Remakes We Don’t Need, Installment #37,094.
Everyone is now likely aware that Keanu Reeves is playing Klaatu in the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, but are they up to date on the fact no one wants this film to exist? I mean, I’m sure that the director of The Exorcism of Emily Rose is the right man to step in Robert Wise’s shoes but [stood] still…
It’s not the kind of sci-fi classic that lends itself to a modern audience, unlike War of the Worlds. The Day the Earth Stood Still is a great Cold War product and turning it into an ecological message flick seems a little too easy and if the boys at AICN are correct about Klaatu’s “pet” alien Gort being some sort of dog we’re in for something that may make us long for Devlin/Emmerich. Or the dude that did Galaxy of Terror.
Speaking of Harry and company, they’ve tossed up a teaser poster for the film that the logo above is sampled from. To see it and gain absolutely no new excitement for the film, CLICK HERE.
Jon Hamm (of Mad Men fame) is in this, which means I’ll have to watch it. The guy’s a terrific actor and his look and demeanor would have made this film more interesting if it were a period piece. It’s not a period piece however, unless you watch the film in fifty years. Hamm is joined by Jennifer Connelly, Reeves, John Cleese, and Kathy Bates (whose About Schmidt nakedness still haunts my awake and asleep dreams). But it’s not a period piece. It takes place now, at a time when mankind is really putting the screws to nature and it’s high time we got a “tsk tsk” from outer space.
Speaking of period films, Carrie.
I hope this doesn’t conflict with the rock epic I’m co-writing with David Crosby & Graham Nash, The Day the Earth Couldn’t Stand Stills.