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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: GUEST,henry Date: 28 Aug 06 - 02:46 PM Its is amazing that folkies can discuss this film without anyone mentioning the fact that in the original film the young fiddler was a 19 year old Ian Cutler, one of our best fiddlers (UK). In spite of the passage of time he still looks just the same today - well, almost! He only appeared in the early scenes because he had to rush off to Essex to fulfil a gig in a ceilidh band. What would you do - a ceilidh or Britt Ekland ?? |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: fat B****rd Date: 28 Aug 06 - 03:11 PM AND.....Britt Ekland was in Get Carter AND The Wicker Man !!!!!!!!!!! |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Stu Date: 28 Aug 06 - 04:08 PM Thanks Dave's Wife. I thought as much. I have to say I think here in the UK we miss loads of great films becauase they are not English-speaking and for some reason that puts us off. Many people say they don't like subtitles but I think after a while you don't even realise you're reading them. Just think, no Motorcycle Diaries, Amile, Seventh Seal, all those Kurosawa flicks, Battle Royale, Autopsy . . . the list goes on and on of high quality films we miss at the pictures. My wife and I have started rooting them out on DVD. I thought the American remake of Ring was quite good, although I think it lost a great deal of the menace and unnerving atmosphere of the original - perhaps a little to smoothed out. Getting back to music, I didn't think the music in The Wicker Man was that bad - some of the Scottish accents were dodgy, but on the whole quite good. stigWeard |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: katlaughing Date: 28 Aug 06 - 04:28 PM These days, thanks to netflix, we watch more foreign films than American. We find them, usually, more intelligent, more interesting, and it's fun to hear the different languages/cultures. Also, we much prefer English/BBC shows to American shows on TV. (Watched a great Dalgleish last night!) |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Grab Date: 28 Aug 06 - 04:47 PM Have any of you mugs actually seen this film? Since it's not out yet, take a guess. ;-) How can you write a film off without seeing it? Well the original varies between thriller, movie video and soft-porn flick. Any attraction it has (and that's very little to me, I have to say) comes purely from the novelty value, and possibly from Britt Ekland in the buff, for male fans. You do anything twice, there's no novelty value. And Britt Ekland is unlikely to be stripping for this one. Maybe it could be remade as a standard thriller. Trouble is that there's been a zillion "rescue/escape-from-wacky-cult" made-for-TV or direct-to-video films already, so there's no originality there. Is it that Nicholas Cage is a Christian? I know that a lot of mudcatters are anti-christian zionists - frightening! Oh pur-leese! I bloody hope that was meant to be ironic and you forgot a smiley... Cage is a semi-competent actor, but nothing more. He's got the Harrison Ford or Tom Hanks "everyman" about him, but he's not as good as either of them (and Tom Hanks is no Olivier himself). Maybe he just hasn't had a film that required him to push himself and develop further, but from the trailers it doesn't look look this film is going to be the one to do it. Graham. |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: michaelr Date: 28 Aug 06 - 07:36 PM "I know that a lot of mudcatters are anti-christian zionists" News to me. I thought we were a bunch of anti-semitic socialists. |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Liz the Squeak Date: 29 Aug 06 - 05:44 PM I've read 'Cowboys for Christ'.. it's basically the same story as the Wicker Man but with cowboys. I may go to see the remake of the Wicker man... but I'm not going to be breaking any speed limits to get to my local cinema. LTS |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 29 Aug 06 - 06:02 PM the story is set in an isolated community that has a very long unbroken indiginous pagan tradition Maybe that was how it was in the book, but definitely not in the film, which makes it clear that the whole pagan thing on the island is a recent bit of English folk revivalism foisted on the Scottish locals by the landlord, with nothing to do with whatever indigenous pagan traditions might have existed previously. That's what made it all so daft. If you want to find seriously scary pagan community these days, I'd think that the States would be a much more plausible place to look than Scotland. I imagine that one reason for switching the action across the AStlantic might even have been to make it easier for filmgoers to believe in the story and find it scary. |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Susanne (skw) Date: 29 Aug 06 - 08:52 PM Found this interesting link: Record numbers attend Wickerman |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: katlaughing Date: 29 Aug 06 - 09:07 PM seriously scary pagan community these days is there such a thing? I've not heard of any, in the States, at least |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Effsee Date: 29 Aug 06 - 09:35 PM "The event featured a nine metre high wickerman made out of willow, which was set on fire at midnight." Hope there were no folkies inside! On the other hand, can think of a few who could fit!! |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Stu Date: 30 Aug 06 - 04:27 AM McGrath - I can't remember exactly how the idea the whole pagan thing was possibly orchestrated by Lord Summerisle was put over in the book, but I realise that was the point in the film, although the whole thing was pretty ambiguous I thought. Time to get my Directot's Cut version out and watch again! Interestingly, there are surviving celtic pagan traditions in communities in the Peak District of England that goes beyond mere folk customs, and these have been well documented with in depth studies of one of the communities still following the old ways. The excellent book Twilight of the Celtic Gods explores this subject, and there was an equally brilliant BBC Everyman programme on which I have on VHS, from about 20 years ago which covers the same subject brilliantly. stigWeard |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Paul from Hull Date: 30 Aug 06 - 03:35 PM Keith, Hollywood only wants filmgoers to believe for long enough to get to the front of the queue & pay...I cant beleve that ANYTHING else matters, to them! |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Paul from Hull Date: 30 Aug 06 - 04:38 PM OOPS! Apologies, Mr McGrath! That was my reply to YOU, of course....why I addressed it to 'Keith', I cant imagine. Sorry! |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: GUEST Date: 30 Aug 06 - 06:01 PM Keith...Kevin....oh its just they both start with the same two letters....so same difference right? |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: IrishDave Date: 30 Aug 06 - 06:12 PM I thought the first one was great, the 2nd wont come close |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Willie-O Date: 30 Aug 06 - 06:46 PM The trailer for the new version of Wicker Man is far, far, oh yea very far, very very far from promising. As for N. Cage, I think he is very capable in the right role (Leaving Las Vegas was the right role), but I'm puzzled how he'll make out in this one. Pity Jack Nicholson is too old and wicked. All the pagans I know (Canadian) are not at all scary, and they paid me very decently to play at their get-together! Ten or so years ago I said "there's a pagan under every flat rock here in Lanark County", but I think that, like the Celtic Scare of the 90's, the Pagan Scare is kind of over. What's left is some very pleasant persons who like to get together in the woods and do their clothing-optional thing. W-O |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: katlaughing Date: 30 Aug 06 - 07:51 PM Celtic Scare of the 90's LMAO!!! |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: michaelr Date: 30 Aug 06 - 08:23 PM I must say after watching the original, I got some chuckles from the short feature included on the DVD, "The Wicker Man Enigma". Ed Woodward spoke of the film as if it was some unrecognized masterpiece! To me, it's a mildly interesting B movie. Not sure I'll want to see the remake. Cheers, Michael |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: foggers Date: 31 Aug 06 - 08:56 AM " "I know that a lot of mudcatters are anti-christian zionists" News to me. I thought we were a bunch of anti-semitic socialists. " Blimey, how am I going to fit in as a relative Mudcat newbie ex-Fundie, post Post-Feminist, anti-social neo-pagan wannabee??? Anyway, enough of my navel-gazing.....I just wanted to add a couple of points. 1. The original film is an amusing, wandering escapade which I view fondly because it was probably the first "adult" (i.e. soft porn element) film I saw as an impressionable teenager. It is NOT great film, but i view it with affection and irony, like an eccentric aunt. 2. Hollywood plunders other films/books etc in a merciless search for the next commercial hit and puts "box office" faces like Cage in for the same reason. Art has nothing to do with it. 3. As a resident of Derbyshire I can confirm that there are pockets of surviving rural traditions which have only tangential relationships to Christianity- my partner's 86 year old grandma is a goldmine of info, and indeed her own habits should be made the subject of in-depth recording for posterity before it's too late. 4.I think