The best thing with Monty Python's The Meaning With Life is the following lyrics from Christmas in Heaven:
It's Christmas in Heaven.
There's great films on TV:
'The Sound of Music' twice an hour
And 'Jaws' One, Two, and Three.
It reminds me of the days my dad took me to the video store and I forced him to rent Jaws 3-D over and over again. Once I made him rent Marius Mattei's Moving Target, starring Linda Blair and Ernest Borgnine. I remember how disappointed I was after seeing it and he - or maybe it was his wife at the time - who told me that sometimes people had to do movies just to make some money.
Maybe that was the moment I fully understood the business behind cinema. That it's all about the money. I always laugh when people complains about remakes about some old horror movie "because it's only about the money!". Do they REALLY believe the original movie was made for the sake of art? It's exploitation, they're just there for one thing: make a quick buck.
But back to Jaws 3-D. Or maybe genre sequels in general. I'm not ashamed to say I've seen Jaws 2, 3 and 4 more times than the first movie. It's similar with many other sequels (but not all of them of course, because a movie is a movie - doesn't matter if it's a sequel or not): when it's time for entertainment in the home of me I rather press play and watch Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Or The Last Crusade, etc etc.
It's because sequels often takes the original concept, refines it and delivers the entertainment in a much easier way. Gone is the pretentious illusion of creating big art, instead it's raw, primitive story masturbation that counts. Nothing wrong with that in my humble opinion. That's the perfect way to tune out and turn off and forget the day that was.
After suffering through Moving Target (and it's still a terrible movie) I got hooked on the cheaper versions of big movies - it could be rip-offs, sequels, prequels, made for TV or remakes (the latter are often, of course, more expensive) and somehow I think they still takes put most of my collection at home. The latest one who surprised me was the TV-remake of Humanoids from the Deep, which actually is a bit more fast-paced than the original and still delivers some fun original gore mixed with footage from the first movie.
That's the kind of remixes I like.
People say they're trash, but they're just unpolished diamonds. And I love the rugged look, the beauty marks. The sign of humans working on them. It makes the come alive.
One advantage that a sequel might have over the original, is to be able to cut to the chase right away. Everybody already know the characters or the premise, no need for long background stories or setups.
Posted by: Fredrik | January 17, 2014 at 11:21
"I always laugh when people complains about remakes about some old horror movie "because it's only about the money!". Do they REALLY believe the original movie was made for the sake of art? It's exploitation, they're just there for one thing: make a quick buck."
I think the problem for me is that most remakes are just bland, PG-13, crap.
Add something cool, a new twist or more gore or something not just scene by scene remakes.
"It's because sequels often takes the original concept, refines it and delivers the entertainment in a much easier way. Gone is the pretentious illusion of creating big art, instead it's raw, primitive story masturbation that counts. Nothing wrong with that in my humble opinion. That's the perfect way to tune out and turn off and forget the day that was."
Some sequels can be fun to watch, no denying that.
"The latest one who surprised me was the TV-remake of Humanoids from the Deep, which actually is a bit more fast-paced than the original and still delivers some fun original gore mixed with footage from the first movie.
That's the kind of remixes I like."
Oh yeah?
I have only seen the original Humanoids from the Deep(1980), I might give that remake a try.
Good essay, thanks Fred.
Posted by: Megatron | January 17, 2014 at 15:32
Eh, fuck it. Who cares. Soon this shit-blog is one year old. Then it's time to close it down.
Posted by: Fred Anderson | January 17, 2014 at 15:36
I love seqeuels. But not all sequels. Jaws 2 is pretty good. But number 3 is weak and looks cheap, and 4 was terrible in every way.
I much rather watch Castellaris Great White or even Shark hunter than number 3 and 4 of Jaws.
Posted by: Tobe | January 18, 2014 at 00:02
Fred: Really?
I´m hoping you won´t close it down....
Posted by: Megatron | January 18, 2014 at 14:19
I love part 4. It's not a "good" movie by any means, but it's entertaining. The banana-sequence is always worth watching.
Posted by: Fred Anderson | January 18, 2014 at 14:23