(first two seasons of the show that is based on are good as well).

(first two seasons of the show that is based on it are good as well).

The book came first, of course ;)

Oh, and Preach, I'm really getting into the fifth season over the last few weeks. The Newspaper culture presented there is one of the sharpest digs I've seen Simon deliver yet. 

Just the laws of supply and demand. When everything is remade and nothing shown as original, it's weird.

Oh, I'm a purist and have strong opinions on many things. I may oversimplify and provoke too to make the argument short and easy to understand.

But Euro-Chauvenist (sic), that I thank you for. (*Adjusts monocle*) I have been upgraded from Euro-Trash. 

Yeah, the fifth season was a great capstone for the show in my eyes, although not everyone agrees. Notably, quite a few media critics didn't like it so much, perhaps because they dislike having the spotlight on them! Some people said that the newsroom felt "tacked on", but to me that was kind of missing the point. The criticism is that the newspaper misses most of the stories in the series, so it has to be "disconnected" in those places.

Anyhow, I got me the 5th season DVD now, which just got released over here, and had a listen through the commentaries, when I get a chance I'll watch through the full series again. Also, you said about the Homicide book, is that worth getting? I just picked up a copy of Clockers, which is by a Wire staff writer called Richard Price, and if you liked season 1 of The Wire then you'll enjoy this one too. 

One of the few books that are worth the awards it has earned. Baltimore has produced more than its fair share of first rate social commentators.

I agree with you about them missing the point. After the 'Amsterdam' fiasco where media sensationalism killed that project and a few careers in the police force, making them part of the story arc feels inevitable instead of tacked on.

You're welcome, Bambuz. When I think of Eurotrash I have images of heroin abuse and raves in my head and not hermetically sealed academians so that word didn't feel right and thus 'Euro-Chauvinist' was born (funny, this spell checker on Firefox didn't catch that misapplied 'e' for me). 

name the last five books of foreign authors you read ;) 

but Borges, Gaimon, Graham Greene, Hayek, and Darwin. 

I got season one a couple of weeks ago, havent got around to it but I have heard/read great things. 

Don't you consider it weird that if a Japanese or English movie or TV series exists, and the idea, concept and execution all are good and fascinating and raise the interest of movie studios or TV channels, then that is not imported to USA as it is but is rather remade? Why? There must be a reason for spending all that money on making it. Why wouldn't the original sell or get viewers?

Be it Ring, Haneke's movies, Rec, The Office... Not that it's a phenomenon just in USA. Most of the western world is used to Hollywood and wants to see the world through it.

I don't know much about US television or movie theaters and what they offer for viewing, having very limited experience, but still.

Either it ain't so, or then it is so, and in case it is, I'd like to hear your reasoning and speculations as to why.

I think the latest specimen in weirdness, taking it to the furthest point so far in my view, is an upcoming future TV fiction series of American emigrants/refugees leaving USA and forming "americatowns" around the world. Talk about keeping insulated in your culture. :)

Are there tv shows there in USA which are foreign directed with foreign people acting and speaking a foreign language so that you can still identify with them despite the differences? I'm not talking about one foreign born actor in an American tv series. What about in Germany or the UK or France? Do they do a lot of remakes for themselves too... and if their domestic audience and entertainment industry was bigger, would they do it much more?

Every country and ethnicity does localization. It's easier to identify with your own people. Big brothers and survivors are made everywhere. That's natural. But people in most places (I assume, I don't really know) can enjoy a good film or TV series made in a foreign culture as well. People have similarities, and sometimes even the outward differences can accentuate them.

Blah, this post is a disorganized mess and all over the place, I hope you can get the carrying thought in there... 

it was addressed to headthump 

than the crazy one that suggested the US is a closed society.

Obviously, if the movie is in a foreign language the scope of the viewing audience changes and even with subtitles there are many people who don't like to read while following a movies plot. Still, Iron Monkey, Hong Kong Hustle, Crouching Tiger, and even some of those terribly manneristic movies from Zhang Ziyi did very well.

I would suggest aesthetic preferences of the native audience shape whether or not a movie will be accepted in the original. To many Americans, the pacing of even older Hollywood productions can seem excruciatingly drawn out. As audience experience with the medium matures over time many of the framing devices used to set up scenes are no longer necessary for the narrative to be cogent to the audience. 

Pretty good. A character drama. Some strong roles and very good casting here. I recommend to people.
It's not an Earth shattering movie and doesn't try to be. 

Got this yesterday. Ordered it for my birthday. When I opened the packaging there was no DVD! Rip off! So I sent the packaging back and I should be getting the replacement soon.

I did see it on youtube, so I know it's really good if you're a fan of futurama. Beast with a Billion Backs was not so good. It was kind of stinky to be honest. 

America remakes all good foreign movies so they can make lots of money from it. It's all about the money. 

They would make the same money with much less investment if they just redistributed the original! 

I hate making the same mistake... 

no they wouldnt, hardly anyone would watch it. But if you remake it with young stars, people will. Simple as that. 

it wouldn't be the same guys receiving the money?! 

1. american actors speaking english will have a much broader audience than foreign actors speaking a foreign language, even if the movie is otherwise the same.

2. and anyway, it creates lots of jobs for actors and crewmembers to remake these movies. Importing a movie only requires a handful of people to subtitle and distribute it, not good for the economy. We must reduce our dependence on foreign film! 

much broader audience

I mean a broader audience within the US, if that wasn't clear. 

that was exactly the answer I was asking for.

And then, why would hardly anyone watch it if it was foreign.

Or why would harly anyone watch it in Finland if it was not made in Hollywood? As far as I know, the original Ring was not in theaters around here, but the american remake was. It can't be just the language. 

#1 because humans are too narrow-minded and don't want anything different to what they are used to. if that happens the rule it out straight away. americans in particular only want to watch american movies.

#2 we want to watch movies we can relate to ourselves.

i don't mind watching foreign movies with subs, but most less-avid-moviegoers hate subs. you get used to them pretty quick though. 

want to watch movies for fun, I'm sure no one disputes that??

So therefore, its really not all that weird that most people would rather watch a film in the language they understand rather than a language that they have to read to understand. 

Much easier and much less expensive than remaking the thing completely. Less intense too, but that's another issue. 

The Office?

I've seen a few pieces of both the British and the US version (I don't know how much the US version is a remake and how much it is just inspired by the original), both were good.

It can't be the language... 

after all, there are UK, US, French, German, Canadian (Quebec), and Chilean versions of the show.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Office

The British version only ran 14 episodes, and you need 23 for a standard prime time series run in the US, so mute point.