Author: Sarah Ogar

A culture-addict who has dabbled in film production, screen writing, stand-up comedy, theater production, and much more.

Sarah’s Five Rules of Remakes

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As my girlfriends and I eagerly await the release of the Keira Knightley-Jude Law studded remake of ‘Anna Karenina’ and mourn the pushed back release of ‘The Great Gatsby’ remake (originally slated for December, now pushed back to May), I got to thinking about what makes a great remake and what makes a bad one.

Sarah’s Five Rules of Remakes (for anyone considering a jaunt on the Remake Train)

1. You Must Wait at Least Twenty Years After the Original

I truly admire Keira Knightley’s ouevre, with the exception of Pride and Prejudice (2005), which I remade the 1995 BBC version with the Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle power couple of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.  While I truly adore Knightley and constantly wish that my life mirrored her perpetually period-costume wearing one, I couldn’t help but wonder why the filmmakers deemed it necessary to remake something that was still making waves for its overall merit and especially its famous wet-shirt scene.

2. Remaking a Movie You Previously Starred in and Reprising the Same Role is Lame…

Even if you are Clark Gable, reprising a young, swash-buckling adventurer when you are way beyond your swash-buckling prime is not a good idea.  In 1953, roughly twenty years after the original Red Dust, Clark Gable reprised his lead role that he had previously played alongside Jean Harlow in 1932.  The 1953 remake, Mogambo paired him with Ava Gardner, who was young enough to be his daughter.

3. Your Remake Must Be an Improvement Upon the Original

I gushed about Steven Soderbergh last week, but I am going to gush about him again. I think his treatment of Ocean’s Eleven (in its casting, art design, soundtrack, cinematography, pacing, and dialogue) was a vast improvement upon the original.  Although I am a huge fan of the Rat Pack in all of their swinging, smoking glory, I think their friendly shenanigans served as better concert fare than as the basis of a thrilling, sumptuous casino caper.

4. Relaunches of Franchises are Not Considered Remakes.

I do not consider the 2009 Star Trek film to be a remake, since it did not use the same plot as previous Star Trek films (though it did recycle plot elements from the series) and presented new facets of the characters.

5. Always Be Careful Who You Cast.

In an ideal world, the cast of a remake would be credible and likable actors with cross-generational appeal and box-office potential.  One reason I found the new Ocean’s film to be so enjoyable was the great casting, which made both me and my parents happy.  We were all in agreement that George Clooney carried the plot, engaged with the ensemble in a new and charismatic way, and looked good while doing it.

There are many other stipulations that I have regarding remakes, but I think these are my top concerns whenever anyone hops into the treacherous waters of a churning franchise or established filmic story.

Remakes: Cultural Re-iterations for Make Benefit of America

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With Baz Luhrman’s new adaption of The Great Gatsby due in May, I got to thinking about the notion of the filmic remake and why Hollywood seems to be so saturated with things of the past that it tries to polish and transform into things of the future.

If I am honest, most times I see that a film is being remade, I roll my eyes and ask why Hollywood didn’t just get it right the first time?

But the other day in my British Romantic Poetry class (which is a lot more intense than it sounds, believe or not), my professor told us that the role of the poet was not to invent new truth, but rather to create a new iteration of truth that resonates with modern cultures.

And isn’t that what a remake is?  A new, culturally resonant iteration of old truths?  As I sat in class, my former negative views towards remakes began to fade away.  Although many remakes fail to be half as good as the original, I thought I’d highlight some that in my opinion are better.

1. Ben Hur (1959)

While, in my opinion, any talkie is going to be better than its silent counterpart, this contribution by Cecile B. Demille highlights the best of the best in the Golden Age of Hollywood and especially Hollywood ‘Sword and Sandal’ films.

2. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)

After viewing several of his films, I would say that I have definitely acquired a taste for Steven Soderbergh.  If you haven’t seen any of his work (he’s also known for ‘J.Lo’ and most recently the surprisingly dark and gritty ‘Magic Mike’) the Ocean’s franchise is probably his most accessible to date.  Like many of his other films, it is very self-contained, non-meta, and visually seamless.

Okay, Soderbergh gushing over.  The reason I think this film improves upon the original, is that it creates its own self-contained team dynamic, whereas the original relied upon an extra-textual dynamic of the Rat Pack franchise.


3. Pride and Prejudice (The 1995 Version with Colin Firth in the best wet T-shirt scene in history)

Yes, this film was re-made ten years later with Keira Knightley (which seems waaaay too soon in terms of cultural updating.  Honestly, how much do British period films change in ten years?).  However, much like the upcoming Hobbit re-boot, this film is very, very long and its length does justice to its source material.  There is also a simplicity to this version that I find refreshing.  While I am a HUGE Keira Knightley fan (Is there a film that she doesn’t look stunningly gorgeous in?) I found that the story was second banana to the Keira Knightley brand, the great score, and the stunning visuals.  I was less focused on the story/characters and very aware of the fact that I was watching a film.

4. Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Talk about cultural relevance.  This film took something that I don’t think had been culturally updated for five hundred years and gave it Hawaiian shirts, love at first sight through the fish tank, and 9mm ‘broadswords’ that could do more damage than any stage weapon ever could.  Good move, Baz Luhrman.  I am looking forward to every film you ever make (and commercials too).

5. Hairspray (2007)

A vast improvement upon the original film (although the 2006 version was more of a Broadway-to-Cinema adaption.  In terms of directors, it moved from Jon Waters to Adam Shankman.  In other words, the story moved in terms of cultural appropriateness, from ‘Pink Flamingos’ to ‘A Walk to Remember’.  I think this was a turn in the right direction.

Did you know these were adapted?

