December 8th is my birthday, so in the least self-serving way I could think of mentioning that, I present My Wish List to the movie industry:

1. Stop remaking classic movies!!! The Day the Earth Stood Still opens December 12th, Friday the 13th opens February 13, 2009, and there’s a long list of recent remakes that were more frustrating than exciting: Poseidon (2006), War of the Worlds (2005), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), Planet of the Apes (2001), Psycho (1998), Invasion of The Body Snatchers (at least two remakes), but the biggest remake mistake of all time is 1978’s The Wiz – seriously – have you seen it?

Off the top of my head, only 5 remakes turned out as good or better than the original: Charlie and Chocolate Factory (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – 1971), King Kong (2005), Titanic (1997) (there were 4 previous versions), I Am Legend (Omega Man – 1971), and Ocean’s Eleven (2001) (1960’s rat pack made up most of the cast).

 2. Stop changing release dates for movies I want to see.  After teasing me with their trailers Defiance changed dates several times before moving to a January 2009 wide release and Taken moved from September to January 2009… those are just two examples of movies that changed dates during 2008.

 3. Don’t make another Indiana Jones movie!! Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was the most disappointing of highly anticipated movies since the Star Wars prequels!  In case you didn’t see my review this summer, I’m a huge fan of the franchise (even the TV series), but I was throroughly disappointed!

 4. Stop teasing me with more “official” Star Wars chapters like this summer’s animated “Clone Wars” that I thought I “needed to see”.  The prequels were mostly a bust, stop torturing this die-hard fan with more disappointing entries – give up on making more batha poodo before I give up my allegiance to the Star Wars Universe!

5. Stop making movies about the War in Iraq while we still have troops in Iraq - nobody wants to see them, take a look at your box office receipts for any of them!!

6. Please make more superhero/comic book movies with casts of QUALITY actors!!!  Like Iron Man, The Dark Knight, X-Men, Hancock, and The Incredible Hulk (2008) – unlike the mostly unknown/untalented actors in old movies.  One of the best examples of that is 1980’s Flash Gordon.  The old superhero movies that were successful used some quality actors: Superman (1978) had Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman, while Batman (1989) had Jack Nicholson and Jack Palance.

7. Please make more Oscar worthy Crime Dramas, exciting Thrillers, and box office friendly Comedies that are original and funny and make me… laugh…. I mean LAFF… at the Movies