To suck or not to suck, that is the question. What do you think of remakes? Alex J. Cavanaugh and Heather M. Gardner are hosting today's blogfest about great remakes. Movies, television, music, and books, the choice is yours. Click HERE to join.
1. My favorite movie remake:
In 1982, The Thing was released and gave audiences the perfect blend of an intriguing story, genuine terror, and nightmare-inducing gore. This movie is a remake of a 1951 film titled The Thing from Another World and has since been remade again in 2011.
In John Carpenter's 1982 masterpiece, a shape-shifting alien invades a remote Antartcic research station initially in the form of a Alaskan malamute. This is one case where taking in a stray is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea. If you're a fan of Alien, you'll love The Thing.
If that poster looks familiar, you may have been watching Stranger Things as it's included in the decor of Mike's basement.
2. My favorite book remake:
This dark tale of good vs. evil has a longer remake history than I thought. It started as a short story called Night Surf in which the accidental release of a biological warfare strain of the flu kills off over 99% of the population.
The novel The Stand was first published in 1978 in hardback with a 1980 setting. The 1980 paperback version updated the setting to 1985. A longer version of the book (1152 pages, King's longest published novel) containing new characters and expanded scenes was released in 1990, setting 1990. There was also a TV miniseries released in 1994 and a series of comic books in 2008.
The TV show is okay, but my favorite remake is the 1990 long version of the book. If you're into dystopian literature, don't let the length intimidate you. The characters, the storyline, everything is well worth your time.
Is it just me, or is Mad Max's stepbrother Billy from Stranger Things 2 a remake of the character The Kid?
3. My favorite song remake:
This was the hardest category to pick a favorite, so I decided to go with the song that I loved as the original as much as the remake. Killing Me Softly was first released by Roberta Flack in 1973, and The Fugees remake was released in 1994. I got to see Roberta Flack sing this song in concert and she had high praise for the Fugees's version.
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Anyone wonder why Alex and Heather picked remakes as a Blogfest topic? Who thinks they may be contemplating a remake of one of their books? Plus, Stranger Things seems to be a remake/fusion of a number of 80s films including The Thing, E.T., Firestarter, and Poltergeist to name a few. Are you a Stranger Things fan?
Blogger note: I will take a short hiatus from Friday's Celebrate The Small Things for the rest of November and will blog again for the IWSG on December 6. Happy Thanksgiving!
Some remakes are good yet other remakes just doesn't hit the mark.
ReplyDeleteI never knew The Stand had such a complicated origin.
ReplyDeleteI was so close to spotlighting The Fugees remake, but it didn't come up in my random number generator.
Love Stranger Things.
I saw the remake of Thing but not the first one. I'm not really into that type of movie but it was good.
ReplyDeleteI love all music by Roberta Flack and Lauren Hill did an amazing job with this song!
ReplyDeleteNow I really want to re-watch the THE THING (1982) - it was so, so good. :)
ReplyDeleteThe Thing! My choice as well.
ReplyDeleteI've not read The Stand but I did enjoy the mini series. If I ever do read the book, I'll try the long version.
Thanks for participating the in blogfest!
And yes, big fan of Stranger Things.
I enjoyed both book and the mini series versions of the Stand, but man that extended book version was long. I don't think I could get through that today.
ReplyDeleteI'm not into horror--books or flicks. Some remakes are better than the originals.
ReplyDeleteThe Stand (the long version) is one of my favorite books of all time. The Thing is a great choice for the remakes, and yes, I'm a huge fan of Stranger Things. Loved the second season!
ReplyDeleteI've heard the long version of The Stand is excellent.
ReplyDeleteKilling me softly is one of my all-time favourite songs and Stephen King is a favourite author. Great choices.
ReplyDeleteThe Thing sure is getting lots of love today. Winner indeed.
ReplyDeleteI recall really enjoying the television miniseries version of "The Stand." I read the book after, but it was difficult for me to get through. (It was the unabridged version, stolen from my dad's bookshelf.)
