. No spoilers allowed so I won't say any more on that.
I think the test of a good thriller is how much the audience is into the movie. When the guy behind me actually said out loud "Oh no" (which was exactly what I was thinking) when an unexpected person turns out to be hosting the thing really early on, that's when I realised that this movie had its audience in its grip. And it didn't really let up. The middle part of the film was the most effective, building a huge amount of tension through wondering exactly who was currently hosting the thing but controlling its murderous urges. I was chewing my nails while the crew were all looking suspicious at each other. This was dissipated a little as the thing busted out and started to chew through the crew members quite quickly, but the ending picked back up with a tense showdown between monster and the last remaining humans.
What I liked best about this movie was the special effects - they were top notch believable and horrific. I'm very surprised I did not have nightmares that evening! Effects have really come such a long way and at least one friend is going to kill me for saying so, but it does stand up really well compared to the original/next film. It's hard to be into something when you're laughing at the special effects. Good tension and not too much cheesy dialogue. A classy horror movie, perfect for giving you a bit of a chill this Halloween.
Thursday 20 October 2011
Big Director's Week - new out 20 October
Wow, tonnes of movies are out this week! A nicely timed release for Halloween in 2 weeks is Paranormal Activity 3 which I will be very keen to see. After loving the chills and thrills of the first one, I was dubious about the second movie and only caught it on DVD somewhat later. The second one was, surprisingly, on a par with the original in quality and frights. The third one goes back even earlier in the lives of Katie and her sister, to when they first encountered the um, well, I shouldn't say unless you've seen the movies. The review in the Courier Mail indicates that the third one amazingly keeps up the standards. So I'll be there, probably next week but it is out today.
The big movie of the week is Contagion, a hard science drama about a virus that spreads rapidly around the world, but focusing more on how quickly fear and paranoia travel through our world. This is a newie from Stephen Soderbergh (Traffic) who seems to have taken a break from his ultra low budget, low profile movies made of late. Starring Jude Law, Matt Damon and Kate Winslet this should be a solid movie, if a little frightening. Did you wash your hands before touching your face or eating today?
Big dumb fun is promised by The Three Musketeers, which must be the 347th version of this story. What makes this one different is the fact it's been directed by Paul WS Anderson, the much maligned Brit director (second only to Uwe Boll in criticism levelled - google both these guys and see for yourself!) who has been responsible for such big dumb fun movies as Resident Evil, Death Race (2008 version), Mortal Kombat and Alien vs Predator. So it should be totally crackers with the action moved to flying galleons rather than ground bound swordfighting. Orlando Bloom as a pompous, mustache twirling baddie gets my vote, especially as Movember approaches!
There is a movie out on George Harrison, some of my friends' favourite Beatle. "George Harrison: Living in the Material World" is a title that rivals the Pirates series for length and it's almost as long as a couple of them combined. Clocking in at 3.5 hours, you'd have to be a dedicated fan to sit through this documentary that mainly charts his career with a few side trips into interesting stories. One plus of this is that it's directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese so fans of his Rolling Stones doco might like this too.
Finally there is the new Woody Allen movie out, Midnight in Paris. Starring Owen Wilson as the Woody Allen character is a great start to marking this movie out as an improvement over the last couple which have been disappointingly bland. Not what you'd expect. Owen is a screenwriter who is churning out Hollywood scripts by the numbers but longs to show his true creative talent. On a visit to Paris with his fiancee and her conservative parents, Owen manages to find some time alone to stroll the old city and miraculously travels back through time to the 30s where he meets some of his artistic heroes such as Picasso, F Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway. Early mail says this is a magical return to form for Woody.
The big new DVD release is Pirates of the Carribbean: On Stranger Tides, which is out in every conceivable version you can think of - dvd, bluray, 3D bluray, packs with the earlier films. Whichever option you choose, it's good big dumb fun.
The big movie of the week is Contagion, a hard science drama about a virus that spreads rapidly around the world, but focusing more on how quickly fear and paranoia travel through our world. This is a newie from Stephen Soderbergh (Traffic) who seems to have taken a break from his ultra low budget, low profile movies made of late. Starring Jude Law, Matt Damon and Kate Winslet this should be a solid movie, if a little frightening. Did you wash your hands before touching your face or eating today?
Big dumb fun is promised by The Three Musketeers, which must be the 347th version of this story. What makes this one different is the fact it's been directed by Paul WS Anderson, the much maligned Brit director (second only to Uwe Boll in criticism levelled - google both these guys and see for yourself!) who has been responsible for such big dumb fun movies as Resident Evil, Death Race (2008 version), Mortal Kombat and Alien vs Predator. So it should be totally crackers with the action moved to flying galleons rather than ground bound swordfighting. Orlando Bloom as a pompous, mustache twirling baddie gets my vote, especially as Movember approaches!
There is a movie out on George Harrison, some of my friends' favourite Beatle. "George Harrison: Living in the Material World" is a title that rivals the Pirates series for length and it's almost as long as a couple of them combined. Clocking in at 3.5 hours, you'd have to be a dedicated fan to sit through this documentary that mainly charts his career with a few side trips into interesting stories. One plus of this is that it's directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese so fans of his Rolling Stones doco might like this too.
