Speaker 1: Darling, you should marry some lovely accomplished girl who adores you. Someone-
Speaker 2: Someone who would grace your beautiful home and give you
Speaker 2: the sort of life you really want, I wouldn't.
Jo: Oh Teddy, I'm not fashionable enough for London. You need
Jo: someone who's elegant and refined.
Teddy: [inaudible 00:00:20].
Jo: Look at me, I'm homely and I'm awkward and I'm odd.
Teddy: I love you, Jo.
Jo: And you'd be ashamed of me.
Teddy: I love you, Jo.
Jo: And we would quarrel because we can't help it even now.
Natasha Gargiulo: That was Jo March, the heroine of the classic film,
Natasha Gargiulo: Little Women, as played by the great Katherine Hepburn, 1933,
Natasha Gargiulo: and the great June Allyson, 1949, and the great Winona
Natasha Gargiulo: Ryder, 1994, and the great Saoirse Ronan, in 2019. You
Natasha Gargiulo: get the idea. Louisa May Alcott's story of four sisters
Natasha Gargiulo: coming of age in 19th century New England, may not
Natasha Gargiulo: seem like the freshest subject, yet for generations, people have
Natasha Gargiulo: flocked to theaters to form a new connection with the
Natasha Gargiulo: irresistibly charming March family. The success of the latest cinematic
Natasha Gargiulo: version of Little Women, directed by Greta Gerwig, is a
Natasha Gargiulo: testament to the power of the story itself. And it's
Natasha Gargiulo: also a great starting place for a conversation about the
Natasha Gargiulo: art of the remake. How do you create something vital
Natasha Gargiulo: and contemporary, when you're telling a tale that's been told
Natasha Gargiulo: so many times before? Today, we're going to find out.
Natasha Gargiulo: I'm your host, Natasha Gargiulo. Welcome to Hello movies. As
Natasha Gargiulo: together we face these unprecedented times when theaters being temporarily
Natasha Gargiulo: closed is the least of our worries, we could all
Natasha Gargiulo: use a little diversion. So today, we're going to turn
Natasha Gargiulo: our attention to the idea of movie remakes, many of
Natasha Gargiulo: which you can watch at home on the Cineplex Store.
Natasha Gargiulo: From the live action Disney remakes like the Lion King
Natasha Gargiulo: and Aladdin, to films like Little Women and A Star
Natasha Gargiulo: Is Born, remakes have really risen up and connected with
Natasha Gargiulo: audiences in a big way over the last few years.
Natasha Gargiulo: It doesn't look like that trend is going to slow
Natasha Gargiulo: down, with remakes of classic films like West Side Story,
Natasha Gargiulo: Dune, Candyman and many more set to hit theaters in
Natasha Gargiulo: 2020. To discuss the evolution of remake culture and to
Natasha Gargiulo: look ahead to some of the most exciting remakes coming
Natasha Gargiulo: down the pipe, I'm joined today by two great guests.
Natasha Gargiulo: Chandler Levack is an award winning writer, journalist, and filmmaker.
Natasha Gargiulo: Her writing on film can be found in The Globe
Natasha Gargiulo: and Mail and on CBC. In 2017, her short film,
Natasha Gargiulo: We Forgot To Break Up, premiered at the Toronto International
Natasha Gargiulo: Film Festival and South by Southwest. Sal Patel is the
Natasha Gargiulo: managing editor of Shopify Studios in Toronto. Prior to that,
Natasha Gargiulo: he was the managing content producer at the Toronto International
Natasha Gargiulo: Film Festivals, digital studio. Sal and Chandler, welcome to Hello Movies.
Chandler Levick: Thank you so much.
Sal Patel: Thank you.
Natasha Gargiulo: Like all types of films, some remakes are great and
Natasha Gargiulo: some aren't so great. So, can you give me an
Natasha Gargiulo: example of a recent remake that you loved, and why
Natasha Gargiulo: this particular iteration works so well for you?
