Why do we need another "
Total Recall" (yes, I know the story was different and it required more of a Richard Dreyfuss type charcter but it was an okay movie for the time)? Why do we need another “
Romancing the Stone”(Indy rip off, but I'll take it over
KOTCS)? Why do we need another “
Neverending Story” (not that any of these are "
Citizen Kane", but c'mon!)? When will the story freaking end?!?! I thought remakes were for movies that DIDN’T WORK. They were for movies that had a great kernel of an idea but never quite came to fruition. In a year where we have some great cinematic achievements from “
The Dark Knight" (yes it’s
BATMAN, but oh what an original telling of the caped crusader it was)” to “
Slumdog Millionaire”, why does Hollywood have to just regurgitate the same old stories in a new packaged form? The simple answer is that they are bankrupt of ideas.
But maybe that isn’t THAT simple. Maybe they have great ideas, but are afraid of getting behind them and rolling the dice. I get it, the economy is horrible, who wants to take a chance? But this has been going on LONG before our economic melt down, so that is just an excuse. Hollywood has been doing this forever. In the 80’s with the birth of video, you used to be able to make a poster, a one line pitch and get funding for your movie. In the 90’s you had a poster, a one line pitch and when you got the money you put a down on a house (kinda déjà vu) so GOODBYE PRE-SALES. But now, if you don’t have the poster, a one line pitch, the first 30 minutes of the film shot and a letter saying that Tom Cruise is signed (not attached), forget it. The 70’s brought us masterpieces in film, why? Because the artists were left alone to create (although having a limited budget helped them – a big shout out to George L and Steven S if you’re listenin’).
The money people (suits) left the creative to the creative and only got involved when they could throw their weight behind a project for it to be a positive effect not a negative one (and that meant staying out of the creative soup). Now, with Hollywood churning out more comic book and video game movies (yes, I know they have a fan base – automatic $$$$ - but if you could just stop the pop cultural referencing Kevin Smith), that allegiance is gone. And what we have left is people who grew up in the 80’s running studios, calling the shots and by darn it if they loved “
Dastardly,
Muttley and the Wacky Races” growing up, well then that would be a swell movie idea – hot damn, let’s put it in development, no….better yet, let’s start shooting the f***er!
I hope that after Danny Boyle settles down from all the oscar hype, he like many artists take a stand (I am talking to you Darren A). Now he has the cache to do so, PLEASE for the love of God, don’t “go Hollywood”, stick to your guns and create original stories like “
Sunshine" (
2001 rip off)”, “Trainspotting (gotta love a post modern "
Clockwork Orange"” and “Slumdog” (a conventional love story, but the technique in which it was done was unique, you gotta give it that – and the music! Wow, what an oscar night, unless you are Peter Gabriel). And maybe if Danny Boyle doesn’t get his phone ringing by then, he could always do a “
Trainspotting” sequel called “Porno”……no? Okay well what about a sequel to “
A Life Less Ordinary” perhaps? Too on the nose? Well what about if all else fails “Sunshine II – The Return?” Oh, they all died in the end, I remember now…well maybe a live action Dastardly and Muttley wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all…no? Well maybe if it had Tom Cruise attached…
