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News.com.au
a day ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Sad reason so many beloved movies and TV shows are being remade
Someone get out the David Beckham-sized bronzer tub. He's got a cameo to make. This week came news we didn't realise we needed so badly, that a sequel to 2002's surprise hit rom-com Bend It Like Beckham is in the works. The original made more than $100 million at the box office and only added to the Brand Beckham aura, so it seems impossible that Golden Balls himself won't good-naturedly sign on for some sort of guest part. Unfortunately, while Becks himself reapplies a certain teak deck-like shade of self-tanner, if you're looking for a sign the world is distinctly not okay right now, then ta da. The world's 90s and early aughts obsession is a massive red flag. The number of movie and TV remakes from that era has now reached a comical level. Just this week, photos surfaced showing the cast of The Devil Wears Prada sequel on set, looking like the last 19 years never happened as they shimmy back into their characters' costumes. There are sequels or reprisals of Clueless, The Bodyguard, Ghost, The Thomas Crown Affair, An Officer and A Gentleman, Anaconda, Ghost, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and Single White Female in the pipeline. New I Know What You Did Last Summer, Final Destination, Freaky Friday and The Naked Gun are wither out or coming to cinemas soon. The Mean Girls and Twister follow-ups did brisk business. On TV screens, we are getting new Murder She Wrote, Malcolm In The Middle, One Tree Hill, Desperate Housewives and Buffy The Vampire Slayer. The obvious move is to put it down to Hollywood laziness or the bankability of misty-eyed nostalgia. But I think it's actually a symptom of just how f**ked the world is right now. What this week's Bend It news confirms isn't that Hollywood ran out of ideas about the time they swore off gluten but how badly, how desperately, audiences are craving comfort right now. The characters, the formats and the worlds of Prada, of Clueless, of Buffy, are safe, familiar and unchallenging. To watch any of these is to catch up with old friends; it feels like slipping back on a favourite old pair of Levi 501s (they're back too). What these remakes are is perfectly-worn-in entertainment. You have to go back to the dark days of the 1930s to find a time in history when the world felt this bleak. It's impossible to open a news site or social media feed without being immediately immersed in horror, extreme suffering, unthinkable starvation, and unspeakable cruelty and violence. To learn about how AI is about to fillet the job market and whole economies. To read about the loneliness epidemic that no one has any idea how to treat. Is it any wonder then that we want the simple, uncomplicated pleasure of seeing a cow sucked up by a twister again? To see Andy Sachs being dressed down by a deliciously imperious Miranda Priestly once more? To spend two hours with soccer-mad Jess as she unironically makes her dreams come true? Emotionally, this tranche of 2.0 movies and TV shows is the equivalent of snuggling back down under the covers in your childhood bedroom and letting out a long slow exhale. We want - need - to cocoon ourselves in thoroughly known, uncomplicated plots and characters that don't demand anything of us; we want to be frictionlessly and immediately whisked away from reality. What also unites all these remakes is not just that they are sure-fire, bang-up, will-definitely work bits of IP but that they all hark back to a very particular period where the world looked golden. In about 2000 when Bend It writer Gurinder Chadha was sitting down at her computer - let's imagine it's a bulbous coloured plastic iMac - and started clacking out a script about a Sikh girl torn between her family's expectations and her love of soccer, Tony Blair was Prime Minister. Bill Clinton and his saxophone were still in the White House. The Camp David accord was being hashed out, the Good Friday agreement had created peace in Ireland after centuries of Troubles, and in New York's financial district the Twin Towers stood tall. Breakthrough AIDs drugs had hit the market, broadband had arrived and the Nokia 3310 was the hottest ticket. A GFC? Never heard of her. The world was fine, innit? Peace and stability reigned supreme. Economies were going gangbusters and the Iron Curtain had long since been torn down by the time Blair was covertly playing Snake in between budgetary briefings. No wonder the world is obsessed with the 90s and early 2000s right now. We all want to time-travel back to a period when the world felt safer, saner, and easier. This impulse goes far beyond movies and TV too. Low slung jeans, halter tops and platform thongs are back. Oasis has just sold out a stadium tour. In the US, staple 90s retailers like Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch are experiencing sales resurgences, in the UK there has been a boom in sales in 90s chip flavours and in Australia, Allen's is bringing back single serve Killer Pythons. Data from from May showed an uptick in interest in throwback recipes like rissoles, beef stroganoff and pumpkin soup. Cheaper yes in a time of cost-of-living belt-tightening but, with the world looking in such a terrible way, who wants to sit down to sprouted buckwheat with a turmeric tahini drizzle? Pass the safe, soothing, uncomplicated stroganoff. More sour cream and Sarah Michelle Gellar? Yes please. Recently J urassic World Rebirth director Gareth Edwards talked about making the seventh outing in the dinosaur franchise and said, 'I wanted it to feel like a film they'd discovered from the early 90s.' Which is exactly how we want to feel too. Yes, with all the movies, there is also the base economics of it all too. Post pandemic, post 2023 Hollywood strike and in the age of the streaming wars, studios only want bankable surethings. Casual, movie-going has fallen away and getting bottoms onto cinema seats now increasingly means having to create a cultural moment or some sort of special event viewing. However, our appetite for remakes actually says something far bigger about our psychological needs right now. The day after the Bend It news broke came the absolute cherry-on-top, piece de resistance: Channel Ten is bringing back Big Brother. Bust out the bunny ears. Don't understand the reference? Ask your parents.
