Disgrace to Chris Penn's memory!

i didn't know he was dead. that's sad.

having said that, the new willard was awesome. i really liked the new movie. i'm sure he wouldn't be turning over in his grave at all.

4/11 Never Forget: I died too.

Any time some bonehead complains about a remake I want to ask them, why not ignore it? Classic movies and TV shows aren't made any less good by the existence of a remake. Most remakes suck but they'll generally vanish from public consciousness in a year or two. When was the last time you heard someone talk about the recent versions of The Manchurian Candidate or Psycho?

Also, Footloose is a "classic"? When did that happen?

"I had a big lunch that DIDN'T tempt fate!"

I was in college when the first Footloose was released and I still remember who I went to see it with. It was an awesome film of our generation.

As for the remake I didn't like it as well but it was an enjoyable movie. I actually liked the actor that played Willard a lot more than Chris Penn. He was adorable. The actor that played Ren was nothing even remotely close to Kevin Bacon. He was a good dancer but he just didn't have "it" as far as I was concerned. Ariel was very, very similar to the original Ariel.

"Footloose" is your line in the sand?!? HAHAHAHAHA! People really throw the word "classic" around 'loosely'. Tell me, what other two movies have you seen? LOL.

Don't steal. The government hates the competition.

Dirty Dancing??? Saturday Night Fever??? Flashdance???


I TOTALLY agree w/you -- its like HW is running out of ideas, so they decide to remake classics and end up ruining them.. Chris Penn was so good in the original of Footloose, and you are right he must be turning in his grave; I loved his character so much and Kevin Bacon/Chris Penn had such great scenes together when Ren was trying to teach Penn's character to dance- you could tell they had "real fun" w/that scene. NO WAY IN HELL will they EVER be able to remake the movies you named in your post - it would be a complete disaster bc (like Footloose) these are and forever will be CLASSICS. I mean its bad enough they did Footloose remake, which already made me sick.. I heard rumors that Hollywood is "trying" to remake the following Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, St. Elmos Fire, The Lost Boys (which I heard this ONE is like a top priority for them to remake, of course it would be my fave most fave- Kiefer Sutherland is my honey(lol), nobody could recreate David bc Kiefer MADE that HIS role), Less Than Zero (again Robert Downey Jr. MADE Julian HIS role) just to name a few, believe me there are plenty of 80 movies that are classics and cult faves that Hollywood love to get the rights to and remake them. Seems like they are running out ideas of their own.

I love most remakes. There is a distinct need to update movies and make them more relevant to a new generation. I was born in 1980, and my dad and I used to watch all kinds of old shows and movies. I loved the original Star Trek when I was 5. I was mesmerized by The Next Generation when I was 7. I loved all the Star Trek movies. When the new one came out I was so excited. I love it. It even made a fan of my non-scifi fan of a husband. The only thing he didn't understand was all of the little jokes and references that made me laugh all the way through the movie. I really liked the Tron Legacy. I can't wait to see the new Total Recall.

With that said... I really disliked this remake. It was just bad. The dancing was way too Broadway, and they murdered most of the songs from the old soundtrack.

HOWEVER... The guy they got to play Willard, Miles Teller, did an excellent job! He was great, and he looks a lot like Chris Penn too. He was the only thing I liked about this movie. I think he really did Penn proud. Congrats Miles!

I hesitated watching the movie for a while because I didn't get why they would want to remake such a classic movie. I didn't think there was any way to touch it. I still don't think they should have remade it, but it wasn't as bad as I expected. On its own (without considering the original), it wasn't bad.

I responded to this post though because I thought the best part was how closely Miles Teller recreated Chris Penn's character of Willard. There were spots where he sounded just like him, and I think he must have really studied Chris Penn's character because he did a really good job with the part. If anything, I think it was a nice homage to Chris Penn.

Not a bad movie and some great dancing, but I still don't get the purpose of the remake.

I agree with you to a degree on the subject of re-making classic movies and how the process of trying to improve on something that has already been done well (or perfectly in most cases) is more often than not an exercise in futility resulting in and end product that is (again, more often than not) mediocre at best.
That having been said, I'd just like to say that I watched the remake of Footloose this afternoon out of sheer boredom (and I'll admit a tiny bit of curiosity as to how bad it was going to be) and I was'nt completely horrified. Yes, it was pretty disappointing (Julianne Hough's character imo was completely unsympathetic and came across more as a trashy, overworked, southern slut on the downside of 30 as opposed to a sheltered high school age preacher's daughter who just happens to get away with walking around town dressed like a truck-stop hooker, to cite just one example). However, I was completely surprised by how true to the original production it stayed in some key scenes (Ren's dancing in the empty cotton mill, teaching Willard how to dance, to name two. I'd also like to say that Miles Teller's portrayal of Willard was probably the most entertaining aspect of the film and imo an homage to Chris Penn's classic character.... Now Ariel, on the other hand-ah, never mind.