As I’m preparing for next week’s taping of Screen Drafts, watching all of David Cronenberg’s films again, I am struck anew by what a miracle The Fly is. Fox Searchlight spent much of the last decade trying to remake that film again unsuccessfully, and I think at least part of that is because the Cronenberg version casts such a long shadow.
You can certainly do another version of the story, but can you do something that is better or that adds something significant to the story that wasn’t already explored? Can you make it more adult? Can you make it more emotional? Can you make it scarier? Can you make it grosser? I think the answer to all of those is a big fat no, and that makes it a daunting task.
It’s not to say it couldn’t be done or done well. Film history is full of examples of people remaking things they shouldn’t and somehow doing it well. Today’s Free-For-All, then, is on the subject of remakes, and I’ll ask you two questions.
First: what’s the remake that surprised you the most? Not necessarily the best one you’ve ever seen, but the one that you saw that made you go, “Okay, I get why they felt like they had to do it now.”
Second: what film do you think you know how to remake better than anyone else? You know you’ve got one. You know you’ve been thinking about it since the day you saw it the first time… so what is it? Fess up.
As always, the Saturday Free-For-All is fair game for any conversation you guys want to have. It’s open to everyone, not just subscribers, and if you do want to join in on everything here at Formerly Dangerous, it’s only $7 a month, and less if you go annual!
Surprising: the very recent "The Jungle Book," and then possibly the best family film of my lifetime -- 2003's "Peter Pan."
What would I want to remake?...or think that I could bring anything new to? I'd love to try my hand at Ladyhawke (1985)...but I'm not sure the innocence and earnestness of that film would work in 2020. And yet, how can you get better than that cast and director?
Remake That I Know how To Make: This is a tricky one. I know that they’ve been trying to remake The Crow forever (a genuinely weird notion, because their aren’t really different ways to spin “Angry Dude Comes From the Dead for revenge” that hasn’t already been done by its many terrible sequels. At the Very Least, I think a Gender Flipped Crow Remake (Woman/Mother comes back to avenge her and her families Murder) has enough meat on it to justify its existence. What do you lot reckon?
I love the original True Grit. My family owns the land where most of the exteriors were filmed. I grew up wandering those hills and gazing at those vistas. It's been a traditional annual viewing for us since my family bought it on VHS and it continues on for us to this day. I think the Coen brothers' remake is one of the greatest remakes of all time. The way Jeff Bridges leans into the foul degenerate side of Rooster Cogburn. What Matt Damon does with the irascibly dorky LaBoeuf. Hailee Steinfeld is a force of nature in that movie, which is good, she needed to be. It's a great story told with a deft hand by a gobsmackingly rich wealth of talent. Sometimes I think that people have take it for granted how good it turned out to be. I love everything about it, except the exterior shots. They can never touch the original on that. But I might be biased.
As to what I would remake, it sounds crazy (especially as this is one of my favorite films), but I think the time is right for a remake Repo Man. The current situation with the majority of the Millennial generation and -- all those after -- being saddled with major debt and underemployment (and now just straight unemployment), the questions many are having about our current way of life, how we know that it's inherently unsustainable. There is a torrent of energy there that can be tapped into.
I'm going to echo what someone else said, but the BUFFY TV series surprised by how good it was compared to the original film. Just goes to show what can happen when you let the originator of a concept see it through to execution.
A remake I would love to do is THE SHADOW. Russell Mulcahy really staged a great scene near the beginning of the film when the SHadow rescues Dr Tam on the bridge - a riff off of the Shadow recruiting Harry Vincent on a bridge when he was about to commit suicide. BUt I think the film drifts a bit into camp and by the third act Tim Curry is completely off the rails. I think a really good, noir-ish thriller could be made with the character.
I'd say the remake that has most surprised me recently was the Pete's Dragon remake by Lowery. Not something I would have thought of as needing a remake nor would I have expected them to go in the directions that his film was allowed to go. Makes me hopeful of his live-action Pan adaption, should that ever see the light at the end of the tunnel in production.
As for my dream remake, it's Green Lantern. Because Hal Jordan can be incredible and there's a fantastic movie there but it's not the flaming POS we were given the last time around.
I would love to see some one make another Blob film. It would’ve been better during that brief period where everybody was making slime at home, but the Blob could be a fun way to look at conspiracy culture and hopefully practical make up effects.
"Arthur" would be my dream choice for a gender-flipped remake. I think there are a lot of interesting ways to tweak the premise and drop the concepts that don't work now rather than try to rework them the way the 2011 take did.
