Conan the Barbarian Remake

June 20, 2009

Roland Kickinger will be taking the role as Conan in the Nu Image/Millineum film Conan the Barbarian, a remake of the 80’s classic. This Kickinger guy is like a replica of the governator. He’s an Austrian born body builder turned actor, he played the T800 in Terminator Salvation and now he’s Conan. Wow.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Written by admin · Filed Under 80s, 80s Movies, 80s Remakes, 80s digg

80’s Music - Remade (part 2)

June 14, 2009

I like my writing partners post so much that I had to re-visit her idea of 80s Music Remade.

I got a few songs that are 80s remakes that I really like:

Land of Confusion - Genesis - This was was a good song with a great video. Remember. It had a bunch of caricature hand puppets singing. Disturbed remade this song and did a great job. This is not something you’d expect them to do which (for me) made me an even bigger fan of the group.

Shout - Tear for Fears - Sometimes artist will do things that I think is so amazing that I get inspired, jealous and teary eyed at the awesomeness of what they have created. Shout is one of those songs and Tears for Fears is one of those groups (Everybody Wants to Rule the World -one of my all time favorite songs). And then came Shout 2000 on Disturb’s album The Sickness. WOW. Its so good that I don’t hear the same song when I listen to the original. Shout 2000 is playful, angry, aggressive with all the power and meaning of Tears for Fears.. it is good.. dare I say.. better than the original?

*dang they are cute.
Cruel Summer - Bananarama - This is one of those songs that I didn’t appreciate in the 80s, but now, in retrospect, seems to frame the essence of the 80s like MC Hammer pants.. (ok baaaad analogy). Its a catchy song looking back. It was remade by Ace of Base and I must say the did a fantastic job. Disclaimer: I am not, I repeat NOT a fan of Ace of Base. My future ex-wife likes Ace of Base (and Wilson “FUCKING” Philips! Wilson. m&*ther fuc*. Philips! There is just no excuse for that kind of bastard-tastic filth (yeah, Websters I made up a new word it is an adverb bitches). But I digress. Ace of Base. Cruel Summer. Good song.

Tainted Love - The Soft Cell - This is actually a cover of a 1964 Soul song. The original song was done by soul singer Gloria Jones in 1964.
But it was the British group Soft Cell that gave it world renowned 80s greatness.

And then came Marylin Manson in all her/his/its demented infamy. Marylin covered the 80s version of Tainted Love (which makes it a cover of a cover). Manson raped it, turned it out and made “Tainted Love” into an obscene curse phrase.. its awesome. And the video is like Thug gothic porn straight out an urbanized Necronocomicon Bible. It is sick in every since of the word.

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Written by admin · Filed Under 80s, 80s Music, 80s Remakes, 80s digg

80’s Music - Remade

June 12, 2009

Just a quick list of a few of my favorite 80’s songs with a good remake I’ve heard throughout my years on the planet growing up (or growing old, take your pick).

1.Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) - Eurythmics - I’m not even going to pretend that, as a child, the video made any sense whatsoever to me (but I tried to figure it out on several occasions). Annie Lennox’s voice is divine, though, and the electronic beat most associated with this decade worked extremely well as a package deal. As far as remakes go, Marilyn Manson composed a killer remake of this song that took it from the realm of mystical into the land of creepy and sinister (as he is wont to do).

2.Blue Monday - New Order - Let’s face it; New Order just owned when it came to capturing a sound and taking it to a new level. The lyrics to Blue Monday were as awesome then as they are today, and the song’s meaning just really worked excellently with the completely electronic music and vocals. Obviously, the best remake I’ve heard of this song (and the only remake I’ve had the pleasure of hearing of this song) is by a band called Orgy, and the remake was featured in the Not Another Teen Movie soundtrack. Their revamped style of the song stayed in the same vein as the original (aesthetic electronics) but their lead vocalist brought a bit more emotion to the lyrics and really put another spin on a classic, in my opinion.

3.Billie Jean - Michael Jackson - Yeah, there had to be a Michael Jackson song on this list somewhere. I grew up on the Thriller album (but how many of us didn’t?) and Billie Jean was one of my favorites. I didn’t quite get the lyrics back then (I was 5 or 6 when the song came out, after all), but I remembered that catchy pop beat that Michael had a knack for. There’s actually two remakes I have to recommend here. The first was done by Chris Cornell, where he took the original and gave it a slowed down, sultry tempo. The second was David Cook’s take on the Chris Cornell version that he performed during his run on the seventh season of American Idol (I can’t recommend anything David’s done enough, he’s hot).

