Hollywood seems obsessed with ...
Question: Hollywood seems obsessed with remakes; just recently they've made new versions of King Kong, Fun with Dick and Jane and Yours, Mine & Ours. Don't you think this is part of the reason people aren't going to the movies the way they used to? I've seen the originals of all three of the movies I just mentioned, and if I want to see them again I'll watch them on TCM at home, in my pajamas, for free.
Answer: I don't think it's the remakes per se that's keeping people at home: I've seen remakes I thought were terrific, like the recent The Manchurian Candidate (2004). The 1962 original is a great movie, and the remake puts a different spin on the material, which is as timely today as it was then. Remakes bother film freaks (like us), but casual moviegoers often don't even know they're seeing a remake and don't really care — they haven't seen the original, so it's all new to them. And though it baffles me that many people won't watch old movies — especially if they're in black and white — the fact is that they don't. And if you're, say, 25 years old, even Fun with Dick and Jane (1977) is old. I think people are staying home for two main reasons. First, the majority of mainstream American movies — remakes and "original" films alike — are unsatisfying, with bland and formulaic plots, stereotypical characters, running time padded with car chases, vulgar jokes and obvious subplots. Second, movie theaters are all too often no fun to be in. Tickets are expensive, and for your money you get cramped, dirty theaters, bad projection (which goes unnoticed for a long time because one projectionist is overseeing half a dozen theaters or more from a central booth), and you have to sit with loud, inconsiderate people who talk nonstop, use their cell phones, stuff themselves, kick other people's seats and bring small restless children and crying babies with them (and I'm not talking kiddie matinees — this is at nighttime showings of R-rated pictures). I know I'm going to get a slew of e-mails saying I'm an elitist, it's my problem if I can't stand to see other people relax and enjoy themselves, and movies aren't some kind of snooty art form like opera or ballet. But to me, the point of going to the movies is to see and hear a movie.
