# Straw Dogs to be remade **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 27, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259 "2009-10-27T02:57:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/1 "2009-10-27T02:57:20Z")
When will they ever stop? Instead of coming up with original ideas for movies, they crank out remake after dogshit remake. The latest hunk of remake dogshit to be spooned out to hungry audiences? _Straw Dogs._ Originally an ingenious movie by legendary director Sam Peckinpah, starring Dustin Hoffman, and widely considered to be one of the finest and most disturbing films about a man pushed to the edge of his sanity, the 2011 version will star James “Cyclops” Marsden and Kate Bosworth, two of the LEAST TALENTED ACTORS IN HOLLYWOOD. The filming locations listed by Wikipedia - Shreveport and Vivian, Louisiana - as well as the fact that Walton Goggins, aka Shane from “The Shield,” will be in it - lead me to believe that it will be bastardized from the original setting (the English countryside) into a trite and cliched “evil hicks in the sticks” environment, which hasn’t had a lick of originality to it since _Deliverance._ Is anyone else shaking their head with disbelief over the latest and greatest classic film of the 70s to be shit all over by Hollywood? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/2 "2009-10-27T03:12:43Z")
What do you expect when massive ego combines with massive stupid? “_The Blob_” to be [remade](http://scifiwire.com/2009/08/rob-zombie-to-remake-the.php). > [@](#): > > “My intention is not to have a big red blobby thing; that’s the first thing I want to change,” Zombie said. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/3 "2009-10-27T03:16:42Z")
I saw Zombie’s _Halloween_ last week and was _astonished_ by the mediocrity of it. Not astonished because it was horrible - astonished because it was so _mediocre._ I was amazed that someone could actually take the premise of the original _Halloween_ and turn it into something so mind-numbingly boring. Every second of it was a colossal bore! But Straw Dogs! For sweet Christ’s sake! Dustin Hoffman being replaced by James fucking Marsden? The most wooden actor alive? The stunning Susan George re-imagined as utterly bland, baby-faced Kate Bosworth? ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/4 "2009-10-27T03:33:05Z")
I watched _Straw Dogs_ for the first time about a year ago and found it drawn-out and really boring, so I’m not opposed to the idea of a remake although I do agree that James Marsden is a black hole of charisma (which worked when he was Cyclops, but not really anywhere else). ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/5 "2009-10-27T04:10:47Z")
Next thing you know they’ll be remaking _The Wages of Fear_, _House Of Wax_, and _The Ladykillers_. Oh well…as long as they don’t remake _The Third Man_, I’ll still have faith in humanity. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/6 "2009-10-27T04:19:20Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Is anyone else shaking their head with disbelief over the latest and greatest classic film of the 70s to be shit all over by Hollywood? I don’t know, why don’t we ask all those moviegoers from the 30s whether they were sick of all the remakes from the 1910s and 1920s? Or why don’t we ask the 1920s moviegoer if they were sick of the theater adaptations? You know, come to think of it, a lot of the big 1970s movies were just reworkings of earlier films, books and ideas. Face it man, bitching about remakes is one of the most pointless things you can do, because remakes have always existed. Especially in Hollywood. And not knowing that just makes you look ignorant. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/7 "2009-10-27T04:22:00Z")
I would be alright with Straw Dogs being remade if they remade it with **actors who could fucking act.** My biggest beef is not really that they make remakes, it’s that they make _horrible_ remakes. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/8 "2009-10-27T04:42:21Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > I would be alright with Straw Dogs being remade if they remade it with **actors who could fucking act.** My biggest beef is not really that they make remakes, it’s that they make _horrible_ remakes. Then don’t watch them and stop throwing a fucking fit every time a movie made a decade before you were born is remade. Or alternately, watch better remakes. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/9 "2009-10-27T04:45:50Z")
I agree with the outrage over the remakes in general, but meh, _Straw Dogs_ wasn’t all that good (or disturbing) to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/10 "2009-10-27T04:46:43Z")
