But the point is that when a movie remake is launched, the property already possesses a history, a context, a vibe, and a perception by the culture-at-large.  The critical task of the remake-r is to interpret those pre-existing characteristics and determine the “why” behind the initial and residual success.

 

But that “why” isn’t always easy to understand, and it is even more difficult to replicate.

 

The message … is that you can’t go home again.

— John Kenneth Muir, with whom I tend to agree an uncanny amount of the time