Finally there is the new Woody Allen movie out, Midnight in Paris. Starring Owen Wilson as the Woody Allen character is a great start to marking this movie out as an improvement over the last couple which have been disappointingly bland. Not what you'd expect. Owen is a screenwriter who is churning out Hollywood scripts by the numbers but longs to show his true creative talent. On a visit to Paris with his fiancee and her conservative parents, Owen manages to find some time alone to stroll the old city and miraculously travels back through time to the 30s where he meets some of his artistic heroes such as Picasso, F Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway. Early mail says this is a magical return to form for Woody.
The big new DVD release is Pirates of the Carribbean: On Stranger Tides, which is out in every conceivable version you can think of - dvd, bluray, 3D bluray, packs with the earlier films. Whichever option you choose, it's good big dumb fun.
Sunday 16 October 2011
10 Scaredest Moments in my Life
Today I think my heart did about a 1000 flips - there were multiple scary moments while driving in my car around Brissie and to the Gold Coast this arvo. Which got me thinking about when I have been scared before and it mainly revolves around movies, driving and weather. I'm home alone this weekend, so here for your amusement/mockery is my top 10 scaredest moments in my teen/adult life (not counting when I was a kid and tonnes of things scared me):
1) Driving to the Gold Coast today alone during that massive storm. Around Logan I was thinking "that sky is really dark, hey that was cool lightning, this is really cool driving and watching this and listening to The Used really loud. However, about Yatala it became an intense storm cell with strong wind, heavy rain (almost hail) and huge lightning and thunder, it was as dark at 4:15pm as it is at 8pm. The 110km/hr zone quickly dropped to 80km, then 60 then almost a standstill. All the spots on the side of the road under the bridges were taken so I had to keep going. I don't have a lot of experience driving in rain so I was really panicking and had to tell myself to breathe slowly and just focus. Never been so glad to arrive at my destination as I was today. This video on youtube was taken at the exact spot where I got off the highway to take shelter - I was sitting in that Caltex carpark at around the same time!
2) Going on my first camping trip and sleeping in the back of the ute with Ben, the night after going to a midnight screening of Uruguayan scary movie "The Silent House" by myself. The movie is a fantastically chilling one-take wonder about a girl and her father staying in a remote house when they hear some very scary sounds from the upstairs level. So that first night camping, Ben turns the light out and I realise it is very very dark. And we are out in the middle of nowhere (okay Bribie Island beach side, not that far from normal society at all, but it felt like nowhere) and sleeping in a car with just a zip off canopy over our heads. So my brain starts thinking back to the movie and hearing some very different noises than I'm used to and thinking about how anyone could just come past and kill us. They could just reach in and touch my face! It took me a looooong time to get to sleep that first night. Ben isn't going to let me watch any scary movies before camping ever again.
3) When I realised 1 second beforehand that we were about to have a front-on car accident, back in 2009. Minding our own business, legally going through a green light on a straight road on a Sunday evening after The Bronx concert, a young unlicensed driver turned across in front of me cause he "thought" I had a red light. Ben just had time to yell "watch out" and I slammed on the brakes and squeezed my eyes shut and then we hit and spun around. Very scary moment. We were lucky to escape with no injuries worse than whiplash, bruises and scraped arms from the airbag, other driver was fine but his passenger went to hospital with sore neck (hope she was okay). I feel bad all the time for my friend Brad who was with us that night. Car was written off and I didn't drive anywhere for about a week, but then I got a new car and had to get back on that horse.
4) Watching The Descent for the first time. I rate this as the scariest modern movie by a mile. The combination of spelunking in tight caves and gruesome death by half human creatures is a total winner in the heart stopping fear stakes. For me anyway, and I think many would agree.
5) Going to see Paranormal Activity (the first one) at the movies with 3 mates from work who were generally scary movie novices. The entire theatre was populated by people who were really into the movie, even screaming out loud at some of the big moments. I wanted someone to hold my hand about 3/4 of the way through, but nobody would. The part where Katie is dragged out of bed and out of the room has to rate as one of the most chilling moments in cinema. The sound effects of this movie at the cinema were top notch, really getting the heart beating faster. Afterwards, we were all shaking and standing in the foyer discussing the movie, I actually got goosebumps down my arms just thinking about that scene again.
6) About a week after seeing Paranormal Activity when Ben got out of bed and just stood at the side of the bed motionless for several minutes. This is not going to make sense unless you've seen Paranormal Activity so rent it out if you haven't seen it. When I woke up and saw him doing this, I got this very cold tense feeling. Thank god he just got back into bed eventually and went back to sleep! And he had not seen the movie so he wasn't playing tricks on me.
7) Going through the bad storm of November 2008 that hit The Gap the worst but still hit our area pretty hard. It has been likened to a cyclone or tornado in the worst hit areas - here's a link to the newscast the day after the storm. Scariest moment is a toss up between when it started to hail and I dashed out with a doona to cover the side of my car that was exposed and I was hiding behind the columns of the carport to dodge the stones, when a tree in the corner of the yard fell over (not a big one though) or when we got caught out after driving over to check on some friends at Ferny Hills and got down some streets with large fallen trees and had to go on the footpath to get back and then the tyres had no traction - thought we were stuck out in it and would not be able to get home.
