Bring on the Remakes

Have you heard said before: “all the original ideas are gone”? If you look around at everything in pop culture today, it would seem that’s true.

TV – (45% of them some crime drama, 45% of them some reality show, 10% some other crap) you can only make fun of reality people for so long, recycling old shows with day-long marathons of everything …way to stay green, I guess?

Books – ok, I’ve already ranted about Fifty Shades of Grey, and I don’t want to go into the Seth Grahame-Smith books. Oiy! (ok, I did kind of like Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter)

Movies – ideas…ideas…ideas… oh, a comic book!, no! wait! Remember how fun playing boards games was as a kid??? (I really want to see a Monopoly the Movie – oh, [insert political joke] nevermind) How about those old shows we watched every week? Let’s make one really long episode that has no real connection with the show we loved.

So, now I’m going to fall in line with the crowd (baaaa!) and come up with my list of remakes, rip-offs, regurgitations I’d actually like to see.

First, up: The Wizard of Oz – I know it’s sacrilege to suggest there could ever be an improvement of the classic Judy Garland, but I think we have the technology now to do it. It would be interesting to see what someone now would do with the story. (And yes, I’ve seen the preview for that new Disney movie, but that’s one of the other Oz books, not this one…. Stop calling that a remake people, and read your homework.)

Pillow Talk – which was sort of remade/parodied as Down With Love, but I’d like to see a modern take on it.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – guys, you make skip ahead or go off and do guy things… Now, I love this musical! I would love to see it remade as it would have been originally, if the studio hadn’t given all the money to something else being made at the time. It was meant to be filmed outdoors in Oregon over the course of a year, just as the story follows.

With the new Broadway versions, I’d like to a remakes of Mary Poppins & 9 to 5 - based on the stage show much like the newer version of Hairspray (very different from the stage version which was very different from the original movie – but all 3 are great!)

While we’re remaking musicals, how about Guys & Dolls, My Fair Lady, and Flower Drum Song? There are already very good movie versions of these, but an updated take with actors who are actually singing for themselves would be nice.

There have been many versions already, but I would love to see a version of the Jane of Lantern Hill & Little Princess which actually follows the book. (Well, there are so many that I could say that about …erm, Treasure Island, Little Women, Harry Potter.)

So would you love to see a modern take on your favorites or do you think the classics should stand on their own?