The FAME Remake's Notorious Awfulness

Sir Alan Parker says he feels 'mugged' by Hollywood over Fame remake
By Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor

Sir Alan Parker, the British director, has accused Hollywood executives of "mugging" him by remaking one of his most famous films, Fame, without his approval.

Fame remake feels like I've been mugged, says Sir Alan Parker

Sir Alan's tale of young hopefuls at a New York school of performing arts is regarded as one of the defining works of the early 1980s. It won two Oscars and was nominated for four more, and was later turned into a popular television series.

The new version of Fame was released at the weekend and is currently topping the UK box office, although critics have called it a pale imitation of the 1980 original.

While the makers of the new film claim it has Sir Alan's blessing, the 65-year-old director said he had not been consulted and was appalled by the "dreadful" project.

"It's a bit like being mugged. Such are the realities of Hollywood manners and American copyright law," Sir Alan said.
(Read the full article on The Telegraph)

On the other hand, critic consensus blast this FAME remake with a thumbs down. The most well known critic Roger Ebert quotes on the intro of his review: "Why bother to remake "Fame" if you don't have clue about why the 1980 movie was special? Why take a touching experience and make it into a shallow exercise? Why begin with a R-rated look at plausible kids with real problems and tame it into a PG-rated after-school special?" The Boston Globe's Wesley Morris ends his review with "the glorious threat of the title song seems like a joke. I’m gonna live forever? Not this time"

It is clearly obvious that this remake is nothing more than a cashcow; one that is made with no sense of creativity. Do yourself a favor and go find the original FAME movie instead.