[8] Philip Kaufman enhances the creepiness and desperation in this superior retelling of the classic tale of alien menace and paranoia. The terrific cast includes Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright, Brooke Adams, and Leonard Nimoy. Ben Burtt provides the spooky sound effects, including that hideous, otherworldly sound the pod people make when they spot a human in their midst. This particular film version (there …
[7] If ever there was something ripe for a remake, I think Stephen King’s It would be near the top of my list. The original 1990 TV mini-series is good, but it begins to fall apart in its second half, partly for budgetary reasons. The feature-film is being remade in two parts, so we’ll have to wait a year to see if ‘Chapter Two’ improves …
[6] A farming town falls victim to an airborne toxin that turns everyone into homicidal maniacs in this remake of George Romero’s 1973 original. The film is directed by Breck Eisner (son of former Disney CEO Michael Eisner), and while it drags in many places and brings little originality to the ‘outbreak’ or ‘zombie’ subgenres, it’s nonetheless a competent little horror flick. My main gripe …
[8] After finishing The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson tackled a remake of his favorite film, King Kong. Jackson’s remake is largely faithful to the 1933 original, while generously expanding the storyline and embellishing some of the characters. Jackson protracts the opening act more than necessary, but his interpretation of Skull Island is amazing. It’s this middle portion of the movie that delivers the …
[7] In this remake of a British original, all hell breaks loose at a funeral where volatile secrets are revealed. There are a few raunchy moments in the remake –directed by Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men) — but the film has much more in common with the old screwball comedies of the 40s than today’s common gross-out fests. The film is sprinkled with …
[8] A teenaged girl ropes an aging, alcoholic U.S. Marshall into helping her find justice for her father’s murder. In this age of sequels and remakes, it’s hard to believe one of them could actually be this good. The Coen Brothers take the John Wayne original (based on a book by Charles Portis), roll it in mud, fray the edges, and weave a telling that’s …
[6] Gore, boobs, and monsters have always been a recipe for success — at least a moderate degree of it. Piranha 3D, Alexandre Aja’s remake of Roger Corman’s cult classic, proves the recipe may well be immortal. This flick is a big love letter to the low-budget creature features of the 70s and 80s. It’s not better than any of those movies, it’s not quite …
[7] Sofia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides) tackles an obscure remake of a 1971 film based on a book by Thomas Cullinan. The Civil War-era story centers around a small group of women and girls who are living in a nearly-abandoned but still operational girl’s school in the deep south. One of the young students discovers a badly injured Union soldier (Colin Farrell) and brings him into the …
[3] Hello, it’s the 1990s. We want our big, stupid action movie back. I really, really disliked this movie. It’s so devoid of emotion and tediously boring, I thought about leaving before it was over. It’s like Con-Air for the 2010s or something. So maybe if you liked that big stupid Con-Air movie, you’ll also like this big stupid King Kong movie. But I guess I …
[6] Zack Snyder (300, Man of Steel) made his feature directorial debut with this remake of George Romero’s 1978 classic zombie sequel. This time around the rag-tag team of survivors holed up in a mall during the zombie apocalypse includes Sarah Polley (The Sweet Hereafter) and Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction), but you don’t get to know either of them nearly as well as you got …
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