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Justin Lin chats about OLDBOY remake briefly...
Hey folks, Harry here... Don't know about you, but I really am not a fan of the director choice that Universal attached to the OLDBOY remake. This is one that I'd love to see someone like Scorsese to tackle with DeNiro. To make one last badass mutherfucker of a film. Maybe Bobby is a bit old for the part - but I don't think so. And to see Scorsese's hammer time... drool. Maybe it's just that after watching ANNAPOLIS - I just wanted to scream at Universal to not use Justin Lin. Maybe he's completely right for it, ahem... He's a young filmmaker and perhaps this is the exact material he needs to be great, however... I just don't have a lot of faith in him. Here's what he said to SuicideGirls...
I recently spoke to director Justin Lin for the release of Annapolis for SuicideGirls. He is also planning on directing the remake of Park Chan Wook's Oldboy
LINK TO ACTUAL ARTICLE:
DRE: I?ve heard a couple rumors of rumors about the Oldboy remake. That the main character will eat tacos instead of squid. Is that correct?
Justin: [laughs] We?re just playing around. We went from tacos to burritos but right now we?re so far away from it being a reality. I love that film and the only reason I wanted to explore that avenue is because it really spoke to me. I didn?t sign on to make a Xerox copy of the original because it?s a masterpiece. I wanted to explore other themes within it. If I was going to come close to making a Xerox I hope I have enough sense to stop that process. Oldboy is one of those projects where structurally it?s so solid and it brings up so many great themes that you could give it to ten different filmmakers and it would be interesting to see what comes out of each of them.
So far Universal has been very open to anything. I told them that I?m not signing on unless we?re not going to water down the ending. It has always been important to make sure that it?s understood up front what we?re trying to accomplish.
DRE: Is Nicolas Cage still attached?
Justin: We don?t have formal attachments. It?s a great movie and any actor in their right mind would want to be a part of it. I know he said publicly he?d be interested in it. I just don?t think we?re at that stage yet so hopefully after I wrap this movie I?ll have a little bit more time to play around and see what comes up.
Daniel Robert Epstein
SuicideGirls.com/interviews
Readers Talkback
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Goddamn it, does it really take remaking a great Eastern film to make audiences become aware of it? This is rhetorical because we all know the answer to that question.
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YEAH!!!! I am really worried about this. However the possibility that it may not be Cage is uplifting. He is already ruining the Wicker Man remake. Oldboy is not going to translate. The octopus is a very asian symbol. What would they use here a? A Live Chicken?
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Jan. 28, 2006, 11:10 a.m. CST
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO N
by ZombieSolutions
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO and a Darth Vader NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
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...but I don't have the time because of my chiropracting service.
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next Harry is going to tell us the going to remake Audition and not use needles or the will Make a remake of Ong Bak, even Bakieier.
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Jan. 28, 2006, 11:21 a.m. CST
"right now we?re so far away from it being a reality"
by godoffireinhell
GREAT NEWS!!!
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Jan. 28, 2006, 11:24 a.m. CST
What the hell happened to this guy? He showed a lot of promise w
by team america
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Leave it alone. I don't think that our culture translates well from easter culture. Particularly at the end with the tongue thing - there's nothing remotely associating honor and free speech in the states. Maybe they'll get 50Cent to do it and just have him shoot the guy instead of parting with his tongue: "F y'all, I said what I said, I know my rights" Blam. This movie should be left alone. One of the most disturbing films I have ever seen - Min Sik Choi's last look on his face (DaeSu? character name?) in the final fade out is one of the greatest close ups, best 'face only' acting I've seen in a looonng time. I saw a dubbed over version and would rather have seen a subtitled version; the dub voices were sucktacular - but the movie is utterly unforgettable. Don't let anybody remake it, Hollywood will absolutely screw things up horribly.
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It will be changed to "I am your Bitch YO!", As he puts oon a dress and starts making him Dinner. OldBoy should not be remade. I don't even think Tarantino would do it justice and he loves the movie. But whoever does PLEASE NO NICK CAGE. He should just plays with his elvis collection and retire. He is washed up.
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PLEASE, HOLLYWOOD. DO NOT DO THIS.
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*MAJOR SPOILERS* I'll admit the directing and style were well done, but the story is fucking depressing. Dae Su fucks this girl who turns out to be his long lost daughter, and it was planned all along by the villain just because the Dae Su caught the villain fucking his own sister back in high school? And if that's not bad enough, instead of facing up to it, he cuts his tongue out and hires a hypnotist to take make him forget about the whole thing! And he still ends up with his daughter in the end as a romantic couple! WTF!?!?! This film is just a mind scramble of a film, and I can't bare to ever watch it again. Sure, the film takes you on a crazy trip with the protagonist, but I don't like to be manipulated to that extent.
