Tuesday, March 02, 2010

The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009)

8 comments:

Imposs1904 said...

Very slick. Not nearly as bad as I was expecting it to be . . . but please don't come back and claim I recommended it to you.

Only checked it out because of this old post. (Scroll down to bullet point 4 . . . clicking all the links as you go.)

mikeovswinton said...

We've been here before. It has to be the original. With the jazz score that was done according to Schoenbergian block principles. So that ueberMarxist and snob Adorno could listen to it, enjoy and be true to his so-called principles. And with Walter Mathau shredding the principles of political correctness. And Robert Shaw, author of novels on Conrad Noel's Christian Socialism, who cam from Chequerbent (that's pronounced Chowbent for those from outside God's Own County). And need I go on? Its one of the best films ever and the remake has Travolta. Do you get these films from Netflix free? They would have to pay me to watch this one.....

Imposs1904 said...

Hey, I clearly stated above that I'm not recommending it but it was a bit of a surprise that the remake was not the train crash (groan) that I was expecting.

And of course it was never going to come anywhere near the original - and I'm not even referring to the muso ponderings over the soundtrack - but you have to see my point of view: if part of a film is literally filmed on your doorstep, you've got to check it out.

It's for that very same reason that I will eventually get round to seeing this film as well . . . even though it has been universally slated and hated.

I won't have the same excuse for Tony Scott's ((shudder)) current remake of The Warriors.

mikeovswinton said...

Well OK, but on that basis watch the Jude Law "Sherlock Holmes" which was partially filmed in the N4 area of Manchester (the Lower East Side has been called New York's equivalent of the Northern Quarter- or was it the other way around?) about 150 yards from where I live. The nice ladies who run Drip coffee bar cleaned up from that episode I believe. And good luck to them. Have you seen it and if so is it any good?

Remakes can be good, though. Take Duffy's "Mercy" and check the remake by the soul band from Sarf London whose name escapes me. Or, for that matter take Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" and then listen to the stellar version put out by Tavistock's finest Rumble Strips. Ronson and Winehouse both said the Rumbles did it better.

mikeovswinton said...

Or for that matter take Mayer Hawthorne's "A strange arrangement", shut your eyes and tell me you don't think that you are hearing a remake of the good stuff that Curtis Mayfield did? ("The Ills" is what Mayfield would have sung about New Orleans, isn't it? And "Maybe so, maybe no" just makes me want to smile every time them horns slide in.)

Imposs1904 said...

You couldn't even bring yourself to mention Guy Ritchie's name, could you?

Not seen it. Torn between being usually charmed by Downey Junior perfomances and professionally hating that irritating Mockney Mucker Ritchie. If it turns up on Netflix Instant Watch, I might check it out. Otherwise, I'll leave it.

On the subject of remakes, I have a theory that is so blindingly simple that it tiptoes between genius and banality.

If you see the remake first or hear the cover version first and you like it (you don't even have to love it), eight times out of time you'll prefer it to the original. Doesn't matter if the original is bona fide genius, you'll - eight times out of ten - hanker after the 'tribute'/'cash in'/'rip off'/'reinterpretation' (delete as appropriate).

Now, if I could only get the funding (and an extra 95 IQ points), I could knock that half-arsed theory into the shape of something resembling a PhD . . . or at least a blog post that goes beyond four paragraphs.

mikeovswinton said...

Could be right with that theory. What intrigues me most is actually the situation when you don't know which is the remake and which is the original and they are so different they are almost like two different pieces of work. And you like them both. Example; "It'll never be over for me" by Timi Yuro and Thee Midniters. Check em both on youtube. I think Thee Midniters were first. Then Baby Washington did a cover. Then Timi Yuro did a cover of Baby Washington but in a rather different style.
And no, I couldn't bring myself to mention - what was he called? Even if he did buy loads of lattes from my mates in Drip.

mikeovswinton said...

BTW Its The Third Degree who do the cover of Mercy. Check out the youtube video; "the best band in the world". A bit OTT. A bit, but they are good.