This is the kind of movie that could be a real box office hit in America, the cast could be for someone like Johnny Depp or Colin Farrell oposite someone like Moly Shannon. And it could be directed by Tim Burton or Danny De Vito, this is the kind of dark comedy they like...great movie!
shareWhat an obsession with the remakes... you already have this one, the original, why another one?
share[deleted]
Some remakes are original in their own right, such as the movie of a young black lady in New York who got pregnant too soon. I don't know the title, but I know that the film was fun to watch.
shareGeez... Just put subtitles and watch it!
shareWhy you americans need to remake everything?? The film already exist!!
shareI love comments like this. It is almost as if you non-Americans think your movie industry is on par with Hollywood. It is not like your Motion Picture Awards of Lower Slobobia or what ever country your from would make the front pages of all the international papers, like the Academy Awards (the Oscars) from the United States do. Your quaint little foreign films about goat milking and your black handkerchiefs blowing across green fields might pass for art in an Andy Warhol kind of way, but they are far from entertaining. American Production companies remake your little low-budget third world country films because they can increase the production value and bring out what is inside of the project to the surface. The trouble is that goat milking movies are usually about just that. Milking a goat. It is this very reason that these movies inevitably fail in the US. We milk cows here, and to be honest, who wants to spend 90 minutes watching that?
shareOmg this is the most ignorant comment Ive ever read in IMdb... christ, I mean the oscars even if they are famous, they arent the biggets nor important as well Pal d' Or in Cnnes or a festival in Berlin, just becouse Jack Nicholson goes to the oscar's it dosent mean it the greatestfilm festival, are you are promoting it... and why are you insulting foreing lenguage fil industry... I know that in budget quality they cant even be compared, but it would be nice that you would not judge a movie just becouse it has low budget... movies are not only armagedon or matrix you know?
And about a remake, that wouldnt be good, Alex de la Iglesia stile is unique and the movie would lose a LOT of quality without De la Iglesia stile... anyway cya.
This comment made me think long and hard about what I said. After several weeks of reflecting on this I looked up the All Seventy-Seven Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Winners and found out that not only was the first winner and American film, 1939 Union Pacific Country: U.S. Director Cecil B. DeMille, but with 18 Palme winners (and I'm even included the discredited 2004 Fahrenheit 9/11 Country: U.S. Director Michael Moore ) U.S. films have wom more Palmes than any other country including Italy with 9, and the U.K. with 8. (I am not including films that were submitted by more than one country like 2002 The Pianist Country: France/Germany/U.K. Director Roman Polanski as I didn't notice any films submitted by the U.S. in conjunction with another country. I figure the U.S. mostly stands on its own with the winners, so I compared it to winners from countries that stood on their own. It seems to me that the biggest (best, the one that will be remembered and loved the longest) film from all 77 winners is an American film. Now, I wasn't speaking about festivals in my original comment, I was speaking about "movie industry". My comment is that the US movie industry through the Oscars makes international headlines. Cannes isn't a movie industry. It is a film festival. The Oscars are an award show for the US film industry that as a matter of fact happens to give a nod to foreign films (as I guess the British oscars and the Japanese oscars do. Do they even still exist?), it is not a film festival.
shareThe Cannes Film Festival is the most prominent and presitigous film festival in the world and this is supported by your factbite that as a country, the U.S. has won the most number of Palme d'Or awards.
To turn your comparison around, then of 77 winners, the United States only has 18 wins, while European countries in all have most of all the rest, which means that European film, which you don't appear to like that much, has fared much better in Cannes than film from the U.S.
Granted, many of the U.S. films that won the Palme d'Or have also been exceptional and I am sure many have not been outright Hollywood productions. And if made in Hollywood, then those productions had to be rather independent (I skimmed over some movies' information in Wikipedia). For example, by the end of production, "Apocalypse Now" was financed by Francic Ford Coppola himself, because he wanted to retain full directorial control over it, since the movie was long over schedule and over budget.
Orson Welles also retained full directorial control and with that he made one of the greatest movies in film history, "Citizen Kane".
Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Winners
1939 Union Pacific Country: U.S. Director Cecil B. DeMille
1946 Lost Weekend Country: U.S. Director Billy Wilder
1952 Othello Country: U.S. Director Orson Welles
1955 Marty Country: U.S. Director Delbert Mann
1957 Friendly Persuasion Country: U.S.
1970 M*A*S*H Country: U.S. Director Robert Altman
1973 Scarecrow Country: U.S. Director Jerry Schatzberg
1974 The Conversation Country: U.S. Director Francis Ford Coppola
1976 Taxi Driver Country: U.S. Director Martin Scorsese
1979 Apocalypse Now Country: U.S. Director Francis Ford Coppola
1980 All That Jazz Country: U.S. Director Bob Fosse
1982 Missing Country: U.S. Director Costa-Gavras
1989 Sex, Lies and Videotape Country: U.S. Director Steven Soderbergh
1990 Wild at Heart Country: U.S. Director David Lynch
1991 Barton Fink Country: U.S. Director Ethan & Joel Cohen
1994 Pulp Fiction Country: U.S. Director Quentin Tarantino
2003 Elephant Country: U.S. Director Gus Van Sant
2004 Fahrenheit 9/11 Country: U.S. Director Michael Moore
heh, funny, according to that logic Independance Day is one of the best movies ever, and Britney Spears is the best musician in the world.... hehehe "bring out what is inside"...... very funny
shareThese last two comments just go to prove my point about goat milking movies and goat milkers. Are your worlds so narrow that you think that Matrix and movies like the Matrix are the only movies that come out of Hollywood? No where did I mention that making millions of dollars qualifies a movie as being good. I made a clear comment about art versus entertainment, and that not all art is entertaining. This movie was entertaining but I wouldn't call it art. Why are movies like the GODFATHER known world wide, but your little goat milking movies that win the Palm de or are forgotten 15 minutes later? Why would anybody mention Britney Spears whom is a joke here as I am sure she is in any goat milking country that has a radio and a TV where they all take a turn watching and listening because there is only one of each in the region? Say what you will about cannes, but don't be naive. The world looks to Hollywood. Not Bollywood, not Lower Slabobiawood. Not cannes nor Milkagoatistan either. And PLEASE don't act like every picture out of cannes, bollywood and milkagoatistan is a winner that deserves praise and monuments. They make garbage movies just as well if not better than Hollywood.
shareI mentioned Britney Spears because you confuse being known with being good. And you keep making the same mistake. And thats the only thing that an american remake would do, unless you think that having tom cruise and cameron diaz in a movie really "bring out what is inside"... well, I guess every movie has at least a little hamburger in its heart
So if we follow your logic, a movie has to be obscure to be good. This movie is just OK. Its not even original as Hitchcock and Woody Allen and Blake Edwards have their finger prints all over this movie. I'm not in favor of remaking this movie. Its not worth it. But I do stand behind my comments about all you goat milkers, and your goat milking movies, and that no one ever remembers your third world countries little goat milking movies, because no one cares about them in the least. Vacas? Who cares? El Traje? Who cares? If I burned every print of Todo Sobre Mi madre that exists, maybe a few hundred or thousand people would care for a few days. Two weeks tops. But if I burned Casablanca, Raging Bull, The Wizard of Oz, or Star Wars for that matter, the world would weep after hunting me down. Not the US, but the WORLD would weep. I doubt anyone would shed a tear for a goat milking movie.
shareIf you follow my logic, a movie doesn't have to be obscure nor popular to be good. And about who would weep for what... well, only shortsighted trend followers will weep only for your classics. It takes a little brain to appreciate the product of a different culture.