I will probably wait for the remake to be a cut price DVD - then I can watch that alongside my Director's cut of the original and come to my judgement on the matter then. Now I need to get back to work... (ho hum...) |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Dave'sWife Date: 01 Sep 06 - 10:03 AM OK, the screening last night which was deliberately held at 10:30 PM so that no film critics sneaking in could get a review pulished in the morning papers. No press screenings were held either in the few weeks prior to today's opening of the film which is only ever done when a studio is frightened of what the critics will say. If you do not wish to here about the film's content stop reading. SPOILER ALERT x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x xxxxxxx In a word - the film rots. They removed the fairly believable "celtic" origin paganism of the original and suistuted a strange form of man-hating matriarchal Goddess worhsip that resemles some 12 year old's idea of of what the culture of Amazon Warrior woman would have been. The women on the Island off the coast of washington state run everything, the men are slaves and not allowed to talk. The head crazy as bat-shite Priestess, Ellen Burstyn sends out good looking girls into the real world to get themeleves inseminated to keep their gene pool from stagnating. (similar to the "flirty-fishing" of NRM of the sevnties called The Children of God) Burstyn's grandmother or whatever female ancestor moved their core group to the Island in the late 1800s to avoid religious persecution. She implies they were once living in Salem Massachusettes during the witch trials further muddying the waters of whether they are wiccans that have adopted an ad hoc kind of Demeter worship and abandoned the male dieties or genuine "celtic" (I hate that word) "Witches" with abberant beliefs. She says they fled "Europe" as well for the same reason. Have you ever known a Scottish. Welsh, Cornish, manx or Irish person to claim their ancestors were European? Nope. I don't think so. Their original origins as well as what exactly they believe beyond men are dumb, useless and good for only two things (Fathering children and shedding their blood) is never revealed. Anyhoo - their religion is a crazy mishmash of disparate beliefs that don't belong together historically. If they had left out the part about their thousands year history - we could have bought it was a cult of personality and none of these things would have been a problem. However, the producers/writers (Cage produced this) wanted us to believe that women like this have existed among us secretly and are among us now. The society in the first film worked because it had a purpose and the belief system had an origin that was defined clearly in the film. In this one, we don't know if these women are Salem "witches" who escaped, misunderstood Wiccans who have read too many books on Isis or what they are. What they appear to be is hollwood idea of paganism. My husband thinks they tried to meld the genuine isis/demeter cult of Harvest Home with Wickerman and got this crap they dished up. The audience was made up of radio listeners who won tickets and folks who got invites to the screening. The audience booed frequently and laughed at scenes they were intended to cheer or be horrified by. Cage beats a woman at one point, punching her in the face for saying something smug which drew gasps of digust from men and women alike and uncomfortable laughter. The producers clearly wanted the audience to appluad that moment because they wrote the scene for us to believe the woman deserved it but instead, the audience recoiled from it. One person described the woman he beat as "butch" and which leads me to believe that perhaps we were supposed to have judged her a lesbian and therefore that excuse his beating of her. She wasn't attractive and was a person of authority. Maybe the producers wanted us to know that this is what happens when uppity women mouth of the handsome men?? I don't know if her character was written as a lesbian but it seemed possible the inference was intentional. Lesbian or straight, the beating of that woman wasn't funny or heroic, it was horrifyingly innapropriate. Incidentally Cage produced the film and it was his fist in her face. Bad move, Nick, bad move. Fire the person who told you this would be OK. The sotry dispensed with the Victim is a virgin and a willing sacrifice thing and the clinker suprise is that the little girl he is searching for is in fact the daughter he fathered with one of the island amazons who went out into the world looking for a sperm donor. The main business of the island is bee-keeping and they refer to Cage as a 'drone." In summary - this is not a remake - it is a completely different story, different motivations and different