I'm going to state my piece on #10, which is that Hollywood chose to *make* it look like another Harry Potter, especially on the posters. The movie itself is based off a series of books by Rick Riordan. How alike they are to HP you'd have to read them and decide for yourself; I've read the first two and I honestly didn't see much of a comparison between them beyond the very superficial.
~ "Where love and magic meet" ~ http://www.adriannebrennan.com Experience the magic of the Dark Moon series: http://www.adriannebrennan.com/books.html#darkmoon Dare to take The Oath in this erotic fantasy series: http://www.adriannebrennan.com/books.html#the_oath The future of psychic sex - Dawn of the Seraphs (m/m): http://www.adriannebrennan.com/dawnoftheseraphs.html On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 1:29 AM, Kelwyn <ravena...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > http://www.premiere.com/List/10-Most-Obvious-Hollywood-Rip-Offs > 10 Most Obvious Hollywood Rip-Offs > > Wait, what's that? Sometimes filmmakers go for the easy cash-in rather than > create something original? Hell you say! > By: Nick Starkey > 08/03/2010 03:21 pm > > It's one thing to rely solely on sequels and reboots to bolster an industry > in the midst of a creative dry spell so severe it makes the years before > cave paintings seem like the Renaissance, but it's another to admit defeat > so soundly that you half-assedly send blatant knock-offs into theaters and > hope no one will notice. Here are some of the most egregious examples – > we're sure there are more, but that's why the Hittites invented the comments > section. > > *10. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief* > > ** > > *Rips Off:** Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone* and the rest of the > franchise thereafter. > > *Percy Jackson* is so shamelessly banking on spill-over *Harry Potter* success > that it employs the director of the first two *Potter* flicks (Chris > Columbus), features a "camp" for magically-powered kids called "Camp Half > Blood" ("Prince" is it?), and even uses the same font for the poster art. > What's worse, these books started as equally Potter-wannabe young adult > novels, so their lack of originality can be traced back to the shelves at > Barnes & Noble. > > *9. Smokey and the Hotwire Gang* > > *Rips Off: **Smokey and the Bandit* > > Seriously, this movie stopped just short of hiring a Burt Reynolds look > alike. If you're going to cobble together rednecks, fast cars, and lots of > hip-at-the-time CB slang, the least you could do was NOT PUT "SMOKEY" IN THE > TITLE. Rejected titles included *Bandity Bandits Who Smoke Smokey* and *The > Police and the Outlaw.* > > *8. Ghoulies* > > ** > > *Rips Off:** Gremlins* > > The horror genre is generally one of the most cannibalistic (OK, OK…haw > haw) genres around – wearing out trends like mall-hopping teenagers. So it's > not totally surprising that the success of*Gremlins* spawned (again, we > know) a bunch of "tiny killer critters" flicks. Like *Ghoulies* (and, > well,*Critters* too)—both just Chinatown-level knock-offs of Joe Dante's > horror comedy. > > *7. Mac and Me* > > ** > > *Rips Off: **E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial* > > This is a rare case of a movie rip-off doing its inspiration one better. > Sure, *Mac and Me* – lonely young boy befriends a cute and kindly alien > and then runs afoul of government agents – at first doesn't have an original > bone in its body. But then it hits you with a full-on car chase involving a > kid in a wheelchair. Yes—cars v. wheelchair. Even Spielberg didn't have the > brass ones to pull that off. > > *6. Varsity Blues* > > ** > > *Rips Off:** Friday Night Lights* > > F.W. Murnau originally wanted to adapt Bram Stoker's *Dracula*, but the > late author's estate nixed the idea and a quick-thinking Murnau changed his > lead vampire's name from Count Dracula to Count Orlok and his movie from * > Dracula* to *Nosferatu*. Why is this relevant? Change "classic vampire > novel" to "well-regarded football book" and "genius silent film director" to > "the guy who did *Norbit*" and you'd pretty much have the story of how > *Varsity > Blues* hit theaters before *Lights.* > > *5. Sleepaway Camp* > > ** > > *Rips Off: **Friday the 13th* > > Once again, you have to give credit where credit is due. Sure, *Sleepaway > *apes *Friday* right down to the poster art, but where *Friday* gave you > this classic bait-and-switch (spoiler if you're 8 years old): "The killer is > actually Jason's mother!" *Sleepaway *hits you with: "The female killer is > really a psycho boy raised as a girl by his deranged aunt, and here's a > full-frontal of his dong to prove it!" > > > > *4. Hollywood Knights* > > ** > > *Rips Off:** American Graffiti* > > George Lucas' breakout film was clearly made in response to his own > childhood, growing up as he did in the thick of California's 50s and 60s car > culture. *Hollywood Knights *was clearly made by someone who saw *American > Graffiti* and felt it needed more boobs, penis jokes, and farts. And Tony > Danza. > > *3. The Monster Squad* > > ** > > *Rips Off:** The Goonies* > > A pack of aimless kids (one a smarty pants, one a wise ass, one fat, etc) > with a specific obsession (pirates/monsters) find they have to face their > obsession head-on in order to save their lives and their hometown. One of > them befriends a freak (Sloth/Frankenstein) who turns on his original team > and helps the kids win. Yeah. Not even trying, this one. > > *2. King Solomon's Mines* > > ** > > *Rips Off: **Raiders of the Lost Ark* > > This is another prime example of the "telltale font." *King Solomon *isn't > so much hoping that kids who saw *Raiders* will think this is more of the > same, they are actually aiming at near-sighted shut-ins who wander into > whatever theater is open after staring at the sun for 30 minutes. > > *1. Galaxy of Terror* > > ** > > *Rips Off:** Alien* > > This list would not be complete without a mention of Roger "Hey, Let's Do > That, Only With a $50 Budget" Corman. *Galaxy of Terror* could easily be > dismissed, if not for the mind-blowing collection of people who worked on > it: Actors Ray Walston (yes, *My Favorite Martian*), Erin Moran (Joanie > from*Happy Days*), Sid Haig (Captain Spaulding from *The Devil's Rejects*) > a young Robert Englund (duh!), and Zalman King (yes, the future soft porn > maestro behind *Red Shoe Diaries)*, not to mention a production designer > and a set decorator named, respectively, James Cameron and Bill Paxton (who > would go on to make *Aliens*, which actually seems to borrow some ideas > from *Galaxy*, making the*Alien* sequel some kind of genius meta-rip-off). > Oh, it also has a scene where a woman is raped to death by a giant slug and > is kinda, sorta into it. > > >