shareYou mean like people like you who do not appreciate the products of a different culture as in the movies I mentioned? Shortsighted trend followers? Do you mean The Wizard of Oz from almost 70 years ago? Cassablanca from almost 65 years ago? The Godfather from almost 35 years ago? Or are you referring to Star Wars form almost 30 years ago? Or the baby of the bunch Raging Bull from over 25 years ago? Do movies have to be at least 100 years old to not be classified as shortsighted trend followers? Are any of your third world films that old? As a matter of fact, each of the movies I mentioned are TRENDSETTERS including the worst of the bunch STAR WARS. When Crimen Ferpecto or Maria Milks a goat, or the the Black Hanky That Was Lost In The Hills from your dirt farm land is still spoken about internationally, like the youngest of the "shortsighted" "trend follwers" that you claim my list consists of then I may begin to consider that I am wrong. Until then think about it: What would you rather go to an island for the rest of your life with given only 2 choices. Raging Bull, or Crimen Ferpecto? Or even better, any one of the films I listed, or anyone of the Hitchcock films that so clearly inspired this so so OK movie. I'm talking films. Your talking movies.
shareAnother symptom of shortsightedness is when you cant read well. I said "only shortsighted trend followers will weep only for your classics" as in your classics are not the only ones. I didn't say "only shortsighted trend followers will weep for your classics" as in your classics are only classics to you.
If you think that american film storytelling as it is today doesn't owe anything to foreign films, you need a couple of film history lessons.
And there you go again, thinking that popular = good... you want me to bring back brittney?
I read well, it seems you cant understand well. Put the glass of goat milk down and follow: Who ever was a fan of the Wizard of Oz over 70 years ago was not a shortsighted trend follower, but a visionary who knew the movie was going to be one of the biggest and best films ever made. If you know the history behind this movie, you'll know that it was not a comercial success and did not become the successfull internationally loved classic that it is today until many years later. If I destroyed this print, it would be naive of anyone to beleive that those that would weep would only be shortsighted trend followers. But then again you dont understand well. If you did you would see my point clear as day: US remakes of forgien films are usually better, but you can only polish a turd oh so much. STAR WARS is a pseudo remake or inspiration of the The Hidden Fortress, directed by Akira Kurosawa. Who knows that? Not many. Who cares? Even less. Who will miss The Hidden Fortress if I destroy the print? Even fewer than that. Was it even any good? It was ok. It didn't suck, but it wasn't a barn burner that kept people up late at night talking about it. But STAR WARS sure was/is. Raging Bull was based on a true American story and the Godfather from an American author's book of the same name. No foreign film inspiration in OZ, Bull, Godfather. Casablanca? I dont know, but then, isn't that really my point? If it was inspired by a 3rd world flick, then I never heard about it. My point. But lets talk newer movies that are internationally praised. Reservoir Dogs. Good film. Interesting, entertaining art house film that wasn't commercially succesful in the US until it hit video and the director became better known. Based on Ringo Lam's Lung fu fong wan (City on Fire). Who knows that? Not many. Who cares? Even less. City on fire SUCKED!!! Tarantino took the last half hour of this movie, and made his 99 min. film way more interesting than Lam's 101 min yawn fest. Your film history lesson is now complete. Please do your homework and remember that as I said "The trouble is that goat milking movies are usually about just that. Milking a goat. It is this very reason that these movies inevitably fail in the US. We milk cows here, and to be honest, who wants to spend 90 minutes watching that?" Class dismissed.
