On the subject of remakes, the remake of The Crow is apparently still going ahead. That is one movie that deserves to be left well alone, out of respect for Brandon Lee if nothing else.
There are also certain movies for which there is only one type of remake that I would find acceptable - a Muppets version. Top of that list would be The Princess Bride.
I saw Dark Shadows when it first came out and I was 10. I’m watching it again on Freevee (part of Amazon). I’m up to Episode 601. Great memories and nostalgia. And I especially enjoy the errors and mixups. I like that it is not perfect.
A great example of a transplant remake was Coupling. The British original was absolutely brilliant. The US remake fell into the trap of extreme laziness. The first episode is literally the same script as the first episode in the Brit version. Sadly there was zero chemistry between the characters and their delivery of jokes was awful. They managed to make something funny completely flat.
However, it appears that The Office took the underlying premise and tweaked it for the American humor and pathos. The characters were not the exact same except in the uncomfortable angst that was prevalent in the OG.
I presume we can chalk that up to letting the writers be original in the plot lines and allowing the actors to be different characters yet still capturing those specific idiosyncrasies.
I think it IS that they’re not making good superhero movies anymore. They’re boring. Not unlikeable, just so formulaic, and they lean on special effects so hard that the actors’ performances seem stilted. It’s like series romance novels. The good ones use characterization, tell an old story in a solid way, and are organized well but not down to the beat. The bad ones rely on the formula instead of the characterization, and use sex in place of character growth. People still read them, but they don’t get enthusiastic about them.
Superhero fatigue is a real thing. I stopped watching a long time ago, and I grew up collecting comics. I mean, I own pieces of original art. I make exceptions for things that I hear are exceptional--Black Panther comes to mind--but 90% of the movies are too long, and too formulaic. And even when the filmmakers and actors have a good take--Favreau/Downey, Raimi/McGuire--it's less exciting than the art of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Neal Adams, Frank Miller before he lost his damn mind (I guess that's Ditko, too)....
I am not a Superhero move fan at all but damnit I really enjoyed Black Panther. Proof that people wanna good story. It’s not a Black or White people preference specifically (although no doubt for some it may be). When BLM sprung H’wd decided they would finally allow Black written and starred shows and stories. For once it was nice to not see a bunch of old white men with hot young wives in stupid situations. We got Insecure about female friendships. We got The Southside which was absolutely hilarious. To tie that together, we didn’t get that bullshit formulaic crap.
On the subject of remakes, the remake of The Crow is apparently still going ahead. That is one movie that deserves to be left well alone, out of respect for Brandon Lee if nothing else.
There are also certain movies for which there is only one type of remake that I would find acceptable - a Muppets version. Top of that list would be The Princess Bride.
I saw Dark Shadows when it first came out and I was 10. I’m watching it again on Freevee (part of Amazon). I’m up to Episode 601. Great memories and nostalgia. And I especially enjoy the errors and mixups. I like that it is not perfect.
A great example of a transplant remake was Coupling. The British original was absolutely brilliant. The US remake fell into the trap of extreme laziness. The first episode is literally the same script as the first episode in the Brit version. Sadly there was zero chemistry between the characters and their delivery of jokes was awful. They managed to make something funny completely flat.
However, it appears that The Office took the underlying premise and tweaked it for the American humor and pathos. The characters were not the exact same except in the uncomfortable angst that was prevalent in the OG.
I presume we can chalk that up to letting the writers be original in the plot lines and allowing the actors to be different characters yet still capturing those specific idiosyncrasies.
Ghosts was a other one, although I maintain that the British version of Ghosts is still by far the superior version.
This is a great example! Yeah, I think the US Coupling failed where the US Office thrived
Exactly. They cancelled Coupling like 3 (if that) episodes in.
Happy Birthday to your son! My oldest son's birthday is ALSO today, though he's a spry 43 years old.
I think it IS that they’re not making good superhero movies anymore. They’re boring. Not unlikeable, just so formulaic, and they lean on special effects so hard that the actors’ performances seem stilted. It’s like series romance novels. The good ones use characterization, tell an old story in a solid way, and are organized well but not down to the beat. The bad ones rely on the formula instead of the characterization, and use sex in place of character growth. People still read them, but they don’t get enthusiastic about them.
Grew up with Dark Shadows. There is no Dark Shadows without Barnabas Collins.
Oh how would run home from school so that we could catch it from the start. This was the 60’s of course. We LOVED that soap.
You know it!
My mom watched it that way and then introduced it to me in 1988 when a local station aired reruns!
Well I guess your mom and me are around the same age then. And, fun fact, I grew up in Charlotte. Almost neighbors!
Superhero fatigue is a real thing. I stopped watching a long time ago, and I grew up collecting comics. I mean, I own pieces of original art. I make exceptions for things that I hear are exceptional--Black Panther comes to mind--but 90% of the movies are too long, and too formulaic. And even when the filmmakers and actors have a good take--Favreau/Downey, Raimi/McGuire--it's less exciting than the art of Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Neal Adams, Frank Miller before he lost his damn mind (I guess that's Ditko, too)....
I am not a Superhero move fan at all but damnit I really enjoyed Black Panther. Proof that people wanna good story. It’s not a Black or White people preference specifically (although no doubt for some it may be). When BLM sprung H’wd decided they would finally allow Black written and starred shows and stories. For once it was nice to not see a bunch of old white men with hot young wives in stupid situations. We got Insecure about female friendships. We got The Southside which was absolutely hilarious. To tie that together, we didn’t get that bullshit formulaic crap.