Chandler Levick: I love the Little Women remake that... Or no, I
Chandler Levick: guess, re- adaptation that Greta Gerwig did, that was released
Chandler Levick: in December. I thought it was just so astutely made.
Chandler Levick: And every element of it, was so considered. And even
Chandler Levick: though there's been seven adaptations of Little Women over the
Chandler Levick: last hundred years, this was a remake that felt like
Chandler Levick: utterly necessary. And even though it's a period piece, also
Chandler Levick: felt like incredibly urgent and modern.
Sal Patel: Yeah, I would agree. I love that Little Women remake.
Sal Patel: For me, a remake from maybe a few years ago,
Sal Patel: is Mad Max: Fury Road.
Max: My name is Max.
Sal Patel: And I really love that one because I think it
Sal Patel: most effectively demonstrates for me what makes it worth it
Sal Patel: to remake a film or revisit an established universe. And
Sal Patel: for me with Mad Max: Fury Road, what that is...
Sal Patel: It's a transfer of power that exists in the universe. So,
Sal Patel: the original Mad Max is about the character of Max,
Sal Patel: and the Fury Road is about the character Furiosa and
Sal Patel: about the women in this universe.
Speaker 3: And how exactly do we take the Citadel? Assuming we're
Speaker 3: still alive by then.
Speaker 4: If we can block the pass, it'll be easy.
Sal Patel: It just totally transfers the power and it makes it
Sal Patel: really interesting. That it's... We're still in this universe and
Sal Patel: we're still playing with some of the ideas introduced in
Sal Patel: the original films, but in a totally different and fresh
Sal Patel: and important way. It feels worth it to revisit this
Sal Patel: world for that reason around the transfer of power.
Natasha Gargiulo: Chandler, speaking of Little Women, I saw a lot of
Natasha Gargiulo: grumpy comments when the first trailer came out. Do we
Natasha Gargiulo: really need another Little Women? And I don't think this
Natasha Gargiulo: was even necessarily a dig at how the film looked.
Natasha Gargiulo: It was mainly just people who loved Lady Bird, and
Natasha Gargiulo: wanted to see Gerwig follow it up with another original
Natasha Gargiulo: story. So, how valid is that attitude?
Chandler Levick: I think when a filmmaker proves the reason... I mean,
Chandler Levick: when you watch that movie, I think you understand why
Chandler Levick: there's a need. When she so carefully... Every aspect of
Chandler Levick: that film, from the score to the production design to
Chandler Levick: the actors, it's so deeply considered and multi- villain and
Chandler Levick: beautiful. And she kind of really unpacked the text and
Chandler Levick: kind of found a way to excavate it and transcend
Chandler Levick: it. So, I think when it's a great filmmaker... I
Chandler Levick: mean, there are certain filmmakers I would watch them remake
Chandler Levick: anything. Great filmmakers justify the story by making the story
Chandler Levick: into art.
Sal Patel: Yeah. I think with Greta Gerwig, just given the trajectory
Sal Patel: of the film industry these days, if she followed up
Sal Patel: Lady Bird with a film of that size and scale
Sal Patel: and budget, there's a good chance that film wouldn't have
Sal Patel: gotten a chance to play at theaters and certainly not
Sal Patel: broadly. Whereas, because she made Little Women, it had a
Sal Patel: Christmas Day release, and it became this family event for
Sal Patel: people to see over the holidays. And her take, her
Sal Patel: point of view, like Chandler was saying, absolutely necessitated this
Sal Patel: remake. Where she brought something totally new and fresh to
Sal Patel: it, which was so cool to see. But then, it's
Sal Patel: also... That sensibility is on display for such a broad
Sal Patel: audience, the biggest audience that she's ever had in her
Sal Patel: career. So I think that alone is... Makes it so worth
Sal Patel: it. Because a storyteller who is so unique and such
Sal Patel: a voice of a generation like Greta Gerwig, is being seen
Sal Patel: on that level all of a sudden
Natasha Gargiulo: Now, a lot of the best remakes seem to succeed
Natasha Gargiulo: in finding a way to make a classic story feel
Natasha Gargiulo: modern. And sometimes, that's done by being fairly liberal with
Natasha Gargiulo: the source material. That said, there are always some folks
Natasha Gargiulo: who look at the original text as sacred and don't
Natasha Gargiulo: want the new version to diverge too much. Chandler, I'm
Natasha Gargiulo: wondering, where do you stand on this?
