American Oldboy gets real.

We've been hearing about this American remake of the 2003 Korean film, Oldboy, for a while now. For a while it was rumored to star Will Smith with Steven Spielberg as the director. If you've seen Oldboy, or know what it's about, you're were probably confused about this. I'm not here to speak ill of either of these gentlemen. Personally I think they're some of the best at what they do even if popular opinion is beginning to sway from this opinion. What makes this combo questionable for this particular project is their tendency towards films with mass appeal. Not that they're not capable of producing deep non-blockbusters, but these are guys with names that immediately skyrocket a movie to #1 in the box office. That being said, Oldboy is a film that is going to have some trouble connecting with an American audience. It would be more than interesting to see Spielberg & Smith try, but I'm glad they're not.

Now the burden of Americanizing a modern foreign classic falls on the shoulders of Spike Lee. I, admittedly, haven't seen many Spike Lee movies. I plan on changing that in the near future. From what I know of his work, he's got some talent. Usually his work deals with race relations in America though, so I'm somewhat worried about how qualified he is to take on a project completely out of his zone. For a while I thought he'd just twist the movie into something dealing more with race. I fully expected a black actor to be chosen as the lead role. However, it was just announced that Josh Brolin will be the star. Even though I'm not looking forward to the movie, I think Brolin's a good choice. He's got the chops and I can see him in the role.

So far his Brolin's casting is the shining light of this remake. I wish we'd stop this trend of remaking foreign films that aren't even old. How about letting people who care to see those movies seek them out and read some subtitles? Hopefully this is more of a trend and not an indication that no one has any ideas in Hollywood. Whatever the case, I'm just hoping that Oldboy's good name isn't completely trashed with this remake. I recommend checking out the Korean version if you get a chance. I don't want to spoil but if you do watch it, you'll understand my apprehension. This post was kinda random but I'm anxious to see how this pans out and I'm bored so yeah... I mean, Chyeah!