sharefunny that you mention your own and other people's ignorance as a point in favor of your argument. funnier that you don't mention the real classics, the films that made cinema the great art it is, films like Citizen Kane (to mention the american one I can remember now)... films that star wars and oz owe their respect... you know a great deal about popular movies (and no, oz doesn't count as obscure), but if the names Eisestein or Fritz Lang dont ring any bells, you still need a lesson on film history.... please don't hold your own ignorance as a point in your favor again
shareWhat is funny is your ignorance by implying that The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, The Godfather, Star Wars, and Raging Bull are not "real classics." It is even funnier that you once again try and force people to believe that a movie has to be obscure to be a "classic". Obscure and REAL OLD. Like Lang didn't make any dogs back at the turn of the century. I saw Metropolis (what's left of it any way) and what's left of Lost Horizon, and Citizen Cane (Another American classic that does not include a single goat being milked mind you!!!) I guess you had to mention Cane to help prove my point, as you simply do not have a point of your own to prove. Did you manage to miss my reference to the "obscure" Hidden Fortress? City On Fire? Oh... my fault, I didn't go far back enough with Oz as Metropolis did come out in 1927. Lets see...Union Pacific came out of America in 1939 to win the Palme de Or, and the American film Lost Horizon came out in 1937. Hell's Angels in 1930. Gee...should I mention that The Jazz Singer was also released in 1927 (and a talkie at that)? The Big Parade from 1925? The Phantom of the Opera 1925? Should I simply end it with Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ 1925? Here is the one movie you'd think would have a scene of goat being milked, but of course, it is an American production, so yes Virginia there is a Santa Claus, but no, there aren't any goats being milked in this film either. So there you have it, some of the best films ever made (AMERICAN PRODUCTIONS) yet obscure to the average man. I'm 36 years old, an old dude by my 16 year old brother's standards. Most people between his age and mine think that Metropolis is the city Superman lives in (another great American movie), Phantom of The Opera was released last year as a movie for the first time, think Hell's Angels are a motorcycle gang, the Big Parade is something that happens down 5th Avenue, wouldn't know the Jazz singer from a Singer sewing machine, Union Pacific is dead rail road if they even know that much, and if by chance they've even heard of Ben Hur, they would think the Charlton Heston version, and I'm sure you would too. All AMERICAN PRODUCTIONS "that made cinema the great art it is". And NOWHERE is Crimen Ferpecto. Now run along before you get left back a grade...or would you rather make up your missing work in summer school?
shareJust for the record, I do think a couple of the movies you mentioned at first are real classics, but I would include several more that are less known, some of those in this last post of you, some others are foreign movies.
allright, you know your american film history, now teach me about Eisenstein and how most of the movies you mentioned owe to him.
And you've also talked your share about movies "made loosely about" or "inspired by" foreign films, now lets talk about actual remakes, like how great the remakes of Nikita or Abre Los Ojos are.
Which Way Is Up? (1977) directed by Michael Schultz and starring Richard Pryor is a remake of The Seduction of Mimi (1972) directed by Lina Wertmüller and starring Giancarlo Giannini. True Lies (1994) directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold and Eliza Dushku is a remake of La Totale! (1991) directed by Claude Zidi. Three Men and a Baby (1987) remake of Trois Hommes et un Couffin (1985) . The Magnificent 7 from Seven Samuri. The Birdcage (Funny) La cage aux folles), Down And Out In Beverly Hills (1986) remake of Boudu Sauvé Des Eaux (1932), Scent of a Woman (1992) remake of Profumo Di Donna (1974), Sorcerer (1977) remake of Le Salaire de la Peur (1953) (aka The Wages Of Fear a personal favorite!!!) Twelve Monkeys (1995) remake of La Jetée (1963). Most of these movies are ok, some very good, and 2 are classics (Magnificent 7 and Which Way is Up). I could write for days about this. As for Eisenstein, his work is narrow and more along the lines of INTERESTING as apposed to GREAT FILMS THAT NEED TO BE SEEN!!! Yes Point of no Return was bad as was Vanilla Sky, but its not like the world over talks about Nikita or Abre Los Ojos are as if these were two of the best most brilliant films ever made. I doubt the are even on your top ten. So lets bury the hatchet, drink a glass of milk from one of the cows in Vacas (I really hated that movie) and let me read what you consider the 10 best films ever, and I mean EVER made. Even if they are remakes of an American movie, and let me tell you, there are more of those out there than there are American remakes of forgien films.
shareIf you're gonna dismiss Eisestein as just interesting and not one of the most influencial directors in history, we're done and you'll finally show how much you know about the process of cinema. And WHO CARES WHAT THE WORLDS TALK ABOUT!!! the world talks about britney spears, SO WHAT!!!!
my top ten? damn... thats too hard... and my ego can take so much self service... A little Kubrick here (the UK film), a little old school Ridley Scott there (Alien is one of the few good remakes out there, though thats not his film in my top 10), throw in your Casablanca, and the two foreign directors I mentioned earlier, just to never forget where the art came from... and Citizen Kane, of course... damn, thats just 6... meh, thats enough
Wait!! now I know what I was forgetting... japanese and ANIME!!!!!