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Is the reason it should not be remade. The un cultured mainstream american audience will revile it. Then a films that are truly original like OldBoy will never get American distribution. You may not have liked it but at least it held your interest. How many films now-a-days can do that?
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Jan. 28, 2006, 12:04 p.m. CST
put russell crowe in this and let him go kamikaze and the movie
by Spacesheik
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It's a crappy B-movie with an ending so brilliant that it makes the rest of the movie look fantastic. Oldboy doesn't need to be remade.
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Maybe that'll teach you to watch the whole film before you jerk off to a scene ;)
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you mean like STAR WARS? Ouch.
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As for Scorsese and De Niro... groan. Awful, obvious choice. I don't know what Min-Sik Choi's profile is like in Korea, but the police station scene would never work with De Niro's baggage. Nicholas Cage is a better fit for the role, but again, played too many tough guys. "And to see Scorsese's hammer time... drool." What the hell would/could Scorsese do to make that scene any better? Since when can he direct action? I love how "I didn't sign on to make a Xerox copy of the original" means "we'll do the restaurant scene, but change the squid to a burrito". Is that a fucking joke? Lovin?' the ques?tion mark?s.
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with cam'ron remake remixx of 'oh boy' !
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I hated it too. I thought the whole hammer scene that everyone adores was cheesy, and the big reveal scene left me scratching my head..................And don't say it's because I'm an American. If an American made that plot up, it would still be crap.
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but when has that ever stopped hollywood!? id be interested in Sam Rockwell taking the lead in this...
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Jan. 28, 2006, 12:38 p.m. CST
I like the idea of remaking it for American audiences that refus
by eppdude
They need to stay true to the original material, like Cameron Crowe's handling of OPEN YOUR EYES. And yes, ANNAPOLIS sucked very hard.
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Seroiusly asian remakes suck. The ring, mildy interesting. The Ring 2? Dark Water? Water spilling on the floor is NOT scary. Children that died unfortunate deaths trying to speak to others to reveal that is NOT scary, and after the RING, NOT interesting. Annapolis looks dumb. Jordana Brewster looks like shes 13. James Franco is in like 12 movies this month? Oldboy was good, but seroiusly very worried about this remake. Just reinforces that Hollywood has NO creativity. They sequalize everything, steal comics and cartoons (transformers, fantastic four...etc), remakes (the fog) Sure there are some good stuff, Batman Returns, hopefuly Supes Returns, Spiderman, Xmen 1/2, but then there is the FAntastic Four, PUnisher, Daredevil, Elecktra, The Fog, Dark Water, King Kong. Then there are still lingering risks for the demise of the billiant X-films, and now Oldboy.....ugh.
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I concur with your statements.
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theres wisdom in them words lol
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oh yeah somebody give harrison ford the phone number of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, cause after those dudes married those chicks their games precipitously declined (Agassi remarried Graf and resurrected his life) but WTF happened to Harrison Ford? I haven't traced teh time, but I think defintiely after shacking / clarissa flockhart his films have surpassed LAME. Firewall? ugh
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addendum, lets not forget the crap tv remakes too, like Dukes of hazzard ..(albeit the previews of Michael Mann's Miami Vice actually have me interested)
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If they DO remake this cinematic gem the role should go to Tom Jane like previously rumored. He is a great actor that does fine works as long as the material he is given is worthy. And keep the Taco's and leave it in L.A.
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I can see tacos taking the place of the dumplings (which would work fine), but I'm not sure how they'd sub for the squid? I'm no Oldboy scholar, but it sounds as if some people have no concept of some of the basics of the original film.
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Should be scrapped immediately. If you dismiss the original because of subtitles then you don't deserve to see this movie. Obviosly, I understand any studio would be nuts not to do this, especially if they attach Nicholas Cage...but, if Hollywood had any fucking balls they would hire Chan Wook Park to make this, or a completely different AMERICAN FILM.
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I know, I just know he wouldn't allow this to happen.
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You guys rave about it so much! But then you guys raved about Ong Bak. I went to go see it and wasn't impressed. Yeah, sure, Tony Jaa seems to be entertainingly capable in the fights scenes, but the production was just horrible and the story so cliche.
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Give it a whirl UncleSam. I too thought that OldBoy was going to be mediocre, but I was suprised on how many levels the film performs. The ending is surely a shocker, but the story leading up to that is original and exquisite. ___KNEEL___
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Eh well, whatever.
