Top Ten Tuesdays

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Yes, i really liked that too. Made no 24 / 25 for me.

I haven't seen it in years as I watched it for review and there was an arrangement with the distribution company in which the review disc had to be returned to them. As I haven't bought it, I haven't seen it since.

[keirarts]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Ha'ha, fair enough. As a thriller i found it enjoyable but as i said it should have had a different name as it really wasn't the Peckinpah film.

I noticed you featured Prom Night as one of your worst. There were a lot that came out around that time that were PG13 watered down remake shite but one if i recall was okay, it's just i can't remember which one it was now. Sorority Row perhaps? I still own it so there's a chance that was the one.

Sorority row was ok. Prom night was very dull. I had a similar problem with nightmare on elm street that was also visually bland.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by keirarts

I had a similar problem with nightmare on elm street that was also visually bland.

It seems that is a recurring issue with movies from the Platinum Dunes production company, with executives seemingly preferring overly muted pallets and 'subtle as a brick' storytelling for their rebooted franchises.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

In no particular order:

A Bigger Splash – a remake of the 1969 French/Italian film La Piscene, which is also extremely good, with this benefiting from equally good performances by the four main cast members
The Man Who Knew Too Much – Hitchcock remakes himself, with the 1955 version benefiting from better casting and higher production values than the 1934 thriller enjoyed
Invasion of the Body Snatchers – the 1954 film is better, but this is more memorable. I hope that makes sense.
12 Monkeys – remake of La Jetée, both wonderful films but, for my money, Terry Gilliam's version is better
Assault on Precinct 13 – John Carpenter's loose remake of Rio Bravo with an equally, though very different, claustrophobic setting
The Fly – a loose remake of the 1958 film of the same name only with much more realistic and heartbreaking results
True Lies – a remake of/heavily inspired by the French comedy La Totale! It is one of the universe is ongoing mystery is why this hasn't had a proper, uncut, bells and whistles, Blu-ray release yet
Insomnia – Chris Nolan announces himself with an audacious and tense thriller, with Robin Williams cast against type, and a brilliant remake of the 1997 film of the same name
Scarface – although I think the 1932 version is the best with this title, there is something about the bloated excess of Brian De Palma's notion which says a lot about the 1980s
Little Shop of Horrors – the Roger Corman film is cheap and cheerful, but this musical vision, particularly with the dark ending, is so much fun.

Nearly making the top 10:
Freaky Friday – a wonderful remake of the 1978 comedy, with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan arguably providing a better mother to-daughter dynamic them Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster
Yojimbo – Akira Kurosawa was influenced by the brilliant French noir The Glass Key, and adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's novel of the same name, but also lifting significant parts from a different Hammett book, Red Harvest, but I don't know whether it was intentionally a remake or whether 'any similarities are coincidental'
The Thing*
Dredd*

*People say these are remakes – I say they are adaptations of the source material which is different to the previous version. I prefer both of these adaptations.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Quality post, Nos.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Quality post, Nos.

Thanks. Like I said, it is a tougher topic than it first appears.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Thanks. Like I said, it is a tougher topic than it first appears.

Freaky Friday. I've never seen that. It sounds promising given that it almost made your top 10.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Freaky Friday. I've never seen that. It sounds promising given that it almost made your top 10.

Which one haven't you seen? Either, or both?

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Nosferatu@Cult Labs

Which one haven't you seen? Either, or both?

Neither. The Lohan version sounds very good actually.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by Demdike@Cult Labs

Neither. The Lohan version sounds very good actually.

I have enjoyed both versions of Freaky Friday, and would happily watch them again. The more recent version is slightly better for having a bigger budget and possibly bigger stars, even though Jodie Foster was a big-name actress for having been in Taxi Driver and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore at that time, with probably only Bugsy Malone (1976) as Foster's only 'family friendly' movie with a lead role. There is a possibility that the 1977 film has not dated as well as the one from this century so, if I was only going to rent one of them (or pick it up as a 'blind buy), I'd go with the more recent version of the story.