I'm probably gonna get admonished (a.k.a. "bitched at") for saying this, but... I'm actually toying around with a concept for a remake.
It's gonna be based on the original, natch. It's also gonna be a much different entity. For starters, much darker and more graphic. Set in present day, since it's easier than recreating the past (and I don't have to worry about anachronisms).
The plot is basically the same, but a bit more intricate and deals with horror/suspense elements more prevalent in today's genre films. I'm not saying anything else on this subject because I may end up spoiling one of the possible endings.
I'm thinking Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Seymore and Dakota Fanning as Audrey.
Though I just heard that another remake is in the works.
Guess I can't call it "Little Shop of Horrors". Guess I'll just change the names and places and try to pass it off as a tribute, just like my more-true-to-the-original remake of "House on Haunted Hill".
And FYI, LSoH and HoHH are both public domain, so even if I called them by their original names, who's gonna sue?
I've been rewatching all of the Ingmar Bergman films that me and a friend own together, so that's pretty much been my life for the last few days.
Actually, the last movie I actually watched was the japanese horror/comedy "Hausu" which was super awesome. I just heard that Criterion is releasing it on the 26th, so I'm pretty excited for that to come out! haha.
Amusement: This movie was pretty good. The clown in the chair, even though it was obvious what was about to happen, kind of freaked me out, which is hard for a movie to do. I never thought I was weird with clowns before.
Wilderness: Kind of an English Battle Royale/Lord of the Flies hybrid. I really liked it.
Come and See aka Иди и смотри. Undeniably the best WWII movie to have come out of the USSR, and now I understand why so many regard it as the ultimate WWII film. It's available on Youtube so don't take my word of it!
My list of WWII favourites by country, single entry each
Germany: Stalingrad
US: The Thin Red Line
Russia: Come and See
UK: Bridge on the River Kwai
Poland: Kanal
Japan: Grave of the Fireflies
Italy: Rome, Open City
Denmark: Flame and Criton
Netherlands: Soldier of Orange
France: Au revoir les enfants
Yugoslavia: Sutjeska
Norway: Max Manus
Bought my first blurays. Sunshine and Near Dark. I watched Sunshine last night. Definitely a movie I'm glad I got a bluray player for. Really cool soundtrack. I'm sure it's completely unrealistic but it was still interesting.
The Noah (1975) - what a strange little movie. Robert Strauss plays The Noah, an ageing soldier and the last survivor of a nuclear holocaust that has claimed the earth. The film begins with Noah's dingy washing ashore on a deserted Pacific island, where he quickly goes about the task of exploring and making the island and it's deserted buildings his own. But soon isolation and boredom kick in, and something in Noah cracks. He creates an imaginary friend for himself, conversing in his head with this man he's invented named Friday, and then he creates a woman too, named Friday-Anne - inevitably Friday and Anne couple, and Noah in a fit of rage banishes them from his house (and his mind). Stinging with betrayal, he then creates a child, something innocent and pure that can't hurt him the way his imagined adults did, and eventually a whole school class that he can mould in his image. He holds classes and eventually a graduation, where he sends his children out to re-populate the earth. For a while, things seem great as Noah lauds himself as the venerable leader of the community that has sprung up and taken over the island - but the children recreate human society on the island all to perfectly, complete with all it's squabbles and ugliness, which leads Noah to lay down commandments, Moses style, in an effort to force his subjects to behave. When this doesn't work, he turns away from his society back to the rigid command structure of the military, envisioning his own soldiers to look after and keep in line - but when the voices of war (Stalin, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Churchill, etc.) supersede his authority, he retreats into himself and succumbs to the bitterness that so tainted his community, his soldiers turning against him as he argues with the government about his pension pay. Noah fights his soldiers, running about with his rifle in the rain, and when he wakes in the morning he finds that the radioactive warning tag attached to his uniform has turned black; the rain was radioactive, and all that's left is for Noah to await death. Despite having the means, he chooses not to take his life, instead deciding to stoically await his fate and keep watch for the rescue he knows will never arrive.
As I said, The Noah is a very strange film, chock full of allegory and biblical references, the whole thing played out by one man and a series of voices and archive recordings (presumably dredged from Noah's subconsciousness) - but it's ultimately a commentary on humanity, about a man trying to create a new world in his own image, but finding that he's just as flawed as any other human being and that his society and it's flaws all too closely mirror our own. All Noah gets from his efforts is disappointment and death, and one has to conclude that the message of the film is that you can't change nature, and that the only change you can affect comes from within.
City of the Living Dead- a classic Fulci film that had substantial hype before I started watching. I had seen his other film Zombi and was really let down, aside from the shark vs. zombi scene- the movie was kinda boring. City of the Living Dead however, was much better. A priest hangs himself and opens the doors to hell or something like that- and ZOMBIES ensue. The best parts of this movie would have to be the gore and the soundtrack. The music was soooo good, every scene that had the theme playing was immediately enhanced. The gore was also pretty sweet- blood pouring out of eyes, and brains?? pouring out of mouths- a classic zombie film that you must see!
RED: I have no experience with the graphic novels, so I can't comment on that front. I will say, though, that it was a lot of fun to watch, and I'd say it's my favorite role I've seen John Malkovich in (though I haven't seen a ton of his movie). It dragged a little around the 1:20 mark or so, but it started well and ended great.
It's Complicated: This movie was terrible! I would not begrudge a middle-aged woman for enjoying the film, because it's essentially a ridiculous wish-fulfullment fantasy targeted at them. Meryl Streep is a divorced empty-nester whose daughter just moved out (I'm assuming to college, but I'm not sure). So, of course, she has decided to build a massive addition onto her home. After all, you usually need a lot more space when living alone. She is a pastry chef and owns some crazy high-end bakery, yet she talks about this addition giving her "the kitchen she always wanted". I honestly think this movie might have the worst script I've ever seen in a film, and I've seen Crazy Fat Ethel 2. This movie was ridiculous in every respect. My wife said it's possibly the worst movie she's ever seen. I'll confess that one scene was pretty funny, but that's about it.