Also throw in a Kurosawa, an Oshii and a Miyasaki!!
George VARGAS, wow, it seems someone had a bad time having a latin surname in the US....maybe a shrink can manage your repressed anger against your roots :)
shareSo now its personal? look up the history of the name Vargas. You'll learn its celtic.
shareVargas is a surname from Spain, common also in Latin America. It was created in Castile in the eleventh century. Not Celtic at all, but there's nothing wrong with it being Spanish, or is there? Take a look at this: http://www.surnames.org/apellidos/vargas.htm (in Spanish)
Thank you
Definition: One who came from Vargas (steep hill); origin may be Celtic barica or barga (steep hill, or small cottage); principally from Santander
shareThe region of Cantabria (Santander is the name of its capital) has never been celtic. In Spain, Celts were are in Galicia, North West corner, pretty far away from Cantabria, which is also in the North though. I'm saying it because all my family, from my father's side, comes from Cantabria.
Greetings
A troll by any other name is still a troll...
shareThat's the cold-hearted nature of American capitalism.
I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy.
You've got the whole large industry of B- and Z-films, which are very much on par with milking rodents.
While the Europeans may be milking goats (we can have our cows, too), we make cheese out of that and add penicillium as icing, in effect producing blue cheese.
And yes, I admit taking the bait.
And why is it that you are continuously mentioning goats so much?
As far as I know, Americans are not infatuated with goats.
But oh well, family lineage can have strong effects of culture and tradition past generational lines after useful application of such culture and traditions have long fallen out of use. I am inferring from your surname that your ancestors must have lived somewhere high up in the mountains in some Southern country and herded goats and milked milk from them.
I think a 36-year-old person should and must be learned enough to write properly and copyedit his texts and opinions before he publishes them for all to see, because not many people are willing to read something that is not only poorly-written in terms of style and content, but also poorly structured. Not to mention deeply self-centered, vain and crass.
Ups. My redneck-O-Meter has just blown up .(?)
shareAmerican remakes are essentially about at least two things: Admission of their own inoriginality and that the original was great.
Ups. My redneck-O-Meter has just blown up
Lots of Americans like me HATE remakes! This movie is great the way it is!!! Should NOT be remade.
sharewow... great idea! i can see you are a very creative person! they should also remake all of buñuel's films and have them directed by Mel Gibson or Kevin Costner... and why not remake also all of almodovar and have the guy who did "american pie" direct them... i mean, man, you must be a genius or something, i just wish i could come up with so many good ideas myself...
sharenah nah you're nutts. Don't ruin the damn picture for one time
''Are you gonna bark al day, little doggie, or are you gonna bite?''
if you thought it was a great movie the way it is, is it really necessary to remake it? i hope you were being... funny?
shareOh, its so stupid idea!!!
No stupid american actor can act as Guillermo Toledo!!!
I like spanish movies a lot, cause they are very similiar to Serbian movies, and i wouldn't like to see any of these movies remaked (ruined) by Americans!!!
we dont need a remake of that great movie!!!
alex de la iglesia rules!!!!!!!
saludos a todos
from chile
I fully agree. I just watched this at my college (Penn State) and I have to say this was really entertaining. To "Americanize" (which is what we are talking about, not remaking it) would just be pointless. Let's face it: If it were to be made in America it would either be a slap stick love story or a slap stick comedy. Either way it is fine the way it is. Whoever came up with the idea to Americanize it with Collin Farrell or Johnny Depp would also think it woudl be a great idea to do the same with "Three Extremes" (fantastic film, I highly recommend checking it out if you're a fan of David Lynch or "Tales from the Crypt").
shareI am not saying that everone has to be a film historian to enjoy a movie, or to make a simple comment about what they like or didn't like about a movie, but truth be told, this movie is a lot more American that you all realize. It borrows HEAVILY, and I stress this, from Alfred Hitchcock, Woody Allen and Blake Edwards. I dont know if ALL Spanish movies are like this, but if they are, then ALL Serbian movies are guilty of borrowing HEAVILY from the aforementioned American directors. truth be told, I can think of a few B grade American actors that are better actors in their worst films than Guillermo Toledo is in this film or his best film. I agree that remaking this would be pointless, but only because it is so HEAVILY influenced by so many already filmed American movies. Even more so, this movie was ok. Cute. Nice little flick to laugh with and eat popcorn. This is not a movie that people will study for years because of great direction, actiong, production, or anything related to GREAT. It was just ok. Do you want butter on your popcorn?
shareIt's not the movie that the general public was meant to talk about, but the problems and issues it depicts.