> [@shy\_guy](#): > > I watched _Straw Dogs_ for the first time about a year ago and found it drawn-out and really boring, so I’m not opposed to the idea of a remake although I do agree that James Marsden is a black hole of charisma (which worked when he was Cyclops, but not really anywhere else). I agree - I was completely underwhelmed - it started off really well, very menacing, but the end was basically an action sequence that went on so long that all tension and suspense was drained from it. I agree this version is doomed to suck, though, merely because of the leads (even if I am glad to see Walton Goggins get some work). **Stranger on a Train** : They remade _Wages of Fear_? I must have missed that, and I’m glad. The original was the definition of awesome (and in my top 10 of the Criterion Collection DVDs). ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/11 "2009-10-27T05:15:50Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Oh well…as long as they don’t remake _The Third Man_, I’ll still have faith in humanity. How said is it that I had to check IMDb to see if you were joking or not… and I’m still not sure. Apparently [there was a remake](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/treca_zena/articles/1221837/), but in no way can it be blamed on Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/12 "2009-10-27T05:57:39Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > **Stranger on a Train** : They remade _Wages of Fear_? I must have missed that, and I’m glad. The original was the definition of awesome (and in my top 10 of the Criterion Collection DVDs). It was remade back in the 70’s under the oddly misleading title _Sorceror_. The remake is actually pretty good. It was William Friedkin’s first move after _The Exorcist_. _The Blob_ has also been remade already, BTW, back in the 80’s, and that remake is pretty entertaining too. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/13 "2009-10-27T05:58:10Z")
> [@woodstockbirdybird](#): > > **Stranger on a Train** : They remade _Wages of Fear_? I must have missed that, and I’m glad. The original was the definition of awesome (and in my top 10 of the Criterion Collection DVDs). The remake was [Sorcerer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sorcerer_%28film%29) and is actually ( and surprisingly ) a pretty good flick in its own right. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/14 "2009-10-27T06:35:21Z")
Sorry, [Susan George](http://img2.allposters.com/images/MMPH/188218.jpg) doesn’t even come close to [Kate Bosworth](http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/kate_bosworth.jpg) in looks. Everything else I will grant you. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/15 "2009-10-27T18:55:59Z")
Kate Bosworth has an utterly baby-like, uninteresting face, and her “beauty” is entirely the beauty of slick, airbrushed, artificially-lit Hollywood production. The women back in the 70s looked a thousand times hotter; they looked _real._ ---
**Author:** ![infinitii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e8c25b/32.png) [@infinitii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/infinitii)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/16 "2009-10-27T19:00:38Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Kate Bosworth has an utterly baby-like, uninteresting face, and her “beauty” is entirely the beauty of slick, airbrushed, artificially-lit Hollywood production. The women back in the 70s looked a thousand times hotter; they looked _real._ But…but…have you SEEN **Blue Crush**? And she has two different coloured eyes!!! ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/17 "2009-10-27T19:01:05Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > You know, come to think of it, a lot of the big 1970s movies were just reworkings of earlier films, books and ideas. Bullshit, nonsense argument. Of course a lot of great movies are based on books. But that doesn’t change the fact that they’re great movies. _Barry Lyndon_ was based on a story by Thackeray; _Full Metal Jacket,_ on a novel by Gustav Hasford. Does that mean that those movies are somehow inauthentic or bad? Hey! I know! Let’s remake _Barry Lyndon_ with Ice Cube, Zac Efron and Angelina Jolie - what could go wrong?! We’ll set it in hip, happening Southern California, instead of boring dreary old England and Ireland…we’ll use real lighting and real studio sets instead of that stupid “natural lighting” think that Kubrick used…it’ll be so much better! And don’t complain that it’s a remake, because the original _Barry Lyndon_ was also a remake! Of a story! Get it?!!?! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/18 "2009-10-27T19:11:33Z")
> [@](#): > > “The Blob” to be remade. > > > [@](#): > > > > : > > “My intention is not to have a big red blobby thing; that’s the first thing I want to change,” Zombie said. A remake of _The Blob_ without a Blob? That’s so…Zen. “The true Horror, Grasshopper, is where the Horror is not!” “I don’t understand, Master.” “Mu!” ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/19 "2009-10-27T19:16:38Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > “My intention is not to have a big red blobby thing; that’s the first thing I want to change,” Zombie said. But there will be a fight with a giant robot spider at the end. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259/20 "2009-10-27T19:21:37Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > I agree with the outrage over the remakes in general, but meh, _Straw Dogs_ wasn’t all that good (or disturbing) to begin with. I dunno…I thought it was both good and disturbing, as a first run movie. Peckinpah was a trailblazer in the movie violence arena and using a very beautiful woman as the film’s shithead, opposite a geek hero, was pretty gutsy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/straw-dogs-to-be-remade/515259.md?page=2)