Chandler Levick: I mean, I understand that some texts are very canonical
Chandler Levick: and we hold them in high regard for a reason
Chandler Levick: and some movies in their cannon or even if they're
Chandler Levick: really well loved book or a TV show or some
Chandler Levick: kind of... Or a film that is just really wonderful
Chandler Levick: that a filmmaker is done before, it's hard for us
Chandler Levick: to kind of see it adapt and change. But if
Chandler Levick: a movie is great, I think people can forgive a
Chandler Levick: lot of creative license. I'm sure there will always be
Chandler Levick: purists. Remember when they remade Ghostbusters with all women and
Chandler Levick: it kind of premeditated the US election?
Natasha Gargiulo: Yes.
Chandler Levick: But for me, I want to see new forms of
Chandler Levick: art and people revisit it and something like Ghostbusters done
Chandler Levick: with the totally radical gays on it, I think that's exciting.
Chandler Levick: And as culture evolves, we're going to want to see
Chandler Levick: new intersections into the stories that we know, I think.
Natasha Gargiulo: Sal, how about your thoughts?
Sal Patel: Yeah, it's tricky for me. There's certain worlds and established
Sal Patel: IP or stories, whatever, that I'm very attached to the
Sal Patel: way that they were presented originally, things that I watched
Sal Patel: as a kid. That when I've seen more recent adaptations
Sal Patel: of it, I'm like, " Yeah, they got this wrong." So,
Sal Patel: one example for me was, I watched Aladdin a lot
Sal Patel: as a kid, I loved Aladdin. It was the first
Sal Patel: time that I'd seen any animation with people who had
Sal Patel: the same skin color as me on screen. And I
Sal Patel: was just excited by that idea, I think. And the
Sal Patel: world that it portrayed and that... It had... Being South
Sal Patel: Asian. That there was references to the Middle East and
Sal Patel: South Asia and that kind of thing in it. And
Sal Patel: so, when I saw the new Aladdin's trailer, I was like, "
Sal Patel: Why did they change the color palette? Why did they
Sal Patel: make the outfits different in this way or that way?"
Sal Patel: But then I watched it and I actually loved it.
Sal Patel: I thought that there was so much power in bringing
Sal Patel: it to life with actual actors and actors who are
Sal Patel: from the part of the world that the movie is
Sal Patel: meant to be set in, and they still maintain all
Sal Patel: the strong points of the story and... So... I mean,
Sal Patel: with something that I love, I'm willing to at least
Sal Patel: give the artist a chance to see what their point
Sal Patel: of view is.
Natasha Gargiulo: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Sal Patel: But, I do hold on to the original ideas very
Sal Patel: tightly and I... It's a harder sell for me as
Sal Patel: an audience member. I need to be really... The work
Sal Patel: needs to be really good, I guess, for me to
Sal Patel: be convinced that it was worth it.
Natasha Gargiulo: Okay. So there've been some really inspired casting decisions of
Natasha Gargiulo: late in some of the new remakes, Dev Patel as
Natasha Gargiulo: David Copperfield, for example. Or the very fashion forward Billy
Natasha Gargiulo: Porter playing a genderless fairly godmother in the upcoming Cinderella
Natasha Gargiulo: remake. I'm wondering, what do you think film remakes have
Natasha Gargiulo: done to foster representation on screen?