conculsions. The only thing they kept was the wickerman istelf which is further absurd given that these women clearly don't come from a heritage of belief that included such a thing. Avoid this film at all costs unless you want to be enarged by it's stupidity, feel like you were robbed of your ticket money or if you don't like to see smug leading men punch women in the face for no decent reason. |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Epona Date: 01 Sep 06 - 11:29 AM I was excited to go see it, now I think I may change my mind. E |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: alanabit Date: 01 Sep 06 - 11:46 AM I was always surprised that the rather silly original film ever became such a cult thing in the first place. It was originally a supporting film to something else (I have forgotten what). It is passably entertaining, but nothing more. It seems to have become popular through a sort of fake nostalgia. There are always people, who are willing to believe that "Oirland" was once a land of exclusively charming rustics and rosy cheeked, dancing colleens... I guess the same sort of people like to imagine there is somewhere with a long, unbroken tradition of pagan culture. I have every confidence in the ability of Hollywood to crush the last bit of charm out of the plot. It does not really matter either way. It would be stretching a point to claim that we are about to witness the desecration of a classic. |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Big Al Whittle Date: 01 Sep 06 - 03:29 PM well i saw it today and I thought it was alright. Not bad at all. I'm familiar-ish with the original - its been on tv, but I always found it less than compulsive viewing - there was actually no great work of art to desecrate. I think this is a far better movie. Although like Get Carter - you do miss the mini skirts from those original 1960's movies! I think the movie it was trying to emulate was The Shining. As in The Shining, you were never quite sure if what the central character was experiencing was real, or a product of his disordered imagination. Kubrick somehow managed to make the scary images more forceful and intense than in this film. And there somehow, it missed an important trick. However having said that, I've cerainly paid the ticket money for a hell of a lot worse. |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Dave'sWife Date: 01 Sep 06 - 04:37 PM alanabit - first off, the original was not set in "oirland" (I'm taking that as your facetious pronounciation of Ireland.) - it was set on an island off the coast of Scotland. Other things you didn't necessisarily imply but I feel like explaining: In the original, nobody pretended the pagan culture was traditional or representative of an unbroken chain. Instead, Christopher Lee clearly explains that his Grandfather cobbled together what he liked from the real pagan culutres that predated both Roman arrival in Britain and the arrival of Christianity. His grandpa took a little here, left some out there, but essentially reconstructed what he felt was what had been practised and what he felt could serve a societal purpose. In other words, his Grandpa took on the role of Prophet or Founder of a religion. Pops then brought over a work force, planted orchards and made his brand of paganism the State religion. It being under Scottish jurisdiction, and his grandfather being the 'Laird", his word was basically law. Fast forward to the time of the movie and there you have it. 3 to 4 generations of neo-paganism on the island. very different from this remake. So, if we want to get academic about it, in the original film, the brand of paganism practised by the islanders was a reconsitituted paganism or a cult of personality depending on how you view it. In fact, Lee's character makes a speech that could be viewed as a criticism of reconsitutited modern paganism and the whole Gerald Gardner Wicca movement. So, the original was clever, sly and satirical. This current "remake" is none of those things and it's misogynistic to boot. |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: alanabit Date: 02 Sep 06 - 03:53 AM I know damned well it was set in Scotland. My point was that it always appealed to the same sort of semntimental fake nostalgia as "The Quiet Man" for example. I am glad you found the original, "clever, sly and satirical". It means you enjoyed it more than I did. I found it visually appealing and melodramatic. Perhaps the most adventurous thing about it was the idea of doing melodrama in the early seventies. I quite enjoyed looking at a bare Britt Eckland (or her body double) with her kit off though! |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: GUEST,Robot From Space Date: 02 Sep 06 - 12:05 PM My wife and I went to see it last night. It was splendid a huge