After the announcement that Paramount Pictures would remake the iconic 80’s film Footloose (of the Kevin Bacon oeuvre), an innovative group of indie/amateur filmmakers and directors decided to send Hollywood a message. Fed up with the current exploitative trend of film remakes and re-imaginings, 58 directors got together and made the fabulously funny parody film Our Footloose Remake.
In an attempt to “undermine the Hollywood remake machine,” Our Footloose Remake has beat the “other” remake into theaters and has been making the indie movie house rounds nationwide for the last few months. This weekend the entire Our Footloose Remake film became available to view online.
From the mocking cartoon “Paramount-esque” icon at the beginning (from the “A Group of Friends Dicking Around” studios), to the over-the-top spoofing of Footloose, the film certainly sends a clear message; quit wasting movie-goers time with sub-standard remakes of movies that don’t need remakes in the first place. The 58 directors worked on 54 separate scenes inspired by the original film, then put them altogether. The different styles keep the film interesting, from the bizarre to the silly. There are a few scenes that cut in clips from the original film with added voice-overs and thoughtful narrations. There’s also a taste of the original film’s great bouncy sountrack, some film noir-style black and white scenes, and animated segments. The filmmakers behind this cinematic message to Hollywood had this to say (from their website):
“We are a collection of amateur filmmakers and video-making enthusiasts, recreating the Kevin Bacon classic and releasing it this summer. Different filmmakers from ‘around the world’ have divided the original 1984 Footloose into 54 different scenes. 54 different filmmakers. 54 different Ren McCormack’s. In October 2008 it was announced that Paramount Pictures and Dylan Sellers Productions would be remaking the classic Footloose, starring Zac Efron. We were fed up. The Hollywood remake machine was going to take another solid movie, put it through the ringer, and make a buck from a younger generation. We decided Let’s beat them to the punch. Let’s do this remake our way. Originally slated to release in June 2010, director complications have pushed the release of ‘The New Studio Remake Footloose’ back to 2011. Hollywood can’t make it by 2010? We can. Our fifty-four filmmaker ‘The Footloose Remake’ will hit L.A. in June, taking the place of Paramount’s release. Let’s undermine the Hollywood remake machine.”
I can see how the announcement that Footloose was being re-made and that it would star High School Musical phenomenon Zac Efron, might be jarring enough to spawn this wonderfully quirky film. Though Efron is not going to star in Paramount’s remake (he backed out and was replaced by Kenny Wormald), I’m sure it will still under-whelm. The patch-work parody Our Footloose Remake, however, is a good time and well worth a watch. Check it out below and enjoy!