4.Call Me - Blondie - Man, this song was so my jam growing up. I missed it when it came out in 1980 ( I was 2, cut me some slack), but once I discovered it a few years later I couldn’t get enough of it. It’s peppy, comes with its own seductive undertones, and have you listened to the lyrics? Dirty, s’all I’m saying. Remakes? Well I just recently found one by a group called In This Moment that captured the original style of the song while still bringing in their own style, swapping electric synthesizers for electric guitars covering the riffs and breaks in singing.

5.Personal Jesus - Depeche Mode - This song helped me kick off the dogmatic ties that kept me from writing freely growing up and helped me delve into those little crevaces of the mind we’re encouraged to ignore. I can’t recommend this song highly enough to own, use, abuse, commit debauchery to, etc. The remake I have in mind should go without saying; Marilyn Manson’s cover of this song was wonderful. He stayed in the footsteps of Depeche Mode, only tweaking and adding to the song to infuse his own style into it. Masterful remake if I’ve ever heard one.

Short list, I know, but I like to keep my list of approved remakes (in regards to music) short, sweet, and to the point. But there’s five for you to check out. Enjoy ‘em! I know I do, and frequently.

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Written by Uno · Filed Under 80s, 80s Music, 80s Remakes, 80s digg

Ode To Optimus Prime

June 12, 2009

So the second installment in the Transformers revamps is almost upon us. Are you psyched about it? I know I am (IMAX here I come, baby). Back when I was growing up, I was always drawn to the leader figures in the shows I watched and Optimus Prime is the leader I always remember the most fondly. Thanks to the FCC lifting that pesky regulation in the 80’s that prohibited the production of cartoons that promoted toy lines, we all got to witness the first installments of the Transformers animated cartoon series. Oh and how I, as a little girl longing for something with substance, rejoyced watching these robots kick Decepticon tail every week. I even conned my parents into buying me the Optimus Prime toy. They gave me strange looks as I passed up Barbies with frilly dresses for my Mack truck Autobot but they didn’t understand. I think my mother still shakes her head at my hobbies, habits, and addictions but that’s a story for another time.

Optimus Prime, though… what a leader he was. He always looked out for the humans of Earth (something I have to commend the movie makers of today for keeping in his character) and was always ready to put his life on the line to keep his own people safe. When the first Transformers movie came out I was ecstatic! Well… I was ecstatic up until Optimus Prime died in the line of duty. I seriously think the rest of the movie was a bit of a blur to me for years, having to watch Hot Rod take the mantle in this perpetrated production that was supposed to be a passing on of the mantle.

Sorry, Rodimus Prime fans; I seriously have no love for that particular leader in the Transformers franchise.

When the first Transformers movie hit the big screen, I was there on opening night, watching in awe as Optimus Prime re-appeared in all his awesome glory (and good Lord can Steve Jablonsky compose the best music ever, complete with a chorus of angelic singers heralding the way for the best leader in cartoon history). Once that movie hit DVD I watched it over and over (and over) again in a patented addictive fashion. I still have much love for the series’s origins, those wonderful 80’s cartoons of my youth, but to see my childhood favorites get full CG renderings that are awe inspiring in their own right gave me hope for possible 80’s franchises remaking their special creations to enjoy in a whole new light.

But yes, I’ll be going to see Transformers 2 when it hits and I’ll be taking my family with me. I’ll be hoping that Optimus makes it through another movie and hoping to never see Hot Rod hit the big screen. When that time comes, I might have to watch through parted fingers and hope my poor childhood hero doesn’t meet a similar fate again. Just remember, boys and girls, where your fandoms came from, and remember to root for Optimus Prime when he makes his second big screen appearance!

Popularity: 2% [?]

Written by Uno · Filed Under 80s, 80s Cartoons, 80s Cartoons/Transformers, 80s Remakes, 80s digg, 80s toys

The 80’s and It’s Remakes = Fail?

May 29, 2009

Howdy, new writer on board. *waves*

When asked to come on board and add some content to this lovely hat-tip to the 80’s, I had some serious things to ponder. The first and foremost thought was honestly what the hell do I even remember about the 80’s? Being a horror movie fangirl, I didn’t need to look further for starters than that genre, putting my finger directly on my DVD boxed set of A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Of course, these days, I can’t think about a beloved slasher film (or ANYTHING really from the 80’s) without having to think about the *dundundun* remakes that are consistently popping up all over the place. I’d like to believe we are able to embrace the past and move forward, not sit back and think Wow, this idea was killer! But I know how to make it better. Think of all the original content we are missing out on by trying to redress things we had no problem loving when we were kids or teenagers.

