On a whim, I caught the remake of "Fright Night," since that was a movie I enjoyed as a teen. I didn't expect to enjoy the remake as much as I did, but it was fun. Not the same movie as the original, but it was entertaining in its wry, self-referential way. Colin Farrell was amusing as the vampire. It was clear he was having a good time during it. There was even a cameo by Chris Sarandon, the original Jerry from "Fright Night." I don't like how Hollywood is eating its own tail with the remakes, but this one was a decent effort that managed to pay homage to its predecessor with a number of wry winks to it. I was surprised the movie was 2 hours long -- it felt rushed in places, despite the length, and it jumped right into the plot without wasting too much of that time with the whole "coming to believe" in vampires kind of expository build-up. In fact, the role of tech in the "outing" of the vampire is a nice addition. Cell phones, phonecams, camcorders, closed-circuit televisions -- all play parts in it, hearkening to the Surveillance State we live in these days, with everybody watching everybody else.
Anyway, the movie amused and entertained me, and had me laughing a lot throughout it. The theater was packed, too. I didn't see the 3D version, because I find the whole 3D thing irksome, and, of course, this was shot with a 3D version, naturally, and you can see the parts where they'd indulge that. I am really hoping 3D mania subsides.
I also saw that they're doing a remake of the Carpenter remake of "The Thing." WTF? It looked good, inasmuch as they were bringing CGI effects to zazz up the alien in it, but still, I cannot imagine the remake would displace the original remake, which remains a classic.
The Air & Water Show is this weekend, as mentioned before. Should be loud as ever. After living in Chicago for so long, I'm pretty used to it, although it's still impossible to ignore.
