September 28, 2004

There is a decidedly un-American undertow to October's film line-up. It's true, there is the all-American Friday Night Lights and the distinctly Amer-urban Shark Tale. And I Heart Huckabees and Sideways are distinct American filmmaking visions.

Maybe the crossover is Team America, which could well be a bigger hit overseas than here, unusual for a comedy, but for an easily dubbed satire about American culture… well, those French will love it, even if Parker & Stone destroy their precious landmarks.

After that, there are nine major October releases that are either set in England or are American remakes of international hits.

In the first group of films, only one, the magnificent and often misunderstood Enduring Love, is set in modern times. The other three films are Brit period pieces. In order of historic period, the films are Stage Beauty, Being Julia, and Vera Drake. And perhaps it should be no surprise that all three of these pictures are centered on a female character, though Stage Beauty pairs Claire Danes with Billy Crudup in the lead roles. Yet another Brit period piece, the third based around the theater, Finding Neverland, was recently moved to November.

Could it be that Working Title is the only front for movies set in modern England that do not involve zombies?

Oh… they do the zombies too? Shaun of the Dead is coming and were it not for a limited release last weekend, it would be another Brit flick in an already gray-meaty October. Well, they also do Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason and Enduring Love's Roger Michell started his feature career with a Working Title project.

On the remake front, we have a French, an American, a Brit and two Japanese.

Taxi is based on the 1998 Luc Besson-produced French hit, which has been sequelized and then trilogied in 2000 and 2003. Undertow doesn't acknowledge its debt to Night of the Hunter, but the connection is unavoidable. Alfie has been set in New York City this time around and Jude "Six-Gun-Autumn" Law, playing the old Michael Caine role, will next team up with Caine for a remake of Sleuth. Shall We Dance? is a sometimes rigidly faithful, sometimes reckless remake, of the Japanese and American art house hit of 1996. And The Grudge was such a popular video hit in Japan that it went to feature and was sequalized less than a year after it was released. Now it stars Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, so we'll see how things go.

Just when you think you got a whole month without a sequel…

READER OF THE DAY: JACK, NOT IN THE BOX writes: "I saw Shall We Dance two days ago. It was much better than Vanity Fair. It was a wonderful movie. Why do you think it "has already scratched'? Maybe it's not an Oscar worthy movie, but it was very enjoyable and entertaining. You criticized the acting. But in my opinion Gere and Sarandon were great. Tucci was incredible funny. The Lopez I saw was not "J.Lo" but Lopez. Whatever... you may be right. It's not an Oscar worthy movie. But it was very entertaining. My wife liked it very much..."

E-Me. And how does your wife feel about remakes?