Colors, Critters, Cats, and my Journey with MS

Sunday, March 12, 2023

Poltergeist (1982) vs. (2015) - no contest!

Review by Jack Kost

My wife and I are both “arty” souls.
We love to watch movies, and when they’re over we discuss them in depth, probably more in depth than most people.
We also enjoy discussing books, music, art, et al … also in depth.
My wife loves to paint, I love to write and sketch.
Our recent viewings of the 1982 and 2015 versions of Poltergeist turned from a fond, nostalgic chat about the former, to a “why did they bother” rant about the latter.

I’ll start with the original 1982 version, released in the United States on June 4, 1982:

It was produced by Steven Spielberg, based on his own story, and directed by Tobe Hooper.
For us, the 1982 original is a cinematic treat.
Hooper may have helmed the direction, but this has all the heart, feeling, emotion, humor, and suspense of a Spielberg movie.
We – the audience – see the family dynamics, their neighbors, and the history of the ever-expanding housing development.
The movie may be thirty-four-years-old, as of this writing, but it’s still the thrill-ride Spielberg has entertained fans with for decades.
The original is one of the best of the haunted house genre; an eerie and memorable light-show with a perfect end scene.

The high entertainment value reminds us of why we watch movies in the first place.
Spielberg knows how to engage and hold his audience.

Then we experienced the miserable let-down of the 2015 remake:

This was our post-Thanksgiving movie.
As usual, we discussed it after the end credits rolled, our discussion fueled by disdain!
We compared both versions, and shook our heads at how dreary and painful the remake is.
It felt like a by-the-numbers run-through for the actors in it, who seemed content to show up, recite the dismal script, and pick up their pay checks.
Not many movies have actually pissed me off, but this one made the list.
Absent is the charm and quality scripting of the original.
It simply goes through the motions without any of the character development, tension, or suspense of the original.
I watched it feeling bored after the first fifteen minutes, hoping it would pick up, get better, curious as to how it would unfold in a new retelling, being more disappointed as each scene unfolded.
I’m a fan of Sam Rockwell, but this was another example of how even a fine actor can’t save a lousy script.
We see some flashy effects, as we expect to see in this modern CGI-heavy age, but there’s nothing behind it, no depth or reason to care about what we’re being presented with.
The scene with Sam Rockwell regurgitating black goo into the sink, then seeing his reflection in the faucet, sores opening on his face, is a reworking of the scene in the original: Marty (Martin Casella) seeing maggots swarming on a chicken drumstick he’s just taken a bite out of, then his own face coming apart in the mirror.
It’s a great scene, even with the dated animatronics, with far more impact than the insipid 2015 version:

Zelda Rubinstein’s portrayal of Tangina, the psychic brought in to rescue their daughter and “clean” the house, is one of the high points of the story.

Her monologue to the family and investigators about what is really going on is chilling.
The character is also reworked for the 2015 version, changed for the contemporary audience, but giving nothing new or remarkable.
Running at roughly thirty minutes shorter, the remake has omitted the best elements of the original – to its own detriment.
Gone is the steady build-up of the original, as the 2015 version cuts directly to the shock-free plot markers.
Gone also are the comedic elements with the death of the pet canary, and the neighbor’s battle with the TV remote controls, parts of the story that developed the set-up and made us care more about the family and their predicament.

The key scene of the malevolent force entering the home, via the static of the TV set, is also changed, but as animated as the original was - it still had significant shock value to a first-time viewer:

It felt like the 2015 version had been made quickly and rushed out the studio door, nothing more than another vacuous money-making product.

The 1982 original has rightfully earned its place in cinema history – a classic of its genre; the 2015 rehash deserves nothing more than to be ignored and forgotten.

Thanksgiving: a time to give thanks.
Along with everything else we have been blessed with, we gave thanks for the fact that we hadn’t wasted money at the cinema box office for yet-another pointless, lazy, half-assed, cash-grab.

