And one of them was a remake of the other!

[trinityvixen]

Went to see a movie last night with the lovely and indulgent shell524. (She indulged me by eating her dinner at the theater--which was still probably better than any of the options around.) We got there just in time to miss the ads but see all the trailers. This is pretty much perfect.

There were four trailers--The A-Team, Clash of the Titans, Death at a Funeral, and The Losers.

Look at that list closely. Besides The Losers, those movies are all remakes--either of a TV series (The A-Team) or other movies (Clash of the Titans, Death at a Funeral). And The Losers? It may be fabulous. It may be the best action movie ever. It certainly gets the edge for having a) diversity and b) a woman in it for longer than two seconds. But the trailer looks like a re-done trailer for the more ethnically diverse A-Team. Same basic plot outline--team wrongly accused of crime they did not commit! They want justice!--same basic structure of the players--charismatic lead! Mouthy cute guy! The Bad-Ass!

It was sort of amazing to realize they were, basically, all remakes. Those are the only previews we saw. shell524 pointed out that Hollywood has been creatively bankrupt for a while now. But to have such confirmation distilled into such an immediate, concrete example was still somewhat shocking.

Comments

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

Also, the Losers is an old DC comic book. So in that sense it is a remake.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Adaptation, not necessarily remake. I mean, making another Jane Austen movie could be an arguable remake. But this is the first time The Losers is onscreen. If only it didn't look like another remake...

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

But by the same token, is it fair to call A-Team a remake? It wasn't on the big screen before, after all. :)

The point that Hollywood has no new ideas still stands.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

It was on a screen before. So, yes, it's a remake...according to these rules that I have just made up. And that I'm enforcing with this gun I got from the National Rifle Association.

[gryphonrose.livejournal.com]

A gun and not a large pie? I'm disappointed. :)

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

:P

[bigscary.livejournal.com]

Amusingly, they're probably basing it on the recent Losers series, which is, itself, a remake of an earlier Losers series.

[viridian.livejournal.com]

What movie was it?

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Cop Out. It was amusing, mostly thanks to Seannnnnnn William Scott.

[jendaby.livejournal.com]

My theory is that there are plenty of highly creative people in Hollywood, but those people are not producers, and producers lack imagination.

What did you and the ever-awesome shell524 go see?

[shell524.livejournal.com]

You are quite possibly correct about creativity in Hollywood. People won't back what they can't see merchandising opportunities for or what they think won't sell.

We went to see Cop Out, on the recommendation of my mom and aunt. While I enjoyed it, I am glad the ticket was free.

[shell524.livejournal.com]

Also, aww at "ever-awesome". We need to get a chance to hang out again sometime now that I'm back in NY and actually, like, getting to be able to be social again.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Like shell254 pointed out, it was worth it if it was free plus the cost of curly fries. And I can't help but laugh at the antics of Seannnnn William Scott. Who probably just wandered on set one day and got put in the movie, for all his character had to do.

[shell524.livejournal.com]

Welllll, regarding indulgence... I was basically dead set on having popcorn for dinner anyway. :p I go to the movies once every 2-3 months, so I figure buttery movie popcorn won't kill me.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

If the movie theater popcorn hadn't tried to kill me the last time I ate it--a kernel skin cut open my gum!--I might have indulged. I think I did okay on the fries :)

[ivy03.livejournal.com]

Ah, but The Losers has Jeffrey Dean Morgan! That has to count for anything. :)

And perhaps there is a wee bit of selection bias re creativity in the trailers you see based on what movies you go see...

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

This is true, but we weren't seeing a remake movie! Oh well.

(The Losers, to be fair, does look better than The A-Team.)