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Comparison pt. 3 - Drama

The Karate Kid (1984)

To conclude my series of blog posts, I will be discussing one last movie genre (or genres, since some may fall into various categories), which is romance/drama. Whether you have actually watched it or not, we have all heard about the movie The Karate Kid. Probably the one from the 80s, right? How about Footloose or Freaky Friday? Maybe you've watched the Annie play or went to see Hairspray: The Musical. These are all movies that have either been remade or remastered for a newer audience. Younger generations might not know that Disney Channel's 2003 film Freaky Friday is actually inspired by a 70s movie of the same name. While the plot between these two films doesn't stay exactly the same, it is technically still considered a remake, or a "remastering" as I'd like to call it. Disney did the same thing with The Parent Trap from the 60s, recreating it again in the 90s which I always thought was the original until about a year ago. In this case, the "better" movie really just comes down to what you grew up with. Both the original and remakes scored nearly the same on every critic website.

Freaky Friday (2003)

Since we spent so much time talking about movie sequels and remakes, why don't we end the series of blog posts with some information on movies made into musicals? Annie was originally created as comic strip in the 1920s, made into a musical in 1977, became a movie in 1982, and was remade yet again in 2014. Hairspray was originally created as a movie in 1988, made into a musical in 2002, and was remade as a movie again in 2007. To avoid confusion, I will only be comparing the first-made movie to the more recent one. Starting with Annie (1982) here are its ratings: 49% Rotten Tomatoes, 6.6/10 IMDb, and 4.6/5 Google Reviews. Annie (2014) received a 28%, 5.3/10, and 4.5/5. Hairspray (1988) scored an impressive 98% Rotten Tomatoes, 7.0/10 IMDb, and 3.6/5 on Letterboxd. Its 2007 remake scored a 92%, 6.7/10, and 3.5/5. This evidence shows the original Annie to be a lot better than the remake, but for the Hairspray movies to be about the same.

Hairspray (1988)

Primary Source

Carrie (1976)

For my primary source post, I decided to watch a movie from the late 70s and its remake from the early 2010s. The movie I chose to watch is Stephen King's Carrie. Carrie was originally published as a novel in 1974 and eventually became a New York Times bestseller. It became so popular that it was made into a movie only two years later. This movie is a classic for horror film fans, making 33.8 million dollars in the box office. It has a 7.4/10 star rating on IMDb and is directed by Brian de Palma. Carrie is played by Sissy Spacek and Tommy, Carrie's date to the prom, is played by William Katt. While watching this movie, I could tell that it took place in the 70s based off of the costume design, hairstyles, camera quality, and dialogue. For example, the girls wore brightly patterned shirts and had perms. The opening scene takes place during a high school gym class volleyball game, and the locker room afterwards where Carrie gets bullied by the girls in her class. Overall, the movie has a good storyline, cinematography, and acting. So why was it remade?

Carrie (2013)

The Carrie remake did even better than the first, making 84.8 million dollars in the box office. However, it only has a 5.8/10 star rating on IMDb and has a different director, Kimberly Pierce. Carrie is played by Chloe Grace-Moretz and Tommy is played by Ansel Elgort. While the original movie took place in the 70s, the remake decided to put a modern twist on the movie, having it take place in the early 2010s. You can tell this by looking at the clothing styles, use of cell phones, and music. For example, the girls wore flashier dresses and had their hair straightened. The bullying in the movie goes a step further when the girls take a video of Carrie and post it online. The opening scene is also different, showing Carrie's mom giving birth first, then after the title it shows the pool volleyball scene. Overall, this version of Carrie has essentially the same storyline, character development, and use of talented actors and actresses. So, which one is better? Looking at evidence through many review sites such as Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, and Google Reviews, the 1976 version has scored much better. But the real "better version" is up to you, as the viewer, to decide! In my opinion, I like the 2013 version better because I think the scene at prom is much more intense, and the characters have more personality and development than they did before.

Comparison pt. 2 - Animation

Scooby Doo, Where Are You! (1969-1970)

When you hear the words "Animated Movie" what movie comes to mind? For me, I think of Coraline or How to Train Your Dragon. Others may think of My Neighbor Totoro or Into the Spider-Verse. So many generations of children have experienced the Scooby Doo franchise. But in this blog post, I will be comparing animated movies of the 80s to the 2010s, specifically Disney films. While most animated films are directed towards a younger audience, they can be enjoyed by people of all ages. Disney starts off strong making films everyone's heard of such as The Little Mermaid and The Fox and the Hound. They even remade The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast as live action films. The remakes are good, but they just don't have the magic and originality of the animated versions.

