geekosystem

The first theatrical trailer for the long-awaited remake of 80's cult classic Red Dawn was released yesterday... Well, I was waiting for it, anyway. If you've never seen Red Dawn, it's basically the movie that inspired Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, except you replace the U.S. military with a pack of teenagers living in the wild. Feel free to get excited now.

The first full-length trailer for the impending Total Recall remake debuted over the weekend, no doubt prompting some to think it was an elaborate April Fools' joke. However, the movie is legit and for the first time we're finally getting a look at more than a few seconds of the film. See the trailer in glorious HD, after the break.

So, they're making another Total Recall movie. Sounds like total crap, right? Just another poorly thought-out attempt by Hollywood studios to cash in on our collective nostalgia for the original 1990 Arnold Schwarzenegger Marsfest. Except this one is apparently set in a Blade Runner-esque Earth city, and has a bunch of flying cars like in The Fifth Element, some Stormtroopers that look like they wandered out of Clone Wars, and -- oh crap, this is starting to actually sound kind of cool. See the teaser trailer, after the break.

Fresh on the heels of Alice in Wonderland's box office success, rumors are flying about not one, but two feature film remakes of The Wizard of Oz.  Now, there's more than one way to retell a story, and there are a few ways to redo Wizard that would probably work.  The odds of Hollywood actually finding those particular ways is unlikely.

More and more often these days, I find myself shouting at movie trailers and announcements: "WHY would you remake that?" Clash of the Titans?  The Karate Kid? My Fair Lady?

I'd like to take some time and explain when a remake generally isn't a good idea, and when it generally is, and whether or not this means that The Wizard of Oz is something we should revisit.