Saturday, March 11, 2023

Born on this day – Peter R. Hunt:

Director

Editor

Producer

March 11, 1925 – August 14, 2002

Thursday, March 9, 2023

Born on this day – Alexandra Bastedo:

Actress

Writer

March 9, 1946 – January 12, 2014

Born on this day – Mickey Spillane:

Writer

March 9, 1918 – July 17, 2006

Credits:

Books:

A Century of Great Suspense Stories (2001); A Century of Noir (2002); A Dangerous Cat (2017); A Long Time Dead (2016); An Acceptable Sacrifice (2012); An Acceptable Sacrifice (2012); Black Alley (1996); Bloody Sunrise (1965); Book Club (2014); Book Club (2014); Citadel (2016); Citadel (2016); City Sleuths and Tough Guys (1989); Complex 90 (2013); Condor in the Stacks (2015); Condor in the Stacks (2015); Crimes by Moonlight (2010); Day of the Guns (1964); Dead Dames Don't Sing (2016); Dead Dames Don't Sing (2016); Dead Street (2007); Death Leaves a Bookmark (2012); Death Leaves a Bookmark (2012); Dig Two Graves (2023); Every Seven Years (2015); Every Seven Years (2015); From the Queen (2015); From the Queen (2015); From the Queen (2015); Hoodoo Harry (2017); Hoodoo Harry (2017); Hot Lead, Cold Justice (2020); I, the Jury (1947); It's in the Book (2014); It's in the Book (2014); Kill Me If You Can (2022); Kill Me, Darling (2015); Killer Mine (1965); Killing Town (2018); King of the Weeds (2014); Kiss Her Goodbye (2009); Kiss Me, Deadly (1952); Lady, Go Die! (2012); Last Stage to Hell Junction (2019); Masquerade for Murder (2020); Masters of Noir, Volume One (2010); Me, Hood! (1963); Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer #1 (2018); Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer #2 (2018); Murder Never Knocks (2016); Murder, My Love (2019); My Gun Is Quick (1950); Mystery, Inc. (2015); Mystery, Inc. (2015); One Lonely Night (1951); Private Eyes (1998); Pronghorns of the Third Reich (2012); Pulp Frictions: Hardboiled Stories (1996); Reconciliation Day (2016); Reconciliation Day (2016); Remaindered (2014); Remaindered (2014); Return of the Hood (1964); Rides a Stranger (2013); Rides a Stranger (2013); Seven Years (2018); Shoot-Out at Sugar Creek (2021); Skin (2012); So Long, Chief (2013); Something's Down There (2003); Stand Up and Die! (2022); Survival... Zero (1970); The Best American Mystery Stories 2011 (2011); The Big Bang (2010); The Big Kill (1951); The Big Showdown (2016); The Bloody Spur (2018); The Body Lovers (1967); The Book Case (2012); The Book of Ghosts (2013); The Book of the Lion (2015); The Book of Virtue (2012); The Book Thing (2012); The By-Pass Control (1966); The Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository (2018); The Compendium of Srem (2014); The Consummata (2011); The Dark Door (2022); The Day the Sea Rolled Back (1979); The Death Dealers (1966); The Deep (1961); The Delta Factor (1968); The Erection Set (1972); The Final Testament (2013); The Flier (1964); The Girl Hunters (1962); The Girl Who Did Say No (2020); The Goliath Bone (2008); The Gospel of Sheba (2014); The Haze (2016); The Hemingway Valise (2018); The Honeymoon Trap (2022); The Interrogator and Other Criminally Good Fiction (2012); The Killing Man (1989); The Last Cop Out (1973); The Last Honest Horse Thief (2018); The Last Stand (2018); The Legend of Caleb York (2015); The Little Men (2015); The Long Sonata of the Dead (2013); The Long Wait (1951); The Menace (2022); The Nature of My Inheritance (2014); The Pretty Little Box (2018); The Scroll (2014); The Sequel (2014); The Ship That Never Was (1982); The Snake (1964); The Tough Guys (1969); The Traitor (2022); The Travelling Companion (2016); The Twisted Thing (1966); The Will to Kill (2017); Tomorrow I Die (1984); Vengeance is Mine (1950); Vintage Spillane (1974).

Movies and television:

Mike Hammer, Private Eye (1997–1998); Mommy's Day (1997); Fallen Angels (1995); Mommy (1995); Come Die with Me: A Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer Mystery (1994); Mike Hammer: Murder Takes All (1989); The New Mike Hammer (1984–1987); More Than Murder (1984); Murder Me, Murder You (1983); I, the Jury (1982); Margin for Murder (1981); Miller Lite: Tastes Great, Less Filling (1976–1986); Columbo (1974); The Delta Factor (1970); The Girl Hunters (1963); Mike Hammer (1958–1959); My Gun Is Quick (1957); Kiss Me Deadly (1955); Mickey Spillane's 'Mike Hammer!' (1954); Ring of Fear (1954); The Long Wait (1954); I, the Jury (1953).