The most surprising remake, or more specifically alternative adaptation, I've ever seen wasn't on the screen but on stage. The 2013 West End musical adaptation of the novel "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" did work in the song "Pure Imagination" at the 11th hour (as the 11 o'clock number after a fashion) but otherwise was a completely fresh take on the story, with a Shaiman-Wittman score and direction by Sam Mendes, and I adored it as soon as I heard a few songs from the London cast album. It really leaned into the black comedy of the material, but it also managed to be heartfelt without being overly sentimental or changing anybody's backstories (the way the Burton film, which I like, did), and it's up there with the 1971 film -- the most important movie of my preteen years -- for me. Sadly, the Broadway version was mangled almost beyond recognition (Mendes didn't direct it) to be more of a goodtime nostalgia romp/loose remake of the '71 film, and I don't think the original script will ever be produced again.
(Also, regarding "The Fly"...you forgot to say it can't be remade funnier than Cronenberg and company managed. "No, it's too late...you've already seen them. Can't let you leave here ALIVE.")
Suspiria in 2018 came out of nowhere and blew my hair back when i saw it at fantastic fest. It just took a piece of my soul with it and its one of my all time faves now, equal to Dario's version.
I've always wanted to remake Killers Kiss by Kubrick. The second I saw it I knew how to make it work.
The remake that surprised me the most? SORCERER. WAGES OF FEAR is a classic and in many ways much better than Friedkin's remake, but SORCEROR is so batshit crazy I adore it.
As for the remake I would do, I have a wicked modern-day YOJIMBO take that doesn't take place in Japan or the Wild West.
Funny for this subject to come up today: Just last night I put on Death Becomes Her, and before it started my girlfriend mentions that this is her dream film to remake... then 1/3 of the way through she exclaims "Okay no, this doesn't need a remake. It holds up too well".
While it’s totally unnecessary Let Me In the remake of Let the Right One is far better than it has any right to be. I think the original is still superior but if nothing else the remake proved Matt Reeves was the real deal. Speaking of Reeves, I’m not sure they count as remakes but the new Planet of the Apes movies are maybe even better than the originals and I don’t think anyone could have ever predicted that.
As for the one movie I would remake, that’s easy; Where Eagles Dare. I had the idea years ago and I wanted Russell Crowe in the Richard Burton role, Hugh Jackman in the Clint Eastwood role, Brendan Gleason, Charlize Theron, I had the whole thing cast in my head. The casting may not work quite as well now but I still think you could make an AWESOME remake. I can see the trailer in my head already. It’s a great story and modern technology could really let you up the action and stunts. I know it’s probably a pipe dream but I would give almost anything to see this happen.
For BEST remake I would probably go with MILLER'S CROSSING, especially since I was not aware of the original until years after I had cemented my love for that film. A great choice and amazing re-interpretation and expansion of the original story.
Tried so many times before, I think I have a successful way to reboot CHARLIE'S ANGELS as a modern cable or premium series (10 ep. seasons). For no good reason other than we'll never see FOX FORCE FIVE anytime soon, and who doesn't a love a slick, female led spy film?
Oh wait, thought about it a bit more and I have a way better answer: World War motherfucking Z. Now, my ideal format for an adaption of this one would be a 10 episode mockumentary in the style of a Ken Burns, but I’ll settle for something, well ANYTHING that is closer to the book.
Drew, was it you who wrote a review for AICN of the original JMS screenplay? (It’s over a decade, I can’t remember specifically) I remember the verdict was “this is great, now it needs a director like Ridley Scott to bring it to screen”. Well that didn’t happen and we got what got.
Loren below pretty much mentioned two remakes that answer my ones-that-surprised-me (i.e. The Jungle Book, and Peter Pan, both live-action retellings of stories often best known as animated.)
As for a remake I can do better than anyone else? Johnny Mnemonic. I'm a HUGE William Gibson fan, and was SO disappointed in the movie version. It totally erased the character of Molly, and felt to me like they tried to jam in other ideas from Gibson's other Sprawl stories just out of fear Hollywood would never do another adaptation of his again.
TBH, my "remake" would be episode 2 in an 11 part streaming series: The Sprawl. (1: Burning Chrome, 2: Johnny Mnemonic, 3-5: Neuromancer, 6-8 Count Zero, 9-11: Mona Lisa Overdrive).
