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Hairspray 2007
Dec. 2nd, 2007 11:27 pmWatched Hairspray, the 1988th version last week. It was fun! Campy! It had a message, but it wasn't too preachy. The premise (a musical based on the old movie) sounded interesting, but the 2007th version had a Serious Message, and it made damn sure you knew it.
I am annoyed at the "woe is me I am fat" subplot for the mom. I think that the original was much better -- not as heavy-handed in conveying the message about accepting people for their differences, etc.
I also dislike (majorly dislike) the Link character in this movie, as well as the song that Tracy has for Link (the one where she ends with peering in at him through the boys' bathroom window). The original Link was cool; the remade version had bad hair and was a wimp. The original Tracy was a bit of a ditz over Link, but she wasn't entirely shallow.
Despite the bad acting and bad cinematography, I adore the original movie: it was cutely teenagerly awkward. The remake is more polished, but it isn't as good. Seriously, this movie has ratty hair, crazy dances, and campy villains; and yet the remake somehow made it generic.
Maybe it is the polish that makes the characters in the remake fall flat for me. Because the movie is trying to be grown-up, the characters aren't as outrageous, and what worked in the campier original setting is just off, off, off. The one person I like in the remake is the dad, Wilbur, even though (or maybe because) he wasn't a major character in the original movie.
I am annoyed at the "woe is me I am fat" subplot for the mom. I think that the original was much better -- not as heavy-handed in conveying the message about accepting people for their differences, etc.
I also dislike (majorly dislike) the Link character in this movie, as well as the song that Tracy has for Link (the one where she ends with peering in at him through the boys' bathroom window). The original Link was cool; the remade version had bad hair and was a wimp. The original Tracy was a bit of a ditz over Link, but she wasn't entirely shallow.
Despite the bad acting and bad cinematography, I adore the original movie: it was cutely teenagerly awkward. The remake is more polished, but it isn't as good. Seriously, this movie has ratty hair, crazy dances, and campy villains; and yet the remake somehow made it generic.
Maybe it is the polish that makes the characters in the remake fall flat for me. Because the movie is trying to be grown-up, the characters aren't as outrageous, and what worked in the campier original setting is just off, off, off. The one person I like in the remake is the dad, Wilbur, even though (or maybe because) he wasn't a major character in the original movie.
