To Remake or Not to Remake

That is the question. A friend on a totally unrelated channel (some whimsical fad site called Facebook) complained recently that "they" were doing a remake of True Grit, the classic John Wayne western. Said friend and his armada of cohorts suggested that only The Duke is The Duke, and that this movie (and by implication ALL John Wayne movies) should definitely not be remade. Since I abhor controversy, I quietly stepped away from the thread. (lie lie lie)

The whole "discussion" did get me thinking, though, about what is and is not a good remake, and just what is it that makes a science fiction movie a good candidate for a remake? I had to ask myself: are the rules any different? Are there any of my favorites that I would cringe to see redone? Would someone want to or dare to remake Fritz Lang's 1927 classic Metropolis (pictured here)?

These questions required raw data for further analysis. Yes, I am afraid that it just begged for yet another list, the D. E. Helbling Top Ten Favorite Science Fiction Movies List, of course! That list is, in order from Mostest Loved:

• Deep Impact (1998) (IMDb)
• Independance Day (1996) (IMDb)
• When Worlds Collide (1951) (IMDb)
• Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home (1986) (SEQUEL) (IMDb)
• Star Trek: First Contact (1996) (SEQUEL) (IMDb)
• The Matrix (1999) (IMDb)
• Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) (IMDb)
• Soylent Green (1973) (IMDb)
• War of the Worlds (2005) (REMAKE) (IMDb)
• Minority Report (2002) (IMDb)

"What!?" You ask: "Where is Star Wars?" Oh, now what? Now you are demanding more DATA to support my guidelines? The list is not long enough to impart great wisdom on the proper science behind making science fiction remakes? Dang you all to purgatory ... you are forcing me to cough up more information just to prove my point. OK, OK, here is the rest of what now constitutes The D. E. Helbling Top Twenty Five Favorite Science Fiction Movies List:

• Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) (IMDb)
• The X-Files (the movie) (1998) (IMDb)
• The Omega Man (REMAKE) (1971) (IMDb) (Original: 1964's "Last Man on Earth" starring Vincent Price)
• Outland (1981) (IMDb)
• Johny Mnemonic (1995) (IMDB)
• Dr. Strangelove (1964) (IMDb)
• Men in Black (1997) (IMDb)
• Jurarassic Park (1993) (IMDb)
• The Postman (1997) (IMDb)
• The Man in the White Suit (1951) (IMDB)
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954) (REMAKE) (IMDb) (Original : apparently 1905's version, with several other remakes before and after)
• War of the Worlds (2005) (REMAKE) (IMDb) (Original: 1953's version, all of them of course derivative of the radio play version)
• Altered States (1980) (IMDb)
• This Island Earth (1955) (IMDb)
• 2010 (1984) (SEQUEL) (IMDb)

Now before you flame me on the content of the list, remember I did not say these were The Best. They are my Favorites. This is indisputable, and subject to change on a sometimes hourly basis. How does this play into the whole to "To Remake or Not to Remake?" question? Thanks, straight man on the sidelines, for asking. Let's assume for the moment that the reason a movie studio would do a remake is to make money. This will be the Business Motivation. But what about the the actual moviegoer, the science fiction fan? Do the producers and studios care? Surely some do. There are many such film projects where the love shines through. Assuming all the business and marketing concerns were already assessed, here are some reasons why I imagine Hollywood movie producers might go for a remake and presume the fans will come along for the ride:

1. The original movie has a really good story, but is largely unknown to current (under 30 years old) audiences, barring uber-nerd science fiction movie historian types, so it would seem new to these current ticket buyers. And we would not have to come up with a new idea!


2. The original movie was quite popular, even successful. With a cast of recognizable faces, backed by more current special effects technology, this cow could be milked again. And we would not have to come up with a new idea!


3. The original movie sucked quite badly, but it made a few bucks. With a cast of recognizable faces, backed by more current special effects technology, this cow could be milked again. And we would not have to come up with a new idea!


4. Few people heard of and no one cared about the original movie, but with a cast of cheap actors and a few cheesy effects, this cow might be milked more successfully this time around, even if it goes straight to video and cable TV. And we would not have to come up with a new idea!


5. The original movie was great over in Finland/Serbia/UK/Australia/Russia (insert favorite film-producing non-US country name here), and with some recognizable faces and some quantity of effects, we can make it seem like we did it first. And we would not have to come up with a new idea!