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Emma Watson did a great job as Belle, and I like how the live action movies can bring these lovable characters to life. However, since I grew up only wanting to watch cartoon movies as a kid, I don't think I would have liked the live action at that age. Cartoons help build children's imagination, and can be as unrealistic and magical as the animators can make them. On the other hand, Gen Z college students like myself seem to enjoy watching their favorite childhood cartoons become realistic and new. I personally think it would be interesting to see producers try and make movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Toy Story into live action films.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

Overall, I think that people will continue to support the production of live action remakes and animated continuations. Sometimes, its the live action movies that are made into animated films like the Diary of A Wimpy Kid series. I believe the main reason why we continue to pay to see these animated films is for the nostalgia. We all saw how popular Puss in Boots: The Last Wish became when it was released last year as a sequel to the 2012 film. It's surprising to me how a whole decade can pass and a movie can still stay relevant in today's film society. These are just a few examples of animated movie remakes, but there are still many more we have not discussed.

Book Review pt.2

Marvel's Avengers: Endgame (2019)

In my last post, I discussed Second Takes: Critical Approaches to the Film Sequel by Carolyn Jess-Cooke and Constantine Verevis. In this post, I will be inspecting this book even further. More specifically, Chapter 10: "Sequelizing the Superhero: Postmillennial Anxiety and Cultural 'Need'." In this chapter, the authors discuss the topic of superhero movies, the first of which was created in 1941. There were many popular superhero movies in the 80s era such as Batman, Supergirl, and Masters of the Universe. In the 2010s, Marvel superhero movies were at their peak, with Avengers: Endgame, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Spider-Man: Homecoming topping the charts.

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

In this chapter, we learn that a lot of movies create a "good guy" who defeats the "bad guy" in the end. We all want someone to root for that we can count on not to let us down. But how many movies does it take for this to get old, and repetitive? Will people still show up to the theaters for the twelfth film in the X-Men series? I think what the author is really wondering is, how many sequels/prequels/spinoffs are really necessary to get the point across? How far will movie creators go to bring back a dead character for the millionth "plot twist"?

The authors state that "Superhero sequels operate a cultural need to reestablish identity through the repetition of a revised memory and nostalgia until an equilibrium has been restored." (Carolyn Jess-Cooke, and Constantine Verevis. Second Takes : Critical Approaches to the Film Sequel. SUNY Press, 2010.) If they are making enough profit, it seems like series can be endless. Newer movies can also be more relevant to todays society, giving different minority groups better representation. Most of the chapter focuses on the representation of different religious and cultural backgrounds, specifically in superhero films.

Book Review pt.1

Second Takes: Critical Approaches to the Film Sequel

For my book review, I will be discussing Carolyn Jess-Cooke and Constantine Verevis' non-fiction book titled Second Takes: Critical Approaches to the Film Sequel. This book was published in 2010 after being edited by Murray Pomerance, and is all about popular movies and their sequels. It is published by Suny Press and has twelve chapters, organized in no particular order. The purpose of this book is to discover why film sequels are made and how well they perform compared to the originals. Second Takes is easy to read as a college student, which makes me assume that it was written for any adult who enjoys watching movies. More specifically, it is written for people who want to know why movies are so unoriginal today, why everything that seems to be released is either a sequel, remake, or copy of an older film.

The Ring (2002)

While reading, the chapter I chose to focus the most on is Chapter Nine, titled "Circulations: Technology and Discourse in The Ring Intertext." I chose this chapter because it discusses a new topic I have not mentioned yet, which is American remakes of international films, such as Gore Verbiniski's 2002 film The Ring. This film is a remake of Hideo Nakata's 1998 Japanese horror film Ringu. Both the American and Japanese films had multiple sequels and remakes. In my opinion, both this chapter and the book as a whole accurately explains what they are trying to. It covers lots of different examples, opinions, and uses statistical information to prove its point. While the authors and editor don't necessarily have a lot of experience in filmmaking or directing, they sound professional and it is obvious that they did their research. This book was a good choice to use for my blog because while I don't have much experience either, I watch a lot of movies and love to know more information about them.

