Kermode Uncut: Remake Responses

welcome to covered uncut now I'm very aware that in the last few weeks I'd be very neglectful of you I haven't responded to your responses to my current uncut post but going to rectify that now because recently I did a post in the wake of having seen Texas Chainsaw 3d which was one of the most depressing experiences I've had in the cinema recently saying look is it just me or our reboot remakes rehashes whatever you want to call them always rubbish loads and loads responses from you well over 200 here are just some of your answers to that question I want to start with this from a girl lips which who begins by saying isn't the remake as old as film itself which of course it is the entire history of cinema is of course a history of remakes so from the golden age for the greatest remakes I'd have to go with an affair to remember and his girl Friday for totally pointless remakes I'd say high society the Philadelphia story is as close as a film comes to perfect always remember instantly that David Lynch described Eraserhead as his version of the Philadelphia Story also in this vein from Max almost remakes bad yes but not all the Maltese Falcon from 1941 is a remake this now from the naked airplane psycho and Halloween and my least favorite remakes they tampered with films that didn't need to be messed with and made a complete hash of it these films turned up time and time again in your responses because in the case of psycho the story that's oft repeated is that psycho was remade in order that Universal could hang on to the rights Goss transcended a colorized shot-for-shot remake and I really can't find any other reason to explain why the film exists I don't know whether there's any truth in that story perhaps or anybody out they can definitively say yea or nay but that's the story that's often put around because most people sit there watching the psycho remake going what why onto this from Gary with a very popular choice the immediate classic remake or reboot or reimagining or whatever that brings to my mind is the thing the original is final I contend it's very dated carpenter's version is simply brilliant and this came up time and time again and I completely agree with you I absolutely love John carpets the things worth remembering and when he first came out critically very mean to it it wasn't ahead it's now been established as a real enduring cult favorite incidentally there's a brilliant BFI book written about it by Anne Bilson of course it's been slightly soured recently by having a remake of the remake which kind of let everyone down but absolutely carpenters the thing is the remake that stands out from the original pack as indeed does David Cronenberg's version of the fly which turned up time and time again in your entries the one which you mentioned is being really bad is the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still with Keanu this now from Dan best reboot rehashed surely it has to be Batman Begins such a visionary refreshing and mature take of something that people be messing around with half-heartedly for decades it took them almost 70 years to realize that not every villain had to be the Joker in a different costume and on the subject of Chris Nolan and many of you agree that Dark Knight was the definitive reboot this from Michael Gillan Peck it the best remake of recent years in my view is insomnia directed by Christopher Nolan the Pacino Williams version was a remake of a Scandinavian film the worst the Italian Job in 2005 now how about this from David for me the worst remake will always be no surprises here The Vanishing how come the same director got it so wrong second time around I have to say I sympathize with lazar to some extent because spoilers was his original the Dutch version was absolutely brilliant he's then asked to make the film again in the English language you had to make so many compromises that he ended up lobotomizing and effectively destroying the film then again think of what happened with Michael Chanukah and funny games like Gus Van Sant's psycho the english-language version of funny games is pretty much a shot-for-shot word-for-word remake of Chanukah as original Chanukah did it like that because he said you know what I got it right the first time around the first film was near-perfect the problem was but for the english-speaking audience it was in a foreign language therefore it couldn't get a mainstream audience so he changed the language and ruined the film now here's a favor for me this from Catherine surprised no one has mentioned Solaris yet Tarkovsky's original was magnificent and harrowing but also a kingly slow as someone who's not a big fan of George Clooney I expected the American Soderberg remake to be rubbish it really wasn't I wouldn't say it was better than the original but it's as good and certainly more watchable well I'm with you on this in fact I will go one stage further and say it is better it's shorter smarter and a little bit funnier other titles which you found to be better in their remake version in their original version 3:10 to Yuma that turned up time and time again Martin Scorsese The Departed I mean a lot of people really admire the Infernal Affairs trilogy but the departed got a big thumbs up for most of you this from Ashley whether or he goes from a personal point of view of bad remakes I don't think you could see a bigger travesty of a remake slash reimagining than the u.s. remake of The Wicker Man with Nic Cage the only reason my wife and I didn't leave the cinema halfway through was the fact that we kidded ourselves and it would get better when will the u.s. learn to leave well alone now I have to make a confession on the subject the Wickham and I was actually with and the Schaffer who wrote the original Wickham and when the facts came through suggesting Neil LaBute as the helmsman of the possible remake and I remember chef is saying well what do you think and I said we great he's a really good choice that's a really good idea wrong wrong wrong you

Channel: kermodeandmayo

Views: 58,005

Rating: 4.8816066 out of 5

Keywords: Kermode Uncut, Blog, Mark Kermode, BBC Radio 5 Live, Simon Mayo, Re-makes, Texas Chainsaw 3D, An Affair To Remember, Philadelphia Story, His Girl Friday

Id: pMoMNXn4p2A

Length: 5min 59sec (359 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 18 2013