Good Movie Remakes

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Craig Micklewright

Generally movie remakes have a bad name despite Hollywood’s insistence on making them. However in my experience there are a few that while not always improving on the original, at least do a good enough job to be worth seeing, without insulting the memory of a classic. Find below a few I personally have enjoyed.

Little Shop Of Horrors

Although not familiar with the Roger Corman original, this Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, John Candy starring musical is a riot … very memorable tunes and great practical effects. I really need to watch this again… soon!

Evil Dead

Was really expecting this to just not get what made the original so good – but it ramped up the gore and violence to epic proportions, had a great cast and was scary … maybe not as tongue-in-cheek as the series is famous for, but still felt like an Evil Dead movie.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Am I alone in thinking this version rocks? Tons of gore (which the original lacked, even though I know that wasn’t the entire point) a perfectly mad performance by R. Lee Ermey and a twenty something bunch of ‘victims’ you don’t immediately hate.

Miracle On 34th Street

Charming with a great performance by Richard Attenborough. A star making turn by the where is she now Mara Wilson (see also Mathilda). Haven’t seen original but this was a perfect Christmas treat.

Heat

Am I cheating by including this? A deserved genre classic with a (possible) career best from both Pacino and DeNiro, and yes it’s a remake of TV movie L.A. Takedown.

The Assassin (aka Point of No Return)

Perhaps sacrilege to remake Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita, and another I think I’m alone in loving. I had a major crush on Bridget Fonda in this… but its a competent thriller with several decent performances, including a cameo by Harvey Keitel that’s worth seeing!

Piranha 3D

Breasts and naked skinny-dipping porn stars aside, this has gore by the bucket and a fast energetic pace that makes for one of the most fun horror movies in a long while. Director Alexandre Aja cements his reputation as the go to guy for horror remakes! (see also: The Hills Have Eyes).

Scarface

Easy one this. Not seen the original but with a powerhouse performance by Al Pacino and that line ‘say hello to my little fiend’ this took a basic blue print and seriously went to town with it!

The Thing

This shouldn’t have worked, but with a strong lead by the mouth-watering Mary Elizabeth Winstead and half decent and freaky CGI, as well as all the atmosphere the original had (ok this is technically a prequel…but it still counts…I think), this really surprised me.

I am starting to think that although they get the worst press, horror remakes have got it right a fair few times going by the list above. That’s just my opinion though and you may differ. So what would your choices be?

Leon

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Craig Micklewright

Viewed – 08 February 2014 Blu-ray

20th Anniversary Edition

I remember seeing a trailer to this way back when and going fairly blindly to see it in the cinema. Me and a friend of mine were blown away by it, and it quickly became one of our all time favourite movies. The story of twelve year old Mathilda (a brilliant debut from Natalie Portman) who in the aftermath of her family being wiped out takes refuge in the company of the shy, illiterate hitman who lives down the corridor (Jean Reno) … a friendship blossoms and soon she’s hatching a plot to take revenge. Gary Oldman is a corrupt DEA agent who cracks pills between his teeth and listens to Beethoven whilst killing people who rip him off – and orchestrating all this with finesse and skill is French new-wave director Luc Besson (Nikita, The Fifth Element) to a soundtrack by Eric Serra.

This is a movie that has it all, great performances from the street-wise but naive Portman all cocky but falling apart at the seams, to Reno’s subtle and convincing portrayal of a child in a man’s body who just happens to know how to kill. Then there is Oldman, in possibly his craziest but most memorable role (get me eeeeeeeeeeverybody!!!) as well as a very good supporting turn by Danny Aiello. Then there is Besson … arguably his finest movie, with such poetic, ice-cool camera work enhanced by an amazing soundtrack and moments of slick action executed with the utmost style and panache. This may not be an action-heavy movie (it really only has two scenes here) but the tension that builds up, and the great performances throughout, peppered with well judged humour and such emotion … this is one of the few movies I would genuinely call a masterpiece.

This 20th Anniversary Edition by Studio Canal boasts a decent HD image quality that has some vibrant colour and good detail, especially in close-ups. Softness rears its head in places but overall this is a very pleasing presentation. For this movie too the 5.1 DTS Master Audio Soundtrack is excellent with a really immersive soundstage and great clarity throughout. The Blu-ray houses both cuts of the movie and although I chose to watch the tighter Theatrical Version, I would recommend fans check out the extended Director’s Cut for such extra scenes like Mathilda’s Russian roulette scene, the extra hits that Leon takes Mathilda on and a few more moments of Mathilda’s inappropriate advances towards her hitman friend (!). Extras however are poor, with just two interviews and a noticeably absent Besson, Oldman or Portman with no commentary, something Besson never does anyway – so no big shock there.

Verdict:

(the movie) 5 /5

(the Blu-ray) 3.5 /5

Ten of the best

Posted on February 7, 2014 by Craig Micklewright

Top Ten lists are sort of something I enjoy doing, especially at the end of each year. But Top Ten Favourite Movies of all time? Harder. I used to have a list a while back of which some of the movies below used to appear on. Yet I gave up putting them in a particular order as they are so different some of them, comparing is impossible. So find below Ten movies I think have had the greatest effect on me, either growing up, inspiring me (writing, movie tastes) or just hitting me on an emotional level.

