I just saw the new Manchurian Candidate, and it didn't suck at all.

So, an endorsement, or an anti-unendorsement?

I have to admit my first reaction on hearing it was being remade was -- oh, dude, don't you dare. Because the original works so well, even its mistakes. (The blurriness in the psychological denouement between Sinatra and Harvey is because Sinatra always acted best in his first take, and the first take came out blurry, and he just couldn't do it as well again. But the blurriness works so well!)

I was so amazed the first time I saw the movie -- its dynamic camera work; the visual jokes; its enthusiasm for its own existing. The hydrangeas scene made me laugh and laugh, it was so excitingly oddball.

I came to the end and was completely surprised, in that way that you walk away and say, "I can't believe I didn't foresee that!"

That last is why remakes are so hard to get right, I think -- it's very hard for them to break new ground.

Horror: I don't tend to watch horror movies. I dislike being scared, so my mind automatically takes me out of the experience when the tension ramps up too much. I start looking at camera work, thinking about how things are lighted or how the soundtrack is supporting the moment. For example, I caught part of The Exorcist on tv the other day and the more the little girl looked demonic the more I started analysing how much of the effect was from makeup and how much was from the lighting.

Comics: I used to collect comics. At one point I had a hold bag at the local comic shop and picked up 8 or 10 titles a month. (Not a hard core collector, but steady.) Comics collecting was sacrificed on the altar of solvency. When I finish paying off my credit cards I will probably get back into comics again. Strangers in Paradise may sneak into my budget earlier than that. (Lovely artwork and an interesting storyline.)

That last is why remakes are so hard to get right, I think -- it's very hard for them to break new ground.

The new "shocking twist ending" to the remake of Planet of the Apes didn't do anything for me....

Umm, that's all I got. At least that's the best my uncaffeinated brain can do.

Edit: When I was a kid, my dad didn't let me have comics. Mad Magazine was also banned for some reason.

The new "shocking twist ending" to the remake of Planet of the Apes didn't do anything for me....

I thought it was pretty cool. The actual twist, that is. The final, sequel-set-up twist was kind of weird and we couldn't make a lot of sense out of it.

Normally, P-C is me on movie-think but Planet of the Gapes remake? Oy. By the time we got to the monument, I was nearly blind from beating my forhead against the seat in front of me.

As soon as Marky Mark (who I really liked in the Italian Job) steps out of the lake immediately following the crash and his shirt is a) dry, b) already shredded and dirty like he's been in the jungle for a year, I knew we were in trouble.

Except for the cool we-went-to-ape-school-to-get-it-right choreography, there was NOTHING interesting or surprising about the remake.

And that cameo involving the evils of handguns by MR.NRA nearly made my head explode.

So, an endorsement, or an anti-unendorsement?

That's a definite endorsement. It's a good movie on its own terms, and works much better than I expected as a remake.

I was raving about Meryl Streep earlier, but Liev Schreiber is also excellent. Both he and Denzel give very layered performances.

And that cameo involving the evils of handguns by MR.NRA nearly made my head explode.

Yeah, that was the funniest part. Or the most cognitive dissonancing part.

I remember being really tired when I saw that movie (it was the summer I was cleaning hotel rooms, so I was ALWAYS exhausted), but I do remember hating the movie with the fire of a hundred suns. I think that was the summer of monumental movie disappointment.

I do remember hating the movie with the fire of a hundred suns.

This. Exactly.

See, that summer we watched all five original Planet of the Apes movies in preparation, which was fun in its own right. What I really liked about the remake was the rubber band time travel such that Marky Mark ended up being responsible for the existence of the planet. I thought that idea was way cool, cause I love funky time travel shit.

The original Manchurian Candidate is in the queue. Oh, and tonight I'm finally seeing Jaws.