The Pop Culture Supreme Court Ruling 1: Should there be a moratorium on direct remakes in Hollywood?

Remakes: Should there be a Band on Remakes?

Hollywood seems to like making two types of movies, the Sequels and the Remakes. Remakes are generally seen in a negative light, and many people see them as Hollywood running out of ideas. Some feel that remakes do a disservice to what made the original movie so entertaining. However, I don’t believe writers should be held back from making a remake of an older movie. There have been a few remade movies that have ended up equal or better than the original.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: I found the remake a little more entertaining than the original.

The Longest Yard: Not as good and toned down from its R-rated counterpart, but still an okay movie.

The Departed: A remake of a Hong Kong film. Different than the Hong Kong one.

Ocean’s 11: Much better than the rat pack version.

Yet, I fully understand why people aren’t too warm about remakes. For every good remake, there are five bad ones in the wing. The Amityville Horror, Poseidon, The Stepford Wives, are prime examples. The new Planet of the Apes is devoid of any of the political subplots that old movie had, which also made it special.

While I think there should be less remakes in general, I don’t think we need to tie the creative people’s hands on making them.

So, I am going to vote no on the moratorium. But, I'll must make these statements.

1. The makers of the remake must consult the original makers from the first film, before making a picture.

2. Make the movie as interesting as possible without changing storyline completely.

3. Don’t make it a complete shot for shot remake; throw a neat twist to it.

Here’s small list of movies some people felt were better than the original. http://www.movie-remakes.com/film_cat_list.asp?id_c=3

Here are a few remakes coming out.

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Barbarella

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Fame

Hairspray

So, head over to the New Group blog and check out the ruling from our Popculture Supreme Court.