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sorry..had to steal it
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This is a minor point but why do we all change the order of Asian people names. His name in Korea is PARK CHAN WOOK not Chan Wook Park. I don't know but if I went to Asia and everyone called me by my last name first because that's the Asian way I would get annoyed. But they don't do that because they are aware of cultures outside their own unlike too many people in North America. It's not the end of the world but it just drives me crazy how we change his and other Asian celebrities names to match our own ideas on how names should be presented.
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Jan. 28, 2006, 2:36 p.m. CST
When I saw BETTER LUCK TOMORROW, then heard Lin was attached to
by Lenny Nero
Then, after ANNAPOLIS, I had some major reservations. I still want it to work, so I'll give him another couple months of nice.
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Maybe its just the way I took it, but when Oh-Daesu at the squid I thin kit was to symbolize something. I don't quite recall off the top of my head, but rewatch it and there is definitely an alternate message going on there, not just Daesu being disgusting and eating the live squirming thing. As a replacement for an Americanized version he can always just grab a rat off the streets and chomp away.
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Jan. 28, 2006, 3:07 p.m. CST
Yeah, I agree thatpeterguy, I'll always call her Zhang Ziyi
by iamnicksaicnsn
Ziyi Zhang just doesn't have the right ring to it for me.
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As I said previously in this talkback, I'm no "Oldboy" fanatic and therefore outside of watching and enjoying it a couple times, I haven't spent hours sifting through opinions and analyses. Has anyone ever pointed out or noticed the thematic similarites between "Oldboy" and "Angel Heart"? Oldboy takes a non-supernatural route to tell more or less the same story as AH, and it could be argued that the lead characters in both films go through and end up in comparable situations. Just throwing it out there...
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Please don't remake this movie.
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If he says himself it's a masterpiece, why the hell is he diong a remake?
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Jan. 28, 2006, 3:25 p.m. CST
If Hollywood HAS to screw up another Asian classic, at least hav
by OldEnoughForMe
like a White Castle burger. Or, something similar. A taco is too crunchy and flaky, hence, it will not fill up the mouth as nicely as the dumpling did for Dae-Su. It has to be a food that Oldman can repeatedly stuff a crapload into his mouth all at once. You can cut your mouth if you tried that with a taco.
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And he should be eating Subway sandwiches. Maybe Jared could play DaeSu.
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Technically aren't you then being just as inconsiderate as thatpeterguy accused everyone else of being? She changed her name to Ziyi Zhang, I'm sure she'd prefer you call her Ziyi Zhang.
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He is a fucking talentless, droopy-eyed, zero-charisma, sucking chest wound of a fucking walking abortion. Remake Old Boy? Fuck off. Put Nicolas Cage in it? FUCK OFF!!!
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Jan. 28, 2006, 4 p.m. CST
i can definitely see cage in a shitty remake of a perfect film.
by calami-shami
doin that stupid nic cage crazy face.
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just bad in every way, shape, and form. it shouldn't get made, but if it does get done i want to see mel gibson as daesu.
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They have a shot at making this not suck.
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Jan. 28, 2006, 4:27 p.m. CST
Ooops, I forgot that they also make soft-shell tacos.
by OldEnoughForMe
Sigh. But still, it isn't a finger food. Unless they make bite-sized tacos somewhere in the U.S. that I don't know about. Nonetheless, it will be difficult to find the 'right' food for this soon-to-be-awful remake. Eh, I shouldn't be so harsh.
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Jan. 28, 2006, 4:28 p.m. CST
I dont understand the praise for Better Luck Tomorrow. That movi
by chickychow
Not an ounce of charisma or originality to that flick. when its 3rd act turned into another "uh oh we just murdered somebody what do we do?!" contrivance I truly began wondering what the hell anybody saw in it.
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Jan. 28, 2006, 4:31 p.m. CST
and how long until they announce the remake of Lady Vengeance?
by chickychow
just bought it, gonna check it out, very psyched.
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I used watch cows get cut in half a long time ago, and sometimes, when you cut their limbs off... their muscles would still twitch and spaz out. If Lin wants to one-up Wook, he should have the American Dae-Su immediately eat up a twitching raw angus cow at the butcher shop. Yes, we Americans love our hamburgers.
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you know you want it
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First of all, his name is Justin. Has there ever been a good filmmaker--a good ANYTHING--named "Justin"? The name fairly screams suburban dweeb. You know what else screams suburban dweeb? His lame-o debut feature. Expect this schmuck to be directing TNT movies in about a month.
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Jonathan Glazer is a good choice. David Fincher is too easy. As for cast, Gary Oldman for Oldboy, Kristin Bell for Mi-do and Russell Crowe for Lee Woo-Jin (I think seeing Crowe play it mostly for his charisma would be interesting). And I realized today that if this is a hit they probably really will remake Sympathy and Lady Vengeance. Ugh.