ABC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- ABC News
Lena Dunham's Too Much with co-creator Luis Felber + Michael Shanks/Together + François Ozon/When Fall is Coming
British-Peruvian musician Luis Felber (Attawalpa) co-created the buzzy Netflix series Too Much with his wife Lena Dunham, a rom-com full of joy and complexity about a New Yorker looking for love in London. Australian filmmaker Michael Shanks on Together, his sticky body horror that made a mark at Sundance, starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie. French master François Ozon on his latest - When Fall is Coming - an ambiguous family murder-mystery set in Burgundy. CREDITS
The Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
90s movie icon Rachael Leigh Cook goes public with new boyfriend – and he's a very familiar face
RACHAEL Leigh Cook, who starred in hit 90s romcom She's All That, has debuted a brand new blossoming romance. Stepping out with action movie hunk, Brandon Routh, the two stars enjoyed a date night on Friday in Los Angeles. 5 5 Rachael, who is now 45, shot to fame as Laney Boggs in She's All That. She is also famous for starring in The Baby-Sitters Club and Josie and the Pussycats. Meanwhile, Brandon, who is also 45, shot to fame when he portrayed the iconic superhero Superman in the 2006 film Superman Returns. Brandon also starred in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Legends of Tomorrow and Arrow. The two stars enjoyed a low-key outing together in LA as they headed to a weekend movie screening on Friday night. Rachael and Brandon were seen holding hands as they stopped by the crowded venue. SMITTEN DISPLAY At one point in the evening, Brandon's arm was seen affectionately around Rachael as they walked around in public, Love was clearly in the air as the couple shared sweet smiles and cozy moments on their outing. Another adorable moment saw Rachael sweetly rest her hand on Brandon's back. The actress was previously married Daniel Gillies, whom she wed in 2004, but their romance was not to last. 'We got engaged after dating for maybe five months and we got married a couple of months after that,' she told People Magazine in a previous interview. They then separated in June 2019 and their divorce was finalized in 2021. A year later, in October 2022, Rachael opened up about her split from Daniel. 'HAPPILY DIVORCED' She gushed that she was "happily divorced" at the time. Rachael also said of her ex, "We still share Halloween. We go out walking around together and my kids like my boyfriend [Kevin Mann] a lot and we're slowly just navigating what that looks like and it's tough. "It's tough and it's certainly relatable to so many families out there,' she told Us Weekly at the time. She added, "So I hope that this is a nice touchpoint for kids who have a new step-sibling. Maybe take a little bit of a cue from that." Rachael and her ex-husband Daniel share two children from their marriage. They are parents to a daughter named Charlotte, born in 2013, and a son named Theodore, born in 2015. Rachael had been in a relationship with Kevin before she got with Brandon. She and Kevin went Instagram official in 2021. But according to several reports, the relationship ended "a few years later". 5 5 5
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Natalie Portman Pauses Her Sneakers Streak for Boho-Chic Wedge Sandals
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. After three days without a Natalie Portman sighting, I was beginning to think her rom-com Good Sex had wrapped. I'd certainly miss Portman's sometimes nostalgic costumes, but with The Devil Wears Prada 2 and Happy Hours still in production, there's enough outfit inspiration to go around. However, on July 24, the Oscar winner returned to the movie's New York set, to embrace her character's boho side in sky-high wedge sandals. In between takes, paparazzi captured Portman wearing Coach's Archival Buckle Wedges: $250 sandals currently listed for $100 off. The 4.5" platforms were so tall, they just barely peeked out from underneath her Chloé wide-leg pants circa 2016. From there, Portman tucked an oversize The Cure band tee into her burgundy bottoms, and