Fight Club

Made me a big fan of the movies of David Fincher and has arguably Edward Norton’s finest turn. Style, effects work in a movie that didn’t need it, a great soundtrack, that twist and endlessly quotable.

Gran Torino

Emotional, heart-wrenching, funny, touching with one of Eastwood’s best performances. The cast of newcomers surrounding him are also first-rate.

21 Grams

Complex and twist-filled with three stunning performances (especially Naomi Watts) and a script that is quite literally genius. Tough going but well worth the journey.

Pulp Fiction

Possibly still my all time favourite movie. The dialogue is amazing, funny, very cool and believable. The sound track is stuff of legend and performances across the board are superb.

Leon

Natalie Portman’s debut. Ice-cool, Gary Oldman’s looniest but greatest villain, Jean Reno as a lovable assassin and Luc Besson on stunning form.

Annie Hall

All of Woody Allen’s best ideas, cleverest dialogue and touching observations rolled into one perfect movie. Diane Keaton is excellent and Allen has never been funnier.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

James Cameron fully realising Terminator … stunning effects work, amazing action sequences, Arnie at his best, Linda Hamilton as the most bad-ass female role model since Ellen Ripley. The ultimate sci-fi blockbuster.

Blue Velvet

Weird but one of David Lynch’s most coherent works, with a great cast (Hopper is just plain nuts) and haunting music and a dream-like atmosphere. Sexy and disturbing just how Lynch should be.

Goodfellas

The finest gangster movie ever made, fast, packed with ideas, dialogue, people getting wacked, great dialogue and great performances throughout. Martin Scorsese at his very best.

The Shining

Stunningly filmed, creepy as hell, scary, with an amazing Jack Nicholson and a true directing auteur in the shape of the late Stanley Kubrick. The best horror movie ever made? Quite possibly.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Craig Micklewright

Viewed – 17 August 2013 Blu-ray

At one time Luc Besson was regarded as one of the coolest directors around and for me at least crafted one of the finest thrillers ever made, Leon. Although he continued with various moderate hits (most notably The Fifth Element) he soon disappeared, preferring to put his talents to writing and producing other people’s movies (Taken, The Transporter), as if still wishing to keep his name out there but rarely committing himself to directing again … until now.

adele_blanc_sec

This French take on Indiana Jones and based itself on a series of graphic novels stars the rather gorgeous Louise Bourgoin as a popular writer and globe trotting adventurer in early 20th century France who is seeking a cure for her twin sister’s illness. She travels to Egypt to unearth a pharaoh’s tomb, whilst in Paris an ageing scientist unwittingly resurrects a prehistoric pterodactyl, causing mayhem on the Parisian streets. This is a fun and energetic movie with decent production values that show off the Paris locations beautifully, and with a wealth of oddball characters this was rarely dull. Yet some of the French humor is fairly hit and miss, relying a bit too much on corny dialogue and slapstick, whilst a villain introduced early on just kind of gets forgotten about.

On a plus, Besson’s direction is slick and eye-catching, even if the cool action he is known for takes a back seat to knockabout farce. Moments like a group of dead-pan mummies and an atmospheric tomb raiding stand out, but overall this just felt a bit too Saturday matinee light with a narrative that seems to jump all over the place. CGI is pretty good however for a foreign production and with a great score by frequent Besson collaborator Eric Serra, I was still entertained.

So not a bad effort for a French adventure movie, but for a Besson comeback … this really needed to wow, but failed.

Verdict: 3 /5

Hurrah – A female lead character not burdened by romance! (doveonfilm.wordpress.com)
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (comicsworthreading.com)
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec (gnostalgia.wordpress.com)

Colombiana

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Craig Micklewright

Viewed – 01 March 2012 DVD

Sometimes, It’s worth going on instinct and not listening to reviews when it comes to a movie. That may be a strange thing to say as a reviewer myself, but we don’t always get it right. Or we expect too much. This can be said for this stylish thriller written by French filmmaker / producer Luc Besson and starring the very beautiful Zoe Saldana (Avatar).

Zoe plays a Colombian girl named Cataleya (yes, not Colombiana) who witnesses her parents get killed by gangsters, and vows revenge. Travelling to Chicago and being brought up by her uncle, she soon becomes a professional assassin and plies her trade in hope that one day, she’ll find her father’s killer. This is nothing new, and for Luc Besson, he trod very similar ground in the cult favourite La Femme Nikita. Yet Zoe Saldana makes for a great ice-cool killer and the various hits are executed with panache (including a very cool Police Station sequence). Supporting cast are mostly bland, no-name bit part actors who fit the Colombia-heavy stereotype and don’t do much more than look bad-ass and fire lots of guns. Besson’s chosen director Olivier Megaton (Transporter 3), name sounding like a Transformer aside, delivers a slick-looking experience and is obviously in love with his leading lady (who can blame him?). The plot does rely on a few too many conveniences though, and some stuff is very sloppily written, like the frankly bonkers way Cataleya’s identity gets discovered … yet overall this was fast and fun – just switch off that brain, and you’ll have a good time.

Verdict: 2.5 /5