Movie News: Unholy Remake Edition
By Sarah Carlson
May 23, 2007
Mike Myers, who fooled millions into seeing "Shrek the Third' this weekend, will headline a remake of the 1947 classic "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" starring Danny Kaye (pictured).
This pains me. I grew up on Danny Kaye -- I won't lie. I think "The Court Jester" is awesome and I love "White Christmas." (I also grew up on a heavy dose of Rogers & Hammerstein, '80s country, Neil Diamond and "Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre." I'm just surprised I have friends.) Anyway, Kaye is great and timeless and wonderful, and Myers is the dude from "Wayne's World." Granted, the original "Mitty" isn't magical, and not all remakes are bad, blah blah blah, but the current trend to remake anything and everything instead of finding new stories to tell grew old years ago.
According to THR: "This is the latest incarnation for 'Mitty,' which over the years has attracted the likes of Jim Carrey and Eddie Murphy, even Whoopi Goldberg in a 'Martha Mitty' version. Directors that came and went included Steven Spielberg and Chuck Russell."
We can all send up a feeble prayer of thanks for Eddie Murphy not landing the role, but we might as well ask God why he didn't let Hollywood burn as punishment for "Norbit." I guess we can settle for the 20ish good movies it releases a year and cry about the rest.
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Posted by: Spender on May 23, 2007 3:18 PM
Oh, my.
I'm old enough to remember quite well the Danny Kaye movie version of Mitty and old enough to have read most of Thurber's books. I can't imagine ANYTHING good coming out of a Mike Myers remake because a) Mr. Myers is not much of an actor and b) the gentle sarcasm, cynicism and wit of James Thurber will likely be tossed in favor of flatulence jokes and shameless mugging.
Sigh....
I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes (which Hollywood screenwriters may someday heed):
The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself, but in so doing, he identifies himself with people--that is, people everywhere, not for the purpose of taking them apart, but simply revealing their true nature.
-- James Thurber