Sensing a theme? Let's hope you are not lactose intolerant, cuz yes, it sure tastes like there is a whole lotta milkin' goin' on. Sorry, no seriously harsh intent here. I sincerely love most of the new movies that are coming out. From my list of faves above, you can see there are number of remakes and sequels in the lot. So I am not by any means Remake Hostile. I am particularly interested in seeing certain movies remade, with fresh cast, with updated PC-ness or lack of PC-ness, with better effects. In a few cases, I have found previous remakes to be vastly superior to the originals, but never because of the effects ... usually because the script updates and the actors made the story more relevant or more real to me than the originals. So, what are my go-nogo rules for remakes?

1. If the original movie was done in the last twenty five years, or any direct sequels were done in the last twenty five years, wait another five years and ask the the questions again ... OR ... make another sequel .... OR ... make a prequel.


2. If the original movie sucked, but the story was good, do the remake!


3. If the original movie was good, but the story sucked, do the remake!


4. If the original movie sucked and the story sucked, do NOT do the remake unless you need a financial loss project for tax purposes.(How else can you explain The Langoliers ?)


5. If the original movie was good or bad or indifferent and the story was or was not good, but the project keeps my favorite actors, writers, and producers employed (sorry, that's another list for another day), do the remake!

Given these criteria, which of the above list are actually eligible for remakes? Only these:

• When Worlds Collide *
• Earth vs. the Flying Saucers
• Soylent Green *
• Outland *
• Dr. Strangelove
• This Island Earth
• The Man in the White Suit
• Altered States

A perhaps interesting coincidence ... IMDb suggests that at least a few of them (see *) actually have a remake "in development". Even Metropolis appears to have one such movie bun in the studio oven. Since I have no IMDb Pro account, I cannot see the details on these movies of the future, but I can certainly look forward to them, with anticipation, anxiety, and perhaps a bit of outright terror. Or not.

This whole dissection process had me scratching my head, trying to see patterns where there were none, to sort out the chaos where there were too many patterns. Then I went back and read the original thread on that Facebook fad website page thingee ... and I finally got it. They didn't care about the movie True Grit per se ... they objected to the idea of someone else playing a character that they so firmly pictured in their minds, a character they had come to love, as he was portrayed by The Duke.

Now it all made sense.

I tried to picture Dr. Strangelove without Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Slim Pickens, James Earl Jones. Even if I did substitute a Jeff Bridges, a Matt Damon, a Josh Brolin, all of whom I thoroughly enjoy as actors (and all of whom are in the new True Grit), I could not imagine them replacing Peter Sellers' Captain Mandrake, or his President Muffley, or his Dr. Strangelove. Same for George C. Scott's General 'Buck' Turgidson, Slim Pickens' Major Kong, or James Earl Jones' Lieutenant Zogg. And who other than Stirling Hayden could so aptly convey General Jack Ripper's keen obsession with "vital fluids"?

I will have to face this same struggle with any remakes of When Worlds Collide, as I cannot easily picture a more suave, yet sincere David Randall than the one delivered by Richard Derr. And Barbara Rush as Joyce Hendron ... no, there cannot be another! Someday, when I am older and greyer and more round, I will be bemoaning the replacement of Will Smith, Tom Cruise, and Keanu Reeves, because it is actors who bring our wonderful science fiction characters to life. It is actors who make the just OK stories interesting and the great stories unforgettable. But that doesn't make the remakes bad. Every generation can and should lay claim to their own list of Favorites.

Someday my children and my grandchildren will, if all is right with the world, form their own lasting, unerasable memories of outstanding acting portrayals in future remakes of remakes of truly awesome science fiction movies, including Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and yes, even Star Wars.

May we all live long enough to see 'em ...

- D. E. Helbling

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Fantastical coastal scenes, fantastical shows coming

We've just returned from a lovely vacation in Pt. Arena. It rained off and on the whole time we were there, but it's so much more dramatic and scenic at the ocean when it storms: the crashing waves, the waving cedars, the circling gulls. Some of the things we witness were a bit fantastic. Don't these things look alien? They reminded us of Kolob & Sylvia from Star Trek's "Cat's Paw" episode.

Photo by Patrick Wilkes

Watch this video and see what you think.

On the way home I wasn't able to get my camera out fast enough for the bird cloud. They actually made three different shapes while we watched. One looked like shmoo. And then shmoo lost his head, then it went back into an ovoid. It was the biggest, most fantastically orchestrated one I've seen. I just wish I could have shared it with you all. But fear not, I found an even more impressive one to share with you.

Don't know what I mean by Shmoo? Here you go:

I'm excited about the new U.S. Being Human. I love the UK one and don't think this one will be better, but at least I can double my pleasure.

TNT is getting into the whole spec fic scene with a new Steven Spielberg series premiering in June of 2011. From the description of the show, Falling Skies sounds like fans of Jericho and Invasion got together and collaborated. I miss them both. The only problem here is the commercials. My nickname for TNT is Too Nany Tommercials. But for Stephen Spielberg, I can make an exception, especially since I can record it on the DVR and zap through them. For now they're building a web comic and have a journal written by one of the characters.