Chandler Levick: Yeah. Well, I think we're starting to see more gender
Chandler Levick: blind and color blind casting. And I think that is
Chandler Levick: true. I think if you grew up never seeing yourself
Chandler Levick: as the hero of your own story and you've always
Chandler Levick: kind of had to read yourself into these classic Disney
Chandler Levick: movies or musicals that we've all grown up watching, there
Chandler Levick: is something really exciting about finally seeing someone who you
Chandler Levick: can relate to, playing the hero of a really well
Chandler Levick: loved classic. I think people find that emotional. And then
Chandler Levick: I think other people have a hard time with that,
Chandler Levick: because it is kind of a subversion of what the
Chandler Levick: norm is. But, I think there needs to be a
Chandler Levick: balance as well. Because, you don't want to just see
Chandler Levick: so many remakes of these movies that there are no
Chandler Levick: opportunities for filmmakers to tell original stories. And I think
Chandler Levick: the success of a movie like Parasite, goes to show
Chandler Levick: that there is room and enthusiasm and a deep hunger for
Chandler Levick: really just amazing lead told films.
Sal Patel: Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, it gets back to
Sal Patel: what I was saying about Mad Max: Fury Road. Which
Sal Patel: is, deciding to remake a film and revisit a universe
Sal Patel: or a story with that idea in mind, deciding to
Sal Patel: transfer power, broaden the representation of people on screen who
Sal Patel: weren't represented in the original story, is so powerful. I
Sal Patel: mean, there's a distance that exists for so many people
Sal Patel: who are left out of these stories that are considered
Sal Patel: canonical and part of the cannon. And I think, the
Sal Patel: power of cinema for me is so much in the
Sal Patel: idea that we have a chance at mass culture or
Sal Patel: monoculture or a chance at sort of understanding the same
Sal Patel: thing and are seeing and appreciating the same thing. And
Sal Patel: that becomes more and more possible, when more people relate
Sal Patel: to the idea of a movie. They're like, " Oh, there's a
Sal Patel: character in this film that looks or sounds like me
Sal Patel: and now I want to see it. And now I
Sal Patel: can talk to more people in the world about it."
Sal Patel: And... So the more we could do that with these
Sal Patel: blockbuster type works, I think we should strive for it.
Natasha Gargiulo: Okay. We're going to wrap up soon. But before we
Natasha Gargiulo: go, I want to get your rapid fire takes on
Natasha Gargiulo: a few big name remakes coming up later this year.
Natasha Gargiulo: Chandler, how excited are you for Dune?
Chandler Levick: I think you saw what Denis Villeneuve was capable of
Chandler Levick: with Blade Runner 2049. I think people consider the David
Chandler Levick: Lynch, doing a bit of a failed masterpiece. So, I
Chandler Levick: think people are excited about this maybe getting... Doing right,
Chandler Levick: this incredibly difficult to adapt novel. The cast is phenomenal.
Chandler Levick: And I think he just... Denis Villeneuve is such a
Chandler Levick: visionary director that seems to really understand how to make
Chandler Levick: a sci- fi movie feel both incredibly cinematic and deeply
Chandler Levick: relevant. So, I'm stoked for Dune.
Natasha Gargiulo: So, how do you feel when I say the Green Knight?
Sal Patel: Well, I already know what my Halloween costume is going
Sal Patel: to be for 2020.
Chandler Levick: Perfect, (crosstalk) time.
Sal Patel: And... I'm super excited about it. I mean, like a lot
Sal Patel: of people growing up, I read a lot of stories
Sal Patel: about King Arthur and his court. And the Green Knight's
Sal Patel: story is set in that world. And I love that
Sal Patel: they cast up Patel for it, it's just a... It's
Sal Patel: a different take. And A24 is behind it, which is
Sal Patel: always a great sign for me. And David Lowry, who's
Sal Patel: directed so many really cool movies, A Ghost Story being
Sal Patel: one of my favorites of his, I think the... It's
Sal Patel: going to be a really unexpected take on this world
Sal Patel: and one of a kind look at King Arthur's court.
Natasha Gargiulo: Chandler, what are your thoughts on Candyman?