1. O Brother Where Art Thou? (Homer’s Odyssey)

2. West Side Story (Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet)

3.  Clueless (Jane Austen’s Emma)

4. The Lion King (Shakespeare’s Hamlet)

5. Strange Brew (Shakespeare’s Macbeth)

(Film) Life is Beautiful: My Top Favorite Eye Candy Films

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Confession Time: There are some movies that I am attracted to and utterly in love with simply for their looks. Their art design. Their sets. Their costumes. Their makeup.

Some films serve as aesthetic eye candy and I love them for it.

And, given my historical preferences towards clothes, architecture, and grandiose color schemes, my favorite films are often period films. And honestly, because some films are so beautiful, I require multiple viewings to actually pay attention to the story, since my mind cannot let go of the beautiful images that waltz their way into my life and weave through my consciousness.

Some films on my list below have little to no character development or story, like Sophia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette where the titular character tries on clothes, parties with her friends, and eats trays and trays of delicious food that looks so opulent and so colorful, it looks as done up and fake as the Queen’s set of friends.

Other films on the list are loaded with story (see: The Importance of Being Earnest). The characters’ emotions are so effusive and weighted that they literally bleed into the character’s surroundings (e.g. in another one of my favorites, Tarsem Singh’s The Fall). However, regardless of their plot lines, the movies that comprise this list are perfect if you are ever in the mood to disengage your mental faculties and fully engage your scrumptious senses.

And honestly, when you have sets and costumes as luscious as these, who needs a story?

WARNING: Some of these films look good enough to eat (case in point: Marie Antoinette).

I often make fun of my action-packed, adrenaline-junkie dad, whose taste in film begins and ends with action movies that have no character development, but lots of pyrotechnic development (and destruction). However, upon further reflection, I realized that I have the exact same feelings towards beautiful films.

Top Five Beautiful Films to Satiate Your Visual Senses

  1. Life is Beautiful
    The title makes the beauty of this film pretty self-explanatory. I love the set design of this film because it reminds me of a cobble-stoned Italian city street or a pink and green speckled flower stand that is brimming over with life.  Although the end is not the happiest, the characters are fully realized thanks to excellent art design that reverberates the story’s highs and lows through color.
  2. The Importance of Being Earnest
    In the true spirit of its creator, Oscar Wilde (one of my greatest aesthetic inspirations) the art design of this film is like a decadent raspberry cheesecake. Washed in tones of orange, red, and pink, this film captures the trivial, yet beautiful pursuits of the Victorian aesthete.  Including lavender dresses with hydrangea hats, and delicious chocolate colored velvet jackets and
  3. Marie Antoinette
    The shoes. The hair. The cupcakes. While there is little to no dialogue throughout the film, there is plenty to gaze and wonder at what a life would be like with no darkness, gravity, or contemplation. The film thrives on light, fluffy pastels that adorn everything from the gleaming wooden floors to the gold-inlaid ceiling.
  4. Memoirs of a Geisha
    Based on the novel by Arthur Golden, this film oscillates between heavenly white tones, black swirling night scenes, and blood red romance and vengeance scenes that will sweep you away to the Japanese world of the geisha. Brief flickers of soft candle light also add to the film’s mystique and intriguing visuals.
  5. The Duchess
    Granted, any film that has Keira Knightley in it is going to be beautiful, but this film is so breathtaking, you will find yourself reaching for the golden chandeliers and decadent English boxwoods that beckon you from the big screen. Knightley’s wigs alone, adorned with feathers, glitter, and cascading ribbons will almost make you topple over in eye-candy ecstasy.

So there you have it! If you’re craving some cinematic eye candy, look no further!  Although do keep your eyes peeled for an ‘Eye Candy Film List: Part 2’.

Suit of Amour: How Renaissance Women Dressed to Kill

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On a recent trip to the DIA, my Art History class was pleasantly treated to a tour by the museum’s director (who is AMAZING, if you ever meet her).  If you have never been to the Detroit Institute of Art, I highly reccommend it.  Although the surrounding area can be quite dodgy, once inside, you forget all about the modenr squalor of a fallen urban landscape and transport yourself to a time of soaring white marble, vaulted gothic cathedrals, and gleaming suits of armor that demand acknowledgment.  The African art is kind of scary, the Egyptian art is mystic and abstract, and everything is full of eye-catching shapes and colors.

While every piece moved my eyes, what moved my mind was when the director took us beyond the suits of armor, to the European portrait gallery, where she showed us one painting in particular.

It was a portrait of Eleonora de Toledo by Bronzino and it was jaw-dropping.


The layers of fabric, the folds, and the dancing patterns that were choreographed down her bodice…

Seeing my reaction, the director of the museum told us, “We were just in the main hall where the suits of armor were displayed.  Now as you know, there were suits of armor for military campaigns, jousiting tournaments, and also fancy suits of armor which were much like tuxedoes are today.  And here,” the director gestured to the Bronzino, “Was what I consider to be female armor.”

Her metaphor intrigued me.  And moreover, it got me thinking about the limits and capabilities of women throughout history. In the Renaissance especially, an age where women had little control over their fortunes, marriage lives, and living situations, there was one sphere where women could exercise control and could exude all of the confidence and personality that society allowed her: in her dress.

Never before I had ascribed so much power to an article of clothing.  But this dress and this woman, was not just one piece of clothing.  She was the pure angel of the pearls around her neck, the hardened, wrought iron of the black swirls on her gown, and she was a living, breathing human being who had few avenues for self-expression.

As I stood there, gazing up into the serene face of a female who lived a vastly different life from me, I found a connection through the power of clothes.  I thought about what I was wearing (a light blue button-down, jeans, a dark blue cardigan, and my tan, canvas trenchcoat) and then picked up my gold and pearl necklace around my neck.