A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

What to think about the remake of 1984's A Nightmare on Elm Street, released today in theatres? On the one hand, the original film, and the franchise it spawned, remain quintessential 1980s popular culture, forever entrenched in the minds of those who knew them then. If you were a child of the 1980s, but too young to sneak into an R-rated movie at the theatres, it was the perfect video rental (particularly, or perhaps only, if you were crashing at the home of a friend with cool parents). On the other hand, the films are, by today's standards, dated, and as the original franchise evolved, it aimed more at campy gross-out humor than fright, suggesting that a new direction and tone may be welcome. Certainly, cinema-goers have become more sophisticated in the past two and a half decades, and what might have frightened an audience in the halcyon days of the 1980s might no longer scare their modern day counterparts in 2010. (An interesting aside: Does that issue, in and of itself, forgive the producers of a horror movie remake?) Whatever the case, the original film does not seem immune from a remake.

The original film was written and directed by Wes Craven, and starred Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger, Heather Langenkamp as Nancy Thompson, and a young Johnny Depp, as Glen Lantz, Nancy's boyfriend. The remake stars Jackie Earle Haley as Krueger and Rooney Mara as Nancy. (Mara was born after the release of the original 1984 film). Haley is actually an interesting choice, and one that makes me suspect that the remake might not be all bad. Haley was wonderfully creepy in 2006's Little Children, and he, as Rorschach, was one of the few good things about last year's adaptation of Watchmen. Maybe it's Netflix queue-worthy.

As an aside, the original franchise did attempt a change in tone with 1994's Wes Craven's New Nightmare, a film with an interesting twist: It takes place in the real world and follows the exploits of the cast of the original film, including Englund (who plays both himself and Freddy Krueger), Langenkamp (as herself), John Saxon (who plays himself, the actor who was Nancy's police officer father), and even Craven himself. How postmodern is that?

As for the remake, released today, we reserve judgment.

Unnecessary Remakes: The Karate Kid

Above: The Karate Kid, (1984).

Above: The Karate Kid, (2010).

Really? Was this remake necessary? Is 1984's The Karate Kid a film that cries out to be remade? Isn't it a cultural touchstone, a film so emblematic of its time that a remake would border on cinematic sacrilege? Certainly, it's not a great film, but it's a fun one, and it's near and dear to the hearts of those who enjoyed it at the time of its release and the decades since. There's no reason why modern viewers cannot return to it in order to obtain the same amount of enjoyment. Considering the numerous homages and pop culture references still being made over the original film, it remains culturally relevant enough to insulate it from a 2010 remake. But, no. The remake is to be released this summer. What gives? Is nothing safe? Is nothing sacred?

MLK Day

Martin Luther King, Jr.

(January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968)

Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thunder cloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Rain down him
So let it be
So let it be

Sleep
Sleep tonight
And may your dreams
Be realized
If the thundercloud
Passes rain
So let it rain
Let it rain
Rain on him

- Lyrics to "MLK" by U2 (from 1984's The Unforgettable Fire)

Two years ago, on Monday, January 21, 2008, I posted this piece on MLK Day regarding another song by U2 dedicated to the slain civil rights leader, "Pride (In The Name of Love)."

2010 - The Year We Make Contact?

Twenty five years ago, the poster for the 1984 film, 2010 (based on the novel, 2010: Odyssey Two, by Arthur C. Clarke), advised cinema goers that "[i]n the very near future a small group of Americans and Russians set out on the greatest adventure of them all . . . to see if there is life beyond the stars." That "very near future" has now arrived. What's in store for us this year?

Resquiat in pacem: Sam Peckinpah (1925 - 1984)

Peckinpah, pictured above with the actor William Holden.

Famed Hollywood director Sam Peckinpah, known as "Bloody Sam" for his violent films of the 1960s and 1970s, died twenty five years ago today, on December 28, 1984. Perhaps his most famous work is 1969's The Wild Bunch, featuring William Holden and Ernest Borgnine in one of the best representatives of the revisionist Western genre. If you've not seen it, do so promptly. Other stellar works include 1975's "The Killer Elite," 1973's "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid," and the disturbing 1971 film, "Straw Dogs." Most of his work is on DVD, and some, including The Wild Bunch, is now on Blu-Ray. He would not live to see how much of an influence he had on Quentin Tarantino, whose first heist film was released eight years after Peckinpah's death. Tarantino's rise to fame in the early 1990s brought Peckinpah's work to a new generation of eyes, including many who are now making films themselves. Rest in Peace.

The Peoples is Peoples Speech (The Muppets Take Manhattan, 1984)

"Hey. I tell you what is. Big city, hmm? Live. Work, huh? But. Is not city open. Only peoples. Peoples is peoples. No is buildings. Is tomatoes, huh? Is peoples, is dancing, is music, is potatoes. So, peoples is peoples. Okay?" - Pete (Louis Zorich), a Manhattan restaurateur, to Kermit the Frog, offering perhaps the best statement of life wisdom depicted in cinema, in The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984).

In the film, a misfit band of Muppets descend upon Manhattan seeking fame and fortune on Broadway. They do not find instant success, and their dreams of stardom give way to the reality of daily living in a major metropolitan center. Kermit eventually finds himself working in a local diner run by Pete and his daughter, Jenny (Juliana Donald). Kermit inevitably turns to Pete and Jenny, denizens of the big city, for advice on his newfound life dilemma in New York City.

As a culture, we learn so very much about ourselves and our everyday actions from the movies. We order our first drink at a bar in the fashion we have seen in a film. We learn appropriate (and inappropriate) dating behavior from the movies. And yes, we acquire bits of life wisdom from the medium, including the "Peoples is Peoples" speech delivered by Pete the restaurateur. Can there be any more wise monologue in the history of cinema? (This is not the first blog to extol the speech's virtues, either, as you can see here and here and here).

Kermit's reply: "Yeah. Thanks. That helped a lot." Indeed.

Zorich, the actor who portrayed Pete, will turn 84 this coming February. He went on to play the father of Paul Reiser's character in his 1990s sitcom, "Mad about You" and has been married to the actress Olympia Dukakis since 1962. Donald has mostly appeared in cameos on television programs in the last two and a half decades, including the various Star Trek series.