LonesomePolecat Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 It's true that movies are mostly about The Human Condition which, of course, never changes. And although many movies still ring true today, and some don't at all, I'm wondering about the ones whose topics are so relevant you wonder if the filmmakers had a time machine and made them just for us. For example, THE FORTUNE COOKIE: A guy fakes an injury to win a lot of money in a lawsuit. Oh, and it's the lawyer's idea. Sounds familiar! In a more recent but still classic film (35 years old), you have a major custody battle between recent divorcees in KRAMER VS KRAMER: Just two examples. How about y'all? Ever see a classic that could have been made today (in terms of topic of course--most of the actors are dead now )? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedracer5 Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 I think Double Indemnity could be made today. Man and woman scheme to kill woman's husband (while making it look like an accident) and run away together with the insurance money that they'll receive via the "double indemnity" clause in the insurance policy just recently purchased by the husband. I also think The Lost Weekend could be made. I would think the experiences that someone with a severe case of alcoholism would go through probably don't vary, no matter what decade it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casablanca100views Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 The Four Feathers - today it may have end up on PBS. Oh, you mean current story? The challenge is, so much of what drives plot are letters, notes, things that make reveals more problematic these days. Could you imagine The Letter being retold as The Text Message ? Meet John Doe actually could be a terrific update. A number of men have taken to dropping out and permanent camping, and his popularity could be spread via social media. I am on it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 The challenge is, so much of what drives plot are letters, notes, things that make reveals more problematic these days. Could you imagine The Letter being retold as The Text Message ? Good point. In THE RECKLESS MOMENT (a very good movie released in 1949 I discovered on TCM a couple of years ago), Joan Bennett plays a mother being blackmailed over letters her daughter had written to her (the daughter's) dead lover. In the equally good THE DEEP END (2001), adapted from the same novel as THE RECKLESS MOMENT, Tilda Swinton plays a mother being blackmailed over a video of her son having sex with his lover. In both movies the mother mistakenly believes that her child has committed murder or manslaughter and a strange bond develops between the mother and the blackmailer. THE RECKLESS MOMENT (1949) THE DEEP END (2001) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dargo Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 I also think The Lost Weekend could be made. I would think the experiences that someone with a severe case of alcoholism would go through probably don't vary, no matter what decade it is. Speedy, I thought they pretty much did with this one, and in fact the guy who played the alcoholic in it won the Best Actor Oscar for his role and just like Ray Milland did for his portrayal of a guy with the similar affliction back in '45. (...and of course I'm talkin' about Nicolas Cage in 1995's "Leaving Las Vegas") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thomasterryjr Posted August 15, 2014 Share Posted August 15, 2014 I think the 1940 Walt Disney film, "Fantasia", could be made today. The computer programmers/ animators, would have a field day generating a three hour psychedelic type of film which still holds true to the original 1940 story of the best of western classical music, but add some jazz standards and some rock and roll music. The updated film could draw attention from demographics ranging from age 12 to 54. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamradio Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 It's true that movies are mostly about The Human Condition which, of course, never changes. And although many movies still ring true today, and some don't at all, I'm wondering about the ones whose topics are so relevant you wonder if the filmmakers had a time machine and made them just for us. For example, THE FORTUNE COOKIE: A guy fakes an injury to win a lot of money in a lawsuit. Oh, and it's the lawyer's idea. Sounds familiar! In a more recent but still classic film (35 years old), you have a major custody battle between recent divorcees in KRAMER VS KRAMER: Just two examples. How about y'all? Ever see a classic that could have been made today (in terms of topic of course--most of the actors are dead now )? Some are made today...it's called a remake. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joefilmone Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Disney did an updated "Fantasia" in 1999- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM108 Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Could you imagine The Letter being retold as The Text Message ? I love it! Just think of how many thousands of pre-1995 screenplays would have been aborted if cell phones had been around. My wife and I got around to watching Jean Moreau's The Lovers this afternoon, and each of us noted that there's but one more movie whose plot would've been impossible today, given that Moreau would have nipped the entire second half of the movie in the bud by w h i p p i n g out her cell phone when her car broke down, and called to warn Maggy and Raoul not to get to her house before she did. Her then-unrealized lover Bernard would've gone on his way, never to see her again, and her husband probably would have eventually killed everyone but Moreau's daughter in a fit of jealousy and rage, thus satisfying our local law enforcement officials' sense of decency and sparing that Ohio theater manager from the ignominy of arrest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrroberts Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Anyone up for A FACE IN THE CROWD ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 My wife and I got around to watching Jean Moreau's The Lovers this afternoon, and each of us noted that there's but one more movie whose plot would've been impossible today, given that Moreau would have nipped the entire second half of the movie in the bud by w h i p p i n g out her cell phone when her car broke down, and called to warn Maggy and Raoul not to get to her house before she did. Often the "no signal" complication is used in movies today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joefilmone Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 "A Face in the Crowd" predicted the media world we live in today... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casablanca100views Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Speedy, I thought they pretty much did with this one, and in fact the guy who played the alcoholic in it won the Best Actor Oscar for his role and just like Ray Milland did for his portrayal of a guy with the similar affliction back in '45. (...and of course I'm talkin' about Nicolas Cage in 1995's "Leaving Las Vegas") Watching the Wolf of Wall Street, you see how it starts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casablanca100views Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Good point. In THE RECKLESS MOMENT (a very good movie released in 1949 I discovered on TCM a couple of years ago), Joan Bennett plays a mother being blackmailed over letters her daughter had written to her (the daughter's) dead lover. In the equally good THE DEEP END (2001), adapted from the same novel as THE RECKLESS MOMENT, Tilda Swinton plays a mother being blackmailed over a video of her son having sex with his lover. In both movies the mother mistakenly believes that her child has committed murder or manslaughter and a strange bond develops between the mother and the blackmailer. THE RECKLESS MOMENT (1949) THE DEEP END (2001) Yeah, talk about upping the ante. I swear to god, someone's going to turn this situation into a reality series--or have they already? I don't watch them, so I wouldn't know. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonesomePolecat Posted August 18, 2014 Author Share Posted August 18, 2014 Well, a couple of you got what I meant, which was movies whose stories are incredibly relevant to the world we currently live in. Didn't mean to start a thread on remakes. (oops) But the remake tangent brought on the interesting point that cell phones ruin a lot of classic film plots ("Romeo- playing dead, OMG! LOL! --Jules). CALL NORTHSIDE 777 is one where they have to wait hours and hours for a photo to be enlarged. Now you just pinch the screen and, bam, it's enlarged. Inserting Ninja emoticon for no reason: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I tried watching CHINATOWN last night (or whenever) and I found it to be very boring, with a lot of silly segments, such as Jack Nicholson going around without a gun, and all that daughter/sister nonsense at the end. That was just thrown in for sensationalism because the movie didn’t have a basic good story. Who cares about “crooks stealing water” or “crooks buying cheap real estate, using inside information”?? This was supposed to be a “new” film noir in the 1940s style, but it wasn’t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I tried watching CHINATOWN last night (or whenever) and I found it to be very boring, with a lot of silly segments, such as Jack Nicholson going around without a gun, and all that daughter/sister nonsense at the end. That was just thrown in for sensationalism because the movie didn’t have a basic good story. Who cares about “crooks stealing water” or “crooks buying cheap real estate, using inside information”?? This was supposed to be a “new” film noir in the 1940s style, but it wasn’t. The whole "water theft" premise, I always found a bit lame. It was more than a mcguffin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 The whole "water theft" premise, I always found a bit lame. It was more than a mcguffin. HnnnH! Come around Detroit these days and find out how big a DEAL the "water business" can be... Sepiatone 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 The whole "water theft" premise, I always found a bit lame. It was more than a mcguffin. Things like that go on all the time, in one way or another, in nearly every city, and sometimes there are murders or "mysterious accidents" involved. Now, THE BIG SLEEP, that is a great story, even though it doesn't make much sense. I've been watching it over and over again for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 The whole "water theft" premise, I always found a bit lame. It was more than a mcguffin. You must be very unaware of So Cal history as it relates to water especially the Owen's Valley. It clearly was NO mcguffin. It wasn't back than and it isn't today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoldenIsHere Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 You must be very unaware of So Cal history as it relates to water espeically the Owen's Valley. It clearly was NO mcguffin. It wasn't back than and it isn't today. Yes, people who have moved here (here meaning my neck of the woods) from southern California are vey conscious about what they see as our negligence with regard to water use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DownGoesFrazier Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 You must be very unaware of So Cal history as it relates to water especially the Owen's Valley. It clearly was NO mcguffin. It wasn't back than and it isn't today. I am not unaware of it. I lived in LA for several years. Importance does not always translate into a fascinating screen topic. Splitting the atom was important. I don't recall filmmakers fighting each other to make a film about splitting the atom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesJazGuitar Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 I am not unaware of it. I lived in LA for several years. Importance does not always translate into a fascinating screen topic. Splitting the atom was important. I don't recall filmmakers fighting each other to make a film about splitting the atom. Water is the most important element to life. So to me it is a very fascinating screen topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkblue Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 The movie was made a much more original work because of being about corruption in the water industry. If they were to remake it today and bring the period forward it'd probably be about (yawn) drugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FredCDobbs Posted August 18, 2014 Share Posted August 18, 2014 Maybe someone can tell me why salt water from the Pacific Ocean was pumped all the way up hill to the Water Commissioner's garden, and then allowed to ruin the grass in such an obvious manner that the Asian gardener noticed it, and then allowed to flow back down to the Ocean?? And then why was some guy's body dumped in his own salt-water garden channel/pond, and then washed down to the Pacific Ocean? That seems like an odd way to get rid of a body. I've lived in The Valley, and I found the film really stupid. I mean THE Valley, the same place the film was about. I think DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS, a neo-noir about LA in the 1940s, was MUCH better. This film was so good, I identified with Denzel Washington, and I felt like I was a black guy trying to keep from being murdered by white L.A. politicians, cops, crooks, etc. When a film can induce me into changing my race while I watch it, and boo all the white guys, it's usually a pretty good film. And look at all these old cars. This is much better than Chinatown because the film looks like it was made in the 1940s. Chinatown does not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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