improvement on the B movie 70s trash that I remember. So much for all you idiotic bigots that slagged it before even seeing it! |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Gorgeous Gary Date: 02 Sep 06 - 09:42 PM I was at the World Science Fiction Convention last weekend, where there usually is a "Trailer Park" session where they show as many upcoming movie trailers as they can. 30+ this year, mix of SF, fantasy, horror, and animated. "Wicker Man" was the **only** trailer out of 30+ to actually get booed by the audience. -- Gary |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Stu Date: 09 Sep 06 - 07:59 AM "So much for all you idiotic bigots that slagged it before even seeing it!" Well this idiotic bigot went to see it and, although I was secretly hoping to love it, it was the same dumbed-down write it large Hollywood crap that has been turned out for years. Firstly, Dave's Wife's review was pretty much spot on. The belly laughs in this film came thick and fast (we'll leave the misogyny aside for the time being). The 'Celtic' connection was a gem - if this was the best the script writers could come up with (ever heard of research?) then mainstream American film mking is truly in the shite. It wasn't even a compentent rehash of new-age mumbo jumbo, but a dot-to-dot mishmash of the sort of pseudo-celtic bilge that is really only good for writing on the inserts of those wishy-washy ambient CDs you find in shops in Glastonbury. The performances were wooden, with Cage and Beahan slurring out their lines with all the enthusiasm of actors who know how pointless it would be to try to make this drivel sound convincing. Cage's line of 'step away from the bike' was nearly as gut-wrenchingly funny as The Duke proclaiming 'truly he was the son of God' - this was actually worth the price of admission alone. I pray it was put in as a joke. The storyline, which roughly parallels the orginal but centres around the Islands commercial bee-keeping, was so full of holes as to be rendered useless. We are told the island has no phones, no computers etc, but in the opening minutes we see Cage looking at the island's website - superb! The little interludes with the mobile phone were priceless - Cage waving it about like Spock did with this tricorder, until it finally rings in the final minutes and he is cut off - as subtle as a man stading next to you throughout the entire film hitting you on the head with a wooden mallet whilst bellowing "he's cut off from the outside world!" in your left ear. The final indignity, lifting the end of the film from the original (except for the risible coda in the bar) showed the crushing lack of imagination that afflicted the film all the way through - faced with a genuine opportunity to bring a new ending to the story and truly distance itself from the first film, the writers and director jibbed and went with the virtually exact same ending. So if you need it writ large: COP OUT The original is not a perfect film. It's flaws, however add to the charm of the film and seem to increase the atmosphere and feel of the whole piece. Whilst the remake does undeniably look good in places - the design of the film was it's only strong point - it really is a triumph of style over content. But with the occasional execption we're used to that from Hollywood these days. |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: woodsie Date: 09 Sep 06 - 09:06 AM How can you dumb down something that was pretty stupid to start with? |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: alanabit Date: 09 Sep 06 - 12:53 PM Give it to Hollywood? |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Willie-O Date: 09 Sep 06 - 01:42 PM How can you dumb down... Give it to Hollywood? Evidently. I just watched this....this...thing....and I am taking refuge in alcohol just to live with myself. (Happily, I downloaded the movie so as not to encourage them). Awful. Just incredibly A-W-F-U-L. No cultural context, as previously noted. They didn't even know the NAMES for their deities--they're literally offering a human sacrifice to "gods and goddesses of Nature!!!" And have you ever heard anyone explain their cultural roots by referring to "my Celtic ancestors"? Last I heard, there were seven Celtic nations and we know which one our ancestors came from...since they had different countries, languages, music, economies etc. The pacing and timing of everything was so choppy, there was no buildup of suspense whatsoever. A matter that was handled superbly in the original, as they undertake the procession, completely lacking in the remake. -Good God, the MUSIC. Make it stop please! Burn me in wicker, I don't care!!! Bring back the faux-folk songs--they were so much better than this grade-C "very-anxious-moment-that-goes-on-and-on" tripe. Logic and continuity errors