Apparently they remade Straw Dogs and its coming out in September. A couple of things.
-I never really liked the original. Not that I found it offensive or anything like that just that I found it boring or at the very least un-engaging.
-This trailer is a case study in giving the whole damn movie away.
When that September day comes when Sandra and I are choosing a movie to see I think we’ll be choosing Drive. Others may choose differently as I know that folks love the original movie. We’ll see.
Never saw the original because I can’t watch movies about terrorism or torture.
Apparently the studio doesn’t think much of the remake -the release date has been pushed back from its original opening in Feb to the summer and now September. And you’re right – since the trailer pretty much gives away the whole plot, why bother spending the $10.00…..
Straw Dogs is a far cry from one of Peckinpah’s best films but it is damned interesting. The troubling things it expresses about masculinity and (especially) female sexuality remain both fascinating and offensive and the finale has a lot going for it (bear trap!). I think the story is solid and there’s probably more to explore within such a scenario, but this trailer doesn’t make it look like the filmmakers were very worried about doing much more than utilizing the ol’ rape-revenge fantasy.
But of all the “modern Hollywood remake” bullshit lameness on display in the trailer, far and away the funniest is the decision to have the stupidly, blandly handsome and cut James Marsden stand in for Dustin Hoffman. Shit, they could have actually done something interesting just by casting someone who looked even vaguely ethnic in the “outsider to the backwater burg” role to give it more charge other than just making him a writer who wears glasses. Safe, safe stuff.
Absolutely right about giving the whole movie away. No need to see it once you’ve seen this trailer. And looks like yet another remake of a movie that was just fine as it was, pretty much “verbatim,” even down the Dustin Hoffman’s glasses (though this blonde is not Susan George).