8) Watching Rob Zombie's Halloween one night, curled up on the couch with all the lights off, when suddenly there is an action scene and something touches my leg. It was a whoosh of air from the subwoofer which I was sitting about 1.5 metres away from and it scared the hell out of me! I don't normally sit on that seat to watch TV so it was a big shock.
9) The day I realised that I occasionally have true dreams. This was the day someone close to me died, after I'd had a dream that someone related to me was going to die in their car. This may sound far-fetched but it was a fairly clear dream and I woke up feeling such intense sorrow that I felt compelled to tell my mum to warn somebody about it. She did so, as she already believed in my dreams at that time, even before that one came true. However it was sadly not the right person to prevent it coming true. Now every time I have a nightmare (they are frequent and vivid) my heart skips a beat if anyone I know is in it.
10) Seeing a number of scary movies as a teen when I wasn't quite adjusted enough to cope. Geez we were scared of that clown in Stephen King's "It". I think I can add Pet Sematery, Nightmare on Elm Street, Braindead, The Lost Boys, The Hand that Rocked the Cradle, Gremlins, Goonies, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Silence of the Lambs to that list. I think what these movies all have in common is that they were watched in my teens, at night, in the dark, with friends at a slumber party or sometimes with my family. The best way to enjoy horror or chiller movies.
Well that wraps it up, hopefully you're not laughing at me right now. I much prefer the movie based scares in this list than the real life ones. There is something that I just love about sitting in a dark room and immersing yourself in a scary movie, whether it is one that makes you jump out of your skin (I still jump every time there's a cat jumping out of a cupboard/from behind a door) or just get goosebumps or look over your shoulder as you unlock your front door when you get home.
Please feel free to share your own scaredy cat moments so I don't feel like such a dork. But even more so, please make sure you sit down and watch a scary movie with all the lights off this coming Halloween, and think of me when you jump.
1) Driving to the Gold Coast today alone during that massive storm. Around Logan I was thinking "that sky is really dark, hey that was cool lightning, this is really cool driving and watching this and listening to The Used really loud. However, about Yatala it became an intense storm cell with strong wind, heavy rain (almost hail) and huge lightning and thunder, it was as dark at 4:15pm as it is at 8pm. The 110km/hr zone quickly dropped to 80km, then 60 then almost a standstill. All the spots on the side of the road under the bridges were taken so I had to keep going. I don't have a lot of experience driving in rain so I was really panicking and had to tell myself to breathe slowly and just focus. Never been so glad to arrive at my destination as I was today. This video on youtube was taken at the exact spot where I got off the highway to take shelter - I was sitting in that Caltex carpark at around the same time!
2) Going on my first camping trip and sleeping in the back of the ute with Ben, the night after going to a midnight screening of Uruguayan scary movie "The Silent House" by myself. The movie is a fantastically chilling one-take wonder about a girl and her father staying in a remote house when they hear some very scary sounds from the upstairs level. So that first night camping, Ben turns the light out and I realise it is very very dark. And we are out in the middle of nowhere (okay Bribie Island beach side, not that far from normal society at all, but it felt like nowhere) and sleeping in a car with just a zip off canopy over our heads. So my brain starts thinking back to the movie and hearing some very different noises than I'm used to and thinking about how anyone could just come past and kill us. They could just reach in and touch my face! It took me a looooong time to get to sleep that first night. Ben isn't going to let me watch any scary movies before camping ever again.
3) When I realised 1 second beforehand that we were about to have a front-on car accident, back in 2009. Minding our own business, legally going through a green light on a straight road on a Sunday evening after The Bronx concert, a young unlicensed driver turned across in front of me cause he "thought" I had a red light. Ben just had time to yell "watch out" and I slammed on the brakes and squeezed my eyes shut and then we hit and spun around. Very scary moment. We were lucky to escape with no injuries worse than whiplash, bruises and scraped arms from the airbag, other driver was fine but his passenger went to hospital with sore neck (hope she was okay). I feel bad all the time for my friend Brad who was with us that night. Car was written off and I didn't drive anywhere for about a week, but then I got a new car and had to get back on that horse.
4) Watching The Descent for the first time. I rate this as the scariest modern movie by a mile. The combination of spelunking in tight caves and gruesome death by half human creatures is a total winner in the heart stopping fear stakes. For me anyway, and I think many would agree.
5) Going to see Paranormal Activity (the first one) at the movies with 3 mates from work who were generally scary movie novices. The entire theatre was populated by people who were really into the movie, even screaming out loud at some of the big moments. I wanted someone to hold my hand about 3/4 of the way through, but nobody would. The part where Katie is dragged out of bed and out of the room has to rate as one of the most chilling moments in cinema. The sound effects of this movie at the cinema were top notch, really getting the heart beating faster. Afterwards, we were all shaking and standing in the foyer discussing the movie, I actually got goosebumps down my arms just thinking about that scene again.
6) About a week after seeing Paranormal Activity when Ben got out of bed and just stood at the side of the bed motionless for several minutes. This is not going to make sense unless you've seen Paranormal Activity so rent it out if you haven't seen it. When I woke up and saw him doing this, I got this very cold tense feeling. Thank god he just got back into bed eventually and went back to sleep! And he had not seen the movie so he wasn't playing tricks on me.