But, for the sake of an article on a site dedicated to 80’s memorabilia, we’ll just stick with the classic Nightmare on Elm Street film unless I feel long winded and delve into other topics along this same vein.

I’m just gonna have to start off by questioning how anyone who’s seen the original could sit back and remotely pretend it wasn’t scary enough. Robert Englund has played a consistent scary bastard for several films in the series, the first being the most notably unsympathetic Freddy to ever grace the screen. As a child? I had to sleep in my sister’s bed for a week (and it was a twin matress… I laugh just thinking about how the hell we fit on there without one or the other elbowing an eye out). Getting sucked into a mattress by a dream demon is serious business, and for the time the special effects and setup they used to pull even that particular scene off were impressive.

When talking about the new remake (gag me, really), one of the things I’ve heard is that “This Freddy doesn’t talk, thus making him scarier than the original version.” To this I say… HELLO, anyone home? The original film had very scant dialogue for Freddy and he was nothing like the later films where his sarcasm and delight in torment and death truly shined and made him an icon more so than before. Freddy needs to be scarier? Pu-lease.

When this Nightmare on Elm Street remake hits theaters, you won’t find me there. You probably won’t find me watching it on DVD either. It just seems sacrilegious to put money into something that is MORE than capable of still functioning as a scary cinematic piece of brilliance. Then again, maybe I will see it, just so I can sit back and say “I told you so.”

Come on, America. I know you have fresh and invigorating content out there. Quit trying to spruce up your childhood memories just so you can show them off to your friends or to your children. Just sit back, put in the original classic film, and enjoy it as it was originally envisioned… scary Freddy Kruger proclaiming “THIS is God” and all.

*For the record, I do think some remakes have been good for a series in various ways for various reasons. I am, however, a purist at heart when it comes to some of my childhood/teenage fandoms. Horror movies would, obviously, be one of my biggest gripes.

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Written by Uno · Filed Under 80s Remakes, 80s digg, 80s horror, Freddy Krueger, Robert Englund

Thunder Cat Movie!

May 26, 2009

Will there be a Thunder Cat movie? Who the hell knows!?
This hype has been circling the Internet for a few years and I, for one, am tired of it. So the next bastard that talks about a Thunder Cat movie is going to die a horrible death! SO SAITH 80sRewind!!

But seriously.. I can’t tell you how many nights I lay wake with my Vulture Man action figure crying real tears for a time dead to me now. Long ago on a planet called 3rd Earth where Mumra, the everliving, ruled creatures of a post-apocalyptic realm.

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Written by admin · Filed Under 80s, 80s Cartoons/Transformers, 80s Remakes, 80s digg

“Kiss My Converse” Sam Jackson in Remake of Last Dragon

October 30, 2008

“Kiss My Converse.” Samuel L. Jackson is scheduled to play the Shogun in a remake of the Last Dragon.

The folks at Geek Actually had this to say, “Have We Reached the Bottom of the Remakes Barrel? Crap, the original was total crap! It was a stupid Motown film trying to cash in on the 80s martial arts craze”.

While I would agree that the 80s remakes are going a little crazy in Hollywood essentially remaking EVERY popular 80’s show and movie, I disagree with

Geek actually’s craptastic view of the original. It is a classic for me. Me and my friends can still recite the lines from the movie.

O.k. it was cheesy with some bad acting, but the Last Dragon had something that most 80s shows and movies didn’t have at the time… a black superhero. Most black heros in movies targeting the black audience were pimps, drug lords and macks. Just look at Superfly. The 70s did have Shaft who was a detective. I’m not saying there were NO good guys who were black in the 80s (B.A. Barracus, Action Jackson and others), I’m just saying there weren’t many.

And even fewer had actual super powers.

The Last Dragon also paid homage to Bruce Lee and martial arts films which were ALWAYS popular among kids.

http://geekactually.com/2008/10/30/have-we-reached-the-bottom-of-the-remakes-barrel/

http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=50134

Popularity: 11% [?]

Written by admin · Filed Under 80s, 80s Movies, 80s Remakes, 80s digg

Knight Rider coming to a cinema near you

June 7, 2006

The popular 1980s TV series Knight Rider, which originally ran from 1982 to 1986, is being transferred to filem by producers Harvey and Bob Weinstein. The TV series made Glen A. Larson and David Hasselhof famous. Also from the Weinstein Company are the movie version of Welcome Back, Kotter and The Equaliser.