Yeah, they said the same thing when the godawful Willy Wonka with Johnny Depp came out... "NOT a remake of the 1971 film, has nothing to do with the original movie, just a new adaptation of the novel... blah blah blah"
When you film a story that's already been told, it's a remake. The film that was already made will influence the new film, no matter how much the director, crew, and cast vow otherwise. It's always the 800 pound gorilla in the room that the new film will suffer inevitable comparisons too. Sometimes they even end up ruining the story by going out their way NOT to be like the superior original movie for fear of being labeled a "remake". And if the original film did an good job bringing the material to the screen and holds up well today, there's no reason to adapt it over again.
That’s like saying that every film version of Hamlet is a remake of whatever the first film of Hamlet was (some silent film probably). There’s reason to believe this film will improve on the original. The Coen Brothers are better film makers than Henry Hathaway.
I am sure Jeff Bridges is good in this new movie. But I refuse to support the continued career of that talentless hack Matt Damon. He and Ben Affleck have to be the luckiest SOBs on the planet. There is not one thing about them that warrants being on a third rate soap opera for 5 minutes, much less being “superstars”.
They also tend to remake because they are now bereft of ideas. So they make and remake and remake every classic movie almost never improving on the original.
I haven’t seen this True Grit but already what I’ve seen and read makes me think it’s much darker and drearier than the book or movie ever was. I also have a weird feeling that the Bible-quoting Mattie is being turned into a vengeful, hateful right-wing teapartier. I got this idea from an article in the New York Times this week. In fact, Mattie is a God-fearing, fine girl and woman with lots of character, moxie and humor. In fact, if I remember the book correctly, she supports Al Smith for the presidency!
I never thought I’d say this but: bring back Kim Darby!!