Passing on seconds

Late the other night I was flipping through cable channels and I saw John Travolta chomping mighty heavily on some scenery, so I decided to see what the movie was. Come to find out it was the remake of The Taking Of Pelham 123.


Now, I'm a fan of the original with Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw. It was smart. Well-acted. Sly. And cast with a lot of unknown-at-the-time actors as well as more famous ones. But since I didn't see this remake in the theater, I decided to plant my big bahooki down on the couch and give it a chance.

                              Just the same way I gave the remake of Psycho a chance.

                                              And the remake of The Pink Panther.

                                                 And the remake of The Stepford Wives.

Here's the thing - I'm not one of those cinema elitists who don't think movies should be remade. I think many times remakes have done justice to the spirit of the original while improving on it by giving it a more contemporary spin.

Little Shop Of Horrors. Dawn Of The Dead. The Fly. The Thing. True, all horror and sci-fi examples, but still, better for the remaking.

And then, there are the movies that don't need to be remade because the original was so perfect.  Movies like the ones above. And Arthur. And Rosemary's Baby (both of which are being remade).


There's probably a treatise to be written on the dearth of ideas in Hollywood, and the constant returning to the well of proven properties to wring the last bit of cash out them (yes, I used the word "dearth"). 


But I'm too tired to write it now.


Maybe I'll just copy one that's been written before.