Last movie you watched......

So is 'My Fair Lady.'

 

Haven't seen it.

What elevated it, in your mind?

It just seems strange to me that we piss and moan about nothing new under the sun with the barrage of comic book movies and action sequels that we're subjected to all year.

But now we're all going to orgasm over a Broadway remake with some big names?

 

Movies have been derived from other media for more than a hundred years.

Why wouldn't a movie version of a hugely popular Broadway musical with an all-star cast be much anticipated?

 

It should be. Like I said, I'm sure it will be highly entertaining. I'll enjoy it. I enjoyed "Chicago." I enjoyed "Moulin Rouge."

But that's mostly where it stops. Remember, people on this thread are reporting that this is the "best movie in years."

Better than "There Will Be Blood"?

Better than "Toy Story 3"?

Better than Hooper's other movie, "The King's Speech"?

Better than "Wall-E"?

Better than "Tree of Life"?

"Children of Men"?

"The Wrestler"?

I suspect, if "King's Speech" is any indication, the period detail will be exquisite. And, of course, it's a visual medium. And an aural one.

In a way, I'm complimenting the source material. It's great. Everyone knows it's great. And it's so hard to fuck it up, I have a hard time believing that it can rise to great heights. Doesn't greatness require some risk-taking, too?

 

Maybe it is the best movie in years.


I don't understand your need to catalog it in advance of seeing it.

 

When that is being said about a song-and-dance remake - or any movie, really - it's only natural to wonder what it is that makes it so. Particularly since reviews are scarce at this point.

 

What does "song and dance remake" mean?

 

Self-explanatory.

It's a remake.

With songs.

And dances.

 

What's being "remade?"

"My Fair Lady" isn't a "remake" of "Pygmalion."

 

I guess it is certainly possible that this ends up being a remake in the same way that "O, Brother, Where Art Thou?" is a remake of "The Odyssey." Or that "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is of the Crucifiction legend. Which would make it more of a re-imagining.

But it isn't being marketed that way.

 

In the movie business, I think it's more accurate to use the word "remake" to describe an actual remake of identical material.

The 1995 version of 'Bye Bye Birdie' is a remake of the 1963 version. The 1998 Gus Van Sant 'Psycho' is a shot for shot remake of the 1960 Hitchcock.

The musical version of Les Miserables isn't a "remake" of the novel by Hugo. Nor is a film version of a Broadway show a "remake" of that show.

 

How about "adaptation"?