Not Another One!! Will the Remake Bring You to the Box Office?

If you're a child of the 80s, then this is the movie decade for you. I've heard rumors of a Goonies remake, Stephen King's It, Footloose and Mannequin of all films. I'm not sure what they could do with the last two, but I suppose with the recent hype of the dance film genre, Footloose could be a hit with teens.

Lately there have been a slew of horror movie remakes. Halloween, Friday the 13^th, Stepfather, The Crazies and Nightmare on Elm St... I'd like to see a remake of Hellraiser. I think they could write new story, but modernize the film and create all new cenobites. Those things cant get much more evil as far as their ability to inflict pain, but with new make up and technology, they could make the film a little more gruesome.

I've been hearing about a Tron sequel for years and it is now in post production as Tron Legacy, scheduled to be released at the end of this year. The film is directed by Joseph Kosinski, who's only film credit, according to IMDb, is this film and three others in development. There were also rumors of a remake of Frank Herbert's Dune a while back. (Can you imagine sandworms in 3D? I get goosebumps just thinking about it!) Unfortunately, I haven't heard anything recently. There was a TV mini-series in 2000 which would have been more impressive with better special effects. I think as a movie-goer, I'm always searching for an original film that gives me the same feelings I had when I first watched these older ones.

So, I guess the remakes are not without reason. There are plenty of movie patrons out there getting excited about these movies. And production companies probably feel a bit more comfortable about a sure thing. There must be a lack of original material out there in Hollywood, which saddens me. I guess if you're an aspiring screenplay writer, now would be the time to push your work out there!

The Blind Side

Based on the true story of the family who takes in the despaired black teen, Michael Oher, this movie came as a little bit of a surprise to me. I half expected to be annoyed by a message like "African American unexpectedly turns out to be an angelic superhuman." I'm also not a big fan of Sandra Bullock, who played nearly the same character in "While You Were Sleeping," "The Proposal," and "Two Weeks Notice" with a few adjustments to her architype. However, she was superbly cast for this role and preformed it flawlessly. The message I mentioned earlier was absent, and in its place a simply heart-warming true story of a football player's rise to success with the love and encouragement of the Tuohy family. I'm sure Sandra Bullock agrees with me when I say she would definitely benefit from taking more roles like this one.

Dario Argento's Phantom of the Opera

I don't know many movie buffs who know the actor Julian Sands, but I love him. He was the "Warlock" in the 80s and had smaller roles in "Turn of the Screw" and "A Room with a View," but my favorite was "Boxing Helena." By most standards, it was a bad movie, but he was hot and the story was unusual. "Phantom of the Opera" was also very unusual. Not really a horror movie, but definitely gross, sexy and creepy classic Dario Argento. The beautiful daughter or Dario, Asia Argento, plays his overly-passionate subservient lover, and Sands plays the phantom who's really just a man abandoned at birth in the catacombs below an opera house. To be honest, the story is a bit of a let down, but if you like Julian Sands, its a movie worth watching.