My mouth dropped open as I read the newsfeed on Facebook – Hollywood was taking on another remake.
But this time instead of Patrick Swayze saying the classic line “nobody puts Baby in the corner” it would be someone else taking on the role in a remake Dirty Dancing, a 1980s cult classic..
I understand Hollywood has remade previous movies for awhile – I have two in my Blockbuster queue both for The Front Page, which was originally a Broadway play. One film was made in 1931 and the second one made in 1974 with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.
It is going to happen especially since it has happened many times before. Someone gets an idea to remake a movie to twinker the idea and make it their own – either to add another plot twist, add modern special effects, Americanize it or throw in different characters.
But it seems they have gone to far. Most recently Hollywood has released Conan the Barbarian, Fright Night and coming in October, Footloose – all made in the 1980s.
Maybe, just maybe, they were good. If you saw them and loved them over the originals please let me know. Plus, maybe it is a way to bring more attention to the original movie. After seeing The Amityville Horror with Ryan Reynolds I was tempted to see the original (but I didn’t even want to watch the remake with Reynolds.)
But with the news of Dirty Dancing being remade – I felt a slap to the face. I felt on the defense. If you are remaking all these 80s movies, which by the way wasn’t too long ago, what is next- Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, (gasp) Sixteen Candles, The Goonies, A Christmas Story, Flight of the Navigator?
Now AMC Theatres tried out an idea and re-released some of the classic 80s movies in their theaters for audiences to enjoy on the big screen again. I would say it worked. It seemed to work for the 20 people in the theater with the group I saw Sixteen Candles. But it was limited to two showings.
But dear Hollywood – reduce, reuse and recycle is good for trash. But I am sure there are screenwriters out there with fresh ideas.