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PICK OF THE WEEK

Opening This Week

Poll Question

Since it is probabaly not Balls of Fury - what was Christopher Walken's greatest role? Pulp Fiction The Deerhunter Wayne's World 2 Sleepy Hollow Catch Me if You Can True Romance The Dead Zone "Weapon of Choice" - the Fatboy Slim video None of the Above Current Results

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NEW THIS WEEK

FEATURE ARTICLE: X Marks the Spot by Justin Winslett "The X-Men films managed to create a more in-depth world than other superhero films, one where simply being mutant or human or superhero or super villain didn’t necessarily slot you into an easily understood box and where making a decision is not a simple use of your powers to eliminate the baddy."

Mostly Martha by Stephen Goetz "While this film was not perfect and could have used a different composer, who is trying far too hard to become the next Kenny G, Mostly Martha is the definition of a pleasant work of art that Hollywood found a way to screw up."

The Queen by Kevin Feather "Love or hate Queen Elizabeth, or the idea of a monarchy itself, I think you’ll leave this film with a positive view of 'That Week'."

THE WEEKLY RANT

August 31, 2007

Dear Liz: Why?

At work the other day, I stumbled into a conversation in which I found myself shocked by anyone's desire to see the Rob Zombie Halloween remake. Why would anyone want to go see a remake of one of the greats of the horror genre? To me, John Carpenter's 1978 slasher flick is a gem in a pile of films that tend to hinge more on gore and guts than actual scares. Over the past couple weeks, we at the Cardinal Review have expressed our shock that certain films are being remade. Lesser of the remake crime is the language change-adaptation: your Infernal Affairs to The Departed and Mostly Martha to No Reservations (See Steve's review this week). A worse crime is taking a great film, one that is renowned as great, and re-making it for no real reason. For a prime example in this category see Peter Jackson's epic three-hour, mooney-eyed, boring, and egotistical King Kong.

Now, Liz, as you brought up the following points: a bad remake makes the original look better and that a remake, especially in a horror genre, can serve a purpose to update the film and make it more relevant. This is all well and good, if you want to treat things as commodities - just like the newest camera phone or seasonal line from GAP - something that needs to be updated and refreshed or it will just become obsolete. But, the films we are talking about are Classics. I really do not care if someone decides to remake a bad film from the 40s or tries to make a film that no one has really seen popular and relvant, but you do not see anyone clammoring to remake Casablanca or Citizen Kane do you?

Well, I guess that may be going a bit overboard and Halloween is probably not normally uttered in the same breath as those two classics. But, instead of remaking a film that set a bench mark for the modern slasher flick, a truely genre defining movie, why shouldn't Mr. Zombie use all of his clout and obvious love of the genre to create something new and interesting. He did it twice before. Maybe they did not get the throngs of people because it was new and untestested. Going back to a obvious winner to show your horror meddle is one thing, but Liz, may I ask you this:

Even if you are going to go through all the trouble to remake and put your thumbprint on a classic, why is Halloween being released AUGUST 31st?

So, I need to apologize for a couple things. Firstly, that this post is so late. It has been a crazy week here and September will promise to be a wild month for the whole CR staff. I am in the process of moving and Steve will be following suit in the following week. Kevin is full tilt into his career change and may be a bit less vocal for September as he heads off to Flight School. Please bear with us as we work through our hectic lives and some changes on the site - CHECK OUT THE NEW FEATURES SECTION! - and we promise that we will do our best to bring you regular, weekly updates on what is going on in theaters and video stores around you.

Second apology, due to my move, I have had to put my Greatest Films Ever Made and the John Wayne Marathons on a hiatus for this week. I hope that I will be able to get a chance to sit down and watch The Rules of the Game this week, so just consider it an extra week to get caught up and an opportunity to join me in sorting through these classics.

Along with our regular reviews, Steve, as I mentioned, followed up on his re-make exploration with Mostly Martha and Kevin finally got around to seeing The Queen, we have a special addition this week: A Feature Article. Justin Winslett has lent his knowledge and opinions to tie togehter the three X-Men films. Make sure to check out what he had to say.

That's all I have for this week. Have a happy Labor Day weekend and make sure to catch a good movie or two...

~Chris

Please send us any thoughts or comments at Feedback@TheCardinalReview.com.

With the death knell of Blockbuster season sounded by Mr. Bean's Holiday, we wanted to know What was your favorite movie this Summer? and you answered HOTFUZZ by a long shot. I am really shocked! Blowing Bourne, Simpsons and Superbad (all with 17%) out of the water, Hot Fuzz had a staggering 50%. Wow - guess DVD sales are gonna be good for that one. Make sure to vote this week and toss in your opinions on our message boards.

COMING SOON

• 3:10 to Yuma
• Inland Empire
• Greatest Film Ever Made?: The Bicycle Thief
• Greatest Film Ever Made?: Citizen Kane
• Greatest Film Ever Made?: The Rules of the Game
• Berlin: Symphony of a Great City
• John Wayne Retrospective: The Quiet Man