No poker last night. I took advantage of the relief of the excruciating heat that the Midwest has been getting. I went on a walk with Mrs Wonka and baby Wonka (19 months) and then talked to some of the neighbors who where also hanging out outside. It's funny how cooler weather will bring people back outside. The kids were out there no matter what (Oh to be young again); but the parents were pretty scarce. It was very nice. It looks like it will be getting back to hot again; but thankfully not as hot as it was.
Per ScurvyDog's blog, I came across him saying something like how his casino bonus chasing was out doing his poker recently. Now, he plays mid-limit poker (15/30 I believe) so that comment naturally peaked my curiousity. I then followed a link (Casino Bonus ) to see what is up. So, the short story is that I have now taken the plunge into casino bonus chasing. I've only downloaded one site so far (Starluck... which is associated with Party Poker) and am following his guide... which is more or less play $1 blackjack for the minimumly required # of hands to be able to cash out the bonus (which is 100% by the way .. up to $100). Currently, I am probably about half way done and have a balance of around $260 on a deposit of $100.
Now, for the real reason of this post. Obviously, I am a fan of the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I have not seen the remake of this movie starring Johnny Depp. My contention is that some movies should just be left alone. Now, this movie may be good and it is getting good ratings from imdb.com and the original author was involved in the making of this film so it is probably good; but when is good, good enough. The ever loving greed of the movie community never ceases to amaze me. At the same time, who can blame them. It seems as if sequels and remakes are starting to monopolize our movie selections. Where has all the creativity gone. Of course, this is coming from a person that has zero creativity. Maybe that is why I depend on the creativity of others to satisfy my insatiable appetite for creative outlets. Anyway, I took a look at the current top 10:
1.. the aforementioned Charlie and the chocolate factory (remake)... 2... Wedding Crashers (remake of sorts... see below).. 3.. Fantastic Four (don't know how to categorize).. 4.. The Island 5.. Bad News Bears (remake).. 6.. War of the Worlds (remake).. 7.. Hustle and Flow.. 8.. Devil's Reject.. 9.. Batman Begins (sequel).. 10.. March of the Penguins.
So.. half of the movies are either remakes or sequels. Now for Wedding Crashers. Although, this is not truly a remake, how many movies can either Vince Vaughn, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell or Owen Wilson make that are essentially exactly the same. Again, who can blame them because they are making butt loads of moulah off of these.
So for 2005, half of the top 10 are of this type (Star Wars, War of Worlds, Batman, Longest Yard and Fantastic Four). Same for 2004 (Shrek 2, SpiderMan2, Meet the Fockers, Harry Potter and Bourne Supremecy).
Now for the can't have the cake and eat it to section. I have to admit my favorite movie of all time is Rocky and Sly being one of my favorite actors ,First Blood is also one of my favorites. Of course, Sly is one the major people that made sequels so popular.. and of course I liked all the Rocky's and Rambo's (I'm sick that way). Also, I can think of some remakes that I really liked like Ocean's 11, Point of Know Return, 12 Angry Men. So what am I complaining about. Who knows. I guess I would just like to see more original, creative movies being made. Realistically, the point is really moot. Since my daughter was born almost 2 years ago, I believe that I have only gone to one or two movies in the theatre. We are a Netflix family now.
One more technicality comment. Movies based on books are OK. So what if the creativity was done by the author of a book and not a screenwriter. Ok, that covers another one of my favorite movies, Shawshank Redemption which was written by Stephen King (my favorite author). I guess I can also lump in sequels that already had books written (i.e. Lord of the Rings) as also being OK.
Anyway, I could go on for months on this subject; but I will call it quits for now. Will I ever see the new Willy Wonka... only time will tell.
Final level 4
4 months ago
5 comments:
You know, I'm in the same boat with you on all the garbage sequels, remakes and "reimaginings".
That said I have to say, as a fan of the first CATCF movie, that I was stunned by the new one. Mostly because it seemed to be almost intentionally crafted to sit side-by-side with, and not to copy, replace or even pay hommage to, the original. I was incrediblty skeptical going in, but it was just different enough in every way that it didn't feel like a rehash. Yet somehow it still retained the story and message.
It's not Oscar material, but you do not have to give up the original and everything you love about it to accept the new one and even find a few new things to like.
Noted... Well said.. I have now added it to my Netflix list/queue.
"Now, this movie may be good and it is getting good ratings from imdb.com and the original author was involved in the making of this film ".
Hey Will I thought Roald Dahl died in 1990!
cheers,
Little Acornman
Wow... sure enough he did.. I don't know what I heard then. Seems like read something. Maybe it follows the book more. Thanks for pointing that out.
No probs Will.Maybe his ghost was floating round the film set :-)
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