Movie Rant: Remakes

Today, Disney announced that they are in the works of remaking 1992s Sister Act.  Having previously announced an Indiana Jones remake and all of the others we see floating around, I have finally had enough.  Today’s movie industry seems almost bankrupt of ideas.  I can understand some remakes here and there bringing a movie to the next generation, but this is ridiculous.

Going back to the original point, there is no need to remake Sister Act.  People have seen the movie, it was a well-done with decent success (71% on Rotten Tomatoes), and nobody watches it and thinks, “man, that was a good movie, but I really wish *insert current female actor* was in it.”  Whoopi Goldberg is still (at least partially) relevant, so it’s not like people don’t recognize who she is.  While the news is still pretty fresh and there aren’t a lot of details out there, this is something I am not looking forward to.

Speaking of remakes, prepare for one of the biggest flops of next year as a Point Break sequel was just announced.  The trailer (http://bit.ly/1GC2RG3) seems cool until about the 00:53 second mark, where the whole thing falls to pieces.  While the original was not blowing down any cinema barriers, it did give us this classic Keanu Reeves monotone quote (*language*): http://bit.ly/1JrwtWW.  You tell em’ Keanu!  I guess my point is that I don’t see a need to remake the movie. The original cast had some sluggers with Reeves and Patrick Swayze.  This one is giving us that girl from I am Number Four (never a good thing to be remembered as) and that guy who played the young version of James Marsden in that romantic movie last year.  I would be stunned if this got over a 10% on Rotten Tomatoes.

By remaking Indiana Jones, Disney has set a dangerous precedent.  While Indiana Jones is not quite in the Star Wars/Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter/The Godfather category of movies that should NEVER be remade, it poses a threat to franchises like Back to the Future, The Matrix, Dirty Harry, or The Wizard of Oz, who should never be remade but probably will someday.  While I know it is a recently acquired franchise that Disney wants to bank off of, there is absolutely no need to recreate this for at least 20 more years.

All of these remakes are either movies that should not be redone or just bad movies (looking at you 2012s Total Recall).  While I don’t take as big of an issue with movies based off of books, biopics, or Disney theme park rides, I think Hollywood needs a spark of genius to come in and put some life back into the industry.  There are some really great original movies that have come out in the last few years, but we need more.

 

 

What is your favorite remake and which movie do you never want to see remade?  Make sure to comment and let me know.

Top 5 Steven Spielberg Movies

Spielberg is the best director alive today (sorry Nolan but he has you by a few decades).  He has been the brilliant mind behind so many of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters and is still going strong.  Although it’s quite early, he is already the favorite to win Best Director at next year’s Oscars for a movie about the Cold War that hasn’t even come out yet (and it’s the favorite for best picture).  Here is a list of the best Spielberg movies in existence.

 

#5:  E.T the Extra Terrestrial (1982)

Wow, you know it’s a great list if E.T is bumped all the way down to number five.  This classic movie is perfect for the family to sit down and watch while ordering a pizza.  E.T is an alien that accidentally lands on Earth and is trying to make his way back home.  He joins a couple of kids and the group goes through adventure after adventure in an effort to get him back home. You will be hard-pressed to find a child who hasn’t seen this movie.

 

#4:  Jaws (1975)

This movie created the concept of a summer blockbuster.  Again, it’s crazy that a movie like this could only be number four on the list.  Audiences watch a crew go out and try to find a killer shark that has been terrorizing a beach.  Jaws is the reason that the summer movie season exists.  Plus, we were also given some of the best soundtrack music ever from the movie.

 

#3:  Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

The first movie in the Indiana Jones trilogy (I like to pretend Crystal Skull doesn’t exist), Raiders of the Lost Ark was another successful notch in Spielberg’s belt that has made him the director he is today.  Without him, there would be no Indiana Jones.  Spielberg was smart and decided to cast Harrison Ford at the height of the Star Wars craze in the early 80s and make the movie even more popular.

 

#2:  Jurassic Park (1993)

This movie changed cinema.  Jurassic Park was the first movie to utilize CGI.  It has now become a staple in Hollywood that would have never become what it was without Spielberg.  He has helped shaped the industry into what it is today. Imagine the movie technology of the early 90s and then watch this:  http://bit.ly/1jtNViK

 

Honorable Mention

Lincoln (2012)

Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Munich (2005)

Minority Report (2002)

 

#1:  Schindler’s List (1993)

1993 must have been a great year to be Steven Spielberg.  With the success of Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List, Spielberg had one of the best year’s for a director ever.  Many of you have heard me talk about how great Schindler’s List is and I even included it in my list for the top 10 movies of all-time (http://bit.ly/1CcueTd).  Liam Neeson and Spielberg were able to work together to bring a movie about an extremely dark spot in human history to light while keeping a serious tone. If you haven’t seen it by now, you really have to.

