Entertainment Today and Beyond

Never Met a Zombi I Didn’t Like…

POLTERGEIST re-make moving Forward; HOBBIT scribes ready to Go; will Oliver Stone’s W. walk the line between serious and parody and SUSPENDERS interviews Bill Maher!

I can’t help but shake my head when I read reports today in the Hollywood Reporter that MGM has hired Juliet Snowden and Stiles White, the screenwriters of BOOGEYMAN, to pen the script for their planned re-make of POLTERGEIST. Like many, I have reservations about re-makes in general, especially when classic films are involved.  Remember Poltergeist was produced, written and some say co-directed by Steven Spielberg at the peak of his brilliance so this would be an up hill climb at best. At worst it’s a greedy cash grab attempt by a studio that has no respect for the original… but what else is new. When I think of Poltergeist, I think of the summer of 1982. The film came out one week before E.T. the Extraterrestrial hit theaters. It is safe to say Spielberg had a pretty good year with both films coming up mega blockbusters. My rule of thumb for most re-makes is this: can the original be improved upon or taken in an interesting new direction. I don’t think either applies when it comes to Poltergeist.

Interestingly enough these two screenwriters are also attached to write the new version of THE BIRDS for Platinum Dunes. While I love the Alfred Hitchcock original, I have no problem here with a re-make as I think the concept can be taken in a new imaginative direction, something I don’t think is possible with Poltergeist.

I might be in the minority but so be it. I have to say I can’t get very excited about director Guillermo del Toro and producer Peter Jackson’s announcement that work has officially begun on the screenplay to the HOBBIT, the LORD OF THE RINGS prequel. Honestly I’m not a very big fan of Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, as I felt they were overly long, hollow and without very much of an emotional core. I fully understand that movie watching is subjective but those films aren’t my cup of tea! Matter of fact neither was Jackson’s KING KONG which was a pretty empty spectacle!

After watching some footage of actor Josh Brolin as President George Bush in Oliver Stone’s upcoming W. on Access Hollywood, the performance appears to be a complete mimic of the man. From the four minutes I saw, it walks the line between serious acting and parody. My gut feeling is this movie will not have a middle ground. Apart from the script, it will either really work or totally miss, relying on Brolin’s performance.

From one controversial movie to another BILL MAHER, star of the upcoming RELIGULOUS, was on Larry King for the full hour Tuesday night. I’ll say this; whether you like him or not, it’s hard to deny that the guy has not only an interesting mind but the guts to talk about things many only think about. Personally I think he’s a GREAT interview!

August 24, 2008 - Posted by chuckcurry | And Beyond | , , | No Comments

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