One that I was pleasantly surprised by was Illumination's version of The Grinch from 2018. I was a huge fan of the 1966 classic, and Ron Howard's adaptation left me with quite a sour taste in my mouth. I remember being incredibly angry going into the movie, since my mom went with my brother's suggestion to see The Grinch instead of Bumblebee as our pre-Christmas movie, and I was staggered to find out how much I ended up enjoying the movie. It got me back into the Christmas spirit, and I even got a little emotional at one part. I'm not the biggest Illumination fan, with many movies of theirs having dropped in quality on a rewatch, but over time, I thinkI might consider this to be their best film. It's good, rock-solid, family entertainment for kids, without an over-reliance on cheap, low-brow jokes.
As far as a remake I would try to pull off, that's a tough one. The first one that came to mind for me was John Carpenter's Vampires (even though the movie itself based on a book). I think the film and its characters were a bit too over-the-top and goofy for my taste. In remaking the film, I'd lean into the pulpier elements of the story (who doesn't want to see a western riff on a vampire hunting movie), but I'd also work to keep the characters a little more more grounded and believable than the Carpenter movie. It was a great premise that wasn't quite executed in the best way.
Hmm. There have been so many remakes in the last 15 or 20 years, that I’m not sure I’ve been truly surprised by any of them. The two I have enjoyed the most would probably be the BUFFY TV series and the DREDD adaptation.
As far as what I would remake today? I remember Drew mentioning not too long ago that SIX PACK would be riPE for an remake, and I would definitely take my kids to see that film. NASCAR and kids that curse like adults - we are totally there. But the one that I would like to do personally would be PUMP UP THE VOLUME. Switch radio for social media and podcasts and it seems like a no brainer.
I hope everyone has been doing well and staying safe.
This week I finally watched "The Trip" films in preparation for watching the last one. I could kick myself for not watching these earlier, especially since I really loved "Tristram Shandy" in 2006.
As to the questions at hand regarding remakes, I'm curious to rewatch Gus Van Sant's "Psycho" remake. I was actually quite taken by it in 1998 in how the new performances turned it into its own thing, even though color was a huge mistake. I also liked the adaptation of the score that Danny Elfman did.
If I had the chance to remake one movie, it would be "The Crow: City of Angels," except going off of the original Goyer script that led to a more tragic and poignant ending to the story rather than just a rehash of the original.
Remake that surprised me the most - probably the 2010 version of The Crazies. Haven't seen it in a while, but I prefer it to Romero's original. In fact, 2010 has a handful of really good remakes. I think Joe Johnston's The Wolfman is fantastic (in Director's Cut form), and Matt Reeves' Let Me In might be better than the original as well. All three of those are films I thought were awful ideas on paper, and I was thrilled to be proven wrong.
As far as the remake I would do, I'm honestly not sure. I'd like to target a mediocre film with a great premise and start from there, but I can't think of one right now. I've always had an idea for a Swamp Thing movie, but that wouldn't be a remake of any existing film.
One underrated remake that I will always go to bat for is the Nightmare on Elm Street remake. Far from the best remake I have ever seen, but I actually really like the performances from Rooney Mara and Jackie Earle Haley. It's a different take on the mythos than the original, better than most of the sequels, and I would have liked to see further installments with that Freddy Krueger.
As for the remake I know how to tackle... The last time I saw The Night of the Hunter I had a very clear vision for how I would direct a remake or new adaptation of the book, down to who I would cast and specific shots I would use in certain places like the basement sequence. I have been thinking about my remake concept ever since it was announced that a remake is coming.
That said, I don't think that's a film that needs a remake. I think remakes are better reserved for intriguing concepts that didn't quite click, like Eyes of Laura Mars or Chatterbox (yes, I have thought about how to remake Chatterbox).
The remake that surprised me most in the past 15-20 years was The Good Thief. When I learned about it coming out I was indifferent. I was pleasantly surprised when I finally saw it. It's one I still recommend to people to watch when discussing remakes.
I've wanted to see or make a remake/update of A Face in the Crowd since I first saw it in college in 1999. My desire would be to pair the remake/adaptation with an actor whose persona is seen as good and honest. For me that is Tom Hanks. As he's gotten older I still imagine him as a version of Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes. With the current political landscape, I'm uncertain how this new version would look and feel or even work.
I was really surprised when I found out that Ransom (1996) was a remake. When I watched Ransom! (1956) I was fascinated by what elements were already in place, but the remake blows the original out of the water for me. Fascinating discovery though.
If I got to remake any movie, I’d pick a double feature of The Killer Shrews (1959) and Sh! The Octopus (1937). Those stories are timeless. Hard R ratings for both.