ReplyDeleteYou chose The Thing, too! Like minds. :-)
ReplyDeleteI did like the Fugees version of "Killing Me Softly" well enough that I later bought Lauryn Hill's first solo venture which was pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI see you and Alex both picked The Thing. Good choice. Makes me want to see the remake again.
Somewhere in my vast collection of books strewn about my house, I have a hardback copy of The Stand that I've never read and I don't think anyone has ever even opened. I keep thinking to read it, but it's so darn long! Eventually I guess.
Lee
Tossing It Out
I've read parts of The Stand. I had no idea which version it was, though. I did see the miniseries. I thought I had read they were planning on remaking that at some point, too.
ReplyDeleteno idea why they did a remakes blogfest, but i'm glad they did. it was a good way to get me back into blogging.
ReplyDeleteI never read The Stand and never watched the series because I hate to watch things before reading them first.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing The Thing as a kid and was most disturbed about the dog. Somehow, I knew the human deaths had to be faked, but worried the dog was real. (At least I think it was The Thing...if I'm wrong, then I am thinking of a different movie and sounding like a fool!)
Nope, there was a beautiful dog in the story that turned into an alien.
DeleteThe Thing sure spooked the hell out of me. The creature was out of this world and took folks by surprise. One of my favorite reads is Kim Stanley Robinsons Red Mars
ReplyDeleteThese are excellent choices! I had the Fugees cover as one of my songs as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you for joining our blogfest today!!!
Heather
Everyone is loving The Thing remake!
ReplyDeleteI love that remake of Killing Me Softly as well - such a pretty version :)
ReplyDeleteThe Thing was never my thing as I said on two other blogs, but did enjoyed Stephen King's The Stand. Had not heard that version of the song Killing Me Softly but now the old 70's version is playing in my head ROFL thank you.
ReplyDeleteThe Fugees version of "Killing Me Softly" is quite different from the original. Sometimes a remake has to take the work in a completely different direction so we react differently to it.
ReplyDeleteTo suck or not to suck, that is the question. Ha! :)
ReplyDeleteGood pick on the song. I don't think anyone can top Roberta Flack singing it. I bet she did a great job in concert.
And major kudos for taking care of homeless cats.
Good choices! Kind of late...but finally got a post up. My link didn't work for some reason...darn.
ReplyDeleteYou're the 2nd The Thing I've seen thus far today.
ReplyDeleteI am a fan of Stranger Things, and I liked the movie The Thing with the young Kurt Russell.
ReplyDeleteCrud, I need to figure out which version of The Stand I read. Half of my King books are the older ones, but half aren't. Hm. Also, love the Fugees version of Killing Me Softly. And I posted about The Thing, too, so obviously we agree there.
ReplyDeleteI totally LOVE The Stand (and Stranger Things) and had no idea it started out as a short story, or that they kept changing the timeframe in subsequent releases.
ReplyDeleteAs much of a Stephen King fan as I am, I often feel his editors should be a bit more discerning, so I didn't bother getting the extended version of The Stand. I figured the original was long enough.
The Thing is great too. Very creepy movie, and again, I had no idea it was a remake.
The Thing is one of my Top Ten movies of all time. The Stand was awesome loved all the cameo appearances like Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
ReplyDeleteGood choice of the movie The Thing! Definitely one of the good ones!
ReplyDeleteI've never read the Stand but being a Stephen King book, I already know that it'd be amazing!
http://tropicalcolours.blogspot.com.au/
Oh, man... The Stand. I love that series SO incredibly much. The book. The Movie. The Comic. They're all so GOOD!
ReplyDeleteI must be too conservative as I don’t care much for remakes!
ReplyDeleteSTRANGER THINGS!!!! =) We binge watched the whole second season. It wasn't as awesome as the first, but the last three episodes were pretty great.
ReplyDeleteWe watched the The Stand TV series. It was pretty good, but I never read the book. Not a huge Stephen King fan. *shrugs* Different strokes for different folks, eh?
Yes! I did notice that poster in Stranger Things! I've been wanting my kids to see the 1982 movie, but they're too chicken. I didn't know that was actually a remake! I'll have to see if they can handle the original...hahaha.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read it or seen it. It does have an interesting origin, though.
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