[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG3NZjRv2nM&feature=related[/yt]
William Powell & Myrna Loy...they just don't make 'em like this anymore.
William Powell & Myrna Loy...they just don't make 'em like this anymore.
Johnny Depp as Nick Charles, The Thin Man?
- Thread starter Temis the Vorta
- Start date
^ Thank you, PKTrekGirl! That made my day! 
Do you have a clip of William Powell saying "Why, Mrs. Charles!" with canted eyebrows? That may be my favorite moment in the whole series. 
^ I will look at some more clips and see if I can find that. My favorite line is in that clip I posted: "He didn't get anywhere near my tabloids!" 
I also like that line when Nora is shaking martinis and insists that "These are cocktails, aren't they? And that is Mr. Charles, isn't it? They'll get together!"
Great stuff!
I also like that line when Nora is shaking martinis and insists that "These are cocktails, aren't they? And that is Mr. Charles, isn't it? They'll get together!"
Great stuff!
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1tnbPBCtnI&feature=related[/yt]
Haven't found your line yet, Captain Dago...but this video is really cute. Some great lines.
Haven't found your line yet, Captain Dago...but this video is really cute. Some great lines.
I did a little research myself. It's the end of "After the Thin Man." Haven't found a video yet, just some screen caps. They're here: http://themave.com/Powell/powloy/films/after/end.htm
It's gar-an-TEED that the audience is going to think Nick Charles is the Thin Man if they're rash enough to keep that title.
I'm sure that this a true statement for sure......
I figured someone would say something like this, and fair enough, too - in general, I agree. However, there are always exceptions, and IMHO The Thin Man is one of them. That godawful excuse for an Avengers movie demonstrated quite clearly that, among other things, chemistry and the various nuances particular actors bring to a role cannot be faked or manufactured (casting someone as completely devoid of charisma as Ralph Feinnes and as utterly talentless as Uma Thurman merely compounded the problem; together they had all the chemistry of house bricks). The Thin Man movies are hardly great art and remaking them wouldn't be the end of the world or anything, but the originals had that same sort of je ne sais quoi (IMO, anyway
). When the originals are that good and have that something extra going for them, a remake is on a hiding to nothing before it even starts.Eh, to each their own.
I figured someone would say something like this, and fair enough, too - in general, I agree. However, there are always exceptions, and IMHO The Thin Man is one of them. That godawful excuse for an Avengers movie demonstrated quite clearly that, among other things, chemistry and the various nuances particular actors bring to a role cannot be faked or manufactured (casting someone as completely devoid of charisma as Ralph Feinnes and as utterly talentless as Uma Thurman merely compounded the problem; together they had all the chemistry of house bricks). The Thin Man movies are hardly great art and remaking them wouldn't be the end of the world or anything, but the originals had that same sort of je ne sais quoi (IMO, anyway
Eh, to each their own.
I think though, the key might be to not RECREATE the same thing, but to make it your own. The Avengers had SOOO many problems that not all of them were Ralph and Uma's fault.
What worked, for me, with Pine as Kirk, he made it his own while not contradicting what happened before, ie, he didn't do a grim and gritty Kirk.
And that might be the key to remaking the Thin Man. Not trying to recreate Powell and Loy, but bringing together a couple with a great chemistry and see what happens.
In that regard, Depp's casting has an advantage: he's not the kind of actor who'd just imitate the last guy to play the part. He'd have his own interpretation. His take on Willy Wonka owed very little to Gene Wilder (it also...wasn't very good, but that's another question entirely).
Well, here's hopin'. But I gotta say, I've got my doubts.
Oh, one I forgot before: I'm sure the world was full of people that thought nobody could ever replace John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn . . . .
I agree, btw, that the gawdawful AVENGERS movie failed in part because Fiennes and Uma completely failed to capture the breezy chemistry of the original actors, and that Diana Rigg as Emma Peel is a really tough act to follow.
But does that mean that another actress, in another movie, couldn't blow us as away as Emma? Maybe. We'll never know unless somebody tries . . . .
Most attempts to recreate, recast or re-imagine classics fail miserably. Not always because of the actors-- the cast was the only thing good about nuTrek, even though they weren't playing the original characters-- but it's very difficult to replace someone whose own individual personality and style was integral to the creation of an icon. Nevertheless, Depp is quite a chameleon, so I'm a bit more optimistic about this than I normally would be.
Carla Gugino as Nora?!?
Carla Gugino and George Clooney. I like that.
Depp's a better fit for the part than Clooney, especially if they keep the boozy aspect.
Okay here's my problem with Depp. He really isn't the chameleon people make him out to be. He basically has two modes:
1. Priggish Weirdo. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Sleepy Hollow.
2. Wild-Eyed Maniac. PotC, Sweeny Todd, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
Occasionally he falls in between 1 and 2, with a weirdo/maniac hybrid, such as with Ed Wood. He used to have 3. Tragic Naif (Edward Scissorshands, Dead Man) but he seems to have dropped that role. Maybe he's gotten too old.
Nick Charles doesn't slot into any of those modes, and can't be shoehorned in without destroying the character. Conversely, I don't mind the idea of Depp playing Tonto because I'm curious to see whether it will be Priggish Weirdo Tonto or Wild-Eyed Maniac Tonto (either could be fun). Barnabas Collins, as a vampire, is uniquely positioned to combine all three modes - a priggish maniac with a whiff of tragedy.
Maybe this is very unfair of me, but Clooney strikes me as very boozy. Don't be fooled by Depp's portrayal of boozehound Hunter S. Thompson. That's a Wild-Eyed Maniac role, not an elegant drunk role.
