To be fair, why is this a big deal? For the longest time (and perhaps still), the mark of a good storyteller wasn’t having a brand-new story but in tweaking an older one. Much of Shakespeare’s work wasn’t “original,” but was a retelling of older stories.
The real problem, IMHO, is that the remakes usually suck, which is a different problem.
When I first saw “Quest for Fire” on a date with the woman who became my wife, we both realized it was a remake of Romeo and Juliet. With cavemen, woolly mammoths, clubs and spears and most importantly a fire-making kit.
There are remakes, and there are remakes. Clash of the Titans will still be enjoyable this time around, even without Chloris Leachman.
I think the thing that depressed me the most was that neither the author of the article, nor any of the commentors, seem to be aware that The Phantom Tollbooth was a book first.
April 1st, 2010 at 8:53 am
To be fair, why is this a big deal? For the longest time (and perhaps still), the mark of a good storyteller wasn’t having a brand-new story but in tweaking an older one. Much of Shakespeare’s work wasn’t “original,” but was a retelling of older stories.
The real problem, IMHO, is that the remakes usually suck, which is a different problem.
April 1st, 2010 at 9:00 am
That’s how it ALWAYS is with socialists. Never any new ideas; only the same old ones dressed up in slightly newer clothes.
April 1st, 2010 at 10:31 am
I think Godwin’s law needs a new corollary–no matter what the discussion, eventually someone will mention the specter of creeping socialism.
But yeah…they’ve been out of ideas for a couple decades now from what I can tell. This is why I don’t go to the movies.
April 1st, 2010 at 2:40 pm
When I first saw “Quest for Fire” on a date with the woman who became my wife, we both realized it was a remake of Romeo and Juliet. With cavemen, woolly mammoths, clubs and spears and most importantly a fire-making kit.
There are remakes, and there are remakes. Clash of the Titans will still be enjoyable this time around, even without Chloris Leachman.
April 2nd, 2010 at 12:37 am
I think the thing that depressed me the most was that neither the author of the article, nor any of the commentors, seem to be aware that The Phantom Tollbooth was a book first.
Is reading really that hard?