Thursday, January 7, 2010

The Cobra Kai are just not good enough for the new Millennium

My kids and I have a hard time finding movies we all like. So I try to introduce them to films I love that I think they will love too (because if I watch one more episode of Sponge Bob, I'm going to lose it).

So here are their ratings:

1) Sound of Music - thumbs up
2) Splash - thumbs up
3) Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - thumbs way, way down
4) The Karate Kid - huge thumbs up (had to smile in the final fight scene when my older daughter asked me "Do you think Daniel will win?" )

However, since the original Karate Kid was just not flashy enough - and the Cobra Kai just not menacing enough - it needs to be remade.

So what do you think about this one? And what do think will be the next remake - maybe Miley Cyrus in "Pretty in Pink" with Billy Ray as the drunk dad? (Nah, he couldn't be drunk these days. Probably just sad. But I'm sure Miley will run around in a pink tube top instead of quirky pink sweaters.)



If you're a regular reader, you know already know how I feel about these things. But what the heck, maybe this time someone can convince me that "new" is "improved" - and we should forget the 80s.

12 comments:

JK said...

You can't be against Jackie Chan.

Sweep the leg!

GenXpert said...

He's no Pat Morita -RIP

J- said...

I hate to use a technicality to be a downer, but:

If the new movie takes place in Beijing, then it's not really karate, it would be kung fu, which is the Chinese hand to hand combat system that Jackie Chan is teaching in the preview.

So, wouldn't that make this movie The Kung Fu Kid and not The Karate Kid?

Are the producers of this so stupid as to think all martial arts are the same, or that all martial arts are 'karate'?

Does Will Smith need so much more money that he's willing to pimp his children?

Really, if it's that easy to get something that dumb green lighted, let's pitch a new script to Dreamworks:

Denzel Washinton, Rosie O'donnell and Anne Hathaway in Gone with the Wind, this time set in Montana, with Arnold Schartzenegger as General Grant.

At least Avatar had the decency to dress up a rehash of Dances with Wolves with killer special effects.

The Boomers in Hollywood really are out of ideas, aren't they?

Anonymous said...

Since I've been told, although not lately, that I resemble Ralph Macchio -- okay it was only once and the chick wanted a drink of Coke -- I am adamantly against it. In principle. But then I'm not a very principled guy, so...I have to admit it looks pretty cool.

But I agree J seems a big boner to call it The Karate Kid when the martial art involved is Kung Fu. What's wrong with The Kung Fu Kid? Clearly they're trying to tap that nastolgic (sp?) GenX market, hoping parent will take their kids to see just because they have fond memories of the original.

Finally, no one can ever fill Pat Morita's shoes -- not at Mr. Miagi not as Arnold from Happy Days. Not ever!

GenXpert said...

@J & @Junkdrawer - you know, it would be A LOT less annoying to me if it WAS called The Kung Fu Kid. Because then it wouldn't be a remake - it would just be the next extension of the series or something.

Kristina said...

I don't know about Karate Kid, but I *am* looking forward to the Clash of the Titans re-make. Because the Kraken in the 80s just looked dumb.

I heard the "Fame" remake was horrible.

Please tell me you've seen "Not Another Teen Movie." Hilarious and makes fun of teen movies then and now.

Anonymous said...

I am so sick of remakes from Hollywood. They are so bankrupt when it comes to new ideas. Remakes are like trashy romance novels for film retards. I will not see the Karate Kid remake and I would hope that most X-ers will boycot it just for Boomer spite, and to send a message that Hollywood is still mostly stupid.

Jason Seiden said...

Sound of Music got a huge thumbs up from my kids, too.

As for the remake, everything old is new again. I remember everyone doing the crane for weeks at overnight camp when the first came out. This won't erase that experience, but will add to it. Now, in addition to "paint the fence!" we'll also have, "put on the jacket!"

Not quite the same ring, but hey.

Jennifer Chronicles (jenx67.com) said...

if someone remakes pretty in pink i'll have to put someone's eye out with a pixie stick. this list is a great idea. i'm soooooo tired of sponge bob, too. even my 2 year old is watching it. she's on a first name basis with gary, the snail!

Jennifer Chronicles (jenx67.com) said...

love J-'s comment, too.

Carla said...

When they remade Witch Mountain with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, I forbade my kids from watching it. Instead I showed them the two original films, which they loved.

I'm with you. Start thinking of new ideas and leave our classics alone.

Kathy English said...

I probably will see the new "Karate Kid," though being better informed from the comments on this forum, it would be *nice* if producers quit lumping every martial art into one category - after all, what would be so bad about calling the flick "Kung Fu Kid"? Mainly though, I'd see the film because I like Jackie Chan. Even his cartoon was fun, though I don't know if it's on air anymore.

Does anyone remember the movie, "My Bodyguard"? That's an early '80s one, I think.

Some remakes should never see the light of day - but I think some feel a remake is a worthy challenge: what can be done with today's technology to improve the quality of the film (like, special effects that won't make Krakens, etc. look campy) - the quality of the set, etc. It's too bad though, when the film is more about the technology than about the acting/storyline. Plus, with different standards, "more" can be shown than could have been shown back in 1950 or 1960, for example. That said, I can't imagine a full-frontal nudity scene in the shower during "Psycho", for instance, would improve the overall tension/creep factor of the original. Sometimes, less really IS more. Hitchcock was an expert with that.


I just can't picture any of John Hughes's films being remade and managing to capture the feeling of the originals. Miley Cyrus in "Pretty in Pink"? Yeah, she'd probably be in a pink tube top or multi-strapped tank top with butt-crack exposing jeans. Just not the same!!! And is there any young actor today who can do sincere/sheepishness/shyness better than Andrew McCarthy?

Maybe people are nostalgic for the 1980s because today's teens aren't providing much fodder for good films.

I hear the "Babysitter's Club" book series is being reissued, but with some updates like "cell phones" and such being included - and "perms" being excluded. Will it be an improvement? Don't know - but it's strange to me to think of Nancy Drew, another updated series, equipped with a cell phone and not crying out at critical moments, "Do you KNOW who my FATHER is?" in order to save her titian-haired self.