are so abundant they actually form a kind of continuity. Like: -he's a California motorcycle cop who seems to think this gives him some authority in Washington. Whereas the state and federal authorities seem to have overlooked entirely the demographic irregularities of Summersisle. Puget Sound isn't exactly the ends of the earth. They're like 40 miles from Seattle. -You have the right to have flashbacks! All the time! They don't have to make sense! -he wears a suit jacket, shirt and tie everywhere on the island...looks even more like a dork than usual. Doesn't he own any t-shirts? Even swims in his shirt. Jeez. -this secretive, private community has a seaplane, piloted by a non-member, coming by EVERY DAY with packages...of what? Most islands I know tend to get their supplies by boat. -Malus (Cage) has spent a week bicycling all over the tiny island...then in the last minute suddenly notices a 100-foot high structure on high ground in an open field. Guess he was watching for geoducks on the road before. -His cellphone doesn't work all week, but it rings...can he not send a text message? ("Help I'm trapped pls snd double latte") -Just how is it, again, that they keep the men subjugated? They just know their place or what? All in all, I believe I've seen enough of Cage's patented "running around with his mouth open in confusion", which is 90% of his screen time. Leelee Sobieski's cute though. It seems that's her job. W-O |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: SINSULL Date: 09 Sep 06 - 01:52 PM I'll wait for it to hit TV - probably next month. Meantime, I have a copy of the original but prefer "Day Of The Triffids". |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Stu Date: 10 Sep 06 - 11:52 AM Ah, the music. Yet another opportunity pissed up the wall of mediocrity in this film. It's ironic that the music played such an important part of the original, yet despite the presence of one of the finest composers to work in the industry (Angelo Badalamenti) the music is totally forgettable. Badalamenti created some of the most memorable and original scores in American cinema and TV, notably his work on David Lynch's films and Twin Peaks. What went wrong in this case I'd love to know. BTW, Fogger - If I were you i would get your partner's Grandma's traditions down on tape ASAP - it would be facinating to hear these, and they may jut be a trove of material that could be lost forever. |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Willie-O Date: 10 Sep 06 - 01:35 PM And for that matter, Cage gets to the island by plane--but doesn't happen to notice the aforementioned giant wicker contraption during approach (the day before the May 1 ritual). How'd he make detective again? Clearly through his great powers of observation. By the way, there's nothing odd about the island being listed on a health-food-suppliers website. Just because it's listed and advertises its wares on such a site doesn't mean the website is produced or server-ed from the island. However, the producers (of which there are far too many), director and writers have a lot to apologize for. They eliminated everything that worked in the original--the Scottish setting, (Puget Sound is beautiful, but not colourful or used to much effect here), the cultural context, the clear conflict between protagonist and community, and the SONGS, and substituted a terrible script (most of which is yelled by N Cage), a completely unbelievable setting and premise, and a please-make-it-stop Grade D score. W-O |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: katlaughing Date: 10 Sep 06 - 01:44 PM And, the critics agree: click I'd like to take a moment to give thanks to our brethren and sister Mudcatters for their sacrifices made on behalf of our community. Their courage and in-depth telling of their travails make it obvious many of us have been spared an horrible experience thanks to their unselfish fortitude. Thanks to them, those of us who choose to heed their warning have been spared.:-) (Seriously, thanks Willie-O.) kat |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Big Al Whittle Date: 11 Sep 06 - 05:27 AM Well yes critics DO agree. That's basically cos they're all chickenshit. Critics are just people well-in enough to get paid by a newspaper for what we for free on Mudcat. The scary bit is when you see your words that you have sent to a website parroted by a 'critic' - happened to me last year. I think the truth of the matter is that if the old film has a special place in your heart - you won't like this one. But otherwise, its a decent enough film with good actors trying to fulfil an alternative vision of the story. If you went to a UCI or an Odeon on the week I went - you weren't going to do much better. |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Willie-O Date: 