Posts tagged remake
“Straw Dogs” an Exercise in Violence
Sep 24th
“Another Unnecessary Remake”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Straw Dogs is a remake of the classic 1971 film starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George that was directed by acclaimed director Sam Peckinpah, who was known for the violence in his movies.
This 2011 version stars James Marsden and Kate Bosworth and was directed by Rod Lurie, and the location has been changed from a small town in western England to a small town in Southern Mississippi.
The title comes from the straw dogs that were used as ceremonial objects in ancient China. They were used as sacrifices, dressed up, put on the altar, and then when the ceremony was over, they were thrown into the street.
David and Amy are married, and when they drive into Blackwater, Mississippi, where Amy grew up, she mentions that the young good ol’ boys in town don’t have much to do anymore after their glory days of high-school football are over, and David compares them to the “straw dogs” of ancient China.
David is a Hollywood screenwriter, Amy recently starred in a television series, and they are in Blackwater because Amy’s father died and they are there to fix up his house and then sell it.
So, when they meet Charlie in town and find out that he has a small construction business, they hire Charlie to repair the roof on the barn.
Charlie says, “We take care of our own here,” and then he says to Amy, “Remember when I took care of you?”
And that is when David learns that Amy and Charlie had been high-school sweethearts.
Well, you can see where this is going, can’t you? Charlie and his construction team are rude and obnoxious, they ogle Amy because of the provocative way she dresses, and they belittle David almost every chance they get, because he doesn’t understand their small-town Southern culture, doesn’t fit in, and unknowingly insults them.
And then when Charlie and the boys invite David to go hunting with them, David feels obligated to go with them as a gesture of good will, but, of course, things don’t end well.
Things don’t end well at all, which can also be said about the whole movie.
There are some small subplots that attempt to flesh out the main plot, but basically the movie is an exercise in violence.
Straw Dogs is just another unnecessary remake.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“Just Go With It” Thanks, but No Thanks
Feb 17th
“Thanks, but No Thanks”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
JUST GO WITH IT reminds me of that old joke that is an example of a backhanded compliment: “You know, for a fat girl, she doesn’t sweat much.”
In other words, for an Adam Sandler movie, it has Jennifer Aniston and Nicole Kidman in it.
Here is another example: For an Adam Sandler movie, it has beautiful Hawaiian scenery in it, as well as a beautiful swimsuit model by the name of Brooklyn Decker.
And then when you learn that this embarrassment of a movie is a remake of the delightful 1969 CACTUS FLOWER starring Walter Matthau, Ingrid Bergman, and Goldie Hawn in an Academy Award-winning performance, you have to admit that of all the Hollywood remakes of previous films, this is one of them.
After all, even the 1969 movie was a remake of a Broadway play, which was a remake of a French play, which for all we know could have been a remake of one of Aristophene’s lost Greek comedies.
Here is this century’s version of the plot: Sandler plays Danny, a plastic surgeon who years ago had his heart broken when he overheard his fiancee and her bridesmaids talking about him on the day of their wedding, which broke his heart and caused him to call off the wedding.
Danny accidentally discovered that wearing a wedding ring even though he wasn’t married was a chick magnet, and he says, “Being fake married is the only way I can be sure I’ll never get my heart broken again.”
He is a pig, right, Ladies?
Then one day Danny meets Palmer, played by the swimsuit model, and he decides that she is “the one.” After all, what man wouldn’t fall in love with a swimsuit model?
Unfortunately, Palmer discovers Danny’s fake wedding ring even though he isn’t wearing it, she likes him well enough to want to marry him, but first she insists on meeting Danny’s “soon-to-be divorced wife.”
So, Danny does what any pig would do. He talks his assistant, Katherine, played by Jennifer Aniston, into posing as his wife in order to keep the ruse up, and how long do you think it takes the audience to say, “I know where this is going”?
Right, after they have already paid to see it.
JUST GO WITH IT caused me to say, “Thanks, but no thanks.”
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”