7) Going through the bad storm of November 2008 that hit The Gap the worst but still hit our area pretty hard. It has been likened to a cyclone or tornado in the worst hit areas - here's a link to the newscast the day after the storm. Scariest moment is a toss up between when it started to hail and I dashed out with a doona to cover the side of my car that was exposed and I was hiding behind the columns of the carport to dodge the stones, when a tree in the corner of the yard fell over (not a big one though) or when we got caught out after driving over to check on some friends at Ferny Hills and got down some streets with large fallen trees and had to go on the footpath to get back and then the tyres had no traction - thought we were stuck out in it and would not be able to get home.
8) Watching Rob Zombie's Halloween one night, curled up on the couch with all the lights off, when suddenly there is an action scene and something touches my leg. It was a whoosh of air from the subwoofer which I was sitting about 1.5 metres away from and it scared the hell out of me! I don't normally sit on that seat to watch TV so it was a big shock.
9) The day I realised that I occasionally have true dreams. This was the day someone close to me died, after I'd had a dream that someone related to me was going to die in their car. This may sound far-fetched but it was a fairly clear dream and I woke up feeling such intense sorrow that I felt compelled to tell my mum to warn somebody about it. She did so, as she already believed in my dreams at that time, even before that one came true. However it was sadly not the right person to prevent it coming true. Now every time I have a nightmare (they are frequent and vivid) my heart skips a beat if anyone I know is in it.
10) Seeing a number of scary movies as a teen when I wasn't quite adjusted enough to cope. Geez we were scared of that clown in Stephen King's "It". I think I can add Pet Sematery, Nightmare on Elm Street, Braindead, The Lost Boys, The Hand that Rocked the Cradle, Gremlins, Goonies, Bram Stoker's Dracula and Silence of the Lambs to that list. I think what these movies all have in common is that they were watched in my teens, at night, in the dark, with friends at a slumber party or sometimes with my family. The best way to enjoy horror or chiller movies.
Well that wraps it up, hopefully you're not laughing at me right now. I much prefer the movie based scares in this list than the real life ones. There is something that I just love about sitting in a dark room and immersing yourself in a scary movie, whether it is one that makes you jump out of your skin (I still jump every time there's a cat jumping out of a cupboard/from behind a door) or just get goosebumps or look over your shoulder as you unlock your front door when you get home.
Please feel free to share your own scaredy cat moments so I don't feel like such a dork. But even more so, please make sure you sit down and watch a scary movie with all the lights off this coming Halloween, and think of me when you jump.
Friday 14 October 2011
Too much Horror Business
Just in time for Halloween this year, we have two "horror" movies. The Thing is a prequel to the 1982 John Carpenter sci-fi horror (see separate review) and it is a pretty standard horror movie. Red State is the other new film out which its maker says is a horror movie. This is the new movie for Kevin Smith (Clerks, Jay & Silent Bob) and by early reports it is a return to form after the recent disappointments of Cop Out and Zack and Miri Make a Porno. However, the form is a totally different thing to his usual slacker rom-com. It begins as a slasher movie and then movies into a siege/shootout style thing, taking very big aim at the more extreme Christian groups in America. This one is apparently a weird genre mashup but one I'm quite interested to see. From what I've heard so far it's hard to see how Kevin Smith thinks it's a horror film - I'll have to get back to you on that one.
Also out this week is "What's Your Number" which has Anna Faris tracking down her exes to find a suitable one to marry after finding out {from a magazine article, ugh!} she's slept with too many guys and won't find the one. You will probably have to read the reviews in the paper to decide about this one as I doubt I'll go, but surely it can't be as bad as some people are saying.
Another timely release this week is The Cup. Based on the true story of the Oliver brothers, both jockeys at an elite level in Australia. Damien (Stephen Curry) has to decide whether to ride in the big one, the Melbourne Cup, after the death of his brother in an on-track fall. This should be fun and uplifting and will get you in the mood for all the betting, frocking up and excitement of the big day in a couple of weeks.
There is an extensive Hitchcock retrospective on at the Goma Cinematheque, it has heaps of movies plus quite a few of his TV show episodes. I can't decide what I'd like to go to!Alfred_Hitchcock_screening_calendar_2011.pdf
Stay tuned for some heavy duty BIFF updates to come in the lead up to this fantastic festival of movie-dom, plus my review of The Thing.
Also out this week is "What's Your Number" which has Anna Faris tracking down her exes to find a suitable one to marry after finding out {from a magazine article, ugh!} she's slept with too many guys and won't find the one. You will probably have to read the reviews in the paper to decide about this one as I doubt I'll go, but surely it can't be as bad as some people are saying.
Another timely release this week is The Cup. Based on the true story of the Oliver brothers, both jockeys at an elite level in Australia. Damien (Stephen Curry) has to decide whether to ride in the big one, the Melbourne Cup, after the death of his brother in an on-track fall. This should be fun and uplifting and will get you in the mood for all the betting, frocking up and excitement of the big day in a couple of weeks.
