Hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh and Heather M. Gardner.
Remakes – most of them suck. Now and then, one comes along that is as good as, if not better, than the original. And after all of the bad ones we’ve endured, we want to know about some good ones.
On November 13, 2017 (hey, that’s today :D), blog about your favorite remake: movie (or television show into movie and vice versa), song, or book – or all three! Post a YouTube video and links where we can find these treasures. Tell us why THIS remake doesn’t suck!
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This post is basically an excuse for me not to do some other posts I’ve been meaning to do, so I plan to make it count. Here it goes; some of my best and worst remakes I know. *DISCLAIMER: Most of the titles listed here are the result of me putting multiple options into a random number generator and posting about the one that came up on the list. There are just too many remakes to consider. There are remakes out there that people don’t even realize are remakes, especially if you go as far back as the silent film era and the golden age of Jazz.
Movies—->Movies
BEST- King Kong
I’ve always loved King Kong, starting with the 1933 film. I’ve watched most of the movies under that title including some of the really bad Japanese movies completely unassociated with Godzilla. When the 2005 film came out, it brought back my childhood and the feeling I had that first made me a fan. This movie pays homage to the original on so many levels and then expands to make it into something new. It introduces a whole new generation to an amazing character and story and does it justice with really cool special effects.
WORST- Clash of Titans
Even with the outdated special effects of claymation, the original release of 1981 was, for me, ten-times better the special effects driven storyline of the 2010 remake. Plus, they got rid of Bobo. :p Not much else to say here.
TV—–>Movies
BEST- Mission Impossible
I only ever watched the original Mission Impossible TV show when it came on classic TV, late at night. By that time, my parents had given up on trying to get me to sleep at night, especially since I seemed to be a well-functioning night owl and only stayed up to watch old TV shows and movies. When the first, Tom Cruise, Mission Impossible movie came out, I was excited. The movie was pretty good and got people talking about the original show, a little. That’s what I think a good remake should do.
WORST- Starsky and Hutch (Never saw the Baywatch remake)
Not sure why they took a decent (well, not terrible) 70’s cop show and turned it into a ridiculous farce/comedy, but it didn’t go over well. Not the first or last mistake like this.
Book/Comic Strip—->Stage Play/Movie
BEST (gender swapper?) Annie
So the original stage-play musical is said to have been based on the comic strip “Little Orphan Annie”, but isn’t that comic strip just a gender-bender for the Oliver Twist story? Well, that’s what I’ve always thought. In any case, this still qualifies as a remake and I’ve so enjoyed the many small stage versions of the play I’ve seen as well as both theatrical film releases. See the 2014 trailer here.
WORST- IDK, need to think on this more.
Books—->Movie
BEST- Cloud Atlas
This is a fairly recent book and movie remake in the scheme of things. There are many people who didn’t get the book by David Mitchell, so I’m sure the movie wasn’t high on their list either. Me on the other hand, I loved the book and the movie. Of course, I could tell you a list of issues I had with the film adaptation of this book, but overall, the film’s ability to grasp the multiple themes, story plots, and depict reincarnation is such a clear and vivid way, deserves recognition. I enjoy watching this film just for the visual representation of complicated storytelling techniques you only expect to experience when reading. The effects are good for sure, but it goes beyond that.
WORST- Cat in the Hat
I think this movie was supposed to be cute and funny, maybe a bit mischievous, like the beloved children’s book, but it wasn’t. It was weird. It failed and was totally unnecessary since there have been really good cartoon versions of this and other Dr. Seuss stories around for quite a while.
Songs—–>Songs
BEST- With A Little Help From My Friends by Joe Coker
I have always considered Joe Coker’s version of With A Little Help From My Friends to be one of the greatest popular-music song remakes of all time for 4 main reasons.
1) the original song is phenomenal but difficult to pull off without sounding cheesy unless you are The Beatles.
2) Coker not only performs the song well, he makes it into something almost unrecognizable from the original, making it a classic in its own right.
3) Childhood nostalgia will always remind me that I’m amongst friends as I reminisce about “The Wonder Years” to which this song was the intro.
4) I have this song on its original vinyl and the sound is amazing. I can listen to this once a week for the rest of my life and not get bored with it.
WORST- Blue Monday by Orgy
Blue Monday by New Order is not one of my favorite songs in the world, but it’s a decent song; definitely a product of the 80’s. The remake by Orgy didn’t do much to make it stand out other than to make it really really heavy. I just think this is a remake that could have been passed on.
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Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you like it let me know and share it with others. See you next time, Toi Thomas. #thetoiboxofwords
36 replies on “Remakes Blogfest! The best & worst of #books, #film, #music & more”
The Cat In The Hat was made into a movie and they messed it up?? Noooooooooo! How on earth did they manage that? Unforgivable…
I’ll just stick to my books! 🙂
I know. It’s so sad.
Wow, I agree with you on most of those! You have great taste. Yes, that’s my favorite King Kong (and I’ve also seen the bad Japanese monster movie ones) and Cat in the Hat and Clash of the Titans are the two worst remakes ever.