FALLING SKIES opens in the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has left most of the world completely incapacitated. In the six months since the initial invasion, the few survivors have banded together outside major cities to begin the difficult task of fighting back. Each day is a test of survival as citizen soldiers work to protect the people in their care while also engaging in an insurgency campaign called 2nd Mass against the occupying alien force.

Written by Paul Tobin and illustrated by Juan Ferreyra, the Falling Skies Web Comic will bridge the gap between the 12-page Falling Skies comic released at New York Comic Con. Be sure to check back every two weeks for a new chapter.

Paul Tobin is a writer from Portland, Oregon, who works on Marvel Comics titles such as Spider-Girl and Marvel Adventures: Spider-Man, among many others. In addition, Paul works for Dark Horse (Predators movie adaptation, Conan) and DC Comics, and has an upcoming graphic novel (Gingerbread Girl) from Top Shelf, created in collaboration with his wife, artist Colleen Coover. Paul is also very bald and works on novels.



Juan Ferreyra began drawing comics with Small Gods for Image, and then Emissary and Lazarus for Image's imprint Shadowline. He worked on Dark Horse's Rex Mundi while at the same time coloring Conan and the Midnight God and Solomon Kane: Death's Black Riders. Now he's working on a creator-owned book called La 6ème heure for French publisher Soleil. He lives in Argentina.



Andrew Dalhouse made his first appearance coloring comics with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre for Avatar Press. Andrew followed this macabre masterpiece with such books as Marvel Zombies: Evil Evolution, Lady Death, and Hack/Slash, to name but a few. Mr. Dalhouse's work currently can also be found in Disney's Darkwing Duck, Boom's The Incredibles, and Dark Horse Comics' The Occultist.



Nate Piekos, AKA Blambot, graduated with a BA in design from Rhode Island College. Since founding blambot.com, he has lettered comic books for Marvel, DC, Oni Press, and Dark Horse. Nate's designs have also been featured worldwide in print, on television, and in feature films.



For more information visit www.TNT.tv

Clausploitation - A Holiday Film Tradition Comes of Age

The idea is not new. Santa Claus in the midst of a violent cinematic adventure is a time honored tradition.

This 'Clausploitation' was forshadowed brilliantly in Richard Donner's 1988 classic Scrooged. In this movie, crazed (a.k.a. highly successful) TV exec Frank Cross, brought to vibrant life by Bill Murray, envisions the ultimate Santa Destruction flick, complete with a bullet riddled rescue by Lee Majors.

Since then we have had a number of films involving Santa in a less than peaceful setting, sometimes as the actual perpetrator of evil. A great example: the 2005 "Santa is really a demon who lost a bet" movie, Santa's Slay, a film just big enough to book Robert Culp, Fran Drescher, and Chris Kattan.

Then there is the victim twist ... the story where someone does something bad to Santa, trying to pull him out of the Christmas picture. Who did this better than Jack, the Pumpkin King, in The Nightmare Before Christmas? Timothy Burton's wonderfully stylistic movie had Santa all ready for destruction at the bug-formed hands of the monstrous Oogie Boogie, a character so sinister that he was apparently cloned later in the supernatural horror film (and personal favorite) Constantine.

So what does all this have to do with science fiction? Well, it seems we have a new entry on the Sad Santa roster this year, a movie with definite science fiction elements called Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale.

Warning ... mild SPOILERS, so stop reading now if you want to avoid them.

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Still with us? OK!

This Finnish export starts out with the discovery of a huge burial mound. With the usual arrogance and corporate greed, they go ahead and do the unthinkable: they dig it open.

Is this Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Preditor vs. Alien? Not quite. Here's the official STORY, from the English version of the movie's official website:

A film for those who think
they don't believe in Santa Claus anymore
In the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, 486 metres deep, lies the closest ever guarded secret of Christmas. The time has come to dig it up!

This Christmas everyone will believe in Santa Claus.

Based on award winning shorts of director Jalmari Helander that have already acquired a cult reputation in the internet.

Later in the story, a trio of characters arrive who's appearance in the trailers and posters remind me alternately of Larry, Darryl, and Darryl from the old Newhart show or of Jacob and Hank, the hapless Billy Bob Thornton and Bill Paxton brother characters from A Simple Plan. A hostage situation ensues. (end of spoilermania)

I have not actually seen this movie yet, but I love the premise and the trailers ... and the short films. And I am liking bigtime that the film is not a Hollywood project or even a US project, but rather a product of a whole 'nuther creative fountain, fed by the wellspring of funny, offbeat Internet-hosted short films. No offense to the US film industry intended ... it's just nice to see that our American fondness for creating twisted new spins on old tales is indeed a worldwide tradition.