 

What is your favorite Steven Spielberg movie?  Which other directors do you want to see with top five lists?  Make sure to let me know!

Top 5 Movie Trilogies of All-Time

Great things come in threes and that phrase couldn’t be more right with these movies.  Here is a list of the top five movie trilogies of all-time:

#5:  Back to the Future trilogy

This trilogy got everybody interested in time travel.  Michael J. Fox (Teen Wolf, Family Ties) plays Marty McFly, a high schooler who is great friends with the scientist “Doc Brown” (Christopher Lloyd).  In the first movie, Doc discovers how to turn his Delorean into a time machine.  Marty has to travel from the 80s back to the 1950s to help Doc discover time travel earlier and save his life.  He accidentally runs into his parents when they were in high school.  He has to work to make sure his parents end up together while trying to help Doc.

In the second movie, Doc approaches Marty telling him that they have to go to the future to help his son.  Marty travels 2015 where he sees the Cubs win the World Series (sorry fans but it’s not going to happen but you can imagine it happening here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADXs2C4Vmho).  After a few misadventures, he travels back to the past and returns to the future a few times.  By the end of the movie, Doc is launched back into the 1800s and Marty has to go back and save him.

The final installment takes place in the wild west as Marty tries to help Doc rebuild the time machine with rudimentary equipment.  It is the perfect final movie to the trilogy as it ties off all extra storylines and brings the whole thing to a perfect ending, making it one of the greatest trilogies ever.

#4:  Indiana Jones trilogy

Steven Spielberg has been behind numerous blockbusters, but Indiana Jones  is definitely one of his most recognizable works.  Notice that I am saying trilogy because Crystal Skull does not count!  While I love Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy, The LEGO Movie), his reboot will never be as good as the original classic trilogy with Harrison Ford (Star Wars).

Ford used his success as Han Solo in Star Wars to springboard his career and get himself the role as Indiana Jones.  This trilogy is one of the best to sit down with a bunch of your best friends and binge watch over the weekend.  The trilogy follows professor and adventurer Indiana Jones and his travels to find certain artifacts ranging from the holy grail to the arc of the covenant.  It also is one of the reasons that the PG-13 rating was established.  Melting faces were a little too much for PG but not enough for R.

Everybody should make sure to check out the Indiana Jones trilogy and watch him explore the world with his hat and bullwhip.  Here is probably one of the most famous movie clips that almost everybody has seen:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr-8AP0To4k

#3:  The Godfather trilogy

I am going to make you an offer you can’t refuse:  watch The Godfather trilogy!  Considered some of the greatest movies of all-time, The Godfather movies focus on the Corleone crime family and their transition of power.  The trilogy stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, and Robert De Niro.  Director Francis Ford Coppola (Nic Cage’s uncle) burst onto the movie scene with some of the greatest movies of all-time.

The Godfather was one of the first successful trilogies created.  While the first two came out three years apart in 1971 and 1974, the third installment came out in 1990 and showed that there was still a huge interest in the genre.

Brando gave a particularly amazing performance in The Godfather.  Here is one of the best scenes from the trilogy that shows just how intense the scenes could feel:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i96VS_z8y7g (btw I had to post this in class so I couldn’t hear the dialogue and it had subtitles in English so I am praying that it is actually in English…sorry, I’ll fix it after class.)

While the third one pales in comparison to the first two, the trilogy as a whole is definitely one of the best trilogies ever.

#2:  The Lord of the Rings trilogy

Peter Jackson’s adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s famous book series was a huge success.  When The Fellowship of the Ring came out in 2001, everybody realized that they were in for a treat over the next few years.  Both The Two Towers and Return of the King were just as successful as the first.  The trilogy completely reinvigorated interest in Tolkien’s Middle Earth world.

The trilogy follows a fellowship of four hobbits, 2 men, an elf, a wizard, and a dwarf as they travel to Mordor to destroy the ring of power, which has the power to bring back the evil Sauron.  The group goes through setback after setback as they struggle to reach Mt. Doom and get rid of the ring once and for all.

I binge watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy when I had my wisdom teeth pulled during my sophomore year of high school.  I was out of school for a few days and pretty immobile on my couch.  I watched the trilogy over two days and I was blown away.

