Sunday, November 15, 2009

Attack of the Remake Monster

A disease is running rampant these days, infecting everything in it's path. The bug: Remakes.Grrrrrrr. What is it about originality these days that most people want to avoid? Yeah, I know it involves money and not taking the risk. Especially in this economy, we can't take the risk to put up money for something that could potentially flop.


If one really thinks about it, nothing is ever "original"--It just depends on how one chooses to tell the story. I remember watching a t.v. program and during a commercial break they asked the question if "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" should be remade. Personally, I think no because (1) It probably would be hard to find that chemistry between Robert Redford and Paul Newman and (2) Enough of the remakes already! But I know that there probably is a script already in the making to redo Butch Cassidy. I can't speak for the general population, but I myself, wouldn't want to spend $12-$15 for a flick when I can rent it on Netflix. Maybe others can afford to do that, but as a starving artist living out here in 'glamourland' aka Los Angeles, I'd rather not. Sometimes the remake might be better than the original, thanks to the latest innovations in technology.


Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-remakes, but when it seems that when remake after remake gets made, I almost want to scream "What's so bad about something original?" For some reason, I've always been more interested in Prequels. Perhaps for me, it's because it's always interesting to see how villians or other likeable characters became what they are. I like to think of it as "The untold story before the story begins."


I heard about the Paranormal phenomenon, but was hesitant to see it. Two of my friends said that they were scared to go home after watching it, and with my over hyperactive imagination I'd probably fit in that category--however, I knew another couple that walked out. The first thing I thought, was not another Blair Witch project--which I remember seeing and thought was OK and couldn't understand why people were afraid of it. Back then, I could understand why 'Blair Witch' was all the rave because it was something 'different' out of the usual hum-drum being spewed out. I read that Paranormal was made around $15,000 and marketed virally, and finally grossed at $106,082,922.

This always doesn't happen, but I like hearing success stories like this because it gives me hope that there is still a light at the end of the tunnel. Filmmaking is still a business.

I see two things going on here--1) Audiences might be craving for something "different" and 2) When you don't have a lot resources at your dispense to make that big budget film, you're pretty much forced to reach deep inside the creative crevices of your mind to work with what you have.