Speaker 5: Candyman, the urban legend is. If you say his name
Speaker 5: five times while looking in the mirror, he appears in
Speaker 5: the reflection and kills you.
Speaker 6: Who would do that?
Chandler Levick: Yeah. I mean, Candyman I think was one of... A really
Chandler Levick: seminal horror movie that I remember studying in university, in
Chandler Levick: film school. And... Always kind of spoke also to kind
Chandler Levick: of black lens on filmmaking as well. And I think
Chandler Levick: this new film that's executive produced by Jordan Peele and
Chandler Levick: has this amazing female director at the helm and such an
Chandler Levick: amazing trailer with a perfect use of a (inaudible)
Chandler Levick: song, really just goes to show there's exciting and really
Chandler Levick: innovative ways to revamp these movies that actually tap into
Chandler Levick: what the culture wants to see, and can... These movies
Chandler Levick: can actually lead a conversation in cinema, as opposed to
Chandler Levick: just being kind of an interesting diversion during the summer.
Natasha Gargiulo: This is a movie I am so excited about. Sal,
Natasha Gargiulo: tell me about West Side Story.
Sal Patel: Yeah. I mean, West Side Story is one of the great
Sal Patel: movie musicals of all time. And now we have Steven
Sal Patel: Spielberg, one of the great modern film makers... One of the
Sal Patel: great filmmakers, period. Who is going to be remaking it.
Sal Patel: I think that's super exciting by itself. But one of
Sal Patel: the things that I know that he's doing is that,
Sal Patel: when he looked at the original, he said to himself
Sal Patel: that it's such an important story about two different communities
Sal Patel: and their relationships with each other. And when the original
Sal Patel: was made, the Puerto Ricans in the film, were mostly
Sal Patel: played by white actors in brown skin. And it was
Sal Patel: very important for him to correct that casting choice. And
Sal Patel: so, everybody in this film is Latinx, if not Puerto
Sal Patel: Rican. And I think that's great. It's going to bring
Sal Patel: a level of authenticity to the storytelling. And it also
Sal Patel: just feels like such a vital story for the political
Sal Patel: time that we're in, in the US. So, I'm really
Sal Patel: excited for that.
Natasha Gargiulo: Yeah, I'm excited for that too. We've talked today a
Natasha Gargiulo: lot about great film remakes, but you both must have
Natasha Gargiulo: at least one movie that you would never want to
Natasha Gargiulo: see remade under any circumstances, right?
Chandler Levick: It's hard because I think as a filmmaker, I get
Chandler Levick: really excited about these filmmaker... Films I love and being like, "
Chandler Levick: Oh, what if I could remake Ghost World? Or..." Say
Chandler Levick: anything. Or these movies that mean a lot to me.
Chandler Levick: And then, it is a tough responsibility. And they're remaking
Chandler Levick: everything. They're remaking Gossip Girl. So, sometimes it seems like
Chandler Levick: a fun challenge, but I also feel like it's a
Chandler Levick: big burden of responsibility to do it well.
Natasha Gargiulo: Sal, do you have a movie that they should never
Natasha Gargiulo: remake under any circumstances?
Sal Patel: Yeah. I'll throw one out that I know is close
Sal Patel: to Chandler's heart as well. Almost Famous is a movie
Sal Patel: that I think is perfect.
Speaker 7: I am a golden god
Sal Patel: And I love it and I don't want it to
Sal Patel: ever be remade. I think that, the way that it
Sal Patel: was told, came from such a personal place to Cameron
Sal Patel: Crowe, who wrote it and made it. And it was
Sal Patel: obviously very tied to his own story. And... So, anyone
Sal Patel: remaking it would obviously not be close to the source
Sal Patel: material and the way that he was. And all the
Sal Patel: aesthetic choices that were made for it, also came from
Sal Patel: such a personal place. So, I just... I can't imagine
Sal Patel: that a movie that is so autobiographical and so tied
Sal Patel: to a place in time and a place in somebody's
Sal Patel: mind, could ever be remade faithfully. So, leave that one
Sal Patel: alone. Don't ever remake Almost Famous.
