Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

Totally...and then proceeds to overdo it, long after it was a good idea. smile

So, bringing it back on track...And please hear me out on this one: House Arrest (released summer of '96, but made more than a year before then).

House Arrest is about a family (headlined by Kevin Pollak and Jamie Lee Curtis) who are out of love with each other. They announce to their kids that separation is eminent. Their son can't accept it, and decides to lock his parents in the basement of their home and keep them there until they work things out.

A few of the kids in his class at school catch wind of this plan and decide to do the same to their own parents, but they bring their folks to the hero's basement (so as to keep things localized and together). As the groups of parents fight it out (including Jennifer Tilly, who is being punished for dressing like and acting like her daughter, played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, in order to not grow up and be her "best friend"), the groups of kids attempt to "play house", all with disastrous and mostly slapstick results.

By the end, Pollak and Curtis rediscover that spark, another couple get divorced but decide to become working partners and Tilly learns to grow up and be a parent (only not so much, but I'll get into that in a moment).

The problem with the movie, I feel, is not all of the ideas are executed to their fullest potential and the rest are played more for wacky, shallow, child-friendly comedy. For example, Wallace Shawn gets stuck in a window like Winnie the Pooh, Jamie Lee Curtis encounters rats, falls down a laundry chute and splits her pants, Ray Walston gets strung upside down from a tree and the kids make some horrible, junk-based dinner to feed their parents.

I feel to remake it into a "good" film (and some of these elements ARE there, which is why I kind of enjoy the film in its current state), it would be better to age the kids to adolescence (15 to 17), strip down the cast of characters on both sides, like putting some characters' arcs and issues into another. For instance, Make Tilly's character not just a big kid who is too sisterly to her daughter, but ALSO be the one to gain her husband's respect by becoming his equal partner in work, even though they still get divorced. It would also help to juxtapose the adults' arguments with the kids (now teens) upstairs, attempting to play house and be something of a functioning, domestic unit and discovering just how hard it can be, thus allowing them to relate to and sympathize with their respective parents. Finally, overhaul the tone and sense of humor to something much more smart and serious. Instead of a loud, obnoxious, half-hearted kids film, turn it into a charming, poignant family film.

If John Hughes were still with us, I'd throw his name in an instant to re-write and direct (but less Home Alone and more The Breakfast Club).

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

You reminded me of Alvin and the Chipmunks. When I heard they were making that flick, I was horrified, but then I thought about it and you could have made such a fucked up and awesome chipmunk movie. Forget that they're chipmunks for a moment and you've got three abandoned brothers who can sing really well. They're eventually taken in by a guy who only took them in because they can sing and wants to exploit them. That movie could have gotten really dark, and it's too bad they didn't go that route at least a little bit. I mean, yeah, they get kidnapped for five minutes, but that movie could have had some seriously great character stuff if they had given a shit.

First off, did they forget about youtube? Internet videos of singing chipmunks sparks meteoric rise to fame and an inability from Dave and the chipmunks to cope with that, with the exception of Alvin who would obviously dig that kind of thing. Have tension between the characters drive the plot. Drop the whole "ALVIN!!!" thing Dave does, barring some alternate way to reference it like yelling over a loud stereo or something. Have the chipmunks behave like siblings and not like the bestest friends ever. Make Alvin's ego the villain, and give him the main character arc. Why was Dave the main character in the movie they made? It's not called "Dave and Alvin and the Chipmunks". But I guess it's hard to shoot a movie where the only guy on set the whole time isn't the main character. Also, pick a genre. The trailer had clips from early beatles performances, ended with a funk song, the poster had them looking like a mid 90's hip-hop group and the music they sang in the movie was the sort of pop music you hear coming out of Disney's teen singers.

I would love to see the chipmunks cover Tool's "Undertow" or NIN's "Closer" totally a cappella, complete with video reminiscent of the originals but with cartoon chipmunks. That would be awesome.

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

Thought of another one.  Titanic should be remade from Jack's perspective.  He was conning Rose the whole time, and Billy Zane was right.

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

So that would make David Warner the hero? I love it.

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. - Carl Sagan

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

Squiggly_P wrote:

Drop the whole "ALVIN!!!" thing Dave does, barring some alternate way to reference it like yelling over a loud stereo or something.

How about a Thanagarian snare-beast, Mr. Peters?

Warning: I'm probably rewriting this post as you read it.

Zarban's House of Commentaries

Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

zarban

Eddie Doty

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

Not even the same thing. I know that's the catch-phrase (is it even a phrase? it's one word...), but it's pretty much the most annoying thing about the chipmunks. It worked back in the day because all you had was audio. It was just you listening to the chipmunks, Alvin would fuck up, Dave would yell at him. You don't really need to do that when you've got a plot, an actual character and moving pictures to go along with the audio.

I'm just adapting the property to the intended medium. There are a dozen ways you could visually get across that Dave is super pissed and frustrated at Alvin, and any of them would be less stupid than just having him yell like a psychopath.

