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The Lake House

Old 05-25-06, 08:42 PM
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The Lake House

*shakes head*

I just saw the trailer for this movie, and couldn't believe a charming movie such as Il mare was getting an American remake (well, I can believe, but hoped remakes would end soon).

I can see where studios may THINK some foreign movies need to be dumb-downed for American audiences, but Il Mare is a simple story that is easy to follow and understand. For shame Hollywood.

I know the "remakes are bad" threads are freequent around here, but I've never started one and was disappointed to see this movie get the Hollywood treatment with Keanu and Sandra, instead of a release of the original.

Again, for shame.
Old 05-25-06, 09:22 PM
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I didn't know this was a remake, but its basic business sense. Most foreign films rarely become hits and the few that do are rarely a blockbuster like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and most of the "big" ones perform modestly at best (Amelie, Cinema Paradiso). There's been a good amount of Hollywood foreign remakes that have become hits (Insomnia, The Ring, Vanilla Sky) over the past few years so you will see the practice continue. The originals tend to only really capture an audience in the art house world or on video.
Old 05-25-06, 09:38 PM
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I saw the trailer in theaters for this. It got probably the biggest laugh of the night there. I mean, people were dying laughing watching this.
Old 05-25-06, 10:22 PM
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The original is one of my favorites, a gentle low-key charming romantic fantasy. When I first heard of the impending remake, my initial reaction was: "Ah yes, let's cast this with two people known for their subtlety and light touch." Oh well, perhaps we'll be surprised.
Old 05-25-06, 10:27 PM
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Originally Posted by outer-edge
*shakes head*

I just saw the trailer for this movie, and couldn't believe a charming movie such as Il mare was getting an American remake (well, I can believe, but hoped remakes would end soon).

I can see where studios may THINK some foreign movies need to be dumb-downed for American audiences, but Il Mare is a simple story that is easy to follow and understand. For shame Hollywood.

I know the "remakes are bad" threads are freequent around here, but I've never started one and was disappointed to see this movie get the Hollywood treatment with Keanu and Sandra, instead of a release of the original.

Again, for shame.
I'd never heard of the original movie, but why do you assume that the movie will be "dumbed down"? I mean you say it's a simple story to begin with so if the remake is also simple what is there to dumb down? Not every Hollywood version of a foreign film is markedly worse. I don't really get why some people get so bent out of shape when Hollywood remakes foreign films. It's common sense. Most foreign movies (even the good ones) don't get released in The United States and the VAST majority of Americans are not going to go out of their way watch a foreign film. Hollywood's goal is to make money and if they can remake a good foreign film into a movie that Americans will pay money for what's the big deal? Besides, if the American remake is well done, I can only assume that a certain percentage of people might actually make the effort to watch the original if they enjoyed the Hollywood version. Something tells me not very many people had even heard of Ringu and even less had seen it before The Ring came out, but I'm sure tons of people watched Ringu because they saw The Ring. So, in essence, a Hollywood remake can end up making the original foreign film more popular.
Old 05-26-06, 04:53 AM
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Eh, I liked the trailer and I'm probably going to watch it.
Old 05-26-06, 07:55 AM
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I fear I'm gonna weep like a little beyotch when I go see this in a few weeks.
Old 05-26-06, 10:00 AM
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Ironically after the trailer played in the theater, I heard someone behind me say "at least it's original and not yet another remake." Ahhhh, the uninformed. Although the trailer didn't help. The credit screen where it mentions the original is up for like a half second.
Old 05-26-06, 10:10 AM
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Granted, I haven't seen this movie or the original, and I don't know anything about it other than what's in the trailer. But couldn't the person from the earlier time just agree to show up at that house two years later? Unless that person got killed within that time frame, in which case this movie then sounds a lot like a romance version of Frequency.
Old 05-26-06, 10:29 AM
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And that'll be discussed in the plot itself.

All that said, Il Mare was alright, a bit on the overrated side. The remake at least looks true enough to the original, despite stilted dialogue and actors. Hollywood remakes everything, and movies get repackaged with different names. As long as the originals get released on DVD stateside, I'm a happy camper.
Old 05-26-06, 02:24 PM
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Originally Posted by DRG
Granted, I haven't seen this movie or the original, and I don't know anything about it other than what's in the trailer. But couldn't the person from the earlier time just agree to show up at that house two years later? Unless that person got killed within that time frame, in which case this movie then sounds a lot like a romance version of Frequency.

Spoiler:
Since you put it out there; your assumptions are pretty correct on what happens in the original.

Last edited by mrhan; 05-27-06 at 05:37 PM.
Old 05-26-06, 03:40 PM
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Originally Posted by mrhan
Originally not placed in spoiler tags:
Spoiler:
Since you put it out there; your assumptions are pretty correct on what happens in the original.
Dammit, this was fucking uncool. What DRG did was conjecture; what you did was outright spoil. Not kosher, dude.

