20 Questions Every Movie Lover Should Be Able To Answer, Part 2

As promised the second half of the movie meme that I posted yesterday.  This was a lot of fun to do, even if it made me rack my brains a bit.  Stop by Yvette's blog, in so many words..., to read her answers and for links to the originating post.

11.  What gets your vote for the most worthless or pointless remake?

Don't even get me started on this.  This has to be one of my biggest pet peeves in the world.  I'm not sure I could even narrow the list down to 10, let alone 1.  I will try my best to keep this brief.

My vote for worst remake has to go to The Women (2008).  This was a movie I dreamed of being remade for years, but this wasn't what I dreamed of.  This was more of a hellish nightmare.  Of the casting, I'm not sure any of them fit the roles, though I do think Debra Messing was a good substitute for Rosalind Russell.  The plot was horrific, and the updating the movie to modern times just didn't work as well for me.  I would rather see a period remake with actresses who would have fit the roles better.  My other option, which I'm not even sure has been made yet, is the rumored remake of The Thin Man with Johnny Depp.  I'm  trying not to throw up in my mouth just from thinking about it.

As a collective group, any movie based of a TV Show should go straight into the trash.  I don't think there has been a good one made to date, at least not one that improved on the show.  Dark Shadows (2012), Bewitched (2005), The Dukes of Hazzard (2005), Starsky & Hutch (2004), and 21 Jump Street (2012) are all great examples of this.

12.  Is there any film you think is actually desperate for a remake?

My first reaction is to say no, just because I can't think of any remake that improved upon or added something the first one didn't cover.  After some thought though, I would like to see some different adaptations of movies, rather than straight remakes.

One of my favorite books is And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, and so far none of the English language adaptations feature all the Christie characters or the ending she put into the book.  My favorite adaptation so far is And Then There Were None (1945), directed by Rene Clair.  George Pollock directed Ten Little Indians in 1965, setting the move at a mountain top estate.  Peter Collinson directed And Then There Were None in 1974, setting it in a hotel in the Iranian desert.  Then Alan Birkinshaw directed Ten Little Indians in 1989, setting it on a African safari.  There is a Soviet era movie that uses the book ending and a Bollywood version, though I'm not convinced I want to see that.  There have also been a few TV adaptations as well.

I don't think THE movie has been made of this book yet.  I would love to see a movie, using Christie's characters, set on an island, and using the ending she gave us.  I'm not sure it's ever going to happen but I can keep my fingers crossed.

Really quickly, I can say the same thing about Richard Matheson's I Am Legend.  The Last Man on Earth (1964), The Omega Man (1971), and I Am Legend (2007) all fail to live up to the promise of the book. This is another book that is waiting for THE movie adaptation.

14.  Name you three favorite film heroes.

Errol Flynn as Robin Hood in, The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

William Powell as Nick Charles in, The Thin Man (1934)  As well as 4 other movies.

Lance Guest as Alex Logan in, The Last Starfighter (1984)

15.  Name you three favorite film villains.

This could be a really long list, but I'll stick to the first three that come to mind.

Bela Lugosi as Dracula in, Dracula (1931)

Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in, American Psycho (2000)

Christian Slater as Robert Boyd in, Very Bad Things (1998)

15.  Best Sequel

Since I'm not going with movies I've already talked about, I will skip over After The Thin Man (1936)  and go with another terrific sequel.

The Dark Knight (2008)

16.  Worst sequel

Oh, this list could be the longest of all, but I'll keep it to one.

Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)

17.  Best Trilogy

The Godfather (1972), The Godfather: Part II (1974), and The Godfather: Part III (1990)

18.  Worst Trilogy 

My pick for this is going to include one of my favorite movies.  I really loved the first movie, but the next two I didn't get the point of.  It was just more of the first and it almost ruined the entire experience for me.

Cube (1997), Cube 2: Hypercube (2003), and Cube Zero (2004)

19.  What is your favorite word to use in a film review?   Atmospheric

20.  Anything else......

I'm just going to post 5 more random favorites, then I'm done.  I have to cut it off somewhere, otherwise I could go on and on.  I feel bad for not mentioning so many great movies over these last two days, but all good things must come to an end.

Christmas in Connecticut (1945) is my favorite Christmas movie.

Magnolia (1999) is the best movie Tom Cruise has ever been in.

Lifeboat (1944) is my favorite Alfred Hitchcock movie.

The Last Supper (1995) is my favorite dark comedy.

I was going to say Europa Europa (1990) was my favorite foreign language movie, but then I started to think of another 5 or 6 that I love about as much, so I'll settle for calling it my favorite German language movie.