A remake that I questioned but like is Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre. I love the original, so was skeptical of even Werner. It's not my favorite of his, but I ended up liking it alot more than I thought I would.
My dream reboot would be one of my personal favorites Ridley Scott's The Duellists. It's a beautiful picture (with great sword fights) and gives the sense of an epic, but I always thought there was room for a more expansive version.
Synders Dawn of the Dead blew me away. Especially as I consider DotD 78 to be one of my top films.
Surprising: the very recent "The Jungle Book," and then possibly the best family film of my lifetime -- 2003's "Peter Pan."
What would I want to remake?...or think that I could bring anything new to? I'd love to try my hand at Ladyhawke (1985)...but I'm not sure the innocence and earnestness of that film would work in 2020. And yet, how can you get better than that cast and director?
The Crazies remake really came out of nowhere to blow me away.
If I had to remake a movie I'd pick Robot Jox. Nations using giant robots to fight proxy battles over resources is a killer hook.
The recent Evil Dead remake certainly surprised me
Remake That I Know how To Make: This is a tricky one. I know that they’ve been trying to remake The Crow forever (a genuinely weird notion, because their aren’t really different ways to spin “Angry Dude Comes From the Dead for revenge” that hasn’t already been done by its many terrible sequels. At the Very Least, I think a Gender Flipped Crow Remake (Woman/Mother comes back to avenge her and her families Murder) has enough meat on it to justify its existence. What do you lot reckon?
I love the original True Grit. My family owns the land where most of the exteriors were filmed. I grew up wandering those hills and gazing at those vistas. It's been a traditional annual viewing for us since my family bought it on VHS and it continues on for us to this day. I think the Coen brothers' remake is one of the greatest remakes of all time. The way Jeff Bridges leans into the foul degenerate side of Rooster Cogburn. What Matt Damon does with the irascibly dorky LaBoeuf. Hailee Steinfeld is a force of nature in that movie, which is good, she needed to be. It's a great story told with a deft hand by a gobsmackingly rich wealth of talent. Sometimes I think that people have take it for granted how good it turned out to be. I love everything about it, except the exterior shots. They can never touch the original on that. But I might be biased.
As to what I would remake, it sounds crazy (especially as this is one of my favorite films), but I think the time is right for a remake Repo Man. The current situation with the majority of the Millennial generation and -- all those after -- being saddled with major debt and underemployment (and now just straight unemployment), the questions many are having about our current way of life, how we know that it's inherently unsustainable. There is a torrent of energy there that can be tapped into.
I'm going to echo what someone else said, but the BUFFY TV series surprised by how good it was compared to the original film. Just goes to show what can happen when you let the originator of a concept see it through to execution.
A remake I would love to do is THE SHADOW. Russell Mulcahy really staged a great scene near the beginning of the film when the SHadow rescues Dr Tam on the bridge - a riff off of the Shadow recruiting Harry Vincent on a bridge when he was about to commit suicide. BUt I think the film drifts a bit into camp and by the third act Tim Curry is completely off the rails. I think a really good, noir-ish thriller could be made with the character.
I'd say the remake that has most surprised me recently was the Pete's Dragon remake by Lowery. Not something I would have thought of as needing a remake nor would I have expected them to go in the directions that his film was allowed to go. Makes me hopeful of his live-action Pan adaption, should that ever see the light at the end of the tunnel in production.
As for my dream remake, it's Green Lantern. Because Hal Jordan can be incredible and there's a fantastic movie there but it's not the flaming POS we were given the last time around.
I would love to see some one make another Blob film. It would’ve been better during that brief period where everybody was making slime at home, but the Blob could be a fun way to look at conspiracy culture and hopefully practical make up effects.
"Arthur" would be my dream choice for a gender-flipped remake. I think there are a lot of interesting ways to tweak the premise and drop the concepts that don't work now rather than try to rework them the way the 2011 take did.
The most surprising remake, or more specifically alternative adaptation, I've ever seen wasn't on the screen but on stage. The 2013 West End musical adaptation of the novel "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" did work in the song "Pure Imagination" at the 11th hour (as the 11 o'clock number after a fashion) but otherwise was a completely fresh take on the story, with a Shaiman-Wittman score and direction by Sam Mendes, and I adored it as soon as I heard a few songs from the London cast album. It really leaned into the black comedy of the material, but it also managed to be heartfelt without being overly sentimental or changing anybody's backstories (the way the Burton film, which I like, did), and it's up there with the 1971 film -- the most important movie of my preteen years -- for me. Sadly, the Broadway version was mangled almost beyond recognition (Mendes didn't direct it) to be more of a goodtime nostalgia romp/loose remake of the '71 film, and I don't think the original script will ever be produced again.
