Toob Talk

Anyone who’s been paying attention to things showing up in the movies or on their television over the last few years has probably noticed that everything old is new again–either through a re-make (or re-boot, or re-visioning) or through a sequel. Well, it looks like the coming film and television season won’t change that much.

AMC is producing a six-hour remake of the classic surreal and intriguing series The Prisoner. I’m a little excited about this. The cast is solid and the time is right for some serious commentary on government secrecy and authority.

ABC is taking the BBC show Life on Mars and moving it to America… and, apparently, changing major plot points, like the entire base reason the 21st century cop has found himself in the 1970s. The best thing about this show may be that Harvey Keitel has joined the cast (though he’s not listed yet on the IMDB entry). I still think we may have gotten lucky with The Office, since so many other “ported” shows haven’t at all lived up to their foreign originals.

There are others, but TV shows come and go… chances are most people won’t even notice these or know that they were once (possibly better) shows from other places.

Movies are another story. While there may still be some general ignorance of originals that get remade and there is definitely a lack of understanding on how things change from the first iteration to sequel n, some movies have made their way into the cultural lexicon. Right now, we’re looking at remakes of some of those “modern classic” films. And quite frankly, I’m a little worried.

Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th and The Rocky Horror Picture Show are all currently getting ready to hit the big screen as completely new movies, unconnected to the already existing films.

In all fairness, Nightmare and Friday have both been so transformed through their lifetimes as series that the most recent editions have only the most vague echoes of what originally made the films stick. There’s little question that they’ve lost their original focus and relevance. But while that’s true of the series as a whole, it is not true of the original films that started the series. The first two iterations of both Nightmare and Friday still stand up today, thematically. Yes, the hair and sets and cars and clothing are horribly dated (thank you 1980s), but the cores of the films are solid. In fact, in some ways, those films are more relevant today than they were when they first hit the screen.

What I worry about–what I always worry about when remakes hit the deck–is that they’ll be over produced, over thought and tweaked to meet marketing agendas more than anything else. You know, just like most new mainstream films. (I’m going to have to do a whole separate post about the horror genre and how it’s changed over the years…)

I’m willing to give the remakes a chance. I was happy with the redone Amityville Horror and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So it’s not hopeless. But the originals of those films, while groundbreaking, suffered many technical problems that reduced their overall effectiveness. Nightmare and Friday don’t have a lot of problems in those areas.

By far, the scariest remake news is that MTV is the force behind Rocky Horror. If there was ever a film that did not need to be remade, it’s RHPS. It was a unique blend of camp and creative forces that made the original an accidental cult classic. Trying to replicate that on purpose is a recipe for disaster. The only “good” thing that may come out of it is that we might get to hear some of the songs that didn’t make it into the original. (Just to put “cult classic” status into perspective: RHPS has grossed about $140 million since it premiered in 1974–that’s less than what The Dark Knight made in one weekend.)

Thankfully, it looks like the new RHPS will be a TV release. So maybe it’ll go by unnoticed.

All is not bad news, though. It seems Disney is finally putting together a sequel to one of the greatest computer-focused films of all time: Tron. Some of us have been waiting decades for this… and were quite annoyed back in 2004 when what looked like was going to be a fantastic follow-up turned out to be a video game. Here’s hoping they don’t pull that again.

Just a quick reminder that Dr. Horrible’s Sing A Long Blog “opens” in a handful of hours.

Am I still excited? Yes I am.

Of course, I won’t be watching it until I’m home from work Tuesday night, so I’m expecting to be scooped on everything.

But I’m still going to enjoy it. No matter what! (Unless, by some terrible catastrophe it sucks, in which case I will happily rip Joss a new one.)

…and, wow am I glad I didn’t see that in the theater!

Seriously. They could have had two good movies and, instead, they crammed it all into one kinda crappy one. Pretty, though. In fact, as long as you don’t care about semi-sensible plot, proper character development or actual working story arcs, it’s the perfect movie–a collection of clips and sound bites that vaguely hang together, mostly because they have the same characters in them.

The Sandman story could have been great… if it had had space to actually grow and, maybe, brood a little. Him and Parker could have been great dramatic point and counterpoint. Different men, different choices and all that. And the fights could have escalated wonderfully as Sandman learned more about his newly acquired powers and the Webhead slowly became more attached to his black suit.

The Green Goblin II story could have been fantastic… if Harry had a chance to grow more sinister at a more measured pace after his bump on the head. Parker’s life could have been real hell as people and things he loved were taken from him one by one. All the while his emotional turmoil feeding the black symbiotic suit and making it stronger… until it culminated in the awesome knock-down, drag-out between the Web slinger and the new Goblin. A real study in rise and fall of character that would have given all the actors (even Kirsten Dunst) a workout.

The Eddie Brock/Venom story would have been perfect for a fourth film. It was just kind of sandwiched in between everything else. What a waste of that character and Gwen Stacey. ‘Nuff said there.

So, yeah. That was almost a total waste of 2+ hours.

According to reports from Ain’t It Cool News and Zeit Online, a massive amount of previously unknown footage from the sci-fi classic Metropolis has been discovered. This is footage that may not have been seen anywhere since the first showings of the silent epic in the late 1920s.

Anyone who’s a fan of sci-fi should be very excited about this. Fritz Lang’s vision of the future is one of the major roots for the sci-fi we see on the screen today. Without Metropolis and it’s far-reaching themes of empowerment and oppression, spectacular set-pieces and astounding special effects (for their time–and even by today’s standards, they’re not half bad), generations of writers, designers and artists would be wandering lost without inspiration.

I learned years ago that there are a number of different cuts of this film, each containing different bits of footage, spliced together in different ways. It wasn’t until 2002 when a “definitive” edition came out, using original script bits, set drawings and production stills to fill in some of the known holes. The newly discovered footage, according to the articles, adds nearly 100 minutes of previously unseen footage.

Now, for the first time in nearly 80 years, the full depth and scope of the story will be known.

Even as it has been, the story of abuse of power, worker uprisings and true love is as rich and character-filled as any modern epic. The extra footage now available will flesh out some of the more vague points that have often confused and frustrated fans of Metropolis.

I don’t expect a DVD of this to be out for at least another two years. Restoration of footage can take a while–and I’m guessing we’re not dealing with the most meticulously preserved stock, either. But when it does come  out, I can only imagine the batch of extras that will be available. Think of it–a half dozen different cuts of the movie from over the years, multiple scores, a documentary about the restoration process and detective work that had to go on to make the newest version happen, another about the impact the  movie has had on pop-culture and the film world. Heck, throw in a nice biography of Lang and you’ve got at least four disks worth of stuff.

And, without question or hesitation, when that DVD set becomes available (perhaps with a limited edition statue of the robot) it will quickly be on my shelf.