One movie I don't think I'll be seeing

The Women holds a permanent spot on my Top Ten Movies Of All Time list. I watch that sucker a few times a year and am always struck anew by something in it. I can recite entire chunks of dialogue or, more often, just confuse people by randomly holding up my hands and exclaiming, "I've had two years to grow claws, Mother! In Jungle Red!"

The casting is perfect, the direction is perfect, the attention to detail is perfect.

Well, I have just seen the trailer for the remake and ... oh, it is a crime. You know what? I don't care that this movie apparently functioned as the Employment Act for actresses over 20 in Hollywood. I care that the trailer suggests that this is a chick-flick caper instead of the coolly intelligent and elegantly incisive social comedy of the original. You do not get points for casting lots of the ladyfolks when you cast them in something that is dumber than the original. It insults both the actresses and the audience.

The Women is such a fantastic movie. Seeing this trailer makes me wonder what's next -- Goodfellas reimagined with Jonah Hill as Henry Hill?

Comments

[Pinwiz]

This reminds me that I need to pull out my VCR and watch the tape of the PBS broadcast of the play from a few years ago.

As for the movie... I'm a bit more liberal with rewrites of items like "The Women". If it gets more people to check out the original, then it's a good thing.

But first, I'm going to watch the original.