11 Sep 06 - 09:09 AM WLD, you're of course free to like the movie if you want to. I note that the user-rating it gets at IMDB.com is a stunning 3.6 of 10. Usually what I think is a pretty crappy movie gets 6 point something. Say what you want about critics (lumping them all together is silly) but they seem to be in harmony with most viewers on this one. W-O |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Stu Date: 11 Sep 06 - 09:54 AM I think WLD has a point though. If you like the first film, you could well find the remake a disappointment as it lacks the originality or atmosphere of the first film. "If you went to a UCI or an Odeon on the week I went - you weren't going to do much better" All too true most weeks I fear. As long as the multiplexes show nothing but Hollywood films it'll long remain the case. |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: MAG Date: 11 Sep 06 - 05:26 PM I avoided this thread for the longest because I thought people might be into the movie. I haven't seen it because I think Nicolas Cage sucks rocks (think Con Air). I thought Leaving Las Vegas sucked for lots of reasons. Thank you, thank you for validating my decision. There are some actually good films in our one multiplex right now so this is quite missable. |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Micca Date: 11 Sep 06 - 05:52 PM For a very well thought out and reasoned review/comparison of the Two versions Try Here |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Jeri Date: 11 Sep 06 - 07:11 PM You know, I saw this (the first) movie ages ago, and I don't remember being that impressed. People toaster. I never did like the terribly clever and original "Damn... oh, well" type of ending. I liked Nicolas Cage in "Raising Arizona," and I think that was the LAST time I really liked him. I'll still check out the review, though. So THAT'S where Peg's been! |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Big Al Whittle Date: 12 Sep 06 - 06:29 AM For Brits the Edward Woodward version is on ITV4 on Saturday 16th September 10pm. Five stars in the Radio Times. Ho hum! |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Grab Date: 12 Sep 06 - 08:18 AM I have to admit I liked ConAir, but that was an honest film. You went there expecting a blowing-shit-up thriller with a bit of comedy and enough acting to keep things moving, and that's exactly what you got. Job done. Thanks to the brave souls here for suffering so that the rest of us don't have to. And thanks to Stig for that fabulous quote of "Yet another opportunity pissed up the wall of mediocrity" - best line I've read for ages! Ever thought of a career in film scripts...? ;-) Graham. |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: MAG Date: 12 Sep 06 - 11:54 AM and the bunny thing, Graham? That was beyond pathetic. (Con Air) |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Stu Date: 12 Sep 06 - 12:40 PM Thanks Graham, but if I'd really been thinking it would have been "Yet another golden opportunity pissed up the wall of mediocrity" |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Willie-O Date: 12 Sep 06 - 01:00 PM Blowing things up: yeah, the first thing I didn't like was the entirely pointless opening-explosion thing. I think it was supposed to mirror the final wicker-man-sacrifice scene (expecially the interactions between Cage and the respective little girls) so we would think that Orson Welles lives and was the secret director behind the director...but it was just annoying, not moving, and didn't add anything (there was no equivalent to this scene in the original). Current user rating for Wicker Man: 3.5 and dropping...in comparison, FlightPlan, another pretty bad flick starring Kate Beahan (whom you should not trust around children, it seems) is at 6.2 / 10. But it's just ordinarily bad. |
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Subject: RE: Wicker Man remake From: Willie-O Date: 19 Apr 09 - 09:56 AM I almost watched this...thing...again on TV last night, I guess I was pretty bored. Saw the first five minutes, then better half needed some help getting her e-mail restored...which spared me from reliving the trauma until the last five minutes of the movie, consisting of the burning of Mr Cage (torched by the little girl he didn't save from the flames in the first scene--now I get it, very deep) and Leelee Sobieski picking some hopeless guy up in a bar to further the race. It occurred to me during "burning Mr Cage" that it was funny to see Leelee Sobieski in the crowd chanting "the drone must burn"--considering her first major role was as Joan of Arc. Better to be in the mob, I could almost hear her thinking. Worked particularly well for her, since I think her main talent is getting good lighting. W-O |
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