According to Latino Review, the proposed production of OLDBOY which was going to star Will Smith and be directed by Steven Spielberg is dead. Done. Not going to happen. This is one that I am very happy to see get dropped into the trash can for all eternity. I don't understand why every foreign movie of any consequence has to be Americanized. Can't we just enjoy the original? Are we that awful that we need everything in English and Hollywooded to death? Can we not enjoy what other directors have done and just leave it alone?
Did I understand OLDBOY? I know what it was about and I could follow along, but no, I didn't understand every last thing and there were some plot holes. However that doesn't mean I need a remake of it. I don't need Will and Steven to go in and dumb it down for me. I can't even imagine Will Smith in the scene above. I can't. It was a great movie. I'm glad that people will have to see the original if they want to see it and not just have it become lost because Hollywood thought they could do it better.
THANK GOD. i can't imagine the content being handled well by hollywood. and will smith? seriously? hell no. now if they'd just leave all the other ones alone... they touch high tension and ITS ON!
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more. What's even sadder is when they adapt an amazing British miniseries like State of Play into a movie starring Ben Affleck. I'm pissed that they're remaking Red Riding--an amazing Channel 4 miniseries featuring the Yorkshire Ripper and set in Leeds--into a Hollywood movie set in the U.S. I can only imagine how badly that will be screwed up... The only reason Hollywood remakes something in the SAME language is because there is little creativity left there.
ReplyDeleteI do have to give them credit for doing a good job of adapting the Office though, it's one of the best things on tv.
Same goes for Brothers. The original was one of the best films ever. I cringe every time I see press about the Hollywood version.
ReplyDeleteat the risk of being slightly sacrilegious, the comments section (from the 'latino review' link) are just too funny:
ReplyDeleteaznman · 16 hours ago
Thank you, baby Jesus!
Stevieg · 16 hours ago
and Tom Cruise...
Charles · 2 hours ago
and Oprah Winfrey...
I love love Oldboy. I didn't hear about this remake and I'm glad I didn't - now I don't have to be frothing at the mouth at the idea ;-) There's no way they would've kept the original ending in the American version...
ReplyDelete"old boy"+Spielberg+Smith=oxymoron!
ReplyDelete"old boy"+Darren Aronofsky+Dafoe(or an actor able to do crazy things)= good idea
i'll get back on my soapbox and say once AGAIN that there is no originality in hollywood anymore. it's remakes and sequels (or animated crap aimed at 5 year olds). i refuse to see good movies made bad---the remakes are never as good as the original and are insults to the original writers, directors and actors.
ReplyDeletei know times are tough, but for fuck sake, does that mean nobody can WRITE anymore?
What nancer said.
ReplyDeleteI like foreign movies and they aren't so bad to follow if you read the sub-titles fast *LOL*. Some of the remakes I have seen are good and majority are bad. Really they should stop making remakes. It's like Gone with the Wind having a follow-up, it was not the same.
ReplyDeleteAt least this movie escaped becoming yet another Hollywood remake. I wish I could say the same for The Orphanage, Death at a Funeral, and Let the Right One in -- they weren't so lucky. Be sure to not look for them at a theater near you.
ReplyDeleteHow about the worst remake of all, "Point of No Return"? I still want to kick the hell out of the the makers of that piece of shit.
ReplyDeleteDeath at a Funeral was hilarious in the original. Sucked as a remake. Ditto for State of Play.Please try something new Hollywierd.
ReplyDeleteI love this movie. Praise jebus it got shelved. Death@ a Funeral got remade? Wha?
ReplyDeleteOkay - just checked imdb. BOO!!!
ReplyDeleteUgh! Stupid American movie audiences .. grow and use your reading skills to read sub-titles so I can stop seeing my beloved Asian cinema classics being remade with bad actors! [I mean .. Jessica Alba in the remake of "The Eye" .. GAG!! Hell No!!]
ReplyDeleteHow about that as a "Your Turn" subject EL .. favorite Asian movies?? Though .. that could be tough to narrow down to one!!
; )
Or .. to be more inclusive since I was just reading earlier replies .. I guess that could extend to French, British, Spanish, Swedish .. anything really. Just non- American.
ReplyDeleteOldboy is one of my favorite movies - maybe only second to Mysterious Skin and while I had heard that this was to be more a remake of the comic book than of the movie, I was still horrified at the idea. I was especially disturbed at the thought of one of my least favorite directors would debase such a perfect movie.
ReplyDeleteEnty, if you have any questions about Oldboy or anything you want explained, I can probably help.
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ReplyDeleteI think what made "Old Boy" so good might have had a lot to do with Chan-wook Park. "Old Boy" was fantastic;"Thirst" not so much but I'll still go and see whatever he does next. As for Will Smith I really, really, really liked MIB and I thought he did a great job in the "Pursuit of Happyness" but, no, I definitely can't see him doing anything even remotely hinting at nihilism. Nor Spielberg. Nor Hollywood for that matter.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Worst Remake of All Time award goes to .... "The Departed". "Infernal Affairs" (Parts I and III, cause part II did kinda suck) were AWESOME! Hollywood's need to remove fluidity and create binary roles ruins it every time.
this is the best news I've heard in 2 years.
ReplyDeleteToo many remakes! I'm still pissed they're going to remake Being Human for US TV. The British original is perfect!
ReplyDelete