But this was the best—except for the human element

[sovay]

I am skeptical of remakes. So many of them seem unnecessary at best, offensively pointless at worst. Every now and then I think of The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) and I still don't understand.

. . . If you tell me that Peter Capaldi is going to play Professor Marcus in a stage version of The Ladykillers (1955), I want tickets.

(The rest of these are kind of stupid, but I approve of John Oliver: "You're not a man unless you own at least three monocles.")

Comments

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

I want tickets.

Truly, madly, deeply.

Nine

[sovay]

Truly, madly, deeply.

Maybe there'll be a live broadcast . . .

[nineweaving.livejournal.com]

We can fervently hope.

Nine

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

I notice that I do not have to send you "Rome."

[sovay]

I notice that I do not have to send you "Rome."

I have not yet deciphered all the lyrics, but I approve so much of accurate references to Roman triumphs. Also possibly the death of Crassus, although only if Dio Cassius isn't smoking up.

It's just a matter of, it's just a matter of time . . .

[hylomorphist.livejournal.com]

I am skeptical of remakes. So many of them seem unnecessary at best, offensively pointless at worst.

Amen to that. When Hollywood had the fabulous idea of making a remake of Tarkovskij's "Solaris" I had semi-violent intestinal reactions. Getting to watch George Clooney look like a lost puppy for two hours didn't really make up for the offense.

[sovay]

Getting to watch George Clooney look like a lost puppy for two hours didn't really make up for the offense.

There are very rare cases—usually cross-language—where the remake is enough of its own thing to be a worthwhile story. I think both Yojimbo (1961) and A Fistful of Dollars (1964) are worth paying attention to, for example, and while The Magnificent Seven (1960) is probably not the game-changing masterpiece of Seven Samurai (1954), there are far worse ways to waste your time with Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, and Charles Bronson. On the other hand, I will never rewatch Christopher Nolan's Insomnia (2002) now that I own the Norwegian original—which I recommend unreservedly to anyone who hasn't seen it and even people who have—and we will not even get into the question of Let the Right One In (2008). Honestly, I don't even like Hitchcock's own remake of The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) as much as I love his 1934 original.

[larryhammer]

Apropos of an entirely earlier post, I just finished watching Jade Warrior, and loved it. Not the least for the most beautifully choreographed and convincing belligerent courtship scene (though of course all the few fight scenes were beautifully choreographed), but also the werid and wonderful crossover of Kalevala x Chinese mythology.

(My one small nit is that while the characters on the container were archaic, they weren't archaic enough for 2000BCE -- more like 200BCE I think?)

Thank you for recommending it.

---L.

[sovay]

Apropos of an entirely earlier post, I just finished watching Jade Warrior, and loved it.

I am so very glad!

but also the werid and wonderful crossover of Kalevala x Chinese mythology.

You should write it up; I'd love to read your further thoughts on this subject.

(My one small nit is that while the characters on the container were archaic, they weren't archaic enough for 2000BCE -- more like 200BCE I think?)

Yeah, fair; bird-script really isn't Bronze Age. And no one was speaking archaic enough Chinese or Finnish. But I'd take it in exchange for the other stuff, like a more intelligent than usual use of recognition-tokens.

[larryhammer]

I was willing to give a pass on the Mandarin, on the basis of the translation convention. I was also willing to give a pass on the steel weapons a good eight centuries before the Iron Age, for no good reason (beyond the necessities of the Rule of Cool). But that one bugged me.

Will write it up tonight, if I've the time.

---L.

[larryhammer]

And circling back, posted.

---L.