Not long ago I made a joke in one of my posts. Wait I wasn't finished yet, but yeah maybe there haven't been enough jokes lately. Anyway the joke was a fake quote from Kevin Bacon questioning Samuel L. Jackson for being in the movie the Spirit. In this joke Bacon was on the set of Footloose 2. The next day I found out that there is actually a re-imagining of Footloose being filmed which will star the kid from those highly popular Disney High School Musicals. I wish it was a joke, but unfortunately it is not. It will also probably be wildly successful. Now if it was actually Footloose 2 starring Kevin Bacon it would me somewhat interesting. Kevin Bacon has now become one of those people he rebelled against when he was younger, but he is tired of living by their rules and he suddenly begins dancing in old factories and warehouses again. I haven't seen the old Footloose in years, but if memory serves me correctly there is much unintentional comedic gold to be found. It saddens me to think that they will essentially just remake it into High School Musical 10 or whatever as Footloose 2 had so much more potential.
I read many sites on the Internet which contain movie reviews and also rumors of upcoming movies. The Footloose remake is just part of a scary trend where all of the big movies are bad rehashes of old movies, sequels or are adapted from 80's cartoons. First there was Transformers, Garfield, and Alvin and the Chipmunks. Look I understand when they make movies like Alvin and the Chipmunks for kids that doesn't really bother me, but look at this excerpt from Variety discussing the movies that will be advertised during the Super Bowl. Confirmed for this year's roster are high-profile titles like Paramount's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," "Star Trek" and "G.I. Joe"; Sony’s "Angels & Demons"; DreamWorks Animation's "Monsters vs. Aliens"; and Universal's "Land of the Lost" and its fourth installment in "The Fast and the Furious" franchise. Disney is also planning to use the game to raise the profile for Pixar's next toon, "Up," while a "Wolverine" spot is likely from Fox.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen -both a sequel and an 80's cartoon. Should be successful at the box office. More of the same from the first one including lots of eye candy in the form of explosions and Megan Fox. Not really anything inspired, but I will probably watch it on Blu-Ray or when it comes on cable.
Star Trek - yet another in a long line of Star Trek movies that I have no interest in. I realize there is a huge loyal following for this franchise and it will probably be the biggest movie of the summer unless that Footloose movie comes out this summer and then all bets will be off. Again I realize it has a rabid fan base, but to me it is sort of like getting excited about Happy Days the movie. Except I believe Happy Days didn't get canceled early in its existence due to low ratings. Also it would be foolish to try to cast someone as Fonzi no one could possibly be that cool. Although it would be funny if Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp were fighting over the part, although the more likely scenario would probably be that Nic Cage would be the one who ended up playing him and the promo would say Happy Days starring Oscar Winner Nicholas Cage as Fonzi. It would be worth it for them to make the movie just to hear that in the trailer.
G.I. Joe - look I know he is a real American hero and all and there was no bigger fan of his in the 80's than me, but... seriously I don't know why I bother. I haven't heard enough rumors about this one to know what to expect. I think it is a live action version. It is somewhat amusing when they take silly cartoons and make major blockbuster movies out them. Transformers is an obvious example. I half expect them to make a major blockbuster movie about Captain Crunch I guess it is probably more amusing that men my age get excited to see all of the trailers and here all of the rumors about who will star in and direct the movies. As always imdb.com is a goldmine. It lists the entire cast and it has some interesting choices. Marlon Wayans as Ripcord. Sadly I don't remember who Ripcord is, but I know if Marlon Wayans is the third actor listed on your cast list on imdb.com it is probably a bad sign. Sienna Miller as the Baroness. I can't argue with that one. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Cobra Commander. He is a pretty good actor. He was really good in Brick and the Lookout, both of which I highly recommend if you haven't seen them. I don't know if I can picture him screaming COBRA with the same voice as the cartoon, but it will probably be funny if he does. Once my cousin and his roommate decided it would be a good idea if we rented the GI Joe Movie (the old animated one). Their plan was to drink every time they said Yo Joe or Cobra. We could not make it through the opening song as they kept repeating them over and over. It was a mess.
Angels and Demons - Sequel or prequel to the DaVinci Code I'm not sure which. Anyway there is a loyal and vast following for this movie also. I never read either book, but I saw the first movie. Based on that I don't have much interest in this movie, but I might watch it on cable eventually.
