Rethink the Remake

So Hollywood is going to just keep remaking movies, and there’s nothing we can do about it. Fine, I can accept that. I’ll even see some. Okay, probably most. Although, most of the time I’ll wait for them to show up on basic cable or Netflix.  I just think it would make life more interesting if they’d take movies that failed to meet expectations (either box office or if the product itself) and gave them another shot. Apple failed when they worked with Motorola on the Rokr, the first phone that worked with iTunes. Then they had a mild success with a little gadget called the iPhone, you may have even seen one.

Understand, I’m not advocating a remake of Battlefield Earth. Some movies didn’t realize their potential, and then there are movies which should be considered criminal. I just think there’s a good inside Mario Puzo’s “The Sicilian” and Christopher Lambert in 1987 wasn’t the answer. Harlem Nights should have been a classic. And while there’s no Richard Pryor equal around, or a funny Eddie Murphy, this is the type of movie Hollywood should remake. Give me Don Cheadle and Samuel L. Jackson and let Kevin Smith direct.  Let Tarantino give Natural Born Killers a shot, he wrote it and Oliver Stone just got lost in directing it.

Hollywood would be wise to consider doing the same with failed television shows, that had a little bit of promise, instead of butchering our favorite shows from the 80’s. “FlashForwad” was always a better idea for a movie anyway. “Luck” has all the bones of a great Michael Mann movie, he just needs to dumb down a bit so the average viewer has a clue as to what everyone is talking about. But Mann and Dustin Hoffman? Yes please.  Mann himself has reused a project that missed, and turned into a classic. Before Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino filmed one of their last good movies, Mann made a movie for television called “L.A. Takedown.” So do us all a favor, cancel the Scarface and Point Break remakes, and do something different while doing something for the second time.