Please don't shout (shouting is when you use the CAPS LOCK).
So this film borrows heavily. George Lucas couldn't have come up with "Star Wars", had he not borrowed. John Williams couldn't have scored great "Star Wars" tunes had he first not heard "The Planets", composed by Gustav Holst. Holst, in turn, borrowed from two or four other composers and many have borrowed from him.
"Citizen Kane" borrowed from the lives of rich men. Hitchcock and Woody Allen borrowed from the lives of other people and the human psyche.
American remakes are essentially about at least two things: Admission of their own inoriginality and that the original was great.
What you appear to be banking on with American remakes is exposure of an idea to a large populace that has not been given wide-scale opportunities to see foreign movies. It's probably the disease of a monopolized industry which only wants just its own releases to be widely seen. The result is that most Americans are not accustomed to watching foreign films and gaining something culturally refreshing.
Álex de la Iglesia is a very talented person and maintains a unique contemporary style in filmmaking. Yes, a remake could be made (if de la Iglesia gives approval), but it could lose its luster anyway, because it's not the original.
"The Departed" is certainly a very good film (haven't seen it, but I am considering how many awards it has gotten, who's the director and who the actors are), but I didn't see it. One reason was that I couldn't and the other was that I might not have spent my time on it anyway, having see the Hong Kong original already. And at least in recent film history, remakes are not always of high quality as their originals.
Can I just ask how Hitchcock suddenly became American? Dude was British. He was even knighted. He was a foreign director that shaped American cinema, not an American director that influenced foreign cinema.
And I wouldn't use Tarantino to illustrate a point on foreign film making given his tendency to take from other directors. The man wouldn't even exist had Sergio Leone never made a film.
And then there's Woody Allen, who himself has shunned Hollywood in favor of going over to England to make his movies because he became so frustrated with the studio system.
The point to get here is that Hollywood has just as many flaws as any other country's film mecca. Hollywood is just on a much larger scale. To say American films are better because they have bigger budgets and can "bring out the good" is somewhat ignorant. Budget does not make a good movie. I can toss off any number of Hollywood blockbusters. Remakes tend to be similar. Look at something like the Dutch film, The Vanishing. Brilliant in its original form. The remake gave us a mumbling Jeff Bridges supposed to be passinging as a serial killer, and the very definition of a goofy Hollywood ending.
The other thing to consider is that while Hollywood isn't necessarily bad, bmore often then not the "modern classics" are operating on the fringes of the studio system, not well within it. The only American directors that are in the system and win awards, that have any real box office pull are Eastwood and Scorsese. Nine times out of ten the films that win the awards at the Oscars aren't the films that Hollywood has been pushing. These are the films that are akin to those "foreign goat milking" movies you were insulting. I'm talking the Capotes, Last King of Scotlands, and Little Miss Sunshines.
And I say all this as an American.
I thought this movie was pretty good (good, not great), and it is my opinion that this movie is deserving of an American remake, if only because there is no other way it would be exposed to the general American public, because as we all know, most Americans will not watch foreign films (these are the same people who spend about 1% as much time reading books as they do playing video games). If it were remade though, many people might take interest in the film, discover its origins, and watch the original. Unfortunately, however, a Hollywood remake would almost certainly be given a subpar treatment and do a substantial disservice to the original. It's really a lose-lose situation.
I'm not totally turned off on Hollywood remakes. I think certain films like Scorsese's "The Departed" will be fantastic, as "Internal Affairs" is one of my favorite foreign films ever. Unfortunately, Scorseses are few and far-between, and most Hollywood directors have developed a fantastic knack for creating new and amazing ways to destroy the art of cinema.