vanilla sky Tagged Articles at Cinematical

With this weekend's The Day the Earth Stood Still, Hollywood continues its attempt to remake every remotely viable classic property it can get its hands on. (It also conjures up the perfect role for Keanu Reeves, but that's another post.) The science-fiction genre has been a particularly inviting target, which makes sense since the ability to use modern effects makes filmmakers think that they are improving on their source material regardless of whether that's actually true. But it hasn't been all bad. Hollywood still churns out some good sci-fi from time to time, and some of the remakes have hit their mark. Here's a list of seven that worked for me -- though I warn you that my tastes in genre films are somewhat idiosyncratic. I'm fond of some black sheep.

1. War of the Worlds (2005) - Some of you may want to get off the train right here. But I saw Spielberg's War of the Worlds before the bad buzz, and I found the first ninety minutes just ridiculously intense -- the realest alien invasion ever put on screen. This was Spielberg the wizard, the technician, in top form. Sure, he chose to play out his daddy issues instead of giving us a believable ending; everyone is right about that. But to me, that's barely a smudge on this movie's accomplishments.

Ever since I decided to watch all 8 episodes of the HBO show Tell Me You Love Me this weekend (not the greatest idea, mind you), not only am I searching for a therapist but I also have sex on the mind (how could you not after watching that show?).Over at Nerve, they've gone ahead and satisfied their ever-growing sex addictions by putting together a list comparing the sex scenes in a number of films that have been fortunate enough to undergo the remake treatment over the years. This list is part of their new Film Issue, which happens to contain a plethora of sex-related stuff like sex advice from movie extras, a piece on Fast Times at Ridgemont High as it relates to teenage lust, and something on Ken Russell's phallic fixation ... among other things. But it was this list -- on sex scenes -- that I found the most interesting.

For example, you'd think the obvious choice would be to always side with the original, not the remake. But when it comes to L'Ultimo Bacio, otherwise known as The Last Kiss when it was re-made here in the states starring Zach Braff, it's the remake's sex scene that ultimately wins out. Yes, Zach Braff managed to provide a hotter, steamier sex scene than the very sexy Italian actor Stefano Accorsi (oh, and Rachel Bilson ... words cannot express the thoughts I had while, um ... nevermind). Among some of the films discussed are Swept Away (1974) vs. Swept Away (2002), The End of the Affair (1955) vs. The End of the Affair (1999), Alfie (1966) vs. Alfie (2004) and Open Your Eyes (1997) vs. Vanilla Sky (2001) -- both of which featured a very topless Penelope Cruz. Of course, the folks at Nerve do help you out a bit by providing clips of each sex scene so that you, at home, can decide which was better: the original or the remake. Yes, and that also means there is some NSFW nudity, so keep that in mind before you go clicking like a mad man (or woman).

[Thanks Lauren]