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It's Thursday again which only means it's time for another episode of Thursday Movie Picks, the weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves where you share three movies to fit the theme of the week each Thursday.
I'm not the kind of person who loses a night of sleep over a movie, so this week's isn't really my theme. There are some films though that are truly awful and I'd love to see them remake, and I'm talking about films based on books I loved. I'm not sure whether this fits, but the rule is to pick remakes/sequels/reboots of a movie that hasn't got one so I guess I'm fine.
The Girl on the Train (2016)
As she takes the train, Rachel starts watching a couple and creates a dream life for them. Then one day the woman goes missing and Rachel becomes invested in the case. I loved this book. It wasn't perfect but it was tense, and that twist, it was great. This adaptation is terrible and so forgettable.
The Book Thief (2013)
In Nazi Germany, young Liesel is forced to live with an adoptive family that will eventually provide shelter to a Jewish refugee. I'm not going to lie, I cried reading this book. And it also left me speechless which is exactly the effect the movie had on me. Only I was speechless because it was bad on so many levels it's hard to explain.
The Scarlet Letter (1995)
As her father-less child is born, Hester is publicly humiliated and made to wear a scarlet letter and the shame will fall on the daughter as well. Where do I even start? This film is so bad not only it almost won a Razzie for Worst Picture, but everyone makes fun of it. Even Emma Stone in Easy A.
The Scarlet Letter's remake should just be shooting that film (and book) into oblivion. I hated it so much lol.
ReplyDeleteI have not read the book which is probably a good thing because I really liked The Book Thief. Often the film pales in comparison to the movie. I have not seen Girl on a Train but heard it sucked and The Scarlet letter...I remember the trailers and it looked bad then..I'll stick with the silent film version with Lillian Gish
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen Girl on a Train yet because I plan on reading the book soon and thought I'd wait until after to come to the book fresh. I've heard elsewhere though that outside of Emily Blunt's performance the film is wanting so I'll be prepared when I do finally get around to it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read Book Thief but wasn't particularly impressed with the film, though it presented a good idea so I wouldn't mind seeing another try at the material.
Oy the Demi Moore version of The Scarlet Letter!! So abysmal. I HATED the Hawthorne novel-he's just not the writer for me I felt the same about House of the Seven Gables-but the story is a compelling one done properly. The best one I've seen was a PBS version from the 70's with Meg Foster as Hester but I'd be happy to see a new attempt at the book with Saoirse Ronan perhaps in the lead, but without the "updating" that scuttled the Moore version.
I liked this week's theme since it allowed for a bit more free form choices. Since we had multiple choice on the theme I went with the remake & sequel options. Sequel first:
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)-Sequels are tricky affairs usually a lesser shadow of the original but occasionally as with Aliens it works out well so I’m usually hopeful. Man from U.N.C.L.E. was a stylish, fast paced affair with a terrific vintage look and relaxed, enjoyable performances from the three leads and Hugh Grant as their wry boss. It didn’t perform as well as expected so this probably won’t happen which is too bad since it was a more realistic adventure with less reliance on CGI than most current actioners.
And two remakes:
I’m not much for remakes of classics, what’s the point? You can’t improve on perfection so unless a new perspective or element can be added leave well enough alone. My first is an example of adding a different element. However sometimes a good idea receives faulty execution, occasionally even the best filmmakers stumble and then I say have at it. That would be my second.
8 Women (2002)-This French musical mystery farce is a one of a kind concoction, wonderfully entertaining with a cast full of the best feminine Gallic cast of the day (Catherine Deneuve, Fanny Ardant and Isabelle Huppert among them). It would have been hard for it to turn out better. But since women’s films and musicals are thin on the ground despite the abundance of talent available an American remake would be great to see especially since the cast runs across all adult age brackets, hell it even has a custom made role for Angela Lansbury as the matriarch.
Topaz (1969)-Every great director has a lemon in their filmography, this exercise in boredom is Alfred Hitchcock’s. Sluggish to the point of ennui and indifferently acted it was difficult to get through even once. The thing is the basic story, a Russian agent defects and during his interview tells of another supposedly friendly country’s spy ring that is selling high risk secrets to the highest bidder, is a good one and has great potential to be made into an excellent film. If the studios feel the need to remake the Master’s work than start with this fumble and not one of his successes.
Sempre più internazionale Sonia, brava. Io ho sdoppiato il blog, ilprimo resta di cucina e l'altro di libri e film visto che é un'altra mia passione. Un saluto!
ReplyDeleteI have The Girl on the Train to watch this weekend. I was very disappointed in The Scarlet Letter. I don't like that they made it R rated being that kids usually read it in grade 9 and it would have been good to be able to show it to a class, but not the way they made it.
ReplyDeleteRemake for The Girl on a Train and for The Book Thief isn't really necessary, but they definitely need to be made in a better way.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I don't think the film adaptation of the Girl on the Train in any way mirrors the quality of the book. The Book Thief I though was a bit GCSE history textbook like, no substance. Didn't read the book
ReplyDeleteI've only seen The Scarlet Letter, unfortunately. Yes, the book deserves a much better adaptation.
ReplyDeleteHave not seen TGotT but have read the book. Heard the movie was bad, but I'm still curious.
ReplyDeleteThe Book Thief, have not read the book but have seen the movie. It wasn't great, very meh...