Done to ‘Death’
Every time I see a trailer for Death at a Funeral, I get angry. Not because I think that Chris Rock isn’t funny, or because it pokes fun at a vulnerable situation. No, I get angry because the exact same movie has been made before. In 2007, Frank Oz directed a stellar cast in the droll, zany movie, which I saw but never reviewed for some reason. If Firefly hadn’t done so already, the 2007 Death would have endeared me to the work of Alan Tudyk for life. Now Niel LaBute, writer and director of the unknown but brilliant In the Company of Men and not much else of consequence, is helming a remake that seems content to replace understatement with catch phrases and screaming. It’s not that I don’t enjoy Tracy Morgan – I’m a huge fan of his on 30 Rock – and I’m sure this movie will find some kind of audience (probably more than the $8.5 million it grossed in 2007), but it’s completely unnecessary to remake the movie three years after its initial release, especially when the original was so good. At least they had the good sense to re-cast Peter Dinklage in his role.
We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Hearse
An old conversation that seems appropriate today:
Me: What’s the best sports movie ever?
Mike: …is fishing a sport?
Me: Sure.
Mike: Jaws.
Rest in peace, Roy Scheider.
Listen to the Music?
As excited as I am for the upcoming film version of Sweeney Todd – with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp on board, it’s hard to resist – I can’t help but be a little disappointed that the trailer includes almost no music. The backbone of the show – indeed, the reason it is so brilliantly dark – is the music of Stephen Sondheim. Clearly, this December will be filled with Sondheim’s devilishly good lyrics, but it’s such a tease not to include more of it in the trailer.
Still Crazy After All These Years
A combination of infrequent circumstances – including my reading of the Philadelphia City Paper – inspired me to travel downtown this weekend to visit the Ritz at the Bourse for the first time since the chain had been bought out by Landmark Theatres. The reason? To catch a limited-engagement showing of the 1986 classic Labyrinth.
I hadn’t seen the movie in full in at least a decade, and like too much visual media from the 1980s, it doesn’t age perfectly. Labyrinth is a movie that makes it hard to believe that Jennifer Connelly ever won an Academy Award, impossible to believe that David Bowie went on to be a serious actor, and easy to believe that Jim Henson did some fabulous drugs. Even so, Henson’s homage to The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and a slew of other children’s stories is a wonderful bit of entertainment, and a must-see for Muppet fans and 80s nostalgists alike.
A Long Time Ago…
Thrity years ago today, a strange film about aliens, evil empires, and a mystical force debuted on a few dozen screens and changed the world as we know it. Sure, Jaws officially started the “blockbuster” trend in Hollywood two years earlier, but Star Wars perfected the idea. Films have come since that have outsold Star Wars, but it still stands in history as one of the biggest and most influential films of all time. I won’t try to philosophize about what the movie did to me when I saw it for the first time, because I don’t really remember. And I won’t reminisce on how much the film mean to me, because it doesn’t mean that much. I really really like Star Wars, and I appreciate its part in cinematic history, but I don’t worship at its altar. At the same time, if it weren’t for Star Wars, most of the movies I love today wouldn’t have been made. And for that I thank George Lucas and his space story. So happy thirtieth birthday, Star Wars. I’m sure the people in the comments will have a lot to say about you.