cinched them with a black leather belt. Most information about Portman's character, Lucy has been kept under wraps. But now we know she's a therapist by day, and a punk-rock fan by night. This'll make for a stellar soundtrack. View Deal In the accessory department, Portman's on-screen alter-ego sourced Chloé once more. She chose a metallic gold crossbody bag in the shape of a seashell. It retails for $2,450 and added a summery splash to her final 'fit. Though she didn't wear it, the Black Swan star brought along a light-wash jean jacket. You can tell Portman is in character because she rarely wears wedges off-screen. The closest she'll get to her boho sandals are ankle-tied espadrilles. In 2023, she attended the French Open in espadrille sandals, plus a patterned poplin dress, a Dior straw hat, and cat-eye sunglasses. However, she's rarely styled them since. Portman prefers statement sneakers, ballet flats, or boots. On the Good Sex set, Portman has stayed loyal to office-friendly footwear, most notably $1,150 Dior sneakers, leather loafers, and the occasional Keds. Her clogs-clad costume suggests Ally's fashion is more free-spirited than I initially assumed—a plot twist I can't wait to see unfold on screen. Shop Wedges Inspired by Natalie Portman View Deal View Deal View Deal View Deal View Deal View Deal
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Lena Dunham Is Happy for Netflix Rom-Com ‘Good Sex' to Skip Theatrical Release: ‘I Don't Think This Will Live or Die By That'
Lena Dunham isn't just making a comeback with her Megan Stalter-starring Netflix romantic comedy series 'Too Much' — she also has a movie she wrote and is directing set to premiere on the platform, and starring Oscar-winner Natalie Portman. In fact, it would appear that Netflix really wanted 'Good Sex,' also a rom-com which co-stars genre stalwart Meg Ryan, Mark Ruffalo, and Rashida Jones. After all, the streamer paid a reported $55 million for it. Dunham, though, isn't precious about the movie forgoing a theatrical release to go straight to the platform. To her, that's someone else's battle. More from IndieWire 'Eddington' Review: Ari Aster's Bleak and Brilliant Look at Post-COVID America Feels Like the First Truly Modern Western 'A Little Prayer' Trailer: David Strathairn Warns Jane Levy About Infidelity in Critically Acclaimed Sundance Family Drama 'I really just want people to sit on a couch with their moms and their besties and lean in,' she said in an interview with Variety. 'I love watching other filmmakers fight for the theatrical-release element — but I don't think this will live or die by that.' 'Good Sex' went into production this month, so a release date is still very much pending. Tucker Pillsbury, known to the music scene as rapper Role Model, will make his film debut in the movie. 'He had this humor and essence that really felt like rom-com gold,' Dunham said, describing finding him on her shadow TikTok account. 'He's giving early Brad Pitt, like when you saw him in 'Thelma & Louise.'' In a nod to her late friend and romcom queen writer/director Nora Ephron, Dunham was excited to get Ryan on board. She pitched the movie to Ryan when they both attended Taylor Swift's London stop on the Eras tour. 'I decided, it's now or never, and I'm going to shoot my shot. She couldn't be a lovelier person,' Dunham related. 'Shout-out Taylor — thank you for that. She brings everyone together; she makes the world go round.' Ryan has been slowly raising her profile once again, after a fairly stagnant period without much mainstream action. In February, she appeared in a much-discussed Hellmann's Mayo Super Bowl commercial with Billy Crystal that lampooned undoubtedly her most famous movie moment from 'When Harry Met Sally.' Two years ago, Ryan made her own stab at writing/directing a romantic comedy with the small-scale theatrical release 'What Happens Later' alongside David Duchovny. Best of IndieWire Guillermo del Toro's Favorite Movies: 56 Films the Director Wants You to See 'Song of the South': 14 Things to Know About Disney's Most Controversial Movie Nicolas Winding Refn's Favorite Films: 37 Movies the Director Wants You to See Solve the daily Crossword
