As I've mentioned before on this blog, when I was a kid my mom used to take me to the movies every Sunday afternoon. She did this for several years. From about 1982 to 1986. This was back when movies were still cheap, and I could still get in under a child's ticket price. I saw a lot of crap, but I saw a lot of good movies too, and some of those movies still bring back some fond memories.
Over the years, from what I presume is because Hollywood has completely run out of ideas, they are remaking many of my favorite movies from the 80's. Just recently I saw two remakes of movies that I really loved as a kid: "Conan the Barbarian" (from 1982) and "Fright Night" (from 1985). Last year, another one of my favorite 80's movies, "Clash of the Titans", was also remade. And in October of this year, we have a remake of the John Carpenter classic "The Thing" coming out. This is after the totally crappy remakes of other classic Carpenter movies that have preceded it, like "The Fog" and "Halloween."
While "Conan" and "Fright Night" (the remakes) had a few cool scenes here and there, for the most part, they sucked. While some would argue that the original "Conan", with Arnold Schwarzenegger, is hardly a classic, I like it a lot. I also think it still holds up well today, unlike "Fright Night" and "Clash", which definitely look like the products of the 80's that they are. Both the new "Conan" and the old one are basically simple revenge stories. But the original had that great score, sweeping landscapes, and a story that took its time and allowed you to know the characters, and to feel the triumph when Conan finally kills his enemies at the end of the film. The new one is just one battle scene after another with fake CGI blood flying everywhere.
Hollywood should really give up this remake trend. They rarely work, and most of the time they tank at the box office (both "Conan" and "Fright Night" bombed). For every decent remake that comes out (Dawn of the Dead, King Kong (2005), Scarface (1983), The Thing (1982), you get tons of crap remakes (Psycho, The Omen, Arthur, Fame, The Fog, Friday the 13th, Halloween, House of Wax, Rollerball, The Wolfman, The Wicker Man, etc.) I'm sure I've only just scraped the surface here.
And more are on the way, including the previously mentioned update of "The Thing" and "Total Recall", with Colin Farell taking over Schwarzenegger's role. Although they haven't been announced, I'm fully expecting to see remakes of "Jaws" and "Star Wars" in my lifetime. "Star Wars", with all its ridiculous changes made by George Lucas, is practically a remake now anyway. With the blu-ray release of the 6 Star Wars movies coming out on September 16th, I see that Lucas has added some new dialogue to "Return of the Jedi." During the climactic scene where The Emperor is killing Luke, Darth Vader now shouts "No! Nooooo!"
(Here's a link to the video):
What the hell, Lucas???? First you've got Greedo firing first in the Cantina, now Vader shouting "Nooo!" at one of the most emotional scenes in the original trilogy?? I'm hoping that when Lucas dies, someone goes in and fixes all this crap.
Ok, I realize I'm sounding like a Star Wars fanboy geek, but this is the equivalent of Paul McCartney going back to the original recording of "Hey Jude", adding a Kanye West rap section in the middle, and then never releasing the original version again.
The Golden Age of Hollywood is long gone, my friends. Everything is now about marketing, demographics, and catering to the lowest common denominator. A filmmaker like Stanley Kubrick would be box office poison today. A five minute scene of dialogue would now have to have at least one explosion in the middle (in 3D, of course). It's no wonder so many kids have ADD nowadays.
I haven't completely given up on movies. Occasionally, you'll get a classic every once in a while. Steven Speilberg, Woody Allen, Martin Scorcese, The Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, Terence Malick, Christopher Nolan, and Ridley Scott are still making movies. But in 2011, finding a good movie is as elusive as finding a trustworthy politician.
I agree with every word. We now live in a world where there are no longer quiet pauses for reflection or reading between the lines. The mind set of younger generation has been trained for instant gratification + constant stimulation from the moment they wake up to the moment their heads hit the pillow. Lowest common denominator... you can say that again.
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