Thanks for participating in the blogfest.
Thanks for hosting. This was a lot of fun.
There are so many bad remakes out there I don’t know how you were able to pick your “worsts”!
I actually took a bunch of worst, numbered them, and then used Random.org to make the final decision.
I agree about Mission Impossible. The TV series was good. The movies, great! I’m one of those people who didn’t get Cloud Atlas. I even watched it a 2nd time and still . . . Guess it was my cup of tea. 🙂
Yeah, Cloud Atlas is a tricky one. I don’t expect most people to agree with that one, but I always like to mention it, just in case.
Diverse taste and also awesome! I agree: Two worst remakes ever are Cat in the Hat and Clash of the Titans. And I don’t think anyone can do New Order like New Order. 🙂
I know. Blue Monday should be the awesome 80’s song that it is.
I think some books should remain just that. Books. Cat in the Hat is a great read aloud story for children, so I’ll just enjoy it in that format. Now King Kong is a different matter. I love each of those movies.
My link didn’t work on the Linky. I think it’s because I screwed up the path with the switch to my new, cranky blog. http://www.cleemckenziebooks.com
I still prefer the book version of most Dr. Seuss books, but I did enjoy the latest movie version of Horton Hears a Who. It wasn’t bad.
I did not do the whole worst best take on the blogfest but I should have, instead I just posted about my faves that came to mind.
My fave Kong is the one with Jeff Bridges 1976 and the newest Kong Skull Island 2017.
Clash of the Titans 2010 Sam Worthington – Never impressed with any of the old really but did watch them when kid. I love mythology based shows and books.
Liked your taste in music have always loved Joe Cocker. Loved his rendition of You Can Leave Your Hat On.
Great Post,
Juneta @ Writer’s Gambit
Since the attack on the Twin Towers, I do appreciate the ’76 version of Kong more.
I too love Coker’s version of Leave Your Hat On.
I haven’t seen most of these films you’ve mentioned. I agree that the Jack Black version of Kong really upped the ante. I did like some of the other versions as well, but they fell short of the version with Jack Black. I still have not seen the most recent version of the Kong story.
Lee
Tossing It Out
The newest Kong has even better graphics than the 2010 version, but I don’t know that the story is better. It’s not bad at all, just not better than the other.
I loved the 1982 version of Annie when I was kid. When I saw they were doing a remake of that, I was excited and then I missed it in theaters.
I really enjoyed the latest version of Annie and am glad it’s out there, but since I grew up with the ’82 version, it will always hold a special place in my heart.
Excellent way to do the Fest! I wish I’d thought to do best/worst, cause I have a lot of worsts!
I’m not a fan of the new Mission Impossible movies, but its probably because of Tom Cruise. 🙂
LOVE Joe Cocker’s version!
Thank you for joining our blogfest today!!!
Heather
To be honest, I don’t love the whole new MI series, just the first one. To me, they are good movies to watch when you don’t want to think too hard, but feel like you’ve accomplished something when you’ve finished, especially if you figure out whatever the double-cross is (’cause there’s always a double-cross).
I liked the King Kong remake also…maybe even better than the original. Did not realize there was an Annie remake!
Yeah, the Annie remake got a lot of bad press similar to the new Ghostbusters movie. They made Annie black. Some people embraced it and others didn’t.
King Kong was great. And yep, Cat in the Hat and Clash of the Titans were awful.
I’m so glad I hit the nail on the head with Clash of the Titans. I wasn’t worried about Cat In the Hat.
i can still remember watching the original Clash of the Titans at a drive-in theater when it first came out. what a classic.
Yes it is. It deserved to either be left alone or done better.
I love Orgy’s version of Blue Monday. I heard the original once and Orgy took an average song and made it so much better.
Most of the people I went to college with agree with you. I don’t think any of them had heard the original, but in any case, I think some people prefer something a little harder, heavy, or gritty. Nothing wrong with that.
I forgot about all the sort of tongue in cheek remakes, like Starsky and Hutch. I loved them. Great picks.
The Brady Bunch remakes were on my list too, but they didn’t come up in the random number generator. While I think they are terrible remakes, some of these bad remakes are still quite entertaining… Not Clash of the Titans. 😉
Remakes are always dangerous, especially when they come close upon the original’s heels. I really wish they’d stop remaking Spider-Man, for instance. Enough, already!
I’m with you. I’ve seen enough. At leas the last one wasn’t another origin story.
I’m okay seeing Spidy interact with other Marvel characters, but he doesn’t need anymore stand alone films.
Haven’t watched most of those movies, but liked your approach of picking the best and worst. Agree on the whole with Michelle Wallace 🙂
Loved ‘with a little help…’ the original and that remake.
It’s just a good song, but even a good song can be done badly. I once heard a cover band ruin it.
Interesting list. My favorite song cover is The Beatles’ “Twist and Shout,” such an improvement on the original.
For movies, Seven Samurai has spawned a lot of interesting imitators.
There are so many adaptations of Seven Samurai that even the adaptations now have remakes. It’s a really good story.