Last edited by Filmmaker; 05-28-06 at 09:35 AM.
Old 05-26-06, 04:01 PM
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can someone explain what the movie is suppose to be about? the trailer says its about lovers who live 2 years apart? how the hell does that work?
Old 05-26-06, 04:02 PM
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Originally Posted by atari2600
can someone explain what the movie is suppose to be about? the trailer says its about lovers who live 2 years apart? how the hell does that work?
I'm sure mrhan could tell you...
Old 05-26-06, 04:20 PM
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Originally Posted by atari2600
can someone explain what the movie is suppose to be about? the trailer says its about lovers who live 2 years apart? how the hell does that work?
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Keanu lives in the house two years prior and Sandra lives there now. They communicate with each other across time through letters in the mailbox.
Old 05-26-06, 10:43 PM
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Originally Posted by Filmmaker
Dammit, this was fucking uncool. What DRG did was conjecture; what you did was outright spoil. Not kosher, dude.

No, I was referring to the original movie; nothing about the Lake house which is the subject of this thread. Learn to read. It could be a totally different movie going in a different direction. If you watch the trailer for the Lake house; the two main characters don't even hold down the same jobs as the original characters. So, what did I spoil? People go off the handle for no fuckin' reason.

Last edited by mrhan; 05-26-06 at 10:46 PM.
Old 05-27-06, 02:20 AM
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Man..Il Mare was a good movie-hopefully The Lake House can capture the same charm. Wasn't there some rumor that they were remaking My Sassy Girl with someone(was it Cameron Diaz?) also?
Old 05-27-06, 04:21 AM
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Originally Posted by mrhan
No, I was referring to the original movie; nothing about the Lake house which is the subject of this thread. Learn to read. It could be a totally different movie going in a different direction. If you watch the trailer for the Lake house; the two main characters don't even hold down the same jobs as the original characters. So, what did I spoil? People go off the handle for no fuckin' reason.
The ending of the movie is what you spoiled.

The endings for The Ring, Vanilla Sky, and Insomnia were all the same to that of the original despite major changes to the plot line itself.

I was looking forward to this movie and now I don't even give a shit anymore. Thanks a lot.
Old 05-27-06, 06:11 AM
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Originally Posted by Filmmaker
Dammit, this was fucking uncool. What DRG did was conjecture; what you did was outright spoil. Not kosher, dude.


Use spoiler tags guys.
Old 05-27-06, 09:27 AM
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Yeah, just use spoiler tags. Just because a thread is about say X-men 3 doesn't mean you can go and flat out ruin the ending of MI:3.
Old 05-27-06, 10:38 AM
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Originally Posted by puzzlefighter99
Man..Il Mare was a good movie-hopefully The Lake House can capture the same charm. Wasn't there some rumor that they were remaking My Sassy Girl with someone(was it Cameron Diaz?) also?
There was talk of a My Sassy Girl remake with Rachael Leigh Cook (which, I confess, probably would have suckered me into seeing it), but I heard it's been shelved for now.

And I wouldn't at all be surprised if the ending was changed in The Lake House. The entire film is guaranteed to be more bombastic than the original based on the two lead actors alone, and I fully expect the ending to be overblown.

That said, I don't think mrhan completely spoiled the original's ending.

Last edited by printerati; 05-27-06 at 10:41 AM.
Old 05-27-06, 10:45 AM
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That ending is pretty obvious from the trailer and just the plot itself. I don't see how any of you would have been surprised by that.
Old 05-27-06, 10:55 AM
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Originally Posted by tvpuff
That ending is pretty obvious from the trailer and just the plot itself. I don't see how any of you would have been surprised by that.
Your condescension is duly noted.
Old 05-27-06, 12:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Matthew Chmiel
The ending of the movie is what you spoiled.

The endings for The Ring, Vanilla Sky, and Insomnia were all the same to that of the original despite major changes to the plot line itself.

I was looking forward to this movie and now I don't even give a shit anymore. Thanks a lot.
Yeah, I suppose you have to be a fuckin' rocket scientist to know how this movie is going to end. I'm sorry if I ruined it for you and now your having a hissy fit like a little girl.
Old 05-27-06, 02:13 PM
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Originally Posted by mrhan
Yeah, I suppose you have to be a fuckin' rocket scientist to know how this movie is going to end. I'm sorry if I ruined it for you and now your having a hissy fit like a little girl.
You can drop the smugness there dude. It was a legit complaint. Even though I'm still seeing the movie, having the knowledge of what you posted does somehow reduce some enjoyment. When all you had to do was tag your stupid post.

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