I have just found out what the showtimes are for my city (click HERE, PDXers!). That, and I have a free "sorry our theater is broken" movie ticket left over from when the recent Harry Potter movie had 'projector issues' at the Regal Cinema up the street.

Now if I can just find someone to go with me ...

- D. E. Helbling

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The Evolutionary Void, speculative writing and reading, and ET

Busy, busy, busy! So busy that my two emails had more than 3K emails in the inboxes alone. And that doesn't even include the work email. Obviously, it's time to get off some mailing lists. I've had press releases and news tips piling up for Science Fiction and Other ODDysseys as well. I have preserved the best for you.

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If you're a writer, you know how important it is to find the right market for your blood, sweat and tears manuscript. That's where Duotrope comes in. It's an incredibly searchable database. You can set all your search parameters from pay scale to genre to word limits and more. Please slide on over and visit this impressive resource site and see what you can do to help. Without donations, some features may have to be subscription only. Read more on their donations page. Thanks goes to Julie Andrews (writer, not singer) for this heads-up.

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Also from Julie:

Applications are being accepted for the 2011 Clarion workshop in San Diego.

Clarion is an intensive writing boot camp for writers of fantasy and science fiction stories. Last year's writers in residence included John Scalzi, Elizabeth Bear and Kij Johnson. Eighteen promising students are selected each year. The workshop lasts six weeks, June 26 - August 6, 2011, and students and teachers stay on the UCSD campus.

Application period: December 1 - March 1.

Applicants must submit two short stories with their application.

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My review of Evolutionary Void by Peter F. Hamilton just posted over on Mostly Fiction. This is THE BEST series I've read for years. I love the Commonwealth universe and still miss it several months later. I interviewed him here after reviewing the second book in the series, The Temporal Void.

Here is an interview he did with MacMillan Books a couple of months ago.

And part two of the same interview:

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Kay Holt of Crossed Genres magazine shares the following:

#1 – Crossed Genres just released "A Festival of Skeletons" by Rachel Astruc. It's a darkly fantastic comedy that still makes me chuckle, even though I've read it several times now. Sure, I'm the editor, but if you like sass and suspense, I think you'll enjoy reading "A Festival of Skeletons".

#2 – Speaking of Crossed Genres, the magazine is currently accepting submissions for the sci-fi and fantasy TRAGEDY issue. The two new editors, Natania Barron and Jaym Gates, are excellent ladies and very Broad-friendly.

#3 – The Science in My Fiction blog is also seeking short story submissions. All stories must be inspired by actual science (please include links to relevant articles).

#4 – if you haven't discovered the Geek Mom blog yet, mosey on over. It's a cool place to be a geek and a gal.

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Latest UFO Sightings is one-stop reading for all that's new on the ET front.

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I have lots more reviews coming soon to SFOO, thanks to my great review team. I still review a few myself. Some books are just to yummy to pass up.

Raggedy Chan explores immigrant struggles through fable

RAGGEDY CHAN

Camille Picott/Joey Manfre

Pixiu Press (56 pages)

Review by Lyda Morehouse

Standing above them was a Jung-wu. Yao-chi had heard of these strange humans, but this was the first she had ever seen. The man had longish hair of white yarn. More white yarn sprouted from the tip of his chin. His flesh was woven cotton, his eyes stitched of black threat. He wore a red bow tie, blue jacket and red-and-white-striped pants.

‘I’m Raggedy Sam,’ said the Jung-wu. ‘Welcome to America…’”

The story of Raggedy Chan follows the adventures of a Chinese princess as she journeys to America to find the rain dragon which was stolen from her homeland. The events of Raggedy Chan’s tale are actually told to a preschool-aged girl, Emma, by her auntie.

Fifth generation Chinese-American author Camille Picot has written an incredibly charming coming-to-America story in the style of a Chinese fable. The illustrations by Joey Manfre are beautiful, particularly those of dragons, and add an extra dimension to the story.

I admit that I resisted reading this book for a long time because it had too many words. I was expecting a graphic novel, but this is, in point of fact, an illustrated novella. Once I adjusted my expectations, however, I found myself swept up in this tale.

As I mention above, the fable is told as a frame story. Often I find myself less compelled by one or the other parts of a story like this, but I was impressed by how tightly interwoven these two stories are -- particularly at the end. This is a lovely book, and, though the audience is likely young adults/middle grade students, it works just as well for any adult interested in fairy tales that are Chinese, American, and a unique combination of both.

To learn more and purchase the book with or without matching Raggedy Chan doll or teacher study guides, visit the Pixiu Press website.