There is an extensive Hitchcock retrospective on at the Goma Cinematheque, it has heaps of movies plus quite a few of his TV show episodes. I can't decide what I'd like to go to!Alfred_Hitchcock_screening_calendar_2011.pdf
Stay tuned for some heavy duty BIFF updates to come in the lead up to this fantastic festival of movie-dom, plus my review of The Thing.
Sunday 9 October 2011
DVD Gem #1 - Tucker & Dale vs Evil
This is the first in what may become a series - mining out the gold at the DVD store that you may not otherwise have thought to rent. Let me know if you like it.
On Friday night we rented out Tucker & Dale vs Evil (new release section). This was a movie I was very keen to see this year based on the premise alone, so imagine my surprise when looking in the JB Hifi catalogue this week and seeing it there. Unfortunately it has skipped our cinemas so I went straight down to Video Ezy to secure it.
I think this movie is destined to become a cult classic. It is a very clever subversion of movie cliches, done in an extremely fun way. A group of college kids set out on a camping trip to the woods in Virginia. In travelling to their destination, they come across two hillbillies, Tucker and Dale, who are also travelling to their vacation home in the woods. In the early scenes, this could be any American teen horror film such as Cabin Fever. However it doesn't take long to twist this up completely, as our hillbillies are revealed to be intelligent, sensitive guys who just want to enjoy a quiet weekend of renovating the cabin, fishing and drinking beer. The college kids, familiar with the horror movies where the hillbillies are out to kill, torture and scare kids such as themselves, immediately overreact to Tucker and Dale's innocent scariness.
Once at the cabin and campsite, things quickly take a turn for the worst as the college kids misinterpret the kind actions of Tucker and Dale in saving one of them from drowning and decide they have to take the hillbillies out before they themselves are killed. Unfortunately the college kids' skills in doing so are closer to what would happen in real life than most 'survival' movies, and they start to meet with some very funny accidents that further fuel their belief that the hillbillies are picking them off.
Most of this movie is either amusing (the interactions between Tucker and Dale and the very pretty Ali who sees the guys for what they really are) or outright hilarious (mainly the death scenes). I thought Ben was going to burst a blood vessel laughing at certain points of this movie, and I wasn't far behind. Whatever you do, don't compare it to the "Scary Movie" franchise, as it is spoofing a few movies but in a much more subtle and funny way. It is more about subverting the cliches with clever writing and dialogue than just making fun of the past movies.
Alan Tudyk (who you will know as Steve the Pirate from Dodgeball or the funny boyfriend on acid from Death at a Funeral) is great as Tucker, the supportive friend, as is Tyler Labine as Dale who has a great memory and a very sweet heart. The college kids are largely disposable, but that's the point. The special effects and gore scenes are very well executed as well.
In summary: funny, cool, smart and unexpected. Dig this one up today!
On Friday night we rented out Tucker & Dale vs Evil (new release section). This was a movie I was very keen to see this year based on the premise alone, so imagine my surprise when looking in the JB Hifi catalogue this week and seeing it there. Unfortunately it has skipped our cinemas so I went straight down to Video Ezy to secure it.
I think this movie is destined to become a cult classic. It is a very clever subversion of movie cliches, done in an extremely fun way. A group of college kids set out on a camping trip to the woods in Virginia. In travelling to their destination, they come across two hillbillies, Tucker and Dale, who are also travelling to their vacation home in the woods. In the early scenes, this could be any American teen horror film such as Cabin Fever. However it doesn't take long to twist this up completely, as our hillbillies are revealed to be intelligent, sensitive guys who just want to enjoy a quiet weekend of renovating the cabin, fishing and drinking beer. The college kids, familiar with the horror movies where the hillbillies are out to kill, torture and scare kids such as themselves, immediately overreact to Tucker and Dale's innocent scariness.
Once at the cabin and campsite, things quickly take a turn for the worst as the college kids misinterpret the kind actions of Tucker and Dale in saving one of them from drowning and decide they have to take the hillbillies out before they themselves are killed. Unfortunately the college kids' skills in doing so are closer to what would happen in real life than most 'survival' movies, and they start to meet with some very funny accidents that further fuel their belief that the hillbillies are picking them off.
Most of this movie is either amusing (the interactions between Tucker and Dale and the very pretty Ali who sees the guys for what they really are) or outright hilarious (mainly the death scenes). I thought Ben was going to burst a blood vessel laughing at certain points of this movie, and I wasn't far behind. Whatever you do, don't compare it to the "Scary Movie" franchise, as it is spoofing a few movies but in a much more subtle and funny way. It is more about subverting the cliches with clever writing and dialogue than just making fun of the past movies.
Alan Tudyk (who you will know as Steve the Pirate from Dodgeball or the funny boyfriend on acid from Death at a Funeral) is great as Tucker, the supportive friend, as is Tyler Labine as Dale who has a great memory and a very sweet heart. The college kids are largely disposable, but that's the point. The special effects and gore scenes are very well executed as well.
In summary: funny, cool, smart and unexpected. Dig this one up today!
#25 Movie: Crazy, Stupid Love
I've been thinking about the title of this movie and it is probably not the most appropriate title. There aren't a lot of crazy stupid things done and the love represented in the movie is much closer to the everyday variety that many of us have experienced. I guess "everyday love problems" isn't a very catchy title though.
