When Hollywood runs out of ideas, they remake older films. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it fails miserably. On May 17, list the best remake you’ve ever seen and the worst.
Added bonus – list the worst and/or best song remake you’ve ever heard!
Hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh, Stephen Tremp, Livia Peterson, and Al Diaz.
For the list of participants go here.
My choices:
Best Movie Remake:
True Grit (2010) --The 1969 John Wayne version is a fine very entertaining film, but the remake captured what the story really should be. It's a fantastic film
Worst Movie Remakes:
The Out of Towners (1999)--I expected so much better of Steve Martin and Goldie Hawn but maybe their over-the-top performances were part of the problem. Jack Lemmon played the lead role with his wonderfully subtle style and Sandy Dennis was ideal as his wife eternally incredulous in the face of adversity. The latter version lacked the hilarity of the original and I was not able to feel it the same way as I did the first one.
I Am Legend (2007) -- In the serious film category I would list this Will Smith version only because I expected so much more. I'm a big fan of the 1964 version with Vincent Price. I had figured with modern film technology a really cool remake could have been done, but to me there was something lacking about this one. In all fairness, I probably need to see this one a second time. There were some good effects and well-played scenes. Yeah, I need to see it again, but for now I'm going to put it in the worst of science fiction remakes.
Best Song Remakes:
(click on song titles if you want to hear the songs)
"Hard Day's Night" by Tee and Cara (1968) --I've mentioned this song on my site before (did we do a remake blogfest once before?), but it's such a favorite that I'm touting it again. How can you top the Beatles with their own song? By playing it the way that it sounds like it should be played like Tee and Cara did. Too bad they never got more recognition for their beautiful album.
"Lalena" by Deep Purple (1969)--It's difficult to improve on the beautiful original by Donovan, but hard rockin' Deep Purple did it with a sensitive jazziness.
"Blinded By the Light" (1977) Manfred Mann--I don't even remember ever hearing Bruce Springsteen's original until I listened to it while researching this blog post. Sorry Bruce, you may have written the song, but Manfred's number one hit version beats yours by a million miles (and probably a few million record sales).
Worst Song Remake --I know they're out there, but I couldn't think of any.
I know I went above and beyond what was called for, but the post is still short. What do you think of my choices?
