20th Century Fox's remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still

As I left preview night, I saw people with blankets already lined up for tomorrow's 20th Century Fox panel on the remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still. I always wonder why they go back and remake good films but I guess with science fiction the attraction is the new technology that allows for those stories to be brought to the screen with improved special effects. The film stars Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly, who are both scheduled to attend this year's Con. At Anchor Bay's booth, you can also pick up posters of a 15-year-old Connelly in her first lead role in Dario Argento's Phenomena (a.k.a. Creepers). Anchor Bay deserves praise for continually going back and reissuing classic horror films.  And for Max Payne...

AMC is going to air a remake or reinterpretation, as they like to say, of the 1960’s series The Prisoner. The original used to air from time to time on our own KPBS TV. Patrick McGoohan was amazing as star, writer, producer, director, creator, whew, all of those things. It really was all about him. The show was a bizarre follow up to Danger Man (AKA Secret Agent Man). We were pushed to believe that he played the same character in both series. But it was always just a little unclear, purposely unclear. He is stripped of his identity and only referred to as Number 6. (Cue the Iron Maiden song: “I am not a number! I am a free man!”) He is held captive in the generically labeled The Village and chased down by giant white weather balloons whenever he tries to escape. The internet tells me they are indeed keeping the rovers. I doubt they will keep my favorite car, the Lotus Seven.