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

The Smurfs. Like this:

http://coolvibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/3d-art-Nate-Hallinan-Smurf-Sighting.jpg

No postmodern self-aware cartoon shit. A straight up fantasy movie about a forest-dwelling, gnome-like folk targeted by an evil sorcerer for his nefarious purposes. Maybe Gargamel wants to use them or some magic in them against some fairy tale kingdom, and the humans of the kingdom (or a young outcast boy from there) have to protect and ally with them in order to save both ways of life.

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

I don't even want to picture what Smurfette would look like...

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

It would be interesting to adapt the original books and not the cartoon. Those, from what I understand, are social satire (one reason everyone is named after their job). Also, ALL they say is "smurf", making the international version much easier to create smile

I write stories! With words!
http://www.asstr.org/~Invid_Fan/

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

Dorkman wrote:

The Smurfs. Like this:

Cats again! Why is it always cats?!

Warning: I'm probably rewriting this post as you read it.

Zarban's House of Commentaries

Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

At least they don't have to plug their hair into anything, and I don't think he's planning on interfacing with that snail...

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

Clive Barker's Nightbreed.

Remade by Guillermo del Toro.

Last edited by Xtroid (2011-10-23 11:59:12)

Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

A movie that didn't need remaking/rebooting/reimaging was Friday the 13th.  mad

They were just 2 movies away from a guaranteed money feast of a sequel -> Friday the 13th part 13 (to be released on Friday 13th, September, 2013), and what did they decide to do - take us back to the beginning and start again. Why o why o why would they do that ?????  roll

Jason doesn't teleport.

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

They Live always struck me as something that could be a very cool remake.

Also I wanted a good and funny reboot and/or homage to the original pink panther films, because the crap that
Steve Martin did was unforgivable.

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

Reboot the Dollars Trilogy. Shoot them back-to-back and release them within a year of each other. Make them "event" movies. Cast Hollywood's biggest badass to star and get the Coens to direct (after True Grit, I have faith that they can do remakes of Westerns).

"The Doctor is Submarining through our brains." --Teague

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

Landporpus wrote:

They Live always struck me as something that could be a very cool remake.

Yeah, you could have fun with that. Have it star some MMA fighters smile

Also I wanted a good and funny reboot and/or homage to the original pink panther films, because the crap that
Steve Martin did was unforgivable.

When a film or series was basically created around a specific actor, there's no point to a remake. Best to pick another actor and create something new around them, than to try and cram them into someone else's vehicle.

I write stories! With words!
http://www.asstr.org/~Invid_Fan/

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

So i was thinking about this over the weekend and was trying to figure out a way to just embrace the whole remake culture.  instead of rebooting/remaking a film, would there be anyway to create a story that utilizes the concept of a remake?  Dr. Who does this to some extent...Bond also, in a way.   

I haven't exactly figured out it'd work, but it seems like there could be a way to plan on the remake from the get go and use it for good...instead of meh.

(and yes, this is not a fully fleshed out thought....so call it a vomit post)

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

Isn't that what a reboot is?

Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

For those interested in a remake of The Island or Parts: The Clonus Horror I can't recommend Never Let Me Go highly enough. I've never seen Parts - from what I gather the essence of the stories are the same except Never Let Me Go plays it as a very thoroughly thought-out drama in the vein of an excellent Twilight Zone episode.

Also, this is only tangentially related, but anyone who hasn't seen both the regular-speed version of Alvin & The Chipmunks' songs and Patton Oswalt's bit about it should really check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7smyIP7TplM

More on topic: RoboCop by Darren Aronofs-- damnit, we were so close!

Lastly, WestWorld by Duncan Jones

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

Invid wrote:

When a film or series was basically created around a specific actor, there's no point to a remake.

Tell that to the Coen Brothers.

Or Stephen Soderbergh.

Posted from my iPad
http://trek.fm

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

http://www.moviesnet.nl/images/filmnieuws/2011/1315909667/highlander04.jpg

Every movie after the first one sucked. It might be impossible to replace Clancy Brown but I imagine a higher budgeted and bloodier Highlander could surpass the original. I can't think of a director to helm a reboot off the top of my head though.

Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

Ewing wrote:

I can't think of a director to helm a reboot off the top of my head though.

Could Matthew Vaughn could do a decent job of it?
http://images.starpulse.com/Photos/Previews/Stardust-movie-39.jpg

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Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

I know who should play Connor MacLeod.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_rzdB5a4kLAo/SFwwZw_3nsI/AAAAAAAAHH8/OzSaZPy_mTw/s1600/thomas-jane.jpg

Last edited by Xtroid (2011-10-26 18:01:03)

Re: Movies that SHOULD be remade/rebooted

Gregory Harbin wrote:
Invid wrote:

When a film or series was basically created around a specific actor, there's no point to a remake.

Tell that to the Coen Brothers.

Haven't seen The Ladykillers, but from what I understand they should have been told that before doing it smile True Grit was a book adaptation, and anyone could have played the John Wayne role.

Or Stephen Soderbergh.

One group of cool actors can substitute for another group of cool actors. I'm referring more to cases where a role is created to fit an actors abilities perfectly, rather then the actor being cast into a role that fits them.

I write stories! With words!
http://www.asstr.org/~Invid_Fan/

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