Land Of the Lost - I was going to skip this one as I didn't really know anything about it, but apparently it is a live action version of the popular animated movie series Land of the Lost. It stars Will Ferrell and even Danny McBride is in it. I am speechless. I don't know what to say. Anyway East Bound and Down should be coming on HBO soon. It is produced by Ferrell and McBride is in it. McBride has become one of my favorite comic actors recently in movies such as Pineapple Express, the Footfist Way and Tropic Thunder. I am looking forward to East Bound and Down, but not so much Land of the Lost unless I am way off base in what I think this movie is going to be like.
Update: Apparently there was a live-action show called Land of the Lost from the Seventies which this movie is based on. After reading some reviews I am slightly more optimistic as long as they stray pretty far from the original show. I've never seen the original show. How old do you think I am? It never ceases to amaze me when researching just about any topic on the internet there is always someone who is maniacally devoted to that topic. I read a post from someone who was extremely worried that Ferrell would deviate from the original show's format. This man seemed way too excited that this obscure show from decades ago was being adapted into a new movie. Again I have never seen the original show so I could be off base maybe the show was amazing and I am not judging there are probably things that I am passionate about that others would find strange. I hope someday there will be at least one person who is that passionate about my blogging.
Fast and the Furious the Fourth Edition - How has this franchise not been relegated to direct to dvd yet. I thought the third one was already. Anyway this is maybe the best example yet of a lack of creativity in Hollywood or maybe it is an example of the sort of movies that get green-lighted and receive a wide release.
Wolverine - Tells the origin of the X-Man Wolverine before he became one of the uncanny super heroes. Another movie that has a rabid, no pun intended, following built-in based on the popularity of the X-Men comic books and Wolverine in particular. It seems he is the favorite X-Man of most fans as most who start reading these comics are young boys who admire the most macho of the X-Men characters. In most cases he is everything they are not. I watched the three X-Men movies. The first was decent, but by the third film it wasn't really that strong anymore. I am not looking forward to this as much as many comic book fans appear to be, but then again a few years ago I probably wouldn't have believed you if you would have told me two of my favorite movies of last year would be Iron Man and the second installment of the new Batman franchise. I was never really into comic books as a kid. I did enjoy the Tim Burton Batman movies although they don't compare well to the new Christopher Nolan Batman films, particularly the Dark Knight. I watched all the super hero cartoons and the Superman movies when I was younger. Not to get off track, but how did they mess up Superman? That new movie was horrible and Superman was always the most popular superhero. Strange.
Pixar's Up - I don't know much about this film, but given Pixar's track record and the underwhelming list of movies above. It is likely the best movie of those being advertised during the Super Bowl will be the only one that was not a sequel or a remake. It isn't even based on an 80's cartoon.
It is not a list of all the movies coming out next year, but the Super Bowl is the most watched television event of the year so studios line up to advertise for what they think will be their biggest hits. There don't appear to be any really good movies on this list. Another movie that has not been signed up for an advertisement yet according to the article, but seems like a good fit is the post-Arnold Terminator: Salvation. Also I will be looking forward to next summer's big movie Captain Crunch starring Oscar Winner Sir Anthony Hopkins.
2 comments:
I would like to suggest that some major motion picture company hires me, giving me carte blanche to remake the movies of my choosing, which would invariably begin with "Teenwolf", and end with who knows what?
I would also like to posit the fact that making the movie "Footloose" was a premise that made absolutely no sense at all to begin with, and remaking that same movie in the present day, puritanical political leanings aside, makes even less sense. Although, strangely, I guess I would have to come clean and admit that I still think that movie rules. Whatever that means.
I'm sure there is someone who is either getting ready to pitch a Teenwolf movie or who has already done so. What we need are producers who are willing to greenlight original imaginative films.
With movies like Teenwolf or Footloose people our age have a sense of nostalgia when they watch them and I think that is one of the reasons we like watching them. For me even most bad 80's movies are amusing, but I suspect that younger people probably don't feel the same way.
I suspect that a remake of Teenwolf would ultimately not be as enjoyable as the original just look at Teenwolf 2 with Jason Bateman.
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