Natasha Gargiulo: And what about a movie that you think should be remade
Natasha Gargiulo: and soon?
Chandler Levick: Well... I mean, I give it up to one of
Chandler Levick: my other favorite movies, The Apartment by Billy Wilder, just
Chandler Levick: because I love that movie so much.
Speaker 8: Yeah. (inaudible) I get too close.
Speaker 9: I never catch colds.
Speaker 8: Really? I was reading some figures from the sickness and actual claims division, do you know that the
Speaker 8: average New Yorker between the ages of 20 and 50 has
Speaker 8: two and a half colds a year?
Speaker 9: Mm-hmm (affirmative). That makes me feel just terrible.
Speaker 8: Why?
Speaker 9: Well, to make the fingers come out even if I have
Speaker 9: no colds a year, or some poor slob must have
Speaker 9: five colds a year.
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's me.
Speaker 9: Should've stayed in bed this morning.
Speaker 8: Should've stayed in bed last night.
Chandler Levick: And it's so funny, confessional, amazing screenplay, and it has such
Chandler Levick: great parts for actors. And I that it has... It
Chandler Levick: does say really deep things about capitalism and relationships and
Chandler Levick: loneliness and isolation in a big city. And I think
Chandler Levick: that if you had a really smart director who really
Chandler Levick: could do it justice, it would be great. I mean,
Chandler Levick: Jason Reitman did a reading of it, the screenplay where
Chandler Levick: he cast Paul Rudd and the Jack Lemmon role and
Chandler Levick: Emma Stone and the Hurley McLean role. I just like
Chandler Levick: the idea of classic movies that maybe an audience doesn't
Chandler Levick: know about from the '40s and '50s getting a new lease on life.
Sal Patel: One that is really close to my heart that I
Sal Patel: love and that I've watched probably more than any other
Sal Patel: movie, is Good Will Hunting. And I... Some... For some
Sal Patel: reason, I imagine what that... What Good Will Hunting would
Sal Patel: look like with a younger casting crew today. And I
Sal Patel: think of Lucas Hedges playing the Matt Damon role and
Sal Patel: Timothy Chalamet playing the Ben Affleck role and Saoirse Ronan
Sal Patel: playing the mini driver role. But... And so, I've imagined
Sal Patel: what this movie would look like. Also, Michael Stuhlbarg as
Sal Patel: the Robin Williams character. I'm just like-
Natasha Gargiulo: You have this all planned out already. You have the
Natasha Gargiulo: cast, (crosstalk) the script ready. Why don't you just make it?
Sal Patel: I've got the cast. Because I'm like, " I don't know
Sal Patel: it would be good to remake it." But at the
Sal Patel: same time, I'm like, " I would love to see what...
Sal Patel: Maybe even just as a stage production first, I would
Sal Patel: love to just see what a set of new actors
Sal Patel: would bring to it." So...
Chandler Levick: That's the problem with remakes. They're so fun and irresistible.
Chandler Levick: I think that's why so many get made. Because you start
Chandler Levick: cooking them up and you get excited about them and
Chandler Levick: you don't realize the monkeys par... Repercussions of what you're doing.
Natasha Gargiulo: Chandler and Sal, you guys are great. I would like
Natasha Gargiulo: to remake this experience and have you guys back on
Natasha Gargiulo: Hello Movies. Do you think we can do that?
Chandler Levick: I want to be played by Timothy Chalamet, though.
Sal Patel: And I will be played by Dev Patel.
Natasha Gargiulo: And I will be played by Marisa Tomei, how about that?
Chandler Levick: Perfect casting.
Natasha Gargiulo: That's it for this episode of Hello Movies, but remember,
Natasha Gargiulo: if you want to check out some great remakes right
Natasha Gargiulo: now, you can always go to the Cineplex Store, online.
Natasha Gargiulo: I'm Natasha Gargiulo. Thanks for listening.