Library Scavenger Hunt

For this assignment, I checked a book out of the Library called "Cinematics" by Paul Weiss. In this novel, Weiss explains the art of filmmaking, focusing on both modern and classic films. He describes how directors use music, editing, scriptwriting, and many more factors to make a great movie. For the second challenge, I printed out page 43 of Neil Mitchell's "Carrie" analysis. In this chapter, Mitchell analyses the original Carrie movie, saying it "demands intellectual engagement." I chose this page because for my primary source post I will also be watching and critiquing Carrie. For the third challenge (challenge 5), I watched segment three of "Film Industry" titled "Movie Critics" from Films on Demand. In this segment, they discuss how criticism of movies started way back in the 1920s and how it evolved to be the way it is today. I chose this video because my topic is all about reviewing movies and comparing them. Overall, these were good experiences to document upon. The only problem I encountered was finding the right book, ebook, or video to read or watch. There are lots of options about filmmaking, but not as many about the criticism of the movies themselves. One interesting thing I discovered was this line from page 15 of Weiss' book: "A purely aesthetic work which falls short of excellence presents one with a disconnected set of immediately felt qualities." What this means to me is that just because a movie is considered "aesthetic" doesn't mean it is necessary a good film. These kind of movies fail to entertain people on an emotional level, leaving no lasting impact on them. After the credits roll, we feel immediately detached from the film. This isn't true for all aesthetic movies however, but I agree that it is true for some.

Profile Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise, as Maverick

While researching this topic, I wondered if there were any actors or actresses that played a character in a 80s movie and came back to play them again in a more recent remake or continuation. The first person that came to mind was Tom Cruise, who first played Maverick in the original 1986 Top Gun movie, and then played him again in the 2022 film Top Gun: Maverick. Tom Cruise is an actor, producer, and director who was born in Syracuse, New York, on July 3rd, 1962. Cruise is known for many films other than Top Gun, such as Mission: Impossible, The Outsiders, and The Last Samurai. He was formerly married to actress Katie Holmes until their divorce in 2012. His work is important because he is a good role model to younger generations that are working to be actors in the future. Cruise can be contacted through his Instagram (@tomcruise) or Twitter (@TomCruise).

Comparison pt. 1 - Horror

What's your favorite scary movie? For many, it's the classic Poltergeist. For others, it may be a newer option, such as A Quiet Place. Whatever it may be, horror movies have a great way of haunting us. When you notice "Friday the 13th" on your calendar, or pass by an "Elm Street" are you reminded of the popular 80s movies? Or the 2000's remakes? Lets compare.

Freddy Krueger (Nightmare on Elm Street) and Jason Voorhees (Friday the 13th)

I think it's safe to say that overall the special effects are much better today than they were back in the 80s. For example, the ghosts in the original Ghostbusters vs. the ones in the 2016 version. Not necessarily bad, but still much better in the newer version. However, back then, cgi was something revolutionary. It was something never seen before that amazed people, and it was more realistic back then compared to looking back on it now. As far as the storyline goes, the Friday the 13th Remake is more action-packed rather than suspenseful, as compared to the original. Keith Harris of the "Horror Movie Talk" blog says the remake of Nightmare on Elm Street has "a history of development + production problems such as creative differences, studio interference, altered scenes, and budget limitations." It seems so far that the original movies scored higher in audience ratings than the remakes, but is that true for all movies?

Ghostbusters (1984)

So, lets talk about one of the most well-known "kings" of horror -- Stephen King. Which version of his movies are the most worth watching? A website called IMDb (International Movie Database) allows users to rate a movie between 1-10 stars. Let's start with his first movie, Carrie, which even though it was released in 1976, has a lot of 80's movie vibes. Carrie (1976) has a 7.4/10 IMDb rating, while the 2013 version has a 5.8/10. The Shining (1980) has a 8.4/10 compared to its sequel, Doctor Sleep which scored a 7.3/10. This appears to be the trend until we look at IT, which originally came out in 1990, with a remake (27 years later) in 2017.

