I actually kind of hated the original. There wasn't any real sense of dread or foreboding...things just kind of happened. I get the message, but I think it was done in the most boring way possible. The remake, on the other hand, at least had Caviezel, even if it was the same movie.

I wouldn't call that a "soul"...more like recycling. I think your wording is more poetic, though.

But, being an Atheist, in general if someone told me I have no soul, I would just nod in agreement. If they told me I have a soul, I would just ask why they think that, and consider their answer. Either way, no big deal, really.

Arvada. And I must say, this Colorado board is pretty dead...

And now the OT has become moot. Maybe that was subtle genius on her part.

Really? History of Violence and Eastern Promises? I mean, I love his old stuff, but the more mainstream Cronenberg isn't too shabby.

I was having a lot of fun with the Friday the 13th remake until the end. Wow, that was a horrible, horrible ending.

But, ummmm.....BEST remakes? I can list off dozens of crappy ones, lol. A lot of them would be horror, too. That genre is being mined for everything it's got at the moment.

The Departed is an excellent remake, though. If you've ever heard of an Australian horror movie called Long Weekend, well, that one got remade as Nature's Grave, and Jim Caviezel was in it. It was better than the original, but that's not saying too much, really. There are probably more good remakes, but I'll end with two of the worst (both horror): Nightmare on Elm Street: Talk about pointless; and The Uninvited: a very apt title, indeed.

Have you seen Kiss Kiss Bang Bang? Black directed it, and Downey, Jr. stars. It's damn awesome. So that's my segue into Iron Man 2, lol. I'm on the fence which one I liked better, but regardless, it was great fun. Is it just me, or was the dialogue even more snappy and hilarious in the sequel? Maybe it's just been a while since I watched the first one. But yea, Sam Rockwell was hilarious (the scene where he's golfing is pure gold), I think Mickey Rourke did the right thing by not going over-the-top with his performance. It was actually pretty subtle. The one thing I hated was when Scarlett was kung-fuing people left and right. It's not believable, sorry. Yes, she's hot in her latex/leather/whatever suit, but if all she has to do is leg-sweep a guy to take him out, why did it take Jon Favreau 10 minutes to brutally punch a guy into submission? Oh, well, the movie was good stuff.

I saw it over the weekend, and I enjoyed it overall. But, as per usual, I'm assuming when the Blu-ray comes out it's going to be the director's cut of the film. A lot of Ridley Scott's movies get shredded to pieces for the theater, and I definitely thought there was a bigger movie underneath this one. More Max von Sydow explaining to Russell Crowe about his father, more with Marion, the French plotting was kind of rushed, etc etc....but, like I said, I still enjoyed it.

Plus, I haven't seen good 'ol Max holding a sword since The Virgin Spring (have I missed any?).