If you haven’t seen the trilogy, maybe Aragorn’s speech can change your mind:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXGUNvIFTQw

Honorable Metion

Toy Story

The Dark Knight

Terminator

The Matrix

The Naked Gun

#1:  Star Wars the original trilogy

A long time ago in a studio far, far away, George Lucas created the greatest movie trilogy to ever grace the face of the Earth.  Star Wars episodes four, five, and six are three of the greatest movies ever made.  The three compliment each other so perfectly.  The first movie portrays a desperate group of rebels revolting against a corrupt empire.  After a short-lived victory for the rebels, evil makes a comeback in The Empire Strikes Back.  It is also the first time we see a passion-filled lightsaber battle between Luke and Darth Vader.  Also, it contains one of the biggest plot twists of all-time (another potential future list).  If you don’t know the big Star Wars plot twist by now, here is link to it (spoilers I guess but we all know this by now) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbjru5CQIW4  The rebels make a comeback in Return of the Jedi.

The culture impact by the original Star Wars trilogy is still evident in today’s society.  Almost everybody recognizes Darth Vader, the force, and the phrase “I am your father.”  There are virtually no plot holes or gaps in the storyline.  In the late 1970s when science fiction was not taken seriously, Lucas completely overhauled the genre and made Star War one of the most recognizable franchises of all-time.

What’s your favorite movie trilogy?  Let me know if you think I nailed it or completely blew it.

Top 5 Movie Soundtrack Composers of All-Time

Movie soundtracks can be one of the most underrated parts of a movie.  Few people realize the difference a good soundtrack can make a movie versus a bad one (imagine watching the fellowship march through the mountains in Lord of the Rings without that epic music).  I decided to show my appreciation of these unsung heroes with a list of the top 5 composers in movie history.

#5: Howard Shore

Best Known For:  Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Speaking of that epic Lord of the Rings Music, Shore was slingshot into the mainstream after his work with Peter Jackson to create one of the most memorable soundtracks of all-time.  Along with the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit franchises, Shore has composed the music for The Aviator and Ed Wood, two other movies known for their great soundtracks.  Although he has been working on movies since the 1970s, he is finally getting the recognition he deserves here in the 2000s.

#4: Bernard Herrmann

Best Known For:  Psycho

The man behind the Twilight Zone theme and Taxi Driver, Herrmann has helped create some of the most haunting recognizable scores.  Not to mention, who doesn’t imagine the shower scene in Psycho every time they hear that high pitch horror track.  Alfred Hitchcock originally wanted the famous shower scene without music before he heard Herrmann’s track.  He launched himself to popularity with his first soundtrack–Citizen Kane.  Considered one of the greatest movies every created, Citizen Kane‘s soundtrack is one of the many great aspects of the movie.

#3: Alan Silvestri

Best Known For:  Back to the Future

Silvestri’s accomplishments stretch far beyond the Back to the Future trilogy.  Forrest Gump, The A-Team, The Polar Express, and multiple movies from the Avengers Marvel Cinematic Universe are only some of the musical masterpieces penned by Silvestri.  He has shown his broad diversity covering all genres of movies.  Silvestri is definitely one of the best musical composers of all-time.  Starting his career in the 1970s, Silvestri continues to compose great soundtracks to this day.

#2:  Hans Zimmer

Best Known For:  The Dark Knight

Considered the best modern musical composer, Zimmer has created a plethora of great scores.  Pairing up with Christopher Nolan, Zimmer has created the scores for The Dark Knight trilogy, Insterstellar, Inception, and The Prestige.  He has experienced great success outside of Nolan as well.  He won an Oscar for his work on The Lion King and has been behind the scenes for many great movies:  Gladiator, Castaway, Man of Steel, Black Hawk Down, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Bee Movie, and Sherlock Holmes.  He started his musical career assisting the The Buggles with the first MTV music video “Video Killed the Radio Star” and his career has shot off from there.  He is by far currently the best in the business.

#1: John Williams

Best Known For: Star Wars

Williams has been at the helm of some of the greatest movie franchises to ever be produced.  Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park , Harry Potter, Jaws, Superman, and Schindler’s List are just the tip of the iceberg.  Williams has been creating music for movies since the mid-1950s.  While he has slowed down his pace, Williams is far and away the greatest composer ever.  His work is unrivaled.  Almost anybody could hear some of his work and immediately recognize the movie.  It will be a long time before somebody tops Williams as the greatest of all-time.