(Also, regarding "The Fly"...you forgot to say it can't be remade funnier than Cronenberg and company managed. "No, it's too late...you've already seen them. Can't let you leave here ALIVE.")
Suspiria in 2018 came out of nowhere and blew my hair back when i saw it at fantastic fest. It just took a piece of my soul with it and its one of my all time faves now, equal to Dario's version.
I've always wanted to remake Killers Kiss by Kubrick. The second I saw it I knew how to make it work.
The remake that surprised me the most? SORCERER. WAGES OF FEAR is a classic and in many ways much better than Friedkin's remake, but SORCEROR is so batshit crazy I adore it.
As for the remake I would do, I have a wicked modern-day YOJIMBO take that doesn't take place in Japan or the Wild West.
Funny for this subject to come up today: Just last night I put on Death Becomes Her, and before it started my girlfriend mentions that this is her dream film to remake... then 1/3 of the way through she exclaims "Okay no, this doesn't need a remake. It holds up too well".
While it’s totally unnecessary Let Me In the remake of Let the Right One is far better than it has any right to be. I think the original is still superior but if nothing else the remake proved Matt Reeves was the real deal. Speaking of Reeves, I’m not sure they count as remakes but the new Planet of the Apes movies are maybe even better than the originals and I don’t think anyone could have ever predicted that.
As for the one movie I would remake, that’s easy; Where Eagles Dare. I had the idea years ago and I wanted Russell Crowe in the Richard Burton role, Hugh Jackman in the Clint Eastwood role, Brendan Gleason, Charlize Theron, I had the whole thing cast in my head. The casting may not work quite as well now but I still think you could make an AWESOME remake. I can see the trailer in my head already. It’s a great story and modern technology could really let you up the action and stunts. I know it’s probably a pipe dream but I would give almost anything to see this happen.
For BEST remake I would probably go with MILLER'S CROSSING, especially since I was not aware of the original until years after I had cemented my love for that film. A great choice and amazing re-interpretation and expansion of the original story.
Tried so many times before, I think I have a successful way to reboot CHARLIE'S ANGELS as a modern cable or premium series (10 ep. seasons). For no good reason other than we'll never see FOX FORCE FIVE anytime soon, and who doesn't a love a slick, female led spy film?
Oh wait, thought about it a bit more and I have a way better answer: World War motherfucking Z. Now, my ideal format for an adaption of this one would be a 10 episode mockumentary in the style of a Ken Burns, but I’ll settle for something, well ANYTHING that is closer to the book.
Drew, was it you who wrote a review for AICN of the original JMS screenplay? (It’s over a decade, I can’t remember specifically) I remember the verdict was “this is great, now it needs a director like Ridley Scott to bring it to screen”. Well that didn’t happen and we got what got.
Loren below pretty much mentioned two remakes that answer my ones-that-surprised-me (i.e. The Jungle Book, and Peter Pan, both live-action retellings of stories often best known as animated.)
As for a remake I can do better than anyone else? Johnny Mnemonic. I'm a HUGE William Gibson fan, and was SO disappointed in the movie version. It totally erased the character of Molly, and felt to me like they tried to jam in other ideas from Gibson's other Sprawl stories just out of fear Hollywood would never do another adaptation of his again.
TBH, my "remake" would be episode 2 in an 11 part streaming series: The Sprawl. (1: Burning Chrome, 2: Johnny Mnemonic, 3-5: Neuromancer, 6-8 Count Zero, 9-11: Mona Lisa Overdrive).
One that I was pleasantly surprised by was Illumination's version of The Grinch from 2018. I was a huge fan of the 1966 classic, and Ron Howard's adaptation left me with quite a sour taste in my mouth. I remember being incredibly angry going into the movie, since my mom went with my brother's suggestion to see The Grinch instead of Bumblebee as our pre-Christmas movie, and I was staggered to find out how much I ended up enjoying the movie. It got me back into the Christmas spirit, and I even got a little emotional at one part. I'm not the biggest Illumination fan, with many movies of theirs having dropped in quality on a rewatch, but over time, I thinkI might consider this to be their best film. It's good, rock-solid, family entertainment for kids, without an over-reliance on cheap, low-brow jokes.