I've heard a few people say they wouldn't go to this movie due to it starring Steve Carell. While starring Steve Carell would be a draw for many people, not everyone likes his stuff. But I would urge those avoiding the movie for that reason alone to give it a chance. This is Steve Carell doing a light drama not a comedy. There are quite a few laughs but they are on the gentle side and distributed amongst the whole cast. Of which there are many.
This is the tangled web you have: Cal Weaver has been married to Emily for 25 years when she suddenly wants a divorce. Emily has slept with David Lindhagen from her work, who didn't see it as just a one night stand. Cal and Emily's son is in love with the babysitter Jessica. Jessica has a crush on Cal. Cal is sitting in a bar drowning his sorrows when he meets Jacob, a very successful ladies man who helps Cal to get his mojo back. Jacob is getting plenty of ladies but not the one he wants, Hannah, who turned him down due to her relationship with boring lawyer Richard.
I enjoyed this movie but it's not something that is really deep and meaningful or going to stay with you for very long (perhaps with the exception of that scene where Ryan Gosling as Jacob takes his shirt off, that one could be very memorable and it seems all other ladies in the audience agreed). It's funny, smart and depicts relationships in a realistic way - some work out and others don't. It does have a good twist and no I didn't pick it in advance. The performances are strong across the board although Analeigh Tipton as Jessica does betray her "America's Next Top Model" roots and Marisa Tomei perhaps turns the crazy up a little too far. Actually she is probably the only thing in this movie that is truly crazy. 3 out of 5 for this one.
P.S. Thanks Mama for the Gold Class ticket and good company.
I've heard a few people say they wouldn't go to this movie due to it starring Steve Carell. While starring Steve Carell would be a draw for many people, not everyone likes his stuff. But I would urge those avoiding the movie for that reason alone to give it a chance. This is Steve Carell doing a light drama not a comedy. There are quite a few laughs but they are on the gentle side and distributed amongst the whole cast. Of which there are many.
This is the tangled web you have: Cal Weaver has been married to Emily for 25 years when she suddenly wants a divorce. Emily has slept with David Lindhagen from her work, who didn't see it as just a one night stand. Cal and Emily's son is in love with the babysitter Jessica. Jessica has a crush on Cal. Cal is sitting in a bar drowning his sorrows when he meets Jacob, a very successful ladies man who helps Cal to get his mojo back. Jacob is getting plenty of ladies but not the one he wants, Hannah, who turned him down due to her relationship with boring lawyer Richard.
I enjoyed this movie but it's not something that is really deep and meaningful or going to stay with you for very long (perhaps with the exception of that scene where Ryan Gosling as Jacob takes his shirt off, that one could be very memorable and it seems all other ladies in the audience agreed). It's funny, smart and depicts relationships in a realistic way - some work out and others don't. It does have a good twist and no I didn't pick it in advance. The performances are strong across the board although Analeigh Tipton as Jessica does betray her "America's Next Top Model" roots and Marisa Tomei perhaps turns the crazy up a little too far. Actually she is probably the only thing in this movie that is truly crazy. 3 out of 5 for this one.
P.S. Thanks Mama for the Gold Class ticket and good company.
Thursday 6 October 2011
Remake Hell
Before I whip up a storm on remakes, this week's new releases include Real Steel, a story of redemption and boxing robots starring Hugh Jackman and giant robots which do not have robot testicles (thanks Michael Bay for that image). Also we have Norwegian Wood (based on a book about a Japanese student in 1968 whose friend dies and he takes up with his friend's girlfriend) and The Hunter (Aussie drama/thriller starring Willem Dafoe as a man seeking out the Tasmanian Tiger but this is no nature doco). Project Nim is also showing which I'm unsure if it is new out or I just missed it last week - a documentary about a chimp raised as a human until issues arise the resulting difficulty for the humanised animal. Errr, sounds eerily similar to the recent Rise of the Planet of the Apes, only this is a true story of some appalling behaviour by humans. Italian Film Festival is also on at Palace Cinemas at present, check the Palace website for details or google Italian Film Festival. OK now onto my main topic for this week.
Remake hell officially hit today with the release of the remake of Footloose! Why on earth would they remake Footloose, and why on earth would they remake it into a hiphop dancing style? Okay, at least they tried to make it relevant and didn't just do a straight remake. But as my friend P said a few weeks ago, the original Footloose! is not even a great film, so why remake it? If you ask anyone what their favourite 80s film is, they are not going to say "Footloose" are they? Even if they grew up in the 80s it still isn't their favourite film. It's probably Top Gun or Breakfast Club. Now those are movies that could not be remade as there would be too much of an outcry. But then again I would also have put Point Break in that category a few weeks ago. Until I heard they are remaking Point Break. What the????? I hear you say. I agree. This is not a great movie, but it is a great bad movie. How could anyone possibly play the roles filled out so iconically by Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves? Hmmm I think I'll never know.