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I think it had been bandied about early on. I'm not a big Crowe fan (altho I do love guys who throw phones around like frisbees) but I think he'd be a decent, if almost too obvious choice to play Oldboy. It would far and away be a better fuckin choice than Nicolas Cage. For the villain of the piece, not sure. Daniel Craig? How bout Daniel Day Lewis in creepy, silky-smooth mode? (anyone named Daniel is what I'm tryin to get at here) As for director, why not go full-out fanboy wet dream and say Scorsese? (despite the fact that he's already remaking an Asian flick)
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Seriously, if the general public in the US doesnt have the effort to see these films, then they deserve to miss out. No need to remake it for them.
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And I also agree with you. The only way I'd consider watching it is if Park directed it himself. Takashi Shimizu (sp?) did pretty good with The Grudge, but still it shouldn't be done at all.
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Frustrating, such utter and complete bullshit to remake Oldboy (same with Infernal Affairs eh), so unnecessary. Where are Hollywood's original ideas? I agree with Sakurai, if people don't want to read a movie, consider them fucked.
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www.zindathefilm.com http://www.naachgaana.com/item/1315 yes its sad and its depressing, and its a waste
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Then we are talking about the studio investing money and expecting a profit, so forget the film being anything but an 'inspired by' type thing, with a guy being kidnapped and held by a mysterious stranger and released to investigate why and gain revenge. All other details, including the actual motivation, will be changed, I guarantee it...
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Just saw it the other day. Park's segment is easily the best, its like Saw, only good. They should get him to do a Masters of Horror that won't air.
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Jan. 28, 2006, 11:14 p.m. CST
I don't buy that it could be remade by 10 different director
by Vern
Look, I thought Oldboy was good. I don't understand why people get such a boner over it, but it is good. The thing is, it's a crazy movie specific to the personality of that director. There is no reason for somebody else to remake it. It's not like its a timeless story that reaches across cultures or some shit. Sorry Quint, but even Scorsese remaking it makes no god damn sense. You really think he would make something with such a ridiculous, cartoonish storyline? The appeal of it I think is that it's completely preposterous and over the top (especially as you find out what's going on near the end). It's not something that can benefit from the Goodfellas treatment. (And I'm not sure why we want to see a guy eating tacos. If it's not squids maybe you should leave the eating part out.)
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Heh, I will have too check out the Bollywood version. Big fan of the stuff. Nothing beats Muthu Superstar Rajni.
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Pah. You people. Crowe, DeNiro, Oldman, even Jane... you cast them and the movie's dead from the opening frame. The guy in the police station has to be the last person the audience would expect to turn out as a bad-ass, not the first. Think outside the box -- Hoffman, Giamatti... getting somebody like that for the lead is the only way this thing has the tiniest shred of a hop of working.
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You know... I think you're right! Hoffman or Giamatti could work. But -- you could also get Oldman to put on some weight, get him groomed, and have him hunch over a little in a business suit.
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Gary Oldman would be perfect for this, yes. But it'll never happen.
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Jan. 29, 2006, 12:57 a.m. CST
"I swear to god someday soon I am gonna burn this place down."
by PurityOfEssence
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The whole thing was shot in one scene, no cut scenes, it was a thing of beauty. What a real fight with a hammer would look like if your in a damn hallway with a gang trying to kill you and all you got is a damn hammer!!! on another note, I'm sure excited about this sequel. Can't wait for hollywood to add some real cool wire fu and maybe some slow motion effects. Oh and add some quirky comedy while your at it. Maybe have him team up with a black guy and they can joke about cultural differences. yup. can't wait for this film.
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Philip Seymour Hoffman would be PERFECT. Rock on. Though Mission Impossible III could screw that up. D'oh!
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Jan. 29, 2006, 7:03 a.m. CST
If Cage plays Daesu, they should get Allison Lohman to play the
by Gilkuliehe
She was the daughter who fucked him in MATCHSTICK MEN, so here's his chance to get things EVEN!
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Its better to fail in originality than to succeed in imatation.
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Jan. 29, 2006, 1:55 p.m. CST
They should combine the Oldboy remake with the long gestating 24
by LilOgre
That way Kiefer and Elisha Cuthbert could have that love scene we've all been waiting for and Marwan could come back from the dead as Lee Woo-Jin. Now THAT would be interesting.
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and why bother remaking it when there is no way in hell a hollywood film is going to go the same route.
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Actually Lin and Ernesto what the fuck ever said they would be keeping the twist intact. Which is worse, really because now everyone who sees the American film will have the end ruined by this artless, shitty remake.