The Shining (1980)

What made this remake score better than the others? I believe that one reason could be how popular it became with the teenage fanbase at that time. More specifically, teenage fans of Stranger Things. With relatable characters, great humor, a scary monster, and a suspenseful storyline, what's not to like? The original has all of these things, but the remake managed to take those aspects and improve them. Not to mention, the new Pennywise is much scarier than the 1990 one. Whether it's the makeup, special effects, or voice acting, Bill Skarsgård's Pennywise seems much more menacing compared to Tim Curry's version. Overall, the 2017 film seems better directed, written, and higher-budgeted than the 1990 one. Everyone will have their own opinions, and while I watched the original version first and enjoyed it a lot, the more recent one is by far the better of the two.

lastofusfandom

Introduction

This blog is exploring deeper into the world of the Last of Us and where it originated from rather than just the TV show. The Last of Us released as a video game June 2013, and was developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony computer entertainment. The games genre is categorized as an action adventure game, and carries a rather interesting plot line throughout the campaign. According to Wikipedia, “The Last of Us is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective.[1] The player traverses post-apocalyptic environments such as towns, buildings, forests, and sewers to advance the story. The player can use firearms, improvised weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and stealth to defend against hostile humans and cannibalistic creatures infected by a mutated strain of the Cordyceps fungus.” Although the fungus is not their only enemy, there are also firefly groups, which are a rebellion group in the new world, as well as the military which owns the Quarantine zones.

[Source]

The game begins with Sarah buying Joel a watch for his birthday, and watching a movie together as they fall asleep. The fungus starts to spread as infected begin turning aggressive and begin multiplying by spreading to other areas. Joel locks Sarah inside as an infected runs into their door trying to get in. This is Sarah’s first encounter with an infected and she is scared as Joel must kill it in order to protect the both of them. They then wait for Tommy, Joel’s brother, to come and get them out of their state and hopefully away from the infected area. You proceed to drive through a city being burned and destroyed as infected run all around. Eventually, the car gets hit and Joel must carry Sarah away from infected. Joel and Sarah are confronted by a Military soldier who received orders to shoot on sight. The soldier got one shot off before being killed by Tommy trying to help them. Sarah was struck by the stray bullet from the soldier and dies in her Joel’s arms.

movieremakesandmore

I love this blog because it has to do with one of my favorite video games, The Last of Us. I like this game because it is a post-apocalyptic horror/thriller game and has an amazing storyline. Playing this game reminded me of the kind of movies I like, which is why I was so excited for the tv show to come out. This blog relates to my blog because some of the movies I will be talking about may share similar characteristics with The Last of Us. One movie series that comes to mind is The Maze Runner, which is set in a post-apocalyptic world as well but with "cranks" instead of clickers. This blog is very interesting to me and I hope to read more about it as the semester goes on.

"Strange things" in Film Culture

Stranger Things (2016)

If you are reading this I'm sure you've heard of the popular Netflix tv show called "Stranger Things." This show came out in 2016 and has been watched by millions of fans ever since. Stranger Things has the perfect mix of 80s themed outfits, music, and references while still remaining relevant to today's pop culture. The creators of the show, twin brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, quote that they saw Tim Burton's Batman movie from 1989, which inspired them to go into film. The Duffer Brothers were born in the 80s, and spent most of their childhood and early adolescence watching and researching that era of filmmaking. Most people my age have parents that were born or grew up in the 80s, which can make Stranger Things nostalgic for them. This is what made me realize something strange in today's culture - lots of "new" movies aren't actually new at all. They are just remakes, continuations, or modern adaptations of older, more unique films. So, in my next few blog posts, I will be researching 80s movies and how they are a major influence for movies and tv shows today.

Stand by Me (1986)

One of the 80s movies that reminds me of this is the 1986 film Stand by Me because it has a major influence on Stranger Things. They have many similarities such as the "found family" trope between four main boys, and a dramatic/suspenseful theme. Stand by Me is based off of Stephen King's novel "The Body" published in 1982. Stephen King also wrote many horror novels that became 80s movies such as Pet Sematary, Firestarter, Carrie, and one of his most famous works, The Shining. What all of these movies have in common is that they have been remade in the 2000s (or given a sequel). In my blog, I will be comparing movies like these to their modern day remakes. The one I am looking forward to talking about most is the remake of IT from the 1990s. This blog will start out with this horror genre before moving on to romance and animation.

IT (2017)

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