I’ve been following Denzel Washington since his St. Elsewhere days, and I honestly can’t think off the top of my head of a bad film he’s been in.
That said, The Manchurian Candidate worries me.
Not that I think it will be a bad film, mind you — it’s got a great cast, and the trailer looks like a great action/suspense/conspiracy flick.
It’s just that I have a great deal of admiration for the original 1962 flick, and it looks like the new one is less of a remake than a reimagining of the whole premise, with Marco as a lone conspiracy nut (rather than someone eventually working within the system), Shaw as the VP candidate (rather than his stepson), Manchurian referring to a conglomerate (rather than, well, a part of China).
And, frankly, any Manchurian Candidate that’s missing the Queen of Diamonds is sort of like a Star Wars remake without the Wookiee.
I’m sure it will be a good movie, and there may be some plot twists that aren’t yet clear (I can think of a couple offhand). Meryl Streep will be hard-pressed to match Angela Lansbury‘s Oscar-nominated performance, but I have faith in her. And, like I said, Denzel Washington basically rocks. I just sort of wish they’d decided to make a “new” movie that some folks accused of “ripping off” the original, than make something that purports to be a remake of the original while taking such liberties with it.
Though, of course, then you’d have to wonder why they’d remake it at all. 🙂
I saw an interview with Nancy Sinatra today and she basically said that her father always thought the original wasn’t allowed to go far enough due to political climate etc. He always wanted it to be remade. She thinks that this movie is very well done and her father would have approved. Don’t know if that is worth anything, but I found it interesting.
That is interesting (esp. since Frank kept the movie off the market for years after the JFK assassination). Sinatra did an excellent job in the original.
Of course, Christina Sinatra, her sister, is listed as a producer, too.
Last night I saw adds that the original was going to be aired on channel 6 this coming saturday at 8:00 for those that will be home.
Or someone can just borrow the DVD from me …
Hmmm. Seems to me I have a “free” evening tonight. Should be just the right background for doing espionage campaign prep.
So…
Who’ll end up with the red Queens?
Dylan would be the best candidate, with all of his issues and stuff.
“Calvin, why don’t you launch a game of solitaire …?”