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Post by cstower on Jul 14, 2015 20:39:27 GMT -6
I'm going to test this out as a thread on BOTH The Dissolve's Facebook page AND on the "Dissolve Lives On!" forum as a test to see which people prefer. The topic: Te GOOD remakes- remakes that are as good, or even better, than the film that preceded them. My pick: THE LODGER, John Brahm's stylish redo of Hitchcock's most popular silent film, with an amazing performance by the ill-fated Laird Cregar: www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFz1LZrjtHQ Anyone want to throw out more suggestions?
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Post by Herr Director on Jul 14, 2015 21:33:52 GMT -6
I really dig Peter Jackson's King Kong, even for all its faults. It's remarkable to see someone get a blank check and decide to pay tribute to their muses while pushing technical boundaries. If anything, I consider it a masterpiece of production designs from the aughts.
A lot of how it has aged is very fifty-fifty. The unresolved plots still sting, and the visuals are a toss up of their own (The dinosaur stampede may be a bad joke visually but the bug pit still makes me cringe). Nitpicking aside, when it works, it's gangbusters. And even with Serkis stealing the show, Jackson manages to give use highly capable leads and a supporting cast of great character actors. It's a delightful, messy adventure.
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Post by Username Too Long on Jul 15, 2015 3:27:32 GMT -6
I'm struggling to think of cases where I've seen both original and remake, only one I can think of is Marriage Circle and One Hour With You both by Lubitsch, and I indeed preferred the remake.
For movies where I've only seen the remake:
Recently Maniac is a movie I like a lot, it went all in being a sensory experience, the camera almost never leaving the protagonist's POV, might be weird to say but it was a truly beautiful movie. Even in France, True Lies is usually considered an improvement on La Totale, but it makes sense, it's a plot that demands the maximalism Cameron and Arnold bring.
More generally in reply to your first post, the take-up is so far quite slow, as someone mentioned over on FB, people check out FB everyday whereas they'd have to add this to their rotation. I'll keep pushing this for a couple of weeks, then we'll see. I hope this takes on as it's much easier to have discussions and keep track of them.
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vomas
New Member
Posts: 20
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Post by vomas on Jul 15, 2015 4:29:05 GMT -6
There are a few cases where I've seen the original and the remake - I'd say that The Fly and Little Shop of Horrors are the two most successful remakes I've seen, although in the latter case it feels like having the stage musical in between gives it an advantage and a separation that most remakes don't get (see also Hairspray - I'd side with the original in that case but the musical remake is a lot of fun).
I liked the Maniac remake a lot too. I haven't seen the original, but it seems to fall into a similar category as the two I listed above, where the original is interesting but flawed and there's plenty to work with in a new take on the material. I'd love to see more of this kind of thing, and less of the "take something that is already regarded as a classic and just do it again because people remember the name".
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Post by blixie on Jul 15, 2015 7:32:45 GMT -6
This is an unpopular opinion, but John Badham's Point of No Return is infinitely superior IMO to La Femmme Nikita, even though I'm aware it's a nearly shot for shot remake almost everything about it is an upgrade: I prefer Bridget Fonda to Anne Parillaud, Anne Bancroft to Jeanne Moreau, Gabriel Byrn to Tcheky Karo, and Dermott Mulroney to whoever the hell played her boyfriend in the original. Overall the characterization and narrative are stronger (particularly Maggie's attachment to old Nina Simone records) even if the stylistic filmaking eye of Besson is superior, that's about all LFN has going for it: style.
I feel the same about Sommersby and The Return of Martin Guerre. I'll just own my love of critically derided Hollywood remakes of 80's French movies right now.
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Post by seankgallagher on Jul 15, 2015 8:22:32 GMT -6
There are a few. I love No Way Out, whereas I just like The Big Clock, and I think Soderbergh's version of Solaris is as good as Tarkovsky's.
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