With all of the Da Vinci Code hype this week, I was going to try to write something about it and may do so in the next couple of days.  However, in the meantime, I want to mention this: I’m beginning to believe that hollywood is simply running out of ideas. It seems in the past 10 years or so every third movie released is a remake. That is probably overstating it, and maybe there really haven’t been that many, but it sure seems like it. I noticed recently that yet another one opened up last week in Poseidon, which, of course, is a remake of the 1972 film The Poseidon Adventure. Now, maybe this will be a great film (although I doubt it), but can’t these people come up with something new every now and then?

There’s been a string of remakes in recent years, including Red Dragon in 2002, a remake of a great film from 1986, Manhunter. That’s only 16 years, and the first film was very good. Why was it remade, and so soon? Was it that they wanted all three Hannibal Lecter films to star Anthony Hopkins, and since he wasn’t in the original, they remade it? It makes no sense to me. Others include King Kong (again), The Amityville Horror, Ocean’s 11, and two starring Denzel Washington in the same year - The Manchurian Candidte and Man On Fire, both in 2004. Most of these are less than 30 years old, and it seems to me that if a film is that young (and especially those that are less than 20 years old), that it’s too soon to remake it - even if the original was really bad.

I’m sure there are many more I could list, but the most egregious remake mistake in my opinion is the recent remake of The Longest Yard. Now, I’ll admit it - I haven’t seen the new version. But the 1974 original starring Burt Reynolds was great and just simply did not need to be remade. I’ve always loved that movie and have (thus far) refused to see the new one simply because I feel it is unnecessary and should not exist. Plus, the fact that it stars Adam Sandler and Chris Rock - guys who are only funny for short periods of time - is a huge negative, too. They’re fine for SNL skits, but they can’t quite pull it off in full-length movies, or at least haven’t proven it yet if they can.

I hope that, in the near future, Hollywood can find a handful of people to come up with some original (and good) ideas before we have no new movies to watch, but only newer versions of films we’ve already seen.

(Perhaps at another time I’ll comment on how they also can’t seem to stop releasing bad films based on old television shows, like Starsky & Hutch and The Dukes of Hazzard. This is really uncalled for.)