Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: FAME (2009)

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Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 10-03-2009, 07:26 PM:

So has anyone see this one? I know the original really captured the mood and feel of 1980 and the music from it lives on to this day. This is another film I don't understand why they are remaking so soon (if at all)...yes, it has been 30-years but the original did not need remaking.

So...any reviews?

Steve

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 10-04-2009, 03:07 AM:

And to add insult to injury, they won't let the art houses play the Alan Parker 1980 original. It would be nice of they let us play the original; my market hook would be, "Hey, wanna see the real thing?"

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 10-04-2009, 04:09 AM:

I always thought FAME was just a TV show.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-04-2009, 05:39 PM:

The movie isn't doing well at Rotten Tomatoes, scoring only 29%. Some critics say the movie seems more directed at cashing in on the High School Musical craze instead of being a worth remake of the 1980 film -which has an RT score of 95%.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-04-2009, 06:04 PM:

I've never really looked up old movies on RT, but is it possible that most people who rate an old movie are the ones who love it?

I remember when the original FAME came out -- I inquired about booking it, and our booker said "Sure, you can have it....if you want to have an empty theatre for a week." It just wasn't a small-town picture. I get the feeling this one wouldn't be much better for us, but we might wind up playing it anyway since product is so slim right now.

Posted by Victor Liorentas (Member # 5272) on 10-04-2009, 06:37 PM:

The sound mixer for the 1980 Fame went on to develop SDDS for Sony.
I was blown away by the 70mm 6-track mix for it!

The 80s showed a lot of promise with pop rock mixes on 70mm with Alan Parker directing both Fame and The Wall.

Seems most movies since then with pop or rock have not used the 6 channel potential as effectively.
The new Fame is barely worth mentioning.

Posted by Robert Crabtree (Member # 4795) on 10-05-2009, 02:46 PM:

It's okay as far as I'm concerned, but I'm far more generous than most people will be. See Freshman sing and dance! See Sophomores sing and dance! See Juniors...and so on, with individual problems thrown in to create something of a plot. Never seen the original, but I think this is probably meant to a family flick.

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 10-05-2009, 04:10 PM:

quote: Robert Crabtree
but I think this is probably meant to a family flick.

And therein lies the difference. The original was in no way a family flick. It is a fantastic 126 minutes though. See it if you haven't.

This one's been wrung through the sanitiser so many times I keep expecting to see Bambi and the little blue birds on people's shoulders. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 10-05-2009, 05:06 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
I've never really looked up old movies on RT, but is it possible that most people who rate an old movie are the ones who love it?

From how the RT page looked on the 1980 version of Fame, it appeared they were rating the movie based at least in part on old reviews of the movie published at the time of its release.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 10-14-2009, 12:07 PM:

Well, we wound up playing this over the last week. It didn't do much business, but women from age 7 to 77 (literally -- my Mom was in the audience last night) seemed to enjoy it. The men, not so much. It gave the subwoofers a good workout, I'll say that for it.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 01-14-2010, 01:23 PM:

I watched the remake of FAME on Blu-Ray last night and enjoyed it very much. Yes, I agree that this new version is not in the same league as the original Alan Parker film but it was still very entertaining. I am not too much into pop music but I really enjoyed the selections I heard in this film. The picture and sound was excellent on BD.

3 out of five

-Claude

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 01-14-2010, 03:51 PM:

Wow, so was that something like 90 days from first run to home video?

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 01-15-2010, 01:36 AM:

Just a bit over...it was released September 23. Around 113 days.