Friday, August 3, 2012

BLUE SKY ON MARS: Justin Geldzahler explains why Arnold Schwarzenegger's willingness to engage in self-parody helped make Total Recall a classic which no one need have remade.

4 comments:

  1. Becca2:07 PM

    I'm going to say that this new Total Recall isn't a remake at all. It's another movie using the same story as basis. It's obviously much darker and more straightforward, though I still find Wiseman's directing lacking when it comes to action sequences. Give it a chance! I liked it, though I did have some problems with it. It was better than Bourne, which was clunky as hell. A whole lotta jibber-jabber for not a lot of story. I appreciated that Aaron Crown was a different kind of guy, though. 

    I also saw Celeste and Jesse Forever this week, which was cute and well-done, but a teensy bit too long, and The Campaign, which is funnier than you think it is, but, at 88 minutes, still a sketch that's gone on too long. 

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  2. Becca2:53 PM

    <span>I'm going to say that this new Total Recall isn't a remake at all. It's another movie using the same story as basis. It's obviously much darker and more straightforward, though I still find Wiseman's directing lacking when it comes to action sequences. Give it a chance! I liked it, though I did have some problems with it. It was better than Bourne, which was clunky as hell. A whole lotta jibber-jabber for not a lot of story. I appreciated that Aaron Cross was a different kind of guy, though.   </span>
    <span> </span>
    <span>I also saw Celeste and Jesse Forever this week, which was cute and well-done, but a teensy bit too long, and The Campaign, which doesn't open for a week, so I don't know when I'm allowed to talk about it. </span>

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  3. Exactly, Becca.  I think there's a very interesting version of the basic Total Recall premise that takes it seriously as opposed to the campiness of the original.  I'm not sure that this particular execution of that premise is that version, especially given the presence of Jessica Biel.

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  4. Gleemonex8:42 PM

    I am starting to develop quite the Internet crush on Adam for his post headlines. 

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