As far as a remake I would try to pull off, that's a tough one. The first one that came to mind for me was John Carpenter's Vampires (even though the movie itself based on a book). I think the film and its characters were a bit too over-the-top and goofy for my taste. In remaking the film, I'd lean into the pulpier elements of the story (who doesn't want to see a western riff on a vampire hunting movie), but I'd also work to keep the characters a little more more grounded and believable than the Carpenter movie. It was a great premise that wasn't quite executed in the best way.
Hmm. There have been so many remakes in the last 15 or 20 years, that I’m not sure I’ve been truly surprised by any of them. The two I have enjoyed the most would probably be the BUFFY TV series and the DREDD adaptation.
As far as what I would remake today? I remember Drew mentioning not too long ago that SIX PACK would be riPE for an remake, and I would definitely take my kids to see that film. NASCAR and kids that curse like adults - we are totally there. But the one that I would like to do personally would be PUMP UP THE VOLUME. Switch radio for social media and podcasts and it seems like a no brainer.
Suspiria from 2018 surprised me quite a bit. Didn't expect any of that.
As for a remake I want...I want a proper League of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie. Something more like the book
I hope everyone has been doing well and staying safe.
This week I finally watched "The Trip" films in preparation for watching the last one. I could kick myself for not watching these earlier, especially since I really loved "Tristram Shandy" in 2006.
As to the questions at hand regarding remakes, I'm curious to rewatch Gus Van Sant's "Psycho" remake. I was actually quite taken by it in 1998 in how the new performances turned it into its own thing, even though color was a huge mistake. I also liked the adaptation of the score that Danny Elfman did.
If I had the chance to remake one movie, it would be "The Crow: City of Angels," except going off of the original Goyer script that led to a more tragic and poignant ending to the story rather than just a rehash of the original.
Remake that surprised me the most - probably the 2010 version of The Crazies. Haven't seen it in a while, but I prefer it to Romero's original. In fact, 2010 has a handful of really good remakes. I think Joe Johnston's The Wolfman is fantastic (in Director's Cut form), and Matt Reeves' Let Me In might be better than the original as well. All three of those are films I thought were awful ideas on paper, and I was thrilled to be proven wrong.
As far as the remake I would do, I'm honestly not sure. I'd like to target a mediocre film with a great premise and start from there, but I can't think of one right now. I've always had an idea for a Swamp Thing movie, but that wouldn't be a remake of any existing film.
One underrated remake that I will always go to bat for is the Nightmare on Elm Street remake. Far from the best remake I have ever seen, but I actually really like the performances from Rooney Mara and Jackie Earle Haley. It's a different take on the mythos than the original, better than most of the sequels, and I would have liked to see further installments with that Freddy Krueger.
As for the remake I know how to tackle... The last time I saw The Night of the Hunter I had a very clear vision for how I would direct a remake or new adaptation of the book, down to who I would cast and specific shots I would use in certain places like the basement sequence. I have been thinking about my remake concept ever since it was announced that a remake is coming.
That said, I don't think that's a film that needs a remake. I think remakes are better reserved for intriguing concepts that didn't quite click, like Eyes of Laura Mars or Chatterbox (yes, I have thought about how to remake Chatterbox).
The remake that surprised me most in the past 15-20 years was The Good Thief. When I learned about it coming out I was indifferent. I was pleasantly surprised when I finally saw it. It's one I still recommend to people to watch when discussing remakes.
I've wanted to see or make a remake/update of A Face in the Crowd since I first saw it in college in 1999. My desire would be to pair the remake/adaptation with an actor whose persona is seen as good and honest. For me that is Tom Hanks. As he's gotten older I still imagine him as a version of Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes. With the current political landscape, I'm uncertain how this new version would look and feel or even work.
I was really surprised when I found out that Ransom (1996) was a remake. When I watched Ransom! (1956) I was fascinated by what elements were already in place, but the remake blows the original out of the water for me. Fascinating discovery though.
If I got to remake any movie, I’d pick a double feature of The Killer Shrews (1959) and Sh! The Octopus (1937). Those stories are timeless. Hard R ratings for both.
A remake that I questioned but like is Werner Herzog's Nosferatu the Vampyre. I love the original, so was skeptical of even Werner. It's not my favorite of his, but I ended up liking it alot more than I thought I would.
My dream reboot would be one of my personal favorites Ridley Scott's The Duellists. It's a beautiful picture (with great sword fights) and gives the sense of an epic, but I always thought there was room for a more expansive version.