"It's Far From Being All Over"

There are moments that make you who you are. You remember exactly where you were, what you were doing, who was with you. It stays with you in every fiber of your being. For me that moment was when I heard they had cast Chris Klein as the lead in the remake of the movie Rollerball.

I knew that Klein, best known from American Pie and being Mr. Katie Holmes, would not be able to bring the presence and intensity to the role that James Caan oozed into the original, a dystopian adventure that had plenty to say about freedom and individuality in the face of "the man". Klein starred in a modern-day tale of corruption and capitalist scum in the former Soviet Union. John Houseman was replaced with Jean Reno. Upgrade or downgrade? YOU DECIDE! I dutifully saw the remake and hoped for the best. Klein wasn't awful but the movie certainly was.

There is nothing new about the current trend in remaking/reimaging/rebooting movies and television series. The history of remakes is as old as the motion picture itself. Cecil B. DeMille remade one of his silent films and blammo, we got The Ten Commandments. The Magnificent Seven, a western classic, is the American remake of Akiro Kurosawa's Japanese masterpiece Seven Samurai. TV series such as "All In The Family" and "Sanford And Son" and more recently "The Office" came from British shows. Stealing someone else's idea and stamping your name on it is as American as espresso or the Champions League.

Of course Americans are not the only ones who indulge in such things. In fact, in my view, nobody has been more successful in this area over the last three decades than two Brits: Christopher Nolan and Russell T. Davies.

Director Nolan brought Gotham City's finest back to the cinema in Batman Begins, eight years after we saw George Clooney running around in a batsuit with nipples in the absolutely horrible Batman And Robin. That movie can't even claim to be the best movie with two state governors in it (that would be Predator). Nolan rebooted the entire series with some excellent casting in Christian Bale as the man himself, Michael Caine as loyal butler Alfred, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Liam Neeson. We went back to the very origins of what made Bruce Wayne become the dark knight.

Speaking of which, you can probably imagine how excited I am at this summer's sequel, The Dark Knight. Every trailer has been better than the last one and Heath Ledger has been getting rave reviews for what unfortunately will be his final performance as the Joker. From all accounts this isn't your father's (Jack Nicholson) or grandfather's (Cesar Romaro) Joker.

Television writer Davies, known for such groundbreaking shows as the original British version of "Queer As Folk", was able to do what so many had tried to do before him: relaunch "Doctor Who", a science fiction series originally envisioned as a children's educational program that had been on the air for 26 years (YES TWENTY SIX SEASONS) before being axed in 1989. People thought he was mad, that the show would not be able to make it in front of today's audiences. Those naysayers would be proven wrong on so many levels it boggles the mind.

Before we continue let me say right here and now that yes I'm a Whovian. My better half, Girl Friend After Dark, has become a major fan of the show under my tutelage. The FMAD inner circle have suffered from my enthusiasm. They say suffer, I say been enlightened. I was watching bootleg copies of original series episodes in a friend's apartment nine years ago. So to say I was overjoyed when they announced the series was coming back would be like saying Charles Barkley likes some betting action from time to time. Anywho...

The new "Doctor Who" debuted on the BBC in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor, an alien traveler from the planet Gallifrey, and pop star Billie Piper as his human companion Rose. From the word go the show was a major success and became even more popular when it aired in the United States. The new series has launched two successful spin-off shows and can currently be seen on BBC America and on Sci-Fi Fridays paired with another great science fiction show in the reimaged "Battlestar Galactica".

(For more information, I highly recommend going to Outpost Gallifrey)

So what tv shows or movies would you like to see brought back or reimaged? I have some suggestions:

1) Soylent Green. VERY loosely based on Harry Harrison's ridiculous and borderline insulting in retrospect 1966 novel Make Room! Make Room!, the film stars Charlton Heston as a police detective investigating a murder and Edward G. Robinson as his wizened and educated partner in a world full of overpopulation and environmental issues. The murder leads to some startling revelations about Soylent Green. If you don't know what I'm talking about, please stop reading my blog and don't come back until you have properly sated yourself with useless pop culture items.

A modern take on this cautionary tale, in the wake of the greening movement, could be entertaining if handled properly. Don't try to compete with the original though. It won't work. Draw your own line in the sand.

2) The Prisoner. A 17-episode British television show starring Patrick McGoohan as the title character, The Prisoner is still relevant today despite the dated Cold War references. The overarching theme of the show was personal liberty and not giving in to conformity. When our hero resigns from his position as a secret agent, he is kidnapped and taken to an unknown location known as the Village. When he is told that he will now be known as Number Six, he exclaims, "I am not a number! I am a free man!". That confrontation sets the tone for the entire show.

A movie or updated television show has been in development hell for years and years. There were rumors about a movie to be helmed by Christopher Nolan. There were rumors that Christopher Eccleston was going to star in a remake after leaving "Doctor Who". British network ITV announced in April that plans for a reimaged version of the show were going forward. Personally I will believe it when I see it.

3) Ladybugs. I DEMAND a remake of this film so we can get yet another glimpse into the world of cross-dressing athletes and the stepfathers who support their efforts. DEMAND I SAY.