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Jan. 29, 2006, 7:18 p.m. CST
"Which is worse, really because now everyone who sees the Americ
by OldEnoughForMe
Word, brother. Justin Lin would also need to be an obsessive compulsive visionary to make this project work. His timing, pacing, and camera placement would need to be just abstract enough to set this project apart from your typical Hollywood Asian remake. He needs to muster up enough manhood hair to tell the suits to shut the f-ck up and let him control this baby. If American Dae-Su eats twitching half-alive cattle leg, just show it and don't have the camera swoop inside the meat Fincher-style to show us the microbes and sh-t while giving the audience a ten minute speech on why the meat is spazzing out (due to reflexive nerves). Man, I would love a scene where the characters interact with each other in almost-complete darkness. But no, Hollywood HAS to perfectly light every single shot in a film. Boo. Eh, who am I -- I'm a nobody.
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OLDBOY had a much stronger narrative. It's the best of the so-called 'trilogy' (that I've seen, anyways...)
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Dae-Su ate the live squid because he wanted to consume life to validate his existence. But it works on a literal level because live squid is a Korean delicacy. There is simply no American delicacy which is eaten alive. Burritos are a pointless substitute, because the cow has been killed, cut, ground up, cooked and seasoned -- it is, in several senses of the word, lifeless. Just like this remake. And the squid scene is just one of the many many reasons Oldboy should not be remade. It's the same exact thing for the tongue-removal. It works symbolically in the original because the villain claims Dae-Su's tongue was the cause of everything. But it works literally because it plays into an Asian tradition of personal honor (and more importantly, self-flagellation to atone for disgrace) missing from American culture. If Nicolas Cage cuts off his own tongue, American audiences will laugh. If he doesn't, a significant chunk of the subtext -- indeed, the very point of the movie -- will be discarded.
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Even though the movie was made in Korea with Korean actors, it is in fact, based on a Japanese comic book. So in effect, it too is also a remake taken from a different culture reworked for the Korean mindset. Is that any different then a Korean film reworked for the American mindset? My wife is Korean, and she constantly tells me every time the movie is on TV that Oldboy is a japanese comic book. The biggest difference is that Korean and Japanese cultures are similar enough that you can change the nationality of the characters without effecting the story so much. I personally don't think you can do the same thing between eastern and western cultures. They're just too different.
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Excuse the excessive use of language, but: Fuck Universal and fuck Justin (who?!?)Lin for even thinking they can do the material justice. Why not remake 8 1/2 with Brett Ratner attached as director exploring the action elements of the story.
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FUCK YOU!! to the person(s) who allowed this atrocity to happen. lin, may you die before you get to do this.
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So this is what we're doing now? Making death threats, because someone's remaking fucking 'Old Boy?' Calm the fuck down. You'd think this were the first time Hollywood ever remade a good film. The people who are going positively apeshit seem like the people who would complain about how their favorite bands "sold out" in high school: you feel like you have some personal connection with the material because you discovered it before anyone else did. Or maybe not. I just don't understand why so much rage in this particular example.
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Jan. 30, 2006, 11:40 a.m. CST
IamNumber1...you're exactly right! That's why I liked i
by vinceklortho
oh, you didn't like it...anyway, good points about why the movie kicked ass. No, this movie should be remade at all, not even Scorcese should go into it..no one! Plus, folks, Justin Lin is marking himself very bad now, going from the shitfest deluxe of Annapolis to another shitfest-in-the-making of Fast & the Furious 3: Fast Cars in Tokyo and other Stupid things High Schoolers do on a Friday Night in a Mall Parking lot. He'll inevitable destroy his rep. before he can get his hands on this. So, with Annapolis failing miserably at the BO now and with the **hopeful** demise of the Fast and the Furious franchise, maybe the suits won't let him make it? It's possible.
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Damn, I'm going to go get some life-force sustaining tacos right this minute. I will tear them limb from limb.
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Who cares if it gets remade? Does a remake mean the pirated DVD you have of the original will suddenly melt and disappear? Will your memories of the original be tainted because strangers are watching a *gasp!* different version than the one you love? You losers are hilarious.
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the more time you spend on the internet, the less you will make on tips, GET BACK ON YOUR BIKE!! those burritos won't deliver themselves, COCKSUCKER!!
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Dude, making fun of my name is low. Especially for someone named after a character from Spawn, a comic book that had its peak in the mid 90's... Way to be hip, bro.
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Feb. 1, 2006, 10:13 a.m. CST
gary oldman is a safe choice, he even looks like Daesu - you wan
by Spacesheik
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sorry, bro
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