Let's have a chat about remakes. Why are there so many remakes happening or in progress? It cannot be a lack of creativity as there are so many movies coming out all the time. So many movies are made that never appear in our cinemas, go straight to DVD or don't come out here at all. So many, many movies are made in the world. What I have to put this down to is the money machine that now runs Hollywood. With actor's pay becoming ridiculous, budgets being blown for all sorts of reasons and massive amounts being required to market movies in a world where there are too many entertainment choices, can we really blame the suits for trying for the "sure thing"? If they remake a popular movie, there is potentially a built in audience or at the very least a reason to attend, even if only to see if it really does suck as much as you thought it would. This gives them a chance to make back the budget of the film even if not the marketing budget. Here's some examples of recent flops of original movie ideas:
1) Mars Needs Moms - a whopping $150m budget for this animated movie which only took $39m worldwide.
2) Your Highness - a $50m budget and Natalie Portman couldn't entice the punters, this took only $24m worldwide. I didn't think it was that bad, I had quite a few giggles.
3) The Beaver - cost $20m, took $1m in the United States. I really liked this, don't know why more people didn't see it, even if just for the Mel Gibson and a hand puppet curiosity factor.
4) Green Lantern - estimated cost at $200m and took around $250m worldwide. Sounds like a profit right? However estimates are that it needed to take $500m to actually be profitable after marketing and add on costs. How crazy is that?
So an original movie idea doesn't seem to be getting them anywhere. But let's look at a remake flop. Arthur (original starred Dudley Moore, this one had Russell Brand and Helen Mirren as the female butler) cost $40m and took only $47m worldwide. It seems that being a remake does not guarantee you an audience and a large profit. Or is it just the Russell Brand factor that put people off this? Personally I think Russell has enough fans but the movie itself just wasn't that great (hint - all the good bits are in the trailer). I don't think the Nightmare on Elm Street remake was very successful either.
Well I guess we know the reason why they are trying so many remakes. Now let's think about whether there are any remakes that were actually better than the original. Hmmmmmmm..............tough one. My vote would go to the Halloween remake by Rob Zombie, I think it added something good with the new beginning and was just different enough but still maintained the tension. However I really can't think of many others. Dawn of the Dead by Zack Snyder was a pretty good version of the George A Romero classic. Particularly if you are not overly familiar with the original which looks a little dated these days compared to our mega-malls. I only recently discovered that Scarface was a remake of an old film - I actually thought the Al Pacino movie from the early 80s was an original. Apparently it sticks fairly closely to the original 30s movie's concepts, but spectacularly gives it a new gritty feel with the 80s setting with the suits, cars and fashion. The Departed was a fantastic film and universally acclaimed, but did you know it is a remake of the Japanese film Infernal Affairs? Which was pretty good but the Departed was damn fine.
It seems that the most popular films to remake are either 70s & 80s horror movies as you can reach a whole new generation who haven't seen the originals but love a good scare. Closely followed in second place by Japanese movies which are remade into English films across a range of genres including samurai films that make good westerns, and, yep, horror movies. In third place you have Hollywood classics which can be remade for a new generation without the "remake" tag as the original is pretty much unheard of to the young 'uns. Although it seems that sci-fi and comic book movies are the next big target for remakes.
Most unnecessary remake would have to be the exact shot for shot remake of Hitchcock's Psycho by Gus van Sant a few years back. Why remake an absolute classic film with no points of difference at all other than the actors. No thanks. The remake of Sabrina was also kinda pointless - how can you beat Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden? Not to slight Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear but it just wasn't the same.
Debateable remakes in whether they were as good or better include King Kong (two remakes in fact), The Ring, Assault on Precinct 13, Cape Fear, Fright Night, Let me In (which it seems to make a difference whether you saw this first or the Swedish original Let the Right One In) etc. I think I will have to make a blog post part 2 to list all the good and bad remakes.
Here is a list of remakes recently released or currently in progress that has inspired my title of this post "remake hell" as I really don't think there is a point or it will ruin the original for me: Point Break, Conan the Barbarian, Spiderman (yep another version of the one Tobey Maguire only just made a hit with), The Crow (Nooooooooo), Superman, Daredevil (why? but then again it's in the hands of a very good director), Total Recall, The 3 Musketeers (coming very soon, trailers are showing now), Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (again why?), Evil Dead (which I've heard a rumour that Diablo Cody of Juno fame is writing the script and Sam Raimi is actually involved, but still why?), The Warriors, Highlander, Judge Dredd and Short Circuit (!).
And this is not to mention "reboots" which is a different thing altogether. I'd define a reboot as taking an existing film franchise or character and making a different story completely. So maybe Spiderman and Superman should fall into "reboot" rather than "remake" as I'd define Chris Nolan's Batman Begins as a "reboot" for sure. Same character, different movie, different feel.
So, please, tell me which remakes you are looking forward to, which you hate and which you like. What is the best movie remake?
Remake hell officially hit today with the release of the remake of Footloose! Why on earth would they remake Footloose, and why on earth would they remake it into a hiphop dancing style? Okay, at least they tried to make it relevant and didn't just do a straight remake. But as my friend P said a few weeks ago, the original Footloose! is not even a great film, so why remake it? If you ask anyone what their favourite 80s film is, they are not going to say "Footloose" are they? Even if they grew up in the 80s it still isn't their favourite film. It's probably Top Gun or Breakfast Club. Now those are movies that could not be remade as there would be too much of an outcry. But then again I would also have put Point Break in that category a few weeks ago. Until I heard they are remaking Point Break. What the????? I hear you say. I agree. This is not a great movie, but it is a great bad movie. How could anyone possibly play the roles filled out so iconically by Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves? Hmmm I think I'll never know.
