Nothing New Under the Sun: Remakes and Remixes

 

Collin College Auteur Film Series 2023-24

“There’s nothing new under the sun.” — Ecclesiastes 1:9

 

Contemporary cinema is full of films that simply remix or remake movies we’ve already seen. Classic animated movies are remade, shot for shot, as live action films. Reboots update, with minor twists, plots and characters we already know. Sequels offer mild variations on familiar formulas. And even “original” films tend to be so predictable that a two-minute trailer can, all by itself, leave us feeling like we saw this movie last summer.

 

Why is the movie industry so fixated on remixes and remakes? Why are audiences so hungry for only minor variations in deeply familiar plots and characters?

Is this kind of repetition a feature or a bug?

 

While representing a wide variety of genres and eras, the films selected for this series each pose questions about our human mania for replication. Some films are originals that were later remade. Some films are themselves reboots or remakes. But all of the films showcase the crucial role played by repetition in any attempt to make something new.

 

- Adam Miller, Guest Director

 

Each film will be followed by a panel discussion led by Collin College faculty and staff. The series supports the college’s core values of learning, creativity and involvement by engaging students through film and discussion.

 

All screenings are free and open to the public. Doors open 30 minutes before the film begins. Seating is limited. Some material may not be suitable for all audiences.

 

This series supports the college’s core values of learning, creativity and innovation, and service and involvement by engaging students through film and discussion.

 

man at edge of building roof

OPEN YOUR EYES
7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 14—McKinney Campus Conference Center 
(R, 1997, Alejandro Amenábar, 119 minutes) 
Presented in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage Month 
Remade with Tom Cruise as Vanilla Sky (2001). This mind-bending Spanish language film follows a playboy who, after being disfigured, searches desperately for the lost love of his life.

 

woman screaming in shower

PSYCHO 
7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 17—Plano Campus Living Legends Conference Center 
(R, 1960, Alfred Hitchcock, 109 minutes) 
Remade by Gus Van Sant with Vince Vaughn and Anne Heche (1998). Hitchcock presents his seminal film about an embezzler on the run and her ill-fated stay at the Bates Motel.

 

man and girl in cowboy hats

TRUE GRIT 
7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 8—Angelika Film Center, Plano 
(PG-13, 2010, Ethan and Joel Coen, 110 minutes) 
A remake of the John Wayne original (1969). This darkly humorous Coen Brothers’ film follows a teenage girl as she gallops through the Wild West tracking her father’s murderer.

 

boxer and his coach

CREED 
7 p.m.,Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024—Plano Campus Living Legends Conference Center 
(PG-13, 2015, Ryan Coogler, 133 minutes) 
Presented in conjunction with the Black American Awareness Committee in honor of African American History Month 
A remix of Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky (1976). Michael B. Jordan takes the mantle from Stallone in this slick spin on cinema’s all-time, won’t-quit, underdog boxing story.

 

four sisters looking out a window

LITTLE WOMEN 
7 p.m.,Wednesday, March 6, 2024—Frisco Campus Conference Center 
(PG, 2019, Greta Gerwig, 135 minutes) 
Presented in conjunction with the Dignity Initiative in honor of Women’s History Month. 
The most recent of many Hollywood adaptations of Louisa May Alcott’s Civil War era coming of age story. Gerwig’s smart approach to the March sisters is pointed and contemporary.

 

man and woman making music

A STAR IS BORN 
7 p.m., Tuesday, April 9, 2024—Angelika Film Center, Plano 
(R, 2018, Bradley Cooper, 136 minutes) 
Presented in conjunction with Quest: An Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research Journal 
Originally released in 1937, this film has been remade three times (1954, 1976, 2018). This fourth version stars Lady Gaga as a young singer boosted to stardom by Bradley Cooper’s aging musician.

 

Plano Campus - 2800 E. Spring Creek Parkway, Plano  

Frisco Campus - 9700 Wade Blvd., Frisco  

McKinney Campus - 2200 W. University Drive, McKinney  

Angelika Film Center - The Shops at Legacy, 7205 Bishop Rd., Plano 

 

Auteur Film Series Director - Carolyn Perry 

2023-24 Guest Director - Adam Miller 

Film Series Librarian - Amanda Caudill  Auteur Film Series LibGuide

Frisco Campus Representatives - Diana Gingo and Sean Geraghty 

McKinney Campus Representative - Rich DeRouen 

Plano Campus Representatives - Linda Sears and Jules Sears 

Tech Campus Representative - Tiffany Cartwright

Wylie Campus Representative - Sahalie Mitchell 

Hospitality Representatives - Charlene Houston and Jennifer Ludlam

Student Representatives - Sandra Magwn, Israel Rodriguez, and Jordan Ross

 

The Auteur Film Series is generously supported by the Student Activity Fee Advisory Committee and the Academic Affairs and Workforce Division at Collin College.