Remakes

[andyfox]

Woody Allen on Double Indemnity:

"It has all the characteristics of the clasic forties film as I respond to it. It's in black and white, it has fast badinage, it's very witty, a story from the classic age. . It has Edward G. Robinson, and Barbara Stanwyck and Fred MacMurray and the tough voice-over. It has brilliantly written dialogue, and the perfect score by Miklos Rosza. it's Bily Wilder's best movie . . . practically anybody's best movie."

I saw Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct as playing Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity. And Peter Falk's Columbo was Edward G. Robinson in Double Indemnity.

[Coffee]

Ocean's Eleven proved that there is value in some remakes. However, not nearly as many as there are. That said, I would certainly like to see a few movies remade, particularly if they were dependent on special effects that could be more believably realized today.

However, movies that were astoundingly good in their time tend to still be good today...see also Citizen Kane, Gone with the Wind, Psycho. The most troublesome aspect of many remakes is the fact that the casting and the directing choices play a far larger role in the lasting success of a movie. It's the same reason why covers of songs are usually never better than the original...the composer/director tends to have his finger on the truth behind the art itself, rather than just the technical proficiency to sound the correct notes.

[MrMon]

Most remakes are pointless, unless they take the original work and have something new to say. Interpretations of Shakespaere do this all the time, which is why he's a classic. Most flims don't update or reinterpret the work, which makes them worthless.

I can think of two classics that should be remade in the hands of someone competent - "The Women" and "All About Eve". Both could be updated to speak to today in a way that would allow the new works to stand on their own. "Mildred Pierce" could work as well.

Note that these are all flims about strong women, something Hollywood seems to be in short supply of. I know they've tried to remake "The Women" for years, but too many egos (and salary demands) keep getting in the way. Perhaps what they need to do is do it as an indie, with up-and-comers who want to showcase their talent, not stuff their wallet.

[mrbaseball]

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Ocean's Eleven proved that there is value in some remakes

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I'm not so sure. I prefer the original but liked the remake. But this is a different kind of movie. It's basically a reason for a bunch of stars to get together and have fun together making the movie and the fans can ogle and say ooh it's Frank and Dean and Sammy together! Or now George and Brad and Matt. It was never meant to be more than a multi star vehicle for very light entertainment. In 30 years it will probably be remade again with whomever are the Frank/George, Dean/Brad etc of the future.

[Mingdu]

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If there's a significant change. Going from Samurai to cowboy was good enough.

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