Let's have a chat about remakes. Why are there so many remakes happening or in progress? It cannot be a lack of creativity as there are so many movies coming out all the time. So many movies are made that never appear in our cinemas, go straight to DVD or don't come out here at all. So many, many movies are made in the world. What I have to put this down to is the money machine that now runs Hollywood. With actor's pay becoming ridiculous, budgets being blown for all sorts of reasons and massive amounts being required to market movies in a world where there are too many entertainment choices, can we really blame the suits for trying for the "sure thing"? If they remake a popular movie, there is potentially a built in audience or at the very least a reason to attend, even if only to see if it really does suck as much as you thought it would. This gives them a chance to make back the budget of the film even if not the marketing budget. Here's some examples of recent flops of original movie ideas:
1) Mars Needs Moms - a whopping $150m budget for this animated movie which only took $39m worldwide.
2) Your Highness - a $50m budget and Natalie Portman couldn't entice the punters, this took only $24m worldwide. I didn't think it was that bad, I had quite a few giggles.
3) The Beaver - cost $20m, took $1m in the United States. I really liked this, don't know why more people didn't see it, even if just for the Mel Gibson and a hand puppet curiosity factor.
4) Green Lantern - estimated cost at $200m and took around $250m worldwide. Sounds like a profit right? However estimates are that it needed to take $500m to actually be profitable after marketing and add on costs. How crazy is that?
So an original movie idea doesn't seem to be getting them anywhere. But let's look at a remake flop. Arthur (original starred Dudley Moore, this one had Russell Brand and Helen Mirren as the female butler) cost $40m and took only $47m worldwide. It seems that being a remake does not guarantee you an audience and a large profit. Or is it just the Russell Brand factor that put people off this? Personally I think Russell has enough fans but the movie itself just wasn't that great (hint - all the good bits are in the trailer). I don't think the Nightmare on Elm Street remake was very successful either.
Well I guess we know the reason why they are trying so many remakes. Now let's think about whether there are any remakes that were actually better than the original. Hmmmmmmm..............tough one. My vote would go to the Halloween remake by Rob Zombie, I think it added something good with the new beginning and was just different enough but still maintained the tension. However I really can't think of many others. Dawn of the Dead by Zack Snyder was a pretty good version of the George A Romero classic. Particularly if you are not overly familiar with the original which looks a little dated these days compared to our mega-malls. I only recently discovered that Scarface was a remake of an old film - I actually thought the Al Pacino movie from the early 80s was an original. Apparently it sticks fairly closely to the original 30s movie's concepts, but spectacularly gives it a new gritty feel with the 80s setting with the suits, cars and fashion. The Departed was a fantastic film and universally acclaimed, but did you know it is a remake of the Japanese film Infernal Affairs? Which was pretty good but the Departed was damn fine.
It seems that the most popular films to remake are either 70s & 80s horror movies as you can reach a whole new generation who haven't seen the originals but love a good scare. Closely followed in second place by Japanese movies which are remade into English films across a range of genres including samurai films that make good westerns, and, yep, horror movies. In third place you have Hollywood classics which can be remade for a new generation without the "remake" tag as the original is pretty much unheard of to the young 'uns. Although it seems that sci-fi and comic book movies are the next big target for remakes.
Most unnecessary remake would have to be the exact shot for shot remake of Hitchcock's Psycho by Gus van Sant a few years back. Why remake an absolute classic film with no points of difference at all other than the actors. No thanks. The remake of Sabrina was also kinda pointless - how can you beat Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and William Holden? Not to slight Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear but it just wasn't the same.
Debateable remakes in whether they were as good or better include King Kong (two remakes in fact), The Ring, Assault on Precinct 13, Cape Fear, Fright Night, Let me In (which it seems to make a difference whether you saw this first or the Swedish original Let the Right One In) etc. I think I will have to make a blog post part 2 to list all the good and bad remakes.
Here is a list of remakes recently released or currently in progress that has inspired my title of this post "remake hell" as I really don't think there is a point or it will ruin the original for me: Point Break, Conan the Barbarian, Spiderman (yep another version of the one Tobey Maguire only just made a hit with), The Crow (Nooooooooo), Superman, Daredevil (why? but then again it's in the hands of a very good director), Total Recall, The 3 Musketeers (coming very soon, trailers are showing now), Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (again why?), Evil Dead (which I've heard a rumour that Diablo Cody of Juno fame is writing the script and Sam Raimi is actually involved, but still why?), The Warriors, Highlander, Judge Dredd and Short Circuit (!).
And this is not to mention "reboots" which is a different thing altogether. I'd define a reboot as taking an existing film franchise or character and making a different story completely. So maybe Spiderman and Superman should fall into "reboot" rather than "remake" as I'd define Chris Nolan's Batman Begins as a "reboot" for sure. Same character, different movie, different feel.
So, please, tell me which remakes you are looking forward to, which you hate and which you like. What is the best movie remake?
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