Can Mulligan actually sing? Though that didn’t stop Hepburn.

i will watch anything tom hardy is in. that’s just a fact.

tom hardy makes me questions my sexuality…

Scarface was not a remake, they were two completely different films that happened to share the same name. The original was based on Al Capone. Maltese Falcon was also not a remake, but rather based on the source material by Hammett. Also True Grit, not a remake of the film, but rather an adaptation of Portis’s novel. I don’t think you know what a remake is.

Sorry, Charlie. I can’t speak about Scarface, but True Grit and the Maltese Falcon ARE remakes. The original Grit was made in 1969 with John Wayne and, a decade before Bogart and Mary Astor, there was another Maltese Falcon in ’31, plus the strangely fascinating Bette Davis flick Satan Met a Lady (1936), also inspired by Hammett’s novel (though a much more loose adaptation than the two that share its name).

The Coens’ TRUE GRIT is less a remake of the 1969 picture and more a more faithful adaptation of the source novel (the upcoming HBO miniseries of MILDRED PIERCE might be described the same way).

But, Flavorpill, when you describe THE THING as a remake in your introductionb, I can only assume you’re describing the 1982 John Carpenter picture. But in not specifying as much, you imply that the original THE THING (1951) — a.k.a. as THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD — is some long-forgotten obscurity, which couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s an all-time sci-fi/horror classic in its own right — with uncredited direction by Howard Hawks, for Pete’s sake.

The same holds true for your SCARFACE reference, actually — in both cases, you assumed that the default associations with those titles among your readers would be with the remakes, not the widely acclaimed originals. You should give your readership more credit than that. The original SCARFACE is also a classic — and, come to think of it, it is also a Howard Hawks picture.

So, Flavorpill, I have to ask: You got a problem with Howard Hawks?

How amny times did I have to comb through the Fletch page to suss out who or which “Smith” you were talking about. Has Kevin Smith actually attained the mononym “Smith”? Write better.

Yes Angelique, I realize that both True Grit and The Maltese Falcon had previous film versions. But the latter versions of those films referred to here were NOT REMAKES (which means they were remaking the previous films), rather they were ADAPTATIONS of the same book. adaptations and remakes are not the same thing.

I’m really looking forward to a remake of Nightmare on Elm Street in which the clueless teenagers are played by slackjaw hipsters that write for Flavorpill. Watching them mill about like dumb cows, to be slaughtered one after another – priceless

TRUE GRIT by the Coens is indeed a remake of the original film…which was adapted from the novel, however loosely. When you have the same 3 major characters, the same names, the same shootout with the same iconic line and the horses reins in Cogburn’s teeth….it’s a remake of the original film. You’re being a little too precious with the word “adaptation”.

I do have to say…MY FAIR LADY redone with better locations (the original was too stagey, especially in the exteriors, and Cukor totally screwed up “On The Street Where You Live”) and fresh actors is absolutely fine with me. Plus, the world has dealt with (mostly inferior) TV-movie adaptations of movie musicals such as MUSIC MAN and BYE BYE BIRDIE…and had some good ones with ANNIE and GYPSY. Carey Mulligan and Colin Firth? I’m there!

And to tread on dangerous fandom feet here…the proposed YELLOW SUBMARINE remake by Zemeckis (now on hold with the shuttering of that Disney backed motion-capture animation studio) was I think a great idea…and I love love love love love the original Beatles animated film. It was my favorite movie as a kid for about 10 years after it was released (and I saw it in 2 theaters that first year, and for someone who only had a black & white TV, it was a revelation.) A new version of that film with CGI effects would be pretty damn cool…and totally new animated interpretations of those songs would be welcome. Plus, it would draw young Beatles fans to the original, which is a pop-artifact (heh) of its time.

According to Daily Variety, the sibling directors are on board to direct the Charles Portis novel, True Grit. But this isn’t a case of retreading John Wayne’s wheel.

In contrast to the 1969 picture which made Wayne an Oscar winner, the new film will follow closely to the Portis novel, focusing on a 14-year-old girl’s attempt to settle a score with the Native American who killed her father.”

AND

“True Grit is a 2010 American Western film written and directed by the Coen brothers. It is the second adaptation of Charles Portis’ 1968 novel of the same name, which was previously adapted for film in 1969 starring John Wayne.”

The Cohen Bros have also stated that they did not base their version on the movie but rather on the novel. It might not make a big difference to us, but it makes a big difference to filmmakers, and to Mr. Portis.

[...] Movie Remakes We’re Actually Looking Forward To « Flavorwire http://flavorwire.com/?p=159773 [...]

The thing that really made Robocop was Paul Verhoeven as the director. Robocop was Verhoeven. Without his sensibility and irreverence I’m not sure it works.